Naomi Pfefferman

Cohn Wears Zionist Heart With Pride

Published on March 2, 2010

“I am what one would call a perfectionist,” said the Swiss film producer Arthur Cohn, who is as renowned for his ardent Zionism as he is for his illustrious career. “I am involved in every aspect of a production, and I always believe in what I do.”

No Star is Safe: Rivers riffs on red carpet attire

Published on March 1, 2010

Joan Rivers loved, loved, loved Quentin Tarantino’s “Inglourious Basterds.” But not his shlumpy attire at the recent Golden Globe Awards ceremony. “He was wearing this long, black frock coat — he looked like a preacher,” she said in her famous raspy voice over the phone recently. “Of course, his work is so amazing, in a way you don’t want him to be a dandy. But you do wish a good woman would get a hold of him and just dress him like a normal person.”

‘Hurt locker’ writer brings the trauma home

Published on March 1, 2010

When Mark Boal arrived in Iraq to cover the Army’s high-risk bomb squad for Playboy magazine in 2004, officials startled him with two unusual questions.

“They wanted to know my blood type and my religious affiliation,” Boal said. “When I asked why, they said ‘In case we have a funeral for you.’ And then they said, ‘Since you’re Jewish, you should really keep that under your hat. They behead Jews over here.’ And Daniel Pearl had just gone missing.”

David Arquette: The Females of My Life

Published on February 16, 2010

At the Geffen Playhouse recently, David Arquette twisted off his gold wedding ring to reveal the inscription he shares with his wife, Courtney Cox: “A deal’s a deal. 6-12-1999.” The ornate script recalls the couple’s marriage in a multifaith ceremony in which Arquette broke a glass to honor his Jewish mother.

Oscar Contenders Praised, Criticized for Jewish Depictions

Published on January 27, 2010

“Jews are fascinated by anti-Semitism whether they’re victims of it or not,” Ethan Coen said.

Reubens Ready for Pee-wee’s Big Comeback

Published on January 13, 2010

“My father was a hero of the early Israeli air force — isn’t that an amazing story?” Paul Reubens said recently between rehearsals of “The Pee-wee Herman Show” at Club Nokia.

Q & A With Jackie Mason

Published on January 13, 2010

Jackie Mason is a tough customer. The rabbi-turned Borsht Belt comic jokingly gave Ed Sullivan the finger on live TV in 1964, which gained him pariah status in Hollywood for years. Since then the irascible Mason has become as famous for his uber-right-wing politics as he has for his Jewish schtick, irking Democrats, for example, by quipping that President Barack Obama is an “arbiter of change — he changes his story every five minutes.” He feels entitled to use the word schvartze because, as he’s said, “I’m an old Jew. I was raised in a Jewish family where 'schvartze' was used. It's not a demeaning word and I'm not going to defend myself.” And he staunchly refuses to turn down his bile — where all things liberal are concerned — either in his video blog, “The Ultimate Jew,” or on stage. On Jan. 20-24, he’ll bring his tenth one-man show, “Jackie Mason: No Holds Barred,” to the Wadsworth Theatre. In advance, the 73-year-old comedian refused a telephone interview with The Journal, but agreed to answer e-mailed questions so that he could ensure his answers would run verbatim.

Digging for Jewish Roots in ‘Palestine, New Mexico’

Published on December 16, 2009

It seems out of character — to say the least — when Richard Montoya expresses concern about how his new play, “Palestine, New Mexico,” might be received at the Mark Taper Forum. Montoya, after all, is the irreverent front man for Culture Clash, the mostly left-leaning, often Chicano-themed political cabaret that has cheekily taken on multiculturalism for a quarter century in productions such as “Chavez Ravine” and “Water and Power.” No subject has been too sacred for its vaudevillian brand of humor — early sketches featured Latino “superheroes” such as “Busboy Man” and “Lawnblower Man” — and even Latino idols such as Che Guevara were fair game. “We didn’t realize until we read in a textbook out of New York University that we had heroically resurrected Che, but then killed him again,” Montoya said with a laugh.

Vegan Adventures With Alicia Silverstone [RECIPES]

Published on December 3, 2009

As Alicia Silverstone stands at the counter of the vegan Cafe Flourish in Los Angeles, she’s not immediately recognizable as the vixen in Aerosmith music videos or the girl who played the iconic Beverly Hills princess, Cher, in the movie “Clueless” (1995). On this day, her blonde hair is in a makeshift bun; her scruffy black jacket and pants hiding her lean frame in a manner her “Clueless” character might have dubbed “ensemble-y challenged.”

Oren Moverman’s ‘The Messenger’: The unseen casualties of war

Published on November 20, 2009

When filmmaker Oren Moverman returned to Tel Aviv, on leave from his paratrooper unit during the first Lebanon War, he often shut himself in his room and repeatedly watched the Vietnam War saga “Apocalypse Now.”

A Private Eye’s Adventures Are Author’s Dream

Published on October 28, 2009

Uninhibited author Jonathan Ames — creator of HBO’s quirky detective comedy, “Bored to Death” — once followed a pursuit he describes as “religious cross-dressing”: primping his blond hair and donning blazers to “infiltrate WASP society” in his 20s. While at Princeton University, Ames had become smitten by what he calls “the aesthetics of the WASPy young gentleman” as depicted in the works of F. Scott Fitzgerald and W. Somerset Maugham. When this charade put him in hearing distance of an anti-Semitic remark, he often said nothing, hoping to “pass” and to be liked.

Jewish Actress Sophie Okonedo Explores Biracial Identity

Published on October 20, 2009

“I’m a North London, working-class, black, Jewish girl,” actress Sophie Okonedo said. “I love my upbringing because it had so many different colors; it’s given me the equipment to play lots of diverse roles.”

Leo Frank, Revisited

Published on October 14, 2009

When T.R. Knight chants the Shema blindfolded and with a noose tightening around his neck in the role of Leo Frank, his character’s terror is palpable. The scene takes place as the inevitable tragic dénouement of the historical musical “Parade,” now playing at the Mark Taper Forum, the story of the anti-Semitic trial and lynching in 1915 of a pencil-factory manager accused of brutally murdering a 13-year-old girl. In this production, Frank lives again via this boyish, 36-year-old actor best known for his part in the original cast of “Grey’s Anatomy.”

Childhood Fears Feed ‘Wild Things’

Published on October 14, 2009

When the 39-year-old filmmaker Spike Jonze began visiting the author and illustrator Maurice Sendak at his rural Connecticut farmhouse years ago, Sendak often spoke of how his Jewish immigrant relatives inspired the toothy monsters in his children’s classic, “Where the Wild Things Are.”

Revived ‘Parade’ Marches Across L.A. Stage

Published on September 30, 2009

Alfred Uhry swept though a corridor backstage at the Mark Taper Forum last week, greeting actors dressed in early 20th century garb with a robust “Shalom, y’all!” The Southern Jewish playwright was on hand to offer advice and answer questions for the cast of “Parade,” the musical about the anti-Semitic lynching of Leo Frank in Georgia in 1913, which failed on Broadway but was later revised for a London production that will now make its United States premiere at the Taper on Oct. 4.

Seriously Jewish

Published on September 30, 2009

Ask Joel and Ethan Coen whether their excruciatingly dull experiences growing up Jewish in the Midwest spawned their new film, “A Serious Man,” and Ethan Coen says, “They made us go to Hebrew school and now they're going to pay.”

David, ‘Seinfeld’ Cast Reunite, Rant

Published on September 16, 2009

In its last two seasons, Larry David’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm” pushed politically correct notions of Jewish identity and race to cringe-worthy and hilarious extremes. David, playing an exaggerated version of his misanthropic self, briefly made nice when he mistakenly believed he had been adopted and was not born Jewish, then he returned to his callous self when his wife — now estranged — took in an African American family that had been displaced by Hurricane Katrina. “So your last name is Black,” he says to the family upon their first meeting, arriving late to pick them up at the airport. “That’d be like if my last name were Jew: Larry Jew.”

Chabad Rabbi Trains for Dance-a-thon

Published on September 9, 2009

Telethons always aim to break records, but this year the producers of the “Chabad ‘To Life!’ Telethon” hope to make the Guinness Book of World Records, when Rabbi Yossi Cunin undertakes what he calls “the longest recorded Chasidic dance ever” on the show Sept. 13 on KTLA. Last Friday, the 36-year-old rabbi demonstrated just how aerobic the kazatzka can be as he and seven friends danced their way onto a live broadcast of the KTLA news, pulling the startled weatherman aside as they leapt, twirled, somersaulted and cartwheeled to klezmer music, wearing their traditional long kapote coats.

Portrait of a Fashion Diva as Human Being

Published on September 9, 2009

In “The September Issue,” R.J. Cutler’s new documentary about the behind-the-scenes workings of American Vogue magazine, the formidable editor-in-chief Anna Wintour lives up to her reputation as the frosty doyenne of the fashion industry — aka Nuclear Wintour — who inspired Meryl Streep’s imperious performance in the film version of “The Devil Wears Prada.”

Get ‘Serious’

Published on September 1, 2009

About a decade ago, Joel and Ethan Coen, the brilliant and iconoclastic filmmakers of “Fargo” and the Oscar-winning “No Country for Old Men,” sat down with this reporter to answer questions about growing up Jewish in St. Louis Park, Minn., where they amused themselves during the bleak winters by making Super 8 films.

‘Parade’ Takes a Second Turn

Published on September 1, 2009

When the Donmar Warehouse production of “Parade” opens at the Mark Taper Forum on Oct. 4, starring T.R. Knight, it will mark the musical’s triumphant return to this country since a disastrous original version failed on Broadway more than a decade ago.

Revenge of the Jews, Tarantino Style

Published on August 18, 2009

Quentin Tarantino is bouncing up and down on a couch in a suite at the Four Seasons Hotel, waving his arms and talking at torpedo speed about “Inglourious Basterds,” the fantastical World War II film he both wrote and directed, which opens Aug. 21.

Eli Roth Fuels ‘BaSterds’ Role With Holocaust Fury

Published on August 18, 2009

When the extreme horror auteur Eli Roth visited Germany to promote his 2005 hit, “Hostel,” journalists asked how he dared make such a sexually sadistic movie. Roth, now a still-boyish 37-year-old, had already cemented his reputation as one of the most successful directors to push the so-called “torture porn” genre to grisly new heights; “Hostel” pushed it even further with its tale of smug American college students who become the playthings of wealthy sadists abroad.

Remembering Woodstock: Max Said Yes!

Published on August 13, 2009

When the American Jewish dairy farmer Max Yasgur died in 1973, he became one of few non-musicians to receive a full-page obituary in Rolling Stone magazine. That’s because Yasgur said “yes” to organizers of the Woodstock Music and Art Fair 40 years ago this week, allowing half a million young people to camp out on his land in Bethel, NY, after neighboring towns refused to grant access to the flower children.

Ang Lee’s Catskill Culture Clash

Published on August 11, 2009

When half a million exuberant participants converged on Bethel, N.Y., for the legendary Woodstock Music and Art Fair 40 years ago this week, it proved a harmonious blending of two diverse populations: the young people who turned out to celebrate the festival’s ode to flower power and the older locals who largely made the festival possible in the historic Jewish mecca of the Borsht Belt.

What Makes‘ Funny People’ Tick

Published on July 22, 2009

In a pivotal scene in Judd Apatow’s new film, “Funny People,” a comedy star battling leukemia orders his assistant, Ira Wright (Seth Rogen), to sit beside his bed and talk him to sleep. The ill star, George Simmons (Adam Sandler) teases, “Wright? That’s not your real name. You’re hiding some Judaism.”

The Value of a Bad Breakup

Published on July 14, 2009

On July 22, 2001, between 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. EST, a “cataclysmic, earth-shattering” event took place over melting ice cream at the Serendipity restaurant in Manhattan: “I got dumped,” screenwriter Scott Neustadter said in an interview.

Cohen’s ‘Brüno’ Raises Stakes on Jewish Humor

Published on July 8, 2009

Universal Pictures’ highly anticipated mock documentary, “Brüno,” opens July 10, with a story line that is as hilarious as it is controversial. But whether Sacha Baron Cohen’s latest comic opus is perceived to be provocative or offensive, homophobic or passionately pro-tolerance,

Katrina Youth Take Center Stage to Heal in Festival Doc

Published on June 24, 2009

Hilla Medalia was at an impasse with her documentary, “To Die in Jerusalem,” when she decided to accompany Broadway theater veteran James Lecesne to New Orleans, with her camera in tow.

Feuerstein Feels the ‘Royal Pain’in USA’s New Dramedy

Published on June 3, 2009

On a recent morning on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, Mark Feuerstein received an unexpected phone call from the production office of his new USA Network series, “Royal Pains,” in which he plays an emergency room doctor turned private physician to the jet set in the Hamptons.

Israel, Seen by the Ethiopian Eye

Published on May 27, 2009

Shmuel Beru was around 12 years old in 1989 when Spike Lee’s “Do the Right Thing” stunned audiences with its provocative story of racial conflict between African and Italian Americans in New York.

Israeli Films, TV Shows Get the Spotlight

Published on May 27, 2009

Less than a month after Israeli filmmakers proved a strong presence at the Cannes Film Festival, the 24th Israel Film Festival will play in Los Angeles June 3-18, with a lineup showing how Israeli cinema has recently emerged as a contender on the global scene.

Frears and Pfeiffer reunite for Colette courtesan drama ‘Chéri.’

Published on May 20, 2009

At a time when substantive roles for actresses over 40 remain scarce, the British director Stephen Frears continues to make movies spotlighting heroines of a certain age.

Illuminating Ayelet Zurer

Published on April 29, 2009

While on location in Rome for “Angels & Demons,” Ayelet Zurer sat in a cafe not far from the Vatican, querying her mother, who as a child had to hide from the Nazis in a convent.

A Righteous Role

Published on April 16, 2009

Anna Paquin was 11 when she won an Oscar for her performance in “The Piano” and in her mid-20s when she took the 2009 Golden Globe for her leading role in HBO’s vampire series, “True Blood,” but as she locked up her bicycle on a funky stretch of Abbot Kinney Boulevard the other day, she looked like just another young woman from the neighborhood. “Thanks for schlepping down to Venice,” she said as a greeting.

How Israel’s ‘Treatment’ Translates to Success for HBO

Published on April 9, 2009

The premiere last Sunday of the second season of “In Treatment” on HBO marked a milestone in television history in both Israel and the United States. The acclaimed series is closely based on the Israeli hit, “Be’Tipul” (“In Treatment” in Hebrew), in which a conflicted psychologist treats a different patient in each of four episodes each week and visits his own therapist in the fifth.

Brainiac Finds Summer of Love in ‘Adventureland’

Published on April 2, 2009

Play Highlights Troubled Couple’s Attempt to Reconnect

Published on March 25, 2009

Heads turn as Meital Dohan strolls into the café at the Viceroy Santa Monica hotel, wearing a miniskirt and high heels.

The Awkward Guy’s Guide to Making Man-Friends

Published on March 18, 2009

“I’ve definitely been riding the ‘awkward train’ my entire career,” says John Hamburg, co-writer and director of the new comedy, “I Love You, Man.”

‘Being Erica’ Takes Jewish Slant on Single Life

Published on March 11, 2009

In the March 19 episode of SOAPnet’s time-travel fantasy, “Being Erica,” 30-something Erica Strange (Erin Karpluk) is zapped back to the day of her bat mitzvah, shocked to find her grownup brain inside her 13-year-old body as she recites her haftarah portion, which she barely remembers.

Josh Brolin Mines Emotional Depths

Published on February 19, 2009

It’s pouring rain outside, and the three sharp raps on my front door announce that Academy Award nominee Josh Brolin has arrived for an interview, his hands hunched deep in his pockets and his hood pulled up over his baseball cap on a chilly Thursday afternoon.

A Twenty-Dollar Camera Makes History

Published on February 19, 2009

Mia Kirshner Documents a Different ‘L’ Word: Living

Published on February 4, 2009

At a Los Feliz café, Mia Kirshner seems nothing like Jenny Schecter, the narcissistic diva she portrays on the Showtime lipstick lesbian drama, “The L Word.”

Louis Gossett Jr. to Give Shul Inaugural Ball Toast

Published on January 15, 2009

This week, actor Louis Gossett Jr. will fly to Washington, D.C., to attend the inauguration of Barack Obama.

Judaism plus FBI add up for Rob Morrow in ‘Numb3rs’

Published on January 7, 2009

" . . . Don is still exploring and seeing if Judaism is right for him. I don't think he's said 'I'm super-Jew, and everyone's going to daven now at the FBI.' . . . "

Q&A with Yair Hochner—founder of Tel Aviv’s first gay and lesbian film festival

Published on November 14, 2008

Before the 33-year-old Hochner made "Antarctica," he shot his award-winning "Good Boys," for $500; and founded Tel Aviv's first gay and lesbian film festival.

Q&A with Betsy Brown Braun—Hollywood’s go-to parenting guru

Published on November 12, 2008

" . . . I'd met so many parents who are talented career people, but can be humbled to their knees by a 4-year-old. They'd say, 'Betsy, what do I say? What do I do? Help!' -- so I offer actual scripts that can be a starting point for parents . . . '

‘The Longing’ documents crypto-Jews caught between two worlds

Published on November 7, 2008

When Gabriela Böhm set out to create her documentary, "The Longing: The Forgotten Jews of South America," several years ago, she hoped to profile an as-yet-undiscovered secret community of Crypto Jews -- descendants of Jews forced to flee the Spanish Inquisition who continued practicing rituals covertly.

In ‘Adam Resurrected,’ Jeff Goldblum reanimates controversial Shoah survivor

Published on October 30, 2008

In order to play the lead in "Adam Resurrected," Jeff Goldblum said he spent "months crying and crawling around on all fours."

Habonim spirit influences work of director Mike Leigh in ‘Happy-Go-Lucky’

Published on October 9, 2008

Leigh's physician father and midwife mother met through Habonim, the Labor Zionist youth movement, in 1936. Mike Leigh, in turn, became a Habonim leader and traveled with the group to Israel on a ship as a teenager. The experience had a dramatic effect on his future work as an artist: "The atmosphere was one of chevrah, of sharing, openness and coming together -- of making things happen by colluding -- which describes the spirit of how I work with actors and the atmosphere of my rehearsals."