The anti-Semitic fallout from the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks so appalled alternative journalists Joshua Neuman and David Deutsch that they went scurrying to their keyboards. \”The Big Book of Jewish Conspiracies,\” published in April 2005 by St. Martin\’s Griffin, is a compendium of Jewish conspiracies through the ages as seen through the eyes of, say, Woody Allen or Mel Brooks.\n
Here, then, are 10 memorable TV b\’nai mitzvah, moving over the years from well-meaning, almost saccharine reverence for ritual to critical, even scathing send-ups.
Art Buchwald is living and dying in a Washington, D.C., hospice. If you don\’t know his story, you could be forgiven for thinking this is a very sad time for the 80-year-old Jewish columnist. Just the opposite, Buchwald says. \”I am,\” he announces, \”having the time of my life.\”
Inside this cavernous barn with Persian rugs draped like curtains over the back walls of the elevated stage, there are no mobsters or secret cells from what we can tell. There are just ordinary citizens, but that doesn\’t stop the host, Jordan Elgrably, a svelte man in a black shirt, from saying, \”All those who are working here for Homeland Security, please raise your hand.\”
Three Jews are in a room screaming at one another, poking each other in the eyes, hitting each other on the head with objects ranging from frying pans to anvils. It\’s either a meeting of the synagogue\’s board of trustees or a Three Stooges film festival. Fortunately, this time, it\’s the latter, a quick but lethal — and lethally funny — display of Stoogehood by the American Cinematheque as part of its year-end festivities from Dec. 28-Dec.30.
Formerly high-riding New York producer Max Bialystock is on the ropes after a series of flops. When meek accountant Leo Bloom comes into his office to inspect the books, Bloom makes a discovery: If a producer raises a bundle of money to put into a show, but it closes immediately, he can reap a windfall.
Sarah Silverman brings her off-Broadway show to the big screen with JESUS IS MAGIC
With or without a Jewish theme, \”The Manhattan Beach Project\” skewers Hollywood the way Tom Wolfe lampooned Wall Street in \”Bonfire of the Vanities.\” Lefcourt shows the callowness of these show biz Masters of the Universe.
Welcome to fall: The time of High Holidays, contemplation, repentance and really, really long services.
And did I mention TV?
Spend some quality time with the kiddies before the back-to-school commotion ensues.
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