movies

'You Are So Not Invited To My Bat Mitzvah.' (Scott Yamano/Netflix via JTA)

October 3, 2023, 10:02 pm

Poor and working-class Jews are underrepresented in US pop culture, analysis argues

Group fighting poverty in Jewish community says films and TV tend to portray Jews as wealthier on aggregate than they are in real life, making charity work more difficult

By Andrew Lapin

Idina Menzel and Adam Sandler in 'You Are So Not Invited To My Bat Mitzvah.' (Scott Yamano/Netflix via JTA)

September 2, 2023, 9:02 pm

Adam Sandler’s new Bat Mitzvah movie highest rated of actor’s career

Film receives 96 percent fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, despite criticism of nepotism in casting

By Gabe Friedman

Screen capture from video of actress Helen Mirren talking about playing Israeli leader Gold Meir in the film 'Golda' during an interview with Channel 12 broadcast August 28, 2023. (Channel 12. Used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

August 28, 2023, 1:11 pm

Helen Mirren: Israel must exist ‘for eternity’ because of the Holocaust

Speaking to Israeli TV about her film role as PM Golda Meir, star actress declares she would join anti-government protest movement if she had the chance

By ToI Staff

Director Guy Nattiv poses for photographers at the photo call for the film 'Golda' during the International Film Festival 'Berlinale', in Berlin, Germany, on Feb. 20, 2023. (Photo by Joel C Ryan/Invision/AP, File)

August 25, 2023, 12:44 pm

Director of ‘Golda’: Criticism against Israel’s first female PM was misogynism

In interview, director Guy Nattiv explains how he sought to soften, deepen the memory of Golda Meir and why Helen Mirren is great for the part of Meir

By Jocelyn Noveck

Helen Mirren and Camille Cottin in 'Golda.' (Sean Gleason, Courtesy of Bleecker Street/ShivHans Pictures)

August 24, 2023, 4:34 pm

Not your standard biopic, ‘Golda’ is a gritty warning about the cost of victory

Out Friday, director Guy Nattiv’s latest film, starring Helen Mirren as Golda Meir, skips the broader history lesson and focuses on her humanity as she navigated the Yom Kippur War

By Matt Goldberg

Gal Gadot, left, shown at an event in New York, and Damian Szifron, shown at the Cannes Film Festival. (Getty Images via JTA)

August 24, 2023, 12:52 pm

Gal Gadot viral in Argentina for desire to work with local director

Argentine-Jewish director Damian Szifron is known for weaving Jewish characters into his movies

By Juan Melamed

Bradley Cooper plays Jewish composer Leonard Bernstein in the 2023 biopic 'Maestro.' (YouTube screenshot: used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

August 22, 2023, 5:40 pm

Jewish groups: Bradley Cooper’s nose in Leonard Bernstein film not antisemitic

ADL says ‘Maestro’ biopic on legendary conductor not an example of ‘evil caricatures with large, hooked noses’ depicted in antisemitic films; American Jewish Committee agrees

By JTA and ToI Staff

This image released by Netflix shows Gal Gadot in a scene from 'Heart of Stone.' (Robert Viglasky/Netflix via AP)

August 17, 2023, 8:32 am

Gal Gadot’s ‘Heart of Stone’ tops Netflix charts in 6 Arab countries

Action movie is most watched in Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, Qatar, Kuwait and Oman

By ToI Staff

Sir Ben Kingsley arrives at the premiere of "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings" on August 16, 2021, at the El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)

August 15, 2023, 12:39 pm

Ben Kingsley reveals why he’s appeared in so many Holocaust films

British actor says ‘seed was planted’ as a young boy after seeing film on liberation of concentration camp while reckoning with his grandmother’s ‘vigorous’ hatred of Jews

By Gabe Friedman

August 11, 2023, 9:30 am

Gal Gadot plays elite spy in new action flick ‘Heart of Stone’

Netflix release revolves around threat of quantum computer falling into wrong hands, with Israeli star showing off action hero skills in Bond-like opening sequence

By Jake Coyle

Sir Anthony Hopkins as Sir Nicholas Winton in the upcoming movie 'One Life.' (Warner Brothers via UK Jewish News)

August 10, 2023, 11:47 pm

Anthony Hopkins to star in film on ‘British Schindler’

Oscar-winning actor to portray stockbroker Sir Nicholas Winton, who helped save 669 Jewish children in Prague from the Nazis

By ToI Staff

BARBIE Score from the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Graphic: Business Wire via AP)

August 10, 2023, 1:52 pm

Kuwait bans ‘Barbie’ film over ‘public ethics’ concerns

Cinema censorship committee says flick promotes ‘ideas and beliefs that are alien’ to society; horror movie ‘Talk to Me’ likewise nixed for featuring transgender actor

By AFP

FILE - Mark Margolis attends the premiere of "Noah" at the Ziegfeld Theatre on Wednesday, March 26, 2014 in New York. (Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)

August 4, 2023, 9:32 pm

Mark Margolis, murderous drug lord on ‘Breaking Bad’ and ‘Better Call Saul,’ dies

Jewish actor was nominated for an Emmy in 2012 for portraying character Hector Salamanca, also appeared on Broadway and in movies such as ‘Black Swan’ and ‘Scarface’

By AP

A wildfire burning through the night. (Cathy Withers-Clarke, iStock/Getty Images)

August 3, 2023, 4:22 pm

‘Oppenheimer’ offers a timely warning on the dangers of the climate crisis

Scientists thought the chances of an A-bomb destroying Earth were ‘near zero.’ We know now that climate change could obliterate humanity, but we continue along our destructive path

By Sue Surkes

Ben Platt and Molly Gordon in 'Theater Camp.' (Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures via JTA)

July 18, 2023, 2:01 am

Jewish camp alums cheer ‘Theater Camp,’ Ben Platt movie shot at former Kutz Camp

Now playing, the mockumentary centers on a fictional upstate secular musical arts camp, but was filmed at the historic Reform summer camp and is peppered with Jewish references

By Shira Li Bartov