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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Monday Music: Israeli Indie Scene Grows Up
Crossposted from Haaretz On Friday evening, in the children’s area of the Yaarot Menashe festival complex, you could hear a young mother calling her child, “Geva, come, the show is starting soon.” Since there aren’t many 5-year-olds named Geva, and because Geva is the name of one of the stars of the Israeli indie scene,…
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Mekhi Phifer Hangs Out at Israeli Air Force Base
What is “ER” doctor Greg Pratt up to nowadays? Well it seems that he fancies himself as an Israeli fighter pilot. The actor who played him, Mekhi Phifer — also famous for his co-starring role opposite Eminem in the feature film “8 Mile” — is in Israel at the moment, and hanging out where all…
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Out and About
Jordan has freed the publisher of an online newspaper charged with propagating “anti-regime sentiment.” Actor Elliott Gould has become the new face of Aish HaTorah. Watch Mandy Patinkin speaking at a Peace Now conference in Jerusalem. Read an excerpt from Isaac Bashevis Singer and Maurice Sendak’s “Zlateh the Goat and Other Stories.” Seth Lipsky defends…
The Latest
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Yiddish Poems From Daughter to Mother
Sheva Zucker’s late mother Miriam was still attending a women’s Yiddish reading group in Winnipeg until just a few months before she died last January at age 97. So, even before her mother passed away, Zucker knew what the best way would be to memorialize her. “My mother was never a shul-goer, and davening is…
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Stern Weighs in on Obama Marriage Stance
Radio host Howard Stern is telling President Obama to walk the walk and not just talk the talk. While so many other celebrities have been praising the president for publicly stating earlier this week that he is personally in favor of same-sex marriage, Stern is criticizing him for not going far enough. “I wish the…
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‘Starriest’ of Silent Film Stars Back on Screen
Crossposted From Under the Fig Tree When you combine the sizzling artistry of violinist Alicia Svigals with the smoldering film presence of Pola Negri, the silent film star and Hollywood darling of the interwar years, sparks are sure to fly. Building on the current fascination with the world of silent films, which “The Artist” and…
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Books Author Blog: Montefiore’s Ramsgate
Earlier this week, Sami Rohr Prize Choice Award Winner Dr. Abigail Green wrote about the making of a good biography and traveling in the footsteps of Montefiore. 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,…
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Friday Film: Annette Insdorf on Philip Kaufman
By choosing Philip Kaufman (“Quills,” “Henry and June”) as the subject of her latest book, Columbia University Film School professor Annette Insdorf hasn’t just given his films an extreme close-up. With “Philip Kaufman” (University of Illinois Press), the first book-length study of the impossible-to-categorize director, Insdorf has also nominated Kaufman to the pantheon of cinema…
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Yiddish Bookstore Gets a New Home
A version of this post appeared in Yiddish. Over the last three years many Yiddish cultural organizations in New York have relocated to new homes. The Forverts and the Workmen’s Circle/Arbeter Ring sold their building on East 33rd Street in Manhattan and their tenants, including the League for Yiddish, the Folksbiene National Yiddish Theater, Yugntruf–Youth…
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Roman Polanski Plans Dreyfus Flick
Polish director Roman Polanski’s next film will be a political thriller based on the Dreyfus Affair. The acclaimed director announced Wednesday that the new film, titled “D,” will reunite the team that produced his award-winning film “Ghost Writer.” Albert Dreyfus was a French Jewish army officer who was falsely convicted of treason in 1894. In…
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Clooney Hosts Big-Time Obama Fundraising Party
In case you hadn’t heard, there is going to be a big fundraising bash for President Obama’s reelection campaign tonight over at George Clooney’s place. No one — well, at least no Democrat — would want to miss that, right? But before you run to put on your party dress, you might want to know…
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