The Schmooze

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

POEM: ‘everywhere’

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”…