MAIGS – On Your Marks!
February 16, 2010 by Odile Faludi - Maccabi NSW
The official launch of MAIGS, the Maccabi Australia International Games, was held in the Star Room at the Imax theatre at Sydney’s Darling Harbour.
Read more
Happy anniversary, North Shore!
February 16, 2010 by J-Wire
Sydney’s North Shore Synagogue has celebrated its 70th anniversary…and New South Wales Governor Marie Bashir was guest of honour. Read more
Alhadeff talks about Mandela
February 16, 2010 by J-Wire Staff
CEO of the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies Vic Alhadeff was the Chief Sub-Editor of the Cape Times when Nelson Mandela was freed from prison twenty years ago yesterday. Read more
A Gift to the Nation
February 16, 2010 by Miriam Bell
Emotions ran high at a special event to celebrate an iconic New Zealand Jewish photographer’s gift of a significant collection of vintage prints of elderly Maori women with moko, to New Zealand’s national museum. Read more
Sorry again
February 16, 2010 by Agencies
The Jewish community was strongly represented at a moving interfaith ceremony on Sunday to mark the second anniversary of the national Apology to the Aboriginal People. Read more
Katherine Schweitzer – wheelie bin wiped clean of prints
February 15, 2010 by J-Wire Staff
A coroner’s inquest into the 2006 murder of Hungarian-born Katherine Sweitzer has heard that the wheelie bin in which her body was found had been wiped clean of fingerprints. Read more
Sydney Valentine’s Day match needed!
February 14, 2010 by J-Wire
Find your Perfect match on Valentine’s Day ! The Gift of Life needs a DNA match to save three lives. Read more
Dunera exhibition opens at the National Library
February 13, 2010 by Henry Benjamin
September this year will mark the 7oth anniversary of the arrival of the ‘Dunera Boys’ and a special exhibition to mark the event has opened at the National Library in Canberra. Read more
From Warfare to Lawfare
February 12, 2010 by Allon Lee
The political campaign by NGOs to demonise and delegitimise Israel – exemplified by the Goldstone Report relying upon their evidence – may be even more of a threat to the Jewish state than actual war according to NGO Monitor President Gerald Steinberg. Read more
Laurie Ferguson talks to Canberra Jewish group
February 12, 2010 by J-Wire Staff
Multicultural Affairs and Settlement Services Parliamentary Secretary Laurie Ferguson spoke to the Capital Jewish Forum in Parliament House this week. Read more
Confronting Jews who defame Jews
February 12, 2010 by Isi Leibler
Marathon Granny strikes again
February 12, 2010 by J-Wire
Anne Besser earned the name “Marathon Granny” at last year’s Maccabiah. She competed in the recent Coles Classic Ocean swim. Read more
New Torah for Yeshiva youth
February 12, 2010 by Daniel Kaye
Cheder Chabad Lubavitch in Sydney, Australia celebrated a “Hachnosas Sefer Torah” dedication of a new Torah scroll, complete with filling in the last letters, Dancing Hakofas and a “Seudas Mitzva” . Read more
Avatar ****
February 12, 2010 by James Berardinelli - Reelviews
Avatar has been described as a “game-changer,” and perhaps it is. I’ll leave that for future historians to determine. What I can say with some assuredness is this is the most technically amazing motion picture to have arrived on screens in many years – perhaps since Peter Jackson’s The Return of the King. It’s also among the most anticipated openings of the decade. Expectations can be a double-edged sword; ask George Lucas. But when a filmmaker meets or exceeds them, the results are tremendous, and that’s the case with Avatar. James Cameron has a lot riding on this film, his long-delayed follow-up to Titanic (which came out an even dozen years ago), the all-time box office champion in unadjusted dollars. Under “normal” circumstances, at stake would have been only Cameron’s reputation and future autonomy with astronomical budgets. But Cameron has hitched his wagon to 3D and declared this to be the wave of the future. Watching Avatar, I can almost believe it. If every filmmaker could do with 3D what Cameron achieves, I’d gladly wear the uncomfortable glasses to every screening.
Precious ***+
February 11, 2010 by James Berardinelli - Reelviews
Precious (saddled with the unwieldy subtitle: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire) manages the task of being both heartbreaking and heart-warming, all without resorting to the kind of manipulation so often evident in dramas about underprivileged kids trying to improve themselves. There are pitfalls inherent in this kind of story, but indie director Lee Daniels sidesteps them, crafting a feature that is both emotionally honest and stirring. Precious spends time in the urban trenches that are often used as a colorful backdrop for other less true films; here, they are integral to the essence of the characters, places where acts of supreme horror are dismissed matter-of-factly. Ultimately, Precious is a story of one young woman’s embrace of self-worth in these circumstances, but that discovery does not come without a price.
Read more on Precious
Lessons from History
February 11, 2010 by Miriam Bell
“All New Zealand children should see the Anne Frank travelling exhibition”, says the country’s Prime Minister. Read more
Graham Bradley addresses the AICC Business Luncheon
February 11, 2010 by Henry Benjamin
In his inaugural speech as president of the Business Council of Australia, Graham Bradley clearly marked out his plan for 2010. Read more
Cherny invites Lamm to join the NIF Board
February 11, 2010 by J-Wire Staff
Nathan Cherny responds to Zionist Council of Victoria’s president Danny Lamm in the latest bout over the cancellation of NIF president Naomi Chazan’s visit to Australia. Read more
Prayers for Baha’i leaders imprisoned in Iran
February 11, 2010 by J-Wire Staff
Rabbi Jeremy Lawrence participated in an Inter-faith prayer gathering at Parliament House in Sydney for the seven Baha’i leaders imprisoned in Iran. Read more
Invictus ***
February 11, 2010 by James Berardinelli - Reelviews
With the election of Barack Obama, we have apparently entered a kinder, gentler world in which films about racial harmony and goodwill to all men are becoming commonplace (at least during awards season). How else to explain the presence of both The Blind Side and Invictus within the first year of Obama’s term? Both are transparent Oscar bait – they are inspirational and earnest, but each preaches a little too loudly. That’s one of two problems with Invictus: it makes its point early about the power of sports as a force of unification then beats us over the head by repeating that idea ad nauseam. The second issue is that the movie is poorly edited; the inclusion of too much extraneous material adds about 20 minutes to the length and results in parts of the story feeling unfocused. Still, the overall experience is uplifting and enjoyable. History has pre-determined the outcome but, flaws aside, Eastwood has crafted something that works both as a sports drama and as an examination of the birth pains of the racially unified South Africa.
Read more on Invictus
Law Abiding Citizen **
February 11, 2010 by James Berardinelli - Reelviews
The premise of Law Abiding Citizen – angry father seeks revenge on the system when his daughter’s murderer gets off with a light sentence – probably sounded great in the pitch meetings but, as with all high concept motion pictures, the devil’s in the details. For a while, F. Gary Gray’s thriller works on a purely visceral level, offering a degree of guilty satisfaction to viewers as one sleazy individual after another gets eliminated in a gruesome, Saw-esque manner. Unfortunately, Law Abiding Citizen isn’t content to be a Death Wish for 2009. It wants to be bigger and bolder. So it takes a simple revenge fantasy and uses it as the core of an elaborate high-stakes game that, in shooting for “inventive,” ends up hitting “preposterous.” The more Kurt Wimmer’s screenplay reveals about the lead character’s scheme, the more difficult it is to believe that Law Abiding Citizen is intended to be taken seriously.
Read more on Law Abiding Citizen
Zentai seeks funds
February 11, 2010 by J-Wire Staff
88-yr-0ld Charles Zentai, facing extradition to Hungary to be questioned over the 1944 murder of Jewish youth Peter Balazs, is seeking funds to cover his legal costs. Read more
Waitangi Day in Israel
February 11, 2010 by Yitzhak Treister
The Americans have 4th of July, the Moroccans have the Mimona and Kiwis have Waitangi day. Read more
Edge of Darkness **
February 11, 2010 by James Berardinelli - Reelviews
Considering the talent involved and the strength of the source material, there’s no way Edge of Darkness should have been this disappointing. Part of the problem is a direct result of condensation – there’s no way to cram six hours of the dense mini-series upon which the movie is based into about 110 minutes without paying a penalty. More surprising, however, is the inconsistency of some of the production elements – acting, dialogue, direction – and these are delivered by seasoned veterans. Edge of Darkness has earned its January release date – this movie deserves to be dumped into theaters with little fanfare.
Read more on The Edge of Darkness
The NIF: Gerald Steinberg adds his voice
February 10, 2010 by J-Wire Staff
Gerald Steinberg is currently visiting Australia. The Chairman of the Political Studies Department at the Bar Ilan University in Israel writes on the New Israel Fund and its connections to the NGOs alleged to have furnished a reported 92% of the data used in the Goldstone Report. Read more
New Israel Fund: Danny Lamm responds to Nathan Cherny
February 10, 2010 by J-Wire Staff
The President of the Zionist Council of Victoria, Danny Lamm, withdrew its sponsorship of a meeting in Melbourne at which NIF head Naomi Chazan was due to speak. His position was criticised by Melbourne-born Israeli Nathan Cherny. Danny Lamm responds… Read more
Anne Frank exhibition to open in Wellington today
February 10, 2010 by Agencies
New Zealand Prime Minister John Key will open the Anne Frank travelling exhibition at the National Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa in Wellington today. Read more
Law Shabbat at the Great
February 10, 2010 by Susan Bures
A parade of bewigged judges in scarlet and purple robes led by NSW Chief Justice J J Spigelman AC formed a procession into The Great Synagogue on Friday night for the annual Law Service to mark the opening of the law term. Read more
Daybreakers ***
February 10, 2010 by James Berardinelli - Reelviews
Daybreakers argues there still may be some new terrain to be strip-mined in the rush to exploit the bloodsucking undead. As far removed from the Twilight series as possible (with more in common with Children of Men), Daybreakers brings its vampires closer to the “classic” breed. Although no indication is provided of whether they’re crucifix-shy or have a pathological distaste for garlic, they do not cast reflections, can be killed by a stake through the heart, and burst into flame when kissed by the sun (no sparkling here). It’s unclear whether Daybreakers’ creatures fall in love or have sex, but that’s not relevant to what’s going on in the film.
Read more on Daybreakers
Aborigines told to learn from the Jewish people
February 9, 2010 by J-Wire
Noel Pearson has sent a message to Australia’s Aborigines….learn from the experiences of the Jewish people. Read more
