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Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Amid criticism, film festival showcases Israel’s Arabs

By Gil Shefler, JTA

When iconic Israeli news anchor Haim Yavin released his documentary series “In the Land of the Settlers” in 2005, he lay his journalistic reputation on the line.

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Bringing a ‘Golem’ to Life

By Karla S. Blume

For a scare steeped in Jewish mysticism this Halloween, REDCAT is bringing Paul Wegener’s “The Golem” to the Roy and Edna Disney/CalArts Theater on Friday and Saturday night. But the screening of the 1920 silent horror classic, which recounts the Eastern European legend of a large clay figure brought to life to protect the Jews of Prague, will be accompanied by the debut of an improvised musical score by Brian LeBarton.

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

A Private Eye’s Adventures Are Author’s Dream

By Naomi Pfefferman

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.

Friday, October 23, 2009

Soupy Sales dead at 83

LATimes.com

Even though the occasion is sad, there is something oddly bracing in setting out to write about a man who called himself "Soupy." We need more Soupys in this self-important, don't-you-dare-throw-that-pie world -- and now there is one less, Soupy Sales having died Thursday at the age of 83.

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Israeli Designers Dazzle at First L.A. Fashion Week Appearance

By Dikla Kadosh

The hot ticket in town last week was the local debut of Israel’s burgeoning fashion industry at Downtown L.A. Fashion Week.

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Interpreting the Unspeakable

by Iris Mann, Contributing Writer

The power of art as a personal restorative, a historical document and a weapon against overwhelming oppression is tellingly illustrated in Hilary Helstein’s upcoming documentary, “As Seen Through These Eyes,” scheduled to open in Los Angeles Oct. 23. The movie’s executive producers are Hollywood heavy-hitters Michael Jacobs, Jerry Offsay and Irv Weintraub.

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Shadows of the Sun

By Tom Teicholz

When the German forces surrendered to the Allies in May 1945, World War II in Europe ended. However, for the Jewish survivors of the Holocaust, the trauma of what they endured wasn’t over. For many, the effects lingered on in ways large and small, noticeable and not, often in ways their families came to know.

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Jewish Actress Sophie Okonedo Explores Biracial Identity

By Naomi Pfefferman

“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.”

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Leo Frank, Revisited

By Naomi Pfefferman

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.”

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Reluctant Jew Who Shaped U.S. Zionism

by Adam Kirsch, Tabletmag.com

At 900 pages, “Louis D. Brandeis: A Life,” by Melvin Urofsky (Pantheon, $40) may be more than twice the size of an ordinary biography, but because Brandeis had four major careers, even this door-stopper of a book can claim to be economical.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Sharon Waxman Takes on Hollywood

By Danielle Berrin

In August, when Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein gave his first on-the-record interview addressing the widespread speculation that his company was failing to a New York Times reporter who had written little about Hollywood, Sharon Waxman was, well, pissed.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Childhood Fears Feed ‘Wild Things’

By Naomi Pfefferman

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.”

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

What We Must Learn from Letterman

by Mark Pearlman, JInsider.com

Monday, October 12, 2009

‘Lebanon,’ latest film to explore Israel’s Vietnam

By Dina Kraft, JTA

From the depths of an Israeli soldier turned middle-aged filmmaker's haunted memories, the new award-winning movie "Lebanon" consists mainly of scenes shot from inside a sweat- and anxiety-soaked tank of Israeli army conscripts trapped behind enemy lines.

Monday, October 12, 2009

Jewish music to be focus of Moroccan festival

JTA

Jewish music will be the focus of an annual Moroccan music festival.

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Jewish Theatre Mounts Ambitious Season

By Tom Tugend

It’s hard to be a Jew and even harder to be the artistic director of a Jewish theater in Los Angeles.

Monday, October 5, 2009

Dudamel, Israel: A Love Story

by Allan M. Jalon, Contributing Writer

With Gustavo Dudamel taking the podium this weekend at Disney Hall as the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s new music director, Los Angeles is embracing the Venezuelan prodigy as a perfect catch. But even at 28 he is well traveled, and has already had a love affair with Israel.

Friday, October 2, 2009

Tarantino and “Basterds” Come to Israel

By Dina Kraft

Quentin Tarantino winced as the young Israeli journalist took the microphone and asked what must rank as one of the heavier questions he's ever encountered: "How do you relate to the Jewish tragedy of the Holocaust personally?"

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Revived ‘Parade’ Marches Across L.A. Stage

By Naomi Pfefferman

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.

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Seriously Jewish

By Naomi Pfefferman

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.”

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Industry Pros Point Way to Post-Addiction Creativity

By Rachel Heller

Some recovering addicts call it their “moment of clarity.” Others call it their “bottom.”

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

‘Curb’ — The New Candy Store for Jewish Pride

by Eddy Friedfeld

“You’re not a get together guy. You hate to get together!” Jerry Seinfeld tells former partner Larry David in the third episode of this season’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” “I’m being sold something. I don’t know what yet.”

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Real-Life Avengers

By Tom Tugend

The transformation of the centuries-old image of the Jew as cringing coward into that of a tough fighter was sealed by Israel in the wars of 1948, 1956 and 1967.

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Anti-Israel Protests Roil Toronto Film Fest

By Danielle Berrin

Rather than celebrating artistic freedom, this year’s Toronto International Film Festival became the locus of an artist-led, divisive boycott against Israel.