Film
The Latest
-
The Schmooze Can You Guess Michael Bloomberg’s Favorite Movie?
Genesis prize aside, it seems the most Jewish thing about outgoing NYC mayor Michael Bloomberg is his taste in movies. Mel Brooks’ “Blazing Saddles,” and “The Producers” and Woody Allen’s “Bananas” and “Sleeper,” all feature in Hizzoner’s top ten list, according to Buzzfeed editor-in-chief Ben Smith. For a complete list of “the classics,” as told…
-
The Schmooze ‘American Hustle’ Inspired by Real-Life Jewish Conman
“American Hustle,” David O. Russell’s inventive and energetic take on the Abscam scandal, starts with a tone-setting (and laugh-inducing) placard on the screen: “Some of this actually happened.” But, of course, a lot of it didn’t, and in that terrain between fact and fiction, Russell and co-screenwriter Eric Warren Singer have re-imagined the story as…
-
The Schmooze Eric Roberts on What It’s Like to Play a Nazi
Actor Eric Roberts is pretty busy but he likes it that way. Roberts just wrapped “Escaping the Holocaust,” Josh A. Weber’s film about his own family. Weber’s grandfather, Max Fronenberg, spent a year digging a tunnel to escape a prison camp and saved 15 people but couldn’t convince the woman he loved to come with…
-
The Schmooze Claude Lanzmann and the Boss of Theresienstadt
“The Last of the Unjust” is at once a documentary on the Holocaust, a character portrait, an inquiry into the nature of evil, a rumination on drawing moral distinctions, and a lesson on the pedagogical limits of film. This well over three-hour documentary, directed — or should we say “constructed”? — by Claude Lanzmann, whose…
-
The Schmooze ‘S#x Acts’ Explores Dark Side of Sexuality
Israeli-born director Jonathan Gurfinkel’s first film is officially called “S#x Acts.” You can substitute an “I” for the asterisk, because the movie has six acts. Or you can put in an “E,” because there are numerous erotic scenes. But mostly it is an emotionally charged film about bullying that is both fascinating and depressing. In…
-
Culture What Cornelius Gurlitt Could Have Learned From Monsieur Robert Klein
Until recently, Cornelius Gurlitt, 80, possessed 1,280 pieces of art — some already known to be major works — which he kept wrapped and stored in his apartment in Munich. He enjoyed the cache, but only furtively; the man was in hiding alongside his art. Now that he’s been flushed out and interviewed, Gurlitt comes…
-
Culture Stuck Inside of Greenwich Village With the Coen Brothers Blues Again
Success always seems inevitable in retrospect. Once you’ve arrived, it must have been destined all along. But failure — especially dream-crushing, life-destroying failure — is plagued by what-ifs and what-might-have-beens. Was it just bad luck, or did you really not have what it takes? Llewyn Davis (Oscar Isaac), the tortured protagonist of Joel and Ethan…
-
The Schmooze Meet Israel’s Newest Superhero
Turns out that Wonder Woman is Israeli. Director Zack Snyder announced that he’s cast Gal Gadot as the iconic super hero for his “Batman vs. Superman” film, joining Henry Cavill (reprising his role as Superman) and Ben Affleck (recently named to play Batman). Gadot has been in three “Fast & Furious” films, among others. Said…
Most Popular
- 1
Culture Hitler is trending on TikTok again — and they’re trying to make him seem like a nice guy
- 2
Culture You can buy Sukkot gift boxes that say ‘tuchus’ on Amazon
- 3
Fast Forward Sitcom star encourages non-Jews like her to hang mezuzahs on their homes
- 4
Opinion A maelstrom around Rashida Tlaib shows how broken discourse about the war has become
In Case You Missed It
-
Fast Forward Israel kills Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah
-
Culture On Jimmy Carter’s 100th birthday, assessing the 39th president’s record on the Jews
-
Opinion With killing of Hezbollah’s chief, Israel occupies the inarguable moral high ground
-
Looking Forward An Israeli hip-hop artist remembers a day of hope in Gaza
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism