CELEBRITY NEWS
A MYSTERY ON THE RESERVATION, CHARITY SAVES A RICH LADY, AN ARTY BIO-PIC Dark Winds is an eight-episode psychological thriller that began streaming on AMC and AMC+ on June 12. It is based on a series of bestselling and critically acclaimed novels written by the late Tony Hillerman. The books, and the AMC series, center on two Native American reservation police officers. Noah Emmerich, 57, has a major supporting role in Dark Winds as Whitover, a burned-out FBI agent whose career is dying. It’s nice to note that Dark Winds is a big hit with critics. Earlier this year, Emmerich played another FBI agent in the Apple TV+ mystery/ thriller series Suspicion. The first episode was interesting, and the acting was fine. However, I joined most critics in thinking it didn’t provide enough clever twists to justify watching eight onehour episodes. Loot is a 10-episode comedy that begins streaming on Apple TV+ on June 24.
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Noah Emmerich
Maya Rudolph
Molly Novak (Maya Rudolph, 47) lives a dream-like, luxurious life. She is married to a super-duper-rich high-tech billionaire (played by Adam Scott). Then, suddenly, her whole life crashes when she discovers her husband has been cheating on her. She goes into a major depression that is not relieved when she snares a world-record $87 billion divorce settlement. Molly is brought out of her blues when she gets a call from Sofia, an employee of Molly’s charitable foundation — a foundation Molly didn’t even know she had. Molly latches on to Sofia, and the foundation staff, as a lifeline out of her depression. Molly’s new life purpose is to help others with her riches. Of course, there’s a lot of humor contrasting the rich cocoon that Molly has long lived-in with “the real world.” Nat Faxon, 46, has a co-starring, “main cast” role. He plays Arthur, an accountant. Faxon has many comedy series acting credits and he was the co-winner of a best screenplay Oscar (The Descendants, 2011). His mother is Jewish, and he’s secular. Faxon’s maternal grandfather fled Nazi Germany in 1938.
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NATE BLOOM COLUMNIST
THE AMAZING BILLY WILDER Another refugee from the Nazis, the truly amazing director/writer Billy Wilder (1906-2002), is going to be the subject of an upcoming “sort-of” bio-pic. I was excited when the film was announced a couple of weeks ago. Then details about the film came out, and I’m not so happy. I think the planned film probably won’t be of interest to anyone except the “really arty.” Who was Wilder? Well, many say he was the greatest “all-around” film creator of the 20th century — the depth and breadth of his talents is astonishing. There is really no way to briefly convey his incredible life and his works. But I’ll try to make you curious enough to read a long bio online. He was born Shmuel Vild to middle-class Polish Jewish parents. The whole family moved to Vienna around 1920. Wilder was a journalist in Vienna, before moving to Berlin in 1926. By 1929, he was a screenwriter. The hit films he wrote or co-write ushered in a new era of realism in the German cinema. He fled from the Nazis in 1933 and settled in America. He learned English by listening to the radio hour after hour for several months. Months after he learned English, he began writing really good American (English) movie scripts for Hollywood studios. His first big hit (as a writer) was the great comedy Ninotchka (1939). He co-wrote more hits and was given a chance to direct in 1942. The third film he directed (and co-wrote) was the classic film-noir Double Indemnity (1944). He went on to direct and
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ARTS&LIFE
Billy Wilder in 1989
co-write classic after classic. Some were dramas and many were comedies. Here are the biggest hits: Sunset Boulevard, Stalag 17, Lost Weekend, Sabrina, Witness for the Prosecution, Some Like It Hot, The Apartment and The Fortune Cookie. He won six Oscars (two for directing, four for screenplays). The film about Wilder is based on a novel by Brit writer Jonathan Coe about the making of Fedora (1978), a Wilder film that got mostly bad reviews when it opened and flopped at the box office. Its reputation has really risen over the years. Stephen Frears, 80, a top British director, will helm the bio-pic. Oscar-winner Christoph Waltz, a Vienna native, will play Wilder. Both have Jewish ties — Frears’ mother was Jewish, and his wife is Jewish. Waltz’s first wife was Jewish, and their three children were raised Jewish. In interviews, Wilder was a funny, smart man with an infectious joy-of-life personality. I think a film about Wilder making a very hardto-make film that flopped almost can’t help but “bury” the “delightful” Wilder I’ve seen myself. I hope I am wrong. JUNE 23 • 2022
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