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Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Two Generations of ReitmansProduce Laughs

By Danielle Berrin

Growing up in Ivan Reitman’s shadow couldn’t have been easy. With hits like “Animal House,” “Ghostbusters” and “Stripes,” Ivan produced and/or directed some of the most iconic Hollywood comedies of the past three decades.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Katrina Youth Take Center Stage to Heal in Festival Doc

By Naomi Pfefferman

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.

Monday, June 22, 2009

LA’s Top Chef Wins First Round of Top Chef Masters [VIDEO]

By Orit Arfa

Suzanne Tracht, executive chef and owner of Los Angeles chophouse, Jar, will feed hungry locals (although not necessarily her creations, to their misfortune) after winning both the Quickfire Challenge and elimination challenge of the second episode of “Top Chef Masters,” a new spin-off of Bravo’s popular cooking competition, “Top Chef.” The new show is designed for chefs who have already achieved their fame the old-fashioned way.

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Spies, Celebs, Classics and More —  Good Reads

By Tom Teicholz

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

The Meaning of Life for ‘$9.99’

By Meredith Price Levitt

With more than 50 short films based on his short stories, Etgar Keret is no stranger to the world of cinema. But for the first time ever, the brilliant young Israeli writer, best known for his satirical flash fiction, has adapted his own work to a feature film.

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Play Explores Different Holocaust Aspect — Effect on Son of Nazi War Criminal

by Iris Mann

The sins of the father are visited on the child in “East of Berlin,” a play about the emotional agony suffered by the son of a Nazi war criminal, which is making its United States debut at the NoHo Arts Center in North Hollywood after taking Canada by storm two years ago.

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

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

By Naomi Pfefferman

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.

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Israeli Films Ponder Human Cost of Bombings

By Tom Tugend

Suicide bombings in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv are daunting topics, even for risk-taking young Israeli directors, but two feature movies on the subject screening at the Israel Film Festival are remarkable for their unexpected sensitivity and humanity.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Israel, Seen by the Ethiopian Eye

By Naomi Pfefferman

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.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Israeli Films, TV Shows Get the Spotlight

By Naomi Pfefferman

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.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Documentaries Explore Mysteries of Fate

By Orit Arfa

Two documentaries, two mysteries: the life and death of a family of Holocaust survivors attempting to rebuild their lives in an Israel ravaged by war; the other reveals the life and death of a Greek musician attempting to build his career as a pop star in Israel, seeking normalcy through music.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

War and Girls Test Brothers’ Family Loyalty

By Tom Tugend

“Lost Islands,” which will kick off the Israel Film Festival at its June 3 opening gala, begins with Avraham Levi demonstrating his concept of family loyalty to his wife and five sons.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Survivor, Producer is Honored — Again

By Tom Tugend

Film producer Branko Lustig, who will receive the Israel Film Festival’s Lifetime Achievement Award on June 3, is probably the only child Holocaust survivor with two Oscars on his mantle shelf.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Milk, Honey ... and Movies

By Dikla Kadosh

Israel’s film industry continues to add notches to its belt in the same way Israelis do just about everything: swiftly and assertively. During the past two years, Israel campaigned furiously and succeeded in scoring back-to-back Academy Award nominations for best foreign film.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Talk About ‘Idol’ Worship

By Danielle Berrin

The opening moment of the “American Idol” finale was dripping with irony. Considering that this was the most culturally polarized competition in the show’s history, it was amusing that finalists Adam Lambert and Kris Allen were both dressed regally in white.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

One Rabbi’s Climb Out of Despair

by Rabbi Michael Gotlieb

Can you identify with an emotion never having experienced it personally? Can you learn from someone who shares his life story of survival from a life-threatening illness, never having been unwell yourself?

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

‘Dirty Dancing’ Comes Alive on Stage

By Rick Schultz

Remember the classic line from the 1987 hit movie, “Dirty Dancing,” when the lower-class Johnny Castle (Patrick Swayze) walks up to the cosseted Jewish girl, Frances “Baby” Houseman (Jennifer Grey), and in front of her parents says, “My Baby belongs to me. Is this clear?”

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

The Unshine Boys

by Sara Vilkomerson

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Smoking the Stereotypes

By Danielle Berrin

Unlike most Hollywood writers, Jenji Kohan got her creative education at the family dinner table, where there was a subtle, but largely predetermined, genetic imperative to write.

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

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

By Naomi Pfefferman

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.

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Indies Focus on Holocaust, Middle East

by Iris Mann, Contributing Writer

Aside from the usual blockbusters, aimed mainly at the young set on vacation from school, summer 2009 also will offer some meaningful film fare for discerning audiences. Movie critic Emanuel Levy, a professor in the UCLA film department, refers to this trend as “counter-programming.”

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Asher Roth Raps Suburbia

by Adam Sacks

Success has been easy for Asher Roth, but respect is proving more elusive.

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Miscommunication Marks Early History of Sephardic-Ashkenazic Relations in U.S.

by Adam Kirsch

A hundred years ago, if you walked the streets of the Lower East Side, you would expect to hear Yiddish spoken all around you and to see storefronts covered in Hebrew letters spelling Yiddish words.

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Budapest Designer Melded Classical With Cutting Edge

By Tom Teicholz

Can a piece of furniture convey the story of Hungarian Jewry or reveal the genius of a little-known master? The story of a career undercut by anti-Semitism and cut short by death?