By Nate Bloom
Contributing Columnist
“Fly Me to the Moon” is a romantic comedy which opens in theaters on July 12. Its set in the late ‘60s, when the U.S. and the Soviet Union race to land on the moon first. A relationship develops between the NASA director in charge of the Apollo 11 mission (Channing Tatum) and a marketing specialist (SCARLETT JOHANSSON, 39) brought in to fix NASA’s public image and stage a back-up fake moon landing.
Curious, I looked up who wrote the hit (1954) song “Fly Me to the Moon.” Long ago, I became interested in the Golden Age (c. 1920-1970), during which most of the most famous song standards were written. I figured out that about 70% of those songs were written by Jews and, along the way, I noticed that a big percentage of Jewish composers were gay and a huge percentage of the non-Jewish composers were gay.
It would take three columns, at least, to try and give my reasons why this is so. Suffice it to say that “Fly Me” was not written by a Jew. But it is a sweet story. Composer Bart Howard (1915-2004), was born Howard Gustafson. He was born and raised in a small Iowa city. He left home when he was 16 and he made a living, for decades, as the accompanying pianist for top singers.
Howard dedicated “Fly Me,” his only big hit, to Thomas Fowler, his life-long partner (together for 58 years when Howard died). Kaye Ballard had a hit (1954) with the first recording of “Fly Me” and Frank Sinatra sang it frequently when the Apollo moon missions were ongoing. Howard said that “Fly Me” royalties allowed him, and Fowler, to have a comfortable life.
“Sausage Party: Foodtopia” is an animated adult, 8 episode Apple+ series. It premieres on July 11. It’s based on the animated film “Sausage Party” (2016). This pretty raunchy film was a surprise big hit with critics and with filmgoers (cost $19M, made $141M). The film was written by SETH ROGEN, 42, EVAN GOLDBERG, 41, ARI SHAFFIR, 50, and JONAH HILL, 40.
The animated characters in the film, and series, are food that are sold out of a grocery store’s deli counter (like a hot dog, sausage, and bagel). As the film opened, the food item characters don’t know that they get eaten by humans. They think that they go to a fictional heaven. Frank, a sausage (voiced by Seth Rogen) discovers the truth and tells all.
About half the characters in the film are in the series. Here are some of the returnees: Rogen, as Frank; Kristen Wiig as Brenda Bunson, a hot dog who is Frank’s love interest; Michael Cera as Barry, a deformed sausage and Frank’s pal; Edward Norton as Sammy Bagel Jr., a neurotic Jewish bagel; and DAVID KRUMHOLTZ, 46, as Kareem Abdul Lavash, a Middle Eastern lavash who has spats with Sammy.
“Me” is a 10 episode Apple+ series that premieres on July 12. It follows Ben, a 12-year-old, who is deep into the usual middle-school stuff (bullies, crushes, dances). He’s coping with this school stuff and a newly blended family when he realizes he has superpowers! Ben goes on a journey to find out what his super powers truly mean. He finds an ally in Max, his 16-year-old stepsister. She helps him harness these powers to uncover secrets behind his town’s mysteries and tragedies.
The series creator and writer, BARRY L. LEVY, 51, told MSN.com: “This is a family show and it is so important to make sure that the show we were made could be watched by adults with or without their kids, that there was enough depth and enough emotion and realism that there was something for everyone.”
Levy grew up in Massachusetts and in Michigan. He got his B.A. from Washington University, St. Louis (1994) and he followed with a U.S.C. degree in producing films and TV. He did well as an industry producer, but after a few years, he concentrated on script writing. Finally, in 2008, a thriller film he wrote, “Vantage,” was made and made some money. (It seems to me that he’s still chasing consistent success in films that he wrote).
In 2005, Levy married STACY B. DAVIS, 52, a top public relations agent. Levy has taught Hebrew and social justice classes at Temple Israel of Hollywood (Los Angeles) in between writing jobs.