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Bell Rings it in
Violinist Joshua Bell. Photo by Timothy White Recently I sat down with violinist Joshua Bell to talk about being a classical music performer in the 21st century and a star in the age of iPods and auto-tuned performances. Bell, who will perform July 15 at the Hollywood Bowl, talked about how technology can enhance the concert experience, what makes for a great performer and his deepening connection to Israel. Now 42, Bell has been playing violin since he was 5.… -
"Sons of Tucson": A Cult Hit in the Making?
"Sons of Tucson" is a clever and subversive new sitcom about three sons who've fled to Tucson, Ariz., because their father was imprisoned for financial fraud. They then go on to recruit a ne'er-do-well, played by Taylor Labine (of "Reaper" fame), to pose as their father for school and other official purposes. The show is generating some drama of its own. Fox, which bought the comedy to help revive its sitcom fortunes - dormant since "Malcom in the Middle" ended… -
Arshile Gorky, a Kindred Spirit
TOMMYWOOD NOMINATED FOR TWO LA PRESS CLUB AWARDS! For Entertainment Reviews/ Criticism Column -- For an essay on "Holocaust Movies: Winners & Losers" http://tommywood.com/2009/02/holocaust-movies-winners-losers.html and For Entertainment News or Feature for my profile on Ricky Jay, "Extraordinary Oddities" http://www.jewishjournal.com/holiday_preview/article/ricky_jay_offers_a_rogues_gallery_of_eccentric_entertainers_in_new_show_200/ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ARSHILE GORKY, A KINDRED SPIRIT "Self-Portrait," 1937, oil on canvas, 55 x 23 7/8 in. Private Collection, on long-term loan to the National Gallery of Art, Washington. Image courtesy of the Board of Trustees, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.… -
Bagels, Bongos and Josh Kun
If USC professor Josh Kun had his way, the Jewish people might not be known as "the People of the Book" but rather "the People of the Record." "Bagels and Bongos," Irving Fields Trio, Decca, 1959 Courtesy of Josh Kun and Roger Bennett "Jews on Vinyl," curated by Kun and Roger Bennett, of the Charles and Andrea Bronfman Foundation, is the new exhibition at the Skirball Cultural Center, where you can seat yourself on a midcentury-modern couch and tap your… -
Q & A with Mel Brooks
JewishJournal.com exclusive audio: Interview with Mel Brooks Mel Brooks sings Mel Brooks is on a hot streak: He was just a Kennedy Center Honoree (along with Dave Brubeck, Robert De Niro, Grace Bumbry and Bruce Springsteen); 20th Century Fox just released "The Mel Brooks Collection" in Blu-ray - a nine-DVD set that includes "Blazing Saddles," "Young Frankenstein" and "Spaceballs," among other classics; and Shout! Factory has released "The 2000 Year Old Man: The Complete History," a three-CD, one-DVD set that… -
Rethinking Kasztner
"Killing Kasztner: The Jew Who Dealt With Nazis," a new documentary, portrays filmmaker Gaylen Ross' attempt to understand why Reszo (Rudolf) Kasztner, a Hungarian Jewish leader who saved more than 1,600 people in war-time Budapest - more than Oskar Schindler - on the so-called Kasztner train, remains so controversial to this day. In the course of the film, Ross tells several interrelated stories, including that of Kasztner's rescue efforts during the Holocaust, as well as the stories of his life… -
Silver Judaica is Sign of the Times
“How’s it going?†As a tough year ended and a new decade began, it seemed a fair question. While The New York Times has looked to bowling alley attendance as a gauge of our nation’s condition, I turned to Jonathan Greenstein and his recent auction of silver Jewish ritual art, or Judaica, to determine the health, wealth and current condition of the Jewish community. On Jan. 11, 2010, J. Greenstein Co., the country’s only auction house dedicated to Judaica, held… -
Lessons from the not-so-distant past: How photos of the civil rights movement can inspire us today
History often seems to take place on a stage distant from our own experience - yet the exhibition "Road to Freedom: Photographs of the Civil Rights Movement, 1956-1968," which opened at the Skirball on Nov. 19, reminds us that even our recent past can deliver a strong message for our times. "Road to Freedom" is a collection of more than 170 iconic images by more than 35 photographers - including Danny Lyon, Morton Broffman, Charles Moore, Bruce Davidson and Gordon… -
Shadows of the Sun
When the German forces surrendered to the Allies in May 1945, World War II in Europe ended. However, for the Jewish survivors of the Holocaust, the trauma of what they endured wasn't over. For many, the effects lingered on in ways large and small, noticeable and not, often in ways their families came to know. Rita Lurie was one such person. She survived the war in hiding, a young child hidden for two years in a Polish farmhouse attic with… -
The Kraft of Movie Music
"If there's music in a movie," said Robert Kraft, president of Fox Music, "whether on screen, or underscore, or someone is playing guitar in a scene, I'm involved." That includes the decisions concerning music at every level. "How it's paid for, is it creatively appropriate to the film, is it legal, is it focused on selling more movie tickets if it can be ... basically every musical aspect of a film at Fox is my responsibility," he said. Kraft is… -
What Survives the Sixties
[caption id="attachment_233" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Illustration by Dan Kacvinski"][/caption] The summer of 1969 was host to a pair of historic events - the moon landing and the Woodstock festival - that seemed to define the '60s. As we revisit those events this summer, it is fair to ask: What did they mean, what did they accomplish and what parts of the '60s have meaning today? With the moon landing, there was a sense of America fulfilling the challenge made by President… -
Vidiots
If you believe all the tech pundits, the future of home movie watching will be moving to “the cloud.†We’re already well on the way to where Netflix DVDs will no longer arrive in the mail and sit, unwatched, on an entryway table. Soon all films and many reruns of TV shows will be downloaded and sit on your hard drive — indeed, this option is already available in many cases. It all sounds great — if you know just…