November 9, 2007

Movie of the Week- Steal a Pencil for Me
Being a nice Jewish girl from Long Island, I have seen my share of Holocaust documentaries. They are usually so disturbing that I tend to spend the next week incredibly depressed. That's what I expected when I watched the new documentary Steal a Pencil for Me, but that was not the case. Turns out Steal a Pencil for Me is an uplifting and hopeful love story told through the backdrop of the Holocaust.

In this compelling story by Academy Award nominee Michele Ohayon, the lovers Jack Polak and Ina Soep first meet at a party in Amsterdam in 1943. There are several big problems they must overcome to be together, the first is Jack's unhappy marriage, and the second is Hitler. Soon after meeting, they are both deported to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp and it is under those brutal circumstances that their love blossoms shown through the letters they wrote to each other.

Amazingly, they both survived and just celebrated 60 years of marriage. An incredibly hopeful story born out of a time of deep despair.

Opens in NY and LA today.
More Info: Steal a Pencil for Me

Also opening: War Dance co-directed by Andrea Nix Fine and Sean Fine
War Dance

News
Katee Sackhoff is really the only thing working in the disappointingly bland Bionic Woman.
Woman of Steel (Backstage)

An all-black revival of Cat on a Hit Tin Roof directed by Debbie Allen will open on Broadway in March. (Variety)

Winona Ryder has been cast as Spock's mother in the new Star Trek movie directed by JJ Abrams. In another case of Hollywood fantasy casting, Ryder is only 6 years older than Zachary Quinto who was cast as Spock. Wouldn't it make sense to cast someone who could actually be his mother to play his mother?

The Color Purple has figure out how to get African Americans to the theatre.
Color Purple a Family Affair (Variety)

Piece on Nicole Kidman who has two films coming up, Margot at the Wedding and the Golden Compass.
Nicole Kidman (USA Today)

Tube Tonight
Citizen Ruth- one of the funniest abortion dramas. Stars Laura Dern. (FLIX, 8pm)