Downtown Film Festival of the Week
01.18.06
1. Von Trier makes his home in the Village
2. Greek, Dutch, and American art for free in Midtown
3. Egon Schiele and pretzel rolls uptown
Volume 5, Number 33
January 18 — February 1, 2006
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— sung by Shelley Plimpton, HAIR: THE AMERICAN TRIBAL LOVE ROCK MUSICAL (RCA, 1968)
IFC Center
323 Sixth Ave. at Waverly Pl.
January 20-26
Tickets: $10.75
212-924-7771
http://www.signandsight.com/features/465.html
http://www.manderlay-derfilm.de
With Lars von Trier’s MANDERLAY set to open at the IFC Center and Lincoln Plaza on January 27, IFC (formerly the Waverly) pays tribute to the controversial Danish filmmaker with a weeklong look at his entertaining, frustrating, confusing, maddening, beautiful, annoying, cloying, heartbreaking, and utterly individual and eclectic output. Some of the screenings will be introduced by guests to be announced, and in a surprising turn of events, von Trier himself, who has never stepped foot on American soil (although he has referred to himself as "an American woman" and claims to "come from a family of communist nudists"), will participate in an on-screen Q&A after select screenings of MANDERLAY on January 28-29. This is a great opportunity to catch up on von Trier and Dogme 95, but be prepared to be both thrilled and infuriated. We highly recommend DANCER IN THE DARK, his Golden Palm-winning musical starring an unforgettable Björk, as well as the long but difficult César-winning BREAKING THE WAVES, the mesmerizing ZENTROPA (which begins with great narration from Max von Sydow), and the unusual cop noir THE ELEMENT OF CRIME. But we strongly suggest you avoid THE IDIOTS, an embarrassing, senseless, mean-spirited, and insulting film in which a group of men and women pretend to have something wrong with them.
Friday, January 20 DANCER IN THE DARK (Lars von Trier, 2000), 12:45, 3:35, 6:25, 9:15
Friday, January 20
and
Saturday, January 21 VON TRIER’S 100 EYES (Katia Forbert Petersen, 2000) and THE DOGVILLE CONFESSIONS (Sami Saif, 2003), 12 midnight
Saturday, January 21 THE KINGDOM (Lars von Trier, 1994), 12 noon
Saturday, January 21 BREAKING THE WAVES (Lars von Trier, 1996), 5:30, 8:40
Sunday, January 22 THE KINGDOM II (Lars von Trier, 1997), 12 noon
Sunday, January 22 ZENTROPA (Lars von Trier, 1991), 5:30, 7:50, 10:30
Monday, January 23 LIBERATION PICTURES (IMAGES OF A RELIEF) (Lars von Trier, 1982), 2:00, 5:35, 9:10
Monday, January 23 THE FIVE OBSTRUCTIONS (Lars von Trier, 2003), 12 noon, 3:35, 7:10, 10:45
Tuesday, January 24 THE ELEMENT OF CRIME (Lars von Trier, 1984), 12:45, 5:15, 9:45
Also available on DVD
Don’t adjust your sets; Lars von Trier’s highly stylized postapocalyptic crime drama (his first film) is seemingly bathed in blood. Fisher (Michael Elphick) is called in by his aging mentor, Osborne (Esmond Knight), to help catch serial killer Harry Grey, who is carving up children who sell lottery tickets. Elphick’s voice-over narration is as eerie as the sets are dreary. Although it would be easy to hate this unusual film, we find ourselves oddly drawn to it, losing ourselves in its impossible-to-follow plot, strange characters, and depressing atmosphere.
Tuesday, January 24 EPIDEMIC (Lars von Trier, 1987), 3:00, 7:30
Wednesday, January 25 THE IDIOTS (Lars von Trier, 1998), 11:30, 3:45, 8:00
Wednesday, January 25 THE HUMILIATED (Jesper Jargil, 1998), 1:55, 10:30
Thursday, January 26 THE HUMILIATED (Jesper Jargil, 1998) 7:45
Wednesday, January 25 MEDEA (Lars von Trier, 1987), 6:15
Thursday, January 26 MEDEA (Lars von Trier, 1987), 6:00
Thursday, January 26 DOGVILLE (Lars von Trier, 2004), 11:10, 2:35, 9:30
Paul Bettany and Nicole Kidman in Lars von Trier’s DOGVILLE
Also available on DVD
The streets of America are not exactly paved with gold in Dogme king Lars von Trier’s brutal, existential parable of immigration. It’s three hours long, and well worth the investment; at first we were bewildered, then we were annoyed, and then we were outright angry at von Trier, who knows how to manipulate, offend, confuse, and bore any audience. But we stuck with it nonetheless and were eventually awed by its hatred for the human condition — and amazed by its relentless, not-so-well-disguised anti-U.S. sentiment. John Hurt serves as the narrator of this very different version of OUR TOWN, with an exemplary cast that includes Paul Bettany, Chloe Sevigny, Patricia Clarkson, Philip Baker Hall, Blair Brown, Stellan Skarsgard, Zeljko Ivanek, Ben Gazzara, Jeremy Davies, Lauren Bacall, and a remarkable Nicole Kidman. We can’t emphasize this enough: Stay with this film, give it a chance, and you will be well rewarded.
Friday, January 27
and
Saturday, January 28 MANDERLAY (Lars von Trier, 2005)
twi-ny/mdr
Home is where the brunch is in the Village
20 Cornelia St.
212-243-9579
http://www.recipesfromhome.com
For more than a dozen years, this cozy neighborhood fave, owned by David Page and Barara Shinn, has been serving a special kind of comfort food using fresh ingredients from the local area as well as from upstate farms. Even the wine is homegrown, from Shinn Estate Vineyards in Mattituck. The narrow, cramped restaurant features vintage family photographs on the wall as well as an old-fashioned-looking kitchen in the back. We recently had brunch there, starting with a very good cup of coffee and a warming hot apple cider with rum (and a slice of apple), along with a basket of country wheat and cornbread from Amy’s around the corner. We nearly burned our tongue on the excellent carrot and parsnip soup. A mound of juicy cornmeal fried oysters sat atop a bed of scrambled eggs with leeks and spinach. A house specialty, chive grits, accompanies poached eggs and a roasted tomato sauce. Chopped vegetable salad is chock full of seasonal veggies. Country biscuits are covered in chicken sausage gravy. Live dangerously and get a side of the garlic potato cake, made with skin-on red potatoes and plenty of garlic. There is also pepper bacon and grilled sausage. For dessert, their chocolate pudding is supposedly awesome; you can check out the recipe on their Web site. Home also serves lunch Monday through Friday and dinner seven nights a week.
The Benaki Museum, Athens, Greece
"Sailing Ship by the Coast of Hydra,"
unknown artist, ca. mid-nineteenth century
Onassis Cultural Center
Olympic Tower, 645 Fifth Ave. at 51st St.
Through May 6
Closed Sunday
Admission: free
212-486-4448
http://www.onassisusa.org/onassis.art.from_byzantium_to_modern_greece.shtml
This fine collection of works from the Benaki Museum in Athens sheds an intriguing light on nearly four hundred years of Hellenic and philhellenic art, dating from the fall of Constantinople to the Greek War of Independence. This downstairs, mazelike gallery features painting, sculpture, ceremonial objects, mosaics, maniples, veils, stoles, salvers, jugs, prelactic pectorals, icons, miters, jewelry, valances, books, sabers, guns, sea chests, costumes, maps, and more. Take your time working your way through such thematic sections as "Shared Sovereignty," "The Spiritual and Artistic Legacy of the Orthodox Church," "Shipping and Trade," "Personal Adornment," "Greece Through the Eyes of Foreign Artist-Travelers," "The Home," "The Greek Enlightenment," "Philhellenism," and "The War of Independence." Front and center is a very early and seriously damaged work by El Greco, a claustrophobic version of "The Adoration of the Magi." Joseph Schranz’s "View of the Port of Corfu" will have you planning a trip to the Greek Isles. An unknown artist depicts "Lord Byron in Greek Dress," the poet casually hanging out in the foreground, with the Acropolis far off in the background. A peasant prepares to do battle in Carl Haag’s "A Greek Mountaineer." Don’t miss the 1613 Macedonian church-shaped casket or the case of ship-shaped votive offerings. Avraam’s "The Second Coming" separates heaven and hell, good and evil, and a halo’d head from its bleeding neck. A fascinating triptych depicts "The Virgin Portaitissa of Iviron," with the Virgin Mary as Keeper of the Gate along with Dositheos and Eleutherios. And Rudolph Müller contributes a "View of the Acropolis from the Pnyx," while Edward Lear shares his "View of the Plain of Marathon." The exhibit is a splendid way to begin your free Midtown art tour heading west between 51st & 52nd Sts., where you can stop in at several free lobby galleries from Fifth to Seventh Aves.
twi-ny/mdr
Olympic Atrium offers a quick trip to Greece in Midtown
645 Fifth Ave. between 51st & 52nd Sts.
http://www.onassis.gr/english/affiliated
http://www.theolympictower.com
http://www.hellenicmuseumsshop.com/?ref=onassisusa
Aristotle Onassis was the first owner of this fifty-one-story brown-tinted glass structure that is the site of the Onassis Cultural Center, which holds lectures, symposiums, and exhibitions dealing with Greek culture. Grab a silver seat by the lit-up waterfall / fountain and check out the display on the wall: "The Parthenon Marbles of the City College of New York." They’re cast replicas, not the real thing, but unless you’re on your way to London and Athens any time soon, this version of the Elgin Marbles should do in a pinch. Settle in at the Atrium Café (212-838-9113, closed Saturday and Sunday), where salads, sandwiches, and Greek specialties are all under ten bucks, although the portions are relatively small; choose from among such traditional dishes as spanakopita, kreatopita, melitzanopita, dolmadakia, vounou, and choriatiko, or just have coffee or tea with some baklava, kariopita, or gelaktoboureko. Some afternoons feature a piano player in the center of the atrium. And the recently opened Hellenic Museums Shop (212-759-9271, closed Sunday and Monday) sells books, artifact replicas, jewelry, music, icons, and more. Please note that the waterfall / fountain is turned off on Saturdays and Sundays, but the clean bathrooms are in operation at all times. And the atrium even supplies free umbrella bags in case of rain.
The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art
Friso Henstra, "Mighty Mizzling Mouse," 1983
The UBS Art Gallery
1285 Sixth Ave. between 51st & 52nd Sts.
Monday through Friday, 8:00 am — 6:00 pm
Through February 24
Admission: free
212-713-2885
http://www.ubs.com/1/e/about/sponsor/culture/ubs_art_gallery/dutch_treats.html
This delightful show takes a look at the charming work of thirteen children’s book illustrators from the Netherlands, organized by the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Massachusetts. Using simple lines and spare use of color, Dick Bruna places his beloved rabbit, Miffy, in a museum, checking out a Mondrian painting. Fiep Westendorp’s silhouetted Jip and Janneke are about to be pummeled by a huge wave from THE BEACH. Max Velthuijs’s Frog, Duck, Hare, and Pig frolic in a lush green landscape. Friso Henstra’s funny, frantic characters from MIGHTY MIZZLING MOUSE are part Monty Python, part Maurice Sendak, part YELLOW SUBMARINE. Jan Jutte draws a crudely smiling sun hovering over a sleeping elephant in GET UP! Ceseli Josephus Jitta’s GRANDFATHER’S DIAMOND is Hopper-esque, injecting a bit of realism into the cartoon world. Hans de Beer adds an endearingly scary quality to ALEXANDER THE GREAT in "Whenever the cat mother slept..." Thé Tjong-Khing’s LITTLE SOPHIE AND LANKY FLOP is gothically Gorey-esque, while "Nuns and children in the dormitory," from THE BOYS’ MARVELLOUS JOURNEY, is no walk in the park for these kids. The main character in Annemarie van Haeringen’s THE PRINCESS WITH THE LONG HAIR sits in a colorful Robert Smithson-like red landscape. Philip Hopman fills such illustrations as "Table be covered" from ALL GRIMM’S FAIRYTALES with bright colors and lots of detail. There are also pieces by Sylvia Weve, Yvonee Jagtenberg, and Dieter and Ingrid Schubert and five framed posters from exhibits held at the Eric Carle Museum. Be sure to pick up the excellent accompanying pamphlet, which includes an artist’s statement and full-color page from each illustrator.
Archives of American Art, © 2006 Smithsonian
Denise Lawson-Johnston at the Jewish Museum looking at "Monogram" (1959), by Robert Rauschenberg, 1963 / Hans Namuth, photographer
The Archives of American Art
New York Regional Center, Reference Center and Exhibition Gallery
1285 Sixth Ave. between 51st & 52nd Sts.
UBS Building Lobby Level
Through February 24
Open weekdays from 9:30 to 5:00
Admission: free
212-399-5015
http://www.aaa.si.edu/guides/exhibit-fiftyfour
Since 1954, the Archives of American Art has been seeking "to illuminate scholarship of the history of art in America through collecting, preserving, and making available for study the documentation of this country’s rich artistic legacy." Celebrating more than five decades, the AAA has put together this small but stellar exhibit of letters and photographs from some of America’s most famous and important artists, one from each year. Barnett Newman tells critic Clement Greenberg what he thinks of his misguided criticism. Lee Krasner writes to Jackson Pollock just a few weeks before her husband’s death. Frank Lloyd Wright complains to New York Times critic Aline B. Saarinen about how James Johnson Sweeney is ruining his Guggenheim building. Jackie O. writes from Hyannis Port, asking James Whitney Fosburgh to help select American art for the White House. Hans Namuth captures Denise Lawson-Johnston checking out Robert Rauschenberg’s "Monogram" at the Jewish Museum. A drawing by Ben Shahn accompanies a brochure that examines "The Social Aspects of Nuclear Anxiety." Marcel Breuer sits on the set of the TODAY show, discussing his design for the Whitney. A group of artists and critics outline "13 Demands" for MoMA director Bates Lowry. Lucy R. Lippard proposes to Gloria Steinem a series of articles for Ms. magazine on women artists. ("It’s about time women artists got something other than their legs [un] covered in the media," she writes.) Nancy Spero writes to Lippard, "The enemies of women’s liberation in the arts will be crushed." Christo sends a memorandum to Ellen H. Johnson about his desire to line Central Park with gates. And Dale Chihuly scribbles all over his letter to Arthur Coleman Danto, while Wayne Thiebaud contributes an existential drawing in his brief letter to Hassel Smith. As long as you’re already making your way down this corridor, traveling from the UBS Gallery to the AXA Gallery, you should definitely make a little time to stop by and enjoy these rare, revealing writings.
© 2005 The Metropolitan Museum of Art
William Blake, "The Whirlwind of Lovers," from DANTE'S INFERNO, Canto V., ca 1825-27
AXA Gallery
787 Seventh Ave. at 51st St.
Through January 28
Closed Sunday
Admission: free
212-554-4818
http://www.axa-financial.com/aboutus/gallery.html
http://www.ipcny.org/exhib/exhib_ex/exhib_ex_iw.htm
More than five hundred years of the printed image, focusing on fantasy worlds, are collected in this small exhibition. Books, maps, and prints from all over the globe depict both real and imagined characters and scenes, from Albrecht Dürer’s 1515 woodcut of a rhinoceros to Max Ernst’s 1969 lithograph of a skeletal rhino, from William Blake’s swirling "Whirlwind of Lovers" from DANTE’S INFERNO to Rockwell Kent’s majestic "Solar Fade-Out, No. 2" from his 1937 End of World series. Goya imagines a novel way to fly in "Modo de Volar." Several works by M.C. Escher, including "Tetrahedral Planetoid," transport you to an impossible alternate universe. Dorothy Napangardi’s "Sandhills" maps Aboriginal clans from on high. Domenico del Barbiere contrasts "Two Flayed Men and Their Skeletons." Other standouts include Tsukikoa Yoshitoshi’s "The Old Woman Retrieving Her Arm," Piranesi’s "Map of the Ancient Roman Forum," William Sharp’s psychedelic 1854 chromolithograph "Intermediate Stages of Bloom," Dürer’s "The Four Horsemen from the Apocalypse," a Tibetan woodblock print of a Yama, and pieces from NASA, Nancy Graves, Vija Celmins, and several newspaper cartoons.
Private collection, New York
Egon Schiele, "Man and Woman I (Lovers I)," 1914
Neue Galerie
1048 Fifth Ave. at 86th St.
Closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays
Through February 20
Admission: $15 (includes audio tour)
212-628-6200
http://www.neuegalerie.org/neuemain.html
http://www.the-athenaeum.org/art/by_artist.php?id=350
The entire Neue Galerie is handed over to the life and work of Austrian artist Egon Schiele (1890-1918), a sort of James Dean-like tragic hero who lived fast and hard and then, on the brink of popular and critical success, died young. The exhibition comprises more than 150 paintings, drawings, and personal artifacts from the collections of Ronald S. Lauder and Serge Sabarsky, cofounders of the Neue Galerie. Things get under way on the second floor, with a potpourri of postcards, letters, book covers, toys, photos, and even a tiny head Schiele carved out of bread when he was in prison. "There is no new art," Schiele wrote in a draft of the manifesto for the New Art Group in 1909, which is displayed here in a glass case. "There are only new artists." While Schiele, who trained at the Akademie der Bildenden Kunste, might have been influenced by the work of Munch, van Gogh, Picasso, and his close friend, fellow Neue Galerie favorite Gustav Klimt, he quickly developed his own style, a new artist making new art. At the far end of the room hangs the remarkable "Man and Woman I (Lovers I)," a rare fully formed canvas of a naked couple, her face unseen, his eyes glaring at the viewer, with his elongated arms reaching around and above the woman. Right at the exit is Schiele’s death mask along with copies of funeral announcements for his wife and then himself.
Private collection, New York
Egon Schiele, "Stein on the Danube, Seen from the South (Large)," 1913
The next gallery contains several seminal oils, including the beautiful "Stein on the Danube, Seen from the South (Large)," a depiction of a small town on the river, with rocky mountains in the background, and "Tree Behind a Fence," with swirling green grass and lightning-like branches centered by a twisting yellow fence. The subject in "Portrait of the Painter Karl Zakovsek" has his right hand cupping the right cheek of his sad face, while the skeletal fingers of his left hand dangle in the lower right-hand corner. In "Procession," a huddled, ghostly woman’s head emerges from a rocky frame while a pale, longhaired woman clutches her heart nearby. In "Conversion," Schiele paints himself surrounding two women, surrounding them in a protective, motherly embrace. Schiele’s brilliant "Portrait of Gerti Schiele," a collagelike oil painting of one of his sisters in elegant dress and with her eyes closed, proudly takes the spot over the fireplace usually occupied by Klimt’s "The Black Feather Hat." The back room contains drawings from Schiele’s days in the Akademie as well as the eerie "Self-Portrait with Spread Fingers," with Schiele’s head basked in gold metallic paint like an old religious painting, while much of the rest of the vertical canvas is bathed in black until his creepy spread fingers emerge at the bottom. Upstairs, in Gallery 302, is a stunning wall of self-portraits of the artist with a red eye, his mouth agape, several bizarre hairdos (including one that makes him look like Billy Idol), both dressed and undressed, staring at the viewer. There are also portraits of doctors, painters, and relatives and gorgeous nudes of a pregnant woman. The next room is highlighted by a carnivalesque "Reclining Semi-Nude," fashion and design works, his "I Love Antitheses" from his twenty-four-day stay in prison for making indecent material in 1912, and several drawings of Wally Neuzil, his young lover and former Klimt model.
Private collection, New York
Egon Schiele, "Friendship," 1913
A handful of etchings runs down the upstairs hallway, including the fabulous "Portrait of Franz Hauer," with its virtuoso use of line. Behind the curtains, a fifty-five-minute documentary on Schiele, with narration by Sabarsky, doesn’t shed much light on the iconoclastic artist. In the final gallery are Schiele’s later works, made during his stay in the army and of his wife, Edith, whom he married in 1915. Compare the intensity in the eyes of Robert Muller with the surprise of Paris von Gutersloh in side-by-side portraits. Schiele’s brief eulogy for his friend accompanies "The Dead Gustav Klimt." In his manifesto, Schiele also wrote, "And after the artist has shaped his experience completely and perfectly, then perhaps an exhibition is necessary." On October 28, 1918, Schiele’s pregnant wife, Edith, died during the influenza epidemic; three days later, on Halloween, Schiele, only twenty-eight, succumbed to the illness as well. His stunning talent — an innate ability to get into the souls of his subjects, as well as deep into his own, with no fear of standing naked before the world, twisted and alone — has received a very necessary and worthy exhibition, courtesy of the Neue.
Goethe-Institut Inter Nationes New York
1014 Fifth Ave. between 82nd & 83rd Sts.
212-439-8692
http://www.goethe.de/ins/us/ney/ver/enindex.htm
Tuesday, January 31 Lecture recital with the piano duo of Claire Aebersold and Ralph Neiweem, Part I, $15, 7:30
Sunday, February 5 Lecture recital with the piano duo of Claire Aebersold and Ralph Neiweem, Part II, $15, 7:30
twi-ny/mdr
There’s a lot to choose from at festive Upper East Side shop
1290 Lexington Ave. between 87th & 88th Sts.
212-410-5959
Whenever we check out the Neue, we like to stop off at the Glendale before taking the Lexington Ave. line back downtown. We go in primarily for the pretzel rolls, tasty round rolls made from pretzel dough, light and fluffy on the inside, with or without salt on the outside. We imagine they would be good with cheese, but we devour them before we can even consider that. We also like their chocolate-chunk cookies, but avoid the icing-topped brownies, which are way too cakey for our taste.
"Glory Days" comes to the Joyce
Joyce Theater
175 Eighth Ave. at 19th St.
Through January 29
Tickets: $38
http://www.joyce.org/smith06.html
The Shapiro & Smith company has brought its working-class dance piece, ANYTOWN: STORIES OF AMERICA, to the Joyce in Chelsea, and the results are as mixed as the American landscape it portrays. Set to the songs of Bruce Springsteen, Patti Scialfa (Mrs. Springsteen), and Soozie Tyrell (Scialfa’s best friend and Joanie Smith’s sister), this family affair deals with the American family, marital fidelity, the struggle of the middle class, and heartbreaking loss. The eleven-person company includes dancers of all sizes, races, and ages, mimicking America itself. Carl Flink, for example, has a construction worker’s build, enhancing his believability in such numbers as "Youngstown" and "Countin’ on a Miracle." Tall and lithe, former Ailey dancer and Broadway regular Karine Plantadit is the standout here, gracing the stage with a casual elegance that demands the audience’s attention. Laura Selle shines as the lead in Tyrell’s "White Lines," as she runs around a mostly bare set (except for a couch, a television, a chair, and her two sisters) seeking freedom from her mundane suburban life. And Kelly Drummond Cawthon does a good job in a solo spot for Tyrell’s "ferdouganal." But some of the other performers, with their exaggerated movements and facial gestures, just don’t fit in with the material. And some of the more creative choreography, including the use of a rolling bed in such songs as Scialfa’s "When You’re Young in the City" and Springsteen’s "Maria’s Bed," gets overused quickly. Husband-and-wife choreographers Danial Shapiro and Smith also perform in the show; interestingly, while Shapiro, 47, finds himself in a hot love triangle with Plantadit and Bill T. Jones / Arnie Zane alumnus Germaul Barnes (set to Springsteen’s "The Big Muddy"), Smith, 54, handles the motherly roles, including a poignant turn in a rocking chair in Bruce’s "Empty Sky," about 9/11. Shapiro, who is fighting prostate cancer, has started PSA in the USA to raise awareness about the dangers of the disease — and how important early detection is. Following its run at the Joyce, ANYTOWN is off to Indiana, New Jersey, and North Carolina, on a three-year tour of sixty cities.
Sheetal Sheth and Albert Brooks search for laughs in India
Opens January 20
http://wip.warnerbros.com/lookingforcomedy/LFC_content.html
As he did in his directorial debut twenty-six years ago, REAL LIFE, comedian Albert Brooks mixes fact and fiction in LOOKING FOR COMEDY IN THE MUSLIM WORLD, once again with mixed results. Brooks stars as Albert Brooks, a Hollywood actor-director desperate to get work following gigs in a big flop (THE IN-LAWS) and a huge success (FINDING NEMO). Then the State Department enters the picture when actor-politician Fred Dalton Thompson (as actor-politician Fred Dalton Thompson) asks him to serve his country by going to India and Pakistan to learn what makes Muslims laugh, hoping that that will help the United States understand them better. Brooks leaves the safety of his wife and kids and big Hollywood home and heads to New Delhi, where he is taken to a ramshackle office by two government agents (John Carroll Lynch and Jon Tenney), hires a beautiful young assistant (Sheetal Sheth), and hits the streets to find out what Indians think is funny. Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be much that sends them into stitches. As with his breakthrough work, 1985’s LOST IN AMERICA, the first half of LOOKING FOR COMEDY is much better than the second half, during which the plot rambles on, jokes are repeated, and the ending comes way too quickly, as if funding just suddenly ran out. Also, if we heard one more mention of the five-hundred-page report Brooks has to write for Thompson, we were going to start throwing things at the screen. And if he expected us not to laugh at the stand-up show he puts on the way the Indians didn’t laugh, well, we didn’t, and that too-long scene serves as the beginning of the end for the film. Still, watching the ever-likable Brooks is always a hoot, even in mediocre fare that does have its moments.
In his farewell address, Dwight D. Eisenhower warns America of coming military dangers
Opens January 20
http://www.sonyclassics.com/whywefight
Taking its inspiration from Dwight D. Eisenhower’s 1961 farewell address — in which the WWII general prophetically warned America of the perils of a standing army and the growing military industrial complex — and borrowing its name from a series of WWII propaganda films made by Frank Capra, Eugene Jarecki’s WHY WE FIGHT seeks to find out just what the United States is doing in Iraq. Among the talking heads chiming in are Sen. John McCain, erudite novelist Gore Vidal, Pentagon adviser Richard Perle, Weekly Standard editor William Kristol, CBS newsman Dan Rather, lifelong military brat John S.D. Eisenhower (son of Dwight), and numerous Iraqi and American civilians. Stealth fighter pilots Fuji and Tooms trace their mission to drop the first bombs on Iraq in March 2003, William Solomon freely discusses his decision to sign up for the army and join the fight, and retired NYPD officer Wilton Sekzer, who lost his son on 9/11, shares his vengeful quest to get his boy’s name on a missile that will be used in Iraq. Documentarian Jarecki (THE TRIALS OF HENRY KISSINGER) does a good job mixing in stock footage and clips from the earlier Capra films and attempting to balance the two sides of the issue, but we always wonder if it’s possible to prevent the audience from seeing and hearing only what it wants to. McCain’s words are particularly illuminating and perhaps the most nonpartisan, but it’s difficult not to get past what Lt. Col. Karen Kwiatkowski of the Pentagon keeps saying: Just follow the money.
Courtesy Magnolia Pictures
Soderbergh’s BUBBLE is first of six special indie films by eclectic director
Landmark Sunshine Cinema
143 East Houston St. between First & Second Aves.
Opens January 27
Tickets: $10.75
212-330-8182
Airs on HDNet Movies January 27 at 9:00 & 11:00 pm
Available for purchase on DVD January 31
http://www.landmarktheatres.com/Market/NewYork/NewYork_frameset.htm
http://www.2929entertainment.com
Making both big Hollywood films (OCEAN’S TWELVE, TRAFFIC, ERIN BROCKOVICH) and experimental indie projects (FULL FRONTAL, SCHIZOPOLIS, KAFKA) with varying degrees of commercial and critical success (we’re not sure how to categorize SOLARIS), Steven Soderbergh is one of cinema’s most eclectic and hard-to-figure-out characters. And with his latest flick, the brilliant BUBBLE, he will confuse people even more. After playing the Venice, Toronto, and New York Film Festivals, BUBBLE has already amassed a wide range of reviews, with some critics hailing its small charms and others calling it the worst film of Soderbergh’s career. We stand strongly in the former camp, having fallen in love with virtually every moment of this even-keeled, thrilling venture into territory usually occupied by Todd Solondz (WELCOME TO THE DOLLHOUSE, HAPPINESS) and, dare we say it, Lars von Trier (DANCING IN THE DARK, DOGVILLE). Middle-aged Martha (Debbie Doebereiner) seems to be fine with her simple life, taking care of her ailing father (Omar Cowan) and hanging out with young Kyle (Dustin James Ashley), whom she works with at a small factory, making dolls. But when single mother Rose (Misty Dawn Wilkins) gets a job there and threatens to get in the way of Martha’s friendship with Kyle, things take a turn for the worse, although even that doesn’t change the wonderfully slow pacing. None of the main characters has ever acted before; in fact, Doebereiner is a general manager of a West Virginia KFC, Wilkins is a hair stylist, Ashley is studying to be a computer technician, and Decker Moody, who plays a detective, is a police detective. Many of the scenes begin with gorgeous, loud acoustic guitar licks from Guided by Voices’ Robert Pollard.
Courtesy of Breakfast at Noho / Film Forum
Melvin Van Peebles in Paris, July 1965
Film Forum
209 West Houston St. between Sixth & Seventh Aves.
January 20-26
January 20-22: screened with SWEET SWEETBACK’S BAADASSSSS SONG (Melvin Van Peebles, 1971)
January 23: screened with BAADASSSSS! (Mario Van Peebles, 2003)
January 24: screened with WATERMELON MAN (Melvin Van Peebles, 1970)
January 25: screened with THE STORY OF A THREE-DAY PASS (Melvin Van Peebles, 1976)
January 26: screened with BELLYFUL (Melvin Van Peebles, 2000)
Tickets: $10
212-727-8110
http://www.filmforum.org/films/vanpeebles.html
Time Out New York editor in chief Joe Angio pays tribute to the great Melvin Van Peebles in this fascinating and fun documentary that picks up significantly after an awkward, goofy start. While Van Peebles is most well known for his classic 1971 film SWEET SWEETBACK’S BAADASSSSS SONG, Angio reveals many other sides of the maverick, iconoclastic, fiercely independent self-taught artist: Air Force navigator in Korea, novelist in Paris, playwright, musical performer, street beggar, Wall Street trader, marathoner, lover, and activist, among others. The self-described "one-man infrastructure" was a successful writer in France, a cable-car operator in San Francisco, an early rap artist, a multiple Tony nominee (with two musicals on Broadway at the same time), a regular commentator on the news, a nightclub performer, and a radio host. Still vibrant at seventy-two, he never follows the rules, as demonstrated in musings from Spike Lee, Gordon Parks, Timothy White, Gil Scott-Heron, Manny Azenberg, Woodie King Jr., and Melvin’s children, Mario, Max, and Megan Van Peebles. Angio combines these first-person accounts with clips from Van Peebles’s films, appearances on television, and behind-the-scenes looks at him directing LE CONTE DU VENTRE PLEIN (BELLYFUL) and on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. It’s impossible to watch this film, which premiered at the 2005 Tribeca Film Festival, and not become an instant Van Peebles fan, even if you’ve never heard of him or seen any of his work. Van Peebles, Angio, and producer Michael Solomon will be at the 7:30 screening on January 20, and every WATERMELON screening will be part of a double feature with one of Van Peebles’s other films.
Newly available on DVD
http://www.foxstore.com/detail.html?item=1603&u=1137285214
Jersey City’s own Richard Conte, one of the original Ocean’s Eleven, stars in this psychological thriller that has dated a bit but is still a fun film. Gene Tierney is Ann Sutton, the wife of a famous cutting-edge psychoanalyst, who gets caught shoplifting. Terrified of having her husband find out, Ann puts her trust in David Korvo (Jose Ferrer), a shady hypnotist who just might be an expert con man as well. When Ann is found in a room with a dead woman, she is accused of a murder she cannot remember committing — or not committing. Charles Bickford costars as the crusty old cop trying to get to the bottom of things in this compelling piece from Otto Preminger.
Hammerstein Ballroom
311 West 34th St. between Eighth & Ninth Aves.
Friday, January 20, 7:30
Tickets: $34
http://www.mcstudios.com/newsite/hammersteinBallroom.asp
http://www.cakemusic.com/tour.html
This year’s lineup, curated and headlined by Cake, also features Tegan and Sara, Gogol Bordello, and comedian Eugene Mirman. We saw the 2002 Unlimited Sunshine Tour, when Cake was joined by Flaming Lips, Modest Mouse, De La Soul, and the Hackensaw Boys in Prospect Park in the rain, and it was a blast. Although this show is sold out, you never know if extra tickets will be released at the last minute, so keep a lookout for them.
B.B. King Blues Club & Grill
237 West 42nd St. between Seventh & Eighth Aves.
Monday, January 23, 8:00
Tickets: $40
212-997-4144
http://bbkingblues.com/schedule/index.shtml
As part of the New York Guitar Festival, David Bromberg brought his quartet (the remarkable Jeff Wisor on violin, Butch Amiot on bass, and Mitch Corbin on mandolin) to Times Square, where the Delaware-based violin maker and his friends put on one damn good, folk-rockin’, bluesy bluegrass show. After opening with "Don’t Let Your Deal Go Down," Bromberg went into a nasty version of one of the great all-time tell-off songs, "I’ll Take You Back" ("Yeah, I’ll take you back — when men give birth and New York ain’t the greatest city on earth"). Peter (OLD AND IN THE WAY) Rowan and Tony (THE PIZZA TAPES) Rice, whose opening act featured such folk classics as "Panama Red," "The Hobo Song," "Shady Grove," and "Midnight Moonlight," joined Bromberg for a sweet "Dark Hollow," and the Angel Band (which includes Bromberg’s wife, Nancy Josephson) started singing in the audience ("Drown in My Own Tears") before jumping onstage for "Time Is Winding Up" and "Angel Band," during which Bromberg’s dobro strap broke. Just about everyone contributed to an ass-kicking "Testify" and a smoking "New Lee Highway Blues" (sandwiched around a passionate "Wild Horses," led by Rowan), leaving the sold-out crowd exhausted, exhilarated, and oh-so-satisfied. Bromberg will be bringing his Big Band to Tarrytown on February 9, Albany on February 10, Red Bank on February 11, and Poughkeepsie on February 12, so if you’re in the area, don’t miss it.
Junno’s Bar
64 Downing St. between Varick and Bedford Sts.
Monday, January 23: Book release party with reading and signing
Admission: free, but cash bar
212-627-7995
http://www.randomhouse.com/delrey/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780345478245
Charlie Huston’s third novel, following SIX BAD THINGS and CAUGHT STEALING, is a fabulous vampire noir set in the rotting soul of New York City. This cinematic detective thriller stars Joe Pitt, a tough talkin’, confident rogue who has been infected with the Vyrus, which primarily requires him to stay out of the sun and to drink a lot of blood. Pitt does dirty little jobs for various Clans that operate in different parts of the city, including the Society, the Coalition, and the Enclave, which evoke battles between various religions constantly defending their turf — and usually ends up involving some first-rate gore and violence. Pitt soon finds himself on a case tracking down the goth teenage daughter of a megarich family that is hiding some deep, dark, very dangerous secrets. Pitt is the bastard offspring of Philip Marlowe after he’s been sucked dry by Dracula, the foul-mouthed and funny stepchild of Raymond Chandler and Bram Stoker, let loose on the streets of a New York City he gets right, from the Lower East Side to Midtown to Harlem and back. Writing on amazon.com, Huston explains, "At some point, I stopped pretending that I was doing anything but dragging Stoker and Chandler out of their coffins, shooting at their feet, and screaming Dance for me, you muthas, dance! Call it grave robbery. Call it desecration of the tombs of my betters. All writers do it. Waking the dead is how we get by." ALREADY DEAD is one hell of an awesome dance, and Charlie Huston is one hell of a devilish writer. You’ll love sucking every last drop of blood out of this twisting, twisted tale, a great New York City horror story with a remarkable amount of realism and reality.
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Monday through Friday, January 23-27, January 30 — February 3
Lunch: $24.07
Dinner: $35
Reservations being accepted now
http://www.opentable.com/promo.aspx?pid=69&m=8&ref=411
You’re fast running out of time to make reservations for one of the city’s best events, Restaurant Week, as more than one hundred eateries will be offering prix-fixe lunches and/or dinners; among the participants are Aquavit, Artisanal, Asia de Cuba, Blue Smoke, Butter, Cafe Boulud, Chanterelle, Compass, Craftbar, davidburke & donatella, Devi, Dominic, Estiatorio Milos, Fleur de Sel, Gramercy Tavern, I Trulli, Inagiku, JoJo, Nice Matin, Payard Bistro, Riingo, the River Cafe, San Domenico, Shelly’s New York, Steak Frites, SushiSamba, Tabla, Union Square Cafe, Vong, and the ‘21’ Club, among dozens of others — but you better book your reservations fast.
Chris Mars, "The Vanity Card"
Jonathan LeVine Gallery
529 West 20th St., ninth floor
Closed Sunday & Monday
Admission: free
212-243-3822
http://www.jonathanlevinegallery.com
http://www.chrismarspublishing.com
Through February 4 Former Replacements drummer Chris Mars returns to the city, once again unleashing his dark, Bosch-like world of bizarre characters, lunatic visions, monstrous landscapes, and grotesque groupings, along with his short film THE SEVERED STREAM; e-mail us at admin@twi-ny.com for an interview we did with Mars at his previous New York show, at the Fuse Gallery in the East Village a few years back
Asia Society and Museum
725 Park Ave. at 70th St.
Tickets: $25
212-517-ASIA
http://www.asiasociety.org/events
Wednesday, January 18
through
Sunday, January 22 World premiere of Ibrahim Quraishi’s multimedia production
MoMA Film
Museum of Modern Art
11 West 53rd St. between Fifth & Sixth Aves.
January 1830
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
http://moma.org/exhibitions/film_media/2006/Medusa.html
Italy’s Medusa Film celebrates its tenth anniversary with this special MoMA presentation, which got under way on January 18 with a party at Salvatore Ferragamo, where some of Italy’s hottest and most beautiful filmeratti gathered following a press conference announcing the donation of fourteen Italian films to MOMA’s archives. We haven’t seen so much style in one place since, well, we were in Italy. Medusa produces not only Italian fare but such recent and upcoming international movies as Woody Allen’s MATCH POINT, Sidney Lumet’s FIND ME GUILTY, James Ivory’s THE WHITE COUNTESS, and Martha Fiennes’s CHROMOPHOBIA. This two-week retrospective includes work from such established masters as Ettore Scola and Bernardo Bertolucci as well as such up-and-comers as Ferzan Ozpetek and Robert Faenza.
Wednesday, January 18 LA CENA (THE SUPPER) (Ettore Scola, 1998), 8:00
Thursday, January 19 DOPO MEZZANOTTE (AFTER MIDNIGHT) (Davide Ferrario, 2004), 8:15
Friday, January 20 LA LINGUA DEL SANTO (HOLY TONGUE) (Carlo Mazzacurati, 2000), 6:00
Friday, January 20 VELOCITŔ MASSIMA (MAXIMUM SPEED) (Daniele Vicari, 2002), 8:30
Saturday, January 21 LA FATA IGNORANTI (HIS SECRET LIFE) (Ferzan Ozpetek, 2001), 4:15
Ferzan Ozpetek’s LA FATA IGNORANTI (The Ignorant Fairy, aka Blind Fairies) is a marvelous study of a woman whose husband dies suddenly and she discovers that he had a completely different, rather alternative second life. Turkish-born Italian citizen Ozpetek charmed us all a few years back with STEAM: A TURKISH BATH, and he has done it again. If you appreciated the splendid ALL ABOUT MY MOTHER (Pedro Almodóvar, 1999), you’re gonna love this one too.
Saturday, January 21 LA CENA (THE SUPPER) (Ettore Scola, 1998), 6:30
Saturday, January 21 TRE UOMINI E UNA GAMBA (THREE MEN AND A LEG) (Aldo, Giovanni, Giacomo, and Massimo Venier, 1997), 8:30
Sunday, January 22 VELOCITŔ MASSIMA (MAXIMUM SPEED) (Daniele Vicari, 2002), 2:00
Sunday, January 22 IO NON HO PAURA (NOT SCARED) (Gabriele Salvatores, 2003), 2:30
Sunday, January 22 LA LINGUA DEL SANTO (HOLY TONGUE) (Carlo Mazzacurati, 2000), 5:00
Sunday, January 22 I GIORNI DELL’ABBANDONO (THE DAYS OF ABANDONMENT) (Roberto Faenza, 2005), 5:30
Monday, January 23 DOPO MEZZANOTTE (AFTER MIDNIGHT) (Davide Ferrario, 2004), 6:00
Monday, January 23 L’ASSEDIO (BESIEGED) (Bernardo Bertolucci, 1998), 8:00
Wednesday, January 25 LA LEGGENDA DEL PIANISTA SULL’OCEANO (THE LEGEND OF 1900) (Giuseppe Tornatore, 1998), 5:30
Wednesday, January 25 TRE UOMINI E UNA GAMBA (THREE MEN AND A LEG) (Aldo, Giovanni, Giacomo, and Massimo Venier, 1997), 8:30
Thursday, January 26 LE CONSEQUENZE DELL’AMORE (THE CONSEQUENCES OF LOVE) (Paolo Sorrentino, 2004), 6:00
Thursday, January 26 L’ULTIMO BACIO (ONE LAST KISS) (Gabriele Muccino, 2001), 8:00
Friday, January 27 RADIOFRECCIA (Luciano Ligabue, 1998), 5:30
Friday, January 27 NON TI MUOVERE (DON’T MOVE) (Sergio Castellitto, 2004), 8:30
Saturday, January 28 LA LEGGENDA DEL PIANISTA SULL’OCEANO (THE LEGEND OF 1900) (Giuseppe Tornatore, 1998), 2:00
Saturday, January 28 L’ULTIMO BACIO (ONE LAST KISS) (Gabriele Muccino, 2001), 4:30
Saturday, January 28 RADIOFRECCIA (Luciano Ligabue, 1998), 6:45
Saturday, January 28 IO NON HO PAURA (NOT SCARED) (Gabriele Salvatores, 2003), 9:00
Sunday, January 29 I GIORNI DELL’ABBANDONO (THE DAYS OF ABANDONMENT) (Roberto Faenza, 2005), 1:00
Sunday, January 29 NON TI MUOVERE (DON’T MOVE) (Sergio Castellitto, 2004), 2:00
Sunday, January 29 L’ASSEDIO (BESIEGED) (Bernardo Bertolucci, 1998), 3:00
Sunday, January 29 LE CONSEQUENZE DELL’AMORE (THE CONSEQUENCES OF LOVE) (Paolo Sorrentino, 2004), 5:00
Monday, January 30 LA FATA IGNORANTI (HIS SECRET LIFE) (Ferzan Ozpetek, 2001), 8:30
BAMcinematek / BAM Rose Cinemas
Brooklyn Academy of Music
30 Lafayette Ave. between Ashland Pl. & St. Felix St.
January 18 — February 1
Tickets: $10
718-636-4100
http://bam.org/film/series.aspx?id=57
Wednesday, January 18 THE THIN RED LINE (Terrence Malick, 1998), followed by discussion with Graham Fuller, 7:00
Friday, January 20 THE NEW WORLD (Terrence Malick, 2005)
Wednesday, January 25 POCKET MONEY (Stuart Rosenberg, 1972), followed by discussion about Malick-scripted film, 7:00
Wednesday, February 1 BADLANDS (Terrence Malick, 1974), followed by discussion with Amy Taubin and producer Ed Pressman, 7:00
92nd St. Y
1395 Lexington Ave. at 92nd St.
All readings at 8:00
Tickets: $17
212-415-5500
Wednesday, January 18 Paul Auster and Paula Fox
Tuesday, January 24 Mary Oliver
Monday, January 30 Julian Barnes and Jay McInerney
Merkin Concert Hall
129 West 67th St.
Tickets: $35
212-501-3330
http://www.newyorkguitarfestival.org
Wednesday, January 18 New York Guitar Festival: The Music of Mississippi John Hurt, featuring Jorma Kaukonen, Bill Morrissey, Brandon Ross, and the Jen Chapin Trio, 8:00
Wednesday, January 25 New York Guitar Festival: The Music of Skip James, featuring Sonny Landreth & Cindy Cashdollar, Gary Lucas, Chocolate Genius, and Alvin Youngblood Hart, 8:00
Wednesday, February 1 New York Guitar Festival: The Music of Charley Patton, featuring John Hammond, Rory Block, Dave Tronzo, Toshi Reagon and Harry Manx, 8:00
Wednesday, February 8 New York Guitar Festival: The Music of Elizabeth Cotten, featuring Taj Mahal, Mike Seeger, Jolie Holland and Carla Kihlstedt & Mark Orton, 8:00
French Institute Alliance Française
Tinker Auditorium
55 East 59th St. between Park & Madison Aves.
Tickets: $12
212-355-6160
http://www.fiaf.org/events/winter2006/2006-01-19-lecture-cartoons.shtml
Thursday, January 19 Panel discussion and live cartooning by Plantu and Joel Pett, moderated by Adam Gopnik, 7:00
Czech Center
1109 Madison Ave. at 83rd St.
Admission: free
212-288-0830
Thursday, January 19 SNOWBOARDERS (Karel Janák, 2004), 7:00
One Chase Manhattan Plaza at Nassau and Liberty Sts., sixtieth floor
Admission: free, but reservations required
212-835-2773
http://www.downtownny.com/live/events/?EventID=9805&cell=2006-1-19&edate=1/19/2006
Thursday, January 19 Recent Work: Santiago Calatrava, 6:00
Metropolitan Pavilion
125 West 18th St. between Sixth & Seventh Aves.
Admission: $15, includes catalog
Experts tours, appraisers, and day trip: $50-$100
212-265-1040
http://www.folkartmuseum.org/default.asp?id=885
Thursday, January 19
through
Sunday, January 22 Featuring exhibitors from all over the country, seminars, book signings, a day trip, booth talks, tours, appraisals, and more, produced by the American Folk Art Museum
Gort makes his way through the shadows in Robert Wise’s sci-fi gem
MoMA Film
Museum of Modern Art
11 West 53rd St. between Fifth & Sixth Aves.
January 19-28
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
http://moma.org/exhibitions/film_media/2006/Robert_Wise.html
Robert Wise had one of the most unusual, eclectic, long-lasting careers in Hollywood, as a writer, director, editor, and producer. Among his wide-ranging directorial achievements are THE BODY SNATCHER, THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL, SOMEBODY UP THERE LIKES ME, RUN SILENT RUN DEEP, I WANT TO LIVE! WEST SIDE STORY, THE SOUND OF MUSIC, THE ANDROMEDA STRAIN, AUDREY ROSE, and STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE. From sci-fi to musicals, from boxing pictures to melodrama, from murder mysteries to spy thrillers, from romantic comedies to Westerns, Wise did it all, and this short series pays tribute to this elder statesman who passed away in September at the age of ninety-one.
Thursday, January 19 CITIZEN KANE (Orson Welles, 1941), 8:30
Saturday, January 21 THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL (Robert Wise, 1951), 6:30
http://members.yourlink.net/jgerard/gort
http://globetrotter.berkeley.edu/conversations/Wise/wise-con07.html
This cold-war-era classic stars Michael Rennie as an alien who lands on earth with a very important message: No peace, no planet. He brings along with him one of the great robots in cinema history, Gort (Lock Martin), and later utters to Patricia Neal one of the ten best lines ever: "Klaatu borada nikto." This science fiction fave works on a number of different and fascinating levels; during a 1998 UC Berkeley interview, director Robert Wise even noted, "Some people read a religious connotation into the thing, the resurrection and all. If you want to put a beard on Rennie and all, he could be a Christ figure."
Saturday, January 21 DIRECTORS AT WORK: THE DIRECTOR AND THE ACTOR (Carl Workman, 1982) and THE SET-UP (Robert Wise, 1949), 8:30
Monday, January 23 MY FAVORITE WIFE (Garson Kanin, 1940), 8:15
Thursday, January 26 THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL (Robert Wise, 1951), 6:30
Thursday, January 26 DIRECTORS AT WORK: THE DIRECTOR AND THE ACTOR (Carl Workman, 1982) and THE SET-UP (Robert Wise, 1949), 8:15
Friday, January 27 MY FAVORITE WIFE (Garson Kanin, 1940), 6:30
Saturday, January 28 CITIZEN KANE (Orson Welles, 1941), 6:00
Saturday, January 28 BORN TO KILL (Robert Wise, 1947), 8:30
33 East 17th St. at Union Square (US)
1972 Broadway at West 66th St., Lincoln Triangle (LT)
4 Astor Pl. at Broadway (AP)
Admission: free
Thursday, January 19 Paul Auster, THE BROOKLYN FOLLIES, US, 7:00
Wednesday, January 25 Paul Begala and James Carville, TAKE IT BACK: OUR PARTY, OUR COUNTRY, OUR FUTURE, US, 7:00
Thursday, January 26 Marco Beltrami and Tommy Lee Jones, THREE BURIALS OF MELQUIADES ESTRADA soundtrack album, LT, 12:30
Tuesday, January 31 Julian Barnes, ARTHUR & GEORGE, US, 7:00
Wednesday, February 1 Sarah Vowell, ASSASSINATION VACATION, AP, 7:00
R&R at Rare
416 West 14th St. between Ninth Ave. and Washington St.
Cover charge: $10
212-675-2220
Friday, January 20 The Ks play sharply at 9:15, followed by a private party open to all attendees
Staten Island Museum Club Cicada
75 Stuyvesant Pl.
Admission: free
718-727-1135
http://www.statenislandmuseum.org
Friday, January 20 Screening of FERRY TALES (Katja Esson, 2003) and performance of one-act play SCENES FROM THE STATEN ISLAND FERRY, 8:00
Radio City Music Hall
1260 Sixth Ave. between 50th & 51st Sts.
Friday at 8:00, Saturday at 2:00 & 8:00
Tickets: $49-$200
1-888-260-6221
http://gala.ntdtv.com/2006/en/cities/ny
Friday, January 20
and
Saturday, January 21 Myths and Legends, featuring live music, dance, song, and more, presented by New Tang Dynasty Television
Jacob Javits Convention Center
35th St. & 11th Ave.
Admission: adults $15, children six to eleven $5, five and under free
800-331-5706
http://nyc.motorcycleshows.com/imsnyc/v42/index.cvn
Friday, January 20
through
Sunday, January 22 Twenty-fifth annual event, with the BOSS Stunt Show, Choppers Inc. founder Billy Lane, roadracer Jason Pridmore, bike builder Matt Hotch, the Teutuls of Orange County Choppers, Big Twin Customs, the PlayStation Experience featuring the new Tourist Trophy riding simulator, the Ducati Monster Challenge, a Suzuki giveaway, the Factory, the Kids Cycle Center, and more
Japan Society
333 E. 47th St. at First Ave.
212-752-3015
Friday, January 20
and
Saturday, January 21 Ninth annual event, featuring Shinonome Butoh, APE, Kaoru Uchida’s ROUSSEWALTZ, Yukiko Amano, and Youya Shinjo, $28, 7:30
Sunday, January 22
and
Monday, January 23 Cutting-edge dance from Taiwan, including Ku and Dancers, Taipei Dance Circle, and Dance Forum Taipei, 212-697-6188 ext105, 7:00
Peter Jay Sharp Theatre (PJS)
Leonard Nimoy Thalia (LNT)
2537 Broadway at 95th St.
212-864-5400
Friday, January 20
and
Saturday, January 21 Eighteenth IABD Conference Showcase, featuring works by Abdel Salaam and Forces of Nature and Kevin Iega Jeff’s Deeply Rooted, PJS, $35, 8:00
Tuesday, January 23 Thalia Follies: OH, DOCTOR! political cabaret about the health-care industry, LNT, $21, 8:30
Wednesday, January 25 Selected Shorts: Forgiveness in Families, featuring stories by Jason Brown, William Henry Lewis, and Chris Offutt, read by Mia Dillon, Mary Beth Hurt, and Curtis McClarin, PJS, $25, 6:30
Thursday, January 26 Thalia Music: Antares, LNT, $21, 7:30
Seventh Regiment Armory
643 Park Ave. at 67th St.
Admission: $20, includes catalog
212-777-5218
http://www.winterantiquesshow.com
Friday, January 20
through
Sunday, January 29 Fifty-second annual event, with proceeds benefiting East Side House Settlement
Museum of the Moving Image
35th Ave. at 36th St., Astoria
Tickets: $10
718-784-4520
http://www.ammi.org/site/screenings/index.html
Friday, January 20 Repertory Nights: BRAZIL (Terry Gilliam, 1985), 7:30
Saturday, January 21
and
Sunday, January 22 Repertory Nights: BRAZIL (Terry Gilliam, 1985), 6:30
Friday, January 27 Black Light: BLUE COLLAR (Paul Schrader, 1978), 7:30
Saturday, January 28
and
Sunday, January 29 Repertory Nights: ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST (Sergio Leone, 1969), 6:30
http://www.sergioleone.net/intro_sk.html
One of the grandest Westerns ever made, this masterpiece features an all-star cast that includes Henry Fonda, Charles Bronson, Jason Robards, Woody Strode, Keenan Wynn, Lionel Stander, and Jack Elam, all enhanced by Ennio Morricone’s epic score and Tonino delli Colli’s never-ending extreme close-ups. (The opening shot of a fly crawling over Elam’s grimy face is unforgettable.) Fonda was never more evil, and Bronson was perhaps never more likable. The film is a huge step above most of Leone’s Spaghetti Westerns, partially because of the cast, but also because of the script help he got from Italian horrormeister Dario Argento and iconic filmmaker Bernardo Bertolucci.
Loewe Theater
721 Broadway, second floor
Admission: free
212-998-1860
Saturday, January 21 International Festival of Play Reading: DAS KASPAR THEATRE by Raina Von Waldenburg, directed by Raquel Cion, 7:30
Joe’s Pub / Anspacher Theater / Martinson Hall
425 Lafayette St. between East Fourth St. & Astor Pl.
Tickets: $40
212-539-8778
http://www.worldmusicinstitute.org
Saturday, January 21
and
Sunday, January 22 International collection of music including Daby Toure, Balkan Beat Box, Juan Carmona, Keren Ann, Lura, Las Ondas Mareles, Daara J, DJ Dolores, Niyaz, Frank London’s Klezmer Brass All Stars, Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys, Roxanne Butterfly’s Worldbeats, Auktyon, and others, 7:30
Admission: free unless otherwise noted
http://www.moca-nyc.org/MoCA/content.asp?cid=14
http://www.artspiral.org/new.html
http://www.explorechinatown.com/Gui/Special.aspx?Page=LunarNewYear2006
Saturday, January 21, 28
and
Sunday, January 22 Lunar New Year Walking Tour, Museum of Chinese in the Americas, 70 Mulberry St., second floor, $15, 212-619-4785, 1:00
Friday, January 27, 3:00 – 10:00
and
Saturday, January 28 Third annual Lunar New Year Flower Market, Columbus Park, Mulberry St. between Bayard & Worth Sts., 10:00 am – 6:00 pm
Saturday, January 28
and
Sunday, January 29 Sand Mandala Demonstration and Lecture, Asian American Arts Centre, 26 Bowery south of Canal St., $12, 212-233-2154, 11:00 am – 5:00 pm
Sunday, January 29 Annual Folk Arts Festival, Asian American Arts Centre, 26 Bowery south of Canal St., 3:00 – 5:00
Sunday, January 29 New Year’s Day Culture Festival & Fireworks Ceremony, Mott St. at Bayard St. at 12 noon, East Broadway at Market St. at 2:00
Makor
Steinhardt Building
35 West 67th St. between Amsterdam & Columbus Aves.
Tickets: $9
212-601-1000
Saturday, January 21 HORSE FEATHERS (Norman Z. McLeod, 1932), 8:00 & 10:00
Saturday, January 28 A DAY AT THE RACES (Sam Wood, 1937), 8:00 & 10:00
Flushing Town Hall
137-35 Northern Blvd.
Tickets: $20
718-463-7700
http://www.flushingtownhall.org/jazz.html
http://www.flushingtownhall.org
Saturday, January 21 THE GODDESS (Yonggang Wu, 1934), with live music by Leni Stern, and LOTUS BLOSSOM (Francis J. Grandon & James B. Long, 1921), with live music by Brandon Ross and Stomu Takeishi, 8:00
Saturday, January 28 A STORY OF FLOATING WEEDS (Yasajiro Ozu, 1934), with live music by Alex de Grassi, and A PAGE OF MADNESS (Kinugasa Teinosuke, 1926), with live music by Henry Kaiser, 8:00
American Youth Hostel Concert Chapel
891 Amsterdam Ave. at 103rd St.
Tickets: $25
http://www.newyorkguitarfestival.org
Sunday, January 22 New York Guitar Festival: Featuring Dennis Koster, Jose Ramos, and Ivan & Juan Gomez, 3:00
Makor
Steinhardt Building
35 West 67th St. between Central Park West & Columbus Ave.
Tickets: $12
212-601-1000
Sunday, January 22 Multimedia works , lectures, panel discussions, poetry, dance, video, music, theater, gallery art, and more from Makor artists-in-residence, 12 noon — 6:00 pm
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
1071 Fifth Ave. at 89th St.
Tickets: $24
212-423-3500
http://www.guggenheim.org/calendar/index.html
Sunday, January 22
and
Monday, January 23 Works & Process: new musical featuring Christine Ebersole and Mary Louise Wilson, followed by discussion with author and director, 8:00
Rose Theater at Lincoln Center
Frederick P. Rose Hall, 60th St. & Broadway
Tickets: $30-$65
212-721-6500
Sunday, January 22, 3:00
Tuesday, January 24, 8:00
and
Thursday, January 26, 8:00 New York premiere of chamber opera about Federico Garcia Lorca by Golijov, featuring Dawn Upshaw, directed by Peter Sellars, in Spanish with English subtitles
Manhattan School of Music
John C. Borden Auditorium
Broadway at 122nd St.
January 23-27
Rehearsal admission: free
Concert tickets: free, first come, first served
917-493-4428
http://www.msmnyc.edu/calendar
Monday, January 23
through
Friday, January 27 Evening rehearsals with fourteen young conductors chosen by Kurt Masur, 7:00 or 9:30
Friday, January 27 Culminating Concert: Works by Mozart, Tchaikovsky, and Beethoven, 8:00
Times Square Studios
Broadway at West 44th St.
Admission: free
http://www.oscars.org/events/meet_the_oscars
http://studioservices.go.com/timessquarestudios
Monday, January 23
through
Wednesday, February 1 Newly minted Oscar statuettes that will be used for the 78th Academy Awards will be on display in the Times Square Studios windows, 7:00 am – 12 midnight
Apple Store
103 Prince St. at Greene St.
Admission: free
212-226-3126
http://www.newyorkguitarfestival.org
http://www.apple.com/retail/soho/week/20060108.html
Monday, January 23 New York Guitar Festival: Dominic Frasca, 1:00
Friday, January 27 New York Guitar Festival: Henry Kaiser, 1:00
Friday, January 27 New York Guitar Festival: Vernon Reid, 2:00
Monday, January 30 New York Guitar Festival: Slow Six, 1:00
Wave Hill / New York School of Interior Design
170 East 70th St.
Tickets: $20 per lecture, $50 per series
718-549-3200 x216
http://www.wavehill.org/events/event_531.html
Wednesday, January 25 Horticultural lecture: John Danzer on the future of garden furniture design, future lectures on February 22 and March 22, 6:30
Copacabana
560 West 34th St. at Eleventh Ave.
Tickets: $20
http://www.usaboxingmetro.com/golden.shtml#schedule
Wednesday, January 25 Opening night action of the seventy-ninth annual event, featuring amateur men and women doing honest battle, including heavyweight and super-heavyweight bouts, 8:00
425 Lafayette St. between East Fourth St. & Astor Pl.
Tickets: $18
Two-drink or $12 minimum
212-539-8778
Wednesday, January 25
and
Thursday, January 26 New York City native Jill Sobule plays songs from throughout her career, including cool tunes from her smart, funny, and infectious UNDERDOG VICTORIOUS (Artemis, 2004), 7:30
World Financial Center Winter Garden
225 Vesey St.
Admission: free
212-945-2600
http://www.worldfinancialcenter.com/calendar
http://www.newyorkguitarfestival.org
Thursday, January 26 New York Guitar Festival, 12:30
CooperArts at the Cooper Union
Wollman Auditorium
51 Astor Pl. between Third & Fourth Aves.
212-353-4195
http://www.cooper.edu/month.html
Thursday, January 26 Lecture by book designer and author Chip Kidd, in conjunction with exhibition "Chip Kidd: Book One," on view at the Cooper Union through February 4, free, 6:30
Gallery Korea
Korean Cultural Service
460 Park Ave. at 57th St., sixth floor
Last Thursday night of the month at 6:30
Admission: free
212-759-9550
http://www.koreanculture.org/10events/event.htm
Thursday, January 26 MABOO (THE COACHMAN) (Dae-jin Kang, 1961), with guest speaker Hyun-Ock Im
Saloon
1584 York Ave. at 84th St.
Tickets: $40
212-463-7787
http://nationalmssociety.org/nyn/event/event_page.asp?p=33808&e=7223
Thursday, January 26 Special New Year event sponsored by the New York City Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, featuring open bar, snacks, and raffle, 7:00
JCC in Manhattan
334 Amsterdam Ave. at 76th St.
646-505-5708
Thursday, January 26 Dara Horn, THE WORLD TO COME, and Alix Strauss, THE JOY OF FUNERALS, free, 8:00
The Stella Adler Studio of Acting
31 West 27th St., third floor
Admission: free, but reservations strongly suggested
212-689-0087 ext27
http://www.stellaadler.com/news/babycarriage.html
Thursday, January 26
through
Sunday, January 29 Dance theatre piece by the Harold Clurman Center for New Works in Movement, with pianist/composer Laurence Gingold and songs by Sarah Tancer
Gerald Lynch Theater at John Jay College
899 Tenth Ave. at 58th St.
212-505-0886
http://johnjay.jjay.cuny.edu/theater/season06.asp
Thursday, January 26 Opening Night Gala: Nocturne, Farewell, Udacrep Akubrad, Rain, Eye of the Storm, Percussive Elements, Ave Maria, and Bolero, $50 for performance, $100 with gala reception, 8:00
Friday, January 27
and
Saturday, January 28 Intimate Voices, Words Unspoken, Udacrep Akubrad, Rain, Percussive Elements, Bolero, $35, 8:00
Sunday, January 29 Closing Night Gala: Nocturne, Farewell, Udacrep Akubrad, Rain, Eye of the Storm, Percussive Elements, Ave Maria, and Bolero, benefiting Dancers Responding to AIDS, $35-$50, 5:00
Library of Performing Arts Events
Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center
Bruno Walter Auditorium
40 Lincoln Center Plaza
Admission: free
212-870-1630 / 212-642-0142
http://www.nypl.org/research/calendar/prog/lpa/plistlpa2.cfm
Friday, January 27 Bruno Eicher, violin; Gerald Kagan, cello; and Susan Kagan, piano: Works by W. A. Mozart, 3:00
CUNY Graduate Center
365 Fifth Ave. at 34th St.
Admission: free, bur preregistration required
212-817-8215
http://web.gc.cuny.edu/cepp/courses/great_music.html#6
Friday, January 27 With the Shanghai String Quartet, clarinetist Anthony McGill, and others, 7:30
NYU Skirball Center
566 La Guardia Pl. at Washington Square South
Tickets: $35-$45
212-545-7536
http://www.skirballcenter.nyu.edu
http://www.worldmusicinstitute.org
Friday, January 27
and
Saturday, January 28 Tango direct from Argentina, with Guilermina Quiroga and the Eternal Tango Orchestra, presented by the World Music Institute, 8:00
The Puck Building
295 Lafayette St. at Houston St.
Admission: $15
212-777-5218
http://www.sanfordsmith.com/out.html
Friday, January 27
through
Sunday, January 29 Featuring works from museums and galleries from France, Canada, the Netherlands, Germany, Japan, and all over the United States
Books of Wonder
16 West 18th St. between Fifth & Sixth Aves.
Admission: free
212-989-3270
http://www.booksofwonder.net/nyc/nyc_events.jsp?&segment_seq=186605&segment_
Saturday, January 28 Joe Craig, JIMMY COATES: ASSASSIN?, David Clement Davies, THE TELLING POOL, and Kenneth Oppel, SKYBREAKER, 12 noon — 2:00
Studio 111
111 Conselyea St., Williamsburg
Suggested donation: $10
718-387-2630
Saturday, January 28 Written and performed by Raquel Cion, directed by Gillian Chadsey; part of Undone at Studio 111 performance series, 8:00
Queensborough Performing Arts Center
222-05 56th Ave., Bayside
Tickets: $29-$35
718-631-6311
Saturday, January 28 Fortieth anniversary celebration with the Latin Legends of Comedy, including Joe Vega, JJ Ramirez, and Angel Salazar, 8:00
Resources for Children with Special Needs
Church of St. Paul the Apostle
Columbus Ave. at West 60th St.
Admission: free
212-677-4650
http://www.resourcesnyc.org/rcsn.htm
Saturday, January 28 Summer options for children with special needs, 11:00 am — 3:00 pm
Lizard Lounge, Downstairs at Iguana
240 W. 54th St. between Broadway & Eighth Ave.
Admission: 10
212-486-9517
Sunday, January 29 Lindy/WestCoast/Shag Sock Hop with DJs Carlos Cardona & Eric Silvey, 7:00 - 11:30
Zankel Hall
Seventh Ave. between 56th & 57th Sts.
Tickets: $30-$35
212-247-7800
http://www.newyorkguitarfestival.org
Sunday, January 29 New York Guitar Festival: New works and multimedia premiere, preceded by talk with WNYC’s John Schaefer, 7:30
The Merchant’s House Museum
29 East Fourth St. between Bowery & Lafayette St.
Tickets: $35, advance reservations strongly suggested
212-777-1089
http://www.merchantshouse.com/a_calendar.htm
Tuesday, January 31 Taste the wines the vintners and wine merchants drink (and reserve for themselves), in the museum’s nineteenth-century urban kitchen, with hors d’oeuvres
Nuyorican Poets Café
236 East Third St. between Aves. B&C
212-465-3167
Tuesday, January 31 Screening of DVD of off-Broadway show MONK starring Rome Neal, $7, 7:00
Tuesday, January 31 Jazz jam and open mic featuring the Donald Smith Trio, $10 $5 for jammin musicians), 9:00
The Urban Center
457 Madison Ave. at 51st St.
Admission: $25, reservations strongly suggested
http://www.urbancenterbooks.org
Tuesday, January 31 Presentation by author Susan Solomon and discussion featuring an international panel of design and play experts, followed by a wine and cheese reception, 6:30
Ritz-Carlton New York, Battery Park
Fourteenth Floor
2 West St. at Battery Pl.
Friday and Saturday nights in February, 7:00, 9:00, and 11:00
Fee: $75, includes tax, tip, and unlimited Champagne
917-790-2571
http://www.ritzcarlton.com/hotels/new_york_battery_park/packages/dining/ the+chocolate+bar.asp
Make your reservations fast for this annual sweet treat supplied by master pastry chef Laurent Richard, who every February fills this romantic space with countless chocolate delights. Look for our full delectable review in the February 1 issue of twi-ny.