By Nate Bloom
Contributing Columnist
On May 23, AppleTV+ begins streaming “Fountain of Youth.” (This film is free for Apple subscribers.) Here’s the official premise: “A pair of estranged siblings team up and embark on a journey to find the famed Fountain of Youth.”
NATALIE PORTMAN, 43, and John Krasinski play the estranged siblings.
Guy Ritchie directed the film and he describes it as a family-friendly, action-adventure film. He told “Entertainment Weekly”: “[the film] is in the vein of ‘Indiana Jones’ but contemporary.” He added that the sibling characters both have an archeological background.
By the way, last April, Portman gave a long, very personal interview to “Interview” magazine. She said that as a child actor, she was “really sexualized,” which she felt “very scared by.”
It caused her to develop an outward persona as a strategy to shield herself. She said: “My way of protecting myself was to be like, ‘I’m so serious. I’m so studious. I’m smart, and that’s not the kind of girl you attack.’ I was like, if I create this image of myself, I’ll be left alone.” Portman added: “Early on if you tell people how private you are, your privacy gets respected a lot more.”
“The Last Rodeo” is a drama that will open in theaters on May 23. Here’s the premise: To save his grandson, a retired rodeo star (Neal McDonough) enters a high stakes bull-riding competition. Along the way, he confronts his past and discovers the power of faith and family.
McDonough co-wrote the film. JON AVNET, 75, who directed the film, is McDonough’s co-writer. Avnet began his showbiz career as a producer, and his first film was a huge hit (“Risky Business,” 1983).
The first film he directed, “Fried Green Tomatoes,” (1991) was a huge hit, too. He has directed about ten more films (some hits, some flops) and he has also directed and produced quite a few TV series.
You might have heard of Avnet electronics, a very big company still very much in business. It was founded by Jon’s grandfather and it was run by Jon’s father for a time. The Avnet family no longer controls the company. They were bought out (for mucho gelt) years ago.
And here’s a Hollywood shocker: Jon will celebrate his 50th wedding anniversary in 2025. He’s married to his one and only Jewish wife, artist BARBARA BRODY AVNET. They have three adult children.
On May 9, a movie titled “Lilly,” about Lilly Ledbetter, opened in theaters and the reviews were terrible. The NY Times and others called it disjointed and that it was too sugary — like a Lifetime Channel movie. Then I caught Patricia Clarkson talking about playing Ledbetter, and it made me look for a little bit more about JON GOLDFARB, Lilly’s attorney. He’s a major character in the film.
Ledbetter found out that she was being paid (for years) much less than men doing the same job in a Birmingham, Alabama tire factory. Goldfarb, now 61, took her case and she sued and they won a big jury case ($3.8 million in damages). But the Supreme Court narrowly overruled the jury (2006). They said that she didn’t sue soon enough. In 2009, Congress passed the Fair Pay Act. It overturned the Court’s ruling by giving persons, like Ledbetter, a much longer time to bring a suit.
I didn’t write anything about “Lilly” before the movie’s opening because there wasn’t a Jewish connection other than Goldfarb, who I assumed was Jewish. But I didn’t dig out a confirmation.
I just found a well-written site called “Bham Now.” It posted an article (2018) titled “10 Jewish Influencers in Birmingham.” I was happy to learn that even a deep-south city has some really cool, interesting Jews.
Goldfarb, a top attorney, is one of the 10 (a minyan!). The following quote in the “Bham Now” article made me write about Goldfarb. He told “Bham Now,” “I would like the rest of the world to recognize what a vibrant and diverse city Birmingham is today. My work is influenced by the Jewish value of the equality of all humanity.”
SARAH SILVERMAN’s new Netflix stand-up special, “Post-Mortem,” began streaming on May 20. The trailer for the special somewhat explains the unusual title. She opens before an audience and says this: “My dad and my stepmom, Janice, both died last May, nine days apart. And, ooh, that one needs work.”
Silverman, 54, earned genuine laughs for her dark remark. It has to do with her facial expressions and the way she dropped her statement. The official Netflix release says: “She hilariously navigates the absurdities of death with her signature wit, from unexpectedly finding the ‘deal of a lifetime’ while planning their funerals to cherishing the bittersweet experience of hearing her mother’s last words.”