The Schmooze lies at the intersection of high and low culture. Here, the latest developments and trends in Jewish art, books, dance, film, music, media, television and theater are all assimilated into one handy pop culture blog.
The Schmooze
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Jake Gyllenhaal Jumped Into Traffic To Save A Stranger’s Dog
In what was almost certainly a real-life occurrence and not a highly produced marketing stunt by a perfume company, actor Jake Gyllenhaal rescued a dog from oncoming traffic in Manhattan last week. Onlookers told Page Six that Gyllenhaal, who’s in New York for a Broadway run of the play “Sea Wall/A Life,” stepped into the…
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Natalie Portman Politely Schools Scorsese, Coppola On Why People Like Marvel Movies
It’s not easy to make Harvard-educated multi-millionaire super model Oscar-nominee Natalie Portman look like the people’s hero. But that’s where we are this week, thanks to Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola. The two legendary directors grabbed headlines this month when they declared their disdain for movies from Marvel, the superhero blockbuster factory that gave…
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Simchat Torah Is Drunk Jewish Book-Club, With Dancing
The morning sky is pitch black, the children’s pencils are no longer sharp and their backpacks are bursting with shards of construction paper, the heat hasn’t been turned on yet, and every surface in your kitchen is unpleasantly sticky with honey residue. Well put on a chunky sweater and take a swig of Manischewitz, bitch,…
The Latest
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Sacha Baron Cohen Slams Mark Zuckerberg For Facebook’s Latest Policy
Sacha Baron Cohen called out Mark Zuckerberg’s morality on Twitter on Thursday. Sure — the Facebook founder’s got 99 problems, and receiving a lecture from “Borat” is just one more. But when two of the world’s favorite bar mitzvah boys have a dispute in the public square about how to fight misinformation, hate, and Nazism,…
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Who Is Irena Sendler, The Catholic Holocaust Hero Who Gal Gadot Will Play In Upcoming Biopic?
When Germany invaded Warsaw in 1939, Irena Sendler was just a 29-year-old Polish social worker. By the end of the war, she had saved untold thousands of Jews. Even a death sentence and imprisonment did not stop Irena Sendler from saving Jewish children. That’s a true wonder woman. Gal Gadot, who dazzled the world as…
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‘JoJo Rabbit,’ A Holocaust Comedy, Is Good For The Jews
German 10-year-old JoJo Betzler is a young boy with a simple dream: hunt Jews, make friends, get girls, blow stuff up. It’s the twilight of World War II and, from JoJo’s perspective, things are going most spiffingly. He lives in a tiny German town with buildings that look like iced buns, and spends his days…
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Zoe Kravitz Ushers In The Era Of Jewish Catwoman
For people who believe that Jews run Hollywood, the hits just keep on comin’ — it was announced on Monday that Zoe Kravitz, the preternaturally cool actress daughter of Lisa Bonet and Lenny Kravitz, will star opposite Robert Pattinson in Matt Reeves’ upcoming Batman movie. Kravitz, who you may know from her turn on “Big…
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‘Mrs. Maisel’ Season Three Trailer Asks: Can Midge Have It All?
“I’m not a prostitute, I’m a comic,” a beleaguered Miriam Maisel insists in a new trailer for the third season of “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” set to premiere on December 6. When her mother demands to know what the difference is, Midge snaps “Prostitutes get paid more.” It’s not a conversation one dreams of having…
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Sarah Silverman Takes Down The ‘Tortured Artist’ Myth: ‘Klonopin Saved My Life’
Many funny people suffer from depression, substance abuse, and other mental health problems. Therefore to be funny, you must be sad. Getting treatment or asking for help dulls your funny. Right? Nah, says Sarah Silverman in a new, freely available documentary from Funny Or Die and SoulPancake. Untreated mental health issues aren’t the secret sauce…
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Watch Nick Kroll Casually Slay At Jewpardy With His Childhood Rabbi
Nick Kroll, the adult version guy who would have passed along the message that his best friend had a crush on your best friend during a USY trip, played a public game of Jewpardy with his childhood rabbi on YouTube this week. And people say it’s not the golden age of Judaism. The comic, actor,…
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Meet The Jewish Mayor Trump Attacked, Who Is Now Being Called A ‘Sex-Symbol’
Pick your jaw up off the floor, kindly place your tongue back in your mouth, and for God’s sake stop salivating — that’s a public official you’re ogling. Due to the actions of the President of the United States, it has been brought to our attention that Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey is gorgeous. The 38-year-old…
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