The Reel Schmooze

'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.

'A Serious Man': Coen brothers craft the Jewiest film of all

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 learn that famed actress and chanteuse Barbra Streisand received an honorary Palme D’Or at the Cannes Film Festival. Borschel-Dan, who is reading the artist's massive memoir, calls on all podcast fans to send in the names of their favorite Streisand films for a future episode. We then turn to the monumentally Jewish movie, "A Serious Man," written, produced, edited and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen in 2009. Set in 1967 Minnesota, the film focuses on the Gopnik family: father Larry, mother Judith, kids Danny and Sarah, and uncle Arthur. On the surface, the middle-class family appears to be merrily rolling along, anticipating Danny's approaching bar mitzvah. And then everything falls apart and it becomes a very funny retelling of the Book of Job. However, before the movie takes off, the audience is treated to a quote from the great rabbinic sage Rashi and is shown a Yiddish-only shtetl ghost story short -- just... because. Stay tuned for our duo's thoughts on the much-recommended Coen brothers' film, "A Serious Man." 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.

'Cast a Giant Shadow': A 1966 ode to Israel’s first general, Mickey Marcus

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. We roll out with three Jangles -- news with a Jewish angle. Borschel-Dan gives her favorite actress, 96-year-old June Squib, a shoutout for her recent Tony nomination for "Marjorie Prime." Hoffman discusses his recent discovery of a famous Jewish porn star and also the new reboot of "Lord of the Flies" which hints that one of the boys is Jewish. We then turn to "Cast a Giant Shadow," the 1966 biopic of Colonel Mickey Marcus. David Daniel "Mickey" Marcus was a complicated character who was foundational to the organization of what became the Israel Defense Force.  The United States Army colonel, who was later dubbed Israel's first general, was also instrumental at the Nuremberg Trials. Kirk Douglas plays Marcus and the rest of the all-star cast includes Senta Berger, Yul Brynner, John Wayne, Frank Sinatra and Angie Dickinson. The movie maven and our host disagreed about the film, so stick around to see if "Cast a Giant Shadow" gets an "oy," "meh" or "not bad" in this week's 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.

Who wore it better: Bradley Cooper or Maestro Leonard Bernstein?

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 dive straight into our two films for this week, the 2021 documentary "Bernstein's Wall" and Bradley Cooper's 2023 "Maestro." Our two classical music fans begin with the documentary, highlighting the parts of conductor/composer Leonard Bernstein's life that were previously unknown to them. We hear how the movie employs Bernstein himself as its narrator by weaving together clips from dozens of revealing interviews the celebrity gave over his life.  Shifting over to the Hollywood treatment, we zero in on the Maestro's relationship with his wife, Felicia Montealegre Cohn Bernstein. We learn where Cooper stayed true to the contours of the musician's life -- and where he missed the mark. Stick around to see if "Bernstein's Wall" and "Maestro" got an "oy," "meh" or "not bad" in this week's 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.