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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Celebrities Tweet the Middle East — With Controversial Results
(JTA) — First, there were the celebrity tweeter and deleters. As the Israel-Gaza conflict continues to spark a proxy war on Twitter and other social media, numerous celebrities are getting themselves caught in the crossfire. Earlier this week, both singer Rihanna and basketball player Dwight Howard alienated partisans on both sides by tweeting the #FreePalestine…
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Meret Oppenheim’s Magical Tables and Teacups
Photo: Suzanne Khalil/NMWA Although it stands still, Meret Oppenheim’s “Table with Bird’s Feet” (1983) brims with kinetic energy. The work comes exactly as advertised; had it not anticipated “Beauty and the Beast” by some eight years, it could have been a remnant of the magical castle’s set, and at first glance, the viewer is thrilled…
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Robert Downey Jr. Tops Forbes List of Highest Paid Actors
For the second year running, Robert Downey Jr. tops Forbes’ list of highest paid actors in Hollywood. Since June of last year, Iron Man has made $75 million — impressive even by Tony Stark standards. The tribe has done slightly better on Forbes list of highest paid actresses, with two fabulous Jewish ladies making the list….
The Latest
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Congress For Jewish Culture Leaves Its Office, But Not Its Mission
A version of this post appeared in Yiddish here. On July 17, the New York Times reported that the Congress for Jewish Culture, one of the few remaining Yiddish organizations in New York, would close their Manhattan office at the end of the month. The Congress’s office space, on Broadway just off 26th street, was…
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Jill Abramson Champions Freedom of The Press
“She was reading the New York Times before she could transfer to a bottle,”Gail Sheehy said of Jill Abramson, at the July 15 reception she hosted at her Manhattan duplex for the former executive editor of The New York Times. Author of 16 books — including megahit “Passages,” Sheehy touted Abramson as “among the first…
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Is Amar’e Stoudemire Looking For a Hebrew Tutor?
He has part ownership of an Israeli basketball team, sports a yarmulke before games and thinks Shabbat is “awesome.” Now, it seems Amar’e Stoudemire is ready for the next step: learning Hebrew. According to an email making the rounds, the basketball star is looking for a tutor: Please let me know if you have any…
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A Refugee Pianist, Played by Her Daughter
Lisa Jura was a talented teenage pianist who dreamed of one day performing the Grieg piano concerto with the Vienna Philharmonic at the famed Musikverein. It was a lofty ambition, to be sure, but she had the talent and will to make it happen. Unfortunately, it was 1938 and her life and the lives of…
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Jon Stewart on What It’s Like To Talk About Israel as a Jew
Making jokes about Israel can be tricky. No one knows this better than Jon Stewart, who has been criticized for remarks he made on ?The Daily Show? pointing out the asymmetrical distribution of force in Operation Protective Edge. So in a segment on Monday night, Stewart responded using what he does best ? comedy. Every time…
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Why ‘Bert Berns Story’ Is Best Summer Musical
Photo: Jenny Anderson Bert Berns is the best pop songwriter you never heard of. “Piece of My Heart: The Bert Berns Story” is the best new musical of the summer, and you heard that here first. Berns was an angst-ridden Jewish kid from the Bronx, haunted by a weak heart and a doctor’s predictions that…
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‘Louie’ Renewed For a Fifth Season
Fans of ?Louie,? rejoice! Not for you the long, almost-unbearable two-year gap between seasons three and four. FX just announced that ?Louie? has been renewed for a fifth season, with seven episodes set to run in spring 2015. ?Louie?s fourth season was once again groundbreaking,? FX Networks and FX Productions CEO John Landgraf said in…
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The Middle East Crisis, According to Woody Allen
The situation in Gaza is ?a terrible, tragic thing. Innocent lives are lost left and right, and it?s a horrible situation that eventually has to right itself,? Woody Allen declared in an interview about his new movie, Magic in the Moonlight. Asked about the Israel-Palestine conflict, Allen explained, ?I feel that the Arabs were not…
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