GREEN ZONE
Chief Miller (Matt Damon) doesn't like what he's found in GREEN ZONE
GREEN ZONE (Paul Greengrass, 2010)
Opens Friday, March 12
www.greenzonemovie.com
Paul Greengrass, who teamed up with Matt Damon on the last two Bourne movies and made the excellent UNITED 93, is back with Damon for GREEN ZONE, an Iraq War thriller that is ultimately as misguided as America’s decision to attack Iraq in the first place. Damon stars as Roy Miller, the head of a unit that is using information from the Pentagon to find WMD. But after a third straight mission that comes up empty and costs lives, Miller begins questioning the intel, opening his mouth to his superiors and soon finding himself in the middle of a government conspiracy being protected by administration official Clark Poundstone (Greg Kinnear). While unwitting Wall Street Journal reporter Lawrie Dayne (Amy Ryan) keeps writing about the WMD, Miller gets help from CIA agent Martin Brown (Brendan Gleeson), who smells a big fat rat. Inspired by Rajiv Chandrasekaran’s book IMPERIAL LIFE IN THE EMERALD CITY, the story, though set in 2003, feels much older, tackling a situation that has long since been dealt with. GREEN ZONE lacks surprises and even devolves into the ridiculous in the second half, which includes a chase scene pretty much just so the movie can have a chase scene. Screenwriter Brian Helgeland, who did such a terrific job adapting L.A. CONFIDENTIAL, continues his streak of overwrought work; he is also responsible for such tripe as the remake of THE TAKING OF PELHAM 123, the overrated MYSTIC RIVER, and the just plain awful MAN ON FIRE, BLOOD WORK, and THE POSTMAN. Although it begins with promise, GREEN ZONE ends up being a disappointing piece of leftist propaganda, too little, too late.
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.
TICKET GIVEAWAY: THE IRISH CURSE
THE IRISH CURSE
Soho Playhouse
15 Vandam St. between Sixth Ave. & Varick St.
Opens March 17, $59
212-691-1555
www.theirishcurse.com
Just in time for St. Patrick’s Day, THE IRISH CURSE returns to New York City, examining a problem that not even Viagra, Cialis, or Enzyte can cure. Winner of the Overall Excellence Award for Outstanding Playwrighting at the 2005 Fringe Festival, THE IRISH CURSE follows the travails of four men who meet weekly in a church basement to discuss their, er, rather embarrassing red nose, short hose problem. But when a new guy joins the group, everyone is forced to look at themselves and their situation in a whole new way. The production, which opens March 17 at the Soho Playhouse, was written by Martin Casella, directed by Matt Lenz, and stars Dan Butler, Roderick Hill, Scott Jaeck, Brian Leahy, and Austin Peck.
All tickets are $59, but twi-ny has four pairs of free tickets to give away to this ED comedy. Just send your name and daytime phone number to contest@twi-ny.com by Monday, March 15, at 3:00 pm to be eligible to win; you must be at least twenty-one years of age to enter, and all winners will be chosen at random. Bottoms up!
WE BELIEVE IN COMEBACKS
The Mets are preparing for the 2010 season at Citi Field after a disastrous inaugural campaign there (photo by twi-ny/mdr)
NEW YORK METS 2010 SEASON
Citi Field
123-01 Roosevelt Ave. at 126th St.
718-507-TIXX
www.newyork.mets.mlb.com
The Mets are experiencing another bizarre spring training, with K-Rod suffering from pink eye, Jose Reyes diagnosed with a thyroid condition, and only Jason Bay brought in to try to boost the team’s feeble 2009 home-run output. But if you haven’t been to Citi Field yet, it’s still worth a visit, especially if you’re a Brooklyn Dodgers fan, because that organization is more celebrated inside the stadium than the Mets themselves. We had a blast last year showing our nephews all the special places in the park where they couldn’t go because we didn’t have the ridiculously expensive premium seats that allow access to all the private clubs. Single-game tickets are now on sale, through the Mets’ stupidly difficult online ticketing office, so be prepared to wait as you seek out the cheaper seats, which go pretty fast. Among the special promotions this year are the Mr. Met Dash on April 24, June 27, August 1, 15, 29, and September 19, when kids get to run around the bases after the game; ski cap day on April 23; Jason Bay bobblehead day on July 11; Fiesta Latina on August 13, featuring a Johan Santana koozie giveaway; and lunchbox day on August 15.
THAT’S MONTGOMERY CLIFT, HONEY!
Montgomery Clift would join Marilyn Monroe in Hollywood Babylon five years after appearing together in THE MISFITS
BAMcinématek, BAM Rose Cinemas
30 Lafayette Ave. between Ashland Pl. & St. Felix St.
March 11-25
718-636-4100
www.bam.org
In “The Right Profile,” the Clash’s Joe Strummer famously declared, “That’s Montgomery Clift, honey!” in a song that referenced the Hollywood star’s troubled career and fatal struggle with pills and the bottle. Born in Nebraska in 1920, Clift quickly rose to fame in his first few films in the late 1940s, which included Academy Award nominations for his roles in THE SEARCH and A PLACE IN THE SUN. But his career took a tragic turn when he suffered severe facial disfigurements in a car accident while filming RAINTREE COUNTRY in 1956. In 1961, Clift starred in THE MISFITS, the John Huston film that featured the final screen appearances of both Marilyn Monroe and Clark Gable; Clift made only three more movies before dying a broken man in his New York City bedroom in 1966, at the age of forty-five, guaranteeing himself a place in Hollywood Babylon alongside such other denizens as Monroe and James Dean. BAM is celebrating what would have been Clift’s ninetieth year with a two-week festival of eleven of his films, beginning March 11 with William Wyler’s THE HEIRESS and continuing through THE MISFITS on March 25. On March 14, Clift biographer Patricia Bosworth will introduce FROM HERE TO ETERNITY; the series also includes screenings of A PLACE IN THE SUN, THE HEIRESS, I CONFESS, RED RIVER, FREUD, and other Clift classics.
COU-COU BIJOUX: POUR VOUS
Cou-Cou Bijoux will perform pour vous at Dixon Place this weekend
Dixon Place
161A Chrystie St. between Rivington & Delancey Sts.
March 12-13, $10-$12, 9:00
212-219-0736
www.dixonplace.org
Chanteuse Cou-Cou Bijoux, one of the stars of this past winter’s Magnetic Cabaret at the Bubble Lounge, goes solo for two nights at Dixon Place this weekend, presenting a two-act show directed by Luke Harlan, with musical direction by Brooks “Babyface” Hartell. Written and performed by Cou-Cou alter ego Raquel Cion and with original songs by Dan Kilian, POUR VOUS promises an evening of bawdy burlesque and torch songs as Cou-Cou takes on “love and other misfortunes.” As she says, “It’s all pour vous!”
THE WILD DEER
The Wild Deer will run free at Local 269 on March 11
The Local 269
269 East Houston St. at Suffolk St.
Thursday, March 11, free, 8:00
212-228-9874
www.myspace.com/thewilddeernyc
www.myspace.com/thelocal269
The Wild Deer — singer Heath Mensher, guitarists Anthony Mullin and Ed Fingerling, bassist Ron Oestreicher, and drummer Brad Gunyon — take audiences on a bluesy ride through soulful classic rock sounds on such tunes as “Rise,” “River of Soul,” “God’s Eyes,” “Grass,” and “Your Way.” Not necessarily avid hunters, their name comes from poems by William Blake and Hafez and, according to songwriter Fingerling, “symbolizes our defenselessness to predators like corporate or government aggression.” Lead vocalist Mensher, who plays the blues harp in the band, also sings the blues about fatherhood on his Web site, Having a Baby Totally Sucks, or the Things They Are Scared to Tell a New Father, where he describes how much he loves his wife and daughter while sharing the hidden truths that come with being a new dad.
