Steven Spielberg has said that he got into filmmaking mainly to defuse anti-semitism; to earn the respect and admiration that he couldn’t get as an isolated child. His quintessential success, “E.T.” (1982), is the story of his own childhood reconstructed, where the sensitive and cerebral daydreamer is vindicated by an otherworldly power. Anyone who says…
If longshot candidate for New York State governor Cynthia Nixon pulls off a surprise win in November, she won’t join the rarefied club of Jewish governors of New York like Herbert Lehman and Eliot Spitzer. The one-time child actress and star of “Sex and the City” would, however, bring to her office a deep and…
It may not have come as a total surprise to those who have watched him closely that former White House staffer Stephen K. Bannon is a huge fan of Benito Mussolini. According to an interview with Bannon in the Spectator, he “adores” the fascist dictator, who may well have been the originator of the term…
This week’s movie news is flush with some of our favorite movie Jews. From Shia LeBeouf — Steven Spielberg’s estranged muse — to Darren Aronofsky, whose film “Mother!” has been received with a smattering of boos, we’ve culled the best film stories from Culture and the Shmooze. Read on if you so choose! 1) Jewish…
Is Al Pacino one of the great Jewish actors of our time? Hear me out. While best known for portraying characters of Italian and Latino descent – think Michael Corleone of “The Godfather” films, Carlito Brigante of “Carlito’s Way,” and Tony Montana of “Scarface,” Pacino has an arm’s-length resumé of portraying Jews in film and…
In 2016, my roommate and I became friends over movies: Trapped in our top-floor apartment by a weekend blizzard, we watched “The Princess Diaries” and “Cinderella,” two ambitious young women briefly surrendering to the fantasy of being princesses in a tower. The snow melted, and we went back to work, but the bond was sealed….
The Academy Awards have long served as a platform for activists to voice their discontent to an audience of millions — even if the Academy’s board hasn’t always felt positively about such stunts. Ironically, however, according to a March 1 Hyperallergic article by Rooney Elmi, the awards have nefarious origins: They were apparently created by…
The opening of Alejo Moguillansky’s new film, “The Little Match Girl,” does the audience the unusual courtesy of setting forth a catalog of the attractions to come. “There is an orchestra playing some insane music. There is a donkey. There is a little girl named Cleo,” a narrator intones. “There are a lot of pianos….
Lewis Gilbert, a beloved British film director whose oeuvre includes three James Bond films and “Alfie” (1966), which made Michael Caine a star, has died at 97, according to his son, John Gilbert, quoted in The New York Times. Gilbert’s massive filmography includes rousing war pictures like “Sink the Bismarck!” (1960) and comedies like “The…
Israeli director Samuel Maoz’s vivid, memorable — and not easy to watch — film, “Foxtrot,” has already generated controversy in Israel. Minister of Culture Miri Regev has accused him of being a traitor and done everything in her power to generate a boycott against the film. Maoz has received death threats. At the same time,…
Chances are, come March 4, you will be ensconced in front of your television watching the 90th edition of the Academy Awards, though chances are there will be fewer people watching this year than last year or the year before that or the year before that, since Oscar ratings have been steadily declining. The Motion…
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