I promised today would be more upbeat than yesterday’s post which talked about the potential end of civilization as we know it. In other words, the task I gave myself was easy.

So let’s leave politics and climate change, and talk about what I have recently seen on screens:

(1) The program of the Haberman Institute last night was on the Rosenwald Schools and the work being done to create a National Monument honoring Julius Rosenwald, who was a part owner and executive of Sears, Roebuck, and a major philanthropist. The program, featuring four individuals involved in the Rosenwald Foundation, says it all, and will be available on the Haberman site (habermaninstitute.org) within the next few days. Rosenwald, who became enormously wealthy from the success of Sears, gave away a lot of money, some to Jewish causes, but most (I think) to causes supporting Black Americans. Foremost among those efforts was the building of what are now known as the Rosenwald schools across the South to educate Black children who often had had no schools which they could attend. We are not talking about two or three schools; we are talking about almost 5,000 schools. And the success of these schools can be measured in part by the success of their well known graduates. If you don’t know the story, you will learn a lot by watching the program (it’s about 90 minutes). And by watching Aviva Kempner’s documentary about Rosenwald released about eight years ago, titled simply “Rosenwald” (although I am not sure this film is currently available to stream).

There were something over 200 viewers tuned into the program last night. Go to the Haberman website and see what is coming up. Most programs are on Zoom, and most are free. The next one, which I am introducing, will be on December 18, and will feature Professor Amit Schejter of Ben Gurion University of the Negev, and will be on diversity in Israeli society and its relationship to the current war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip. There are more than 200 other programs available to stream on the Haberman site.

(2) We took a rare trip to an actual movie theater Sunday to see the new Paul Giamatti film “Holdovers”, which has received such good reviews. It is, generally, a film about a peculiar, and seemingly one dimensional, teacher at a New England boarding school, who has been selected to be the faculty member assigned to stay with the few students who have nowhere to go over the Christmas holidays and who will be holding over at school. There are three stars of the film, Giamatti who plays the teacher, young Dominic Sessa who plays a student, and Davine Joy Randolph, who plays the head of the school’s kitchen and who is also alone for the holidays. Sessa graduated from the Deerfield Academy, one of the boarding schools where “Holdovers” was filmed, in 2022. All three actors do a more than credible job.

But it’s a strange film in a way that I have never found a film to be strange before. I found the first half of the film absolutely dead, boring, worthless, a waste. But the second half of the film picked up the pace, actually developed a plot, and brought out the humanity of the three main characters. I felt like I was watching the film before the weak parts were edited out, like watching a first draft.

Would I recommend you watch it? I wouldn’t tell you to stay away, but I wouldn’t suggest you run to your nearest theater, either. I don’t think the enjoyable second half completely made up for the worthless first half. So maybe I should tell you to stay away. Or better, wait until you can stream it at home….for free, and you can fast forward the first hour.

(3) We finished watching the third year of the French Netflix series, “Lupin”. Seven episodes. Worth it? Sure. You know the series? Omar Sy (a very appealing fellow) plays Assanne Diop, a master thief, a master of disguise and a master escape artist, who bases his exploits on the exploits of Arsene Lupin, a fictional master thief, master of disguise and master escape artist, who was the creation of French author Maurice LeBlanc, who wrote a series of books over the first three or so decades of the 20th century.

Diop baffled the police in Paris, even Detective Youseff Guedira, a police officer who is also familiar with the Lupin books, and who recognizes Diop’s game plans.

The thefts are not random – they involve very big ticket items (a diamond necklace once owned by Marie Antoinette, a Manet oil, a black pearl from Tahiti, and a diamond and ruby bracelet), and the reasons for each theft are related to events in Diop’s life – so what he is trying to do is part revenge, and part fun, and part just ways to evidence his confidence in himself.

The plots are complicated – we found ourselves having to struggle to remember, each time we turned on an episode, exactly what had happened in the previous episode. But don’t let that discourage you. It is all fun.

This one I do recommend.

(4) On the other hand, stay away from the 2023 Netflix film “Fair Play”. It’s the story of a young couple, both analysts for a flashy hedge fund in New York City, madly in love with each other. They get engaged – but they can’t tell anyone because of a strong anti-nepotism policy at the hedge fund. Then, one of the two, the woman, gets a promotion and the man resents it. That’s when the film begins to convert into a horror film – everything bad happens: he rapes her, she stabs him. It’s a really awful film.

Why did we watch it? Because, believe it or not, a friend (you know who you are) recommended it. Told us it was “very powerful”. I told him that out of 5 stars, I’d give it a 0.

(5) Having nothing to do with a screen, let me add one thing. I had my annual lunch with two of my college roommates (it’s been an annual lunch – it’s now been changed to a twice yearly lunch) at First Watch in Bowie MD. We go to Bowie because one of them is in Annapolis – and this is sorta half way. I have been to various First Watches maybe a half dozen times, and it is THE BEST place for breakfast or a casual lunch. Why isn’t there one NW DC? (Rhetorical question, but I think they are franchised, so……if you’re interested)

That’s it. Good News Tuesday. No tacos.