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Film review
Paul Rudd plays Moe Berg in 'The Catcher Was a Spy.' (Courtesy of IFC Films/via JTA)
Film review
In ‘Catcher Was a Spy,’ Paul Rudd is a Jewish baseball player turned Nazi hunter
By Curt Schleier
Opening Friday, new film reveals Moe Berg wasn't just a rare breed due to his religion -- the major leaguer also spoke 10 languages, which led to his recruitment as a WWII agent
Paul Rudd plays Moe Berg in 'The Catcher Was a Spy.' (Courtesy of IFC Films/via JTA)
June 21, 2018, 5:23 am
In ‘Catcher Was a Spy,’ Paul Rudd is a Jewish baseball player turned Nazi hunter
Opening Friday, new film reveals Moe Berg wasn't just a rare breed due to his religion -- the major leaguer also spoke 10 languages, which led to his recruitment as a WWII agent
By Curt Schleier
Aaron Davidman in 'Wrestling Jerusalem.' (Courtesy)
May 24, 2018, 9:45 am
‘Wrestling Jerusalem’ dramatically grapples with intricacies of Mideast peace
The one-man show, newly adapted to film and screening this week in Israel, is a political minefield as it covers an impossible situation from all sides. But is anyone listening?
By Jordan Hoffman
Composer Khaled Mouzanar, from right, director Nadine Labaki, actors Zain Al Rafeea, and Yordanos Shiferaw pose for photographers upon arrival at the premiere of the film 'Capharnaum' at the 71st international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Thursday, May 17, 2018. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)
May 18, 2018, 4:53 pm
Cannes wrap-up: Few Jews, but some anti-Semitism on the silver screen
At France's prestigious film festival, only a Chosen few make the final cut; a Spike Lee joint features an undercover Jewish cop; and Han Solo stays in the Tribe
By Jordan Hoffman
Alden Ehrenreich as Han Solo in the new movie 'Solo: A Star Wars Story.' (Courtesy Lucasfilm)
May 17, 2018, 10:17 pm
Jewish actor flies solo through interstellar Ellis Island in new ‘Star Wars’
Opening worldwide May 23, the quick-moving Han Solo standalone flick's star Alden Ehrenreich is a force to be reckoned with
By Jordan Hoffman
Thomas Gullestad plays steely-eyed survivor Jan Sigurd Baalsrud in 'The 12th Man.' (YouTube)
May 8, 2018, 3:00 am
Incredibly, the jaw-dropping scenes in this vivid WWII survivalist film are true
Jordan Hoffman reviews 'The 12th Man,' a movie about a Norwegian commando who went to a freezing hell and back to evade capture by Nazis
By Jordan Hoffman
The child of a Holocaust survivor sharing his father's memories with residents of Hongkou, the former Jewish ghetto in Shanghai during WWII, in this still from 'Above the Drowning Sea.' (Courtesy Above the Drowning Sea/ Time & Rhythm Cinema)
April 29, 2018, 8:59 am
In new film, survivors recall placid WWII days in the safe harbor of Shanghai
Showing in LA on April 29, 'Above the Drowning Sea' documents the individual kindnesses in faraway China that saved 20,000 European Jews from Hitler's killing machine
By Anne Joseph
Florence Kennedy, left, and Sandra Hochman, front right, in a screenshot from 'Year of the Woman.' (Courtesy)
April 24, 2018, 4:38 am
Uproarious 81-year-old documentarian’s ’73 feminist film still terribly relevant
Octogenarian poet, author, and filmmaker Sandra Hochman stuns in real life and in film 'Year of the Woman,' about her antics and advocacy at the 1972 Democratic convention
By Jordan Hoffman
In this December 1, 1977, file photo, comedian Gilda Radner appears on the set of 'Saturday Night Live,' in New York. A documentary about the comedian kicked off the 17th Tribeca Film Festival. (AP Photo/Ron Frehm, File)
April 19, 2018, 1:47 pm
In ‘Love, Gilda,’ Radner is indeed lovable. The film — not so much
Opening this year's Tribeca Film Festival, docu is a loving testament to a great 20th century comedian, but lacks the nuance and depth of its star
By Jordan Hoffman
A still from Rüdiger Suchsland’s documentary 'Hitler's Hollywood.' (Courtesy of Kino Lorber)
April 11, 2018, 7:12 pm
How would the world look if the Nazis won? ‘Hitler’s Hollywood’ gives a glimpse
Opening April 11, a new documentary shows chilling footage of the life Hitler envisioned had the Third Reich accomplished its mission of global domination
By Jordan Hoffman
Itzhak Perlman with his wife, Toby, in a scene from 'Itzhak.' (Courtesy of Greenwich Entertainment/via JTA)
March 16, 2018, 1:33 am
Cracking dad jokes with Itzhak Perlman, the violin virtuoso next door
The New York septuagenarian and his wife Toby dish about a now-screening documentary that gives a fly-on-the-wall look into the family life of the great Israel-born musician
By Jordan Hoffman
A still from '7 Days in Entebbe.' (YouTube)
March 2, 2018, 7:46 pm
New ‘Entebbe’ hijacked by heavy-handed political correctness
Action flick '7 Days in Entebbe' disregards historical record to equalize the two sides's struggles -- choosing as its unlikely hero a German terrorist with a heart of gold
By Jordan Hoffman
Paul Rudd and Sienna Miller appear in 'The Catcher Was A Spy' by Ben Lewin, an official selection of the Premieres program at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival. (Sundance Institute | photo by Dusan Martincek)
February 6, 2018, 5:13 am
Thriller spins true yarn of Jewish athlete-turned-WWII-assassin
'The Catcher Was a Spy' sees Paul Rudd playing Moe Berg, the genius baseball catcher who goes to Europe to kill a German scientist before the Reich becomes an atomic superpower
By Jordan Hoffman
The Egyptian marquee. (2015 Sundance Institute | Photo by Jemal Countess)
January 28, 2018, 3:20 pm
At frigid Sundance film fest, warm takes on Jewish, Israeli themes
Reporting from a mountaintop, The Times of Israel's film reviewer recommends a 'romantic' take on Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and the deeply disturbing 'The Tale'
By Jordan Hoffman
Ori Pfeffer as Yoel in 'The Testament.' (Courtesy Gum Films)
January 11, 2018, 1:33 am
Holocaust film ‘The Testament’ breaks poignant new ground in a flooded genre
Israeli director Amichai Greenberg unfolds a number of surprises in a movie which asks when 'Never Again' evolves from ideology to liturgy
By Jordan Hoffman
This undated handout photo provided by Deux Beaux Garcon Films shows a scene from the movie 'In Between', the new award-winning film about Arab women battling their conservative society, (Itay Gross, Deux Beaux Garcon Films via AP)
January 4, 2018, 8:31 pm
Feminist Arab-Israeli’s film ‘In Between’ stirs up strife in and out of theaters
Maysaloun Hamoud doesn't apologize for her opinions. As a result, her cinematic critique of Israeli racism, now playing in the US, is one of the best movies on the festival circuit
By Jordan Hoffman
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