(JTA) — In her 110 years, Alice Herz-Sommer has been an accomplished concert pianist and teacher, a wife and mother — and a prisoner in Theresienstadt. Now she is the star of an Oscar-nominated documentary showing her indomitable optimism, cheerfulness and vitality despite all the upheavals and horrors she faced in the 20th century. “The…
(JTA) — Change of plans for all parents hoping to get your kids to bed early on Oscar night: According to The Hollywood Reporter, “Frozen” star Idina Menzel will perform “Let It Go” at the ceremony Sunday, March 2. “Let It Go” is nominated for best original song, up against “Ordinary Love” from “Mandela: Long…
Austrian actor Maximilian Schell, who won an Academy Award for his role as a German defence attorney in the 1961 film “Judgment at Nuremberg”, has died aged 83. The Vienna-born actor died overnight at a clinic in Innsbruck as the result of a “sudden and serious illness”, his agent, Patricia Baumbauer, told the Austria Press…
(Reuters) — The complexities and contradictions of the Middle East conflict come into play in both the real-life production story and fictional plot of “Omar,” Palestine’s contender for a best foreign language film Oscar. The movie’s director and lead actors are Israeli Arabs who identify as Palestinian. And while it depicts lovers literally walled-off by…
(JTA) — The Palestinian film ‘Omar,” directed by Hany Abu-Assad, has just been nominated for an Academy Award in the Foreign Language Film category. It’s the second nomination for Abu-Assad, whose “Paradise Now” was up for the prize in 2005. It’s also the second time a Palestinian film has been nominated, according to Haaretz. “Omar,”…
‘Bethlehem’ Trailer from The Playlist on Vimeo. Israel is out and Palestine is still in the Oscar race, following the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announcement of nine semi-finalists in the best foreign-language film category. Israel’s entry “Bethlehem,” directed by Yuval Adler and winner of Best Film at the 2013 Venice Film Festival,…
Academy Award-winning Broadway and film composer Alan Menken, recipient of the 2013 Oscar Hammerstein Award for “Lifetime Achievement in Musical Theatre,” was welcomed on stage at the Hudson Theatre by Bernadette Peters singing “Some Enchanted Evening” from the Rodgers–Hammerstein musical “South Pacific.” She was the first of a roster of performers toasting Menken that included…
LOS ANGELES – Comedian Ellen DeGeneres has been chosen to host the annual Oscars telecast in March, after last year’s host and “Family Guy” creator Seth MacFarlane got into hot water over jokes about Jews in Hollywood and provocative dance routines. This would be her second stint as master of ceremonies for the Oscars. DeGeneres,…
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