The Times of Israel https://www.timesofisrael.com/writers/jordan-hoffman/ News from Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish World Mon, 07 Sep 2026 02:16:59 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://static-cdn.toi-media.com/www/uploads/2018/11/toi_icon_512-200x200.png Jordan Hoffman | The Times of Israel https://www.timesofisrael.com/writers/jordan-hoffman/ 32 32 Star Trek: 60 years to the most gloriously nerdy enterprise https://www.timesofisrael.com/star-trek-60-years-to-the-most-gloriously-nerdy-enterprise/ Sat, 05 Sep 2026 07:59:59 +0000 https://www.timesofisrael.com/?p=3891020&preview=true&preview_id=3891020 ToI's movie maven and deputy editor boldly go where no staff have gone before and explore all that is Jewish behind the beloved franchise

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]]> ‘Don’t Say Good Luck’: The Sunny (Sandler) side of life, with cancer https://www.timesofisrael.com/dont-say-good-luck-the-sunny-sandler-side-of-life-with-cancer/ Sat, 22 Aug 2026 08:16:16 +0000 https://www.timesofisrael.com/?p=3881443&preview=true&preview_id=3881443 ToI's movie maven and deputy editor discuss the newest Sandler family production, starring daughter Sunny and a cast of actors forming a relatable family going through a too-common crisis

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]]> ‘Wizards’: Does animated 1977 art film belong in the canon, or in the geniza? https://www.timesofisrael.com/wizards-does-animated-1977-art-film-belong-in-the-canon-or-in-the-geniza/ Sat, 15 Aug 2026 09:06:46 +0000 https://www.timesofisrael.com/?p=3878882&preview=true&preview_id=3878882 ToI's movie maven and deputy editor discuss the completely bizarre mixed-medium movie that wrestles with magic, boobies, evil Nazis and Hitler 5,000 years in the future

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]]> ‘The Frisco Kid’: A (gefilte) fish out of water in the Wild West https://www.timesofisrael.com/the-frisco-kid-a-gefilte-fish-out-of-water-in-the-wild-west/ Sat, 08 Aug 2026 09:07:39 +0000 https://www.timesofisrael.com/?p=3875106&preview=true&preview_id=3875106 ToI's movie maven and deputy editor discuss the extremely Jewish 1979 cowboy flick starring Gene Wilder and Harrison Ford

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]]> ‘Double Indemnity’: Billy Wilder’s film noir masterpiece https://www.timesofisrael.com/double-indemnity-billy-wilders-film-noir-masterpiece/ Sat, 01 Aug 2026 09:06:04 +0000 https://www.timesofisrael.com/?p=3871033&preview=true&preview_id=3871033 ToI's movie maven and deputy editor discuss the 1944 release that help launch a genre and put the Jewish refugee from Europe on on the movie-making map

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]]> ‘Reading Lolita in Tehran’: Lifts veil on how regime turned rotten https://www.timesofisrael.com/reading-lolita-in-tehran-lifts-veil-on-how-regime-turned-rotten/ Sat, 25 Jul 2026 08:14:29 +0000 https://www.timesofisrael.com/?p=3866661&preview=true&preview_id=3866661 ToI's movie maven and deputy editor discuss the 'memoir in books' written by Iranian-American author Azar Nafisi and directed by Israeli Eran Riklis

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]]> ‘Tuner’: The Jewiest film of the summer https://www.timesofisrael.com/tuner-the-jewiest-film-of-the-summer/ Sat, 18 Jul 2026 08:12:53 +0000 https://www.timesofisrael.com/?p=3862640&preview=true&preview_id=3862640 ToI's movie maven and deputy editor discuss the comedic crime thriller that spotlights Dustin Hoffman, Lior Raz and Tovah Feldshuh

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]]> ‘Operation Thunderbolt’: 50 years to the heroic raid on Entebbe https://www.timesofisrael.com/operation-thunderbolt-50-years-to-the-heroic-raid-on-entebbe/ Sat, 27 Jun 2026 07:51:55 +0000 https://www.timesofisrael.com/?p=3850731&preview=true&preview_id=3850731 ToI's movie maven and deputy editor discuss the 1977 Israeli adventure film based on the real-life daring IDF rescue of over 100 hostages from Uganda that had taken place only a year earlier

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]]> ‘What’s up, Doc?’: Sultry Streisand’s screwball meshugas https://www.timesofisrael.com/whats-up-doc-sultry-streisands-screwball-meshugas/ Sat, 20 Jun 2026 08:51:06 +0000 https://www.timesofisrael.com/?p=3845822&preview=true&preview_id=3845822 ToI's movie maven and deputy editor discuss the 1972 film directed by Peter Bogdanovich, and starring a wacky Barbra Streisand and nerdy Ryan O'Neal

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]]> ‘Beaufort’: How Israel left Lebanon in 2000 with a bang https://www.timesofisrael.com/beaufort-how-israel-left-lebanon-in-2000-with-a-bang/ Sat, 13 Jun 2026 07:00:49 +0000 https://www.timesofisrael.com/?p=3841037&preview=true&preview_id=3841037 ToI's movie maven and deputy editor discuss Joseph Cedar's newly resonant 2007 Oscar-nominated film

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]]> ‘Oxygen’: An Israeli mother sacrifices all to keep soldier son breathing https://www.timesofisrael.com/oxygen-an-israeli-mother-sacrifices-all-to-keep-soldier-son-breathing/ Sat, 06 Jun 2026 07:33:17 +0000 https://www.timesofisrael.com/?p=3836686&preview=true&preview_id=3836686 ToI's movie maven and deputy editor welcome their first guest, Isaac Zablocki, ahead of his 14th Annual Israel Film Center Festival, and discuss two Israeli titles from the lineup

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]]> ‘A Serious Man’: Coen brothers craft the Jewiest film of all https://www.timesofisrael.com/a-serious-man-coen-brothers-craft-the-jewiest-film-of-all/ Sat, 30 May 2026 07:25:28 +0000 https://www.timesofisrael.com/?p=3831513&preview=true&preview_id=3831513 ToI's movie maven and deputy editor kvell over the 2009 dark comedy set in the wilds of 1967 Minnesota

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]]> ‘Cast a Giant Shadow’: A 1966 ode to Israel’s first general, Mickey Marcus https://www.timesofisrael.com/cast-a-giant-shadow-a-1966-ode-to-israels-first-general-mickey-marcus/ Sat, 16 May 2026 07:21:18 +0000 https://www.timesofisrael.com/?p=3823635&preview=true&preview_id=3823635 The opinions of ToI's movie maven and deputy editor diverge starkly on this old classic. Stay tuned to see who gave it a 'meh' and who thought it was 'not bad'

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]]> Who wore it better: Bradley Cooper or Maestro Leonard Bernstein? https://www.timesofisrael.com/who-wore-it-better-bradley-cooper-or-maestro-leonard-bernstein/ Sat, 09 May 2026 06:15:26 +0000 https://www.timesofisrael.com/?p=3818717&preview=true&preview_id=3818717 ToI's movie maven and deputy editor consider the depiction of the troubled genius in Hollywood biopic 'Maestro' versus the master's own voice in documentary 'Bernstein's Wall'

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]]> ‘Roommates’ and ‘How to Make Challah’: Different slices of Jewish American pie https://www.timesofisrael.com/roommates-and-how-to-make-challah-different-slices-of-jewish-american-pie/ Sat, 02 May 2026 07:18:42 +0000 https://www.timesofisrael.com/?p=3813696&preview=true&preview_id=3813696 ToI's movie maven and deputy editor on a Sadie Sandler Netflix vehicle -- currently #1 in Israel -- and a 13-minute intergenerational indie short

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