The Oscars: It’s All About The Suit Not The Dress
The Oscars came and went yesterday. We all know that it was all about the fashion (and a first-time female win for best director), but have we paid enough attention to the men’s fashion?
The recurrent trend this year for women was bright lips, open backs, one-shouldered dresses, open necklines and trains. Clearly – “My Big Fat Greek Oscars” for the most part (because of the one shoulder dresses not larger actors, but maybe larger hosts). Since every year so much of the focus is on the women’s fashions, why not focus on the men?
The recurrent theme was definitely over-gelled hair (welcome back 1980’s) and facial scruff (grunge look at the Oscars). It may be simple to critique facial hair and over-gelled dos to cover thinning hairlines (okay, Zach Efron probably does not have a thinning hairline, but the gelled faux hawk two inches taller thing was a little overdone and well…stiff), but how does one critique suits. Form-fitting/tailored, loose? Black, light black, smokey black, smokey gray black? Big bowtie, shorter bow tie, navy bow tie, skinny ties, not-so-skinny ties? Well, there were a few that stood out.
Neil Patrick Harris, for one. Harris wore a sassy sequined suit jacket with shiny tafetta (perhaps) pants for his opening number. That has to be the ‘suit’ that took the night. Probably also multi-useful to wear every day – to special events, of course. That suit would work perfectly at, say, a Bris? Bar Mitzvah? Why not?
Lenny Kravitz, a fellow Jew (half), looked elegant with his tight classic tux. Maybe a little too tight, but who minded, really? The sunglasses were a nice touch. He, too, had facial hair. Carrying along the facial hair trend was Jake Gyllenhaal as well, and Keeanu Reeves (whoa!), looking a little Rabbi-esque (minus the kippah, tzitzis and a conversion), but lovely. Antonio Banderas’s and Jeff Bridges’s facial hair leave room for debate about whether clean-shaven is often a much better look, or at least dying a graying multi-colored beard. (Is that possible?)
Perhaps the reason that more attention is not paid to menswear is the likeliness of black suits and tuxes regardless of the size or color of the bowtie or skinny tie…I tried.
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William Hurt on producer Arthur Cohn
Actor William Hurt and producer Arthur Cohn of “The Yellow Handkerchief” are both Academy Award winners who are utterly dedicated to their craft. Hurt won an Oscar for his mesmerizing performance in “Kiss of the Spider Woman” and received his fourth Oscar nomination for playing a gangster in “A History of Violence” (2005). Cohn (“The Garden of the Finzi-Continis,” “One Day in September”) has won six Academy Awards, more than any other producer, and has his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The two artists have collaborated for the first time in Cohn’s new film, “The Yellow Handkerchief, in which Hurt plays an ex-con who joins two troubled teenagers (Kristen Stewart and Eddie Redmayne) for a road trip through Hurricane Katrina-ravaged Louisiana.
Hurt has spoken to other publications about the research he undertook for the role, including spending a night in a maximum security prison in Angola, Louisiana. The Journal wanted to know how the veteran actor perceived Cohn, who is as known for his ardent Zionism as he is for his illustrious career. Here are excerpts from Hurt’s emailed response to our questions:
JJ: What did you find unique about working with Arthur Cohn as a producer?
WH: I really have never met a producer like him. It is impossible to describe him in any complete way. Yes, he does have [a] contentious side and can be brutally (wonderfully, refreshingly)… direct, but in the simplest way I can now muster, my condensation of his inestimable value is that he “stands his ground.” And he stands it right in front of you, unlike many producers who are somehow never there when they might be taken to task. Many of that job description have an astonishing knack for disappearing just exactly at the moment when frustration ripens into the courage to confront them about anything that might smack of lack on their part. But this man literally stands on the film set, quietly, attentively, in his light gray suit and yellow tie, a Swiss patrician, if you will, hour after sweltering hour in the endless, thick Louisiana heat… committing himself to a spiritual and physical loyalty to the work at hand.
JJ: Arthur Cohn’s attention to detail on a film is legendary. Can you give me an example that impressed you on the set?
WH: The number of instances is innumerable. His stamina is as deservedly legendary as his concentration. There was one night, for example, when we were filming very, very late on a back road in Louisiana not far from the outer parameters of Angola Prison. The scene involved a car accident when a deer leaps in front of the headlights and Eddie Redmayne’s character, slightly distracted, cannot react in time to avoid hitting it. [Hurt describes extreme technical difficulties with the scene]…We had finally decided to try to go for it all in a wide, detail-masking “master” and forget the close-ups, a real abdication per the script as written.
Arthur steps forward and in his exotic thick Swiss-German accent, says, “but this is not the scene, no?” And he furrows his brow at me and Eddie and [director of photography] Chris [Menges], with a face only he can make, a kind of intense, innocent yearning, a quest-full face, [that] says, “is it?” We had been stymied for an hour, already, and every one of us was upset. “No,” Chris said, “but we can’t think of anything else.” Now, Chris Menges is simply one of the greatest cinematographers in the world, a master, and also another wonderfully honest, immensely considerate man. For him to say what he did was equivalent to Samson with his beard in full bloom saying, “These pillars are too much to handle.” For my personal buck, if Chris says it, it’s true. But Arthur said, with all that famous, bona fide yearning earnestness (and the accent, and the suit, and the tie), “but then, don’t we have to keep trying?”
He didn’t yell and he didn’t get upset (though he can, on occasion), and we just stood there, together, in a short but seemingly long, excruciating moment of loving, humiliated togetherness, all hanging our heads in silent communion against the challenge. Then, after that, we got started with the “what ifs this and what ifs that,” and we found a solution. He didn’t barge in and he didn’t meddle in our territory as artists; he just kept at it when we thought we couldn’t.
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‘Ajami’ passed over at Oscars
Israel’s half-century jinx at the Oscars continued Sunday night, as “Ajami” was passed over for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
A gritty film about the Jewish-Arab tensions in the mixed quarter of Jaffa, “Ajami” was beaten out by Argentina’s entry, “The Secret in Their Eyes (El Secreto de Sus Ojos),” directed by Juan José Campanell.
Three Jewish-themed films vying for the Best Picture nod—“Inglourious Basterds,” “A Serious Man” and “An Education”—also missed out. And Quentin Tarantino lost in the directing category, despite high praise for “Inglourious Basterds,” a brutal counterfactual fantasy in which Jews soldiers scalp German soldiers and assassinate Nazi leasders.
“Ajami” was a joint production by two young Israeli filmmakers, Scandor Copti, a Christian Arab, and Yaron Shani, a Jew. It was Israel’s biggest box-office hit of the year.
Israel came close to winning the Oscar the last two years, when the Lebanon war-themed films “Beaufort” and “Waltz with Bashir” were considered leading contenders.
“Ajami” paints an unsparing picture of Arab-Jewish and intra-Arab tensions. Copti, a Christian Arab, co-directed the film with another young Israeli, Yaron Shani, who is Jewish.
Just hours before the Oscars ceremony, Copti said he was not representing Israel.
“I am not the Israeli national team and I do not represent Israel,” Copti said in an interview on Israel’s Channel 2. “It is an extremely technical thing, that’s how it works in the Oscars. It says ‘Israel’ because the funding comes from Israel. There’s a Palestinian director, an Israeli director, Palestinian actors and Israeli actors. The film technically represents Israel, but I don’t represent Israel.”
Culture and Sports Minister Limor Livnat criticized Copti’s remarks.
“The film ‘Ajami’ was produced and received an Oscar nomination thanks to funds from the State of Israel, which Scandar Copti now tries to renounce,” Livnat said. “Without the state’s support, Copti would not be walking on the red carpet tonight.”
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Foreman to defend title at Yankee Stadium
Orthodox boxer Yuri Foreman’s first title defense appears to be a go for Yankee Stadium on June 5.
A scheduling conflict with a bar mitzvah at the year-old stadium has been worked out, setting the stage for Foreman (28-0) to face former welterweight champion Miguel Cotto (34-2) for the the WBA junior middleweight crown, Top Rank promoter Bob Arum told the Associated Press on March 4.
Yankees chief operating officer Lonn Trost told AP that team executives had to approve the deal.
“We have a preliminary agreement with them. Nothing has been signed or finalized,” he said. “We do plan, if things go well, to have it on June 5.”
With the Sabbath ending at sundown, the bout is expected to begin at 11:30 p.m. to accommodate the observant Foreman, a Belarus native now living in New York and studying to be a rabbi.
Foreman and Arum both agreed to meet the bar mitzvah celebrant, Scott Ballan, the son of the lead bond lawyer for the financing of the $1.5 billion stadium, the AP reported. The entire family will be guests at the fight.
The boxing card will be the first at the new Yankee Stadium. The old stadium hosted some classic bouts, including Joe Louis’ knockout defeat at the hands of the German Max Schmeling in June 1936 as the Nazis were rising to power. Louis would avenge the loss two years later.
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Jewish films don’t make Oscar cut
If Hollywood is dominated by Jews, it sure let our side down.
The third time was to be the charm for Israel’s entry in the best foreign-language film competition. While the highly touted “Ajami” made it to the five finalists list, the prize went to Argentina’s “El Secreto de sus Ojos” (The Secret in Their Eyes).
The victory of the little–seen or publicized “The Secret” over such highly favored pictures as France’s “A Prophet,” Germany’s “The White Ribbon” and “Ajami” came as a general surprise, and repeated the pattern set over the past two years.
In 2008, Israel’s war movie “Beaufort” was also among the five finalists, as was the country’s “Waltz with Bashir” last year.
When the unheralded Japanese entry “Departures” upset all the favorites last year, the respected Los Angeles Times film critic Kenneth Turan proposed an explanation which may be just as applicable to this year’s results.
This year, as in 2009, four out of the five finalists were edgy, tough and innovative films, while the fifth tended to be softer and more conventional.
Turan proposed that the predominantly older Academy voters, enlisted as foreign-film judges, were more likely to favor the conventional film, while splitting their other votes among the four grittier finalists.
The same pattern may well have been repeated this year. While not without merit, the Argentinean entry was the most conventional among the five finalists, a crime thriller in which officials try to solve the 25-year murder and rape of a beautiful young woman.
Most Jewish hopefuls during the glittering evening also struck out.
The widely touted “Inglourious Basterds,” in which a group of American Jewish soldiers sow terror and revenge among Nazis, had to contend itself with a best supporting actor Oscar for Austrian actor Christoph Waltz as a suave and sadistic Nazi officer.
Waltz got another moment of jocular glory, when hosts Steve Martin and Alex Baldwin noted that his Nazi character is labeled as “The Jew Hunter.”
“Well,” observed Martin, indicating the heavily Jewish audience with a sweep of his arm, “tonight he’s hit the mother lode.”
Jason Reitman, who directed the popular “Up in the Air” with George Clooney, also lost out, as did Joel and Ethan Coen, writers and producers of “A Serious Man,” a chronicle of Jewish life in suburban America.
About the only consolation for the Jewish rooting section was provided by war correspondent Mark Boal, who walked off with two Oscars as writer and co-producer of “The Hurt Locker.”
The gripping story about an American bomb disposal squad in Iraq was the evening’s big winner with six Oscars, including a first-time best director award for a woman, Kathryn Bigelow.
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For Israelis, both despair and delight at “Ajami” Oscar loss
At the official Oscar party for the Israeli foreign film nominee “Ajami,” the tension between art and politics threatened to overwhelm the night. And rather than celebrate a win for the third consecutive Israeli film to be nominated for an Oscar, private sighs of relief followed the film’s loss to Argentina.
Mixed feelings about the already controversial film were intensified after “Ajami” co-director, Skandar Copti gave a polarizing interview to Israel’s Channel 2 TV hours before the Oscar telecast. In the interview, he denounced his ties to the State of Israel.
“I am not the Israeli national team and I do not represent Israel,” Copti said.
The fallout from Copti’s remarks lingered throughout the evening and divided the mostly Arab-Israeli cast from the rest of the guests in attendance. The Israeli Consulate, who hosted the expensive party at X Bar in Century City, put their best face forward despite the awkward atmosphere, determined to celebrate Israel’s growing inroads in Hollywood.
“Tomorrow no one will remember what [Copti] said,” Consul General of Israel Jacob Dayan said confidently. “They’ll remember that this is an Israeli movie and that it will help make Israel a little stronger by reinforcing the relationship between Israel and Hollywood.”
Shahir Kabaha, one of the film’s stars and an Arab-Muslim resident of the Jaffa neighborhood depicted in the film, relished his moment in the spotlight. The Oscars mark his first visit to both Los Angeles and the United States and multiple camera crews from the Israeli press surrounded him as he gave interviews from the outdoor balcony. For Kabaha, “Ajami” transcends the boundaries of politics to reveal a truth about one slice of Israel.
“I think the film represents human beings,” Kabaha said. “It’s not about Israel; it represents people that are in a bad situation and need help.”
Indeed, the film focuses on the poor and violent underclass that inhabits a religiously and economically mixed neighborhood in Tel Aviv. But while the film portrays Arab Christians, Muslims and Jews engaging in what seems like a gang war, Kabaha said the real neighborhood is more inclusive and that he counts Jews among his friends.
And in fact, “Ajami” itself is the product of an Arab-Jewish partnership.
Copti, who is a Christian Arab, co-directed the film with Yaron Shani, an Israeli Jew. But, according to Copti, the collaboration is not suggestive of any broader comity between the two groups. During his Channel 2 interview, Copti said the film is “technically” Israeli because it received state funding, but he denied its figurative connection to Israel.
“I cannot represent a country that does not represent me,” he said.
Even though that statement angered the film’s Israeli supporters – “Ajami” received approximately $500,000 of its budget from the Israel Film Fund and Copti is a graduate of Israel’s Technion in Haifa – some felt the remark was affirming.
“The film represents Israel exactly,” said Israeli-American choreographer Barak Marshall. “It touches on almost all of the issues we face in Israeli society and it shows how broad the public debate is; that someone who is from Israel can negate his very connection to the state shows how wonderfully strong and alive our political culture is.”
For Dayan, art that reflects a dynamic Israeli society and its status as a pluralistic democracy is an essential strength of statehood. But on the other hand, the fact that almost every Israeli film of note eventually gets usurped by politics is frustrating.
Out in the lobby, the stars of the film gathered around a large plasma screen to watch the announcement of the best foreign film Oscar (the party was moved after hotel management discovered that several actors were underage), and there they waited with bated breath.
Katriel Schory, the director of the Israel Film Fund stood out in the crowd, with his white hair and high hopes of taking home the golden statuette. Schory didn’t mind either the director’s scathing comments or the film’s challenging subject matter.
“Everything is okay, it’s perfectly alright,” he said. “[Copti] is entitled to his view. I’m very happy with the film and we stand behind it. In Israel, there are many narratives and this is one of those narratives.”
After “Ajami” lost to Argentina’s “El secreto de sus ojos” (The Secret in their Eyes), those who were embittered by Copti’s remarks quietly delighted in the loss, secretly slapping high five’s and sending exultant text messages. But those associated with the film were visibly disappointed.
“So we lost again,” Dayan said, mildly deflated. “But the fact is, this is our third time in a row in this category and every time we’re there. This helps us better our connection with Hollywood and we have to be there again and again.”
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Turkey rejects Israel earthquake aid
Turkey turned down Israel’s offer of aid following an earthquake in the east of the country.
The earthquake registering 6.0 on the Richter scale that struck early Monday has killed 41 villagers in eastern Turkey and injured 50, according to reports.
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak reportedly instructed his staff to find ways that Israel could help in the aftermath, but Turkey reportedly refused the aid, saying it has the experience to handle the disaster.
In August 1999, Israel sent a 250-member rescue and recovery team and a field hospital to Turkey following an earthquake measuring 7.4 that killed 18,000.
Relations between Israel and Turkey have been strained in recent months, especially since the Gaza war last winter.
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Bill would strengthen U.S. sanctions against Iran
U.S. lawmakers introduced a bipartisan bill that strengthens U.S. sanctions against Iran.
The Iran Sanctions Enhancement Act, which was unveiled Monday in the House of Representatives, is an amendment to the Iran Sanctions Act adopted in 1996. The enhancement measure would require the Government Accountability Office to publish a list of potential sanctions act violators every month, require the president to complete investigations of violators within 45 days and notify Congress of entities in violation of the sanctions act.
The amendment follows an investigation by The New York Times published Sunday revealing that the federal government has awarded more than $107 billion in grants, contracts and other benefits to foreign and multinational American companies conducting business in Iran. The probe found that $15 billion went to companies that helped Iran develop its oil and gas reserves.
While the U.S. government does prohibit most types of trade between American companies and Iran, multiple administrations have struggled to exert the ban over foreign companies and foreign subsidiaries of American companies. In theory, foreign companies can be punished for investing more than $20 million per year to develop Iran’s oil and gas fields, but punishments, such as withholding government contracts, have never been enforced for fear of angering U.S. allies, mostly in the European Union.
Reps. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) and Ron Klein (D-Fla.), with seven other Congress members, unveiled the proposed amendment. Other representatives supporting the bill are Shelley Berkley (D-Nev.), Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), Leonard Lance (R-N.J.), Phil Ro
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Justice Dept. declines to intervene in Rubashkin case
The U.S. Department of Justice declined to intervene in the case of a convicted kosher meat executive, despite a plea from several Orthodox rabbis.
In a letter last week to Rabbi Aron Raskin, and copied to several other rabbis active in this matter, the director of the Executive Office for United States Attorneys said the case involving Sholom Rubashkin case had been “fully litigated” and there was nothing more to be done.
“Mr. Rubashkin has fully litigated the issue of whether detention pending sentencing is appropriate,” H. Marshall Jarrett wrote. “Both the district court and the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals have determined that Mr. Rubashkin is a flight risk. We are sorry that we cannot be of further assistance in responding to your concerns.”
Rubashkin, the former manager of the Agriprocessors kosher meat plant in Postville, Iowa, was convicted of 86 counts of financial fraud last November and ordered held pending sentencing.
In January, a coalition of rabbis wrote to the U.S. attorney general asking for reconsideration of the case, in which they claim that prosecutors were unnecessarily harsh in their treatment of Rubashkin. The rabbis have said that Rubashkin’s incarceration interferes with his religious practice and that securing his release is a humanitarian issue.
Last month, the Des Moines Register reported that Rubashkin had been moved to a private jail cell after a disagreement with a fellow inmate over the volume of a television set became physical.
“Sholom Rubashkin is a very religious man who has proposed that he be imprisoned pending his sentencing under 24-hour armed guard at his home, where he can engage fully in religious observances,” said Rubashkin’s lawyer, Nathan Lewin. “There is no basis in law and no reason to keep him in a local jail until he is sentenced in April.”
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