A rom-com, sci-fi comedy, domestic abuse, a thriller and much more

Stars of David

By Nate Bloom, Stars of David Contributing Columnist

Editor’s Note: Persons in bold are deemed by Nate Bloom to be Jewish for the purpose of this column. Persons identified as Jewish have at least one Jewish parent and were not raised in, or identify with, a faith other than Judaism. Converts to Judaism, of course, are also identified as Jewish.

“Fly Me to the Moon”

The romantic comedy “Fly Me to the Moon” opens in theaters on July 12. It's 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.

As I have noted before, Johansson is the daughter of a Danish (not Jewish) father who settled in New York City and an American Jewish mother. While not religious, the actress identifies as Jewish. Fun fact –Johansson went to her high school prom with Jack Antonoff, now 40. He’s a top music producer (Taylor Swift is now his biggest client) and a popular rock musician. He’s won a slew of Grammys and, last April, TIME Magazine listed him as one of the “100 Most Influential Persons in the World.” Eleven other Jews also “made” the list.

“Borderlands”

This sci-fi action, comedy film opens in theaters on Aug. 9. It was directed and cowritten by Eli Roth, 51, and is also based on a video game series of the same name. It follows Lillith (Cate Blanchett) an infamous outlaw who forms an unexpected alliance with a team of misfits to find the missing daughter of the most powerful man in the universe. Her “crew” includes a robot named Claptrack (voiced by Jack Black, 54), Dr. Patricia Tannis (Jamie Lee Curtis, 65) and Mad Moxxi (Gina Gershon, 61).

It Ends with Us”

The movie “It Ends with Us,” based on a best-selling 2016 novel of the same name, also opens on Aug. 9. As the film opens, Lily Bloom (Blake Lively) has just moved to Boston to open a florist shop. Just before her move, her mother told her that her late father physically abused her.

In Boston, Lily meets Ryle, a handsome neurosurgeon. By coincidence, Allysa (Jenny Slate, 42), Ryle’s sister, goes to work for Lily, and they become best friends. Ryle and Lily briefly date, break up, and get back together again. Then, one day (for no reason), Ryle forcefully pushes Lily down, but she forgives him. They get married on a whim, and Allysa is delighted by their marriage. Then, Ryle seriously abuses Lily after she had an innocent contact with an old boyfriend. They break up but reconcile just long enough for Lily to get pregnant. Lily leaves Ryle for good after the baby’s birth, and Alyssa supports Lily throughout.

“Blink Twice”

A thriller action film “Blink Twice” opens in theaters on Aug. 23. Capsule plot: A cocktail waitress (Naomi Ackie) becomes infatuated with a tech mogul (Channing Tatum) and travels with him to his private island where things begin to go wrong. Simon Rex, 49, has a big supporting role.

The film was directed and co-written by Zoe Kravitz (“Blink” is the first film she has directed). She is the daughter of rock star Lenny Kravitz and actress Lisa Bonet, 56.

Lenny’s late father was Jewish; his mother was Black and not Jewish. Bonet’s father was Black, and her mother was Jewish. As an adult, Lenny opted to identify as a Christian. Bonet’s beliefs are “murky.” Zoe defines herself as a “secular Jew.”

Zoe, 35, has starred in many hit films and TV series. They include the “Divergent” film trilogy; the HBO series “Big Little Lies;” and “High Fidelity,” a Hulu series.

“Sunny”

“Sunny” is a dark comedy TV series that premieres July 10 on Apple+ TV. Rashida Jones, 48, stars as Suzie Sakamoto, an American married to a Japanese scientist, who creates sophisticated robots.

Suzie’s husband and her son vanish in a plane crash. After the crash, her husband’s company gives Suzie one of their best robots, named Sunny. Sunny and Suzie set out to find the truth behind the crash and disappearances.

Jones is the daughter of the late actress Peggy Lipton and famous African American music producer Quincy Jones. She identifies strongly as Jewish.

“Lady in the Lake”

A 7-episode limited series, “Lady in the Lake” premieres on Apple+ July 19. Here’s the set-up: In the 1960s, a bored Jewish housewife (Natalie Portman, 42) leaves her husband and moves to downtown Baltimore to become an investigative reporter. She soon begins unraveling the mystery behind the murder of a Black bartender and a young Jewish girl.

The series, based on the best-selling novel of the same name, was directed by Alma Har’el, 45, an Israeli American. Har'el also wrote the series scripts. Mikey Madison, 25, and Brett Gelman, 47, have major supporting roles.