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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Brad Pitt Helped Shia LaBeouf Convert to Christianity
Getty Images Shia LaBeouf is many things: the former child star of “Even Stevens;” a sometimes weird performance artist; that drunk guy who crashes a performance of “Cabaret” and gets arrested. But a Jew? No longer. According to Haaretz, the actor has converted to Christianity, with a little help from Brad Pitt. LaBeouf, currently starring…
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Donna Karan Honored at Lungevity Foundation Gala
‘It’s so great when other people wear your clothing,” joked fashion guru and founder of Donna Karan Ltd. Donna Karan, honoree at the Lungevity Foundation’s Celebration of Hope Gala at The Pierre. Wearing a body-hugging black silk sleeveless dress, long black shawl, black boots and imposing triangular tribal metal necklace, fashion was not on the…
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Top 4 Christian Works By Jewish Composers
Everyone knows that the most popular American Christmas songs were written by Jews. But like Leonard Bernstein’s “MASS,” (see my piece on the recent Queens performance here) there’s a long tradition of Jewish musicians involved in Christian-inspired music — and even a few non-Jewish composers who’ve written for the Hebrews. Here are four of the…
The Latest
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Iggy Azalea’s Bar Mitzvah Wardrobe Malfunction
Memo to Iggy Azalea (and any other impromptu bar mitzvah performer): wear underwear. You never know when your pants are going to suddenly split mid-song, giving 13-year-old boys a glimpse of manhood that goes a little beyond their Torah portion. The “Fancy” rapper, 24, was performing her (aptly named) song “Booty” at an unidentified kid’s…
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Harry Potter Keeps Taking Off His Clothes
Dorri Olds Actor Daniel Jacob Radcliffe, now 25, has a net worth of $110 million, thanks mostly to the Harry Potter franchise. The eight movies all made it into the top 50 grossing films of all time. At 18, Radcliffe was ready to shed the Harry Potter image. He starred onstage in “Equus,” a role…
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Bernstein’s ‘MASS’ Gets Rare Performance at Queens College
Getty Images In 1971, the first time Maurice Peress conducted Leonard Bernstein’s “MASS,” the monumental piece echoed the life and death of John F. Kennedy, the social upheaval of the 1960s, and the morass of Vietnam. Spectators today might see “MASS” in a very different light — as a tragic commentary on U.S. involvement in…
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POEM: ‘Rockets Falling’
and the melon field drinks the cup of wrath. I go from room to room, weighing my conscience, and stop by the window to look at the view. The river is calm, a boat or two. Melons, unpicked, are on fire, leaving black scars. A kid’s kite on a winged wind disappearing in smoke.
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POEM: Friday Late Morning Montage
baby: in bassinet, breathing loud, me: on the couch breasts filling up, heavy with milk toddler’s sweater thrown over his chair, on the floor: toys, a towel, a Ziploc bag on the ottoman: blue-and-white polka-dotted boppy — a nursing pillow on the sofa: baby-wearing wrap outside: the rain, in the dining corner: shades are still…
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Israeli Cartoon Shows Bibi as a 9/11 Terrorist
Today in things in poor taste: A Haaretz cartoon by Amos Biderman showing one Bibi Netanyahu, flying an Israel plane into an American building. Subtle. I guess people who lost a loved one on 9/11 will just have to get past that boring old thing called grief in the interest of depicting political tension.
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‘Finding Your Roots’ Goes All Jewish
WNET/ Joseph Sinnott If you’re not familiar with it, “Finding Your Roots” with Henry Louis Gates is in part a PBS response to the genealogy craze, people increasingly curious about where they came from. The next episode is all Jewish, as we learn about the ancestors of three celebrated Americans. Tony Kushner delves into the…
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6 Jewish Costumes for Shabbat-oween
Dressing up for Halloween is always an ordeal. Dressing up when Halloween also falls on Shabbat? Wow. So this year, in honor of “Shabbatoween,” we’ve come up with some easy tricks to add a topical Jewish twist to your costume. Major treats guaranteed. 1) Irv Rosenfeld from “American Hustle” For ultimate ’70s swag, pair a…
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