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 What Antony Blinken’s band says about how he’ll lead as Secretary of State
It is all but certain that Antony Blinken, former U.S. deputy secretary of state under Barack Obama, will be the nation’s top diplomat in the Biden administration. If nominated, he will be the third Jew to hold the post after Henry Kissinger and Madeleine Albright. He will — we think — be the first to…
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Culture Nice to have you back, Sophia Loren; sorry about the movie
“The Life Ahead,” Sophia Loren’s long-awaited return to feature film, has one, central, ugly, thudding metaphor at its center. About a third of the way through the treacly Netflix drama about a Muslim orphan and his aged Jewish caretaker, protagonist Momo (newcomer Ibrahima Gueye) peers around his bed to see a CGI lioness striding towards…
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Culture On Joe Biden’s 78th birthday, what his favorite film says about his views on antisemitism, Torah and more
President-elect Joe Biden is probably busy this Nov. 20, his 78th birthday. After all, he’s having to put in extra hustle as his reality-blind predecessor tries his damnedest to block his transition. There are national security briefings to wrangle from a closed-off outgoing staff. There are pandemic preparations to make while Trump plans in-person White…
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Culture ‘My Cousin Vinny’ director thinks Giuliani could learn a lesson from his movie
Rudy Giuliani, the surprise star of “Borat: Subsequent Moviefilm” and Donald Trump’s personal attorney, alluded to another comedy classic at his already-infamous news conference. Shortly before hair dye streamed down his face, and he, predictably, implicated George Soros in helping orchestrate large-scale voter fraud, Giuliani asked the gaggle in attendance if they had seen the…
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Culture Kurt Russell compares made-up Santa language to the Aramaic of ‘Passion of the Christ’
Bearded, magic men promising mystical rewards or punishment, however jiggly their bellies or toned their midsections, do not hold much interest for most Jews. But sometimes, on matters of Santa or Jesus, we must break our respectful silence. Such a rare occasion presented itself on Nov. 18, smack-dab in the middle of nitl season, when…
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Culture The real ‘Queen’s Gambit’: Meet the first woman to qualify for the World Chess Championship
This article contains spoilers for “The Queen’s Gambit.” When it comes to the real queen of chess — not the orphaned, sedative-addicted, fashionista variety now in vogue courtesy of Netflix’s “The Queen’s Gambit” — Susan Polgar is a model grandmaster. Two decades after Beth Harmon took on the fictional Russian champion Vasily Borgov in Moscow,…
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Culture Sarah Palin compared Obama to Moses. There may be something there.
When Sarah Palin clapped back at Barack Obama, derisively likening him to, uh, Moses, she wound up sounding like someone who’d worship at the hooves of the Golden Calf. Fox News host Sean Hannity read the former VP candidate an excerpt from Obama’s new memoir, “A Promised Land,” which referred to her running mate status…
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Culture Chagall’s massive ‘Magic Flute’ curtain is up for auction
In his long and varied career, painter Marc Chagall created stained glass, fine ceramics and a massive ceiling mural for the Paris Opéra — but only one opera set. Now, if you have unlimited income and vertical space, the centerpiece of the Chagall-designed opera can be yours. On Tuesday, Nov. 17, Bonhams is auctioning the…
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Fast Forward Lee Zeldin, Trump’s pick to helm EPA, says he received bomb threat with ‘pro-Palestinian themed message’
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