Woody Allen’s New Film Gets a Home; Franco Does Bieber; Old Jews Speak Esperanto; Ethan Hawke’s New Play
Woody Allen’s next film, “Blue Jasmine,” will be released by Sony Pictures Classics. The classy mini studio has been Woody’s home for a while now, and they’ve always had great success with his pictures. from Gravier Productions. “Blue Jasmine” stars Alec Baldwin, Cate Blanchett, Bobby Cannavale, Louis C.K., Andrew Dice Clay, Sally Hawkins, Peter Sarsgaard and Michael Stuhlbarg. It is the story of the final stages of an acute crisis and a life of a fashionable New York housewife. The filmis produced by Woody’s sister, our friend Letty Aronson, with Stephen Tenenbaum and Edward Walson. Maybe it will go to Cannes…
James Franco does Justin Bieber: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Evl1bGzhbwQ
…An email was recently generated by a primary New York-area speaker of Esperanto saying that he will be going to see an off-Broadway show co-created by Dan Okrent, the uncle of linguist scholar Arika Okrent. The show in question: the off-Broadway hit Old Jews Telling Jokes – or in Esperanto – Maljunaj Judoj Dirante Sxercojn, which actually translates as “Not Young Jews Say Jokes.”
In case your Esperanto history is rusty, Wikipedia says that the goal of its creator was to establish an easily learned and politically neutral language that transcended nationality, and would foster peace and international understanding between people. And if a mother-in-law joke can’t do that, is there any hope at all?
OJTJ is currently running in New York. Other productions, including Chicago and London, are being planned….
…from a press release: Ethan Hawke will direct and star in the title role of Clive, written by Jonathan Marc Sherman. The New Group will present the play’s world premiere Off-Broadway at The New Group at Theatre Row (The Acorn Theatre, 410 W. 42nd St.). The production features Brooks Ashmanskas, Vincent D’Onofrio, Zoe Kazan, and Jonathan Marc Sherman, among others. Previews begin January 17th with Opening Night set for Thursday, February 7th at 7 PM.
While I find some humor and truth in your joke….perhaps it is I who provoked the thought: Old Jews Speak Esperanto, I personally speak modestly well Spanish, Portuguese, Hebrew and Arabic, but my most useful language for friendship is Esperanto. Monolingual English speakers are being left behind throughout the world. Esperanto is a gift to the English speaking world, allowing them to step up to the base: otherwise they will lose the game. The American lifestyle: work hard, no vacations, no health-care, no free college education, no unions, no multi-party politics-with 50% voter turn-out, unlimited guns, is a product of our ignorance built into our monolingual culture. Long-live Esperanto…No joke.
> Maljunaj Judoj Dirante Sxercojn, which actually translates as “Not Young Jews Say Jokes.”
Well, no – it translates as ‘Old Jews telling Jokes’. ‘Not young’ would be ‘Nejunaj’; the prefix ‘mal’ means the opposite of.