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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Shia LaBeouf Calls Out Recent Spielberg Movies As Literally Only A Man Can
Shia LaBeouf, erstwhile Even Stevens, walking meme fodder, and one of the most attention seeking “non-attention-seekers” in all of Hollywood, came out unexpectedly in his recent Variety interview against one of the movie-makers he’s worked with most: Steven Spielberg. LaBeouf, who worked on the Spielberg-produced Transformers franchise and the Spielberg-directed Indiana Jones and the Kingdom…
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Gwyneth Paltrow Regrets Announcing Her “Conscious Uncoupling” with Chris Martin
In 2014, Gwyneth Paltrow broke the internet by infamously announcing her “conscious uncoupling” with Coldplay lead singer Chris Martin on her lifestyle website, Goop. Now,the Oscar-winning actress and businesswoman says she regrets the way she announced it. In an interview on LinkedIn, Paltrow said she was actually aiming for a low-key way to break the…
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Everything You Wanted to Know About Seinfeld Porn (But Were Really, Really Afraid to Ask)
Ever have a hankering for a sexier “Seinfeld”? Like, maybe, getting to watch Jerry and Elaine hook up from beginning to end? Or peek in on Kramer having a three way? Or see the Soup Nazi get some action of his own? If any of the above sounds tantalizing (and, you know, not that there’s…
The Latest
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How Did an Unknown Filmmaker Coax Jerry Lewis Out of Retirement?
“It was surreal,” writer-director Daniel Noah, 44, told the Forward. “I was being served lox and bagels on a Sunday morning in my pajamas by Jerry Lewis. He was wearing a silk kimono, putting salmon on my plate, and asking me do I want more capers.” Jerry Lewis turned 90 this year and had been…
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WATCH: Newman From ‘Seinfeld’ Returns to TV — in Israeli Ikea Ad
A beloved “Seinfeld” character made an unlikely reprise: in an Israeli commercial for the furniture giant Ikea. In a short video for Ikea’s 2017 catalogue, Wayne Knight stars once again as Newman, Jerry Seinfeld’s grumpy mailman neighbor and sometimes nemesis. Shot in Israel, the video features Knight lamenting the lack of respect for postal workers…
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Barbra Streisand Tops The Charts — Again
Barbra Streisand has done it again: her new album “Encores: Movie Partners Sing Broadway,” debuted at number 1 on the Billboard 200 Chart. The album, released on August 26th, is Streisand’s 11th to take the number 1 slot. It also makes her the only artist to have had number 1 albums in each of the…
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Lena Dunham Lands in Social Media Hot Water Over ‘Racist’ Tweet
A tweet Lena Dunham wrote five years ago has resurfaced—and is causing a major internet backlash. “An uncool thought to have: ‘is that guy walking in the dark behind me a rapist? Never mind, he’s Asian.’” the actress wrote on July 12, 2011. An uncool thought to have: “is that guy walking in the dark…
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The 96-Year-Old Barber of Auschwitz Retires — After 6 Decades in Business
A 96-year-old Holocaust survivor, who began his career cutting hair for German soldiers at Auschwitz and Mauthausen, recently closed the barbershop he owned and operated for 60 years in Chicago. Ben Scheinkopf left a note on the door of his shop, on California Avenue on Chicago’s North Side, for patrons and neighbors explaining, his age…
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Mark Zuckerberg Pretty Disappointed To Hear That SpaceX Flubbed Another Rocket Launch
SpaceX lost another rocket on Thursday when its Falcon 9 rocket exploded on the launch pad at Cape Canaveral, FL. (There were no people around the launch pad when the explosion occurred, and no people have been hurt in any SpaceX explosions.) Check this out: WATCH: Dramatic video captures SpaceX explosion at Cape Canaveral, destroying…
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When Amy Schumer Auditioned to Play Shoshanna on ‘Girls’
Six years ago, Amy Schumer walked into an audition room to try out for Shoshanna, the fast-talking, ditzy, bubblegum character on what would later become the hit television show “Girls.” She didn’t get the part—but she made a huge impression on Lena Dunham, the show’s creator. “Everyone in the room was stunned by the detail…
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Is Anthony Weiner a Porn Addict? Shmuley Boteach and Pamela Anderson Weigh In.
Pamela Anderson and Rabbi Shmuley Boteach accused Anthony Weiner of being addicted to pornography in a Wall Street Journal op-ed published this morning. The celebrity rabbi and the 90s-era “Baywatch” pin-up used Weiner’s separation from wife Huma Abedin as a hook for a jeremiad against pornography, describing the spread of Internet porn as an “experiment…
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Culture Trump wants to honor Hannah Arendt in a ‘Garden of American Heroes.’ Is this a joke?
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Fast Forward The invitation said, ‘No Jews.’ The response from campus officials, at least, was real.
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Opinion A Holocaust perpetrator was just celebrated on US soil. I think I know why no one objected.
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Fast Forward Columbia staff receive texts asking if they’re Jewish, as government hunts antisemitic harassment on campus
In Case You Missed It
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Opinion Is JB Pritzker’s very Jewish toughness the key to fighting Trump?
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Fast Forward Trump nominee Ed Martin, who praised a Nazi sympathizer, also compared Biden to Hitler
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Opinion RFK Jr. and Trump are talking about an ‘autism registry’ — this sounds disturbingly familiar
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Fast Forward Heavy police presence blocks anti-Israel protest in Brooklyn from reaching Jewish neighborhood
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