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 Borat defends Rudy Giuliani over ‘Borat’ scandal
Rudy Giuliani has a new champion in his latest scandal: His name-a Borat. Thursday night, shortly before the final presidential debate and the early release of “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm,” Kazakh journalist Borat Sagdiyev posted a video on his Twitter to defend Giuliani against claims of impropriety arising from a scene in the “Borat” sequel. “What…
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Culture A Quibit (Quick Obit) for Quibi (with apologies to Walt Whitman)
O Quibi! my Quibi! rise up and hear the yells; Rise up—for you the grave is made —for you the content cries, For you the japes and unkind tweets—for you the nets a-crowding, For you they call, the giggling mass, their eager faces turning; Here Quibi! Dear short-form! 2 billion invested! It is some dream…
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Culture ‘Borat 2’ is a riot, but slandering a nation’s history goes too far
Borat was never a victimless enterprise. In “Borat: Cultural Learnings of America,” the Kazakh journalist invited an RV full of frat brothers to reminisce about the days of slavery (they needed zero prompting, save for their companion’s foreign, sympathetic presence). More troublingly, a kindly Jewish couple operating a kosher bed and breakfast provided the venue…
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Culture Is Sinclair Lewis’s 1936 play about American fascism even timelier today?
In 1936, as the United States struggled to overcome the Depression, Hitler pressed ahead with his revival of the German military and fascist forces in Europe continued to erode the norms of public life, Sinclair Lewis debuted the theatrical adaptation of his 1935 novel of “It Can’t Happen Here.” Co-written with playwright John C. Moffitt,…
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Culture Winding up in bed with Borat’s daughter may be the least of Rudy Giuliani’s problems
One would think it would be impossible to shame Rudy Giuliani at this juncture, and yet… America’s erstwhile mayor and current personal attorney to the president appeared to have been bested by Borat, who seemed to catch him on film mid-Toobin maneuver. Giuliani now claims the footage is deceptive and an effort to dampen his…
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Culture At 94, Mel Brooks makes his first ever political endorsement ad
While Mel Brooks has dabbled in the local politics of a frontier town, enjoined theatergoers to join a Nazi kickline and famously proclaimed “It’s good to be king,” he’s never made a video endorsing a political candidate. Even at 94, there’s a first time for everything. On October 21, Brooks’ son Max posted his father’s…
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Culture Could Trump become the first president to flee America since Lindbergh?
This weekend, in another totally normal development, President Donald Trump floated the idea of absconding to another country. Facing dire polling and debtsand court cases set to activate should he lose a second term, he wondered aloud what he’d do if Joe Biden emerges victorious in November. “I’m not gonna feel so good,” Trump said…
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Culture How Walter Winchell created this mess we’re in
Much to the dismay of his many critics, Walter Winchell, wouldn’t — and still won’t — go away. An innovator of the gossip column and early radio idol, his style was unmistakable. He was the grandson of a cantor and he introduced a novel, niggun-like rhythm to the airwaves, while in print, his non sequitur…
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