PJ Grisar is a Forward culture reporter. He can be reached at [email protected] and @pjgrisar on Twitter.
PJ Grisar
By PJ Grisar
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Culture Kurt Russell compares made-up Santa language to the Aramaic of ‘Passion of the Christ’
Bearded, magic men promising mystical rewards or punishment, however jiggly their bellies or toned their midsections, do not hold much interest for most Jews. But sometimes, on matters of Santa or Jesus, we must break our respectful silence. Such a rare occasion presented itself on Nov. 18, smack-dab in the middle of nitl season, when…
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Culture The real ‘Queen’s Gambit’: Meet the first woman to qualify for the World Chess Championship
This article contains spoilers for “The Queen’s Gambit.” When it comes to the real queen of chess — not the orphaned, sedative-addicted, fashionista variety now in vogue courtesy of Netflix’s “The Queen’s Gambit” — Susan Polgar is a model grandmaster. Two decades after Beth Harmon took on the fictional Russian champion Vasily Borgov in Moscow,…
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Culture Sarah Palin compared Obama to Moses. There may be something there.
When Sarah Palin clapped back at Barack Obama, derisively likening him to, uh, Moses, she wound up sounding like someone who’d worship at the hooves of the Golden Calf. Fox News host Sean Hannity read the former VP candidate an excerpt from Obama’s new memoir, “A Promised Land,” which referred to her running mate status…
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Culture Chagall’s massive ‘Magic Flute’ curtain is up for auction
In his long and varied career, painter Marc Chagall created stained glass, fine ceramics and a massive ceiling mural for the Paris Opéra — but only one opera set. Now, if you have unlimited income and vertical space, the centerpiece of the Chagall-designed opera can be yours. On Tuesday, Nov. 17, Bonhams is auctioning the…
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Culture European war museums reeling from Nazi artifact thefts
The robberies sound like a strange mix of George Clooney films — part “Monuments Men,” part “Ocean’s Eleven.” In recent months, Nazi memorabilia was stolen from several war museums in Denmark and the Netherlands. Thieves made off with mannequins dressed in Nazi uniforms, in one instance blocking off a major roadway and evading the police….
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Culture They set out to find ‘The Meaning of Hitler.’ How did they fail so badly?
Can any one film begin to answer the question of what, exactly, Hitler means? That’s the goal of the new documentary “The Meaning of Hitler,” named for and based on the 1978 Sebastian Haffner book of the same name. From the outset, its ambition proves problematic: Directors Petra Epperlein and Michael Tucker chronicle various talking…
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Culture Is Jon Ossoff’s ‘Star Wars’ fan film better than ‘The Rise of Skywalker?’
A few years ago, in a state runoff far, far away, a Republican Super PAC used Jon Ossoff’s collegiate a cappella “Star Wars” fan film in a ludicrous attack ad. During Ossoff’s 2017 bid to represent Georgia’s Sixth Congressional District, the Congressional Leadership Fund uncovered footage of the current candidate for U.S. Senate cosplaying as…
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Culture Alton Brown makes an Auschwitz joke — then apologizes
Last night, Food Network host Alton Brown — a lifelong conservative but a Biden voter this time around — tossed a query out to the internet about the future dress code of America: “Do you think the camp uniforms will be striped, like the ones at Auschwitz or will plaid be in vogue?” What the…
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