PJ Grisar is the Forward’s culture reporter. He can be reached at Grisar@Forward.com.
PJ Grisar is the Forward’s culture reporter. He can be reached at Grisar@Forward.com.
PJ Grisar
By PJ Grisar
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Film & TV Why is the new Leonard Bernstein Netflix movie code-named Rybernia?
Throughout Manhattan, a mythical country is setting up shop and closing down streets. Its name, as orange signs on lampposts will tell you, is Rybernia. What is Rybernia? Well, the simple answer is appears to be a code name for the upcoming Bradley Cooper Netflix biopic about Leonard Bernstein, “Maestro.” The more elaborate answer is…
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Film & TV Remembering Ray Liotta’s most Jewish scene
Ray Liotta, who made a career playing a series of cops and criminals in films like “Goodfellas” and “Cop Land,” has died at the age of 67. The actor was known for his steely blue eyes (he played Sinatra) and his penchant for bringing unexpected vulnerability to rough-necked characters. Liotta was adopted as an infant…
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Film & TV Four decades later, a Jewish iconoclast’s searing film gets its debut
After nearly four decades of waiting, Michael Roemer feels “completely fatalistic” about his most recent film’s theatrical debut. “I have no idea whether anyone will like it, whether anyone will go and see it,” Roemer said from his home in Vermont. “And if they do, it’s wonderful, and if they don’t, at 94, it’s not…
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Culture Is Madison Cawthorn’s ‘gentile politics’ a dog whistle or a dumb misspelling?
Editors note: As suspected, Cawthorn misspelled the word “genteel.” He has since updated his Instagram post to reflect this. Sometimes a dog whistle is just a dog wassail. By that, I mean something that sounds insidious, odd or evil is in fact a product of stupidity by which a common word is misspelled as a…
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New York Voices In a new exhibit on Eldridge Street, an artist dreams of kosher hot dogs
In a new exhibit at the Museum at Eldridge Street, “Steve Marcus: Top Dog of Kosher Pop Art,” the artist shows off a series of new drawings which revel in the history of the kosher hot dog, a handheld treat with deep roots in Brooklyn and the Lower East Side. You may chuckle at the…
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Culture The Tony 2022 nominees rain on Beanie Feldstein’s parade – but give us a parade of many Jewish faces
The nominations for the 75th annual Tony Awards are giving us Jewish bankers. They’re giving us SNL alums. They’re giving us Billy Crystal, Paula Vogel and Bob Dylan – but not Beanie Feldstein or Fanny Brice. In a season packed with what feels like an above-average quotient of revivals, the nominees include a mix of…
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Culture The secret Jewish history Of Hans Christian Andersen
Hans Christian Andersen, the famed Danish author of “The Ugly Duckling” and “The Little Mermaid,” once wrote a story called “The Jewish Girl.” This information on its own might raise alarm given the time and place in which Andersen was writing: 19th century Europe, where Jews in literature hadn’t evolved much since the time of…
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Culture Jennifer Grey knows you care about her nose
In her new memoir, Jennifer Grey leads with her nose. For the first 29 years of her life, the “Dirty Dancing” star’s trademark proboscis was her pesky “friend,” demanding three-quarter profile headshots. It was the feature that prompted her mother to call her “interesting-looking.” Grey thought her nose, which she resisted “fixing” for years, was…
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