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Film review
Extras being filmed in Lithuania for 'Sobibor.' (Courtesy of Rosiya Segondiya/via JTA)
November 20, 2018, 10:17 pm
Russia’s Oscar entry is depiction of (gratuitous?) violence at Sobibor revolt
At one of its first major American screenings, the Russian submission for best foreign film rattles the audience as it tells the story of the famous concentration camp rebellion
By Jordan Hoffman
Avigayil Koevary, left, as Benny and Moran Rosenblatt as Yael in 'Red Cow.' (Courtesy)
November 19, 2018, 11:50 pm
‘Red Cow’ portrays teenage lesbian love in the heart of Jewish East Jerusalem
Movie tells of religious-Zionist girl’s sexual awakening — and redemption — similar to that of its Israeli filmmaker, Tsivia Barkai Yacov
By Anne Joseph
Claude Lanzmann poses for photographers upon arrival at the premiere of the film 'The Man Who Killed Don Quixote' and the closing ceremony of the 71st international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Saturday, May 19, 2018. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)
November 8, 2018, 9:10 pm
Stunning posthumous release from ‘Shoah’ director resonates post-Pittsburgh
Filmmaker Claude Lanzmann died this past July, but a new work, ‘Shoah: Four Sisters,’ compiled from past footage to debut in NY, is chillingly applicable today
By Jordan Hoffman
Screenshot from Adam Sandler's new Netflix special, '100% Fresh.' (Netflix)
November 2, 2018, 3:33 am
It’s funny how you don’t see stand up like Adam Sandler’s anymore
In his new Netflix special, ‘100% Fresh,’ the darling of Jewish comedy marries his classic musical routines with some surprisingly heartfelt toilet humor
By Jordan Hoffman
Former UN secretary-general Kurt Waldheim campaigns for president of Austria at Zistersdorf on April 30, 1986. Documents from the UN, reportedly showing Waldheim's knowledge of Nazi atrocities, were released in May to Israeli officials. (AP Photo/Werner Vollmann)
October 19, 2018, 3:11 pm
In film on Nazi-turned-UN head, director evokes memory of risky postwar populism
Opening Friday, documentary ‘The Waldheim Waltz’ is eerily contemporary, even for those born after the fury surrounding the 1986 election of former Wehrmacht officer Kurt Waldheim
By Jordan Hoffman
Screen capture from Joel and Ethan Coen's 'The Ballad of Buster Scruggs.' (Netflix/screenshot)
October 5, 2018, 3:20 pm
Coen Bros. draw guns and chuckles in six-part, existentialist Western flick
Joel and Ethan Coen spin through genres and humorous quiet melancholy with ‘The Ballad of Buster Scruggs,’ which hits theaters — and Netflix — November 16
By Jordan Hoffman
Stephen Bannon in Errol Morris's documentary, 'American Dharma.' (Courtesy)
October 5, 2018, 4:52 am
On film, Bannon’s 2016 election strategy is crafted into an electrifying caper
As documentarian Errol Morris interviews Donald Trump’s ex-top adviser in ‘American Dharma,’ one can’t help but be impressed at how his Machiavellian schemes work out as intended
By Jordan Hoffman
Silhouette of grandmother Annette Ontell, from '306 Hollywood.' (Courtesy El Tigre Productions)
September 28, 2018, 4:50 pm
In an archaeological excavation with a twist, a family finds hoarded memories
Opening Friday, in ‘306 Hollywood,’ as Elan and Jonathan Bogarín clean out their grandmother’s home, they find unknown treasures stashed away by the daughter of Jewish immigrants
By Jordan Hoffman
Melanie Thierry as Marguerite Duras in 'Memoir of War.' (Music Box Films)
August 17, 2018, 4:49 pm
In its search for a taken husband, ‘Memoir of War’ is haunting punch in the gut
Proof that truth is stranger than fiction, author Marguerite Duras’s details of Nazi-occupied Paris must be seen to be believed in this autobiographical film, out in the US Friday
By Jordan Hoffman
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
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