Black, white, Jewish
“The Black Swan,” a psychological thriller, opens in a couple of San Francisco theaters on Friday, Dec. 3, with many more Bay Area theaters being added on Dec. 10. It appears, from advance reviews, that there’s no explicit Jewish content in the film — but a remarkable number of MOTs are associated with the movie. The director is Darren Aronofsky (“The Wrestler”). Sadly, Aronofsky and his fiancée of five years, actress Rachel Weisz, 40, recently announced their split-up. They have a 4-year-old son.
“Swan” stars Natalie Portman, 29, as Nina, a talented New York City ballet dancer. Her company is mounting “Swan Lake” and the director decides to replace the prima ballerina (played by Winona Ryder, 39) with a new face. The role requires a dancer who can play the innocent White Swan, as well as the Black Swan, a figure who represents guile and sensuality. Nina is perfect for the White Swan; but a rivalry emerges when dancer Lily (Mila Kunis, 27) joins the company. Lily seems equally perfect as the Black Swan. Lily and Nina’s rivalry soon mutates into a twisted friendship that brings out Nina’s dark and reckless side. Barbara Hershey, 62, appears in a smallish role as Nina’s supportive but overbearing mother. (Hershey, like Ryder, is the daughter of a Jewish father and non-Jewish mother.)
Small-screen notes
If you get the cable station BBC America, tune in to the episode of “The Graham Norton Show” airing at 10 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 4 (encore showing at 1 a.m. Dec. 5). Norton usually runs a very entertaining, “loose” talk show — he gives his guests the time to really show off their wit and other talents. His Dec. 4 guests are two very witty people — Bette Midler, 64, and British actor/comedian/writer Stephen Fry, 53 (Fry’s late mother was Jewish).
Comedian Bob Saget, 54, hosts the new A&E cable reality show “Bob Saget’s Strange Days.” The six-episode series started on Nov. 30 and new episodes air at 10 p.m. Tuesdays. (See listings for extensive encore showings). Saget has had dual careers. He was G-rated as the host of “America’s Funniest Home Videos” and when he co-starred on the family sit-com “Full House.” At other times, Saget is pretty raunchy — his stand-up routines are very “blue” and he’s a real foul mouth when he plays a wacky version of himself on HBO’s “Entourage.”
I suspect the real people in his new A&E show who don’t know the “raunchy Bob” will be surprised at what comes out of his mouth. “Strange Days” features Saget visiting with members of various subcultures. In the first episode, he rides (in a sidecar) with a group of hard-core motorcycle riders. In later episodes, he visits with a survivalist cult, frat boys during pledge week and kids at a summer camp.
Rachel Zoe, 39, the fashion stylist who is star of the Bravo reality series “The Rachel Zoe Project,” is pregnant. Her husband of 12 years is businessman Rodger Berman. There long had been rumors that she was expecting. But these rumors were met by catty Internet blog talk that Zoe (born Rachel Zoe Rosenzweig) was too skinny to get pregnant (she’s a size 00). On Nov. 17, Zoe ended the guessing game via a Twitter message confirming her pregnancy.
Adam Richman, 36, is best known as the host of the hit Travel Channel series “Man v. Food,” in which he almost always is able to beat a restaurant’s challenge and consume a huge and/or spicy portion of food. This sounds like a “shlubby” talent — but Richman, who has a Yale graduate degree, is actually a very literate, well-spoken guy. His new book, “America the Edible,” is a witty tour of America’s regional cuisines. He explains why certain foods are popular in certain regions, gives tips on eating in unfamiliar places and provides unusual restaurant recommendations.