Cute Monsters; Simpsons; Michelle & Steven; Love You, George, More

“Minions & Monsters”, an animated film, opens on July 1. Minions are a (fictional) all-male species of yellow capsule-shaped creatures. They first appeared in “Despicable Me” (2010). They served as the henchmen for a supervillain. The Minions were a huge hit with moviegoers and two more movies starring the Minions have been released. The new film is set in the 1920s.The Minions aim to find monsters to cast in a Minion-produced monster movie. JESSE EISENBERG, 42, and ZOEY DEUTCH, 31, have big voice roles.

 

In a recent column, I said that a June 17 episode of “The “Simpsons” was one of two Disney+ ‘special’ “Simpsons” episodes (this season). The ‘specials’ won’t air on the Fox network.

 

Alert!: I just found out that the 2nd “special’ episode, “Simpsons Simpsley”, premieres on July 3. Capsule plot: Homer Simpson is a houseguest of Seymour Skinner, a rich man (voiced by HARRY SHEARER, 83). Homer gets in the way of a con-artist who is trying to skin Skinner.

 

Last week, a rush of news (like MEL BROOKS 100th birthday—June 28) took up space I normally include before a premiere. On June 26, Netflix premiered “Chris & Martina: The Final Set”. It’s an acclaimed documentary about the famous tennis players Chris Evert, now 71, and Martina Navratilova, now 69.

 

They had an amazing tennis rivalry in the 1970s and 1980s. No doubt they are two of the greatest tennis players of all time. They contested 80 matches between 1973 and 1988 (60 of which were tournament finals). Navratilova led the overall head-to-head matches (43–37) and she led (36–24) in finals

 

Evert retired in 1989 and Navratilova retired in 2004. They became great friends and remain-so.

 

Sadly, they both have fought cancer: Evert fought ovarian cancer and Navratilova battled breast cancer. Both had “relapses”. They say they are “clear” now. They bolstered each other as they were treated for cancer,

 

The film was directed by REBECCA GITLITZ, 40ish. She worked for ten years for ESPN and she produced the ESPY’s award specials. In 2020 she began as an independent producer of documentaries and TV episodes (“Sesame Street 50 Years”, a TV special; sports; and a JFK “bio” series). “Chris & Martina” is the first film she directed, too.

 

I just stumbled on “IMO, with Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson.” It’s a podcast on Youtube, Apple+, and on Spotify (sound). These are the outlets I found, (there may be more). New episodes premiere every week on Wednesday. The interviews are about an hour. (Robinson, a top basketball coach, is Michelle’s brother).

 

As I write this, I only had time to listen to one interview. I reasonably assume that the other interviews are as well-done as the interview with STEVEN SPIELBERG that I listened to. That interview was held early in June. The Obamas and Spielberg (and his wife, KATE CAPSHAW) are long-term friends. Trust me, this episode was “chock full” of really good informed questions and answers.

 

Videos of about 70 weekly episodes (so far) are on Youtube. It’s understandable why most guests, so far, (about 60) are African-American. About ten guests are not black.

 

Eight “white” Jews and one African-American Jew have been guests so far: Spielberg, HENRY WINKLER, JAMIE LEE CURTIS, SETH ROGEN, ALY RAISMAN (she won 10 Olympic gymnastics medals, 2012; 2016); JONATHAN HAIDT, a top psychologist/author, ORNA GURALNIK, a psychologist from Israel who now lives in the U.S.; and TRACEE ELLIS ROSS, a “busy” actor who is the daughter of a white, Jewish father (ROBERT SILBERSTEIN) and Diana Ross, the famous African-American singer

 

The 250th anniversary of American independence!! George Washington shows up “everywhere” right now, Something Washington wrote came-up in my mind.

 

MOSES SEIXAS, an important member of the Touro synagogue in Providence, Rhode Island, wrote a congratulations and good wishes letter (1790) to Washington.

 

Washington responded to the Seixas letter. Here is the last paragraph of the letter he wrote: “May the children of the stock of Abraham who dwell in this land continue to merit and enjoy the good will of the other inhabitants—while every one shall sit in safety under his own vine and fig tree and there shall be none to make him afraid.”

 

I almost cried when I read this. What luck we had! He won the war. He refused a crown or a third term in office. He emancipated all the slaves he personally owned.

 

You can easily find the full letter text on-line. I suggest you search “the letter to Touro synagogue” on YouTube. There are several videos that show the beautiful synagogue’s inside–and much more.