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Jewish World Review March 8, 2013 / 26 Adar, 5773 Jewz in the Newz By Nate Bloom
The Land of Oz's Many Hebrews; Mila Kunis & a "Menschy" Company; Aly Raisman Dances & Jewish Figure Skaters at World Championship
JewishWorldReview.com |
ANOTHER OZ TALE
Opening on Friday, Mar. 8, is "Oz The Great and Powerful." Inspired by the "Oz" stories written by L. Frank Baum**, it imagines the origins of the Wizard character. JAMES FRANCO, 34, plays Oscar Diggs, a shady circus magician who is magically transported from Kansas to the Land of Oz. The people of Oz think he is the great wizard they were expecting and shower him with honors and riches. But three witches, played by MILA KUNIS, 29, RACHEL WEISZ, 42, and Michelle Williams, aren't taken-in by Diggs. Things come to a head when Diggs must save the people of Oz via any tricks he can conjure-up and prove that he's really a Wiz.
The film is directed by SAM RAIMI, 53. He previously directed Franco, whose mother is Jewish, in the "Spider-Man" movies.
ZACH BRAFF, 37, does the voice of Diggs' flying monkey assistant (the monkey you actually see on the screen is computer created).
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Meanwhile, Kunis has just signed to be a spokesperson for Gemfields, a UK-based luxury jewelry company with a good ethical reputation. Before she would agree to be their spokesperson, Kunis insisted on touring the company's African mines and meeting with company's on-site staff.
She told "Entertainment Tonight": "They [Gemfields] take so much pride in their work and they take such good care of their employees…They take care of their community, they put up schools, and they teach the people how to farm vegetables. They really do what they say they do."
MAYBE WORTH A LOOK
The new ABC series, "Red Widow," started last Sunday, Mar. 3, at 9PM (You can catch the pilot episode on-line). It was created by, and is mostly written by MELISSA ROSENBERG, 50 (who wrote the screenplays for the "Twilight" films). The series stars Radha Mitchell as a California woman whose late husband was in the Russian Mafia. After he is murdered, she has to agree to work for the Mob to save her life and the lives of her children.
Pretty redhead JAMIE RAY NEWMAN, 34, who went to a Detroit-area Hillel Day School for her primary school education, and has been in several short-lived TV shows, has a supporting role ("Katrina").
REALLY GRACEFUL JEWS
As you might have already heard, ALY RAISMAN, 18, who won two gold medals and a bronze medal in gymnastics at the 2012 Olympic Games, will be one of the celebrities competing on the upcoming season of "Dancing with the Stars." The 16th season begins on March 18 on ABC. Raisman competed (in the floor exercise) to the music of "Hava Nagila." Can the music of Hava Nagila be adapted to a couple's dance? Maybe-and I wouldn't be surprised to see them try.
Meanwhile, professional dancer and audience favorite MAXIM CHMERKOVSKIY, 33, says he will not return this season. The "hunky" Ukraine native, who is the secular son of a Jewish father and non-Jewish mother, joined "DWTS" in its second season. He has a lot of other interests, including running four dance studios he owns in the NY metro area.
The World Figure Skating Championship takes place this year (Mar. 11-18) in Ontario, Canada. Sadly, it won't be televised in the United States. Two members of the U.S. team are Jewish. Look for their names (below) in news reports/short video reports on the World Championships through March 16 (the finals in their events are held on the 15th). It's likely that they will be at the 2014 Olympics Games and, quite possibly, medal. (If you live in Canada, or otherwise can view the CBC, the World Championships are being televised on the CBC). Ten years of doing a Jewish celebrity column has turned Nate Bloom into something of an expert in finding basic family history records and articles mentioning a "searched-for" person. During these 10 years, he has put together a small team of "mavens" who aid his research. Most professional family history experts charge at least a $1000 for a full family history. However, many people just want to get started by tracing one particular family line.
So here's the deal: Send Nate an e-mail at middleoftheroad1@aol.com, and tell him you saw this ad on Jewish World Review and include your phone number (area code too). Nate will contact you about doing a limited family history for a modest cost (no more than $100). No upfront cost. Open to everybody; of any religious/ethnic background.
Also on the American team is pairs' skater SIMON SHNAPIR, 25. He was born in Moscow and moved, with his parents, to the States when he was 16 months old. Shnapir, an Emerson (Mass.) college student, stands 6'4 and towers over his five-foot partner, Marissa Castelli, 22. Even so, they "make it work" and last month the duo won their first United States Pairs National Championship.
**A lot of people assume that Baum was Jewish because Baum is often a Jewish surname. He was not Jewish. The continued popularity of the "Oz" characters is largely based on the incredible success of the 1939 movie, "The Wizard of Oz." That movie did have many Jewish connections: a Jewish producer (MERVIN LEROY); a Jewish co-star (BERT LAHR as the Cowardly Lion); a Jewish costume designer (ADRIAN GREENBERG, who created the famous ruby red slippers); and last, but not least, great songs by two famous Jewish composers (E.Y. YARBURG, who wrote the lyrics; and HAROLD ARLEN, who wrote the music).
Info Note: Persons in capital letters, above, are deemed Jewish for the purpose of this column. For the purpose of the column, the person has to have at least one Jewish parent, be raised Jewish or secular, and not identify with a religion other than Judaism as an adult. Converts to Judaism are also, of course, considered Jewish, even if they don't have a Jewish parent.
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