NEW YORK (6nobacon.com) — The 2012 Academy Award nominations came out Tuesday and it seems like Billy Crystal will be hosting a big ol’ Jewish party, providing traction to those who advance the canard that Jews do indeed control Hollywood.
Three Jewish filmmakers are nominated for best picture — Steven Spielberg for “War Horse,” Rachael Horovitz for “Moneyball” and Stephen Tenenbaum and Letty Aronson for “Midnight in Paris.” Aronson, who happens to be Woody Allen’s sister, will probably be seeing a lot of her brother during the show because Woody is also nominated for an Academy Award as best director for the same film.
Jonah Hill is also nominated for an Oscar for his supporting role in “Moneyball.” And in foreign news, Israel is back with Joseph Cedar’s film “Footnote,” due for a March release in the United States. “Footnote” will go head to head with “In Darkness,” a Polish film from Jewish director Agnieszka Holland (“Europa, Europa”) about Jews who hid in the gutters of Lvov during the Holocaust.
The Oscars will take place Feb. 26. 6noBacon will be updating before, during and after the event.
Rogen’s fundraiser gala for Alzheimer’s
Seth Rogen’s mother-in-law, Lauren Miller’s mom, was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s when she was 55. And the newlyweds decided to do the right thing: organize a new charity event called Hilarity for Charity, which happened last weekend.
In the true spirit of Rogen, it was kind of a free-for-all of laughs and good deeds. The main focus was raising awareness about the disease and functioning as an alternative to all those old Hollywood variety events.
The evening featured the comedy of Aziz Ansari, Jack Black, Paul Rudd (who was auctioned off to Sophia Bush, poor thing) and others. Music came from Bruno Mars and “Jersey Shore’s” Pauly D.
The final tally? More than $250,000 was raised. Not bad for a first year.
Meanwhile, news broke this week that Rogen and Miller, who were married in October, had chosen to forego that Hollywood marriage staple, the celebrity pre-nup.
“If I lose millions, then it’ll be the best millions I’ve spent,” Rogen told Us Weekly in defense of his decision.
Dianna Agron might play little Carrie Bradshaw
After the HBO series “Sex and the City” went off the air, hormonal twentysomethings everywhere wept over cosmos and tripped over Manolos wondering how life could go on without Carrie Bradshaw. Thankfully, the shoe-loving, man-eating writer is back — in her pre-pubescent form, at least.
The CW network has decided to turn Candace Bushnell’s “The Carrie Diaries,” a “Sex and the City” prequel, into a TV series. The show focuses on Carrie as a teenager in the 1980s and in her early years as a burgeoning writer in New York.
But who will play Sarah Jessica Parker’s teenage alter-ego? According to some sources, Dianna Agron of “Glee” is a top contender for the part. Although Agron said that she would love to play the part, she could foresee some challenges.
“You run the risk of people hating it,” Agron told Access Hollywood at the “I am Number Four” premiere. “I mean, how do you compete against Sarah Jessica Parker? She originated that [role]!”
But Agron has some competition: Miley Cyrus reportedly is vying for the coveted role.
Takes a baby to name a baby
So here’s the problem with the Hollywood Crazy Baby Naming Phenomenon: There is just no end in sight. In fact, people are only getting more elaborate and ridiculous with their name choices, including having their toddler children name the babies in their bellies.
That’s right. Sarah Michelle Gellar may have let her daughter pick out her Golden Globes dress, but Alyson Hannigan is considering leaving the name of her unborn child in the hands of her more recently born child. Hannigan tweeted the other day that her 2-year-old daughter, Satyana, told her mother that she has suggestions for her unborn sib.
“’If it’s a girl, Coco. If it’s a boy Gaguzzi. It sounds like Jacuzzi!’ ” Hannigan enthusiastically tweeted.
Did we mention the child’s last name is Denysof?
Priceline putting kibosh on Shatner
For 14 years, William Shatner has played the role of “Priceline Negotiator” with timeless class. And now the discount travel site is killing him off in what can only be described as a used-car salesman ending.
Although Shatner reportedly is still under contract with Priceline, rumor has it that the Negotiator will meet his end by rescuing a family whose bus is teetering on the edge of a bridge. Although he magically saves them — and finds them a fantastic discount rate at a hotel in the process — the Negotiator is unable to extricate himself from the mess and dies with the words “Save yourselves … some money.”
“We felt it was necessary to go to extremes to grab the attention of every consumer in America and drive home the message that you don’t have to negotiate to save money on a hotel at Priceline.com,” said Priceline chief marketing officer Brett Keller. “We hope that everyone understands this was something that just had to be done.”
RIP, Negotiator.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
