Australian UK Israel Leadership Dialogue launched
January 12, 2012 by J-Wire Staff
The inaugural UK Australia Israel Leadership Dialogue has been held in Jerusalem. Read more
The Muppets *** 2011
January 12, 2012 by James Berardinelli - Reelviews
The Muppets is a rare family film likely to appeal more to parents than to their offspring. Although it’s true that most kids today know a thing or two about Jim Henson’s creations (the movie’s premise – that they have vanished into obscurity since the early 1980s – is an exaggeration), the Muppets are ingrained in the older generation’s DNA. It’s hard to imagine anyone between the ages of 35 and 50 who didn’t grow up with the loveable puppets, either on Sesame Street or The Muppet Show, or in the early movies. Technically, The Muppets is classified as a “musical comedy,” but this is essentially a 97-minute exercise in nostalgia. It’s the Muppets as they haven’t been since Jim Henson died, a throwback to the time when their TV show was popular and their first movie, 1979’s The Muppet Movie, was a bona fide hit. Kids today will have the same kind of fun at The Muppets they have at all films of this kind. Adults, however, will connect in a deeper way.
The storyline, as has always been the case with the Muppets, is an excuse for singing, dancing, witty exchanges, high-profile cameos, and the magic that happens when the old school felt-and-fuzz creatures come together on screen. Like the television program, this is more variety show than traditional narrative, and it has been assembled with obvious affection by all those involved. Despite the passage of decades, the Muppets have not noticeably changed. Advances in technology have not impacted them. They have not been “enhanced” by the use of CGI. And, although two of the original “voices” are no longer participants (Henson having died and Frank Oz having retired from puppeteering), Kermit, Miss Piggy, Fozzie, and the rest of the gang sound pretty much the same. The Muppets proves that sometimes the best approach is not to tinker with a successful formula.
 
Hugo ***+ (Jan 2012)
January 12, 2012 by James Berardinelli - Reelviews
With Hugo, Martin Scorsese has accomplished what few in Hollywood are willing to try: make a movie for adults that arrives without sex, violence, or profanity and earns a PG-rating. It’s a fairy tale for mature viewers, but the airy exterior hides emotional depth. Hugo is appropriate for young viewers, but it’s questionable how much they will derive from the experience and, because the pace is more leisurely than frenetic, it’s likely the average child’s attention will wander.
The style is nothing like what we have come to expect from Scorsese. The whimsical approach with its Dickensian overtones and interludes of magical realism recall Terry Gilliam and Jean-Pierre Jeunet. For at least one film, Scorsese has left behind much of his baggage and accomplished what David Lynch did with The Straight Story and David Mamet did with The Winslow Boy – use his considerable behind-the-screen prowess and apply it to a different kind of story. The result is often magical.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011) ****
January 12, 2012 by James Berardinelli - Reelviews
The dark seeps out of the screen like living thing, evidence that The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is more than a paycheck to director David Fincher, who has improbably affixed his own imprint on a movie that comes weighted down with possibilities and expectations no filmmaker should have to contend with. Aided by a tightly-wrapped screenplay adapted from Stieg Larsson’s global best-seller by Steven Zaillian, Fincher strips the material to its skeleton, then adds back the sinew and tissue to create something that is unmistakably The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, but in no way a carbon copy of the earlier Swedish movie or the book itself. This is what a movie adaptation should be: a film whose base narrative has its roots in the source material but whose soul can be identified through the images that unfold on screen.
When, in early 2010, Columbia Pictures announced their intention to film The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, the question that crossed many lips was, “Why?” After all, there was already a very good adaptation available, a 2009 Swedish production directed by Niels Arden Oplev with a star-making turn from Noomi Rapace. The intention to “remake” The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo in English with an A-list star smacked of a cash-grab. Whatever the motivations, however, this interpretation of Larsson’s story can stand proudly alongside the Swedish version. Both tell the same basic story, but there are enough differences – some subtle, some significant – that each can be enjoyed on its own terms. And, although Oplev will always have the distinction of being first, the strengths of Fincher’s film reminds us that first is not always best.
Young Adult **+
January 12, 2012 by James Berardinelli - Reelviews
Diablo Cody has a distinctive voice. You can hear it in Juno. You can hear it in Jennifer’s Body. You can hear it in United States of Tara. And you can hear it in Young Adult. After a while, however, the uniqueness of what Cody has to say and how she says it can grow tiresome. Juno was cheeky, edgy, and fun. It mixed humor and drama, fantasy and reality, love and sex in just the right mix. It was also the sole unqualified success on Cody’s still-growing resume. There was something about Juno that made it appealing. Some have wondered whether director Jason Reitman deserved more credit than he was given. Perhaps to test the theory, Cody and Reitman have re-teamed (without Ellen Page) for Young Adult. On the surface, it looks and sounds a lot like Juno. But there’s a big difference in tone. Juno showed affection for its characters, and the audience shared that love affair. In Young Adult, the attitude toward the protagonist is thinly-veiled contempt. For most of the movie, Cody and Reitman jape at her until, in the last 20 minutes or so, they attempt to turn her into an object of sympathy. It doesn’t work and, on balance, neither does Young Adult.
It’s tricky business to make a movie in which the lead character is detestable. It can be done, but it requires a deftness of touch not on display here. Reitman and Cody are trying for a black comedy, but the screenplay’s numerous “pithy” lines aren’t all that funny and its “insights” are rather obvious, especially the “revelation” of how lives shift in the reality of post-high school life. Geeks rule the world. Jocks often end up working minimum wage jobs. And popular girls get stuck with a couple of kids before they turn 25. For a reminder of this, one would do better to listen to Bruce Springsteen’s “Glory Days” than sit through Young Adult. At the very least, it would save about 90 minutes.
The Descendants ***+
January 12, 2012 by James Berardinelli - Reelviews
The Descendants may be director Alexander Payne’s finest outing to date. The man who began his career behind the camera with withering satires (Citizen Ruth, Election) has moved into dramatic comedies (About Schmidt, Sideways) that simultaneously observe and comment upon the human condition.
In The Descendants, Payne has provided a sympathetic, heartfelt look at the myriad forces pulling apart a man standing at life’s crossroads. The film works because it eschews the melodrama that could easily creep into a film addressing issues of mortality and family and because, by keeping its sense of humor intact, it never devolves into a means to boost Kleenex sales.
The movie is set in Hawaii, a surprisingly underused location for motion pictures. (Many movies shot there are set elsewhere, like Jurassic Park, for example.) Payne does not dwell overmuch on the beauty of the surroundings (an understandable temptation, one would assume), although The Descendants has its share of pretty images. Although the setting is important – a crucial subplot involves the potential sale of a large parcel of “unspoiled” land – it does not hijack the production and the focus never wavers from the lead character, whose relationships, motivations, and growth as a person form the skeleton and flesh of the story.
The Promise – the ECAJ voices concern about DVD launch
January 11, 2012 by Henry Benjamin
The Executive Council of Australian Jewry has written a further letter to multicultural broadcaster SBS expressing concern at the station’s marketing of the DVD of “The Promise”…a drama series based on the Israel-Palestine conflicts of both today and during the British mandate. Read more
One Egg Cooking up a Storm
January 11, 2012 by Henry Benjamin
“One Egg is a Fortune”, filled with recipes from Jewish celebrities from across the globe, has been selected as a finalist in the prestigious Gourmand World Cookbook Awards. Read more
Maccabi Junior Carnival Underway
January 11, 2012 by Esther Oliver
The Maccabi Junior Carnival has been officially opened in Brisbane by Maccabi Australia president Lisa Borowick…almost 25 years after the city last hosted the event. Read more
Israeli IT at work in Australia
ClickSoftware , the Tel Aviv-based world-leading provider of automated workforce management and optimisation solutions for the service industry, today announced that KinCare, one of Australia’s leading providers of in-home and nursing care services, will be implementing ClickSoftware Cloud. Read more
Jan-31 11:05p.m. SBS1-TV: Movie – Close to Home
January 11, 2012 by J-Wire
Follows two young Israeli female soldiers who patrol the streets of Jerusalem together, checking the IDs of Palestinians they encounter. Read more
The Promise – ECAJ complains to SBS
Peter Wertheim, the executive director of The Executive Council of Australian Jewry has written a formal complaint to the SBS Ombudsman following the screening of The Promise, a drama series portraying both the contemporary Israel/Palestine conflict and the situation during the British mandate prior to the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948. Wertheim’s analysis is extremely thorough… Read more
On Democracy, McCarthyism and Fascism
January 10, 2012 by Isi Leibler
The collapse of the Palestinian initiative to achieve unilateral independence and the widespread consensus within Israel concerning the principal threats confronting us, have deeply frustrated marginalized far left groups. Their response has been to launch a global campaign portraying us as a State losing its democratic ethos and adopting fascism – a theme eagerly endorsed by much of the Western media…writes Isi Leibler.
Festival “not acceptable”
January 9, 2012 by J-Wire Staff
The leader of the Queensland Jewish community has voiced his disapproval of a neo-Nazi music festival scheduled to be held in Brisbane in April. Read more
Anyone from Safed?
Israeli architect Nili Portugali is making a documentary about the Israeli city of Safed and is looking for anyone who may be able to contribute to her project. Read more
Opportunity knocks in Jerusalem
January 6, 2012 by J-Wire Staff
The PresenTense 6th Global Summer Institute in Jerusalem is looking for the best and the brightest Jewish social entrepreneurs who are passionate about one thing, changing the world….and Australia is in its sights. Read more
Palestine Blunder Costs UNESCO $167 Million in 2012-2013
January 6, 2012 by David Singer
UNESCO’s deficit has skyrocketed from an estimated $120 million to $167 million for 2012-2013 as a result of its decision to admit Palestine as its 195th member in breach of UNESCO’s own Constitution…writes David Singer. Read more
Haredi attack on girl – Chabad statement
January 5, 2012 by Henry Benjamin
The Chabad movement has issued a statement about the Sikrikim, a tiny faction from within the haredi movement who attacked an 8-yr-old girl in Israel. Read more
Coming to a supermarket near you
January 5, 2012 by J-Wire
75,000 jars of Vegemite are being distributed to supermarkets around Australia bearing the photo of Melbourne medico Dr Peter Schiff. Read more
Early opening for Chabad House Auckland
January 5, 2012 by J-Wire Staff
A new Chabad House in Auckland has been opened ahead of schedule to meet heavy demand from Israeli backpackers and Jewish travelers. Read more
The Lament Over Loewenstein
January 5, 2012 by Raffe Gold
The purpose of journalism has always been to seek truth through an arduous process of investigation. Journalists today follow in the illustrious footsteps of Edward R Murrow, Woodward and Bernstein and Seymour Hersh. These are journalists who were able to change society through their writings for the better…writes Raffe Gold. Read more
Change the System but Cease Haredi Bashing
January 5, 2012 by Isi Leibler
Last month at the outset of the upheaval over enforced haredi gender separation, I wrote a column titled “Confront Unbridled Religious Zealotry Now”. Regrettably, the fundamental issues requiring attention have been totally submerged by a flood of histrionics and outright haredi bashing which will only intensify divisions within the nation…writes Isi Leibler. Read more
Mendy makes the finals
January 4, 2012 by J-Wire
12-yr-old Sydney schoolboy Mendel Slavin is in the finals of Jewish Kids Got Talent…and heads to New York next week for the last rounds of adjudication.
Maccabi Pan America Games – Final Wrap
January 4, 2012 by David Weiner-Maccabi NSW
The Maccabi Australian team is on its way home from Brazil after competing in the Pan America Games in Sao Paolo…David Weiner has sent his final report.
Read more
Fellowship Group in new hands
January 4, 2012 by Community Editor
Margaret Heselev and the Raoul Wallenberg Unit of B’nai B’rith have relinquished the organising of Melbourne’s Fellowship Group. Read more
Jan-28 9:30p.m. SBS1-TV: Movie – Black Book
January 4, 2012 by J-Wire
In the Nazi-occupied Netherlands during World War II, a Jewish singer infiltrates the regional Gestapo headquarters for the Dutch resistance. Read more
NSW politician visits Armenian Holocaust Memorial
January 4, 2012 by J-Wire Staff
A NSW State Labor MP has visited the Holocaust Memorial in Armenia. Read more
Wellington loses Holocaust educator
January 3, 2012 by J-Wire Staff
The Wellington Jewish community has lost one of its tireless workers in the field of Holocaust education…Hanka Pressburg. Read more
Haredi attack on child – Australian Progressive movement takes action
January 3, 2012 by J-Wire Staff
The Union for Progressive Judaism has written to Israeli Prime Minister Binyomin Netanyahu expressing their concern over the recent public behaviour demonstrated by members of Israel’s Haredi community. Read more
