Ladies and gentleman, stars have collided. Lena Dunham has interviewed Judy Blume, and it’s being published as an 80-page mini-book in The Believer. Two of the greatest women in the world sat down together, admiring each other’s work, and chatting about “writing, celebrity, sex, censorship, and favorite breakfasts,” according to McSweeney’s. I wonder what their favorite breakfasts are? Mine is the one where I’ll have that interview in my hands, and I read it as I devour my muesli.

The generation gap doesn’t stand a chance—perhaps because Dunham and Blume have reading in common. “When we, as young women, are given the space to read, the act becomes a happy, private corner we can return to for the rest of our lives,” Dunham explains in her introduction. “We develop this love of reading by turning to stories that speak to the most special, secret parts of us. And here comes Judy Blume.”

Here she comes! McSweeney’s offered us a little preview at what we would be getting, and it’s pretty amazing stuff.

JB: My first favorite books were the ones in the Betsy-Tacy series. But they weren’t popular in school. I didn’t know anyone else who was reading them. I liked Nancy Drew, used my allowance to buy one every week at the Ritz Bookstore. In sixth grade I made up books to give book reports on.
LD: You invented them?
JB: I did.
LD: You would report on a book that had never existed?
JB: I did.
LD: Were you ever caught?
JB: Nope. I always got an A on those.
LD: That’s incredible.

Oh, LD and JB. You guys are the best. Who said Friday the 13th was bad luck?

(Photo by Janette Beckman/Getty)

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Ben Schwartz, aka Jean-Ralphio Saperstein from Parks and Recreation, announced on his Tumblr that a short film he starred in, I’m a Mitzvah, is headed to the Sundance Film Festival. Mazel tov, Ben!

The film’s plot goes a little something like this:

The short was written by Ben Berman and Josh Cohen, directed by Ben Berman and the music was composed by Stephin Merritt of the Magnetic Fields. It follows a young American man (me) who spends one last night with his deceased friend while stranded in rural Mexico. The story is dark and beautiful and was so much fun to film.

“Your eyes are about to piss tears,” is what Jean-Ralphio would say before showing you this trailer. Really, it looks wonderful. Watch, enjoy, and get excited for what will probably be a very limited theatrical release (sigh…).

Mitzvah Teaser from Abso Lutely on Vimeo.

(Photo by Young Hollywood/Getty)

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Ari Folman, director and star of the Academy Award nominated Waltz with Bashir, is at it again, but this time, he’s writing and directing an animated film about the life of Anne Frank. Frank’s father Otto has given Folman full access to the archives at Anne Frank Fonds Basel, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

“Bringing the Anne Frank Diary to all screens is a fantastic opportunity and challenge,” Folman said. “There is a real need for new artistic material to keep the memory alive for younger generations.”

Folman’s new film will be family-oriented, unlike his past films and television shows. It begins production in 2014.

The exploration of memory, trauma and history is nothing new for Folman, who excavated his own memories of the 1982 invasion of Lebanon to make Waltz With Bashir. He also created the En terapia, the Israeli TV series about psychoanalysis adapted by HBO as In Therapy. But the move to more family-oriented material will be a new one for the Israeli writer/director.

Let’s hope that Ron Ben-Yishai can get a role in this film, too. That deep, deep voice should play a prominent part of every film from here on out. Hear, hear!

If you don’t remember, or haven’t seen, Waltz with Bashir, watch a trailer here and get reacquainted with Folman’s unique cinematic style.

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Here’s the news to brighten up your gloomy Tuesday: Bette Midler is starring as the one and only Mae West in Mae West, the story of the groundbreaking actress, singer, playwright, and sex symbol. William Friedkin and Jerry Weintraub are executive producers. While Harvey Fierstein is penning the script (of course).

The film is based on West’s autobiography, Goodness Had Nothing To Do With It, which chronicles her rise to fame, all while battling obscenity charges for her provocative work. Deadline reports:

Midler’s career path resembles that of West — she too made a name for herself onstage in New York (she made her Broadway debut in the chorus of Fiddler On The Roof) before segueing to features in her 30s for a successful movie career, which has earned her two Oscar nominations. Midler just started a three-week engagement at the Geffen Playhouse of I’ll Eat You Last after a successful Broadway run. Midler has been earning strong reviews for her portrayal of larger-than-life Hollywood agent Sue Mengers in the one-person play written by John Logan and directed by Joe Mantello.

Watch some of West’s best moments, and visualize Midler perfectly in the role:

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For all the Jewish hip-hop heads out there (there’s A LOT), The Mindy Project’s Adam Pally shares your plight. It’s just that you know all the lyrics, but you can’t sing along because of that word you would never, ever say. Thankfully, Pally has come up with a solution, and, spoiler alert, it involves David Schwimmer. Doesn’t it always?

Watch Pally’s simple trick. You can even try it at home:

(Photo by Michael Kovac/Getty)

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If it wasn’t enough for you that Zach Braff is starring in Woody Allen’s Bullets Over Broadway, get excited for Leighton Meester and James Franco in Of Mice and Men. Coming to Broadway for the first time in 40 years, Anna D. Shapiro will direct the John Steinbeck classic, The Hollywood Reporter reports.

Produced by David Binder, it begins previews March 19 at the Longacre Theatre, with official opening set for April 16. Tickets go on sale Jan. 11 for the limited engagement, which runs through July 27. Remaining cast is to be announced.

Meester will play Curley’s wife, who attracts the attention of Lennie, played by Chris O’Dowd. Franco takes on the role of George, Lennie’s friend and protector.

Let’s all go see it. Adam Brody will definitely be there.

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In the wake of Nelson Mandela’s death, Harvey Weinstein has made clear that he will not change any of the release plans to The Weinstein Company’s Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom. In an interview with TheWrap, Weinstein got emotional, explaining that the film is currently showing in four theaters, and that it will move to over 800 theaters, as planned, on Christmas Day.

“This issue is important to me personally,” he told TheWrap . “There are no opportunities. I’m just going to respect the will of the family through Zindzi Mandela.”

Last week, the New York Times reported that over in Hollywood, some were suspicious of Weinstein’s rights to the Mandela biopic, considering he has historically built publicity around his films (see Fruitvale Station).

Some Hollywood insiders have speculated that Mr. Weinstein bought the rights to “Long Walk to Freedom” in February partly because he saw an opportunity in Mr. Mandela’s failing health. “Not at all,” a Weinstein spokeswoman said on Friday. “When we saw the footage, we all fell in love with it.”

But Weinstein was going to make the film with producer Anant Singh in 1999, though after some complications, Singh ended up going at in independently, TheWrap reports. And Weinstein maintains that his aims for the film are pure, especially given his own past.

“I have been so involved in politics of anti-apartheid,” he said. “I will reveal that my father was a soldier in World War II. His buddies told me my dad suffered greatly from anti-Semitism because he was down south in training before he went to active duty in Mediterranean. He had to defend himself.”

Harvey Weinstein Opens Up About ‘Mandela’ Plans in Wake of Leader’s Loss (Exclusive) [TheWrap]

(Photo by Dave M. Benett/Getty)

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Last week, in a radio interview, Kanye West made some stereotypical comments about Jewish power.

“Man, let me tell you something about George Bush and oil money and Obama and no money. People want to say Obama can’t make these moves or he’s not executing. That’s because he ain’t got those connections. Black people don’t have the same level of connections as Jewish people. Black people don’t have the same connection as oil people.”

This week, the Anti-Defamation League is calling on Kanye to apologize, XXL reports.

Abraham H. Foxman, the ADL National Director then responded to Kanye’s opinion with some thoughts of his own. “If the comments are true as reported, this is classic anti-Semitism,” said Foxman.” There it goes again, the age-old canard that Jews are all-powerful and control the levers of power in government. As a celebrity with a wide following, Kanye West should know better. We hope that he will take responsibility for his words, understand why they are so offensive, and apologize to those he has offended.”

Ah, right— totally forgot that Kanye is renowned for saying all the right things. Because he never said, “I’m sorry, but Beyoncé had one of the best videos of all time,” or “George Bush doesn’t care about black people,” or “I walk through the hotel and I walk down the street, and people look at me like I’m … insane, like I’m Hitler.”

The ADL might want to stay off any lyric website, lest they find many more hip-hop references to Jewish connections and money, that aren’t automatically anti-Semitic, but rather, need context. (Royce Da 5’9: “While these rappers kill each other, them Jews they stick together like glue / and generate more money than FUBU”; Jay-Z: “See I was born in sewage, born to make bomb music / Flow tight like I was born Jewish”; Nas: “The Jewish stick together, friends in high places / We on some low level shit.”)

We’ll see if and how Kanye responds to Foxman. It should be interesting.

(Photo by Gabriel Olsen/Getty)

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Back in October, Rashida Jones was criticized as being anti-feminist when she tweeted about the growing normalcy of gyrating, mostly naked pop stars.

This week's celeb news takeaway: she who comes closest to showing the actual inside of her vagina is most popular. #stopactinglikewhores

— Rashida Jones (@iamrashidajones) October 19, 2013

Though she attempted to clarify that she wasn’t shaming any woman for her sexual choices, and that she was just attempting to open a dialogue, she managed to upset the online populace just the same.

@iamrashidajones '#stopactinglikewhores' definitely is shaming people for what they choose to do with their lives or bodies

— Abbie Williams (@bonjourabbie) October 19, 2013

But hey, that’s social media. You can tweet, “I love my mom #friendship #family,” and receive a backlash of expletives so fresh, even Urban Dictionary could not define.

Now, Jones’ has taken her argument to Glamour’s January issue.

I’m not gonna lie. The fact that I was accused of “slut-shaming,” being anti-woman, and judging women’s sex lives crushed me. I consider myself a feminist. I would never point a finger at a woman for her actual sexual behavior, and I think all women have the right to express their desires. But I will look at women with influence—millionaire women who use their “sexiness” to make money—and ask some questions. There is a difference, a key one, between “shaming” and “holding someone accountable.”

Though Jones is expressing a need for more than just the sexualization of female musicians, it’s not unlikely that her call will fall on deaf ears. After all, if the record companies are making money off of the artists, who, at least, put forth the image of enjoying their place in the sexualization. It’s a game where everyone involved has a hand.

Some people think not. Sinéad O’Connor got blowback after writing an open letter to Miley Cyrus, warning her of the dangers of her constant sexual imagery: “The music business…will prostitute you for all you are worth…and when you wind up in rehab… ‘they’ will be sunning themselves on their yachts in Antigua, which they bought by selling your body, and you will find yourself very alone.” Miley responded by basically calling her crazy.

Nothing Compares 2 U, Miley.

Why Is Everyone Getting Naked? Rashida Jones on the Pornification of Everything [Glamour]

(Photo by Getty)

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In a poor area of Philadelphia, Strawberry Mansion High School has long been considered one of the country’s most dangerous schools. But in May, ABC News aired a special with Diane Sawyer about the school’s struggles, and since then things have begun to turn around.

But after the special, a tidal wave of generosity from viewers helped breathe new life into Strawberry Mansion. Money donated by viewers helped to pay for school uniforms and to provide 13 scholarships for seniors heading off to college, as well as basic necessities that were missing at Strawberry Mansion, including books, notebooks and calculators.

Since Strawberry Mansion didn’t have the funding for a choir teacher, Drake, having seen ABC’s special, stepped in. When his tour went to Philadelphia, he met with the students, revealing an awesome gift:

“I wanted to let you know that in the next few months I’m building a recording studio inside your school so anybody that’s interested in music, you know anybody that wants to rap, sing. I want to encourage you, I want to encourage you to utilize that facility and try to make whatever dreams you have to come true,” he told them.

Get some tissues, and watch the moment here:

Strawberry Mansion High, Once One of US’s Most Dangerous Schools, Receives Hope, Help [ABC News]

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