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(JTA) \u2014 The Oscars are a mess. Hollywood\u2019s biggest night still does not have a host, after Kevin Hart withdrew over past homophobic tweets. That seemed to have reminded celebrities who were potentially interested in the gig that it\u2019s one of the toughest in showbiz (some want to believe Whoopi Goldberg is secretly hosting).<\/p>\n
But there has been more drama: the possibility of a new category for best popular film elicited strong emotions and eventually was scrapped; plans to present some awards during commercial breaks to shorten the rather lengthy ceremony were protested by some prominent people, among them Martin Scorcese and Brad Pitt; and a decision to buck tradition by not inviting back some 2018 winners as presenters was widely derided.<\/p>\n
Scott Tobias, writing in The Verge, said the Academy Awards show \u201cwill almost certainly be a fiasco of epic proportions.\u201d<\/p>\n
But there\u2019s always hope. While many expected the recent Grammy Awards to be a disaster following pre-ceremony drama involving performers like Ariana Grande, postmortem reflections were much kinder.<\/p>\n
The list of Oscar nominees this year lacks the epic Jewish themes and connections present in most years, but there are still interesting story lines to many of them, and the show must go on. Here\u2019s your Jewish guide to the 2019 Academy Awards:<\/p>\n
And the big nominees are \u2026
\n* Rachel Weisz is one of the favorites to win best supporting actress for her role in \u201cThe Favourite.\u201d
\n* Perennial nominees the Coen brothers are up for best adapted screenplay for their Western \u201cThe Ballad of Buster Scruggs.\u201d
\n* Past nominee Eric Roth is nominated in the same category for co-writing \u201cA Star is Born.\u201d
\n* The documentary \u201cRBG,\u201d on Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, is up for best feature documentary. It\u2019s directed by Betsy West and Julie Cohen.
\n* \u201cA Night at the Garden,\u201d about a massive Nazi rally held in New York City in 1939, is nominated for best documentary short.
\n* The hit \u201cShallow,\u201d from \u201cA Star is Born,\u201d is up for best original song. It was co-written by Mark Ronson, the star producer who had a bar mitzvah. (Veteran composer and lyricist Marc Shaiman is also nominated for best original song for “Where the Lost Things Go” from “Mary Poppins Returns,” a longshot, which will be sung by the redoubtable Bette Midler.<\/p>\n
Spike Lee gave us a Jewish cop.<\/p>\n
The veteran director talked to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency about his best picture-nominated \u201cBlacKkKlansman,\u201d in which a Jewish detective helps a Colorado town\u2019s first black cop infiltrate the Ku Klux Klan. \u201cWe did not want [it] to become another black-white kind of buddy film, which has been done a million times,\u201d Lee said.<\/p>\n
A James Baldwin adaptation gave us Dave Franco in a yarmulke.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf Beale Street Could Talk\u201d \u2014 \u201cMoonlight\u201d director Barry Jenkins\u2019 adaptation of the James Baldwin novel \u2014 is also up for best picture. One of the film\u2019s most moving scenes involves a Jewish landlord played by Dave Franco.<\/p>\n
\u2018Roma\u2019 brought up Mexican-Jewish history (sort of).<\/p>\n
Alfonso Cuaron\u2019s period piece \u201cRoma\u201d is favored to win at least a few Oscars on Sunday night, including best picture. It is set in the Roma neighborhood of Mexico City in the 1970s \u2014 not mentioned in the film is that it used to be one of the city\u2019s centers of Jewish life.<\/p>\n
A Nazi documentary angered Fox News.<\/p>\n
The aforementioned \u201cNight at the Garden\u201d made headlines when Fox News declined to run a 30-second ad because of its \u201cdisgraceful Nazi imagery\u201d (that\u2019s a little like not running a commercial for breast cancer prevention because of sexual content). CNN and MSNBC later ran the ad.<\/p>\n
\u2018Black Panther\u2019 offered a moment to reflect on black-Jewish relations.<\/p>\n
The blockbuster superhero flick, which broke box office records and Hollywood assumptions about race, is based on the original Marvel comic \u2014 created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby (born Stanley Lieber and Jacob Kurtzberg) at a crucial juncture in the civil rights movement. The film is nominated for seven awards, including best picture.<\/p>\n