By Nate Bloom
Contributing Columnist
“Mountainhead,” an original HBO film, begins streaming on May 31. Here is the official description: [The film] “follows a group of tech billionaires who get together on a remote mountaintop during an international crisis. With nations teetering politically and economically, these titans game out the crisis for their gain, with each potential move impacting their net worths, their friendship, and the future of humanity as we know it.”
This sounds totally serious, but other publicity says that “Mountainhead” is a (high-level) satirical comedy.
Four billionaires are the main cast. They are played by Steve Carrell, Cory Michael Smith, Rami Youseff, and JASON SCHWARTZMAN, 44.
This film may be special: it was directed and written by Jesse Armstrong, the creator and writer of “Succession” (2018-23), a hit HBO series. Armstrong won four Emmys for “Succession” (best writing for a drama series).
NICOLAS BRITELL, 44, composed the film’s music. Hiring him is another sign that this film is aiming to be very good. Britell has eight Emmy nominations (won once for “Succession”) and two Oscar nominations.
“Stick” is a sports feel-good comedy series (10 episodes) that begins streaming on AppleTV+ on June 4. Premise: Price Cahill (Owen Wilson) is a washed-up pro golfer. But, maybe, he will revive his golf career by coaching Santi, a troubled 17-year-old golf phenom. MARC MARON, 61, has a big supporting role.
“Dept. Q” is a Netflix original series that begins streaming on May 29. The central character is Carl Morck (Matthew Goode), a very sharp Scottish police detective who screws-up and is sent to the department’s cold case unit. This is the unit that most police officers are assigned to after they screw-up. They call it “purgatory.” But, there’s a way out of purgatory: a cold case Morck is assigned to heats-up and he runs with it.
“Dept. Q” was written and directed by SCOTT FRANK, 65, an American Jew. He wrote and directed two of the best Netflix original series: “Godless” (2018), a Western that got five Emmy nominations and “The Queen’s Gambit” (2021). It was about a top female chess player in the 60s. “Gambit” won the Emmy for Frank’s directing, and it won the best limited series Emmy. Bottom line: Its Frank. It has to be good.
Here’s a Scott Frank “Jewish sidelight” worth noting. In 2018, Frank gave a radio interview about “Godless” with TERRY GROSS, now 74, the radio host of “Fresh Air,” an acclaimed NPR program. I wrote this in 2018: Frank was asked about the moving last scene of the series in which a pastor recites a beautiful prayer for those killed saving their mining town. Frank surprised Gross by saying that it was a poem, “Tis a Fearful Thing” by JUDAH HALEVI (1075-1141), the famous Spanish Jewish physician, poet and philosopher. He said he came across it, years ago, and he knew it would work in this scene.
“Godless” created a burst of internet publicity for the poem Here’s the poem. Save it for the right time(s) in your life:
‘Tis a fearful thing to love what death can touch./A fearful thing to love, to hope, to dream, to be –/to be, And oh, to lose./A thing for fools, this,/And a holy thing, a holy thing to love./ For your life has lived in me, your laugh once lifted me, your word was gift to me./To remember this brings painful joy.
I recently found out that the poem was not written by Halevi. Many sources long said Halevi was the author — and some still say that. I don’t know how this error began.
This very moving, short poem was written by Rabbi CHAIM STERN (1930-2001), a prominent Reform rabbi and scholar. Google him and you’ll find long bio/obits.
A friend of mine recently dug-out the Jewish background of a newly-popular singer-songwriter and shared that info with me. The artist goes by the name Sombr. His birth name is SHANE BOOSE. He’s 19.
Music: Sombr’s first songs were released in 2023. In 2025, his songs “Back to Friends” (100 million streams on Spotify) and “Undressed” (more than 100 million Spotify streams) became breakout hits, leading to his first appearances on multiple charts across the world, including the Billboard Hot 100.
My friend told me that Shane’s maternal grandfather was Sephardi (Morrocco) and his maternal grandmother was Ashkenazi (Poland). His parents (BENNAH SERFATY and Andrew Boose, Jr.) were employed by AMFAR, the foundation for AIDS research, when they wed in 2003. The NY Times said a village justice presided over their wedding.
