50 | FEBRUARY 1 • 2024 J
N

THE GRAMMYS; NEW
JEWISH FILM WOWS
CRITICS

The Grammy awards will
be presented on Sunday,
Feb. 4 (8 p.m., CBS and
Paramount+). There are so
many Grammy categories
that only the Grammys in
the most popular categories
are given to winners during
the Grammy TV broadcast
(“popular” is based on music
sales and concert ticket
sales). Here are most of the
TV-worthy Jewish nominees.
Jack Antonoff, 39,
and Michael Pollack, 29, are
the most prominent Jewish
nominees this year. Both
are musicians who are also
record producers and song-
writers.
Pollack is a Record of the
Year nominee. This award
is given to the producers
of the record. The record
he co-produced, which
was sung by Miley Cyrus, is
“Flowers.” This song is also
a Song of the Year nominee,
and that award goes to the
songwriters.
Pollack co-wrote
“Flowers” with Cyrus. It was
a monster hit and broke
the record for most paid-for
streams in a week.
“Flowers” appeared on
“Endless Summer Vacation,”
a Cyrus album nominat-
ed for Album of the Year.
Pollack is one of the nomi-
nees for this Grammy, too.
Pollack grew up in a
wealthy, heavily Jewish
Long Island suburb. Growing
up, his hero was Billy Joel,
and Joel gave Pollack a
“Cinderella moment.” Joel,
who grew up in a working-
class Long Island suburb,
appeared at Pollack’s
college and took questions

from the audience. Pollack’s
friend was picked. He told
Joel his friend was a Joel
fan and a great pianist.
Joel called Pollack to the
stage and Pollack played a
Joel tune. Joel liked what
he heard and sang along.
A video of the “duo” went
viral, and Pollack appeared
on many TV shows,
including Today. (Joel will
perform, this year, at the
Grammys).
After college, Pollack
moved to Los Angeles and
quickly began writing songs
for a “who’s who” of top
musical acts.
Antonoff, who went to a
Jewish elementary school,
is a New Jersey native.
To date, he’s won eight
Grammys. A guitarist, he
has been the “front man”
for several bands, and his
first two Grammys were for
music he wrote for his band.
This year, he’s nominated
for five Grammys:
co-producer of Record
of the Year (“Anti-Hero,”
a Taylor Swift record);
co-producer of the Album
of the Year (“Midnights,”
Taylor Swift); and, in the
same category, “Did You
Know There’s a Tunnel
Under Ocean Blvd” (singer
Lana Del Rey album); and
co-writer of the Song of
the Year, “A&W” (with Lana
Del Rey). Antonoff is also
up for Producer of the
Year (non-classical).

Antonoff dated Scarlett
Johansson in high
school. He was in a long
relationship with actress/
writer Lena Dunham
(Girls). In 2023, he married
Margaret Qualley, a talented
actress. The wedding was
private, and I don’t know if it
was a Jewish ceremony.
Mark Ronson, 48,
has won seven Grammy
awards, and this year
he is nominated for the
soundtrack he co-wrote
for Barbie, the hit film.
One Barbie song he
co-wrote (“Dance the
Night”) is a Song of the
Year nominee.
Others: Jack Gitelman,
41, is up for a Record of the
Year Grammy (co-producer
of “On My Mama,” sung by
R&B artist Victoria Monet).
Gitelman’s family fled the
former Soviet Union in
1991; Rami Jaffee, 54, is a
member of the Foo Fighters,
a very popular rock band.
The band is up for Best
Rock Performance and Best
Rock Song (“Rescued”);
and there’s Drake, always
a Grammy nominee. He’s
nominated for four awards
in the rap music categories.
He’s already won five
Grammys. Born in 1986,
Aubrey Drake Graham is the
son of an African American
father and a Canadian
Jewish mother. He strongly
identifies as Jewish.
I have put aside, for next

week, some interesting
items I had ready in favor
of a film that blew me
away. Between the Temples,
a comedy-drama, made
its worldwide premiere at
the Sundance Film Festival
on Jan. 18. Every review
was a rave, including
those from the Hollywood
Reporter, Variety, Deadline
and Vulture.
This film appears to
be that elusive thing
— an independent film
that is “very Jewish”
but completely works in
many, many ways. Jason
Schwartzman, 41, plays a
cantor who is devasted by
his wife’s death. He doesn’t
lose his faith but is very
depressed and stops being
an active cantor. Then he
meets his former music
teacher (Carol Kane, 71) and
tutors her for her late-in-life
bat mitzvah. He also has an
intimate relationship with
her. Somehow this “odd
couple” works.
Their relationship doesn’t
please the cantor’s two (gay)
Jewish mothers. They have
“a nice Jewish girl” about
the cantor’s age who they
want him to date.
Do read the reviews If you
want to know more about
the plot and why the critics
loved this film. I can’t wait
until it has a general release.
I’ve never seen reviews
like this for a “little” Jewish
movie.

CELEBRITY NEWS

NATE BLOOM COLUMNIST

ARTS&LIFE

WIKIMEDIA COMMONS/COURTESY JACK ANTONOFF

Jack Antonoff

MUZIKBOY24/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Michael Pollack

THE COME UP SHOW/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Drake