Ontario featuring Kosher LePesach wines from Australia and New Zealand

Premium Kosher wines from Australia and New Zealand are on sale in over 500 liquor stores in Ontario, Canada. Read more

Turkish Ambassador speaks to Canberra group

Turkey’s ambassador to Australia Oguz Ozge has addressed the Capital Jewish Forum. Read more

Apr-08 SBS2-TV 11:05p.m. : Captive in Gaza

On June 25, 2006, Israeli gunner Gilad Shalit, was captured and taken to Gaza by Hamas. Read more

Apr-06 SBS2-TV 11:05p.m. : Almost Peaceful

Sweetly moving and visually rich story of a group of Parisian Jews coming to terms with life after Nazi occupation and the Holocaust. Read more

$349million defence contract for Israel

Australia has announced a contract with an Israeli company to provide the Australian Defence Force with a new command, control and comms system. Read more

Men Who Stare at Goats ***

Welcome to George Clooney season. Those who find the actor, who has been described by some as a modern day Cary Grant, engaging will have reason to smile as Hollywood begins its annual push toward the Oscars. Clooney will bring his winning personality and high-wattage smile to no fewer than three productions with Academy Award aspirations. Fantastic Mr. Fox and Up in the Air are yet a short distance down the road, but The Men Who Stare at Goats has arrived. Not only does it have the strangest title of the three late 2009 Clooney vehicles, but the storyline is also probably the most bizarre.

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From Paris With Love ***

Sometimes, movies aren’t about plot and character. Art films can be more about how they look and feel than whether they tell a coherent or engaging story. Musicals can be all about song and dance. And action films can be gauged by how well they mix the adrenaline and testosterone cocktail that movie-goers are expected to imbibe. Such is the case with From Paris with Love, a production that views exposition as a necessary evil and dispenses it as quickly as possible so it can get back to shooting people and blowing things up. The movie is intellectually flat but viscerally involving and keeps the pace at such a consistently high level that it can become exhausting. With its wink-and-a-nod approach, it recalls some of the campier action epics of the 1980s, when icons like Stallone, Schwarzenegger, and Willis strode across the cinematic landscape sowing death and destruction. Everything’s fast and furious, the good guys rarely miss, and the bad guys rarely hit.

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The Blind Side ***

The marketing campaign for The Blind Side plays up the inspirational aspects of the story – that it’s based on the real-life rags-to-riches tale of football player Michael Oher and the woman whose fierce love and determination to help him allowed him to see the Promised Land. There’s no doubt this is a crowd-pleaser, as occasional bursts of applause attested during the screening I attended. The film skillfully plays on an audience’s emotions, but that’s what this sort of movie does, and director John Lee Hancock shows a sure hand when it comes to careful manipulation. He rarely goes too far and he knows enough to leaven the heavy emotional aspects with bursts of comedy and the occasional telling point about what causes us to value individuals in this society.

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Green Zone ***+

When the invasion of Iraq transpired in 2003, assurances came down from on high that this act was necessary to remove the clear and present danger represented by Sadaam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction (this is when the acronym WMD entered the common lexicon). Seven years later, the full truth remains murky, but one thing is indisputable: there were no WMDs in Iraq and the intelligence that placed them there was faulty. Whether the intelligence failure was a result of lies, incompetence, or deliberately manipulated misinformation has been the fodder of much speculation. Paul Greengrass’ Green Zone, a thriller set in Baghdad during the early months of the Coalition occupation, takes the view that it was a little of all three. Backed by the expose provided by formerWashington Post Baghdad correspondent Rajiv Chandrasekaran in his book Imperial Life in the Emerald City, Greengrass and screenwriter Brian Helgeland have crafted a fictional story with some powerful non-fictional elements. It argues forcefully that conspiracy theorists aren’t always wrong.

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Alice in Wonderland ***

This review is based on an IMAX 3-D screening.

Lewis Carroll’s “Wonderland” stories, much like the collected works of Roald Dahl, can be perceived from a number of perspectives. Although traditionally seen as a children’s tale, Alice’s Wonderland saga rides a dark undercurrent – something that can be a little creepy and unsettling. For his interpretation, Tim Burton – no stranger to the concept of a twisted fairy tale – has softened some of the sharper edges, added a dose of high octane action, and still managed to keep Alice in Wonderland in touch with its dark side. The movie carries a mild PG rating but may be too intense for younger children.

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Mar-16 Sydney: Focus on University antisemitism

The New South Wales Jewish Board of Deputies will discuss campus antisemitism at its plenum this evening. Read more

Apr-01 to Apr-11 Melbourne: Jewish Chronicles

A special show from London’s West End and the Edinburgh Festival Read more

The Sensible Jew’s take on Q & A

The recent appearance of the Emanuel’s Rabbi Jacqueline Nino on ABC-TV’s Q & A provoked a heated discussion on J-Wire. The Sensible Jew gives its take on the topic. Read more

Apr-08 ABC1-TV 9:25p.m. | Stress: Portrait of a killer

A documentary from the UK featuring former Sydneysider Michael Marmot. Read more

Apr-18 Melbourne: Yom Hazikaron

Will be a very moving tribute to those who fell for Israel – in wars, in the line of duty and in terrorist attacks. Read more

Apr-19 Melbourne: Yom Ha’atzmaut

Celebrate Israel’s National Independence Day Read more

Sydney Symphony sparkles under Steinberg

The Sydney Symphony Orchestra presented their Fantastique program under the baton of Israeli conductor Pinchas Steinberg. Read more

Mar-14 Sydney: Test for a bone marrow match to save a life

Gift of Life need as many people between 18 and 50 as they can get to test to see if their bone marrow can save a tiny baby’s life. Read more

Mar-28 Melbourne: The Mark Ginsburg Band

The Mark Ginsburg plays jazz based on the sounds of chazzanut. Read more

Apr-06 Canberra: The Mark Ginsburg Band

The Mark Ginsburg plays jazz based on the sounds of chazzanut. Read more

Mar-22 Sydney: The Great Debates

It’s time to update our feasts and fasts Read more

Mar-15 Sydney: The Great Debates

Inreach, not Outreach, should be our priority. Read more

Mar-21 Sydney: Play-reading at Emanuel Synagogue

Jack Feldstein’s award-winning play “A House Like Any Other”. Discuss the play with the playwright. Read more

Mar-10, 12,13 Sydney: Pinchas Steinberg conducts the SSO

Renowned Israeli conductor Pinchas Steinberg takes charge of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. Read more

Kiwi in command in Sinai

Major General Warren Whiting has taken command of the Multinational Force Observers in Sinai. Read more

Forbes publishes Australia’s richest

Forbes Asia has published its list of the top 40 richest Australians. Read more

New film to highlight UK Lake District aid to Holocaust children

The BBC is filming the story of over 300 child Holocaust survivors taken from Prague in 1945 to the Lake District in the North of England before being dispersed to new homes…some of which were in Australia. Read more

New Zealand signs reciprocal working agreement with Israel

Up to 200 young New Zealanders will be able to spend a year in Israel following the signing of a reciprocal Working Holiday Scheme. Read more

Australian passports used in Dubai killing

Israel’s ambassador Yuval Rotem was summoned to FOreign Minister Stephen Smith’s office following the announcement in Dubai that three Australian passports had been used by the team which assassinated Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai last month. Read more

A simcha in Israel

Not sure how to organise a simcha in Israel? Nanci and Stephen Schwartz can help. Read more

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