Normally, I don’t write about news broadcasts, but there is nothing normal these days and I feel that Israel’s news reporters deserve to be praised for their coverage of this war. As horrible and scary as much of the news has been, the broadcast journalists here have done an extraordinary job, helping us sift through all the information and even find moments of grace.
There have been too many brilliantly crafted stories of tragedy and heroism to mention all of them, but two stand out, both from Channel 12. One was a piece from Ilana Dayan’s newsmagazine, Uvda (Fact), about Inbal Rabin-Lieberman, the 25-year-old security coordinator of Kibbutz Nir-Am, who led a group of 12 warriors who fought the terrorists and protected everyone in the kibbutz on October 7.
Another outstanding story was by Tamir Steinman, Channel 12’s correspondent who covers the South. On the day of the massacre, he received panicked calls from people as they heard their neighbors being slaughtered, yet for hours there was no response from the police and army. Somehow, Steinman managed to find some hint of redemption in this story. Both can be seen on mako.co.il
Serious programming to watch after news of Israel's war with Hamas
If you’re still in the mood for more serious programming after watching the news, check out two new documentaries on Hot 8 (and Hot VOD). Female Fighters, which will be shown on November 5 at 9:15 p.m., is a moving look at some of the challenges facing four female soldiers and policewomen who struggle to cope with trauma.
The three-episode series, Hezbollah, Inc., starts running on Hot 8 and Hot VOD on November 6 at 9:15 p.m. and focuses on how the US Drug Enforcement Agency tried to stop the terror group’s drug-running operation. It’s a side of this evil terrorist group that most of us don’t know much about, and it makes for interesting viewing.
Lighter entertainment to watch amid wartime
IF YOU’RE in the mood for lighter fare, Yes just acquired some of Amazon Prime’s most popular shows, including The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, which will start running in mid-November. This very lively and fun series is about a young Jewish housewife in the late 1950s who becomes a successful stand-up comic against all odds. The series has won multiple Emmys, and it is anchored by an incredibly entertaining performance by Rachel Brosnahan in the title role.
Royal watchers will be happy to learn that the sixth season of The Crown will be released on Netflix on November 16, although they may be less elated since this will be the final season. The cast from season five will be returning, which is good news, because Elizabeth Debicki will play Princess Diana again. Of all the actresses who have portrayed “the people’s princess” in movies and television, including Kristen Stewart and Naomi Watts, Debicki has been the best.
This is clearly the season where we will see Diana’s death and, based on the preview that has been released, the season will cover the queen’s belated and muted reaction, which was also the subject of The Queen, starring Helen Mirren.
The second season of The Gilded Age has just become available on Hot VOD, with new episodes premiering on Hot HBO on Mondays at 10 p.m. This series about high society in 1880s New York, with brief glimpses of life downstairs, is still the visual feast that it was in its first season, with gorgeous gowns and beautiful ballrooms.
But the eye candy continues to be the best part of the series, which was created by Julian Fellowes, who also made Downton Abbey. Christine Baranski, best known for The Good Wife, is still sharp as Agnes, a stalwart representative of the old social order, but Bertha Russell (Carrie Coon), is rather bland as the arriviste wife of a robber baron (Morgan Spector).
Many viewers have speculated whether the Russells are supposed to be Jewish, and if they are, it isn’t explicitly stated by anyone. Cynthia Nixon (Sex and the City) returns as Ada, Agnes’s sister, and Louisa Jacobson, Meryl Streep’s daughter, also reprises her role as the poor relation they take in, who quickly gains confidence in New York. Nathan Lane, who is always fun to watch, plays a Southern social climber. But, unlike Downton Abbey, you won’t care enough about any of the characters to be in suspense about what happens next.
The Lovers, a rom-com series about two very different people who are drawn together through strange circumstances, starts running on Hot 3 on November 5 and is also available on Yes. Johnny Flynn plays Seamus, a cocky television political reporter in London who is sent to work in his native Belfast, a move he sees as a kind of demotion. There, he falls for Janet (Roisin Gallagher), a depressed store clerk whose husband walked out on her, even though he has a gorgeous actress girlfriend (Alice Eve) back in London. It’s a little improbable that these two would ever get together, but the leads are appealing.
The series reminded me a little of the Nick Hornby novel, A Long Way Down, about a group of strangers who meet by chance because they are all planning to jump off a building on New Year’s Eve, and then form an informal therapy group for each other.
ANNE HATHAWAY is always more believable as a swan than an ugly duckling, but in two movies currently streaming on Disney+ (also available on Yes), she portrays characters in need of makeovers.
In The Princess Diaries, the movie that made her a star, she plays Mia, a San Francisco teen who learns that she is – or, rather, can become – the princess of a fictitious country called Genovia, ruled by her grandmother, played by Julie Andrews.
Mia just wants to be popular in high school and blossoms under the tutelage of her glamorous grandma at first, until the mean girls (and mean boys) at school try to use her newfound heritage to get attention for themselves. It’s a Garry Marshall movie and his films all have good performances and flawless pacing, and if they’re a little predictable, that’s kind of the point – they’re meant to be soothing entertainment.
It’s a bit more fun to watch Mia’s awkward moments than to see her act princess-y, but it’s all fun. San Francisco has never looked so lovely as it does here.
In David Frankel’s The Devil Wears Prada (2006), Hathaway plays brainy aspiring journalist Andy, who gets a job at a Vogue-like fashion magazine, as an assistant to an Anna Wintour-like editor, Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep).
Streep steals the show as the dragon lady who turns out to have surprising substance, and the movie is a vast improvement on the book, which was a kind of novel-length complaint about a bad boss. The movie, on the other hand, shows the enchantment of the fashion world, while at times making fun of its superficiality.
It’s undeniably enjoyable to watch Andy’s makeover in this, and you will appreciate her boss’s analysis of just how she chose her sweater, and how the fashion world influences us unconsciously. Emily Blunt became a star as Miranda’s other assistant, while Stanley Tucci plays Andy’s fashion-world mentor and Adrian Grenier (Entourage) is her boyfriend.