Producer Arnon Milchan: International man of mystery?

And they say every film producer has his share of bombs! Israeli film producer Arnon Milchan is a likely recipient of this year’s Best Picture Academy Award for the more than worthy “12 Years A Slave,” but now we’ll never know if the jury box wasn’t secretly rigged. Milchan recently confirmed a longtime Hollywood rumor – that he spent many years as an arms dealer and a spy for Israel.

Milchan, whose company New Regency Films has produced dozens of popular and critical hits like “Pretty Woman,” “JFK,” “Free Willy,” “L.A. Confidential,” “Big Momma’s House,” “Fantastic Mr. Fox” and many others, is said to have been affiliated with the now shuttered Israeli Bureau of Scientific Relations, accused of gathering intelligence from the US for Israel’s nuclear program.

(Be sure to think of Jonathan Pollard rotting in his jail cell with his disproportionately extreme prison sentence when you watch coverage of the Oscars this year.)

According to the new revelations, none other than Robert DeNiro confirmed that Milchan said “he would do these things for his country.”

In other news, what would this weekly column be without talk of Scarlett Johansson?

The Hollywood Foreign Press Agency – the group of nincompoops who dish out the Golden Globes each year – came to the irrational decision that Johansson will not be eligible for a Best Actress Award for her performance in the forthcoming film “Her.”

We’ve already seen the new movie from Spike Jonze (nee Adam Spiegel) co-starring fellow member of the tribe Joaquin Phoenix and we can assure you – a little thing like the fact Johansson is only heard and not seen does not take away from it being one of the finest performances of the year. The HFPA is being prejudiced against the non-corporeal (ScoJo plays the voice of a sentient operating system) and, in time, they will be shown for the bigots they are!

Shonda of the Week

Jonah Hill, whose forthcoming performance in “The Wolf of Wall Street” is something we’re both anticipating and dreading (it doesn’t look like it does much to evade stereotypes), had some family news this week. His brother Jordan Feldstein, a major player in the world of music management whose clients include Robin Thicke and Maroon 5, is, at least for now, is a member of the Eastwood family.

Jordan married Clint’s daughter Francesca at a Las Vegas chapel, but now the blonde reality TV starlet is allegedly looking for annulment just one week later. Francesca was spotted by the sterling bastion of pure journalism, TMZ, pounding on Feldstein’s door, but he refused to let her into his Hollywood home.

We don’t want to know from their troubles, but suffice to say that Vegas after midnight is not usually the soil from which sturdy marriages grow. It’s really none of our business, but considering the sweat-stained photo that the gossip blogs keep reprinting, Jordan Feldstein is our Shonda of the Week.

New From Hollywood

Frozen: Jewish-American singer/dancer/actor/comedian/all-around-mensch Josh Gad is just one the many reasons to check out “Frozen,” arguably the best animated feature from the Walt Disney Company in years. Loosely based on a Hans Christian Andersen tale (“The Snow Queen”), “Frozen” is a straightforward adventure about princesses and the power of love. Progressives can proudly take their daughters, as the love interest, while present, is very much a B-story to the relationship between the cartoon sisters. Also, the songs will stay in your head for days.

Oldboy: Woody Allen’s New York Knicks chum Spike Lee, who frequently makes great movies, chucks an embarrassing airball with “Oldboy.” A tone-deaf remake of the South Korean cult revenge thriller, everything about this film is an unmitigated disaster. Some parts are serious, others are campy, and none of it is subtle. The film stars Josh Brolin and we can only image what stepmother Barbra Streisand would say about all the violence.

Homefront: The ubiquitous James Franco (Jewish from his mother’s side) is a low-rent meth dealer in a small Louisiana town. He sees an opportunity to advance his criminal career when he learns the identity of a new man in town, played by Jason Statham. Turns out Statham is the ex-DEA agent who ratted out the big mob boss to – oh, who cares, let’s get to the action! There’s a lot of kicking, shooting and exploding in this braindead but enjoyable picture, written by none other than Sylvester Stallone. Winona Ryder (nee Winona Horowitz) co-stars as Franco’s moll.

Also in Theaters

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire: Is it a mooney-gooney love triangle targeting teenage girls or is it a cry for social and economic justice? Can’t it be a little of both?
This sequel to last year’s first installment in the franchise is, without question, vastly superior in every department. Better writing, better character development and a bigger budget for the action and special effects. There are also those outrageous outfits, care of fan-favorite character Cinna, played by half-Jewish musician/renaissance man Lenny Kravitz. I’m definitely hiring him next time I need a gown that can burst into flames to reveal dark bird wings beneath.

Enough Said: Jewish-American comedienne Julia Louis-Dreyfus stars in this touching, grown-up romantic dramedy opposite the late James Gandolfini. The “hook” is that she falls for this new guy just as she makes a new friend (Catherine Keener) – a woman she greatly admires. After about 20 minutes of screentime she discovers that, whoopsie!, the ex-husband Keener’s been kvetching about is, in fact, her new beau Gandolfini. That Preston Sturges-like set up, however, is just a clothesline on which to pin a number of finely observed character moments in this touching and realistic film.

Casablanca: The greatest movie ever made (yeah, I said it) is playing the night of Friday, December 30 at the Tel Aviv Cinematheque. While it is not immune to charges of underplaying the horrors of Nazism (just how did Victor Lazslo escape from multiple concentration camps, exactly?) Bogart’s line “I bet they’re asleep all over America” was intended as a direct cry against isolationism during the Second World War.

The screenplay – a collaborative work from a number of sources including Howard Koch and the Epstein Brothers – isn’t just a compelling yarn with adventure and romance, but a precision-cut diamond of gallows humor and determined humanism.

In addition to Bogie and Bergman the cast is rounded out by a number of European refugees of the Third Reich including Conrad Veidt and Peter Lorre. Virtually every member of Rick’s cafe – Sascha the Bartender, Carl the Waiter, Emil the Croupier and even the Pickpocket (“there are vultures everywhere!”) were played by Jewish character actors.

If there’s a chance you haven’t seen “Casablanca,” take advantage and see it in a theater.