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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Scarlett Johansson Pregnant With First Child
Mazel tov, ScarJo! Scarlett Johansson, the Jewish actress and SodaStream spokeswoman, is pregnant with her first child with fiancee Romain Dauriac, a source confirmed to E! News. The pair were spotted at the 39th Cesar Film Awards 2014 in Paris on Friday (no baby bump yet!) Johansson went public about her relationship with the French…
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Jewish Museum’s Purim Ball: A Rap and Twitter Spiel
“It’s hard to imagine that we sold out The Armory!” beamed Claudia Gould Director of the Jewish Museum at its February 26 Purim Ball which raised a record $2.5 million. More than 1,000 festive donors dined on a fabulous meal beneath a ceiling installation of 3,000 T-shirts with such imprints as: “I Love Esther” and…
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John Travolta Mispronounces Idina Menzel’s Name
If your name is actually Adela Dazeem, you may be getting a lot of unwanted tweets today. The Twitterverse exploded during last night’s Oscar ceremony, when a confused John Travolta mispronounced singer Idina Menzel’s name, accidentally referring to her as Adela Dazeem. Menzel got a standing ovation for her performance of the Academy Award-winning song…
The Latest
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6 Jewish Things on the Oscars Red Carpet
There’s only one day on the Jewish calendar more important than Rosh Hashanah for looking your spanking best. And our favorite Hollywood Hebrews were out in full force at the Academy Awards. Here’s six Jewish things about the Oscars red carpet. Let’s get the bad ones out of the way first. Bette Midler’s choice of…
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Behind-the-Scenes Jews Score at the Oscars
Spike Jonze won Oscar for best original screenplay/Getty Images After some fairly lean Oscar years, full or partial Members of the Tribe scored well at the 86th Academy Awards, though mainly in the less glamorous, behind-the-scenes categories. Israeli-American producer Arnon Milchan, who is an acknowledged intelligence operative for Israel’s nuclear weapon program, shared in the…
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William Klein, Photographer of Fashion and Filth
Copyright William Klein/Courtesy HackelBury Fine Art, London At almost 86, the pioneering photographer, artist and filmmaker William Klein, continues to draw a crowd. On February 23, Klein was at Jewish Book Week in London discussing his life and work with Alan Yentob, creative director of the BBC and editor and presenter of the television arts…
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Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher Are Engaged
Mazel tov to Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher! Rumors of the couple’s engagement went haywire on Thursday night after Kunis was spotted with a rather large rock on her finger. An unnamed source finally confirmed the news to Us Weekly. “She is crazy about him!” the source added. The couple, who met on the set…
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3 Non-Jews Playing Jews We Left Out
(JTA) — With Christian Bale and Leonardo DiCaprio both in the running for best actor for playing Jews behaving badly — the Forward has released its “11 Best Performances by Non-Jewish Actors Playing Jews in the Movies.” There is nothing like a movie list to send me down the rabbit hole (see my magnum opus…
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POEM: ‘everywhere’
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Christian Bale’s Kippah Malfunction
The Oscars are only two days away, and if you’re anything like us, you’re rooting for an “American Hustle” win in Costume Design. This is the first Academy Award nomination for Australian costume designer Michael Wilkinson (whose credits include “Man of Steel,” “300,” “Watchmen,” and “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Parts 1 & 2”…
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Jason Biggs and Jenny Mollen Share Bris Photos
(JTA) — Mazel tov to Jason Biggs and his wife Jenny Mollen on the birth–and apparent circumcision–of their son Sid. On Tuesday Mollen posted shots to Instagram that seem to have been taken on or around the time of their newborn’s bris. “Today was not a good day to be Sid’s penis,” read one caption that…
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