'Tuner': The Jewiest film of the summer

'Tuner': The Jewiest film of the summer

Welcome to The Reel Schmooze with ToI film reviewer Jordan Hoffman [https://www.timesofisrael.com/writers/jordan-hoffman/] and host Amanda Borschel-Dan [https://www.timesofisrael.com/writers/amanda-borschel-dan/], where we bring you all the entertainment news and film reviews a Jew can use. This week, Borschel-Dan begins the episode with her impressions of the United States after not having visited for eight years. We hear how American cottage cheese stacks up after all this time. We devote the rest of the program to "Tuner," the first narrative full-length feature by young Canadian filmmaker Daniel Roher and co-written by Robert Ramsey. Roher's 2022 film "Navalny," about the Russian political prisoner Alexei Navalny, won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature Film. But "Tuner" is a huge departure for the 33-year-old filmmaker and Hoffman explains how he manages to punch high while keeping his budget low. The plot surrounds a young piano tuner played by Leo Woodall who must make a quick buck after his mentor, played by Dustin Hoffman, falls on hard times. Tuner Niki White meets a team of thuggish Israelis, headed by Uri (Lior Raz), who exploit the tuner's highly sensitive hearing for nefarious means. Let's hear who gave these this film an "oy," "meh" or the prized "not bad" this week on The Reel Schmooze. The Reel Schmooze is produced by Ari Schlacht and can be found wherever you get your podcasts. See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.

'Operation Thunderbolt': 50 years to the heroic raid on Entebbe

Welcome to The Reel Schmooze with ToI film reviewer Jordan Hoffman [https://www.timesofisrael.com/writers/jordan-hoffman/] and host Amanda Borschel-Dan [https://www.timesofisrael.com/writers/amanda-borschel-dan/], where we bring you all the entertainment news and film reviews a Jew can use. This week, Borschel-Dan starts the episode with important news: She finally finished "My Name Is Barbra," Barbra Streisand's much-discussed 900+-page autobiography. Turning to the main event: Fifty years since the daring IDF rescue of over 100 hostages from Entebbe, Uganda, we dedicated this week's The Reel Schmooze to two movies, the 1977 feature film "Operation Thunderbolt" and the 2012 documentary, "Live or Die in Entebbe." Shot with the help of the Israeli government only a year after the raid, "Operation Thunderbolt" presents a fictionalized account grounded in the realism of documentary footage of Israeli leaders, including then-prime minister Yitzhak Rabin and defense minister Shimon Peres. Directed and co-written by Menachem Golan, it stars Israeli actor/singer Yehoram Gaon, who plays the head of the sayeret matkal unit, Yoni Netanyahu (the brother of current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu). We hear about other key performances from Klaus Kinski and Sybil Danning playing the villainous German terrorists, as well as appearances from notable Israeli actors. In the final segment of the program, we hear about a documentary that focuses on the family of one of the fallen hostages, Jean-Jacques Mimouni, a 19-year-old French-Israeli. Let's hear who gave these two films an "oy," "meh" or the prized "not bad" this week on The Reel Schmooze. The Reel Schmooze is produced by Ari Schlacht and can be found wherever you get your podcasts. IMAGE: A cheering crowd at Tel Aviv's Ben-Gurion Airport raises a member of the rescue squad which freed the hijack hostages from Uganda earlier in the day, July 4, 1976. In the background is the C-130 transport plane which took part in the raid. The rescuer's face is obscured for security reasons. (AP Photo/Pool) See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.

'What's up, Doc?': Sultry Streisand's screwball meshugas

Welcome to The Reel Schmooze with ToI film reviewer Jordan Hoffman [https://www.timesofisrael.com/writers/jordan-hoffman/] and host Amanda Borschel-Dan [https://www.timesofisrael.com/writers/amanda-borschel-dan/], where we bring you all the entertainment news and film reviews a Jew can use. This week, as Borschel-Dan continues to read Hoffman's recommendation -- "My Name Is Barbra," Barbra Streisand's verrrrry long biography -- we turn to an audience favorite, the 1972 screwball comedy, "What's Up, Doc?" Directed by Peter Bogdanovich, the film is a cleverly stylized updated homage to the golden era of Hollywood. It features Streisand playing a wacky vagabond and hunky Ryan O'Neal as a nerdy musicology prof, plus a slew of then-unknown Jewish stars, including Madeline Kahn. But the real star of the show is the 1970s fashions and cars. Let's hear who gave it an "oy," "meh" or the prized "not bad" this week on The Reel Schmooze. The Reel Schmooze is produced by Ari Schlacht and can be found wherever you get your podcasts. See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.

'Beaufort': How Israel left Lebanon in 2000 with a bang

Welcome to The Reel Schmooze with ToI film reviewer Jordan Hoffman [https://www.timesofisrael.com/writers/jordan-hoffman/] and host Amanda Borschel-Dan [https://www.timesofisrael.com/writers/amanda-borschel-dan/], where we bring you all the entertainment news and film reviews a Jew can use. The duo sat down to record early this week during the confluence of three major events: Iran again struck Israel, the Tonys were awarded, and RUSH played in Los Angeles. Movie maven Hoffman gives us the Jangles from the awards recognizing the best Broadway productions during the 2025–26 season and follows up with all that is Jewish about RUSH. The main feature this week is Joseph Cedar's 2007 "Beaufort," which became all too relevant again when the IDF recaptured the medieval castle early last week. Set in 2000, the blockbuster Israeli film depicts the (then) final week of the IDF's occupation of the famed UNESCO site in southern Lebanon. In the grisly Oscar-nominated movie, we meet -- and lose -- soldier after soldier who are stuck on the besieged rock. As it hits all too close to home for mother-of-soldiers Borschel-Dan, she decides to grade the film according to two scales. Let's hear who gave it an "oy," "meh" or the prized "not bad" this week on The Reel Schmooze. The Reel Schmooze is produced by Ari Schlacht and can be found wherever you get your podcasts. See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.

'Oxygen': An Israeli mother sacrifices all to keep soldier son breathing

Welcome to The Reel Schmooze with ToI film reviewer Jordan Hoffman [https://www.timesofisrael.com/writers/jordan-hoffman/] and host Amanda Borschel-Dan [https://www.timesofisrael.com/writers/amanda-borschel-dan/], where we bring you all the entertainment news and film reviews a Jew can use. This week, we're joined by our first guest, Isaac Zablocki. For over 20 years, Zablocki, the director of film programs at the Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan, has been developing film programs at the JCC, including The Israel Film Center and its annual film festival, a festival focusing on disabilities, ReelAbilities, and the Other Israel Film Festival about Arab and minority populations in Israel. Before turning to the two feature films on the menu this week, we ask Zablocki about the status of boycotts against Israeli films at international festivals and whether his festivals have ever been protested. This year's Israel Film Center Festival is taking place June 9–16 at the Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan (MMJCCM) and expanding to 10 additional venues across the New York Metro Area, including Manhattan, Westchester, Long Island, and New Jersey. The first movie on our bill this week is festival opener, "Love, Statistically Speaking." Directed by Amichai Greenberg, the dark comedy stars actor Yehoram Gaon and Meshi Kleinstein as a grandfather-granddaughter duo on a bizarre whodunnit mission. Next, we review the surrealistic and all-too-realistic film "Oxygen" by Netalie Braun. Set in an Israel beset by war in the north, mother Anat decides how much she is willing to sacrifice to keep her soldier son Ido from fighting in Lebanon. The Reel Schmooze is produced by Ari Schlacht and can be found wherever you get your podcasts. See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.