The Arts

‘Wonder Woman’ Review: Can Gal Gadot Play Superman Too, Please?

While Wonder Woman is engaging and establishes the first worthwhile Justice League character, it’s in some respects an unambitious and safe movie. Wonder Woman feels most like a successful retread of Captain America: The First Avenger. It delivers a clear origin story, spends some time adjusting its character to radical new conditions, then sets them […]

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Theatre, Film & Broadcast

Kathy Griffin alternates between tears and Trump insults during a wild press conference

During a Friday morning press conference in Los Angeles, comedian Kathy Griffin stood in front of reporters to try and make sense of the backlash against a photograph she posted earlier in the week. Griffin posed with a bloody dummy head that looked like President Donald Trump. In the ensuing days, members of the first

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Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA

Pianist Wosner brings Schubert sonatas to life

By Dorothea Shefer-Vanson JERUSALEM — A recital devoted to three of Schubert’s last sonatas (D 845, 850 and 890) was too good to miss, so we cancelled our subscription tickets to the symphonic concert that happened to fall on the same date and bought tickets for that evening instead.  Sometimes life or fate or the

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Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Middle East, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts

Sharp wit for heavy subjects in ‘The Revolutionists’

By Eric George Tauber SAN DIEGO — One of my favorite sketches from The Muppets features Miss Piggy dressed as Marie-Antoinette. The pigs are arrayed in French Rococo finery singing “Stayin’ Alive.” But then, the guillotine looms ominously behind a window. (www.youtube.com/watch?v=FX284L12Rg0) As Americans, we embrace the French Revolution’s ideals of liberté, égalite and fraternité.

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Eric George Tauber, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

Cantor Cabaret rich in song and variety

By Eileen Wingard LA JOLLA, California — Cheri Weiss, Cantorial Soloist at Congregation Beth El,  organized a delightful evening, Cantor Caberet, featuring five cantors and Beth El’s twelve-voice choir, the Shirenu Chorus, which Weiss directs.  Presented May 25 in the Garfield Auditorium at the Lawrence Family Jewish Community Center, the program included individual solos, the

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Eileen Wingard, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts

Kathy Griffin May Face Jail For Trump’s Beheaded Photo

After facing intense backlash over the gory picture showing her holding a decapitated photo of President Donald Trump in her hand, Kathy Griffin has issued a video apology Tuesday to those whose sentiments have been hurt by her action. She has also deleted the controversial picture. However, Griffin seems to have posted the apology following

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Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA

Melania Trump questions Kathy Griffin’s ‘mental health’

First lady Melania Trump questioned Kathy Griffin’s “mental health” Wednesday after the comedian sparked an uproar for photos depicting her holding a mock severed head of President Trump. “As a mother, a wife, and a human being, that photo is very disturbing,” Mrs. Trump said in a statement, CNN reported. “When you consider some of

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Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA

Lebanon officially bans ‘Wonder Woman’ from theaters

If you live in Lebanon, “Wonder Woman” won’t be coming to a theater near you anytime soon. On Wednesday, the country officially banned the superhero film just hours before it was set to arrive in theaters. The ban followed an effort by a group called Campaign to Boycott Supporters of Israel, which urged the Lebanese

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Middle East, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

Former “Wheel of Fortune” host is under fire for a series of seemingly anti-semitic tweets

Former host of iconic game shows, such as “Wheel of Fortune” and “Love Connection,” and self-proclaimed “Hollywood Conservative” Chuck Woolery is causing a stir with a string of tweets that appear to attempt to connect communism and Judaism. On Memorial Day and the day following, Woolery fired off a round of tweets on his apparent

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International, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA

Alex Gardega’s ‘Pissing Pug’ statue lifts leg on ‘Fearless Girl’

New York City sculptor Alex Gardega has erected a statue of a dog lifting its leg on the famous “Fearless Girl” statue across from Wall Street’s iconic “Charging Bull” in an act of protest. Mr. Gardega’s “Pissing Pug” went up Monday next to the “Fearless Girl” bronze statue, which defiantly stares down Arturo Di Modica’s

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Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, USA

A-list pop stars join Ariana Grande’s Manchester benefit concert

Ariana Grande left Manchester quickly after the deadly bombing that followed her concert there a week ago, and now she’s returning in similar haste for a show this Sunday to benefit victims and their families. The “One Love Manchester” show will feature Coldplay, Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, Miley Cyrus, Niall Horan and Pharrell Williams in

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International, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, USA