The Reel Schmooze

Welcome to The Reel Schmooze with ToI film reviewer Jordan Hoffman and host Amanda Borschel-Dan, where we bring you all the entertainment news and film reviews a Jew can use.

This week, the pair speaks about two films, "Eleanor the Great," directed by Scarlett Johansson, and the documentary, "Son of a Seeker," by first-time filmmaker Kai Balin.

But first, we hear in this week's "Jangle" segment, Hoffman recounts the recent votes of the New York Film Critics Circle for their annual "best-ofs," which are also known as the “Elite Oscars.”

Next, we turn to two news items surrounding "Eleanor the Great." The first is that first-time director Scarlett Johansson said in an interview that she was asked by a would-be financial backer to change her film’s plot away from the Holocaust. And then we also heard this week that one of the Holocaust survivors featured in the film, Sami Steigmann, was asked not to speak at a Brooklyn middle school about antisemitism due to his pro-Israel views.

We then review the film "Eleanor the Great," directed by Johansson and written by Tory Kamen. It stars the great June Squibb, Erin Kellyman, Jessica Hecht, and Chiwetel Ejiofor.

Then we turn to the independent documentary "Son of a Seeker," which is being shown at some Jewish film festivals, and learn about the unusual story of a third-generation Holocaust survivor who learns, after attending Jewish day school and contemplating immigration to Israel, he may not be Jewish after all.

Hear who gave both films a seal of approval on this week's The Reel Schmooze.

The Reel Schmooze is produced by the PodWaves and can be found wherever you get your podcasts.

IMAGE: June Squibb, left, and Scarlett Johansson attend the special screening of "Eleanor the Great", hosted by Sony Pictures Classics and The Cinema Society, at Village East by Angelika on Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025, in New York. (Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

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Welcome to The Reel Schmooze with ToI film reviewer Jordan Hoffman and host Amanda Borschel-Dan, where we bring you all the entertainment news and film reviews a Jew can use.

This week, the pair speaks about two films, a feminist independent Iranian documentary called "Cutting Through Rocks," which won an international documentary award at the Sundance Film Festival in January, and the 1990 Thanksgiving classic, "Avalon."

But first, in the entertainment news section we call the "Jangle," Borschel-Dan tells Hoffman about the rise and fall of the Israeli rock opera, "Shaul," by Israeli musician Shlomo Artzi.

We also hear a listener's feedback on a point of Jewish law raised in last week's discussion over "Bad Shabbos."

Hear who gave both films a seal of approval and which was a split decision on this week's The Reel Schmooze.

The Reel Schmooze is produced by the PodWaves and can be found wherever you get your podcasts.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome to The Reel Schmooze with ToI film reviewer Jordan Hoffman and host Amanda Borschel-Dan, where we bring you all the entertainment news and film reviews a Jew can use.

This week, the pair speaks about two films -- the new-ish, Jewish, "Bad Shabbos," and the classic Mel Brooks's "History of the World, Part I."

But first, we turn to the segment, "What's the Jangle," in which we discuss two tidbits of Jewish entertainment news.

Hoffman gives a tiny peek at the upcoming super Jewy film starring Timothée Chalamet, "Marty Supreme," which he saw in previews this week.

And then we hear Pope Leo's top four films of all time. (Spoiler: three of them are very Jewy.) And, which questionable film personality was quoted by the pope at a Vatican event?

Next, we get to "The Main Screening," in which the duo first discusses "Bad Shabbos," which one half of the team absolutely loved and the other gave a pretty warm review.

And then, we move to the classic, "History of the World, Part I," which Borschel-Dan buckled down and watched for the first time.

Hear who gave both films a seal of approval and which was a split decision on this week's The Reel Schmooze.

The Reel Schmooze is produced by the PodWaves and can be found wherever you get your podcasts.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome to The Reel Schmooze with ToI film reviewer Jordan Hoffman and host Amanda Borschel-Dan, where we bring you all the entertainment news and film reviews a Jew can use.

This week, the pair introduces the concept of the new show, including the segment, “What’s the Jangle,” in which they discuss two tidbits of Jewish entertainment news.

We hear how “The Real Pain” creator Jesse Eisenberg is willing to go under the knife to donate a kidney to a perfect stranger. And we learn about two brave Hollywood actresses — Meryl Streep and Sigourney Weaver — who haven’t joined the boycott Israel movement and are signed on to work with Israeli director Joseph Ceder in his upcoming thriller.

Next, we get to “The Main Screening,” a segment in which the duo discusses two films: the newly released Natalie Portman project, “Arco,” and 2024’s “Thelma” starring 96-year-old June Squibb.

Hear which films get the seal of approval from our team and which was a split decision on this week’s The Reel Schmooze.

The Reel Schmooze can be found wherever you get your podcasts.

IMAGE: Jordan Hoffman (courtesy) / Israeli actress, director, producer Natalie Portman arrives for the screening of the film 'Arco' at the 78th edition of the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, southern France, on May 16, 2025. (Bertrand GUAY / AFP)

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome to The Reel Schmooze with ToI film reviewer Jordan Hoffman and host Amanda Borschel-Dan, where we bring you all the entertainment news and film reviews a Jew can use. 

In this episode zero, the duo beta-tests their soon-to-be-launched podcast series — so new it did not yet have a name — in which they will deliver entertainment news from a Jewish angle (aka Jangle) and review one new or noteworthy film.

This week, the pair first discusses the growing boycott of Israeli filmmakers at international festivals. Hoffman weighs in on how this is misfiring when it comes to some of the more prominent -- and very left-wing -- Israeli artists.

Next, we hear about "Nuremberg," the Hollywood treatment of the Nuremberg Trials, which began in November 1945, launching the field of international law.

In the film, psychiatrist Douglas Kelley (Rami Malek) is ordered to evaluate whether Hermann Göring (Russell Crowe) is fit to stand trial. As the highest-ranking surviving Nazi military commander, to the Allied lawyers, Göring is the "big fish" that must be landed.

Borschel-Dan and Hoffman give their differing opinions of the movie and agree to disagree.

The Reel Schmooze can be heard wherever you find your podcasts.

 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.