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The Schmooze View From the Ground of the Arab Spring
We are living through a golden age of documentary film. Surely “The Square,” a riveting account of the Arab Spring as it played out in Cairo’s Tahrir Square between 2011 and 2013, argues in favor of such optimism. In something under two hours, director Jehane Noujaim’s film — which recently screened at the New York…
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The Schmooze Polio Couldn’t Stop Hit Songwriter Doc Pomus
“I was never one of those happy cripples,” is the way Jerome Felder described himself. Why would he be? He was just 6 years old when he contracted polio. And in a sad irony fit for a blues song, the young Brooklynite caught the virus at a country summer camp he’d been sent to specifically…
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The Schmooze Finding the Funny in Divorce
When Stuart Zicherman was 11 years, it seemed like every family in his suburban Long Island, N.Y., neighborhood was getting divorced. His parents sat him down and told him that wouldn’t happen in their household. A year later, his father moved out. This piece of personal trivia is relevant because Zicherman, now 44, is the…
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Culture Amos Gitai Confirms Status as Grand Old Man of Israeli Cinema
‘Rhythm is political,” said Amos Gitai, wearing a black t-shirt and classic Ray-Bans as he leaned back in his chair at the Cinecittà Lounge of the Hotel Excelsior at the 70th Venice Film Festival. It was erev Rosh Hashana and the 62-year-old director was there to present “Ana Arabia,” his new film — shot in…
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Film & TV Filmmaker Jessie Kahnweiler Sees Satire in Rape
Filmmaker Jessie Kahnweiler, known for her comic spiritual YouTube adventure “Dude, Where’s My Chutzpah?” has a new video out, and viewers don’t know quite what to make of it. It’s called “Meet My Rapist.” The short satirical film is a response to Kahnweiler’s own rape, which occurred almost eight years ago, when she was 20…
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The Schmooze Biggest Little Music Studio in Alabama
At first, Jerry Wexler (1917–2008) was bupkes. But eventually he became the king of the music biz and even coined the phrase, “rhythm and blues.” In the 1960s, he wanted in on the “Muscle Shoals Sound,” which was named for a small town in Alabama where hit records were coming out of Rick Hall’s FAME…
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The Schmooze Jason Segel ‘s Great Maple Syrup Caper
What’s better than maple syrup? As a Canadian, I can tell you, not much. Except maybe a movie about the theft of $18 million worth of maple syrup — based on a true story. Jason Segel will star in this sweet (get it?) comedy, which will be directed by Seth Gordon. “Family Guy” writer Chris…
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The Schmooze Journey to the Heart of Alzheimer’s
To paraphrase a famous fundraising slogan, a mind is a terrible thing to watch wasting away. But that’s what filmmaker Alan Berliner does in his moving and lovingly motivated documentary, “First Cousin Once Removed,” premiering on HBO September 23. Berliner’s subject is his cousin, Edwin Honig (1919-2011), the noted poet, translator and teacher, who spent…
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