Shelley Berman, who died on September 1 at age 92, was the Gregor Samsa of American comedy. Like the protagonist of Franz Kafka’s “Metamorphosis,” Berman was alert to the insectification of modern life, whatever removes humanity and sparks rage. Focusing on petty occasions for anger made him the spiritual forefather of comedians, especially Larry David,…
Before she was a filmmaker, Yuliya Solntseva was the Queen of Mars. As the title character in the 1924 silent film “Aelita,” she vamps and struts her way around elaborate constructivist sets representing her kingdom on the Red Planet. Decades later, she would take her place in history by directing a trilogy of dazzlingly virtuosic…
As Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un engage in nuclear brinkmanship, very real fears of a nuclear Armageddon have emerged. Given that Armageddon has a Hebrew origin (via the Greek translation of Har Meggido), it is not surprising that Jews have had a considerable interest in nuclear apocalypse. Consider the title of MAD magazine, echoing 1950s…
Spoiler Alert: If you don’t want to know how “War for the Planet of the Apes” ends, you probably should stop reading this article halfway through.) A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, a science-fiction movie pitting humans against non-human enemies was unleashed upon the world, and from that moment on, the…
The playwright and actor Sam Shepard, who died on July 27 at age 73, was to all outward appearances as non-Jewish as may be imagined. Yet his writing hovered around such American Jewish creative spirits as Arthur Miller, Bob Dylan and Joseph Chaikin, among others. In such plays as the “Curse of the Starving Class”…
Appropriately located at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in Battery Park within view of the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene (NYTF) is attempting to redefine its mission and aesthetic while celebrating the Yiddish language, with few if any English words thrown in for good measure. Its renewed commitment to…
Editor’s Note: Joshua Z. Weinstein’s film “Menashe” is now playing at the Angelika Theater in New York. Earlier this year, Simi Horwitz interviewed the film’s cast and director. Documentarian Joshua Z. Weinstein, 33, who dubs himself a humanist filmmaker, says he never wanted to make a Jewish movie, but rather one that explores the interplay…
This summer’s hit romantic comedy, “The Big Sick,” offers a hilarious, tender, fresh take on assimilation in America, the struggle to succeed in the entertainment business, and the conflicts surrounding questions of inter-ethnic romance. It is, as others have suggested, the 21st century’s “The Jazz Singer.” And the film is not an ironic parody of…
“Shalom Italia” is not your typical Holocaust movie. The documentary, which airs July 24 as part of the POV series on PBS, is as much a fascinating family drama and rumination on memory as it is about surviving the war. Emmanuel, Andrea, and Bubi Anati, brothers born to an extended, respected and prosperous family in…
(JTA) — On Thursday, the Television Academy announced the nominees for the coveted Primetime Emmy Awards. Here are the acting candidates with Jewish ancestry. The awards for TV excellence will be presented Sept. 8 on CBS. Lead actress, drama series Evan Rachel Wood is being considered for her portrayal of Dolores Abernathy, an android character in the sci-fi…
A forthcoming Lincoln Center production of Man Booker Prize-winning novelist David Grossman’s “To The End Of The Land” has become a surprising target for protest. As reported by The New York Times,, the theatrical adaptation of Grossman’s anti-war novel, which is produced by the Cameri Theater of Israel and the Ha’Bima National Theater of Israel…
