Just saw “West Bank Story,” the 2007 Oscar winner for best live action short. Breathtakingly bad. A parody of “West Side Story” about competing Israeli and Palestinian falafel stands, the film is an unmitigated disaster: fifteen long minutes of horrible slapstick, unfunny songs and, most egregiously, infantile cliches that undercut its ostensible message of co-existence.
What [...]
Archive for the ‘Movie Reviews’ Category
Bad Falafel
Posted in Coexistence, Israel, Movie Reviews, Palestine, Peace, Politics, Zionism on April 30, 2007 | 4 Comments »
The Murderers Among Us
Posted in Civil Rights, Fear, Movie Reviews on February 19, 2007 | 4 Comments »
Who would have thought a seventy five year old movie would have something to teach us about living in the post 9/11 age?
I’m referring to “M,” the 1931 German film, directed by Fritz Lang. “M” is a classic thriller about the manhunt for a serial child murderer, played by a young Peter Lorre in [...]
The Jewishness of the Long Distance Runner
Posted in American Judaism, Holocaust, Movie Reviews on October 25, 2006 | 1 Comment »
“Schindler’s List?” “The Chosen?” “Fiddler on the Roof?” Naaahhh…
I like “Marathon Man.”
Yep, for my money, one of the great Jewish movies of the last thirty years. You’re dubious? I’ll explain.
“Marathon Man” (1976) is the story of Babe Levy (Dustin Hoffman), a Jewish graduate student and long distance runner. A series of complex events set him [...]
