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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‘Insatiable’ Creator Compares Criticism of Her Show To Censorship
Many female humans (and some of the other types, as well) were irritated to learn that a new Netflix show, “Insatiable,” appeared to make fun of fat women. “Insatiable” tells the story of an overweight teenage girl who is ruthlessly bullied until, having had her jaw wired shut for the summer after an accident —…
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Ben Shapiro Wasn’t Cat Calling Ocasio-Cortez — He Was Peacocking
To a certain kind of man, a woman’s worth is calculated by how much attention she’s giving him. On August 8, in a 49 second video that’s been watched over half a million times, right-wing pundit Ben Shapiro begged Democratic Congressional candidate for NY-14 Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to appear on his Sunday night talk-show. The video…
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Maggie Gyllenhaal is Deranged In Remake of Israeli Thriller
I wouldn’t give an apple to this teacher. Maggie Gyllenhaal brings every parent’s nightmare to life in the disturbing trailer for the upcoming Netflix film “The Kindergarten Teacher”. Gyllenhaal plays a troubled educator who latches onto a kindergarten student upon listening to him stammer out brilliant poetry. She immediately pegs the little boy as “a…
The Latest
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Admit It: ‘The Spy Who Dumped Me’ Isn’t Selling Because of Sexism
As the kids say: Don’t at me. “The Spy Who Dumped Me,” an action-comedy released last week, has everything people like in summer movies: Car chases. Big laughs. A-list stars. Shootouts. Poop jokes. Hot girls. Hot guys. European cityscapes. An assassin who does gymnastics. Terrorist plots. It’s only missing one thing: Male protagonists. That’s right….
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A CBS Sitcom About Gentrification Starring A Jew: Cringe-y or Brilliant?
“The Neighborhood,” a fall premiere for CBS, has all the ingredients of a classic sitcom: good-looking B-list talent, a hearty laugh track, a set comprised of well-appointed upper middle class living rooms and open-concept kitchens, and one more thing…the tension that arises when white families move into a historically black neighborhood and slowly begin to…
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15 Synagogue-Chic Dresses Under $100 For Rosh Hashanah
As the dog days of summer continue in earnest, and the oppressive heat assaults all the senses, the last thing you want to think about is fall fashion, with its heavy fabrics and layered looks. But with Rosh Hashana less than a month away, the time has come to consider that all important question: “What…
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‘BlacKkKlansman,’ Randy Newman In L.A. And More To Read, Watch And Do This Weekend
I spent last Saturday at a truly raucous wedding, so my plans for the forthcoming weekend are heavy on sleep and light on, well, everything else. If you, unlike me, are planning to be out and about this weekend, read on for the best weekend events in New York City, Washington D.C., Chicago and Los…
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‘The Marvelous Mrs Maisel’ Makes For The Catskills In The Season 2 Trailer
The dumped-but-unsinkable Mrs. Maisel heads to the Catskills and High Holiday services in a trailer for hotly anticipated second season of the hit Amazon show. The candy-coated, wise-cracking “Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” sailed smoothly into Jewish diasporic hearts and minds in March 2017 and lodged there comfortably, apparently set to remain central to the American Jewish…
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Sacha Baron Cohen’s Obsession with Israel Revealed on ‘Who is America’
Four episodes of Sacha Baron Cohen’s “Who is America” Showtime series now live and breathe in the homes and stone cold hearts (depending on your feelings about Cohen’s brand of satire) of our fellow Americans. So far, we’ve seen a group of duped congresspeople endorsing Cohen’s fake Israeli “Kinderguardian” program that aims to arm “gifted”…
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‘Shameless’ Actress Emmy Rossum Attacks Diet Culture
“Shameless” actress Emmy Rossum garnered 59.3K likes on her latest Instagram post and I can’t even get a text back. The post reads: “Want to know what I Weigh?” with an accompanying caption that says: “@i_weigh BECAUSE YOU ARE SO MUCH MORE THAN A NUMBER.” Her 3.3 million followers were probably expecting another one of…
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Michael Moore’s Trump Doc ‘Fahrenheit 11/9’ Releases First Searing Trailer
“Fahrenheit 11/9,” Michael Moore’s newest documentary aims, in the words of its director, “to bring Trump down.” And maybe it will. But the movie, in theaters September 21, is more likely to address the question Moore issues during the teaser trailer that was released today: “How the f**k did this happen?” The under two-minute trailer,…
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Culture I ranked the NYC mayoral candidates exclusively based on their bagel orders
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Opinion Mike Huckabee’s stunning, terrifying new gift to the Israeli right
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Opinion Greta Thunberg’s Gaza flotilla was never going to help Palestinians
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