Tag: gentleman’s agreement

Confessions of a Moviegoing Popcorn Princess

Lately my readers would get the impression I spent my entire existence watching television. Okay, so much of it anyway. And I suppose I am guilty of not being able to resist a laugh provided by my favorite comics and sitcom stars. However, that is only part of the hours I spent enjoying media. I am also a rabid cinema fanatic. Old, new, no biggie, I’m on board.

Yes, I possess a certain addiction to the big screen. It’s not just the popcorn, although I admit it adds to the experience. Sadly, now the home screen also serves up great films.

I know we all have our favorites in every genre and I must confess mine cross the board and include comedies, adventure and mystery and Hitchcock (I consider his movies a genre of their own).

If I go down the list of my all-time favs, and there are not megabytes to include them all on my computer, I realize so many are older.

Of course there are the usual suspects.

From Casablanca to Godfather one and two, but there are also others some might not quite agree rank up so high.

Yet for crazy reasons of my own I seem to enjoy watching them whenever possible.

Yes, there are certain criteria that go with judging a film great, yet so many other factors enter into the equation.

Who you watched it with, where you were, does it evoke a treasured memory, something about the scenery or location makes you feel all warm and fuzzy, or it contains a favorite actor.

Yes, there are universal components to these elements, yet there is also a very personal connection to many movies that stand out in your own life.

Some I share with the world are the Star Wars, Avengers, Back to the Future series, E.T., Rear Window, all Indiana Jones, with the exception of Temple of Doom.

Witness for the Prosecution, Singin in the Rain, Citizen Kane, Die Hard franchise, To Kill a Mockingbird, It’s a Wonderful Life, Some Like it Hot, The Treasure of Sierra Madre, Life of Brian, Gone with the Wind, Harry Potter series, Ben Hur, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, The Wizard of Oz, and Network. And so many others. There is no doubt countless great movies have graced the silver screen and brought us untold hours of joy. Yet, many of my favs might not have come up on your favorites radar.

I suppose we should qualify what make a movie great. I know there are many differences of opinion about this, hence the critics who often disagree. Still, if a film is universally popular and registers enormous amounts of money does that make it a great movie? There is a difference between a great movie and a financial success.

Popular and artistic don’t always go hand in hand. Although it’s true they oftentimes coexist.

Still many small movies have been judged exceptional, despite the fact they appeal to a small audience. I think the term is “indies.” Many of these are made from the heart and a dream. A great story can lure you in and transport you. Blockbusters are created by a studio’s need to make money.

Big Budget movies can be entertaining, but don’t guarantee the components of greatness. Yet what is important is the way you feel when you are watching. Does the movie make you laugh, scare you, evoke great memories and a warm feeling of nostalgia? Can you watch it every time you see it playing and still enjoy it as much or more than the first time? Is a ritual watch each year at a special time? These reasons are often my criteria for favorite movies, although not necessarily great ones.

After the fifties it seemed as though the major studios were driving the bus.

The Hollywood star system was almost gone, but MGM held onto their box office success with the great musicals for many years.

Stars like Jane Powell, Howard Keel, Kathryn Grayson, Grace Kelly, Frank Sinatra, Debbie Reynolds, Cyd Charisse, Ann Miller, Esther Williams, Bing Crosby and Gene Kelly and Fred and Ginger still sang and danced across the now much larger screens.

The formula continued to be successful with Marilyn Monroe, Jane Russel and Doris Day joining in a big way.

Studios always prided themselves with being able to blend in with the public’s tastes and lifestyle of the times.

However, many flopped worse than the Edsel.

Remakes of favorite movies create comparison by ardent fans who reject messing with a cherished film.

Sometimes studios in their desire to grab some cash push the envelope too far as in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.

They have also discovered that combining a big box office star with a bad script isn’t a guarantee of success. In fact, it usually backfires.

Hello, Hudson Hawk and Ishtar!

If you don’t believe movies are a personal moment between an audience and the celluloid, just ask a room full of people to name their favorite holiday movie, Hitchcock film or Star Wars episode. Now of course the Avengers series also has fans arguing about which in the series is number one.

I am going to share my besties hoping you agree with some of my choices. They are varied and many hold a special memory for me as I’m sure yours do as well. I hope you’ll share yours with me and my readers. Of course this isn’t all of them, I’m certain I’ll remember at least ten more after I publish this blog, but it will suffice.

Some of my tops in no particular order are: Gentleman’s Agreement, While You Were Sleeping, Weekend at Bernie’s, The Producers with Zero Mostel, The Big Chill, We’re No Angels, Miracle on 34th Street,  The In Laws with Falk and Arkin, The Treasure of Sierra Madre, Life of Brian, Dirty Dozen, Mad Mad Mad Mad World, Major League, Trading Places, A Date WIth Judy, A Christmas Story, Pocketful of Miracles, The Wizard of Oz, Network, The Horn Blows at Midnight, any Sherlock Holmes with Basil Rathbone, The Equalizer series with Denzel, Adventures of Robin Hood, Footsteps in the Dark, most Neil Simons, The Razor’s Edge with Tyrone Power, James Bond with Connery,  all Hitchcock, Fred and Ginger, The Thin Man, Dirty Harry, Doris and Rock, Two For the Road, any Cary Grant and Cotton Comes to Harlem,

I hope you agree with my choices and I’d love to hear yours. I’m sure I forgot many and if so, please chime in.

Happy movie viewing everyone. I hope they all spark some wonderful memories for you.

How Jewish Can Jewish Comedians Be?

How Jewish Can a Jewish Comedian Be?

Being Jewish I grew up loving to laugh. It was a priority since I was younger than I even remember and the television became my Temple where I worshipped Sid Caesar, Milton Berle, Richard Pryor and all the other hilarious comedians of my time.

I have never stopped loving comedy and comedians and now I have noticed a great shift in Jewish humor.

When I was young Jewish humor sprouted its wings and took off from a heliport in the Catskill Mountains. Many of the great comics time honed their craft in front of appreciative Jewish audiences full and bloated from eating eleven meals a day and water retention from copious amounts of lox every morning.

If you could make a bloated Jew laugh, you were golden.

In large part the focus of Catskill humor was Jewish and catered to that audience. Yet can anyone truly say that marriage, children and parent jokes are funny to only Jewish people? Many comics were featured on the Ed Sullivan show which I watched with a certain reverence. Comedians like Myron Cohen specialized in Jew Jokes and pulled no punches when it came to who and what they were.

However, there was also another type of Jewish comedian far more prevalent at that time.

The Comics like Benny Kabalsky AKA Jack Benny or George Burns AKA Nathan Birnbaum who changed their names to assimilate into the times were highly successful.

Although they retained their Jewishness in many ways, on stage they attempted to fit into an American society that had a very strong hidden undercurrent of anti-semitism. What they used to call in the fifties a gentleman’s agreement, about never allowing Jewish people to frequent hotels, country clubs and restaurants reserved for only the WASPish Americans at that time.

Jewish comics like Alan King, Carl Reiner, Groucho Marx and George Burns both in Los Angeles and New York were forced to start their own country clubs where they could play golf and cards and socialize with their families.

The Alan Kings were obviously Jewish comedians despite the name change because their humor and mannerisms betrayed them, yet it was a way to bypass the rules of the time. Today modern comedians like Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David deliver Jewish sensibility humor in a more clandestine manner, and they always hit the mark in spades.

The Mel Brooks generation of comedians set a standard for comedy that to this day is tough to beat.

Their humor came from a place of pain and suffering in their DNA which is where the best comedy is born. It was nurtured by a young country that hadn’t accepted Jews, yet was willing to laugh and enjoy their brand of humor.

I have often been asked, why are so many comedians Jewish? I have written about this many times but the short answer is; because humor is the Jewish way to deal with pain. Laughter has sustained us throughout the centuries and also enables someone to diminish the power an enemy has over a person or a people.

Because so many Jewish comedians were forced to change their names in order to work years ago it is so interesting that now the best Jewish comedians have no intention of covering up their heritage or changing anything. In fact, they go out of their way to enhance their Judaism and are in your face about who and what they are.

Two examples of the “new” Jewish comedian today are Elon Gold and Modi Rosenfeld.

As a former stand-up comedian, I have seen and worked with many of the greats of our time. Therefore, when I say these two comics are not only hilarious, but fearless in their attitudes about being Jewish I speak from experience. As someone who myself was seen as too Jewish I am gratified to see this paradigm shift. Although as anyone who knows me is aware it would have been impossible for me to be perceived as anything but a Jewish woman.

The “new” gutsy out-there Jewish comedian talks about Jewish subjects, spouts Yiddish phrases and presents some of the most intelligent and well written comedy today.

There is certainly no surprise that a comedian is funny, but what is so unique is the fact that these two comedians, among others have chosen to display their Jewishness in a time that is the most anti-semitic in history.

To be so authentic in a time in America where Jews are hated, reviled and in constant danger not by only extremist groups, but by politicians in today’s Congress is incredibly brave and admirable. Anti-semitism is not only rampant today, but is overt and accepted.

So how are these comedians so popular and able to be so open about their religion?

In a short answer: I have no idea. It actually goes against what one would think was safe. Wouldn’t common sense dictate that one hide their religion in a time of oppression such as we’re seeing today?

So perhaps that’s the real point here. Have Jews been too afraid to stand up and stand out, and that has been the cause for much of our trouble?

I am a great proponent for humor as the universal language. People cannot be shooting one another when they are doubled over and laughing together.

Perhaps the fact these two comedians are openly Jewish about their wit and religion is exactly what we need right now.

Were we wrong to change our names and hide all those years ago instead of being authentic? Would Jewish people be further ahead in the world today if we’d stood up and fought to be our true selves?

I can’t say, but I must admit I have tons of respect and admiration for Elon and Modi and any others, black, Jewish or Muslim that aren’t afraid to be who and what they are in the face of prejudice.

Is there a lesson to be learned here? I imagine we’ll all have to wait and see if their honesty ultimately makes a dent in the level of hatred we are now experiencing.

Humor is a social language. One needs a funny person and a laugher to complete a humorous cycle. Throughout time, comedians have always served as social warriors and purveyors of truth. I imagine the court jesters must have leveled a few barbs at the king before they were beheaded.

Lenny Bruce AKA Leonard Schneider battled against censorship and comedians today benefit from his tormented career; although unfortunately it ultimately destroyed him.

For the sake of humanity, I sincerely hope this trend helps to eliminate hatred. Let’s face it, laughing about our foibles is in many ways a teachable moment. Self-deprecating humor has always served as a great leveler among audiences. Until we all accept one another for who and what we are these comedians not only deliver on the integrity, they deliver big laughs. In the end isn’t that all one can ask from a truly great comedian?

Heavy Handed Burger Review

I often try to include a recipe in my blog, however a friend quite rightly pointed out that many people who read my blog are past the time they enjoy cooking anymore. I’m not sure my readers have stopped cooking altogether, but if they have I imagine they have their favorite easy go to dining haunts and the days of experimenting with recipes might be in the rear-view mirror.

I thought it might be fun that since I enjoy so many of my meals outside my home, perhaps it would be fun to use my food judging skills from Baking It on NBC on restaurants. So from now on it’s Bubbe Norma’s reviews of the local and not so local places to dine.

I have to begin this review by saying as each birthday creeps upon me I eat far less meat. I’m not certain, but I believe many my age agree and have lightened their diets. Some not. But I have to say despite the whole less meat thing happening I still can’t resist a great burger. When I feel that Wimpy burger craving, I now go directly to Heavy Handed Burgers in Santa Monica or track down their food truck. I know it’s not what most people would imagine when they think about LA lifestyle food, but not everyone in LaLa Land lives on bean sprouts and kale, thank goodness!

Heavy Handed raises the burger bar to another level. The burgers are actually made of short ribs and they use beef tallow not only in the burgers but for their fries. The taste level is a ten plus and the burgers have a great mouth feel like a delicious steak from the first bite until the oh-my-gosh-it’s-gone moment. Cholesterol be damned this is a burger that shines from the addition of these ingredients. I’m very particular about the extras on my burgers and there is just the right kiss of cheese to compliment the meaty flavor explosion. The potato bun is sturdy enough to hold all the ingredients, but has a lightness that allows every flavor to truly shine. Their special sauce is just sweet enough and doesn’t overpower the rich flavors.  Some burgers are bogged down with additions and extra seasonings but Heavy Handed allows the beef to be the star with a perfect balance. The fries are tasty and crispy without feeling heavy or overly filling. When only a great burger will do, Heavy handed is definitely the place to turn for your burger fix. Their flagship location is at 2912 Main St.2912 Main St, Santa Monica, CA 90405.

Five Stars and two snaps up to Heavy Handed.