Celebrities

Grammy time

The Grammy Awards for musical excellence air Sunday, Feb. 8 at 8 p.m. on CBS. The Jewish nominees, as usual, are an eclectic group. In the rock categories, there’s superstar Pink (aka Alecia Moore), whose mother is Jewish. She’s up for best female pop performance for “So What.” The band Disturbed, led by Orthodox-raised lead singer David Draiman, is nominated for best hard rock performance. The veteran rockers in Rush, including bassist Geddy Lee, are competing for best rock instrumental honors (“Hope”). Also, there’s Rick Rubin, the mega-talent who is up again for the Grammy for non-classical producer of the year. He’s cited for producing four 2008 CDs, including those by Neil Diamond and Jakob Dylan.

Michael Feinstein (“The Sinatra Project”) and Barry Manilow (“In the Swing of Christmas”) vie against each other for best traditional pop album. Meanwhile, saxophonist Randy Brecker (“Randy in Brasil”) is up for best contemporary jazz album. Over in country, jazz/bluegrass fusion artist Bela Fleck is nominated for best country instrumental (“Sleigh Ride”). In Latin, Uruguay native and Oscar winner Jorge Drexler (“Cara B”), whose father is Jewish, is up for best Latin pop album. Also, film composer James Newton Howard is nominated for his score for “The Dark Knight.”

Drummer Mickey Hart, who recently played an inaugural ball with the rest of the surviving members of the Grateful Dead, is nominated for best contemporary world music album (“Global Drum Project”).

Funny guys Lewis Black and Harry Shearer are two of the five nominees for best comedy album. Actress Gwyneth Paltrow scored a nomination for best spoken word children’s CD for narrating “Brown Bear and Friends.

The big Valentine’s Day flick

Opening Friday, Feb. 6 is the romantic comedy “He’s Just Not That Into You.” The title, which is now a catch phrase, originated as a line in a “Sex and the City” episode. It went on to become the title of a best-selling advice book. Now Marc Silverstein and Abby Kohn, both 39, have written a film of the same name that explores several interconnected romantic relationship tales. The duo previously wrote Drew Barrymore’s 1997 hit “Never Been Kissed.” (Silverstein and Kohn were once a romantic couple, as well as being writing partners. They remain friends and professional partners. Their first film, “Fairfax Fandango,” is a charming short movie about a hipster girl who develops a big crush on her Orthodox Jewish neighbor.)

Ginnifer Goodwin (“Big Love”) plays Gigi, the central character of “He’s Just Not That Into You.” Gigi constantly misinterprets the signs men give her about their interest in her. (Goodwin grew up in Memphis, Tenn., where she had a bat mitzvah and attended Jewish summer camps.)

Advising Gigi is a worldly bartender (Justin Long). Meanwhile, Beth (Jennifer Aniston) is waiting for her boyfriend (Ben Affleck) to commit to marriage. There’s also Janine (Jennifer Connelly), whose marriage is floundering as her husband flirts with Anna (Scarlett Johansson), a sexy singer. (Like Connelly, Johansson is Jewish on her mother’s side.) Anna’s boyfriend (Kevin Connolly) is pals with a newspaper editor (Barrymore)

Surprising ‘Push’

A film called “Push” was the top prize-winner at the recent 2009 Sundance Film Festival. It won both the dramatic film jury prize and the audience award for best American drama. “Push” is a grim but ultimately redemptive story about an obese, illiterate 16-year-old African American girl from Harlem who has given birth to two children, both fathered by her own father. In a very odd bit of casting, superstar singer Mariah Carey plays a Jewish social worker from Long Island who comes to the young woman’s aid. Carey, who is of a biracial, non-Jewish background, got surprisingly good reviews for her performance

Columnist  Nate Bloom, an Oaklander, can be reached at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).