A few movies you may have missed in theaters are now on Apple TV+, including the new Marvel movie, Captain America: Brave New World, which features Shira Haas as the Israeli superhero, Ruth Bat-Seraph. It’s a supporting role, and some were disappointed that she wasn’t front and center in the film and that her Israeli identity was only mentioned briefly. However, she still makes an impression. Haas always does; she rose from being the breakout star of Shtisel into an international career. Rumors that her character’s ethnicity had been completely changed in the film were untrue.
Other than the inclusion of Haas’s character, there’s nothing brave or new about the movie, which features Anthony Mackie in the title role and Harrison Ford as the American president. Even Marvel fans were disappointed. At least if you watch it at home you can fast-forward if you get bored.
Far more interesting, and also now available from Apple TV+, is September 5, a gripping account of the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre of the Israeli team by Palestinian terrorists, dramatized and told from the point of view of an ABC sports crew who covered it. Those sports journalists and technicians suddenly found themselves a few hundred feet from the site of the biggest hostage-taking incident in the world up to that time, and had to figure out what was going on and how to cover it. The movie hearkens back to a time when the international media had no problem using the word “terrorist.”
As I wrote when September 5 opened in Israel, “By telling this story through the eyes of the sports journalists and the translator who are stunned and appalled by the violence and who instinctively and unambiguously identify with the hostages, [director Tim] Fehlbaum finds a crucial way to frame the narrative for international viewers.”
More in the mood for the classics?
If you’d like something a little lighter, try the new documentary, Gene Kelly: An American in Hollywood, which airs on Hot 8 on April 27 at 9:15 p.m. At one time, male dancers were considered unmasculine, and Gene Kelly’s athletic but still incredibly graceful dance moves did a lot to change that perception. In addition to being a dancer, Kelly was an actor, choreographer, and director, best known for his roles in An American in Paris and Singin’ in the Rain. The clips are the thing here, and watching them may make you want to see Kelly’s movies.
If you’re in the mood for other classic American movies, Roman Holiday, one of the greatest romantic comedies of all time (some feel it’s the greatest), has just reappeared on Netflix (and it’s also on Apple TV+).
When people talk about actors who have faces that the camera loves, they might have the two leads in Roman Holiday in mind – Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck. The film was Hepburn’s first leading role, and she won an Oscar for her performance as Princess Ann, who runs away from the embassy of her small, unnamed country on an official visit to Rome, burned out by too many public appearances. She just wants one day of fun, and she runs into Joe Bradley (Peck), a reporter for an American newspaper there, who recognizes the runaway princess – but doesn’t let on – and knows that a day with her can give him the scoop of a lifetime. Of course, they fall for each other.
There’s very funny, sophisticated comedy in the script by Dalton Trumbo (who was blacklisted at the time) and Ian McLellan Hunter (who agreed to “front” for Trumbo and was later blacklisted himself), who teamed up with John Dighton, known for his British Ealing Studios comedies, and the script won an Oscar.
At one point, Princess Ann, who conceals her identity from Joe (not knowing he has recognized her), tells him that her father is in public relations and sometimes complains about his work. Joe asks why he doesn’t quit, and she replies, “Well, people in that line of work almost never do quit – unless it’s actually unhealthy for them to continue.” This and so many other clever lines, along with the romance and footage of Rome, are what make this movie so enjoyable. The fast-paced movie was directed by German-Jewish émigré William Wyler.
Or is zombie gore more your style?
There are some people who prefer a zombie series to an Audrey Hepburn movie, and if you’re in that category, you’ve probably been watching the second season of The Last of Us, which is airing on Hot, Yes, and Cellcom TV.
The new season has proved the two points that people who enjoy zombie shows tend to stress: It’s really about the people, not the zombies (or walkers, infected, or whatever they’re called); and anyone can be killed at any time. The second episode of the new season featured a shocking death and also a zombie invasion of the human stronghold in Jackson, Wyoming. Both of these narratives featured the extremely graphic violence that the series is known for, and it’s hard to watch either sequence without being reminded of the October 7 massacre by Hamas.
The Last of Us still includes intermittent philosophical asides, pop culture references, and comic moments. Obviously, in a world overrun by zombies, there isn’t much to laugh about, but Catherine O’Hara of Schitt’s Creek is on hand as the community therapist. She spends most of her session with Joel (Pedro Pascal) drinking and complaining about her own problems, some of which involve Joel.
Fans of the show will be interested in seeing where the series goes after the shocker, but some will have had their fill of the living dead.
Or travel to small town Britain for a mystery
Little Wicked Letters, currently streaming on Netflix, has a cast that features Oscar winner Olivia Colman (The Favourite, The Crown), Jessie Buckley (The Lost Daughter, Women Talking), Timothy Spall (Mr. Turner, Secrets & Lies), and Gemma Jones (the Bridget Jones series and the Harry Potter movies). It’s said to be based on a true story of scandalous letters that were sent anonymously in a small British town between the two world wars, so it sounded promising.
But after 15 minutes, I got tired of the one-note storyline. Buckley’s character, Rose, is a wild, foul-mouthed, free-spirited single mother from Ireland, who is accused of sending the letters, while Colman plays Edith, the recipient of the missives, a prim, Bible-quoting spinster who is in thrall to her tyrannical, chauvinist father (Spall). I fast-forwarded to the end to see if I was right about who the real culprit would turn out to be, and I was – and you will be, too.
Another aspect of the movie that I found distracting is the fact that several Black actors have key supporting roles, and a policewoman is played by an Indian actress. While there’s nothing wrong with a diverse cast, it would have been so unusual for characters of these backgrounds to be living in a British village in the 1920s that you would think the script would include a line or two of dialogue explaining it and would show the many sexist and highly conservative characters reacting to their presence, but it doesn’t.
We’re just supposed to accept that this was a racially harmonious society over 100 years ago – when we know it wasn’t. It just doesn’t make sense that incredibly sexist, rigid characters would be completely tolerant when it comes to race.