PJ Grisar is a Forward culture reporter. He can be reached at grisar@forward.com and @pjgrisar on Twitter.
PJ Grisar
By PJ Grisar
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Culture A ‘2001’ exhibit that leaves them wondering — like Kubrick would have wanted
When “2001: A Space Odyssey” debuted in 1968, 15 months before the first lunar landing, audiences didn’t know what to make of it. Its early reception was far from fawning. Director Stanley Kubrick‘s daughter Katharina recalls storage boxes full of mail from viewers requesting ticket refunds. But the film’s fortunes soon changed. Theaters in major…
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Culture What does Michael Bolton’s book tell us about Ukraine?
On Sunday, the impeachment trial of President Donald J. Trump was upended by news that former White House national security adviser John R. Bolton’s forthcoming book, “The Room Where It Happened,” makes explicit the link between the president’s release of security aid to Ukraine and an investigation of his 2020 opponent Joseph R. Biden. The…
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Culture The weirdest — and Jew-iest — moment from the Grammys
In a largely somber Grammys — brimming with mourning, green skulls and a profusion of fire — there was one outstanding moment of unexpected (if unintended) levity. In a star-studded and treacly musical theater montage, Camila Cabello, Cyndi Lauper, Common, Ben Platt and a crew of arts high school students serenaded departing Grammys producer Ken…
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Culture Meet the woman with the most Oscars ever
Edith Head had the look. She clothed Hollywood’s most glamorous, gifting Dorothy Lamour her trademark sarong, cloaking Kim Novak in a pristine white winter coat (collar popped), and making the grubby Great Depression look snappy with striped and checkered suits for Paul Newman and Robert Redford in “The Sting.” Her knack for understanding the fusion…
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Culture Germany to honor 1700 years of Jewish culture in 2021
“German society, we have an increasing anti-Semitism here,” said Andrei Kovacs. “You can feel it as a Jew. I can feel it on my skin.” But Kovacs, a Romanian immigrant to Germany, has a plan to combat that bigotry: He’s the executive director of a government-backed effort to highlight the deep roots Jews have in…
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Culture 75 years ago, Auschwitz was liberated – here’s how the world is remembering
On January 27, 1945, the nightmare ended for some. 75 years ago Monday, the Soviets liberated Auschwitz. They found the camp unguarded, the Nazi guards having fled with the bulk of the prisoners ahead of the Red Army’s advance. Around 7,000 — most of whom were sick and dying — were released, by the Soviets….
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Culture 50 years later, ‘The Garden of the Finzi-Continis’ is a Holocaust film like no other
On a summer day in the northern Italian city of Ferrara, a band of youths, dressed in immaculate white, arrive at the walled gates of a garden, open to the public for the first time in a decade. They are there at the invitation of the young lady of the manor for a tennis tournament….
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Culture Jeff Goldblum, Marc Maron and Terry Gross find their roots
Two celebrated interviewers and perhaps the most eccentric interview subject of all time, learned about their shared Jewish pasts in Eastern Europe on PBS’s “Finding Your Roots.” On the January 21 episode of the series, podcaster and comedian Marc Maron, “Fresh Air” host Terry Gross and actor Jeff Goldblum found common ground: Namely, the Eastern…
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