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
-
J.J. Abrams’s Star Trek Screening
Director J.J. Abrams arranged for a special preview screening of his unfinished “Star Trek Into Darkness” for a 41-year-old man dying of cancer. Maroon 5 front man Adam Levine will be on SNL January 26 — this time as the host, and not the musical guest. Is Jake Gyllenhaal dating Katie Holmes? Some people seem…
-
Books Author Blog: Arbitrary Judaism
Earlier this week, Justine Hope Blau wrote about growing up in an intellectual but chronically homeless family. Her blog posts are featured on The Arty Semite courtesy of the Jewish Book Council and My Jewish Learning’s Author Blog Series. For more information on the series, please visit: We grew up with my mother’s special brand…
-
Brigitte Bardot Wants Russian Passport, Too
Former French screen goddess Brigitte Bardot on Friday threatened to follow Gerard Depardieu in asking for a Russian passport, in protest not at tax hikes, but at the treatment of two circus elephants. The animals, named Baby and Nepal and owned by a touring circus, are thought to be carrying tuberculosis and were ordered to…
The Latest
-
Two Views of Eichmann and Arendt
Crossposted from Batya Reads This year’s New York Jewish Film Festival, starting January 9, is heavy on the Holocaust. Two films, however, stand out in conversation with one another. “Hannah Arendt,” directed by Margarethe von Trotta, is a fictionalization of Arendt’s presence at the Eichmann trial. And a new documentary, “The Trial of Adolf Eichmann,”…
-
Jerry Seinfeld’s Festivus
Jerry Seinfeld and family celebrated Festivus by putting up a Christmas tree with a “menorahment” on top. It looks like predictions of a break up between Bethenny Frankel and Jason Hoppy were on the money. Frankel has announced that she is divorcing her husband of two years. Have you ever wanted to sit down for…
-
Where Are the Books at the NYPL?
Crossposted From Under the Fig Tree Remember the plaintive Pete Seeger song, “Where Have All the Flowers Gone?” In the wake of a recent research trip to the New York Public Library, I’m inclined to sing a similar song of lament about the fate of the book and call it “Where Have All the Books…
-
Natalie Portman, Lucrative Star for Studios
While you were ringing in the New Year… Forbes announced that Natalie Portman is the actress who provides the greatest return on investment, making the studios about $42.70 for every dollar she earns. Olympics gymnastics champion Aly Raisman was named among the 2012 Bostonians of the Year by the Boston Globe. Jake Gyllenhaal hung out…
-
Books Author Blog: Shades of Privilege and Deprivation
Justine Hope Blau, a writer of screenplays and books, has an MFA from Columbia University’s School of the Arts. Her memoir “Scattered: A Mostly True Memoir” is now available. Her blog posts are featured on The Arty Semite courtesy of the Jewish Book Council and My Jewish Learning’s Author Blog Series. For more information on…
-
Steven Spielberg Scores Directors Guild Nod
Filmmakers Steven Spielberg, Kathryn Bigelow, Ben Affleck, Tom Hooper and Ang Lee received nominations from the Directors Guild of America (DGA) on Tuesday, ahead of the Oscar nominations this week. Affleck, 40, landed his first Directors Guild film award nomination for Iran hostage thriller “Argo,” alongside Oscar-winning U.S. directors Bigelow and Spielberg, Taiwanese director Lee…
-
Setting ‘Yellow Ticket’ to Music
Klezmer violinist Alicia Svigals has experience scoring documentary and feature films. But earlier this year she faced an unusual challenge when she was approached by the Washington Jewish Music Festival to score a 1918 feature-length silent film called “The Yellow Ticket.” Unlike other scoring jobs, where her focus was mainly on heightening viewers’ experience of…
-
Marilyn Monroe’s Jewish Wedding ‘Cover Up’
Marilyn Monroe has been dead 50 years, but she continues to fascinate. Classified files released by the FBI in response to a request by the Associated Press reveal claims that the actress’s Jewish marriage ceremony was “a cover up.” Monroe married Jewish playwright Arthur Miller in June 1956, but a redacted FBI document quotes an…
Explore
Most Popular
- 1
Fast Forward Ye debuts ‘Heil Hitler’ music video that includes a sample of a Hitler speech
- 2
Opinion It looks like Israel totally underestimated Trump
- 3
Culture Cardinals are Catholic, not Jewish — so why do they all wear yarmulkes?
- 4
Fast Forward Student suspended for ‘F— the Jews’ video defends himself on antisemitic podcast
In Case You Missed It
-
Culture How one Jewish woman fought the Nazis — and helped found a new Italian republic
-
Opinion It looks like Israel totally underestimated Trump
-
Fast Forward Betar ‘almost exclusively triggered’ former student’s detention, judge says
-
Fast Forward ‘Honey, he’s had enough of you’: Trump’s Middle East moves increasingly appear to sideline Israel
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
