Akeena Solar

Film

November 18, 2009

‘2012’ Film, Apocalyptic Times and Jewish Wisdom

'2012’ Film, Apocalyptic Times and Jewish Wisdom

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Israeli high school students at Auschwitz as seen in “Defamation.” Photo courtesy First Run Features.Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Israeli Documentary Challenges Jewish Responses to Anti-Semitism

Yoav Shamir’s provocative new documentary, “Defamation” (“Ha Shmatsa”), suggests that today’s anti-Semitism, however pernicious, reflects little more than petty ignorance. The Israeli filmmaker’s central inquiry is whether the contemporary Jewish response to anti-Semitism is disproportionate in its force, and, if so, whether that response is detrimental to Jewish interests. That the two-part question is asked so forthrightly is enough to make “Defamation,” which First Run Features will open in Los Angeles Nov. 20, the most important Jewish movie of the year.

Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson star in ‘The Twilight Saga: New Moon’ Photo by Kimberley French.Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Jewish Screenwriter Pens ‘Kosher’ Vampires for ‘Twilight’

Melissa Rosenberg, the screenwriter of “The Twilight Saga,” is 6 feet tall with straight blonde hair, a pale complexion and a long, slim nose. Not exactly the most ethnic mien imaginable.

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Amos OzWednesday, November 4, 2009

Oz Mines Country’s Past in Personal Narratives

Just as the first heavy rain of the season began to beat against the large red awning of the Marilyn Monroe Café in Ramat Aviv, an area in north Tel Aviv, Amos Oz stepped under the protected terrace, looked around and smiled as I stood to shake his hand. Punctual to the minute at his preferred meeting place, he arrived unfettered by either a cell phone or an umbrella.

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Amid criticism, film festival showcases Israel’s Arabs

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

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.

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Interpreting the Unspeakable

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.

Sophie Okonedo in “The Secret Life of Bees.” Photo by Sidney BaldwinTuesday, October 20, 2009

Jewish Actress Sophie Okonedo Explores Biracial Identity

“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.”

Max (Max Records) and KW (voiced by Lauren Ambrose) in“Where the Wild Things Are.” Photo Courtesy of Warner Bros. PicturesTuesday, October 13, 2009

Childhood Fears Feed ‘Wild Things’

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.”

Friday, October 2, 2009

Tarantino and “Basterds” Come to Israel

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?"

Writers-directors Joel and Ethan Coen on the set of their film “A Serious Man.”  Photo by Wilson WebbTuesday, September 29, 2009

Seriously Jewish

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.”

John Brunswick (middle) served as official interpreter at the surrender of all German armies in the south to American forces.Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Real-Life Avengers

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.

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Toronto film fest calls Israeli PR strategy into question

When Amir Gissin helped come up with an idea to remake Israel's international image several years ago, it's unlikely he imagined that the showcasing of Israeli films in Toronto would spark a star-studded Hollywood brouhaha over artistic expression and cultural boycotts.

Jane FondaMonday, September 14, 2009

Jane Fonda responds to Toronto backlash

I recently signed a letter protesting the Toronto International Film Festival's decision to showcase and celebrate Tel Aviv. This in the very year when Gaza happened.

Quentin Tarantino on the set of his film “Inglourious Basterds.” Photo by Francois Duhamel/TWC 2009Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Revenge of the Jews, Tarantino Style

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.

Producer Lawrence Bender. Photo by Francois Durand/Getty ImagesTuesday, August 18, 2009

The Other Avenger: Tarantino’s Producer Lawrence Bender

Producer Lawrence Bender is sitting poolside at the Four Seasons Hotel, celebrating an unrivaled triumph: he’s just helped Quentin Tarantino kill Adolf Hitler.

Eli Roth as Sgt. Donny Donowitz in “Inglourious Basterds.” Photo by Francois Duhamel/TWC 2009Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Eli Roth Fuels ‘BaSterds’ Role With Holocaust Fury

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.

(From left) Kelli Garner, Paul Dano and Demetri Martin star in “Taking Woodstock.” Photo by Ken ReganTuesday, August 11, 2009

Ang Lee’s Catskill Culture Clash

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.

Nina Hoss and Evgeny Sidikhin in “A Woman in Berlin.”Wednesday, August 5, 2009

The Rape of Berlin

Briefly summarized, “A Woman in Berlin” chronicles eight weeks of the Soviet army’s conquest of Berlin, which began in April 1945, and the ensuing mass rapes of more than 100,000 women by the victorious troops.

Vichy police, which generally turned French Jews over to the Germans, make an arrest.Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Thorny Past, Present of Jews in France

Ah, la belle France and the American-French love/hate relationship. There’s Brigitte Bardot and Catherine Deneuve (in better days) and rude waiters, lovely Paris in the spring and stifling and deserted Paris in August, brave fighting comrades in 1917 and waving the white flag in World War II.

Leslie Mann, Adam Sandler, Seth Rogen and Eric Bana in a scene from “Funny People.” Photo by Universal StudiosWednesday, July 22, 2009

What Makes‘ Funny People’ Tick

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.”

Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel in “(500) Days of Summer.” Photo by Chuck ZlotnickTuesday, July 14, 2009

The Value of a Bad Breakup

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.

Sacha Baron Cohenas BrünoWednesday, July 8, 2009

Cohen’s ‘Brüno’ Raises Stakes on Jewish Humor

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,

Gertrude BergWednesday, July 1, 2009

Before Lucy And Oprah,There Was Gertrude

“The Rise of the Goldbergs” first aired less than a month after the stock market crashed in 1929. The series about a Jewish family with one foot in the old world and one in the new rose in popularity as Hitler was rising to power in Germany.

(From left) Jason Reitman, Rabbi David Wolpe and Ivan Reitman at a June 16 Sinai Temple event.Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Two Generations of ReitmansProduce Laughs

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.

'To Die In Jerusalem'Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Katrina Youth Take Center Stage to Heal in Festival Doc

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.

A still from “$9.99”Wednesday, June 10, 2009

The Meaning of Life for ‘$9.99’

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.

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