May 22, 2013 John Thorne: They launched the 'Arab Spring' but now yearn for the good old days of a strongman John Rosemond: 'Disciplinary math' adds up to parental successl Warren Richey: Are prayers before public meetings OK? Supreme Court to decide Rick Montgomery: Use of ADHD drugs as study aid raises concern on campuses Brierley Wright, M.S., R.D.: 6 convincing reasons you should keep carbs in your diet Eoin O'Carroll: Scientists examine nothing, find something The Kosher Gourmet by Carole Kotkin: This soup is made from one of the great pleasures of spring: A wonderful pairing of rosy color and earthy tang May 20, 2013 Richard A. Serrano: Is Meir Kahane's assassin now a changed man? Hannan Adely: Town raises Palestinian flag at City Hall Melissa Healy: Genetic copies of living people from embryos no longer science fiction Morgan Housel: When smart investors do stupid things Sharon Saloman, M.S., R.D.: Hunger games: Eat more, weigh less, without starving Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : Jews Inducted into Rock Hall of Fame; Anton Yelchin co-stars in New "Trek" film; Kutcher (but not Kunis) visits Israel; Jewish TV Star Praises Jewish Rap Star The Kosher Gourmet by Cathy Pollak: WARNING: This WALNUT CAKE WITH PRALINE FROSTING, perfect for afternoon coffee, is addicting May 13, 2013 Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo: Why the giving of the document that would permanently change the world could only be done in desolation David G. Savage: Church-state, literally? Supreme Court weighing public school graduation in a church Emily Alpert: Recession dragged down birth rates for less-educated women Morgan Housel: The deep downside of home ownership Peter Teffer: Will Dutch police soon be stalking cybercriminals on your computer? Heidi McIndoo, M.S., R.D.: Meatless 'meat' can have its own set of problems The Kosher Gourmet by Diane Rossen Worthington: Celebrate! This must-try appetizer is delicate yet has depth of flavor: Corn-Leek Cakes with Caviar, Smoked Salmon and Creme Fraiche May 10, 2013 Rabbi Berel Wein: Be all that you should be Caroline B. Glick: The dirty little secret about Israel's Arabs Mona Charen: Hawking's Moral Calculus: The man and the movement he embraces Morgan Housel: The biggest retirement myth ever told Sandi Doughton: Eyes may provide new insight into brain problems Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : The Great Gatsby's Jewish Ties; Jews in the "Time 100 list" List; People's Most Beautiful Women The Kosher Gourmet by Linda Gassenheimer: A sweet-hot meal: Pear salsa spices up salmon May 8, 2013 Peter Ford: Why China is welcoming both Israel's Netanyahu and Palestinians' Abbas Warren Richey: Obama administration quietly backs out of appeal over new contraceptive mandate Fred Weir: At Kerry-Putin meeting, US-Russia relations thaw --- a tad Amanda Paulson: Study reveals sad truths about community colleges 'Garbage man' in cells could extend life Harvard Health Letters: Evidence weak that zinc, echinacea are beneficial The Kosher Gourmet by Leela Cyd Ross : Almost too pretty to eat, this colorful salad with Sicilian inspiration will tickle the taste buds and delight your visual sensibility May 6, 2013 Edmund Sanders and Patrick J. McDonnell: Think Israel's objective in Syria is to weaken Assad or embolden the rebels? Think again Brian Bennett: Israeli airstrikes may show weakness in Syrian defense Michael Ollove: Millions of ex-felons, parolees and those on probation are about to be entitled to tax-payer paid health coverage Karen Kaplan: Most men can skip PSA test for prostate cancer, urologists say Kimberly Lankford: How to track down a lost life insurance policy Dream of Mars exploration achievable, experts say The Kosher Gourmet by Susan M. Selasky: EGGPLANT WRAPS are an easy, sumptuous and scrumptious meal May 3, 2013 Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo: Human Courage and the Unavoidable, Disturbing Text Steven Emerson: Attorney General Fights CAIR in Court, Lauds it in Public Mediterranean diet helps beat dementia: study Harvard Health Letters: When to be screened for a hearing problem Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : Iron Man's Jewish Connections; Marc Maron's New TV Show; Martin Landau Grows Up with Israel; Shalom, Allan Arbus The Kosher Gourmet by Diane Rossen Worthington: A sweet surprise for Mother's Day dessert May 1, 2013 Jonathan Rosenblum: An Improbable Journey to Orthodoxy Jonathan Tobin: Blame Obama, Not Israel for Syria Push Kids, kittens the Same? With employee perks at struggling Internet pioneer Yahoo! it's hard to tell Halena M. Gazelka, M.D.: Mayo Clinic Medical Edge: What you need to know about implanted pain relief devices Sandy Kleffman: Artificial kidney offers hope to patients tethered to a dialysis machine Jessica Shugart: When it comes to math, MRIs may be better than IQs The Kosher Gourmet by Mario Batali: The celebrated chef on how high-maintenance ASPARAGUS RISOTTO need not be April 29, 2013 Roy Gutman: Poland's new Jewish museum celebrates life, doesn't revisit Holocaust Mark Clayton: Terrorism in America: Is US missing a chance to learn from failed plots? Kim Murphy: Boston Bomber's 'Svengali' Revealed Morgan Housel: He's rich, smart and old: Listen to him Thomas Salinas, D.D.S.: Mayo Clinic Medical Edge: The safety of amalgam fillings Harvard Health Letters: Tomatoes and stroke protection Pete Spotts: Tiny satellites + cellphones = cheaper 'eyes in the sky' for NASA The Kosher Gourmet by Diane Rossen Worthington: Swing into spring with lemon cream pie April 26, 2013 Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski: The world is a mirror Caroline B. Glick: Time to confront Obama Clifford D. May: Defense in the Age of Jihadist Terrorism Kimberly Lankford: New strategies ease pain of paying for long-term care insurance Howard LeWine, M.D.: Ask the Harvard Experts: Too much ibuprofen? Sharon Palmer, R.D.: How to feel your best -- with plenty of energy, a healthy weight and optimal mental and physical function -- without driving yourself batty Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom: Jewish Major Leaguers, 2013; New Movies and Comedy Show; Shalom, 'Lumpy' (Leave it to Beaver) The Kosher Gourmet by Emily Ho : A bright and cheerful salad to herald the warmer months ahead April 24, 2013 Steven Emerson: Boston Bomber Exposes Islamist Secret Top Muslim cleric boycotts inter-faith dialogue conference attended by 'Jews' Morgan Housel Admit it: No one has any idea what's going on Harvard Health Letters: Can you get headaches from headache medication? Kerri-Ann Jennings, M.S., R.D.: How to easily get more Omega-3s in your diet Melissa Healy: Pot in a pill: All the pain relief without the smoke The Kosher Gourmet by Susan Russo: Chipotle Chili Butternut Squash Soup is bold, zesty, hot April 22, 2013 Ken Dilanian: Counterterrorism's future is unclear Hagel, on maiden Middle East visit, arrives in Israel bearing gifts and promises US man departing country arrested on terror charges Barbara Williams: An unorthodox but growing treatment in a 9-year-old's battle against cancer P.J. Skerrett, M.D.: How to recognize a good whole grain product Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom: Teen actor Jonah Bobo in New Flick: Hunky James Wolk on Mad Men; Erich Segal's Daughter Writes Prize-Winning Jewish Novel

Jewish World Review December 27, 2012/ 14 Teves, 5773 The black market for movie raves By Barry Koltnow http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | (MCT) There are times when I feel sorry for people who can read. If you can read, you are likely to be terribly confused by movie ads. Despite its nearly three-hour length and non-stop singing, many movie critics, some more respectable than others, have been calling "Les Miserables" the best picture of the year. For instance, when Ben Affleck's "Argo" was shown in Toronto, it was hailed as the best picture of the year in newspaper ads and television commercials. That is, until the musical "Les Miserables" was shown early to critics, who immediately declared it to be the best picture of the year. No sooner had movie-goers settled on that film when "Zero Dark Thirty" was named the best picture of the year when it was screened for critics, just after "Lincoln" was called the best picture of the year. And close on Honest Abe's heels were "Django Unchained" and "Amour" — both cited in numerous ads and commercials as the best picture of the year. Oh, we forgot to mention "Silver Linings Playbook," which has been proclaimed the best picture of the year, and "Anna Karenina," another film promoted in ads as the best picture of the year. Wasn't "Life of Pi" the best picture of the year for a while? Just about the only recent film not named by anyone as best picture of the year was the dreadful Gerard Butler soccer film "Playing for Keeps," although a Miami TV reporter is quoted in ads insisting that the film "will warm your heart and make you fall in love again and again." And that is my point. The movie studios don't have to make up quotes for their ads. They can always find someone to say it for them. Unfortunately, with the growing popularity of social media, the field of quote hacks has grown exponentially. OK, they're not all hacks. There are a few legitimate movie critics quoted in ads for quality films. These are sincere professionals who believe these movies are worthy of the testimonials. But real critics don't supply quotes to the studios. Instead, studio ad reps extract quotes from published reviews. The same can't be said for the magazine, TV, radio and online critics who either are fanboys who like everything, or leeches who want to ingratiate themselves with the studios so they can continue to be invited to free junkets and screenings. Some of these people just like seeing their names in ads. Others think of themselves as unpaid employees of the studios, part of the marketing team. They don't care that their gushing quotes might mislead the public. And these hacks are not satisfied with just sending favorable quotes to the studios. Some will even go so far as to alter their online reviews to accommodate the studios. Let me show you how it might work in a conversation between two fictional studio executives. I'm sure these executives don't exist in the real studio system, and no conversation like this has ever taken place. I'm making the whole thing up. Ad Guy: I need a quote. Blogger Wrangler: Give me liberty or give me death? Ad Guy: Be serious for a minute. I don't need just any quote. I need a quote for our new Christmas movie. Blogger Wrangler: Why didn't you say so? I can get you "Rollercoaster Ride of the Summer!" with one phone call. Ad Guy: Really? For a Christmas movie? Blogger Wrangler: How about "Perfect for the holidays"? Ad Guy: I love it. Do you have a quote like that? Blogger Wrangler: Not yet. Let me make a call. I've got a dozen bloggers who will gladly change their reviews to include any quote we need. Ad Guy: That's so unethical. Blogger Wrangler: What's your point? Ad Guy: I was just pulling your leg. Can we get a respected critic that people have heard of? Blogger Wrangler: Don't be ridiculous. Respected critics won't feed us quotes. We've got to go to these bloggers who nobody reads. Ad Guy: But people will see right through that ruse. Blogger Wrangler: That's why we do the attribution line so small in the television commercials that you need a magnifying glass to read the names. And in newspapers, nobody really cares about who said it. People only care about the quote. If you put an exclamation mark at the end, it looks like someone important said it. Ad Guy: Do you have favorite quote hacks that you trust? Blogger Wrangler: Of course. I've got a couple of guys who don't even see the movies. They always supply us with the most positive quotes. Ad Guy: Don't they ever write a negative review? Blogger Wrangler: They know that if they write a negative review, they don't get in the ad. Ad Guy: Why do they do it? Blogger Wrangler: It gets them free publicity for their blogs. Ad Guy: Don't you feel guilty using these hacks? Blogger Wrangler: Why? I'm not a journalist. Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here. Comment on Barry Koltnow's column by clicking here. Previously: The 10 worst movies of 2012 2012's most annoying celebrities Lindsay Lohan needs to be ignored Red Dawn' remake reflects China's box-office pull Fall movie season ends with lessons learned The 10 best Bond villains ever Readers weigh in on confusing movies 10 most confusing movies of all time Do you enjoy going out to the movies? Sylvester Stallone, the Dalai Lama and me Watch August movies at your own risk Nothing new in the new Spider-Man movie Grading the summer movies . . . so far Readers are angry about TV network practices, too TV networks have some explaining to do The night Johnny Depp made me a star Summer movies: the dark horses Lindsay, Ashton, Kim --- are they kidding? Readers pick their favorite baseball movies Our 10 favorite baseball movies The most over-hyped movies of 2012 The 10 worst best pictures ever The greatest Oscar acceptance speech NEVER given The worst biopics ... ever 20 celebrity questions that must be answered in 2012 The Golden Globes are meaningless The 10 Most Annoying Celebrities of 2011 The funniest comedy teams Fake celebrities ignite real controversy Hollywood: Stop spoiling our movies Mob expert reveals his favorite gangster flicks Good riddance, Harry Potter The coolest car movies ever made Our favorite teacher movies Are women funny? Our special snarky summer movie guide The 10 most pressing show biz questions Readers weigh in on the royal wedding The royal wedding: I don't get it Readers reach verdict on lawyer column Our favorite lawyer movies ever Readers pick their worst Oscar winners The 10 worst best pictures ever 25 hit-man movies to die for The 10 greatest sidekicks ever The 10 biggest celebrity missteps of 2010 Who's cooler than Steve McQueen? (Answer: nobody) The best revenge movies ever The good old days, when celebrities weren't train wrecks Making sport of celebrities Youth will be served? Don't give me that trash! A celebrity answer is no answer at all Caution: geniuses at work © 2010, The Orange County Register; Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

Arnold Ahlert  Mitch Albom  Jay Ambrose  Michael Barone  Barrywood  Lori Borgman  Stratfor Briefing  Mona Charen  Linda Chavez  Richard Z. Chesnoff  Ann Coulter  Greg Crosby  Larry Elder  Suzanne Fields  Christine Flowers  Frank J. Gaffney  Bernie Goldberg  Jonah Goldberg  Julia Gorin  Jonathan Gurwitz  Paul Greenberg  Argus Hamilton  Victor Davis Hanson  Betsy Hart  Ron Hart  Nat Hentoff  A. Barton Hinkle  Jeff Jacoby  Paul Johnson  Jack Kelly  Ch. Krauthammer  David Limbaugh  Kathryn Lopez  Rich Lowry  Michelle Malkin  Jackie Mason  Ann McFeatters  Dale McFeatters  Dana Milbank  Jeanne Moos  Dick Morris  Jim Mullen  Deroy Murdock  Judge A. Napolitano  Bill O'Reilly  Clarence Page  Kathleen Parker  Star Parker  Dennis Prager  Wesley Pruden  Tom Purcell  Sharon Randall  Robert Robb  Cokie & Steve Roberts  Heather Robinson  Debra J. Saunders  Martin Schram  Greg Schwem  Culture Shlock  David Shribman  Roger Simon  Lenore Skenazy  Michael Smerconish  Thomas Sowell  Ben Stein  Mark Steyn  John Stossel  Cal Thomas  Dan Thomasson  Bob Tyrrell  Diana West  Dave Weinbaum  George Will  Walter Williams  Byron York  ZeitGeist  Mort Zuckerman  Robert Arial  Chuck Asay  Baloo   Lisa Benson  Chip Bok  Dry Bones  John Branch  John Cole  J. D. Crowe  Matt Davies  John Deering  Brian Duffy  Everything's Relative  Mallard Fillmore  Glenn Foden  Jake Fuller  Bob Gorrel  Walt Handelsman  Joe Heller  David Hitch  Jerry Holbert  David Horsey  Lee Judge  Steve Kelley  Jeff Koterba  Dick Locher  Chan Lowe  Jimmy Margulies  Jack Ohman  Michael Ramirez  Rob Rogers  Drew Sheneman  Kevin Siers  Jeff Stahler  Scott Stantis  Danna Summers  Gary Varvel  Kirk Walters   Dan Wasserman  Tech Q&A  Mr. Know-It-All  Ask Doctor K  Richard Lederer  Frugal Living  On Nutrition  Bookmark These  Bruce Williams