You’ve seen The Passion of The Christ so many times now you can sing along to all the songs, and you’re tired of your crucifixion nail, and even the drawing-and-quartering scene in Passion: The Prequel (also known as Braveheart) fails to set you aquiver. What to do? Fortunately, The Forward has a few ideas: How about a documentary by a young hasidic woman who leaves the fold to chase a couch halfway around the world? She finds it (sort of), brings it back to New York and plops all her ex-hasidic friends down on it for interviews. The movie is Divan, by Pearl Gluck, and Michael Bronski tells you why you should track it down.
Too hum-drum? Max Gross recommends J.T. Waldman‘s “180-page graphic novel [about] an orphan… taken to a brothel. She meets an alcoholic, lecherous king. He succumbs to her charms and makes her his queen. She uncovers a murderous plot to kill thousands of her people and — through her wits — saves the day.”
That’s right — the biblical Esther makes her debut on the funny pages. Unroll the scroll here.