At the recent Jerusalem International Film Festival, the Israeli horror movie “Jeruzalem” was scheduled to premiere right after “From Caligari to Hitler,” a German documentary based on Siegfried Kracauer’s book of the same name. Kracauer was a Jewish writer and critic who escaped Nazi Germany. In his book, he analyzed Weimar-era German cinema and theorized…
Let’s get this out of the way — I never finished “Infinite Jest. “ (As a friend recently put it, “Has anyone really?” ) In fact, any guy who listed the book among his favorites was automatically flagged as untrustworthy on my OkCupid scale of dateability. But it seems that some humans have made it…
I was really excited to see “Ant-Man.” It combines many of the things I love: ants (which I love mostly on screens, à la “Microcosmos,” and not near any of my desserts), superheroes (who I love, despite their ingrained sexist flaws) and Paul Rudd (who I love, unconditionally). As for the man in my life,…
Here’s a free idea for a play. Or maybe it’s just a skit. I was thinking of writing it a while back, but the premise seemed thin, so I set it aside. It’s a light comedy, circa 1970-something. A young, neurotic film critic — just getting out of yet another bad relationship — is visited…
How does a Haredi father educate his young son about masturbation? This difficult question forms the basis of Israeli filmmaker Ori Gruder’s extraordinary documentary, “Sacred Sperm.” The film, made with the support of the Israeli television station HOT-Channel 8 with world sales handled by Go2Films, is aimed at a secular audience. It has received numerous…
Sophie Tucker used to open her act by saying her career dated back to the days when the Dead Sea was just sick. That, of course, is a slight exaggeration. But from around 1907 almost until her death in 1966, the ribald Tucker was the Madonna of her time. Today, in an age when fame…
Founded in 1984, the Jerusalem Film Festival is a baby compared to its European counterparts Venice (1932), Cannes (1946), and Berlin (1951). Israel’s second-oldest film festival after Haifa (founded a year earlier) and the fourth oldest in the Middle East after Cairo (1976) and Damascus (1979), the JFF has become increasingly robust, exciting and ambitious…
Aviva Kempner, director of the documentaries “The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg” and “Yoo Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg,” will be releasing her latest film “Rosenwald” on August 14th. The film profiles legendary Jewish philanthropist Julius Rosenwald — onetime president of Sears and a civil rights pioneer — who went on to donate a reported $62 million to charity. The…
Jesse Andrews is having another moment. Three years ago, the 32-year-old’s debut novel “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl” hit bookstores, topped the New York Times best seller list and proved that a story of friendship between high school senior Greg and his cancer-stricken friend Rachel, could deliver pure comedy and gentle poignancy, without…
Joseph Feingold first laid eyes on the violin at a flea market outside of Frankfurt. The year was 1947, and the 23-year-old Holocaust survivor, who was living in a displaced persons camp, traded a carton of American cigarettes for the instrument. As the young man picked up the bow for the first time since his…
Jewish humor is safe, even in these modern times. Writer/director Eli Shapiro, a young New Jerseyite living in the Big City, is upholding the tradition of somewhat cynical, yet utterly thoughtful social commentary in the name of comedy: his recent short film, “Ike Interviews God,” portrays a wholly average insurance clerk in conversation with an…
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