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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Britain’s Stained Glass Master
“Life and Art Through Stained Glass,” a new exhibit at the Ben Uri Gallery in London, examines the artistic career of architect, painter, designer and stained glass innovator Roman Halter (1927-2012). A survivor of the Holocaust, Halter channeled much of his creativity into narrating the horrors of that experience. It was essential to him that…
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Mengele: Handsome Psychopath in ‘The German Doctor’
In documentaries and live testimonials, survivors of Dr. Joseph Mengele’s “Right [life]-Left [death]” selection at Auschwitz, remember him as exceptionally handsome. And so is Spanish actor Alex Brendemuhl, who eerily and seductively portrays the toxic physician in Lucia Puenzo’s film “The German Doctor.” An uncanny Mengele Dopplelganger, Brendemuhl — a Spanish actor working in Germany…
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Are Liev Schreiber an Naomi Watts Ready to Tie the Knot?
After nine years and two kids, Naomi Watts and Liev Schrieber may be getting ready to say “I do.” “While Naomi and Liev have had their ups and downs, including a cancelled New Year’s Eve wedding right before 2008, they’ve finally worked out their differences and are rethinking marriage,” a friend of the couple reportedly…
The Latest
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Yiddish Book Center to Receive National Award
A version of this post appeared in Yiddish [here.][1] On April 24 Yiddish Book Center founder and president Aaron Lansky announced that his organization will receive the National Medal for Museum and Library Service. The award will be presented by First Lady Michelle Obama in a ceremony at the White House on May 8. The…
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Paul Simon Arrested on Domestic Violence Charge
Paul Simon, as in the Simon of Simon & Garfunkel, and wife Edie Brickell were reportedly arrested on disorderly conduct charges at his New Canaan, Conn. home over the weekend after a domestic violence incident. So much for “Bridge Over Troubled Waters.” Simon, 72, has been married to folk singer Brickell, 48, since 1992. They…
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Reform and Conservative Come Together in Song
When 31 students from Jewish Theological Seminary’s H.L. Miller Cantorial School and Hebrew Union College’s Debbie Friedman School of Sacred Music perform together on May 4, the concert will be the first interdenominational collaboration of this sort that David Tilman can remember. Years ago, there were “very significant” differences between the Conservative and Reform movements,…
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Donald Sterling’s Disgraceful Racist Rant
Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling watches game with girlfriend V. Stiviano. / Getty Images Until recently, Donald Sterling was mostly known (if at all) as the owner of the ‘other’ basketball team in Los Angeles. It’s bad enough that his Los Angeles Clippers have long lived in the shadow of the iconic Lakers. Now…
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POEM: ‘Lilith’s Quilt’
Older, moonswept no more Lilith saw bed as a place to sleep but sleep abandoned her like the millions of guys she’d had. Every night she tossed and turned with memories of her God-awful sex life— the lovers who woke up terrified dumped her out of the sack mocked her desire. Did a man ever…
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For The Last Time, Seth Meyers Is Not Jewish
Seth Meyers. Comedian. Host of the “Late Night Show.”Nice Jewish Boy. Right? Except he’s not. The comedian and newly-minted host of the Late Night Show on NBC reiterated his tribe-less status last night after receiving a Montreal Expos yarmulke from a fan. “I’m not Jewish,” he said. “Not everybody thinks I’m Jewish, but every single…
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Scarlett Johansson, Lupita Nyong’o To Star in "Jungle Book"
Scarlett Johansson better brush up on her Disney trivia. The actress and SodaStream spokeswoman has been tapped to star in the live action reboot of “The Jungle Book” alongside “Most Beautiful Person in the World,” Lupita Nyong’o, the New York Daily News reports. Johansson, 29, is being considered for the role of Kaa the python,…
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Wearing (Jewish) Heart on Her Sleeve — Or T-Shirt
Anne Grant collects T-shirts. Not just any T-shirts. Jewish T-shirts. The 23-year-old has roughly 100 of them, purchased through eBay, donated by friends, gathered from bar mitzvahs. It all started about a year ago, when a friend showed her the Hillel sweatband she had gotten from the University of Pennsylvania. “I thought the object was…
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