Best Jewish film
In a famous”Seinfeld” episode, Jerry is scolded by his mom for making out during”Schindler’s List.”
J. readers would make her happy. They appear to have their own love affair going with Steven Spielberg’s 1993 Holocaust drama, which was voted Best Jewish Film. The movie won Oscars for Best Picture and Best Director, and remains Spielberg’s most important cinematic achievement.
Coming in second place was Norman Jewison’s 1971 big-screen adaptation of”Fiddler on the Roof,” which starred Topol as Tevye. Thirty-four years after its debut, the film wears well.
Other pictures getting clusters of votes include Woody Allen’s”Annie Hall,””Crossing Delancey,””Frisco Kid” and the lesser-known but powerful”Europa Europa.”
First:
‘Schindler’s List’
Second:
‘Fiddler on the Roof’
Best Jewish filmmaker
Was this one ever in doubt? Steven Spielberg wins as Best Jewish Filmmaker, and though he has made only one overtly Jewish-themed movie (1993’s”Schindler’s List”), all his pictures — even the failures — are infused with a bracing Jewish humanity. No one has served up more cinematic thrills and tears than this guy. And, as evinced by his Shoah Project, he’s also a mensch.
Woody Allen came in a fairly distant second, which is no surprise considering his still-somewhat shocking contretemps with ex-wife Mia Farrow and ex-stepdaughter-now-wife Soon Yi. More importantly, the quality of his work has arguably tanked over the last 10 years, not counting the occasional odd mini-masterpiece (“Sweet and Lowdown,””Small Time Crooks”). How about”Bananas II” next time?
Mel Brooks came in third, which is a salute to his two or three non-drek films (out of the 12 he directed). Runners-up included the Coen brothers, Mike Nichols, Barbra Streisand and Albert Brooks (all of whom we understand), as well as Akira Kurosawa and Tim Burton (whom we don’t).
First:
Steven Spielberg
Second:
Woody Allen
Best male Jewish actor
One way to measure the popularity of a movie star is to tally the catch phrases he injects into the cultural ether. Dustin Hoffman, winner in this category, is responsible for”Mrs. Robinson, you’re trying to seduce me” (“The Graduate,” 1968),”I’m walkin’ here!” (“Midnight Cowboy,” 1969), and”You want taller? I can play taller” (“Tootsie,” 1982). He’s still knockin’em dead, as in last year’s mega-hit”Meet the Fockers.”
Comedians Adam Sandler and Ben Stiller took the second and third slots, respectively. Both have had uneven movie careers, but between them have generated plenty of laughs (though we admit our favorite Sandler moment came on”Saturday Night Live” with”The Chanukah Song.”)
Other vote-getters include the ageless Paul Newman, Woody Allen and Traveling Jewish Theater’s artistic director Aaron Davidman (score one for the home team.)
Then there are the odd selections, some of whose Jewish bona fides are questionable — Harrison Ford and Sidney Poitier, for instance. Sidney Poitier?”Guess Who’s Coming to Shabbat Dinner”? Don’t think so.
First:
Dustin Hoffman
Second:
Adam Sandler
Best Jewish actress
Natalie Portman was the overwhelming favorite for best Jewish actress, and no surprise. She’s been on a tear lately, with memorable roles in big films such as”Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith” and smaller ones such as”Garden State.”
Being a bilingual Israeli-American, she is a heroine to Jews everywhere (though we hope she grows her gorgeous locks back posthaste.)
Second place is sort of a two-act play.
Tying for the position was the grand yeshiva diva herself, Barbra Streisand, who earned a slew of new younger fans for her comic turn in last year’s”Meet the Fockers” (by the way, kids, she sings, too.)
The second second-place slot became a happy local surprise: The South Peninsula’s Shannon Guggenheim, who co-founded with her husband, Scott, the National Jewish Theater Festival and their signature show”Meshugganutcracker.”
First:
Natalie Portman
Second (tie):
Barbra Streisand
Shannon Guggenheim
Best Jewish theater
A big fish in a big pond, Traveling Jewish Theatre overwhelmingly takes the top prize in this category.
Over the long haul, TJT has provided some of the Bay Area’s most strikingly original theater, and this year being the company’s 25th anniversary, we wish it a hearty”break a leg” for the future (if only theaters had legs).
Also honored by poll voters was the National Jewish Theatre Festival, which produces the”Meshugganutcracker” every year.
Other votes came in for the Castro Theatre (ground zero for the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival), the Julia Morgan Center for the Arts (a second home for TJT) and the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco.
First:
Traveling Jewish Theatre
470 Florida St., San Francisco
2640 College Ave., Berkeley
(415) 522-0786
Second:
National Jewish Theater Festival
(510) 795-0570
Best local artist
San Jose-based artist Lisa Rauchwerger doesn’t paint, sculpt or weave. She slits. Our winner for best local artist is a master of the Exacto-knife, creating beautiful paper cuttings, most with Jewish themes.
“I’m a purist,” she says.”I like doing things by hand.” Those include ketubot, holiday greeting cards and visual midrash. The South Bay native loves weaving her passions for art and Judaism, and says she’s thrilled to have placed first.
Coming in second was Berkeley-based artist Nancy Katz, whose colorful ketubot, chuppahs, ark curtains and Torah covers have been in demand across the country.
First:
Lisa Rauchwerger
(877) 321-7925
Second:
Nancy Katz
(413) 625-6582
Best art gallery
As the old saying goes,”I don’t know art, but I know what I like.” Well, our readers apparently, know both but can’t quite decide. They voted the George Krevsky Gallery and Andrea Schwartz Gallery into a tie.
The George Krevsky Gallery features American art of the 20th century, emphasizing the Ashcan, regionalist, Modernist and Social Realist schools. Krevsky’s mantra is to”make historically significant fine art accessible to all levels of collecting.” He has been a major player in the San Francisco art scene since the late 1970s, and he opened his gallery in 1992.
Schwartz has been in business for nearly 25 years, and South of Market for the past 16. She features mostly local and up-and-coming artists, but the occasional established artist or artist from elsewhere does grace the premises. This month, the gallery hosts two local artists, Gwen Manfrin of Orinda and Terry Hoff of Pacifica.
First (tie):
The George Krevsky Gallery
77 Geary St., San Francisco
(415) 397-9748
The Andrea Schwartz Gallery
525 Second St., San Francisco
(415) 495-2090
Best museum
In a photo finish, the eye-catching San Francisco Museum of Modern Art outpaced Berkeley’s Judah L. Magnes Museum by a single vote to win the reader’s poll for best museum.
The modern art museum’s recent Marc Chagall retrospective drew crowds that, literally, stretched around the block, and certainly left an impression on the poll’s voters.
No small player itself, the Magnes just extended through the end of this month its heralded exhibition of Sephardic art.
Also placing highly were San Francisco’s Asian Art Museum, the San Jose Museum of Art and the Legion of Honor. San Francisco’s Contemporary Jewish Museum followed.
First:
SFMOMA
151 Third St., San Francisco
(415) 357-4000
Second:
Judah L. Magnes Museum
2911 Russell St., Berkeley
(510) 549-6950