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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Vienna Museum Director Quits Over Looted Art
The director of Vienna’s Leopold Museum, home to extensive collections of work by Austrian artists such as Egon Schiele and Gustav Klimt, has quit in a row over Nazi-looted art. Tobias Natter said he could no longer stay at the museum after some of its most senior staff joined a controversial new foundation associated with…
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Astonished by Polish ‘Aftermath’
“Aftermath, “ the Polish film by director Wladyslaw Pasikowski, offers that rare phenomenon where fiction is more unsettling than reality, with a macabre Zombie-genre film finale that left me sobbing. The setting is a post–World War II Polish village where the locals ostracize their own — two brothers — Josek (Maciej Stuhr) who inexplicably “plants”…
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English Soccer’s Jewish Moment
English soccer is having a Jewish moment. The conclusion of David Bernstein’s term as chairman of the Football Association (FA) in July in tandem with the publication in paperback in August of Anthony Clavane’s “Does Your Rabbi Know You’re Here?” brought the matter of the contribution of Jews to the beautiful game to the fore….
The Latest
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How About A Nice Jewish Guy For Your Wall?
(JTA) — Don’t confuse them with the “Hottest Rabbis” of 2013, for which the Jewrotica website is currently soliciting nominations. No, these are the “Nice Jewish Guys” of 2014: the stars of a glossy wall calendar produced in partnership with JDate, just in time for Thanksgivukkah. This year’s gentlemen include Roe (shown caressing a braided…
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Bar Refaeli Chokes Up on Israeli ‘X-Factor’
By now, we expect reality singing talent programs to be emotionally manipulative. It’s all part and parcel of the ratings game, and has been from the very first episode of American Idol, the show that spawned the genre. Without these narratives, after all, how else could so many people be convinced to watch performance after…
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Paula Abdul Plans Kotel Bat Mitzvah
Singer and dancer Paula Abdul met in Jerusalem with Israeli President Shimon Peres. Abdul, former “American Idol” and “X Factor” judge, met Peres Tuesday at the start of a ten-day visit to Israel. She is scheduled to tour sites including Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and northern Israel and learn more about Israeli society, fashion, dance, theater…
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A Cradle-to-Grave Health Care System That Works
There are no easy answers when it comes to creating and sustaining healthcare systems that are both effective and affordable. In his new television documentary, “Dockside to Bedside: 100 Years of Herzl,” filmmaker Ezra Soiferman provides a window on to one system that seems, for the most part, to be doing a good job on…
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Mandy Patinkin On His Favorite ‘Princess Bride’ Quote
Before we fell in love with him (or at least, really respected the power of his beard) as Saul on “Homeland,” Mandy Patinkin was best remembered for saying 13 words: “Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die” Well guys, sorry to disappoint, but those aren’t Mandy’s favorite words from…
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Vatican Honors Lou Reed on Twitter
Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, the Vatican’s 71-year-old culture minister, paid his own tribute on Monday to the late rocker Lou Reed, tweeting one of his best-known songs before clarifying he was not condoning any reference to drugs some have seen in the song. Ravasi, an Italian who is the same age as Reed was when he…
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#RIP Lou: Celebrities Tweet Their Reactions
Lou Reed, rock & roll poet and founding member of the Velvet Underground, died on the same Sunday morning that he taught us all to love (“Sunday Morning.” 1966). As usual, Twitter was the first to know it. Here is how Jewish celebrities reacted: The one and only Lou Reed, died today at 71. ampmdash;…
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Books How David Laskin Discovered Family’s Past
A family rumor was the genesis of David Laskin’s extraordinary new book, “The Family: Three Journeys into the Heart of the 20th Century.” Laskin heard from his mother who heard it from her cousin Barbara who heard it from her parents: that they were related to Lazar Kaganovich, henchman of Joseph Stalin and a perpetrator…
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