Spielberg sells Malibu property for $26 million

July 21, 2015

LOS ANGELES (JTA) – The award-winning filmmaker Steven Spielberg sold his housing compound in Malibu, bordering the Pacific Ocean, for $26 million.

The Los Angeles Times over the weekend headlined the sale by the creator of “Jaws,” “Jurassic Park” and...

New film, ‘Rosenwald,’ tells story of Jewish philanthropist who transformed black lives

July 19, 2015

By LISA HOSTEIN

PHILADELPHIA (JTA) — Alex Bethea, the son of cotton and tobacco farm workers, was in sixth grade in 1965 when his family moved from Dillon, South Carolina, to the tiny town of Fairmont, North Carolina, where he...

U2 dedicates performance of ‘One’ to Shimon Peres

July 18, 2015

By GABE FRIEDMAN

(JTA) — Former Israeli President Shimon Peres may be a big U2 fan, but it seems like Bono is an even bigger Shimon Peres fan.

Peres was in Toronto for an economic conference and attended U2’s performance...

Oh Hell Yeah: An interview with ‘Sharknado’ writer Thunder Levin

July 17, 2015

By CURT SCHLEIER

(JTA) — Will lightning strike thrice?

Who better to ask than Thunder? That would be Thunder Levin, the writer of the campy, over-the-top “Sharknado” movies — the latest of which, “Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No!,” premieres on...

Amy Winehouse, through the lens (and the bottom of a bottle)

July 03, 2015

By CURT SCHLEIER

(JTA) — To anyone who has read a rock-and-roll biography or caught an episode of VH1’s “Behind the Music,” it is a sadly familiar tale: An artist achieves great success only to self...

Nazi-looted painting from Gurlitt collection sold at auction

June 25, 2015

(JTA) — A Nazi-looted painting that was returned to its owners last month from the collection of the late art collector Cornelius Gurlitt was sold at auction.

Max Liebermann’s “Two Riders on the Beach” was among the most valuable 

Report slams U.S. museums’ handling of Holocaust-era restitution claims

June 25, 2015

NEW YORK (JTA) — United States art museums are using “procedural defenses” and a “hostile approach” to renege on their responsibility to return Nazi-looted art to its owners and heirs, a new report says.

Singling out several prominent museums for criticism,...

REVIEW: Bronston’s ‘Walking New Orleans’ a welcome companion

June 24, 2015

By ALAN SMASON

Walking New Orleans by Barri Bronston (Wilderness Press, 2015) 238 pgs. Photographs by Donna Goldenberg and Barri Bronston. $18.95.

With an emphasis on being environmentally sensitive and as a means of promoting healthy living alternatives, “Walking New...

Helen Mirren honored for educating about Nazi-looted art

June 21, 2015

(JTA) — Academy Award-winning actress Helen Mirren accepted an award for helping to educate the public about the issues surrounding Nazi-looted art.

On Friday, the World Jewish Congress presented Mirren with its Recognition Award, which honors those working on behalf...

Jewish family appeals ruling in case of Nazi-looted art

June 21, 2015

(JTA) — The family of a Jewish woman who sold a valuable painting under duress while fleeing the Nazis has appealed a decision by a U.S. judge allowing a museum in Spain to maintain possession.

The family of Lilly Cassirer...