Throughout A Family Affair, daughter Zara (Joey King) and mom Brooke (Nicole Kidman) argue over just what kind of a man Chris Cole (Zac Efron) is. To Zara, he’s a self-absorbed movie star boss who oscillates between unreasonable demands and threats of firing. For Brooke, he’s an attentive lover, the first man to reawaken her to the possibility of romance since the death of Zara’s father, Charlie.

Neither of them are exactly wrong — Chris, like anyone, contains multitudes. Where the Richard LaGravenese-directed A Family Affair struggles, however, is in convincing us he might be both at once. Part showbiz send-up and part earnest romantic drama, the film lurches awkwardly between its two modes without settling on a single cohesive tone. Fortunately, both halves are also blessed with the same quality that allows Chris to embody both Zara’s idea of him and Brooke’s: enough charm to make you come away smiling, even as you shake your head at its missteps.

The first Chris we meet is the obnoxious one. Onscreen, he’s the Marvel-style hero of a terrible-sounding franchise called Icarus Rush; offscreen, he’s a vain man-child pitching hissy fits at Zara. He calls her at odd hours to send her looking for protein powder, and makes her assemble gift baskets for his dogs with her own money. He runs through girlfriends like tissues, then sends her to pick up his stuff from their houses. He strings her along with the promise of an assistant producer credit, but continually insists she’s not “ready” to do much more than pick up his dry cleaning. None of these gags are especially fresh — Chris is simply every spoiled Hollywood stereotype rolled into one. But screenwriter Carrie Solomon comes at them with the wry fondness of an insider who knows just how ridiculous her industry can be.

They’re further elevated by Efron, who was last seen in the weepie The Iron Claw but reminds us here that he’s an even better comic talent than a dramatic one. His crackerjack timing turns decent jokes into laugh-out-loud hilarious ones, and his puppyish sweetness keeps Chris endearing at his worst. His (platonic) dynamic with King positively crackles with both exasperation and begrudging affection. At one point, Chris scoffs that it’s “derogatory” for her to call him a celebrity because he’s a movie star, damnit. The moment plays as a joke, but it also contains a kernel of truth. Like The Fall Guy, A Family Affair serves as a testament to the power of movie-star charisma while simultaneously poking fun at it.

All this Hollywood satire is merely set-up for the real plot of A Family Affair, which kicks in once Chris invites himself over to the home Zara shares with her mother. While waiting for her to show, he and Brooke get to talking over tequila shots. The next thing either of them know, Brooke is ripping open the very t-shirt that Chris, only the day before, had screamed at Zara for not treating more gently.

At first, the hook-up is played for laughs. Chris remains his ditzy self, wooing Brooke from lines with his own movies. (“This time I mean it,” he insists when she teasingly calls him out on it.) Zara is so startled to find her mother in bed with her employer that she goes full slapstick, choking on a grape and knocking herself unconscious. Fumbling to explain, Brooke accidentally invokes the same excuse Zara gave her for getting a forbidden eyebrow piercing as a teen: “It made sense at the time when the guy was putting it in.”

But A Family Affair takes on a more sincere and sentimental tone as the hook-up evolves into something deeper. Kidman and Efron share a decently sweet chemistry that’s nothing like the tawdry dynamic they flaunted in The Paperboy. Chris gets vulnerable about his childhood tragedies and the loneliness of fame. She confesses it’s been years since she felt desired, and allows herself the luxury of “going a little crazy” for the first time since she can remember. Although there are moments when the film goes big with expensive dinners and private studio tours and an adorably quirky third-act gesture, the relationship is generally pitched as a slow-burn love affair, not an impassioned fling.

In fact, A Family Affair barely leans into the fairy tale of dating a rich and sexy A-lister. In contrast to The Idea of You, with which it shares a superficially similar premise, the film is largely unconcerned with the specific perks or challenges of dating while famous. Brooke is unfamiliar with Chris’ career, and she does not need him to whisk her away on vacations or bring her to fancy galas; she’s done well enough already to have her own cliffside mansion and closet full of designer dresses. Though Chris can’t so much as go for a grocery run without getting swarmed, the couple do not discuss what it might mean to go public with their relationship — and they never have to, since it somehow never happens. The biggest threat to their connection is Zara’s disapproval, not the gap in age and social standing.

The fantasies that the movie does tap into are more mundane, and almost more poignant for it. One is of being a female writer whose talent attracts, rather than intimidates, an eligible suitor. Brooke recounts how fellow writer Charlie seemed to resent her success; Chris, on the other hand, goes out of his way to find her writing, and even memorizes her best bits by heart. The other is of being a mother whose child finally appreciates her sacrifices. All three lead characters could be accused of making short-sighted or self-serving choices. But it’s Brooke the movie portrays as a saint who’s earned whatever happiness she can get, and Zara who’s made to apologize for being selfish.

Parallels are drawn between Brooke lovingly tending to Zara’s every need through a difficult childhood and Zara catering to Chris’ now. I’d point out that those situations are not remotely the same, and in fact have no business being in the same conversation — just as A Family Affair‘s Hollywood material and its drama feel at times like they’ve come from two completely different films. But the lines are delivered with such heartfelt tenderness that for a moment, you might be moved in spite of yourself.

It is clear that the slogan ‘Never Again’ – meaning that never again will humanity repeat the events that led to the Holocaust and the Holocaust that ensued – has failed. Colleyville is another one of those “never again” events that has slipped under the radar of most people.

The again viciously took place on October 7, 2023 when Jews were slaughtered wholesale in Israel.

The attacks on Jews in the United States and elsewhere occur way too often as if they are acceptable, normalized, a routine.

I did not remember the Colleyville hostage case. I therefore sat at the movie theater expecting a fiction story film. But no, “Colleyville,” by Award-Winning filmmaker Dani Mankin of Hey Jude Productions, (https://www.heyjudeproductions.com/), is an exceptional non-fiction, documentary reality check, that relives the January 15, 2022 hostage situation.

The “Colleyville” intense drama, premiered in North America by the Los Angeles Jewish Film Festival (LAJFF), Hilary Helstein, Executive Director, took place at Congregation Beth Israel synagogue, in Colleyville, a small town near the Dallas-Fort-Worth metropolitan area. It tells the horror story of a small Jewish congregation’s hours-long hostage ordeal.

The main hostages “characters” are Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker, Jeffrey R Cohen, Shane Woodward and Larry Schwartz.

The hostages’ situation maker is Malik Faisal Akram, a 44-year-old British-Pakistani, armed with a pistol who threatened to have two bombs ready to blow up. He took the four men hostage inside the synagogue to where they arrived that morning for the Shabbat Morning Prayer.

These four innocent men of faith went through hours of traumatic and of unpredictable outcome event; they were held hostage for 11-hour inside their house of faith in an intense standoff, and the film “Colleyville” is highlighting well their resilience and composed courage demeanor.

“Colleyville,” featuring never-before-seen footage, is giving the viewer an unprecedented detailing look at this gripping real-life drama that captivated the attention of the White House, the Prime Minister of Israel office and the world at large.

Too Many Reminders

After the October 7, 2023 gruesome Hamas terrorist attack on innocent Israelis “Colleyville,” has a much deeper and wider meaning that is calling on the world to focus on and pay attention to.

The Colleyville hostage ordeal which took place in 2022 has wider implications. In a small way it is now mirroring not only the horrors of October 7 in Israel but also the June 23, 2023 pogrom that took place in Los Angeles. In this also hours-long hate-filled event against Jews, Hamas-supporters appeared in the Pico Jewish neighborhood and ambushed the entrance to Adas Torah synagogues where they applied violence against Jews who wanted to enter their house of prayer.

Though the Colleyville terror saga had a better ending, with the terrorist dead and the four hostages rescued unharmed, this is not the way other such events may end.

Composed, Loving Characters

The composed and loving nature of the characters, even adding some humor while fearing for their life, which they interjected during hard times, acted well in their favor.

“I love death more than you love life” the perpetrator Malik Faisal Akram kept on shouting throughout his hostage-taking act. This is a slogan often heard from terrorists, mainly Muslims, who are after Jewish blood.

Former Israel Prime Minister late Golda Meir once said: “When peace comes we will perhaps in time be able to forgive the Arabs for killing our sons, but it will be harder for us to forgive them for having forced us to kill their sons. Peace will come when the Arabs will love their children more than they hate us.”

For Jews life is very sacred. For Jews life and saving life is a higher power command. When Jew-haters, the likes of Malik Faisal Akram, will love life more than they hate Jews, this equation will hopefully tilt towards a positive change.

Colleyville Release is Timely

With the rise of antisemitism and hatred directed at Jews the movie “Colleyville” is timely, its story that really happened must be re-told.

The documentary “Colleyville” is its director Dani Mankin’s important and impactful work. As a viewer, I am feel it is also both impactful and enjoyable for the audience, reflecting past, present and future other such event possibilities.

Be Alert, Be Ready, Be Active

At the premier showcasing of “Colleyville” Jeffrey Abrams, Director of ADL’s (Anti-Defamation League International Jewish non-governmental organization) Los Angeles Regional Office addressed the audience with one message: be alert, be ready and be active. Sitting on the sofa will not make you safer.

The testament is that Jews are being targeted.

There is no “post Never Again”; it is here again. It is now almost standard to threaten and attack Jews, take Jews hostage and go as far as to kill Jews.

After 2022 Colleyville, Texas, after October 7, 2023 in Israel after June 2024 in Los Angeles, California, where are the Jewish communities, where is America heading?

The poisonous epithets and slogans yelled on US streets, campuses and elsewhere will not remain just words. They will morph into actions the likes of what took place in the Colleyville synagogue and worse.

The world must now take Never Again to a significantly higher level.

‘Kalki 2898AD’ has a simple story at heart, a tale from the future about the arrival of the tenth avatar of the Hindu god Vishnu. But it is decked up in a herculean, futuristic setting for three hours that partly thrills, confuses and also exhausts the audience. An immersive experience in terms of its scale, the dystopian, mythological science fiction also has a flood of characters and cameos whose arrival and relevance are tough to keep track of.
‘Kalki’ is set more than 800 years into the future in 2898 AD. In Kasi, which is the last city on a severely resource-drained Earth, Supreme Yaskin (Kamal Hassan) rules humanity from a structure called ‘Complex’. His people seize fertile girls and SUM80 (Deepika Padukone) is one among them.

Meanwhile, the mythological Ashwathama (Amitabh Bachchan) is waiting for someone’s arrival for his redemption after ages. Another group of people, in the city of Shambhala, are also planning an assault. An unbeatable bounty hunter named Bhairava (Prabhas) is a curious character entangled in this web.
For those who love complex world-building, retelling of mythological stories on vast canvases and apocalyptic tales, director Nag Ashwin’s film can be quite a spectacle. The exceptional production standards are also breathtaking. Amitabh Bachchan has brought his A game and is the one who steals the show. Deepika’s central role is de-glam throughout, but she lends SUM80 a suiting personality. Kamal Haasan, Dulquer Salmaan, Anna Ben, Shobhana, Vijay Deverakonda, Mrunal Thakur, Rajamouli, Ram Gopal Varma… the cameo list is humongous though not with a quality follow-through for all of them.
The fight sequences between Ashwathama and Bhairava are fun, though Big B’s antics are more impressive than the rebel star’s. It’s Amitabh Bachchan who towers in this Prabhas film, more than the Telugu actor. The humour in the film falls flat almost all the time, especially in Prabhas’ sequences. The creative liberties taken by the writers are interesting, but it’s hard to feel emotionally invested or connected to any party in the story. The end credits provide hope to the franchise-hungry audience. And if you want to offer the ‘Kalki’ cinematic universe a chance, give the film a try. You might not care about the cliffhanger climax now, but what if you do when a stronger second part with a richer universe comes to life?