Bernard-Henri Lévy is a man of ideas. A celebrity philosopher of the kind that has no equivalent this side of the Atlantic, he’s nonetheless picked the United States as the subject of his latest book, “The Empire and the Five Kings: America’s Abdication and the Fate of the World,” in which he lays out how…
This week only fans of “A Star is Born” can see a new, extended cut of the film featuring an additional song: In Yiddish. “Was it a slow song or a fast song?” Tony-winning actor Ron Rifkin, who sings the ditty in the film as Carl, the therapist of drug addicted musician Jackson Maine (Bradley…
For years, I have walked through the heavy doors of the stone building on Columbia University’s campus that houses the Graduate School of Journalism founded by Joseph Pulitzer — as a student, an alumna, an active volunteer. For years, I have secretly wished that I’d be chosen to even be a finalist for one of…
You may have heard that people are upset about “Green Book” winning the 2019 Oscar for Best Movie. Or you may have seen Spike Lee, whose “BlackKklansman” was also up for the award, drain a full glass of champagne rather than respond to a question about what he thought of the film’s victory. The “Green…
“Andi Mack” was not on TV last Friday, so my evening was not as enjoyable as it usually was. Almost a year ago, I wrote about how I am a lover of shows on Disney Channel. Some people might find this odd, as I am a childless, middle-aged adult who is not a teacher. However,…
If you watch a lot of films, you might get the sense that journalism is a very dramatic business — there’s a reason why the Washington Post’s Trump-era slogan, “Democracy Dies in Darkness,” reads like something you might find on a movie poster. Joan Micklin Silver’s 1977 comedy “Between the Lines,” opening on Friday for…
In many ways, Larry Charles has stuck quite close to his creative associate Larry David. They met as writers on the show “Fridays” in the 1980s, collaborated as writer-producers on “Seinfeld” through the ‘90s and continued their partnership well into the new millennium with Charles’ directing on “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” But while David, at least…
Author Ottessa Moshfegh has defied the old warning, “never meet your heroes.” She wasn’t disappointed. Those who’ve read Moshfegh’s second novel, 2018’s “My Year of Rest and Relaxation,” won’t have much trouble guessing who that hero is. Like her book’s unnamed protagonist, who spends a year fettered to her bed self-prescribing medication and binging films…
In 2007, on the occasion of his first day teaching literature at Emory University, Salman Rushdie told reporters he receives a “sort of Valentine’s Day card” from the Iranian government each year reminding him the country hasn’t forgotten the bounty it placed on his head in 1989. Today marks the 30th anniversary of Iranian cleric…
The typical crowd at Zabar’s is a far cry from most music video background actors. That didn’t stop Jonah Hill. Shoppers at the Upper West Side staple were confronted with a film crew led by the “22 Jump Street” star Wednesday evening, The West Side Rag reports. Patrons’ reactions to the shoot, apparently for a…
For film lovers the cinema can be a kind of temple. For 15 years the Kane Street Synagogue has been taking that truth to heart, hosting the Brooklyn Israel Film Festival in the same building in which its congregants meet for services. This year the festival is adding a short film series, screening an Israeli…
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