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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Zach Braff’s Jewiest Movie Yet
Lawrence Sher, Double Feature Films Any doubts that Zach Braff’s new movie, “Wish I Was Here,” centers on his Jewish identity evaporate into thin air the second the film’s dog barks. “Kugel!” The dog’s name is only one of the many Jewish elements in the movie, which tells the story of Aidan Bloom (Braff), a…
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Joan Rivers Storms Out of CNN Interview
Apparently all that plastic surgery didn’t give Joan Rivers a thick skin. On July 5, Joan Rivers made headlines after she stormed out of a CNN interview claiming the anchor, Fredricka Whitfield, was asking increasingly “negative questions.” Rivers, known for her (sometimes) off-color jokes has picked on everyone from Paula Deen to the Jennifer Lawrence….
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Why Is Tom Hanks Singing ‘This is How We Do It’ Dressed Like a Rabbi?
Presented for your humble viewing: A video of Tom Hanks, dressed as a rabbi, singing “This Is How We Do It,” courtesy of Justin Bieber. Caption: “Haha Tom Hanks singing “This Is How we do it” dressed like a Rabbi lol #thatdancetho” SO MANY questions: Why is Tom Hanks dressed like a rabbi? Why is…
The Latest
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How Lee Grant Recovered From the Blacklist
“Some working actors lost the best years of their lives and don’t know why.” Those words were written by actress/director Lee Grant in her new memoir, “I Said Yes To Everything.” And she should know. She was one of them. Grant was the “surprise discovery” of the 1950 Broadway season for her role in “Detective…
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POEM: ‘Photograph of a Talmudist’
(Taken in Warsaw, 1936) I will not infer from your black suit and stiff blanched collar an absolutist’s stance since moot distinctions were your passion, nor read prophecy into your ashen beard though your forehead, pale as a candle, burned, as did the bald dome beneath your silk skullcap. Your terse lips questioned transcendence, your…
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Jose Pekerman’s 7 Miracles
Jose Pekerman chats with Colombia player as the team prepares to face Brazil in the World Cup. / Getty Images There’s a joke being told in the bars of Rio about how different national teams tried to curry support. Italy put out a press release that if they won they would give free pizza to…
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‘Rising Star’ Is Surprisingly Short of Stars
Now available to stream online: the premiere auditions of the newest reality singing competition, Rising Star, based on an Israeli reality show, HaKovkhav Haba, or “The Next Star” in Hebrew. The first episode of the American version debuted Sunday, June 22. Now, I’ve seen my fair share of reality television shows. I watched American Idol…
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Jean Shafiroff Honored at Hampton Summer Soltice Gala
Of the unique cadre of philanthropic women who are “hands on” at the entities they support is Jean Shafiroff, an honoree at the June 21 Ellen Hermanson Foundation Summer Solstice Gala, hosted by Ellen and Chuck Scarborough at their stunning Southampton home. Shafiroff — whom I have dubbed “the lady who never repeats a gown,”—…
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Feminist Hero Esther Broner Changed the ‘Order’ of Things
Summer is the cruelest cultural season. With that in mind, ICYMI (In Case You Missed It) is a new occasional series highlighting movies, TV shows, books, comics and everything else we might have missed in the past few months that we can catch up on in the next few. Early on in Lilly Rivlin’s 2013…
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A Concentration Camp Poster For Your Home, On Sale at Walmart
Walmart has always had a knack for building its reputation as a soul-crushing corporation. Nevertheless, it is still shocking to find that they are selling a poster with an image of the gate of one of the Holocaust’s most notorious concentration camps — Dachau. Screenshot via Heeb The description reads “Gate with inscription Arbeit Macht Frei,…
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PHOTO: Christian Bale as Moses in ‘Exodus’
Photo: Entertainment Weekly This is not Charleton Heston’s Moses. The first stills of Ridley Scott’s “Exodus” have surfaced, and it’s clear we’re in for something new. Christian Bale, our new Moses, is clad in armor and on horseback wielding some kind of weapon. According to Entertainment Weekly, Bale hesitated before taking on the iconic role….
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Fast Forward Argentina’s Javier Milei selects Jewish ambassador to replace foreign minister he fired
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Culture ‘A Real Pain’ is Jesse Eisenberg’s love letter to Poland, the country his family left under duress
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News When colleges shut down their ‘Gaza solidarity sukkahs,’ they prompted debates over anti-Zionist Jewish observance
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