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Film

Spooltide Cheer

The end-of-year movie rush is on, and it’s rich in films of Jewish interest, including the Coen Brothers’ latest, True Grit. Tablet Magazine offers its top 10.

By Allison Hoffman|December 22, 2010 7:00 AM|11comments
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Yes, Jews eat Chinese food on Christmas. But in the empty hours before or after the General Tso’s, we also like to go to the movies. There is, of course, no reason why the movies Jews see should have anything to do with Jewish themes. But as it happens, this year’s crop of holiday movies includes a number of films with Jewish links—along with plenty of true crime, true love, true obsession, and, thanks to the Coen brothers, True Grit.

True Grit

Last year, the Coen brothers made A Serious Man, which replayed the trials of Job as visited upon a physics professor in suburban Minnesota, circa 1967. This year, they’ve brought their fans something else entirely: a Western. And not just any Western, but a remake of True Grit, the 1969 movie that netted John Wayne his only Oscar. The Coens, whose first venture into Westerns was 2007’s No Country for Old Men, have Jeff Bridges stepping into Wayne’s shoes as Rooster Cogburn, Matt Damon as a drawling Texas Ranger, and a newly discovered actress—Hailee Steinfeld, the half-Jewish niece of “Body by Jake” fitness guru Jake Steinfeld—playing Mattie Ross, the film’s teenaged heroine.

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Allison Hoffman is a senior writer for Tablet Magazine. Her Twitter feed is @allisont_dc.
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  • June Getraer

    Each and everyone of these films is tempting to view. The fact that they all have a Jewish connection gives me an added perspective,

    Thank you!

  • http://ianthal.blogspot.com Ian Thal

    Wow, “Oy Vey My Son is Gay!” is really several years out of date. Reform Judaism has supported same-sex marriage for several years now, and Conservative and Reconstructionist Judaism have left it to individual rabbis and congregations to go with their conscience.

    The screenwriter could have at least bothered to consult wikipedia.

  • Moshe Pesach Geller

    Just as there is no suh thing as half-pregnant, there is no such thing as a half-Jew. Either you are or you aren’t. And no amount of post-modern America relativism will alter a 4,000 year reality. This nonesense is just a blit that will be long forgotten after the decline and fall of the American Empire is complete.

  • Nina

    A very weak idea for a year-end review of movies. Please don’t do this again; it’s not worth it.

  • chloe

    Allison,
    You have proved yourself to strengthen my longstanding belief that journalists are the degenerates of society. To partake in great joy in others’ downfalls – and be proud of it – that must take great talent.

    Wipe that fake smile off your face and show your true colors – at least do the job with honesty!

  • chloe

    the above was NOT ME.

    Having seen Swan & KINg, i’ll take real royalty. In a class with Le Balon Rouge!

  • chloe

    no, that was me – and it was a message, not a response to the film.

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Spooltide Cheer

The end-of-year movie rush is on, and it’s rich in films of Jewish interest, including the Coen Brothers’ latest, True Grit. Tablet Magazine offers its top 10.