The Weekly Schmooze: Boker tov, Amare

JPost column wrapping up hottest Jewish culture news worldwide: Claire Danes parties in TLV.

By LAHAV HARKOV
The Weekly Schmooze 150 (photo credit: JPost.com staff)
The Weekly Schmooze 150
(photo credit: JPost.com staff)
If you’re looking for a Hebrew tutor, just call NBA star Amare Stoudemire. The basketball player, who often says he is exploring his “Jewish roots,” visited “Shalom Sesame” (aka the Jewish Sesame Street) to teach some the word “tov” – good – to children, using phrases like boker tov (good morning), layla tov (good night) and mazal tov (congratulations).
New York is often called “the city that never sleeps,” but Tel Aviv is definitely a close second – just ask actress Claire Danes. The actress was in Israel earlier this year to film “Homeland,” a TV show based on Israeli program “Hatufim,” in Israeli-Arab villages, which stood in for Iraq. Danes told Conan O’Brien that the White City is “the most intense party town” she’d ever been to, where “the bars are hoppin’.”
In casting news, Daniel Radcliffe, the artist formerly known as Harry Potter, has been chosen to play gay Jewish poet Allen Ginsberg in the film Kill Your Darlings, about beat poetry and murder in 1940s New York. Last year, Ginsberg was portrayed by another young Jewish actor, James Franco, in the film Howl.
Radcliffe’s film is too late to be a part of Tablet Magazine’s Jewish Movie Week, but 100 others made their list of films. Starting with Schindler’s List in last place and Number one yet to be revealed, the top 100 has some unexpected picks, like Heathers (53), which is Jewish because of star Winona Ryder, and “Every Jeff Goldblum Movie Ever Made” at number 75.
Meanwhile, as film critics argue over what really is the best Jewish film ever made, the internet is involved in a much more essential and timeless debate: Star Wars vs. Star Trek. (The Schmooze refuses to take a side!) Princess Leia, aka Carrie Fisher, and William Shatner, the original (Jewish!) Captain Kirk, have released battling YouTube videos, tackling issues of plot, special effects, and who is aging more gracefully – all in good humor, of course.
Fisher and Shatner may be trying to decide who would look sexier in their old costume (Answer: Neither), but the sexiest man alive – according to People – is busy seducing a sexy Jewish actress in France. Yes, Bradley Cooper was seen on the streets of Paris with Inglorious Basterds star Melanie Laurent. Cooper has dated bigger stars – Renee Zelleweger and Jennifer Lopez are only two of the boldfaced names he’s been spotted with. Perhaps Laurent will fare better with the Hangover actor, who’s fluent in French.
The Weekly Schmooze collects the hottest Jewish culture news from around the world. Ranging from celebrities to philanthropy to quirky communities, we're here to schmooze about Jews. If you have any news to share with The Weekly Schmooze, write to:weeklyschmooze@gmail.com