Jewish History & Culture
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The Heroes of Jewish Comedy
On Monday, July 7, Comedy Central will premiere the first of a six-part series called, “Heroes of Jewish Comedy.” Unfortunately, the series suffers for being a clip job not up to its subject. Less documentary and more comedy would help. Produced in Britain, the show already seems dated (the series has high hopes for NBC’s […]
Kitaj the 'Diasporist'
Six years have passed since painter R.B. Kitaj moved from London to Los Angeles, following a hail of criticism and counterattacks (more on that later). Recently, I visited the artist at his home and studio on the occasion of “Los Angeles Pictures,” a breathtaking exhibit at Venice’s LA Louver Gallery. Kitaj’s show in Venice includes […]
Delightful Offensiveness Key to 'Producers' Genius
src=”http://www.s121907096.onlinehome.us/tommywood/articleImages/producers.06.06.03.jpg” width=”200″ height=”222″ align=”right” vspace=”5″ hspace=”10″/>To understand something of the success of “The Producers,” it helps to understand something of its history. There is probably no person on the planet who doesn’t know the story of how this sensation of a musical came to pass, but let me quickly recap: In the early ’60s, Mel […]
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Affirmative Actions (A Place Called Home; The Accelerated School; PS ARTS)
Affirmative Actions by Tom Teicholz If you want to talk about education, if you want to discuss affirmative action, you need to take a trip with me down the 10 Freeway. Let’s head east past the 405 and the 110 and exit on Central Avenue, heading south. That’s right — South Central, recently renamed South […]
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Dylan Is the Key to 'Masked' L.A.
“Masked and Anonymous” is a new movie starring Bob Dylan that premiered at Sundance. Director Larry Charles has described his film as an “apocalyptic spaghetti noir western.” No surprise: The reviews were not kind. Nonetheless, “Masked and Anonymous” is a great title. It seems the perfect phrase to describe Dylan, even as a metaphor for […]
Trafficking in People (Gary Mann and The Traffic School of America)
Road rules provide captive audience. It’s 7:45 a.m. on a Friday morning, and the Koo Koo Roo on South Beverly Drive in Beverly Hills is almost full. I am here for traffic school. I ran a red light at the intersection of Robertson and Beverly boulevards, and the city of Beverly Hills has the photo […]
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