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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Madonna Celebrates Purim as ‘Mother of Dragons’
Stop the search: We have officially found the best Purim costume of the year. Madonna celebrated the triumph of Jews over Haman and the return of “Game of Thrones” (April 6, you guys!) in one fell swoop by dressing up as Daenerys Targaryan, a.k.a Mother of Dragons, a.k.a Khaleesi. She posted the picture to Instagram…
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Bar Refaeli’s Purim Costume Is Better Than Yours
Think dressing up for Purim is just for kids? Bar Refaeli doesn’t agree. The Israeli supermodel embraced her inner child this year and posted a picture of her Purim costume to Instagram to prove it. The caption reads: “A stylish tiger #happyPurim.” Bet your version doesn’t include a bright yellow Chanel satchel.
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Tel Aviv Makes Top Ten ‘Selfiest’ Cities List
Tel Aviv has the sixth-most “selfie-takers” per capita of any major city, according to a ranking in Time Magazine. One-hundred thirty-nine Tel Aviv residents per 100,000 frequently take selfies, or self-portraits taken with a cellphone, according to the survey, published Monday. The magazine calculated its results by surveying 400,000 selfies tagged according to location on…
The Latest
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Mayim Bialik’s Sushi Hamantaschen
Much has been written on how to improve hamantaschen: add some booze, avoid prune filling (we can all agree on this one, I think), drizzle with chocolate, and so on and so on. But Mayim Bialik topped every single one of those with her version of “nouveau” Purim cooking: Yum? Yuck? Let us know in…
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Theology of ‘True Detective’
You don’t have to go far to find people utterly disappointed in the season finale of “True Detective.” Many websites have spilled thousands of words expressing upset that the episode didn’t expose any remaining mysteries about the criminal acts driving its plot. But those upset at the finale weren’t paying attention. This show didn’t follow…
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Shimon Peres’s Purim Costume
Shimon Peres in disguise. / Facebook Do you feel pretty proud of your Purim costume right now? Think you’re the master of disguise? If so, you’d better think again. Israel’s president’s got you beat. On his Facebook page, Shimon Peres today revealed the disguise he wore back in the 1970s when he would go to…
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POEM: ‘Late for Work’
so I tell the man behind the coffee counter a made up name, not my Hebrew name, which requires gentiles to practice heavy sounds of machine gun fire at the back of the throat before they get it right. I could have told him my name means “blessing,” but will I ever know for sure…
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Lighting Up With Seth Rogen: Jewish Edition
(JTA) — We just can’t stop talking about Seth Rogen lately! Sorry if you’ve had enough, but this clip from Bravo’s “Watch What Happens Live” is just too Jew-packed to resist. Last night the show’s host Andy Cohen got Rogen to play a round of “Spill the Herbal Tea,” in which the writer, actor and Alzheimer’s…
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Seinfeld Supercut Shows What A Show About Nothing Really Looks Like
Turns out, ‘Seinfeld’ was about something after all. The following supercut, by video editor LJ Frezza, shows what the beloved sitcom would have been like in a New York sans people, soup Nazis, anti-Dentites, marble rye, men in capes, sombreros and Kramer. And what a sad, sad world it would be. [h/t Gothamist]
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Is Roseanne Barr Making Aliyah to Israel?
(JTA) — Comedian Roseanne Barr revealed via Twitter on Wednesday she is interested in making aliyah. Here’s what went down: Barr, who currently lives on a macadamia nut farm in Hawaii with her fourth non-Jewish husband, responded to a Times of Israel story about the aliyah organization Nefesh B’Nefesh with this tweet. aliyah 2014 — Roseanne…
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Filming His Refusenik Father’s Doppelganger
Writer/director Arie Posin is standing in the lobby of the Paley Center for Media in midtown Manhattan, not far from the red carpet and a dozen or so photographers. Everyone is waiting for Annette Bening and Ed Harris. The two star in Posin’s “The Face of Love” and have come to New York for a…
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