Tag Archives: matt stone

AUTOCRATIC FOR THE PEOPLE: AN UNPRESIDENTED SERIES OF STAR-SPANGLED SATIRES / MUSICAL MIDNITES — SOUTH PARK: BIGGER, LONGER & UNCUT

Stan, Cartman, and Kenny can’t wait for SOUTH PARK movie to start at IFC Center

WEEKEND CLASSICS / NITEHAWK MIDNITE SCREENINGS: SOUTH PARK: BIGGER, LONGER & UNCUT (Trey Parker, 1999)
IFC Center, 323 Sixth Ave. at West Third St. March 31 – April 2, 11:00 am, 212-924-7771
Nitehawk Cinema, 136 Metropolitan Ave. between Berry St. & Wythe Ave., March 31 and April 1, 12:20 am, 718-384-3980
www.ifccenter.com
www.nitehawkcinema.com

IFC Center’s Trump-inspired “Autocratic for the People: An Unpresidented Series of Star-Spangled Satires” concludes March 31 – April 2 with Matt Stone and Trey Parker’s inimitable South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut. Since 1997, Stone and Parker have been using colorful low-tech cutouts to dine on sacred cows, lambasting celebrities, politicians, religion, sexuality, the military, education, television, movies, corporations, pop culture, and just about everything else they can think of in the animated series South Park, which follows the travails of a group of eight-year-old boys in a small town in Colorado. In 1999, Eric Cartman, Kyle Broflovski, Stan Marsh, and Kenny McCormick got to star in their own feature-length animated film, in which they lead the resistance to save Terrance & Phillip while Kyle’s mom starts a war with Canada. They’re joined by such SP regulars as Chef, Mr. Mackey, Mr. Garrison, and Wendy Testeberger and such special guests as Satan, Saddam Hussein, and the mysterious Gregory, along with guest voicers George Clooney, Eric Idle, Minnie Driver, Dave Foley, and Brent Spiner. The musical numbers, written by Parker with Henry Mancini Award winner Marc Shaiman (Hairspray, Catch Me If You Can), are a riot, including the Oscar-nominated “Blame Canada,” “Uncle Fucka,” “Kyle’s Mom’s a Bitch,” and “What Would Brian Boitano Do?” Another fave is “I’m Super,” delivered by the irrepressible Big Gay Al, who sings, “Bombs are flying / People are dying / Children are crying / Politicians are lying too // Cancer is killing / Texaco’s spilling / The whole world’s gone to hell // But how are you? / I’m super / Thanks for asking!” A 35mm print will be screened at the way-too-early hour of 11:00 am from March 31 to April 2 as part of IFC’s Weekend Classics programming. Coincidentally, the film is also being shown — at the somewhat more reasonable time of 12:20 am — on March 31 and April 1 in the Nitehawk Cinema series “Musical Midnites.” Meanwhile, Stone and Parker, who also made the fab Team America: World Police, are preparing for the twenty-first season of South Park, which continues to have its finger squarely on the pulse of what is really going on in this country.

INDEPENDENCE DAY WEEKEND AT NITEHAWK — TEAM AMERICA: WORLD POLICE

South Park dudes Trey Parker and Matt Stone employ puppets to lay waste to international terrorism in TEAM AMERICA

MIDNITE SCREENINGS — TEAM AMERICA: WORLD POLICE (Trey Parker, 2004)
Nitehawk Cinema
136 Metropolitan Ave. between Berry St. & Wythe Ave.
Friday, July 4, and Saturday, July 5, 12:05 am
718-384-3980
www.nitehawkcinema.com
www.teamamericamovie.com

Nothing is off limits for South Park dudes Trey Parker and Matt Stone in this marionette musical actioner that mixes Top Gun, Mission: Impossible, and The Matrix with that old classic television puppet show Thunderbirds. Kim Jong Il is determined to unleash his weapons of mass destruction on an unsuspecting world, and it is up to Team America and its newest member, actor Gary Johnston, formerly of the hit musical Lease, to stop the North Korean leader’s heinous plan. But Team America is a reckless bunch that has a tendency to destroy major cities and landmarks (the Eiffel Tower, the Sphinx) as it attempts to take out terrorists. Meanwhile, love threatens to complicate the success of their mission. Parker and Stone skewer international politics, the military, celebrity, and the media in this very dirty, very funny flick; among their victims are Alec Baldwin, Susan Sarandon, Sean Penn, Peter Jennings, Hans Blix, George Clooney, and, mercilessly, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. There’s lots of blood and gore, a very hot puppet sex scene, and the best description ever about the three kinds of people in the world. Although it often misses its target or goes way too far — it could have been a classic like South Park: Bigger Longer & Uncut — it’s still a good way to spend a late night out at the movies, especially while honoring America during the July Fourth holiday. Team America: World Police is screening at 12:05 am on Friday and Saturday night as part of Nitehawk Cinema’s Independence Day Weekend, which also includes Steven Spielberg’s Jaws and Tim Burton’s Mars Attacks!

WAVERLY MIDNIGHTS — TEAM AMERICA: WORLD POLICE

South Park dudes Trey Parker and Matt Stone employ puppets to lay waste to international terrorism in TEAM AMERICA

TEAM AMERICA: WORLD POLICE (Trey Parker, 2004)
IFC Center
323 Sixth Ave. at West Third St.
Friday, October 19, and Saturday, October 20, 12:15 am
212-924-7771
www.ifccenter.com
www.teamamericamovie.com

Nothing is off limits for South Park dudes Trey Parker and Matt Stone in this marionette musical actioner that mixes Top Gun, Mission: Impossible, and The Matrix with that old classic television puppet show Thunderbirds. Kim Jong Il is determined to unleash his weapons of mass destruction on an unsuspecting world, and it is up to Team America and its newest member, actor Gary Johnston, formerly of the hit musical Lease, to stop the North Korean leader’s heinous plan. But Team America is a reckless bunch that has a tendency to destroy major cities and landmarks (the Eiffel Tower, the Sphinx) as it attempts to take out terrorists. Meanwhile, love threatens to complicate the success of their mission. Parker and Stone skewer international politics, the military, celebrity, and the media in this very dirty, very funny flick; among their victims are Alec Baldwin, Susan Sarandon, Sean Penn, Peter Jennings, Hans Blix, George Clooney, and, mercilessly, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. There’s lots of blood and gore, a very hot puppet sex scene, and the best description ever about the three kinds of people in the world. Although it often misses its target or goes way too far — it could have been a classic like South Park: Bigger Longer & Uncut — it’s still a good way to spend a late night out at the movies. Team America: World Police is screening in 35mm at 12:15 am on Friday and Saturday night as part of the IFC Center’s Waverly Midnights series, which continues October 26-27 with Paul Verhoeven’s Starship Troopers and November 2-3 with Todd Solondz’s Election.

MATTHEW STONE: OPTIMISM AS CULTURAL REBELLION

Matthew Stone optimistically melds the past, present, and future at the Hole (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

The Hole
312 Bowery
Tuesday – Saturday through December 10, 12 noon – 7:00 pm
212-466-1100
www.theholenyc.com
www.matthewstone.co.uk
optimism as cultural rebellion slideshow

Matthew Stone is the very embodiment of the twenty-first-century artist. The twenty-nine-year-old Camberwell graduate is a painter, sculptor, photographer, techno composer, curator, performance artist, provocateur, music-video director, interviewer, art theorist, DJ, shaman, and event host. This past March, he collaborated with Catherine Borra on “The Next 100 Years,” which was about nothing less than “the future of art.” Stone, a protégé of Terence Koh’s and a leader of South London’s !WOWOW! art collective, which made a name for itself through its squat parties, has installed his first major U.S. gallery show at the Hole, a stunning collection of photographs on wooden boards that reaches back into the classical past while also foretelling the next generation of art. Evoking the name of his 2007 debut solo show at London’s Union Gallery, “Future Hindsight,” the new “Optimism as Cultural Rebellion” is based on Stone’s belief that “optimism is the vital force that entangles itself with and then shapes the future.” Upon first glance, it appears that the British artist has created classical-style paintings that recall Caravaggio, Michelangelo, and other Renaissance masters, but it turns out that they are actually photographs printed on birch and, in one case, fabric, making the two dimensional three dimensional. Many of the works are made of frames that have been folded into sculptural pieces set on the floor or dramatically arranged on wooden cubes. As realistic as the images appear to be — one work lies flat on the floor, actual drapery emerging from it — closer inspection reveals impossible poses and body formations. Amid all the cynical negativity prevalent in the art world today, Stone offers a fresh, nearly irresistible alternative, sticking it to the status quo with a calm sense of optimism that is both beautiful and stirring. (Also on view at the Hole through December 16 is Matt Stone’s “Residuum,” consisting of sculptures in a variety of materials and colors in the rear gallery; Matt Stone, an SVA grad who was an assistant to Judy Pfaff and is currently assisting Marilyn Minter, is not related to Matthew Stone, and yes, their shows were put together primarily because of the similarity of their names.)

TEAM AMERICA: WORLD POLICE SING & SWEAR-ALONG

Audiences are invited to curse along with the characters as Trey Parker and Matt Stone lay waste to international terrorism in TEAM AMERICA

TEAM AMERICA: WORLD POLICE (Trey Parker, 2004)
92YTribeca
200 Hudson St. at Canal St.
Saturday, September 17, $13 (includes one free beer), 10:00
212-415-5500
www.92YTribeca.org/film
www.teamamericamovie.com

Nothing is off limits for South Park dudes Trey Parker and Matt Stone in this marionette musical actioner that mixes Top Gun, Mission: Impossible, and The Matrix with that old classic television puppet show Thunderbirds. Kim Jong Il is determined to unleash his weapons of mass destruction on an unsuspecting world, and it is up to Team America and its newest member, actor Gary Johnston, formerly of the hit musical Lease, to stop the North Korean leader’s heinous plan. But Team America is a reckless bunch that has a tendency to destroy major cities and landmarks (the Eiffel Tower, the Sphinx) as it attempts to take out terrorists. Meanwhile, love threatens to complicate the success of their mission. Parker and Stone skewer international politics, the military, celebrity, and the media in this very dirty, very funny flick; among their victims are Alec Baldwin, Susan Sarandon, Sean Penn, Peter Jennings, Hans Blix, George Clooney, and, mercilessly, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. There’s lots of blood and gore, a very hot puppet sex scene, and the best description ever about the three kinds of people in the world. Although it often misses its target or goes way too far — it could have been a classic like South Park: Bigger Longer & Uncut — it’s still a good way to spend a Saturday night out at the movies. And on Saturday, September 17, it will be offering even more, as the 92YTribeca screens it as part of its “Sing-along” series, adding the words on-screen so you can curse along with the characters to your heart’s delight — and they’ll even include props, trivia, and a free beer to help get things going.

THE BOOK OF MORMON

Tony-winning THE BOOK OF MORMON skewers organized religion eight times a week on Broadway

Eugene O’Neill Theatre
230 West 49th St.
Tickets: $69-$477
www.bookofmormonbroadway.com

Over the course of fifteen seasons, South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone have skewered just about every religion imaginable, including a November 2003 episode in which they poked some very good natured fun at Mormonism. The duo behind Team America: World Police, BASEketball, and Orgazmo have now taken a huge step forward with their uproarious Broadway debut, The Book of Mormon. Teaming up with composer Robert Lopez and codirector and choreographer Casey Nicholaw, Parker and Stone have expanded their playful attack on the Mormons — and organized religion in general — in an inventive, riotous, no-holds-barred runaway hit musical that took home nine Tony awards. Hoping to get a prime location for his missionary assignment, Elder Price (Andrew Rannells) instead gets sent to deepest, darkest Africa, paired with the slovenly and not very well prepared Elder Cunningham (Josh Gad), who is so happy to be part of something that he’s up for just about anything. After meeting their fellow Mormon missionaries, they learn that they have not had much success knocking on doors, trying to spread the rather bizarre story of Joseph Smith and the secret golden plates. While the childlike Elder Cunningham develops a crush on the beautiful Nabulungi (Nikki M. James), Mafala Hatimbi (Michael Potts) continually declares, “I have maggots in my scrotum,” and Elder McKinley (Rory O’Malley) and the other Mormons share how to simply “turn off” any unpure thoughts and not get swallowed up in their endless “Spooky Mormon Hell Dream.” Using clever staging techniques, Nicholaw and Parker go back and forth between the worlds of the Mormons and the Africans as they slowly begin to merge. Although Mormonism takes the brunt of the attack, songs such as “Making Things Up Again” and “I Believe” make it clear that The Book of Mormon could have easily been about many other religions, all of which have questionable histories and involve unusual contemporary practices and traditions. But like they say in the show, “Tomorrow’s a latter day” and “To each his own.” In a meta-twist, worshiping The Book of Mormon has become somewhat of a religion itself, placing the musical on its own heavenly golden pedestal; while it’s not quite as rapturous as all that, it’s still one of the best musical comedies to hit Broadway in several years, a nonstop laugh fest that also proves to have plenty of heart.

SOUTH PARK: BIGGER, LONGER & UNCUT SING-ALONG

Satan and Saddam Hussein are all part of the fun in SOUTH PARK sing-along

SOUTH PARK: BIGGER, LONGER & UNCUT (Trey Parker, 1999)
92YTribeca
200 Hudson St. at Canal St.
Saturday, December 18, $13 (includes one beer), 10:30 pm
212-415-5500
www.92YTribeca.org/film

Now this is our kind of sing-along. While others gather to celebrate THE SOUND OF MUSIC, MAMMA MIA, and WILLY WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY, singing classic, familiar, popular hits, we’d much rather be blasting out such memorable songs as the Oscar-nominated “Blame Canada,” “Uncle Fucka,” “Kyle’s Mom’s a Bitch,” and “What Would Brian Boitano Do?” Since 1997, Matt Stone and Trey Parker have been using colorful low-tech cutouts to show that there are no sacred cows, lambasting celebrities, politicians, religion, sexuality, the military, education, television, movies, corporations, pop culture, and just about everything else they can think of in the animated series South Park, which follows the travails of a group of eight-year-old boys in a small town in Colorado. In 1999, Eric Cartman, Kyle Broflovski, Stan Marsh, and Kenny McCormick got to star in their own feature-length animated film, SOUTH PARK: BIGGER, LONGER & UNCUT, in which they lead the resistance to save Terrance & Phillip while Kyle’s mom starts a war with Canada. They’re joined by such SP regulars as Chef, Mr. Mackey, Mr. Garrison, and Wendy Testeberger and such special guests as Satan, Saddam Hussein, and the mysterious Gregory, along with guest voicers George Clooney, Eric Idle, Minnie Driver, Dave Foley, and Brent Spiner. The musical numbers, written by Parker with Henry Mancini Award winner Marc Shaiman (HAIRSPRAY), are a riot, including “I’m Super” from the irrepressible Big Gay Al, which boasts the fabulous lyrics “Bombs are flying / People are dying / Children are crying / Politicians are lying too // Cancer is killing / Texaco’s spilling / The whole world’s gone to hell // But how are you? / I’m super / Thanks for asking!” Tickets are $13 and come with one beer, props, a trivia contest, and other goodies.