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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James Franco Joined By Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill And Steve Martin For ‘Saturday Night Live’ Monologue
James Franco, Seth Rogen and Jonah Hill do everything together — they smoke weed, they make movies and now they deliver “Saturday Night Live” monologues together. Franco hosted the late night variety show for the 4th time this weekend, and was joined for his opening monologue by comedians Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill and even Steve…
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36 Emotional Reactions To ‘Soon By You’ From A Reform Woman
“Soon By You” is a wildly buzzed-about web-series about a group of shiny haired Orthodox Jews and Jewesses looking for love on the dirty dirty Upper West Side. I had heard of the show, which was created by one of the show’s stars, Leah Gottfried, who bases it on her own experiences as a single…
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Here Is The Letter Aly Raisman Wanted To Read At Larry Nassar’s Sexual Assault Trial
On Thursday, disgraced former USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar was sentenced to 60 years in prison on child pornography charges. Nassar has been accused of sexual assault by 125 women, including high profile Olympic gymnasts Aly Raisman and McKayla Maroney. Nassar pleaded guilty to 10 counts of first degree criminal sexual conduct in November and…
The Latest
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‘The Post,’ ‘Call Me By Your Name’ Lead Golden Globes Nominations
“The Post,” the Steven Spielberg-directed account of The Washington Post’s decision to publish the Pentagon Papers, is one the most-nominated films for the 2018 Golden Globes. With six nominations, “The Post” came in a close second to Guillermo del Toro’s “The Shape of Water,” which won seven nominations. “Call Me By Your Name,” the much-heralded…
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‘Justice League’ Banned In Ramallah Because Of Gal Gadot
Wonder Woman is universal. She’s got superhuman strength, a Lasso of Truth, an invisible jet and she’s beyond time and space. Or is she? The film “Justice League,” starring Israeli Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman, has been banned from Ramallah for breaking censorship rules. Palestine Cinema Tower, the largest Palestinian film distributor, announced the news…
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Jeffrey Tambor Is Not Being ‘Transparent’ About Whether He Will Remain On The Show
A Los Angeles family is rocked by the revelation that the person they knew as their father Mort is a transgender woman named Maura, in the critically acclaimed Amazon show “Transparent.” The show was a liberal wet dream, full of sensitively handled gender exploration and nuanced portrayals of Jewish life. But the bubble burst when…
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No, Forcing Jews To Bake Swastika Cakes Is Not Like Forcing Homophobes To Bake Gay Cakes
New Year’s resolutions: get outdoors more often, read more books, and stop hanging out with people who only bring up the Holocaust as a way to illustrate unrelated arguments and never to talk about the systematic murder of six million Jews. This week the editorial board of the Chicago Tribune published an editorial, “Wedding Cakes…
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Palestinian Supermodel Bella Hadid Calls Jerusalem Embassy Move ‘So Unjust’
Bella Hadid, the supermodel who this year transcended her “Real Housewives” origins to become one of the top ten best paid models of 2017, called Donald Trump’s decision to move the US embassy to Jerusalem “so unjust.” Writing on Instagram a day after the President announced the controversial decision, Hadid, whose father is Palestinian, reflected,…
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You Can Now Spin A Dreidel At A Hannukah Pop Up Bar In Washington, D.C.
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas — but not a lot like Hanukkah. As window displays become pyrotechnic and people start frequenting airport arrivals areas in the hopes of transforming into one of the characters in “Love, Actually,” there are endless ways to get in the spirit of Christ’s birth. But short of…
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Hanukkah Book Recommendations And More To Read, Watch And Do This Weekend
It’s nearly Hanukkah, so dust off your hanukkiah, wrap your presents and dig up bubbe’s recipe for sufganiyot. Still, take some time before the madness of the holidays commences to relax with some of the weekend’s best cultural events, movies and books. To our readers in Los Angeles: Due to the fires, we won’t be…
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Kristin Wiig Singing ‘Hallelujah’ Is The Funniest Version Of A Leonard Cohen Song I’ve Ever Heard
Leonard Cohen’s original version of “Hallelujah” was 80 verses long. And with respect to Mr. Cohen and Jeff Buckley (zichronam livracha) as well as Rufus Wainwright, k.d. lang, the Pentatonix, Bono, and the many other spectacular interpreters of the song, Kristin Wiig is the only person I would listen to singing 80 verses of it….
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Most Popular
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Fast Forward Why the Antisemitism Awareness Act now has a religious liberty clause to protect ‘Jews killed Jesus’ statements
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News School Israel trip turns ‘terrifying’ for LA students attacked by Israeli teens
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Culture Cardinals are Catholic, not Jewish — so why do they all wear yarmulkes?
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Music After decades of waiting, we’re finally getting a Bob Dylan-Barbra Streisand duet
In Case You Missed It
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Opinion My Holocaust survivor parents would be appalled by what became of their American dream
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Fast Forward Israel critics want Radiohead’s lead guitarist cancelled. He says they’re hypocrites.
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Film & TV Is it time for ‘Asterix’ to retire the “Roman” salute?
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Fast Forward Ben Cohen of Ben & Jerry’s goes on Tucker Carlson and says, ‘I love Jesus Christ’
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