CANADIAN FRONT, 2010: FATHERS AND GUNS
Fathers and sons do physical and emotional battle in French Canadian action comedy
DE PÈRE EN FLIC (FATHERS AND GUNS) (Émile Gaudreault, 2009)
MoMA Film
Museum of Modern Art
11 West 53rd St. between Fifth & Sixth Aves.
Wednesday, March 17, 7:30
Saturday, March 20, 1:00
Series runs March 17-22
Tickets: $10, in person only, may be applied to museum admission within thirty days, same-day screenings free with museum admission, available at Film and Media Desk
212-708-9400
www.moma.org
A huge hit in its native Quebec – the film was so successful that Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall will be producing an English-language remake for Sony next year – FATHERS AND GUNS is a goofy action comedy set in the world of cops and gangsters. When one of their agents, Jeff Tremblay (Hubert Proulx), is captured by an anarchistic biker gang, experienced hero cop Jacques Laroche (Michel Côté) is determined to get him back, preferably without the help of his son, Marc (baby-faced comedian Louis-José Houde), a young police sharpshooter who was unable to protect Jeff in the first place. Jacques continually abuses Marc, especially in front of the other officers, who include Geneviève (Caroline Dhavernas), who is in the process of breaking up with Marc. The team decides the only way to get Jeff back is to find a snitch, so they go after the bikers’ powerful lawyer, Charles Bérubé (Rémy Girard), who is about to head off on an adventure retreat to reconnect with his troubled son, Tim (Patrick Drolet). Much to his dismay, Jacques is ordered to attend the same retreat with his son, both undercover, where they are expected to share their feelings and do other things together that rile Jacques and his overt manliness. But it soon looks like they’re not the only father-son team with a different agenda. Directed by Émile Gaudreault (MAMBO ITALIANO), who cowrote the script with Ian Lauzon, FATHERS AND GUNS is sort of a Canadian ANALYZE THIS, with psychotherapy working its way into the lives of a pair of strong, proud men having difficulties with their sons. It’s a pleasing little film that never quite goes over the top, though it does come close, and it does feature one of the strangest scenes of the year, involving nipples, but enough said….
FATHERS AND GUNS is part of MoMA’s seventh annual Canadian Front, consisting of some of the best Canadian fiction and nonfiction films of the past eighteen months. The series gets under way March 17 with Sherry White’s debut coming-of-age CRACKIE and includes Bernard Émond’s drama THE LEGACY, Brigitte Berman’s documentary HUGH HEFNER: PLAYBOY, ACTIVIST, AND REBEL, the very odd rock-and-roll vampire musical SUCK, and Denis Villeneuve’s fact-based POLYTECHNIQUE, about a Columbine-like shooting spree in Canada.
ROY HAYNES
Roy Haynes will be celebrating his eighty-fifth with a series of special guests at the Blue Note
85th BIRTHDAY WITH SPECIAL GUESTS
Blue Note
131 West Third St.
March 17-21, $20-$35, 8:00 & 10:30
212-475-8592
www.bluenote.net
www.myspace.com/royhaynes
Born in Boston in 1925, drummer extraordinaire Roy Haynes has enjoyed a long, influential career, having played with the likes of Charlie Parker, Bud Powell, Charlie Christian, Miles Davis, Lester Young, Stan Getz, John Coltrane, Pat Metheny, Eric Dolphy, and just about every other jazz giant. Haynes turned eighty-five on March 13, and he will be celebrating that milestone birthday at the Blue Note, with special guests joining him for eight shows. On March 17, Kenny Garrett will sit in on alto sax with Haynes’s regular band (keyboardist Martin Bejerano, bassist David Wong, and saxophonist Jaleel Shaw), along with emcee Bill Cosby; March 18-19 features trumpeter Roy Hargrove and bassist Christian McBride; and Chick Corea will tickle the ivories on March 20. The special guests have not been announced yet for the finale on March 21. Tickets for all performances are only $20 at the bar and $35 for tables, a ridiculously cheap price to see one of jazz’s true legends.
DINE IN BROOKLYN
Bubby’s is one of more than two hundred restaurants participating in Dine In Brooklyn, March 15-25 (photo by twi-ny/mdr)
Multiple locations
March 15-25, lunch $20.10 , dinner $25
718-802-3846
www.visitbrooklyn.org
Once upon a time, Brooklyn was not exactly known for its fancy food, aside from just a few classic joints — the River Café, Peter Luger’s, Junior’s, Lundy’s, Gage & Tollner, Gargiulo’s — but the last ten years or so have seen a steady rise in the quantity of quality restaurants in the world’s greatest borough, and you can try many of them during the annual Dine In Brooklyn festival. From March 15 to 25, more than two hundred Brooklyn eateries will be offering special prix-fixe lunches and brunches for $20.10 and dinners for $25. Among the many participants are the Pearl Room and Fushimi in Bay Ridge, Bacchus in Boerum Hill, Chestnut and La Petite Provence in Carroll Gardens, Bubby’s in DUMBO, Madiba in Fort Greene, Alchemy and Melt in Park Slope, Mazzat in Red Hook, and Zenkichi in Williamsburg. Oh, there are also these places called the River Café, Junior’s, and Gargiulo’s. In addition, a bunch of smaller restaurants will be offering an even better deal, cutting prices in half, so brunch and lunch for two is $20.10, and dinner is $25 per couple, at such dining establishments as Saint Germain, Rice, the Smoke Joint, Aperitivo, Gialeti’s Café, Chipshop, and Il Fometto. Mangia, bambinos!
TIBET IN NEW YORK
SECRET LIVES OF THE DALAI LAMA by Alexander Norman (Doubleday Religion, February 2010, $15)
www.broadway-books.crownpublishing.com
Those Brits do tell a ripping yarn! And what better subject than Tibet, the nation once mythologized as Shangri-La? Alexander Norman is a British scholar and writer at Oxford; the Dalai Lama is a world-renowned Nobel Peace Prize–winning, sometimes controversial Tibetan spiritual leader. And a temporal leader. And a monk. And . . . Well, what, exactly? Westerners are often awed by Tenzin Gyatso, the current incarnation of Chenrezig, the bodhisattva of compassion, and frequently mistake him for something like the Pope of Buddhism, or at least of Tibetan Buddhists. Not so, not so at all, and Norman explains the how and why in SECRET LIVES OF THE DALAI LAMA. Norman’s excellent book looks at the whole span of Tibetan history and culture through the prism of the Dalai Lama. Trying to explain exactly who and what the Dalai Lamas (all fourteen of them) are and have been to the Tibetan people and the world creates a tome that does not shy away from troubling aspects of the society and its history while still conveying the magic and wisdom of Tibetan culture. (In fact, the current Dalai Lama even contributes the foreword.)
The book sparkles with insightful flashes of history, art, monastic life, magic and folklore, politics, military history, foreign affairs—the Tibetan world as a whole, warts, jewels, and all. Face it: Any book that starts with a politically motivated murder in the Dalai Lama's compound in 1997 and proceeds to a discussion of both the doctrine of dependent origination (emptiness, or shunyata) and the living embodiment of compassion could be either dry or sensationalist. But not this one; Norman is too expert a storyteller and so devoted to the tale that one can’t help but be swept along—surprised, touched, exhilarated, and, finally, awed.
Norman was supposed to come to New York City for several talks and book signings, but those events were unexpectedly canceled. But that doesn't mean there's not a whole bunch of other things to do in relation to Tibet and its spiritual leader. The Dalai Lama himself will be teaching May 20-23 at Radio City Music Hall, discussing Nagarjuna’s Commentary on Bodhicitta and Shantideva’s Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life (tickets on sale now, $100-$360) and also giving a public lecture on “Awakening the Heart of Selflessness” (tickets on sale March 18, $25-$40). From March 14 to 20, the Maysles Institute’s Tibet in Harlem 2: Origins series features screenings of Sherwood Hu’s PRINCE OF THE HIMALAYAS (March 14, followed by the opening-night reception), Duan Jinchuan’s 16 BARKOR SOUTH STREET (March 15), Dorje Tsering Chenaktsang’s TANTRIC YOGI and ANI LHACHAM (March 16), Padma Tseten’s THE SILENT HOLY STONES (March 17, followed by a Q&A with the director), Sonam’s MILAREPA (March 18), Tseten’s THE GRASSLAND and Rigdan Gyatso’s THE GIRL LHARI (March 19, followed by a panel discussion and reception with Tseten and Gyatso), and Tseten’s THE SEARCH (March 20, followed by a Q&A with Tseten and the closing-night reception). The Maysles Institute will also host a short film showcase on March 22 featuring works by Tibetan filmmakers from around the world, with a number of the directors and actors present for a postscreening Q&A.
Evan Brenner will perform one-man show THE BUDDHA PLAY at Village Zendo on March 19
On March 19 at Village Zendo, you can catch a special one-night-only performance of Evan Brenner's one-man show, THE BUDDHA PLAY—THE LIFE OF BUDDHA, which uses original texts to examine the “Triumph & Tragedy in the Life of the Great Sage.” At Tibet House, “Modern Buddhist Visions: Paintings by Pema Namdol Thaye” continues through April 16, comprising mandalas, tangkas, sculptures, and 3-D artworks. And at the Rubin Museum,“Bardo: The Tibetan Art of the Afterlife” runs through September 6, along with other exhibitions and special programs.
ATOM EGOYAN
Canadian director Atom Egoyan will talk about his latest film, CHLOE, at the Apple Store in SoHo on March 14
Apple Store, SoHo
103 Prince St.
Sunday, March 14, free, 5:00
212-226-3126
www.apple.com/retail/soho
Egyptian-born Canadian writer-director has made such well-regarded films as EXOTICA, THE SWEET HEREAFTER, and FELICIA’S JOURNEY, gaining a reputation as a daring independent auteur. He has earned Oscar nominations as Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay for 1994’s THE SWEET HEREAFTER, four of his films have been up for the Palme d’Or at Cannes (ADORATION, WHERE THE TRUTH LIES, FELICIA’S JOURNEY, and EXOTICA), and he has been nominated for thirteen Canadian Genie Awards, winning five. His latest film, CHLOE, which has been featured at prestigious festivals in Toronto, San Sebastián, Vancouver, London, Greece, and Santa Barbara, opens in New York City on March 26. The romantic thriller, which is loosely based on Anne Fontaine’s 2003 film NATHALIE, stars Julianne Moore, Liam Neeson, and Amanda Seyfried. On March 14, the forty-nine-year-old director will be at the Apple Store in SoHo to talk about his latest work. Other upcoming events at the store include DIARY OF A WIMPY KID actor Zachary Gordon on March 14 at 3:00, BREAKING BAD creator Vince Gilligan on March 19 at 6:00, and ADC Young Guns creative director Greg Brunkalla on March 22 at 6:30.
THE EXPLODING GIRL
Ivy has trouble showing her true feelings in Bradley Rust Gray drama THE EXPLODING GIRL
THE EXPLODING GIRL (Bradley Rust Gray, 2009)
Landmark Sunshine
143 East Houston St.
Opens Friday, March 12
212-330-8182
www.soandbrad.com/theexplodinggirl
www.landmarktheatres.com
In 1985, the Cure released a song called “Inbetween Days” that included the line “And I know I was wrong / when I said it was true / that it couldn’t be me and be her / inbetween without you.” On the flip side of the single, “The Exploding Boy,” Robert Smith sang, “I knew if I turned / I’d turn away from you / and I couldn’t look back.” In 2006, South Korean native So Yong Kim made IN BETWEEN DAYS, the tender story of Aimee (Jiseon Kim), a young Korean immigrant on the cusp of her burgeoning sexuality who spends most of her time with her best friend, Tran (Taegu Andy Kang), who is ready for more as well. Three years later, Bradley Rust Gray, Kim’s husband and cinematic partner, made what he calls the flip side to IN BETWEEN DAYS, the gentle, touching coming-of-age drama THE EXPLODING GIRL, with Kim serving as one of the film’s producers and editing it with her husband. In THE EXPLODING GIRL, Zoe Kazan stars as Ivy, a young woman who comes home from college break ready to spend time with her best friend, Al (Mark Rendall). While Ivy attempts to see her new boyfriend, Greg, her relationship with Al threatens to unravel as she is unwilling to face her real feelings. Both films are beautifully paced slices of life shot in a cinema verité style that adds to their believability and charm. THE EXPLODING GIRL opens March 12 at the Landmark Sunshine theater on the Lower East Side; we highly recommend checking it out, then renting IN BETWEEN DAYS for an outstanding double feature.
WILLIAM KENTRIDGE & THE NOSE
The Metropolitan Opera, Lincoln Center
Between West 62nd & 65th Sts. and Columbus & Amsterdam Aves.
March 5-25, $15 standing room - $375
212-362-6000
www.metoperafamily.org
In spring 2007, William Kentridge’s magical production of Mozart’s THE MAGIC FLUTE dazzled audiences at BAM. Now, as part of numerous events across the city celebrating the multifaceted career of the South African artist, his highly anticipated adaptation of Shostakovich’s version of Gogol’s 1836 short story THE NOSE will have six performances at the Metropolitan Opera this month. The multimedia presentation, conducted by Valery Gergiev and featuring baritone Paulo Szot as Kovalyov and tenors Andrei Popov as the police inspector and Gordon Gietz as the Nose, was designed by Kentridge with Sabine Theunissen. Tickets are going fast in the lower-priced sections, so act quickly if you’d rather pay $150 or less rather than as much as $375. In addition, Kentridge’s NOSE-related drawings and collages are on view at the Gallery Met, his limited edition SHEETS OF EVIDENCE book is on display at Dieu Donné through March 27, he will be in conversation with Paul Goldberger discussing “Learning from the Absurd” at the New York Public Library on March 12, “Sounds from the Black Box: The Music of Philip Miller for the Films of William Kentridge” screens at the World Financial Center, with live music by Ensemble Pi, March 21-22, and the major retrospective “William Kentridge: Five Themes” runs at MoMA through May 17.
