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IMDB.com Trivia about the film "Goyband" (a.k.a. "Falling Star")
Or, differently phrased, what is "Goyband" and why haven't any of us heard about it?
In reading about Natasha Lyonne in Wikipedia for a client (true story), I noticed the film title "Goyband" on her list of credits - drilling down I discovered it was a 2008 film that asked a burning national question: "What if Rent star Adam Pascal had been a 90s boyband success story who had fallen on hard times and had to take a gig at a Glatt Kosher casino?"
This was the central premise for "Goyband," whose name was then changed to "Falling Star" (the poster features a sheriff's Jewish star, get it, because he was a falling star and because Jews are involved?)
(Trivia about this movie you'll probably never see is available at IMDB - see screencap above.)
So why haven't you heard of "Goyband"? Having seen the trailer (see embed below), I can imagine it's for any number of reasons:
The description of the film as "a romantic comedy that fuses music and pop culture with a satirical (albeit gentle) look into Orthodox Judaism and Kabbalah" failed to resonate with audiences.
Powerhouse actresses Natasha Lyonne and Tovah Feldshuh are both in the film - but Lyonne is only present in a glimpse in the trailer and doesn't speak; Feldshuh is absent from the trailer entirely.
It won four awards at the Long Island Film Festival.
They have an official MySpace site (that's how long ago it was).
Their official Goyband.com website is now in Japanese.
So if you're experiencing "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend" Withdrawal, or want a crash course in Rachel Bloom, or if for some reason you haven't watched this show yet and want a taste of what it's about, read on - I've done the work for you and all you have to do is click on what interests you. Of course another cure for "no new episodes" is to watch or re-watch the first season. But you knew that. :)
1. Rachel Bloom started on the internet, then got her own show. Themes she plays with in her previous work range from Disney princess culture to Jewish holiday songs, and at all points, celebrating nerd culture and holding up a reality mirror that breaks down cliches. Some examples of her early work:
"Historically Accurate Princess Song" - Parody of Disney songs in which seemingly medieval-era princesses yearn for their princes, especially that "Bonjour" opening from "Beauty & the Beast."
"F*&k Me, Ray Bradbury" - A nerd fantasizes not about the jocks on the football team, but about an explicit sexual encounter with the science fiction writer.
"We Don't Need a Man" - Lampoons the self-empowerment mantra that women spout convincingly after a breakup while in their hearts they may be experiencing a depressive spiral. (I believe this song is the ancestor of "Put Yourself First," see below.)
"Hanukkah Honey" - Think "Santa Baby," with Jewish jokes and an explicit punchline.
"What Would Hashem Do?" - In the style of a Hebrew school-style song, quickly develops into something you'd never sing to children.
2. Crazy Ex-Girlfriend was originally developed for Showtime, then was dropped and picked up by the CW. A fun fact for us, but probably not for someone at Showtime. Here's Rachel introducing the cast of the Showtime pilot:
3. Crazy Ex-Girlfriend is the story of Rebecca Bunch, a high-powered lawyer in New York who's looking for something more; she runs into her ex-boyfriend, Josh Chan, and decides to follow him to West Covina, CA. Check out the first look extended trailer below.
4. Crazy Ex-Girlfriend's songs are funny and honest, speaking truths in ways they've never been spoken before. Here are a number of my favorites.
"Sexy Getting Ready Song" - Skewers what women do to get ready for dates AND contrasts it with how men prepare themselves. Bloom also did a version of this in her Spanx as she was getting ready for the Golden Globes, which ended with the honest admission "I can't breathe."
"Good at Yoga" - In an attempt to show how okay she is with her ex dating Valencia, Rebecca goes to Valencia's yoga class, where (she imagines in song) Josh's new girlfriend makes her feel inferior in every way.
"Face Your Fears" - Paula, Rebecca's older best friend, provides some inspirational courage and some truly awful advice in an impressive and powerful ballad. Broadway veteran and hilarious powerhouse Donna Lynne Champlin knocks it out of the park and captures our hearts. This series is at its best when both RB and DLC are onscreen.
"Where's the Bathroom" - Or, as it is likely known, the Jewish Mother song. Any indignation over this song's broad Jewish mother stereotypes and heavy-handed Jewish-sounding music should be mitigated by the fact that many of those stereotypes are true, and that the song is sung by the incredible Tovah Feldshuh.
"Put Yourself First (For Him)" -Another anthem in the guise of self-empowerment, but in meta-form, critiquing the efforts women go through for men.
"I Give Good Parent" - You might be one of those people who's really good with other people's parents - showing them your best side in a way that has them wishing that you were dating their children. Rebecca is one of those people, which she explains in an often-shockingly dirty manner. (I've linked to the version that's less dirty.)
"JAP Battle" - A brilliant rap with very Jewy references, and yes, stereotypes, but rendered brilliantly. Did I say brilliant enough? Let me know if you need one more.
"Flooded with Justice" - This Les Miz style ensemble number has everything: towns in the San Gabriel Valley, flooding, legal battles, empowering the crowds, and - for some reason - B.J. Novak.
"I'm the Villain in My Own Story" - In a moment of self-reflection and insight, Rebecca realizes that her pursuit of Josh is harming other people. Great makeup and a reversal of perspectives that creates some balance for the viewers as well.
"Dream Ghost" - An airplane dream in which Rebecca's trying to work things out in her mind, with the help of a singing trio: Michael Hyatt, Amber Riley and Ricki Lake.
"Heavy Boobs" - "Dense like dying stars, I got them heavy boobs." Rebecca explains what heavy boobs are made of and how cleavage traps things in it. And she dresses as a scientist to explain. :)
"After Everything I've Done for You (That I Didn't Ask For)" - In the final episode of this season, Paula (Champlin, again, incredible) powers up for a song-reprimand, during which Rebecca realizes just how invested Paula has become in the Rebecca-and-Josh storyline. Powerful song. Powerful voice. And a kickass wrap dress. (I mean look at her -->>!)
Speaking of wraps, CEGF Season 1 has concluded, but the show has been renewed for a second season. Looking forward to more antics with this insanely talented and funny bunch of people next season. And until then, I'll see if I can find some more excuses to write about and tweet at them. :)
As a huge fan of Hatufim (and Homeland, and Tyrant, and Dig, although not necessarily in that order or in the same degree), I was thrilled to be there.
Raff covered some great material - here are some highlights:
Israel's PR Problem
In a brief comment about the BDS movement, he noted that it "should just be called BS," and that "some of it is just good, old-fashioned anti-Semitism." "Israel is a far-from-perfect place," he said, "but in our neighborhood, it's heaven." He also noted that actors, whether they're Jewish or not, when they're brought to Israel, they become "great ambassadors - they all came back in love with Israel."
Hatufim (Prisoners of War, the Israeli drama that was reinvented for American TV as Homeland) happened because Raff had written a very funny book about the Israeli dot com bubble and Avi Nir from Keshet asked him for a comedy. Raff gave Nir Hatufim.
Hatufim was inspired by the story of Ron Arad, a pilot who was lost on a mission in Lebanon in 1986, was held captive and is presumed dead. "We grew up thinking about what his life would be like if he came back," Raff recalled.
While Homeland's action centers on a CIA agent and features the story of one POW, Hatufim centers on three prisoners of war and their families. "We found a world of drama no one had tapped into," he recalled. "We pay a high price for bringing back our boys - we want it to be a happy ending. But captivity is hard to come back from," he said, calling it "trauma across the board," extending the POW experience to include wives and children, citizens and community. "We are all POWs," he noted. "Unfortunately, we don't have a shortage of POWs - we all have this in our own families."
The show also provided families with the tools for conversation, Raff reported, noting that POWs finally had the nerve to open up, and their families could finally ask questions about their experience instead of being "driven into anonymity and shame."
Gilad Shalit on the set of Homeland, with star Claire Danes. From: http://www.go2films.com/Human-Rights/Gilad-Schalit-The-Interview
The day that Gilad Shalit was released was the last day of filming on Hatufim Season 2 - a few months later, Raff got a call from Shalit that he had loved both Hatufim and Homeland. Raff invited him to the set of Homeland, where he got to take a picture of himself choking Abu Nazir (a terrorist character on the show). (I couldn't find that photo online, so here's one of Shalit with Claire Danes.)
They are now planning versions of Hatufim in Russia, India, Turkey, Korea, Colombia and Argentina.
Raff has the whole storyline of Hatufim Season 3 in his head, but "I'm really busy right now" (an understatement, since he's got three shows currently on three American TV networks) "and it's such a personal show that I'm not letting anyone else write it."
Writerly Notes
"As a creator, it's bad to think about how you sell it, or how you get the audience to react," Raff said, calling it "noise." As a creator, he advised that you "drown in the world of the characters, in the world you would want to explore," then the message would reach whoever it needed to reach. "There's more creative freedom in a chaotic system," he said.
Of course, there will be producers' notes, but "you have to learn to take the notes not as something critical, but as something that makes it better."
Industry Notes
The industry in Israel is very different in terms of budgetary scale than Hollywood. To give you an idea, Raff reported that he shot two seasons of Hatufim for the same budget he had for the pilot episode of Homeland. Also, having a small budget means "you have to be creative - Israel's an open market; you have to tell the story in a unique way."
He further explained that because Israeli TV is on a tight budget, they don't shoot by linear episode order, but by location. This means that they have to know more than the whole narrative arc, they have to have the entire season ready before they start shooting. (Actors in the crowd could not wrap their brains around this.)
When asked about shooting in the Old City of Jerusalem, Raff burst out with "God, those people are crazy there. The city dictates how you shoot the show," he said, noting that you can't set up a big American style actors' area there because of the Old City residents - "when people need to go, they go." He noted that most shots had to be with a camera on someone's shoulder, either in front of or behind the actors at all times as they twisted through the narrow streets of the Old City.
"Hamantashen are TRIANGLES, Taylor - keep trying, you'll get it eventually..."
"Come along and sing / the story of a king...Haman's gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, hate..."
Last night at IKAR's Purim Justice Carnival, as part of #SHPIEL2015, we gave Taylor Swift's "Shake It Off" earworm the Purim treatment - a few people have asked me for the lyrics so here they are...!
Very proud to have been part of the Comedy for a Change conference in Jerusalem in December, as an attendee and also as their manager of social media (and live-Tweeter-in-chief).
In 1997, Anita Diamant published The Red Tent, a novel inspired by the Biblical story of Dinah, the daughter of Jacob and Leah, who – despite inspiring one of the bloodiest chapters in early Biblical history – never speaks a word in the text. Diamant gave her a voice and a context that enthralled many readers, and even enraged a few, showing that her work interpreting biblical characters and context had really touched a nerve.
Tonight and tomorrow night, Lifetime Television airs its original two-part miniseries (not written or necessarily sanctioned by Diamant) of The Red Tent, starring Minnie Driver as Leah, Morena Baccarin as Rachel, Iain O’Glen as Jacob and Rebecca Ferguson as Dinah. After catching part one at a screening, it occurred to me that what this interpretation of Diamant’s book (itself an interpretation of and vast extrapolation from the biblical text) required was group watching, plust a bit of alcohol. (Friends who not consume alcohol may substitute caffeine. Friends who consume neither alcohol nor caffeine are probably not reading this because they are out being productive citizens who sleep 8 hours night. But feel free to substitute another fizzy beverage that will at least enable you to belch like those who are indulging.)
The following educational drinking game is inspired by part one, but I can imagine that many of these rules will hold throughout the mini-series.
Jews have always been involved in the American comedy scene. I won't get into the history, frankly because I don't have that kind of time right now. But this December, a group of writers and content creators/producers are gathering in Jerusalem to talk about Jews, comedy and how the two can come together for social change in a first-of-its-kind conference called "Comedy for a Change." And to celebrate Jews and comedy - and promote the conference - the organizers (including the incredible and creative Omri Marcus, profiled in Tablet Magazine earlier this year) have unleashed GoHora.com, a somehow alarmingly-perfect mashup of today's greatest musical hits and videos of people doing Israeli dancing. (So if the goal was to prove that Jews could make those songs funnier, then DONE.)
Featuring some of the world's leading TV writers and execs, including BBC Director of Television Danny Cohen, as speakers, the Comedy for a Change conference is designed to address how, in today's modern media reality, comedy can be a powerful game changer. What's funny today? What's taboo? And what will happen when writers - the comedy and content creators from all over the world - come together with the idea of change as an organizing principle?
Speakers hail from countries including the US, Canada, Israel, The Netherlands, Denmark and others, and include Natalie Marcus and Assaf Beiser, the co-creators of the recently-aired, envelope-pushing historical sketch comedy show, "The Jews Are Coming" (which I wrote about here last year, and which is the subject of an upcoming follow-up piece). The agenda also features a salute to the late Joan Rivers, and the mayor of Jerusalem being interviewed by a puppet. In one session, writers of the American, German and Israeli versions of "The Office" will gather in a workshop called - of course - "That's What She Said." (Full agenda is here.)
My friend Brett, as Van Gogh. Me as...what? I'm wearing a glitter headband and big earrings. Thought I was an 80s club diva. But that's not a costume.
Eight years ago, I wrote about my first Halloween. Here is that "zombie blog post," back from the "mostly-dead" Idol Chatter blog-that-has-ceased-to-be, freshly revived (I mean, "heavily revised" - with new references to INTERNET! BUFFY! and GOLEMS! ) and ready to eat your brain. Enjoy my Halloween grinchiness!
A Yeshiva Girl's First Halloween by Esther D. Kustanowitz (revised 2014)
“What did you wear the last time you trick-or-treated?” my college friends asked.
“Umm, I’ve never been trick-or-treating.”
Their silence made me realize I had managed to terrify my friends on Halloween–quite a good first effort at the holiday.
Growing up in suburban New Jersey, I always knew what Halloween was: the week when television switched to a “Fright Night/Shocktober” format, candy unveiled its fall color palate, and packages of food suddenly sported ghosts, witches, skeletons and corpses (very appetizing). And it was also always the week when my yeshiva (Jewish religious school) sent home a letter to parents informing them that Halloween was a pagan holiday that had become a fulcrum for mischief and destructive pranks–sometimes of an anti-Semitic nature. We had Purim as our designated dressup day. It was highly advised that we not be permitted to participate in any Halloween celebrations.
Halloween's real impact was the constant ringing of our doorbell, as trick-or-treaters made their way down the block. My brothers and I would open the door and distribute candy to costumed kids, occasionally pocketing a piece of candy for ourselves, and never whining to my parents to let us participate. It wasn’t our faith. It wasn’t our holiday.
When I got to college, I realized that I had missed something vital in the secular calendar cycle. As October waned, people started talking about Halloween–instead of door-to-door candy collecting, there were fraternity keg parties and prizes for best costume. Costume strategies for men involved creativity and for women often included cleavage. My friend Mike dressed as a Mother Superior (he came out a few years later). Gary went as "Lampshade Man,” sticking a lampshade on his head, going up to women and saying “Turn me on!” Debbie dressed as a phone–she drew a telephone keypad (remember those?) on a white t-shirt, attached a phone receiver (remember those?) to a headband, and went to a party saying, “Ring, ring, I’m for you! Pick me up!”
My friends vowed to take me trick-or-treating, and for an authentic experience, they made me dress up. I raided my conservative closet and selected a longsleeved black shirt, a pretty modest, nearly-above-the-knee skirt, tights, and boots. (New Jersey in October, you know.) I didn’t look that different from shul-going Upper West Siders, but we added a bright lipstick, and my friends proclaimed the costume “a prostitute.” (Huzzah, college empowerment!)
We left campus and went to the suburbs of East Brunswick. House by house, as people - expecting local children - opened their doors, we yelled “trick or treat” and thrust out our bags waiting for them to deposit the candy goodness. But the homeowners were suspicious. “Aren’t you a little old for this?” So we upped our game, offering a trade: our singing services for their candy. “Halloween carols? Really?” one homeowner queried. “Sure!” we agreed. (I obviously had never been caroling either, so this was a double treat.) We were the singing telegrams no one had asked for - starting with some classics, Frank and Broadway show tunes, and moved to some more contemporary stuff. Debbie Gibson songs may have been involved.
That first time was a little weird, and uncomfortable, and not because of our caroling - it felt like I was pretending not to be Jewish. But most of the friends I was out with that night were also Jewish; they were just used to Halloween - celebrating it for them hearkened back to fond childhood memories. All I had was the inherited fear of something that used to be called "Mischief Night" or "Goosey Night," and the instilled guilt over celebrating something that didn't feel like my holiday.
I appreciate the creativity of a good costume - even more so now, with the internet enabling so much creative costume-sharing. But some of the more graphic costumes seem to have lost their fun. I'm a loyal fan of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, for its mythology, humor and empowerment themes - but bereft of that context, bloody monster masks left me unsettled. After endless CNN footage of 9/11, I found the “bloodied accident victim” genre disturbing. And then there are the "sexy ______" costumes, providing an excuse to wear revealing outfits and drink until they can’t tell the difference between friends and friends-with-benefits. Which may suit everyone else fine, but that kind of obfuscation usually isn’t necessarily my cup of poison. Even on the Jewish holiday of Purim, a yeshiva girl’s approved day of dress-up, I’m always paralyzed when it comes to costume creation. My costumes are typically more clever, based on a turn of phrase ("media queen") or something else that needs to be explained ("the cliches of JDate"), rather than "sexy golem" (which come to think of it, isn't a bad idea.) So when it comes to Halloween, I hope my friends have an amazing time, but I generally opt out.
Of course, you never know. Maybe someday I’ll come around. There is definitely something appealing about a day of fun and freedom from the strictures of contemporary dress and behavior. And, oh, the candy. (Which, hot tip, goes on sale at most stores after Halloween for 50-75% off. You're welcome.) But I probably won't be doing much this Halloween. Unless you happen upon a group of trick-or-treaters singing show tunes, in which case I expect you to text me immediately.
Happy Halloween!! (You know, if that's like, your thing. No judgments.)
Tonight is Rosh Hashanah, the start of the new Jewish year - it's been a bit of a crazy year for me, as my return to freelancing has landed me with great companies and organizations, like Pictures From the Fringe (follow us on Facebook & Twitter), G-dcast (check out eScapegoat & SinfulGoat) & ELI Talks (check out this talk about God and this one about hacking Judaism), among others. I'm also relaunching EstherK.com with fresh content coming soon, and am starting to put together a newsletter to share helpful social media tips, interesting articles and things I've written, so stay tuned.
This coming year is 5775, which I realized a few weeks back is a palindrome. Since I missed all the fun with 2002 (no one was really allowed to have fun that year) and don't remember why I didn't figure this out in 1991, I decided to pay tribute to this special occasion by playing around on Imgur.com. (This is obviously a tradition that dates back to rabbinic times.)
Below are some of the results of this experiment, with apologies to Girls, The Simpsons, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia and Frozen. Wishing you and your families a wonderful new year, of health, happiness and humor.
