"Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg!" (excellent) and "Extract" (good)
[Note: I saw and thoroughly enjoyed the well-made, engrossing, and sometimes uncomfortably thought-provoking "District 9" two weeks ago, but forgot to review it here. If you've somehow not heard of this film, I strongly urge you to go see it.]
I saw the new comedy film "Extract" last night with a friend (since she's been laid off and I may be laid off in a few days, we only saw an evening show because she has 'cool mom' points with the assistant manager of a local multiplex, who was her son's best friend in high school and now gives her free movie tickets when he's on duty), and I laughed ALOT.
Ben Affleck as the spacey bartender with unfailingly bad advice for Jason Bateman's character was perhaps my favorite bit, and I kept expecting complications that the (in the end, relatively simple) script didn't deliver, but it was a fun evening at the movies.
I wouldn't have paid full price for it, but if I'd spent $7 on a matinee ticket I wouldn't have felt ripped-off.
Then, today after lunch I went to see "Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg!" by myself, since I remembered hearing a little something about Gertrude Berg and her role in early television in some Bravo special or something, a year or two ago (just enough to make me realize that this is someone who should be alot better known than she is today), and reading the NY Times review made me even more eager to see this documentary.
In case (like me, for most of my life) you've never heard of Gertrude Berg, she's the radio and television pioneer who won the first Emmy for best actress for her role as Mollie Goldberg in the TV show ("The Goldebergs") which she created, wrote, and produced, as well as starred in (based on the radio show she'd created in 1929 and which was continuously on the air until 1945), and who pretty much created the TV sit-com, as well as winning a Tony for a later Broadway role, fighting the blacklist during the McCarthy era, etc.. For several years, Gertrude Berg was routinely listed as the second-most-admired woman in America (close behind Eleanor Roosevelt).
This documentary (produced with a lot of love, as well as a lot of talent and skill) is more than deserving of every glowing review.
It's a WONDERFUL film about a now little-known woman who wrote over 12,000 scripts for her own radio and television shows in her lifetime, and did a lot to expand the definition of the American family and provide a counter-voice to the antisemitic broadcasts of Father Coughlin and others.
See it if you get the chance!
The film includes lots of clips and recordings from the radio and television shows, and fascinating commentaries from Gertrude Berg's co-workers, friends, and family, as well as entertainers like Norman Lear and people who grew up listening to and watching "The Goldbergs", including Ruth Bader Ginsburg (who mentions that in her second decision, another Justice accidentally called her "Mrs. Goldberg" rather than "Ginsburg", and she decided to take that as a compliment) and NPR's Susan Stamberg, as well as many other fans from widely different ethnic, geographic, and religious backgrounds, all of whom regarded the Goldbergs as part of THEIR family.
I saw the new comedy film "Extract" last night with a friend (since she's been laid off and I may be laid off in a few days, we only saw an evening show because she has 'cool mom' points with the assistant manager of a local multiplex, who was her son's best friend in high school and now gives her free movie tickets when he's on duty), and I laughed ALOT.
Ben Affleck as the spacey bartender with unfailingly bad advice for Jason Bateman's character was perhaps my favorite bit, and I kept expecting complications that the (in the end, relatively simple) script didn't deliver, but it was a fun evening at the movies.
I wouldn't have paid full price for it, but if I'd spent $7 on a matinee ticket I wouldn't have felt ripped-off.
Then, today after lunch I went to see "Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg!" by myself, since I remembered hearing a little something about Gertrude Berg and her role in early television in some Bravo special or something, a year or two ago (just enough to make me realize that this is someone who should be alot better known than she is today), and reading the NY Times review made me even more eager to see this documentary.
In case (like me, for most of my life) you've never heard of Gertrude Berg, she's the radio and television pioneer who won the first Emmy for best actress for her role as Mollie Goldberg in the TV show ("The Goldebergs") which she created, wrote, and produced, as well as starred in (based on the radio show she'd created in 1929 and which was continuously on the air until 1945), and who pretty much created the TV sit-com, as well as winning a Tony for a later Broadway role, fighting the blacklist during the McCarthy era, etc.. For several years, Gertrude Berg was routinely listed as the second-most-admired woman in America (close behind Eleanor Roosevelt).
This documentary (produced with a lot of love, as well as a lot of talent and skill) is more than deserving of every glowing review.
It's a WONDERFUL film about a now little-known woman who wrote over 12,000 scripts for her own radio and television shows in her lifetime, and did a lot to expand the definition of the American family and provide a counter-voice to the antisemitic broadcasts of Father Coughlin and others.
See it if you get the chance!
The film includes lots of clips and recordings from the radio and television shows, and fascinating commentaries from Gertrude Berg's co-workers, friends, and family, as well as entertainers like Norman Lear and people who grew up listening to and watching "The Goldbergs", including Ruth Bader Ginsburg (who mentions that in her second decision, another Justice accidentally called her "Mrs. Goldberg" rather than "Ginsburg", and she decided to take that as a compliment) and NPR's Susan Stamberg, as well as many other fans from widely different ethnic, geographic, and religious backgrounds, all of whom regarded the Goldbergs as part of THEIR family.