Chinese Lunar New Year Event of the Week
02.01.06
1. Celebrating the Year of the Dog in Chinatown
2. Celebrating Valentine’s month with chocolate at the Ritz-Carlton
3. Celebrating romance with a Love-a-Thon at Two Boots
4. Last chance to catch Sugimoto at the Japan Society
Volume 5, Number 35
February 1—15, 2006
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— Henry Chung, “Mott Street Canticle or ‘Saturday Night’ Chinatown Blues,” at the Museum of Chinese in the Americas
— Charlie Huston, ALREADY DEAD (Ballantine Del Rey, January 2006, $12.95)
Chinatown
Admission: free
212-764-6330/212-619-4785
http://www.explorechinatown.com
Sunday, February 5 Seventh annual Lunar New Year Parade & Festival at 1:00, featuring lion and dragon dances, marching bands, cultural performances, acrobats, and a parade of floats, weaving through Mott, Canal, East Broadway, Chatham Square, Forsyth, Division, and Worth, with festival beginning at 3:00 on Mott & Bayard Sts.
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Bing Lee’s Pictodiary puzzles people at Canal St.
Canal St. N/R J/M/Z 6 Station
Admission: $2
http://www.mta.nyc.ny.us/mta/aft/pa/tour/canalstn.htm
http://www.mta.info/mta/aft/pa/tour/canalstn.htm
Mimicking cave paintings and hieroglyphics, Bing Lee’s "Empress Voyage" mosaic frieze and ceramic tile mural in the Canal St. subway station consists of two hundred blue-and-white tiles that emanate from the Canton-born Lee’s ever-evolving Pictodiary; he creates a new figure on rice paper every night. As the New York-based artist has stated, "These pictographic symbols, icons, and images relay a map of the cross-cultural East and West and reveal the notation of personal myth and reflection upon social concern." Stop by for a while and see what you can make of these fun, playful, mysterious images. The work takes its name from the Empress of China, a large ship that voyaged from New York harbor on February 22, 1784, on its way to the Cape Verde Islands and the Chinese port of Whampoa, where it arrived on August 28. Another of Lee’s symbolic tile murals can be found in Townsend Harris High School in Queens.
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Old-fashioned Nam Wah Tea Parlor has been doing things their own way since 1920
Various locations throughout Chinatown
During Chinese New Year (and the rest of the year as well), forget about getting brunch at your local bistro and instead head down to Chinatown, where weekend dim sum is a must, as much for the food as for the exciting, unusual experience. Depending on how many are in your party, you’ll either get your own table or share it with other couples and families. You’ll be given a card that will be stamped by one of the servers each time you choose a dish, but don’t fret that you have no idea what each stamp means or how much each dish costs. We advise you to be as adventurous as possible, avoiding the obvious and instead going for dumplings and shumai of all shapes and sizes, odd vegetable combinations, and, if they have it, salted fried octopus. Among our favorite spots, which are ornately decorated with dragon sculptures, cheesy chandeliers, and lots of red for the New Year, are Golden Unicorn (18 East Broadway), Triple 8 Palace (88 East Broadway), Sweet-n-Tart (20 Mott St.), and Jing Fong (20 Elizabeth St.). Go with a lot of people and order like mad, tasting anything and everything; no matter how hard you try, it’s almost impossible to end up paying more than ten or twelve bucks a head. And for a more old-fashioned experience, check out the place that time forgot, Nam Wah Tea Parlor (11 Doyers St.), for excellent, very cheap dumplings, old guys playing mah jong in the back, a musty smell that you’ll get over quickly, and a lot of peace and quiet.
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Confucius oversees the swirling masses in Chinatown
Confucius Plaza
Bowery at Division St.
Admission: free
Liu Shih’s fifteen-foot-tall statue of the Chinese philosopher, teacher, government official, ethicist, and leader known as Confucius (551-479 BC) was presented to New York by the Consolidated Benevolent Association in 1976 in honor of America’s bicentennial. Standing atop a large marble base, Confucius looks out on one of the city’s crazier intersections, his hands gently clasped in front of him, his long robe flowing over his arms. The front of the base includes a lengthy quote from "The Chapter of Great Harmony" ("Ta Tung"), in which Confucius writes, "When the Great Principle prevails the world is a commonwealth in which rulers are selected according to their wisdom and ability." Go around behind the statue to see the scroll Confucius is holding and the declaration, "The world is a commonwealth." We’re not sure whether that means the Great Principle has prevailed, especially considering the state of today’s world rulers.
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Lin Ze Xu readies himself for the Lunar New Year firecrackers
Chatham Square
Intersection of Mott St. Park Row, East Broadway, Oliver St., & Bowery
http://www.nycgovparks.org/sub_your_park/historical_signs/hs_historical_sign.php?id=7318
This small plaza was named after Second Lieutenant Benjamin Ralph Kimlau, a World War II hero bomber who flew with the Flying Circus and later died during an attack outside New Guinea. The statue facing north is of Lin Ze Xu (Lin Tse-Hsu), standing proudly with his arms folded behind his back, his beard and mustache impeccable. As the Chinese commissioner in Canton in the late 1830s, he led the war against drugs, battling the East India Company to end the importation of opium, leading to the Opium Wars. In a letter to Queen Victoria, he wrote, "All those people in China who sell opium or smoke opium should receive the death penalty. We trace the crime of those barbarians who through the years have been selling opium, then the deep harm they have wrought and the great profit they have usurped should fundamentally justify their execution according to law." (He ultimately was defeated and exiled.) To Lin Ze Xu’s left is Poy G. Lee’s memorial arch, on which it is stated: "In memory of the Americans of Chinese ancestry who lost their lives in defense of freedom and democracy." On the opposite side is a bronze-colored rectangular plaque that contains the names of Chinese Americans who gave their life for America. Kimlau Square is the site of the official kickoff of the New Year festivities.
Chatham Square Regional Library
New York Public Library
33 East Broadway near Catherine St.
Admission: free
212-964-6598
http://www.nypl.org/events/branchevents.cfm
Friday, February 3 Stories Everyone Can Tell, with LuAnn Adams, preregistration required, 10:30 am
Monday, February 6 Why Read?, with Laine Barton, 4:00
Friday, February 10 Beyond Cat’s Cradle, workshop with Tom Cutrofello, ages seven to eleven, preregistration required, 4:00
Tuesday, February 14 Craft Program: Bead design with Rong Hui Huang, 2:00
Kishi/Sun Collection
Movie poster evokes "Orientalism" and the "Yellow Peril"
Museum of Chinese in the Americas
70 Mulberry St. at Bayard St. , second floor
Tuesday through Saturday, 12 noon - 5:00 pm
Through February 12
Suggested donation: $3
212-619-4785
http://www.moca-nyc.org/MoCA/content.asp?cid=17
For more than thirty years, film editor Yoshio Kishi and actress Irene Yah Ling Sun have been collecting books, posters, magazine articles, pamphlets, newspaper cartoons, maps, advertisements, photos, trading cards, and other ephemera that document the Asian American experience in the United States as communities such as San Francisco’s and New York’s Chinatowns grew up in the late-nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The supposed threat that came with these immigrants, called the "Yellow Peril," led to stereotyping, racism, internment, and violence, as shown in sections devoted to Politics, War, Exotic Erotic, Media, and Pioneers. The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 declares, "Whereas, in the opinion of the Government of the United States the coming of Chinese laborers to this country endangers the good order of certain localities within the territory thereof." A True magazine cover proclaims, "Smashing California’s Yellow Slave Traffic," while a blow-up sex doll has Asian characteristics. The breakthrough Hollywood success of Anna May Wong and James Shigeti is offset by the stereotypical depictions of Boris Karloff’s Fu Manchu, Warner Oland’s Charlie Chan, and Peter Lorre’s Mr. Moto.
In the 1960s and 1970s, a group of artists, musicians, and poets fought back against this "Orientalism," forming the Yellow Pearl, which is a play on "Yellow Peril"; works on view here range from Henri Chang’s illustrated poem "Mott St. Canticle, or ‘Saturday Night’ Chinatown Blues" to Bob Fong’s "Chinatown 5 a.m.," from a movie poster for Wayne Wang’s CHAN IS MISSING to a flyer announcing a call for action. All fifty-seven of the pieces can be seen in a binder; take a seat and look for Koon Jo’s "Tribute to the Chinese Laundryman," George T. Chew’s bitter "Chinatown Lament," Miyamoto and Iijima’s "Lo Mein Blues," and Shin’ya Ono’s "I Am an Ono." Several more of the original works can be found in the front hallway of the museum in the third and final part of "People’s Beat: The Basement Workshop Portfolios, 1972-1998."
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MoCA’s permanent exhibition looks at the culture of Chinese immigrants
Museum of Chinese in the Americas
Permanent exhibition
http://www.moca-nyc.org/MoCA/where/where.asp
The Chinese who immigrated to America congregated in areas on New York City’s Lower East Side and in San Francisco. This exhibit takes a close look at those early days up through today’s thriving Chinatown. In a small room designed by Billie Tsien that is shaped like a Chinese lantern and includes information printed on reinforced rice-paper walls, the story of the Chinese Diaspora is told in words and images. The overall theme — "Our task is to ask, to listen, to remember and to retell" — is broken down into such installations as "Women’s Voices," "A Continuum of Facts and Customs," "Migration: Abandonments & Declamations," the interactive "Mapping Our Heritage Project," and the work in progress "Many True Stories: Life in Chinatown on and After September 11th." Among the dozens of items on display are musical instruments (including a chun kahm and a naahm wu), an abacus, artifacts from the celebration of Chinese New Year (including colorful dragon masks) and the role of Chinese men and women in the U.S. military (including uniforms and old newspaper articles), embroidered silk slippers for bound feet, laundry signs, Chinese movable type, an ornate Chinese opera costume, and a book in which visitors are asked to write where home is to them.
Museum of Chinese in the Americas
212-619-4785
http://www.moca-nyc.org/MoCA/content.asp?cid=14
Saturday, February 4 MoCA Book Club: Gish Jen, THE LOVE WIFE, free, 10:30 am
Saturday, February 4
and
Sunday, February 5 Lunar New Year Walking Tour, $15, 212-619-4785, 1:00
Thursday, February 9 Peking Duck Dinner, 6:00 reception at Silk Road Mocha Café, 30 Mott St., 7:00 dinner at Peking Duck House, 28 Mott St., $75, prepayment required
Mulberry Street Theater
70 Mulberry St. at Bayard St., second floor
Admission: $6
212-349-0126
Wednesday, February 1
through
Friday, February 3 HEART OF THE LION, 10:30 am
Friday, February 10 HEART OF THE LION, 7:00
Bayard St. between Mulberry & Baxter Sts.
http://www.aaari.org/zeng_funeral.htm
http://www.brightonambulance.org/zhezackzeng.htm
The corner right across from the Museum of Chinese in the Americas and facing Columbus Park features an additional street sign for Zhe "Zack" Zeng Way, a passage renamed in honor of the twenty-eight-year-old EMT, member of Rochester’s Brighton Volunteer Ambulance, and 9/11 fallen hero. On September 11, 2001, Zeng’s office building (he worked for the Bank of New York) was being evacuated after the South Tower fell; instead of heading home, Zack rushed off to the World Trade Center to help the injured. Then the North Tower collapsed, and Zeng did not make it out. A booklet distributed at his funeral service, held in Chinatown on September 9, 2002, stated, "Zack became the paragon of Chinese immigration history. His name will remain in everyone’s heart forever." Pointing out Zack’s heroism, it continues, "To pursue meaning and value in life is the highest virtue of humanity. We should strive to improve ourselves every day. Only then is life precious and meaningful. An enlightened and content man feels no regrets when he reaches the end of his life."
Silk Road Mocha Café
30 Mott St.
Friday nights at 8:00
No cover charge; $5 minimum
646-613-8887
http://www.teabagnyc.com/index2.shtml
Friday, February 3, 10 Music, hip-hop, poetry, comedy, trash-talking, and more
Asian American Arts Centre
26 Bowery south of Canal St., third floor
Through March 10
Closed Saturday & Sunday
212-233-2154
http://www.artspiral.org/new.html
Through March 10 Exhibition of Nuo Masks and Tibetan Thangka Paintings
Saturday, February 4 Sand Mandala Demonstration and Lecture, $12, 11:00 am — 5:00 pm
Sunday, February 5 Sand Mandala Demonstration and Lecture, $12, 10:00 am — 5:00 pm
American Legion Lt. BR Kimlau Post 1291
193 Canal St., second floor
Wednesdays from 12:30 to 3:30
Admission: free
646-286-2568
http://www.svcmc.org/portal/news/newsletters/WongAppointrevised.doc
Line up for free ear acupuncture focusing on reducing stress, improving sleep, and stopping smoking, part of St. Vincent’s World Trade Center Healing Services.
P.S. 124
40 Division St.
Admission: $5 per child ages five to thirteen, preregistration required by February 7
718-661-2948
Sunday, February 12 Seventh annual event of games and prizes, sponsored by the Asian American Youth Center, 10:00 am - 4:00 pm
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Buddhist Temple offers respite from hectic Chinatown area
133 Canal St. by the Manhattan Bridge entrance
212-925-8787
http://www.asiainnyc.org/2_5_feature.html
Adjacent to the arch and colonnade of the Manhattan Bridge, you will find this splendid Buddhist temple just off to the left, guarded by two lions. The vestibule features a large pot with burning incense; drop a dollar in the slot and reach down deep for your fortune. In front of you is a shrine to the Goddess of Mercy, Kwan-Yin; be sure to look up at the dragon-dominated ceiling. Then walk through the hallway until you come upon shrines on either side; to the right is a shrine to the dead, while on the left is a more joyous shrine that includes bamboo in gorgeous vases and native instruments that are played on Sundays. Go down the ramp and marvel at the magnificent gong to your right — but don’t touch it. To your left is a ceremonial drum. Then turn around and look up at the dragon tapestry above. The walls leading to the altar are lined with thirty-two drawings detailing the story of Buddha as Boddhisatva and Prince Siddartha, in English and Chinese, with red paper lanterns above and jade pieces below. The altar itself sparkles: A large Buddha sits at the center, surrounded by flowers, vases, small statues, good-luck shrines, and a marvelous tower made up of tiny shining Buddhas.
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Manhattan Bridge connects Brooklyn to Chinatown for free
Bowery & Canal St.
Admission: free
http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/html/motorist/bridges.html#manhattan
The Manhattan Bridge approach on the Manhattan side is simply spectacular. Designed in the early twentieth century by Carrère & Hastings — who were trained as draftsmen at McKim, Mead & White and also designed the New York Public Library — the massive Beaux-Arts structure, which was based on the Porte St. Denis arch in Paris, towers over Chinatown, impressive in its detail. Looking out from the top is a row of six lion heads. Beneath that, a frieze features four Native Americans tracking down buffalo; on either side of the frieze are pyramids of coats of arms spreading out into two magnificent sculptures. On the south side, Winged Mercury, standing atop a globe, holds a caduceus, a topless Native American woman to his right, a pilgrim with a bundle on his left. On the north side Winged Victory lifts out her arm, also flanked by a man and a woman. At the peak of the rounded arch itself, a buffalo head looks down Canal St. The colonnade contains seven columns on each side, with more coats of arms and images with various fish. The other side of the arch, facing Brooklyn, is much simpler, though it is guarded on each side by a lion with its paw placed firmly on a globe.
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Kam Chueh is renowned for its fresh seafood, creative vegetable dishes, and great steak
40 Bowery between Bayard & Canal Sts.
212-791-6868
After you’re done watching the parade and taking a long walk through this magical neighborhood, you’re sure to be hungry. Forget what restaurants everyone else has told you about in Chinatown and go to Kam Chueh, preferably with a group of people to take advantage of the many terrific main courses — and New Year specials — and to split the bill more ways. Oliver, the friendly manager, will lead you to a table in the back, where you will be surrounded by large Asian families sitting around big tables spinning their lazy susans to get a little bit of everything. Don’t pass by the snails in black bean sauce for an appetizer, nor the biggest, most beautiful egg roll you’ve ever had. Even the tender steamed dumplings are special. But be sure to save room for the excellent house steak, wonderful flowering chives with clams or buttery baby bok choi with garlic, and marvelous lobster, dungeoness crab, razor clams, Australian green mussels, and whole fish with ginger and scallions (which is more expensive, sold by weight), since Kam Chueh is highly regarded for its terrifically fresh seafood, some of which you can watch swimming around by the entrance. And for those of you with a more adventurous taste, you can also get goose intestines with soy sauce, spicy duck feet, and sauteed frog with bitter melon.
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Customers line up at display case to choose their pastries
124 Walker St. at Baxter St.
212-219-2012
We can’t go to Chinatown without picking up some great pastries at Dragon Land, one of the city’s best. Because most of the individual items, made fresh daily, cost less than a dollar, feel free to experiment. We love the pineapple and coconut buns, moon cakes filled with red bean paste, shredded pork buns, and the bubble tea, loaded with tapioca pearls at the bottom that you suck up through a wider-than-usual straw.
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Jiri Skála goes back to school in "Exchange of Handwriting"
79 Walker St. between Broadway & Lafayette
Admission: free
212-219-0473
We love this multistory gallery that always has something cool and unique going on inside its doors, which border on the great little Courtland Alley. First, from the street, through July 16 you’ll be able to look in the first-floor storefront Project Space and see Xaviera Simmons’s "How to Break Your Own Heart: Visitors Welcome," a room that includes two turntables, a video monitor, a wall of classic jazz record covers, and, at certain times, live music or DJs. (Simmons spins tunes Wednesdays from 1:00 to 3:00 and Fridays from 4:00 to 6:00; we recently caught Matana Roberts blowing the sax on a Sunday afternoon.) You’ll have to take your shoes off to enter the installation when it’s open. In the elevator you’ll find Joanna Malinowska’s Glenn Gould tribute, "In Search of the Miraculous, Continued," through March 18. Ride up to the sixth floor and step into "Marguerite Duras’ India Song" (also through March 18), Alejandro Cesarco’s two-screen video that combines paired clips from Duras’ 1975 film INDIA SONG with new narration, reimagining the interplay between text and image. Accompanying the piece is Daniel Link’s "Two Days of Love," a typed-out conversation between two people viewing the film, talking about such things as the "leprosy of the heart" and the "corruption of the flesh." In the adjoining gallery there are two school desks where Jiri Skála’s "Exchange of Handwriting" happens live. Tuesdays through Saturdays through March 4, the artist and Christina Gourtin sit at the desks in the afternoons, copying each other’s penmanship while writing out one excerpt per day from Rudolf Tesnohlidek’s THE CUNNING LITTLE VIXEN.
But the real star of the show is on the fourth floor, where Art in General’s eighth annual video marathon, "Not a Marathon, Just a Traffic Jam," is taking place through February 18. The video works, shown on small monitors, larger televisions, or directly on the wall, are divided into three themes. "China Works" includes Mia Ou’s EVIDENCE, an old-fashioned five-minute film that explores race and gender violence; Lin Yilin’s SAFELY MANEUVERING ACROSS LIN HE ROAD, in which the filmmaker transports concrete blocks across the street at a construction site; and Cao Fei’s RABID DOGS, where office workers have been turned into colorful clownish canines. "The Neighborhood of Make Believe" consists of Ruti Sela and Ma’ayan Amir’s BEYOND GUILT #1, which greets you as you walk in with graphic discussion and depictions of sex and nudity in nightclub bathrooms; Saki Satom’s FROM B TO H, in which the artist, in an office-building elevator, dances elegantly to piped-in music until someone else gets on; and Werther Germondari’s wall projection, INTERNAL CONFLICT, which offers a different view of a carnival attraction. Finally, "Stories Die Hard," set up in the back of the gallery, includes the Radek Community’s MANIFESTATIONS, in which the artist group joins crowds on the street and unfurls political protest banners, suddenly creating mass demonstrations and confusion.
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Sweet-n-Tart lovers have to go to Flushing to quench their jones
136-11 38th Ave., Flushing
718-661-3380
One of our favorite smaller eating spots in Chinatown, the Sweet-n-Tart Café at 76 Mott St., which we used to frequent whenever we were on jury duty, has recently been turned into an egg custard emporium, so we have to venture to Flushing to get our fix of fresh mango juice with tapioca pearls, BBQ eel with Peking sauce, smoky oyster spring rolls, watercress dumplings, congee with lean pork and preserved duck’s egg, salt-baked cuttlefish and scallops, and Yunnan pot double-boiled rice with taro and quail. We’ve yet to try pork belly and liver congee, special homemade duck tongue, broiled pork intestine, duck’s blood with ginger and scallion, blanched chicken feet with ginger sauce, and deep-fried pork’s intestine, but there’s always next time. There are also lots of dumpling noodle soups, a myriad of cool hot and cold drinks, and tons of interesting desserts. By the way, the larger Sweet-n-Tart at 20 Mott St., famous for its awesome dim sum, is still open, but the Flushing café is more of a unique experience.
137-35 Northern Blvd.
718-463-7700
http://www.flushingtownhall.org/exhibits.html
Through April 9 Between Two Worlds: Reflections of Contemporary Chinese Art, $5 (children under sixteen free), open every day from 12 noon to 5:00
Friday, February 3 Asian Expressions: Encounter, with the Wind Dance Theater, $20, 8:00
Friday, February 3 Intimate Jazz: Virtuoso Jazz with Victor Lin and his trio, $15, 10:00
Saturday, February 4 Saturday Mornings for Families: Storytelling with a Jazzy Twist, workshop with April Armstrong, for kids, $8 per child (adults free), 10:00 am
Saturday, February 4 Asian Expressions: Let’s Dance, with the Wind Dance Theater, $20, 3:00
Saturday, February 11 Saturday Mornings for Families: The Joke’s on You! workshop with Morgan Phillips, $8 per child (adults free), 10:00 am
Saturday, February 11 Saturday Evening Classics: Bright Sheng & Friends, works by Schubert, Mozart, and Sheng, $15, 8:00
Wednesday, February 15 Think Outside the Classroom: Are You Ready My Sister? The Story of Harriet Tubman, with the Underground Railway Theatre, for students, $6.50, 10:00 & 11:30 am
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Laurent Richard’s latest chocolate wonderland is another masterpiece
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
Special seatings at 8:00 & 10:00 on Tuesday, February 14
Fee: $75, includes tax, tip, and bottomless Champagne
917-790-2571
http://www.ritzcarlton.com/hotels/new_york_battery_park/packages/dining/the+chocolate+bar.asp
Laurent Richard, one of the country’s top pastry chefs, has outdone himself yet again for this annual event that is one of our favorites every year. Richard, who hails from Maison Lafitte in France (and rides his Harley to work each day from his current home in Brooklyn), has brought the Paris of his youth to the Battery Park area, turning the romantic fourteenth-floor Rise bar at the Ritz-Carlton into the City of Lights — except on the Hudson instead of the Seine, and with a spectacular view of the Statue of Liberty instead of the Eiffel Tower (although, as you’ll find out below, you can see that too). This year’s divine buffet menu includes such fab delights as an outrageously good double crispy chocolate raspberry macaroon, smoothly satisfying coconut chocolate mini-brulee served in a white spoon, an out-of-this-world bittersweet chocolate martini presented in a martini glass with a vanilla tuile, excellent Black Forest cake, Richard’s signature white chocolate peanut crunch, awesome deep dark chocolate caramel cake, and six other main courses that spin around on a tower balanced on a table topped by a thick layer of Valrhona chocolate. (Be careful not to bump into it unless you want to wear some of it.)
There’s also wonderfully gooey warm molten chocolate cake coming right out of the oven at one end of the fancy room, which is decorated with chocolate paintings of such Parisian landmarks as the Louvre and the Champs Elysées (yes, even the pictures themselves and the frames are edible, but don’t eat them!) and chocolate sculptures of the Eiffel Tower, an elegant woman at a café, opera masks, and more. Each table gets its own fondue bowl and unlimited Champagne, and you can fill yourself up as well with such other goodies as roasted chocolate almond, cocoa truffles, chocolate-dipped candied oranges, chocolate-covered strawberries, mini-marshmallows, chocolate-covered grapes on sticks that are stuck in a chocolate block, and other little delicacies. The Chocolate Bar at Rise is open for three seatings on weekends throughout February, but you better book fast, because this is one of the city’s best romantic chocolate events, and space is very limited. There are also two special seatings on Valentine’s night itself. Be sure to allow yourself extra time to get there; there is a lot of unwieldy construction in the area, making it very difficult to find the best route. A cab to whisk you in and whisk you out is a much better idea than the subway or walking.
Kate Winslet and Jim Carrey search for true love in ETERNAL SUNSHINE
Two Boots Pioneer Theater
155 East Third St. at Ave. A
February 9-23
Tickets: $9
212-254-3300
http://www.twoboots.com/pioneer
Two Boots pays tribute to love on the silver screen with this wide-ranging collection of films that feature sex with butter, dead sharks, missing schoolgirls, controversial porn, and erased memories, all of which is supposed to get you in the mood. Hey, whatever works. Before or after the movie, grab a few slices here as well, mostly named after famous television and movie characters; among our favorites are the Dude (Cajun bacon cheeseburger pie with tasso, andouille, ground beef, cheddar, and mozzarella), the Mr. Pink (marinated chicken, plum tomatoes, fresh garlic, and mozzarella), and the Newman (sopressata and sweet Italian sausage on a white pie). You can also go for the Mel Cooley, the Larry Tate, the Emma Peel, the Tony Clifton, and others. And make sure to pick up a couple of homemade chocolate-chip cookies; they’re simply awesome, mighty thick and loaded with chocolate.
Thursday, February 9 LAST TANGO IN PARIS (Bernardo Bertolucci, 1972), 9:00
Friday, February 10 ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND (Michel Gondry, 2004), 9:00
Also available on DVD
http://www.eternalsunshine.com
As we were walking in to see this film in the theater, a twi-ny charter subscriber and her husband were walking out — literally, having given up on it about halfway through. What a mistake they made. This brilliant work comes from the warped mind of Charlie Kaufman, the sensational scribe behind BEING JOHN MALKOVICH (Spike Jonze, 1999), ADAPTATION. (Spike Jonze, 2002), and CONFESSIONS OF A DANGEROUS MIND (George Clooney, 2002). (Chris Elliott fans will get a kick out of knowing that Kaufman was a writer for GET A LIFE, one of the great warped series of all time.) SUNSHINE stars Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet as a couple looking to erase each other from their memories by … ah, don’t worry what it’s about. The less you know, the better. Just be prepared for a visual, metaphysical spectacle that will both exhilarate and depress you, filling you with wonder and amazement. The only thing keeping it from perfection is the ordinariness of the subplot involving Elijah Wood. Kaufman and director Michel Gondry mix in a little PUNCH-DRUNK LOVE (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2002) and GROUNDHOG DAY (Harold Ramis, 1993), both of which also featured former television comedians in more serious roles, but end up with something wholly original and, quite simply, one of the most romantic movies we have ever seen.
Friday, February 10 DEEP THROAT (Gerard Damiano, 1972), 11:00
Saturday, February 11 ANNIE HALL (Woody Allen, 1977), 12 midnight
Sunday, February 12 ANNIE HALL (Woody Allen, 1977), 9:00
Monday, February 13 Bizarro Monday: PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK (Peter Weir, 1975), 9:00
Tuesday, February 14 ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND (Michel Gondry, 2004), 9:00
Wednesday, February 15 GAY SEX IN THE 70s (Joseph Lovett, 2005), 9:00
Thursday, February 23 PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK (Peter Weir, 1975), 6:30
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Tabboo! mural pays tribute to some of the East Village’s best and brightest
Southeast corner of West Third St. & Ave. A
Admission: free
Painter, puppeteer, and performance artist Stephen Tashjian, who is also known as the drag queen Tabboo!, added this eerie mural to the Lower East Side over the summer. On a gray background sprayed over a brick wall, Tashjian painted nearly five dozen black-and-off-white skeletal heads, each one on top of a red banner announcing which deceased person they represent. Among the dead, many of whom died from AIDS, violence, drugs, or suicide and lived in the area, are Selena, Steve Rubel, Allen Ginsberg, Quentin Crisp, Jeff Buckley, Leigh Bowery, Andy Warhol, Wendy O. Williams, Robert Mapplethorpe, "Freddy" Mercury, Joey and Dee Dee Ramone, Nina Simone, Rock Hudson, and many other mostly one-named people. So while you’re celebrating romance with an odd movie or two at Two Boots, make sure to check out this moving tribute, which includes numerous men and women who died because of their own type of love.
Japan Society
333 E. 47th St. at First Ave.
Through February 19
Closed Monday
Admission: $12
212-832-1155
http://www.japansociety.org/events/current.cfm
http://twi-ny.com/twiny.11.09.05.html#anchor2
You have only a few more weeks to see how Hiroshi Sugimoto expands the concept of historical objects and art history itself in this fascinating exhibit he has curated for the Japan Society. Combining his own artistic work — primarily photography — with pieces from his private collection, he has put together a diverse display of not only history but the way history is recorded. The show begins at the beginning of time, with a room of fossils that go back more than five hundred million years; Sugimoto, who sees fossils as the oldest form of art, also believes that "photography is a process of making fossils out of the present," as he writes in the excellent pamphlet that accompanies the exhibit. That idea melds right into the next, narrow room, which houses Sugimoto’s "Cause and Effect in Black and White," a dozen photos that question "deistic cosmogenesis" while detailing the history of homonids from the Cambrian period through gorillas, Neanderthals, the royal family, and the Hiroshima bombing before ending with a peaceful nature scene of birds in trees. Sugimoto creates these portraits by photographing dioramas and wax figures, making them appear real. To read our full review of this must-see exhibit, please visit http://twi-ny.com/twiny.11.09.05.html#anchor2.
Wang Wusheng’s nature photography
is part of special show at UN
General Assembly Visitors’ Lobby
United Nations Headquarters
East 46th St. & First Ave.
Open daily 9:00 am — 5:00 pm
Closed weekends in February
Admission: free
http://www.un.org/events/UNART/east
Through March 10 Exhibition commemorating the sixtieth anniversary of the UN, featuring Japanese-style master paintings by Kaii Higashiyama and Chinese fine art photography by Wang Wusheng
Ronald K. Brown brings Evidence to the Joyce in Chelsea
Joyce Theater
175 Eighth Ave. at 19th St.
February 7-12
Tickets: $38
212-242-0800 / 212-465-7468
Brooklyn-born Ronald K. Brown is celebrating the twentieth anniversary of his Evidence Dance Company, whose "mission is to help promote understanding about the human experience in the African Diaspora," with two programs that highlight his new work as well as his older, classic pieces. Program A will include the New York premiere of ORDER MY STEPS, the stunning WALKING OUT THE DARK, and the lovely GRACE, which he choreographed for Judith Jamison’s tenth anniversary at Alvin Ailey in 1999. Program B features UPSIDE DOWN; COME YE, a call for peace based on the song by the late Nina Simone; and HIGH LIFE. We were blown away by the company’s performance last year at BAM, and this series of dances promises to be just as special. Evidence will also be appearing February 6 at the Hudson Theatre in the Millennium Broadway at 145 West 44th St. for the second annual "Grace in Winter" gala.
THE TENANTS, with Snoop Dogg, should be evicted from theaters
Opens February 3
AMC Theatres Empire 25
234 West 42nd St. between Seventh & Eighth Aves.
Available on DVD March 7
Danny Green, who has been the second assistant director on such duds as THE SCORPION KING, JEEPERS CREEPERS II, HOLLYWOOD HOMICIDE, ENVY, and SOUL PLANE, takes the helm with THE TENANTS, a dreadful, annoying bore of a movie written by location manager David Diamond. Based on a novel by Bernard Malamud, THE TENANTS is set in 1972 Brooklyn, in a nearly abandoned building that still has one tenant left — Harry Lesser (Dylan McDermott), a humorless Jewish writer who refuses to move out until he finishes his long-delayed novel. Every day Lesser keeps typing away, much to the consternation of the landlord, Levenspiel (Seymour Cassel), who keeps upping the meager buyout. But one afternoon Lesser hears someone else typing down the hall and finds a black squatter named Willie Spearmint (Snoop Dogg), a cool cat who is writing his first book. Their brief but stormy relationship — they both help and hurt each other in subtle and dramatic fashion — doesn’t come close to being the microcosm of 1970s racial tension the filmmakers want it to be. When a white woman (Rose Byrne) comes between the two writers, things threaten to explode, but you’ll have lost interest well before the action-packed finale.
Quad Cinema
34 West 13th St. between Fifth & Sixth Aves.
Tickets: $10
In fall 2004, a controversial documentary called WHAT THE BLEEP DO WE KNOW? created a small but rabid following, amassing more than $12 million in theaters and forming a community of people who believed the film’s definitions of reality and individual being, using quantum physics, particle distribution, neuron release, and other complex scientific processes to explain how each of us can change the world. Some reviewers called it "a cult film," "New Age hooey," "bad science," "repetitive and stupefying," and "a complete waste of time, energy, and film." Others wrote that it was "challenging, cryptic, [and] mystical," "provocative," "a mind-bending hybrid," "an irresistible comic romp," and "weirdly entertaining." Here’s what we said in our three-star review: "The talking heads in this fascinating docudrama will alter your conception of what the world is, the scripted minidrama following Marlee Matlin will confound you with its amateurishness, and the animated sections will both entertain and annoy you with its silliness."
All of that and more is true of the much longer DOWN THE RABBIT HALL: THE NEXT EVOLUTION, a re-exploration of the original film, using much of the same dramatic linking footage but with many new interviews with the same and new contributors in addition to old and new animation, including the introduction of cartoon superhero Dr. Quantum, voiced by the great John Astin. One of the things we like best about the two films is that you don’t find out who the talking heads are until the credits; thus, you get to make up your own mind about what they’re saying without prejudging them because one happens to be a Columbia physicist while another claims to be channeling an ancient mystic philosopher. Delving into complicated discussions of perception and reality, arguing that everything is connected through time and space, discussing the battle between science and religion, comparing love to neurological addiction, and illuminating such terms as "entanglement," "intention," "dreams of infinite possibilities," "co-location," and "time-reversal symmetry," the speakers will either infuriate you or open your mind up to an infinite world of possibilities. As one of them says, "We are running the Holodeck." How your body chemistry is made up, your past experiences, and your in-bred belief system will all play critical roles in helping you decide whether this film is an important examination of who we are — and who we can be — or whether it’s just a bunch of hogwash. But as it says in the closing credits, "Agreement is not necessary — thinking for one’s self is."
Blid Alsbirk and Miramax Films
Presley Chweneyagae is remarkable as title character in TSOTSI
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, February 10 Preview Screening: TSOTSI (Gavin Hood, 2005), 7:30
Opens in theaters February 24
Every once in a while, a surprise movie comes along that just blows you away; TSOTSI, which just received an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Language Film, is that kind of film. Based on the only novel by South African playwright and activist Athol Fugard, TSOTSI is set in the dangerous ghetto world on the outskirts of Johannesberg, where poverty goes hand in hand with violence. Presley Chweneyagae is simply remarkable as Tsotsi (South African for "thug" or "gangster"), the leader of a small group of hoods who pull off petty crimes — until they fatally stab a man on the subway, sending them into a dark and deadly tailspin. When Tsotsi shoots a woman and steals her car, he finds that there’s a baby in the backseat; he considers returning it or leaving it by the side of the road, but he instead brings it home, where he decides to take care of it himself — with the help of beautiful single mother Miriam (Terry Pheto), whom he forces to feed the infant at gunpoint. The baby’s presence causes Tsotsi to remember his own horrific childhood, which writer-director Gavin Hood shows in brief but powerful flashbacks. Tsotsi struggles to keep the baby a secret from his cohorts, much the same as he tries to keep his past secret from everyone. But things soon come to a head, and Tsotsi must decide whether to reach inside his conscience — or for his gun. Chweneyagae dominates the screen from the very first moment, his intense stare filled with anger and hate, one of the most frightening you’ll ever see. Fortunately, Hood avoids any moments of sappy sentimentality or overemotional clichés, so you never know what’s going to happen next. The pulsing soundtrack of South African kwaito music comes from "Zola" Bonginkosi Dlamini, who also plays Fela. Reminiscent of such harrowing films about troubled children as PIXOTE (Hector Babenco, 1981) and CITY OF GOD (Fernando Meirelles & Kátia Lund, 2002), TSOTSI is a devastating, unforgettable story that will drive itself deep into your heart and soul. Don’t miss it.
Rialto Pictures
Bobby Henrey gets trapped in adult world of secrets and lies in FALLEN IDOL
Film Forum
209 West Houston St. between Sixth & Seventh Aves.
February 10-23 at 1:20, 3:15, 5:30, 7:30, and 9:30
Tickets: $10
212-727-8110
http://www.filmforum.org/films/fallen.html
Immediately following WWII, British director Sir Carol Reed pulled off one of the great hat tricks in cinema history, with 1947’s ODD MAN OUT, 1948’s THE FALLEN IDOL, and 1949’s THE THIRD MAN. The middle film, often overlooked but now being released in a fully restored 35mm print, is an absorbing Hitchcockian thriller as seen through a child’s eyes. Based on Graham Greene’s short story "The Basement Room," THE FALLEN IDOL stars newcomer Bobby Henrey as Phile, the eight-year-old son of an ambassador who lives in a Belgrave Square mansion, where he is taken care of by the quiet butler, Baines (Ralph Richardson), and his shrewish wife (Sonia Dresdel). After Phile walks in on Baines having a tearoom rendezvous with Julie (Michèle Morgan), the boy becomes enmeshed in lies, betrayal, and deception, none of which he understands. All he cares about is keeping Mrs. Baines from finding his prized pet, a snake named MacGregor that he hides behind a brick on the guest-room balcony. But when a tragic accident leads to suspicions of murder, Phile runs away, trying to escape from a dangerous adult world he is far from ready for. Shot in elegant black and white by cinematographer Georges Périnal and featuring a script by Greene (with additional dialogue by Lesley Storm and William Templeton), THE FALLEN IDOL actually faced American censorship because of sexual innuendo, including a hysterical line marvelously delivered by Dora Bryan as a prostitute, which Reed thankfully refused to delete. William Alwyn’s score is unnecessarily overwrought and Phile’s persistent wining will get on your nerves up to the very end (Henrey made only one more film after this, the little-known THE WONDER KID), but Richardson’s wonderfully subdued performance and Reed’s astute direction make the return of THE FALLEN IDOL very welcome indeed.
Four days before his scheduled operation for a brain aneurysm, Neil Young headed to his favorite Memphis hotel and faced his mortality with friends, family, and a six-string acoustic guitar. In that short span, he wrote and recorded the bulk of this remarkable collection of ten tunes with musical support from his wife, Pegi, Crazy Horse’s Ben Keith, keyboardist Spooner Oldham, hornman Wayne Jackson, guest vocalist Emmylou Harris, and others. The intimate, deeply personal songs, which appear on the album in the order they were produced, look to both the past and the future; on the gorgeous opening number, "The Painter," Young sings, "It’s a long road behind me / It’s a long road ahead / If you follow every dream / You might get lost." In the politically minded "No Wonder," he laments, "Tick tock / The clock on the wall / No wonder we’re losin’ time." He sends a farewell "message of love" to Pegi in "Falling off the Face of the Earth," and in the horn-laden, upbeat "Far from Home" he declares, "Bury me out on the prairie / Where the buffalo used to roam / You won’t have to shed a tear for me / ’Cause then I won’t be far from home." But it’s hard not to shed a tear on the sweet "Here for You" when he opines, "When the winter comes to your new home / With the snowflakes falling down / Then you can come back and be with me / Just close your eyes and I’ll be there." He also sings about fading dreams, his father, and Elvis while wailing away on his harmonica, stomping the blues, and strumming "This Old Guitar," which is intrinsically part of him. On the last song, the gospel-tinged "When God Made Me," the only one that was completed after the successful operation, Young has religion on his mind as he asks, "Did he give me the gift of compassion / To help my fellow man?" PRAIRIE WIND is one of the most compassionate, personal, moving, and, ultimately, uplifting albums you will ever hear, a gift from a man ready to accept death — but not ready to say goodbye. On February 10, Jonathan Demme’s documentary about Young’s first postsurgery concert, HEART OF GOLD, opens in theater.
http://www.harpercollins.com/global_scripts/product_catalog/book_xml.asp?isbn=0060777109
Pulitzer Prize winner Michael Chabon (WONDER BOYS, THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF KAVALIER & CLAY) pays tribute to one of his literary heroes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, with this slim British detective story set during WWII. In a rooming house outside London, a traveling salesman named Shane joins the regular ragtag bunch of suspicious characters and odd denizens. When Shane winds up dead and a German-Jewish mute boy’s parrot — who likes to squawk out seemingly random series of numbers — is stolen, an aging beekeeper steps out of retirement to help the police solve the case. Like Sherlock Holmes, this very particular old man is able to sniff out impossible-to-find clues in a rather eccentric manner. Chabon never makes it easy, using complicated language to tell the rather standard whodunit, but it’s still fun, and it is only 131 pages long, including a handful of curious illustrations. The trade paperback includes a detailed author bio, an excerpt from an NPR interview with Chabon, and a top-ten list of the author’s favorite genre writers.
All contents copyright 2006 by Mark Rifkin and twi-ny. All rights reserved. Contents may not be reprinted without written permission. Please note that events, dates, and prices are subject to change.
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Feinstein’s at the Regency
540 Park Ave. at 61st St.
Tuesday through Saturday at 8:30
Cover charge: $60
Food & drink minimum: $40
212-339-4095
http://www.feinsteinsattheregency.com/schedule.html
http://tvplex.go.com/buenavista/tonydanza
Through February 11 Tony Danza, with musical director Lenny LaCroix
The Juilliard School of Music
Peter Jay Sharpe Theater
155 West 65th St.
Tickets: free
212-769-7407
Wednesday, February 1 World premiere of Franghiz Ali-Zadeh’s KHAZAR and Keyla Orozco’s NENGON TRANSFORMATION 4, New York premieres of Bun-Ching Lam’s LOIN d’ICI and Thomas Ades’s COURT STUDIES, U.S. premiere of Chris Watson’s MANDIBLE, and more, 8:00
Thursday, February 2 World premiere of Mason Bates’s DIGITAL LOOM and Robert Nasveld’s DIPLAY, U.S. premiere of Henrik Strindberg’s PUFF, Mariano Augustin Fernandez’s EL SACRIFICIO, Dai Fujikura’s ANOTHER PLACE, and Gabriela Ortiz’s EL AGUILA BICEFALA, and New York premiere of Frederic Rzewski’s HONK, 2:00
Friday, February 3 World premiere of Paul Schoenfield’s GOSPEL ORATORIO NO. 2 (CHANNAH), New York premiere of Zhou Long’s THE ENLIGHTENED, and U.S. premiere of Jukka Tiensuu’s SPIRITI, free tickets must be picked up in advance at Juilliard Box Office at 60 Lincoln Center Plaza
Anthology Film Archives
32 Second Ave. at Second St.
February 1-5
Tickets: $8
718-399-6359
http://www.anthologyfilmarchives.org
Wednesday, February 1 ESSAI D’OUVERTURE (Luc Moullet, 1988) and BRIGITTE & BRIGITTE (Luc Moullet, 1966), 7:00
Wednesday, February 1 LES CONTRABANDIÈRES/THE SMUGGLERS (Luc Moullet, 1967), 9:00
Thursday, February 2 A GIRL IS A GUN/UNE AVENTURE DE BILLY LE KID (Luc Moullet, 1971), 7:00
Thursday, February 2 ANATOMY OF A RELATIONSHIP (Luc Moullet, 1975), 9:00
Friday, February 3 THE COMEDY OF WORK (Luc Moullet, 1987), 7:00
Friday, February 3 SHIPWRECKED ON ROUTE D 17 (Luc Moullet, 2003), 9:00
Saturday, February 4 ESSAI D’OUVERTURE (Luc Moullet, 1988) and BRIGITTE & BRIGITTE (Luc Moullet, 1966), 5:00
Saturday, February 4 LES CONTRABANDIÈRES/THE SMUGGLERS (Luc Moullet, 1967), 7:00
Saturday, February 4 A GIRL IS A GUN/UNE AVENTURE DE BILLY LE KID (Luc Moullet, 1971), 9:00
Sunday, February 5 ANATOMY OF A RELATIONSHIP (Luc Moullet, 1975), 5:00
Sunday, February 5 THE COMEDY OF WORK (Luc Moullet, 1987), 7:00
Sunday, February 5 SHIPWRECKED ON ROUTE D 17 (Luc Moullet, 2003), 9:00
The Riley Archive
Harold Riley and Nelson Mandela meet before doing portrait
30 Rockefeller Plaza Concourse Level
Between 49th & 50th St.s and Fifth & Sixth Aves.
212-843-8003
http://www.rockefellercenter.com
http://www.rileyarchive.com/news_2003.htm
Wednesday, February 1
through
Friday, February 10 Tribute to Nelson Mandela, featuring children’s competition "Picturing Nelson Mandela" and only portrait Mandela has ever sat for, by Harold Riley
St. Agnes Branch
New York Public Library
444 Amsterdam Ave. near 81st St.
Wednesdays at 2:00 pm
Admission: free
212-877-4380
http://nypl.org/events/breventsdetail.cfm?EventID=43017.732343
Wednesday, February 1 FEEL MY PULSE (Gregory La Cava, 1928)
Wednesday, February 8 AN AMERICAN IN PARIS (Vincente Minnelli, 1951)
Wednesday, February 15 ON THE TOWN (Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly, 1949)
Wednesday, February 22 THE PRINCESS BRIDE(Rob Reiner, 1987)
Dahesh Museum of Art
580 Madison Ave. at 57th St.
Admission to galleries free from 6:00 to 9:00
212-759-0606
http://daheshmuseum.org/publicprograms_events
Thursday, February 2 Dr. Roger Diederen, The Poet and His Portrait: Representations of Homer in the Nineteenth, 6:30
The Aesthetic Realism Foundation
141 Greene St. off West Houston St.
First Thursday of the month at 6:30
Suggested contribution: $10
212-777-4490
http://www.aestheticrealism.org/events2.htm#Public_Seminars
Thursday, February 2 With Margot Carpenter, Carol Driscoll, and Devorah Tarrow
Merchant’s House Museum
29 East Fourth Street between Lafayette St. and Bowery
Closed Tuesday & Wednesday
Museum admission: $8
212-777-1089
http://www.merchantshouse.com/a_calendar.htm
Thursday, February 2
through
Monday, February 27 19th-Century Valentines: Exhibition of lace cards, vinegar valentines, penny valentines, and more
Thursday, February 9 Lucky in Love? A Night of Psychic Readings, $25 admission, readings $20 for ten minutes, with hors d’oeuvres, wines, and spirits, 6:30 — 9:30
Sunday, February 12 Salon Music: Love in the Parlors, with Bond Street Euterpean Singing Society, followed by a reception, $15, 5:30
66 West 12th St. between Fifth & Sixth Aves.
212-817-8215
http://www.nsu.newschool.edu/02a_specdiv.htm#0201
Thursday, February 2 The Public Talks Roundtable: Writers and the Public Theater, with John Guare, Suzan Lori Parks, Diana Son, and others, moderated by Oskar Eustis, $10, 7:00
Monday, February 6 Joyce Carol Oates, THE FEMALE OF THE SPECIES: TALES OF MYSTERY AND SUSPENSE, $5, 6:30
Tuesday, February 7 Forum on Writing for Children: Sarah Weeks with Deborah Brodie, $5, 6:30
Saturday, February 11 Third Annual NYC Grassroots Media Conference (http://www.nycgrassrootsmedia.org), prergistration $20, 9:30 am — 6:00 pm,
Donnell Library Center
New York Public Library
20 West 53rd St. between Fifth & Sixth Aves.
Thursdays at 2:30 unless otherwise noted
Admission: free
212-621-0619
http://nypl.org/events/breventsdetail.cfm?EventID=43181.732344
Thursday, February 2 I REMEMBER HARLEM, EPISODE 2: THE DEPRESSION YEARS, 1930-1940 (William Miles, 1980)
Thursday, February 9 RAUL ROBESON: MAN OF CONSCIENCE (William Miles, 1986) and BLACK STARS IN ORBIT: NASA’S AFRICAN-AMERICAN ASTRONAUTS (William Miles, 1990)
PhotoFest/Film Forum
Boris Karloff haunts Film Forum for double and triple features
Film Forum
209 West Houston St. between Sixth & Seventh Aves.
February 3-9
Tickets: $10
212-727-8110
http://www.filmforum.org/films/karloff.html
Friday, February 3
and
Saturday, February 4 FRANKENSTEIN (James Whale, 1931) and THE MASK OF FU MANCHU (Charles Brabin, 1932)
Sunday, February 5 BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN (James Whale, 1935) and THE MUMMY (Karl Freund)
Monday, February 6 THE RAVEN (Lew Landers, 1935), THE GUILTY GENERATION (Rowland V. Lee, 1931), and GRAFT (Christy Cabanne, 1931)
Tuesday, February 7 THE BLACK CAT (Edgar G. Ulmer, 1934), THE OLD DARK HOUSE (James Whale, 1932), and THE BODY SNATCHER (Robert Wise, 1945)
Wednesday, February 8 THE LOST PATROL (John Ford, 1934) and THE CRIMINAL CODE (Howard Hawks, 1931)
Thursday, February 9 TARGETS (Peter Bogdanovich, 1968) and THE HAUNTED STRANGLER (Robert Day, 1958)
City Cinematheque
Time-Warner Cable channel 75
Saturday and Sunday at 9:00 pm through February 26
Repeated the following Friday at midnight through March 3
Discussion follows screening
http://www.cuny.tv/specials/special2.lasso?specialsID='SP000234'
Our favorite cable film series turns its focus onto important early black cinema, featuring such stars as Lena Horne, Cab Calloway, and Louis Jordan, by such directors as Spencer Williams and Josh Binney. Though they are not technically up to the standards of their Hollywood contemporaries, these quickie DIY low-budget flicks were the only way in which blacks could make the films they wanted to make, telling stories about the black condition in America, starring blacks, made for a black audience. Stick around for the postscreening discussions to find out more about these rarely screened works.
Friday, February 3 THE BLOOD OF JESUS (Spencer Williams, 1941), followed by discussion with Judith Weisenfeld
Saturday, February 4
Sunday, February 5
and
Friday, February 10 GO DOWN DEATH (Spencer Williams, 1944), followed by discussion with Pearl Bowser
Saturday, February 11
and
Sunday, February 12 THE DUKE IS TOPS (William L. Nolte, 1938), followed by discussion with Farah Griffin
Landmark Sunshine Cinema
143 E. Houston St. between First & Second Aves.
Friday and Saturday nights at midnight
212-330-8182
http://www.landmarktheatres.com/Market/NewYork/NewYork_frameset.htm
Friday, February 3
and
Saturday, February 4 CREMASTER 1 (Matthew Barney, 1995) and CREMASTER 2 (Matthew Barney, 1999)
Friday, February 10
and
Saturday, February 11 HAROLD AND MAUDE (Hal Ashby, 1971)
Also available on DVD
Bud Cort (Harold) and Ruth Gordon (Maude) are magnificent in this glorious black comedy from director Hal Ashby (THE LAST DETAIL, SHAMPOO, BEING THERE) and writer Colin Higgins. Harold is an eighteen-year-old rich kid obsessed with death, regularly flirting with suicide. Maude is a fun-loving, free-spirited senior citizen approaching her eightieth birthday. Ashby throws in just the right amount of post-1960s social commentary, including a very funny antiwar scene, without becoming overbearing, as this could have been a maudlin piece of sentimental claptrap, but instead it’s far from it. Even the Cat Stevens soundtrack ("If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out," "Tea for the Tillerman," "Where Do the Children Play?") works. HAROLD AND MAUDE is a tender, uproarious, bittersweet tale that is one of the best of its kind, completely unforgettable, enlightening, and, ultimately, life-affirming in its own odd way.
150 West 17th St. at Seventh Ave.
212-620-5000
Friday, February 3 Andrea Centazzo: Mandala, multimedia experience, $25, 7:00
Friday, February 3 Cabaret Cinema — Hollywood in the Himalayas: IL FIORE DELLE MILLE E UNA NOTTE (ARABIAN NIGHTS) (Pier Paolo Pasolini, 1974), free with $7 bar minimum, 9:30
Friday, February 10 Cabaret Cinema: THE GOLEM (Carl Boese & Paul Wegener, 1920), with live musical accompaniment by Gary Lucas, $15 (includes admissions to museum galleries), 9:30
Sunday, February 12 THE YOGIS OF TIBET (Phil and Jo Borock, 2002), free with museum admission of $10, 4:00
Wednesday, February 15 On Life and Enlightenment: LIFE IS A MUDRA, short film followed by discussion, free with museum admission of $10, 1:00
BAMcafe live
Brooklyn Academy of Music Opera House Café
30 Lafayette Ave. between Ashland Pl. & St. Felix St.
No cover; $10 food/drink minimum
Friday nights at 9:00
718-636-4100
http://bam.org/events/bamcafelive.aspx
Friday, February 3 BRC: Dr. Israel & Dreadtone International and Martha Redbone Trio
Friday, February 10 BRC: 24-7 Spyz and Phil Moore Browne
Friday, February 17 BRC: Keziah Jones and FunkFace
Friday, February 24 BRC: Apollo Heights & Shaka Zulu Overdrive
The Little Orchestra Society
Avery Fisher Hall
10 Lincoln Center Plaza
Tickets: $10-$50
212-971-9500
http://www.littleorchestra.org/index_calender.html
Saturday, February 4 Happy Concert for Young People, ages six to twelve, 11:00 am & 1:00 pm
Queensborough Performing Arts Center
222-05 56th Ave., Bayside
Tickets: $29-$35
718-631-6311
http://www.qcc.cuny.edu/qpac/harlem.html
Saturday, February 4 The Harlem Gospel Choir, 8:00
Library of Performing Arts Events
Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center / Bruno Walter Auditorium
40 Lincoln Center Plaza between Broadway & Amsterdam Ave.
Admission: free
212-870-1630 / 212-642-0142
http://www.nypl.org/research/calendar/prog/lpa/plistlpa2.cfm
Saturday, February 4 African American Vaudeville and Race Politics, lecture by Brenda Dixon Gottschild, 3:00
Asia Society and Museum
725 Park Ave. at 70th St.
Tickets: $10, children under sixteen free
212-517-ASIA
http://www.asiasociety.org/events
Saturday, February 4 Lunar New Year, featuring Chinese Lion Dance, storytelling, music workshops, arts and crafts, and more, 12 noon — 3:00
Brooklyn Museum of Art
200 Eastern Parkway
Admission: free after 5:00 pm
718-638-5000
http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/first-saturdays
Saturday, February 4 World Music: Folklore Urbano, Hall of the Americas, first floor, 6:00 — 8:00
Saturday, February 4 Performance: Brooklyn Philharmonic and guests, Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Auditorium, third floor (free tickets available at the visitor center in the Grand Lobby at 5:00), 6:00 & 7:00
Saturday, February 4 Hands-On Art: make (and toot) your own horn, Education Division, first floor (free timed tickets available in the Education Gallery at 6:00), 6:30 — 8:30
Saturday, February 4 Curator Talk: Teresa A. Carbone, "American Identities," fifth floor (free tickets available at the visitor center in the Grand Lobby at 6:00), 7:00
Saturday, February 4 Young Voices: student guide Stephanie Stern, "Egypt Reborn: Art for Eternity," third floor (free tickets available at the visitor center in the Grand Lobby at 6:30), 7:30
Saturday, February 4 Storytelling: Linda Humes, the African Diaspora, Hall of the Americas, first floor, 8:15
Saturday, February 4 Film: DAUGHTERS OF THE DUST (Julie Dash, 1991), followed by a Q&A with Professor Maria de Longoria, Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Auditorium, third floor (free tickets available at the visitor center in the Grand Lobby at 7:30), 8:30
Saturday, February 4 Dance Party: DJ Emskee of WBAI spins ’80s tunes, Beaux-Arts Court, third floor, 9:00 — 11:00
Countee Cullen Branch, NYPL
104 West 136th St.
Admission: free
212-491-2070
http://nypl.org/events/breventsdetail.cfm?EventID=42991.732346
Saturday, February 4 Swing band celebrates its thirtieth anniversary, 2:30
Central Park East Meadow
97th to 100th Sts. near Fifth Ave.
Admission: free
212-794-6564
http://www.centralparknyc.org/17613/7039942
Saturday, February 4
and
Sunday, February 5 Cross-country skiing, snow tubing, and snow-sculpting, freestyle skiing and snowboarding exhibition, and more, including NYC Rail Jam on Sunday only, 10:00 am — 3:00 pm
B.B. King Blue Club & Grill
237 West 42nd St. between Seventh & Eighth Aves.
212-997-4144
http://bbkingblues.com/schedule/index.shtml
Saturday, February 4, 11 Strawberry Fields: Beatles Brunch Buffet, $35 in advance, 12 noon
Saturday, February 4 Tenth annual Bob Marley Birthday Tribute, with the High Times Cannabis Cup Band, $22 in advance, 8:00
Friday, February 10
and
Saturday, February 11 Dr. John, $30 in advance, 8:00 & 10:30
Sunday, February 5, 12 Sunday Gospel Brunch with the World Famous Harlem Gospel Choir, $35 including tax and tip, 1:30
Tuesday, February 14 Valentine’s Day featuring Oleta Adams, $32 in advance, plus $40-$90 for Champagne and chocolate-covered strawberries, 8:00 & 10:30
Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts
Walt Whitman Theatre at Brooklyn College
Junction at Flatbush & Nostrand Aves.
718-951-4500
http://www.brooklyncenteronline.org
Saturday, February 4 DanceBrazil, featuring contemporary and traditional Afro-Brazilian dance and live music, $15-$35, 8:00
Saturday, February 11 Valentine’s Concert, with the Shirelles, Lou Christie, and the Classics, $15-$35, 8:00
Staten Island Botanical Garden
1000 Richmond Terr.
Admission: $8 adults, $5 children
718-273-8200
Sunday, February 5 Celebrating the Year of the Dog, New York Chinese Scholar’s Garden, 12 noon — 3:00
China Institute
125 East 65th St.
212-744-8181
http://www.chinainstitute.org/calendar/index.html
Sunday, February 5 Face-painting and Paper-folding, $25 per child and adult, $10 per additional child, 10:00 am
Tuesday, February 7 Chinese New Year’s Banquet, Peking Park Restaurant, $125
Thursday, February 9 Chinese New Year Family Celebration, the Puck Building Grand Ballroom, $350 adults, $75 children
Sunday, February 12 Lantern-making and Red Envelopes, $25 per child and adult, $10 per additional child, 1:00
Symphony Space
Leonard Nimoy Thalia
2537 Broadway at 95th St.
February 5-21
Tickets: $10
212-864-5400
http://www.symphonyspace.org/genres/seriesPage.php?genreId=2&seriesId=83
Thursday, February 5 MY MAN GODFREY (Gregory La Cava, 1936), 4:00, and HIS GIRL FRIDAY (Howard Hawks, 1940), 5:45
Saturday, February 7 HIS GIRL FRIDAY (Howard Hawks, 1940), 6:00, and MY MAN GODFREY (Gregory La Cava, 1936), 7:45
Thursday, February 12 THE AWFUL TRUTH (Leo McCarey, 1937), 4:00, and THE PHILADELPHIA STORY (George Cukor, 1940), 5:45
Saturday, February 14 THE PHILADELPHIA STORY (George Cukor, 1940), 6:00, and THE AWFUL TRUTH (Leo McCarey, 1937), 8:15
Canal Room
285 West Broadway at Canal St.
Admission: free
212-941-8100
http://www.scion.com/culture/events/metro
Monday, February 6 malbon Bros.Farms (mBF) and Scion present Live Metros, with DJ Sal Morale and live performances by Little Brother and Len Xiang, among others, 10:00 pm - 2:00 am
92nd St. Y
1395 Lexington Ave. at 92nd St.
212-415-5500
Monday, February 6 Ha Jin and Lois-Ann Yamanaka, $17, 8:00
Monday, February 13 Margaret Atwood and Valerie Martin, $17, 8:00
CUNY Graduate Center Skylight Room (CUNY)
365 Fifth Ave. at 34th St.
Bowery Poetry Club (BPC)
308 Bowery at Bleecker St.
February 6 — April 10 at 5:30, with informal gathering at 5:00
Tickets: $10, $70 for series
212-817-8215 / 212-614-0505
http://web.gc.cuny.edu/cepp/courses/TalksAndReadings.html#3
Monday, February 6 Study Abroad on the Bowery! with Anne Waldman
Monday, February 13 Study Abroad on the Bowery! with Paul Auster
Mid-Manhattan Library/History Collection
455 Fifth Ave. at 40th St.
Admission: free
212-340-0849
http://nypl.org/events/breventsdetail.cfm?EventID=42685.732349
Tuesday, February 7 Illustrated slide lecture with Natalie DeVoe, celebrating the work of Romare Bearden, Jacob Lawrence, Faith Ringgold, and others, 6:30
New-York Historical Society
2 West 77th St. at Central Park West
Tickets: $12
212-873-3400/212-817-8215
http://www.nyhistory.org/programs.html
Tuesday, February 7 The African Burial Ground: Studying the Early African Americans in New York, presentation and discussion with Howard Dodson, Michael Blakey, and Jean Howson, 6:30
Thursday, February 9 Bound for Canaan: The Underground Railroad and the War for the Soul of America, with Fergus M. Bordewich, 6:30
Makor
Steinhardt Building
35 West 67th St. between Amsterdam & Columbus Aves.
Tickets: $25
212-601-1000
Tuesday, February 7 THE CAINE MUTINY (Edward Dmytryk, 1954), followed by discussion moderated by Mark Ethan, 2:00
Tuesday, February 14 PATHS OF GLORY (Stanley Kubrick, 1957), followed by discussion moderated by Mark Ethan, 2:00
New York Society for Ethical Culture
2 West 64th St. at Central Park West
Admission: free
212-874-5210
Wednesday, February 8 Panel discussion with Brian Lehrer, Bob Graham, Bruce Jackson, and Christopher Hitchens, 7:00
Japan Society
333 E. 47th St. at First Ave.
Tickets: $35
212-752-3015
Wednesday, February 8
and
Thursday, February 9 Agatsuma: Contemporary Shamisen Fusion, with Hiromitsu Agatsuma, 7:30
Bowery Ballroom
6 Delancey St. at Bowery
212-533-2111
Friday, February 10 Boston band is back, with Battles opening up, $20, 9:00
Mo Pitkin’s House of Satisfaction
34 Ave. A between Second & Third Sts.
Tickets: $15
212-777-5660
Friday, February 10 Old Downtown: A musical journey from Nashville to New York City, 7:30 & 9:30
The Down Town Association
60 Pine St. between Pearl & William Sts.
Tickets: $150-$2,000
212-448-9206
http://www.lls.org/nycblacktieblackjack
Saturday, February 11 Evening of dinner, open bar, games of chance, music and dancing, and prizes, benefiting the New York City Chapter of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, 8:00 — 12 midnight
CBGBs
315 Bowery between First and Second Sts. at the base of Bleecker St.
212-982-4052
Saturday, February 11 Led by former Plums frontman Eric Miranda, up-and-coming band plays an original mix of power pop, punk, '70s glam rock, and '60s Mersey beat from their fine indie EP, SPAGHETTI EASTERN; make sure to request "Kung Fu Girl," "This Town," and "Tangerine," $10, 10:00
American Museum of Natural History
Central Park West & 79th St.
KaufmannTheater, first floor
Saturdays through February 25
Free with museum admission of $14
212-769-5315
http://www.amnh.org/programs/specials/blackhistory
Saturday, February 11 A Conversation with Woodie King Jr., moderated by Ed Bullins, 12:30
Saturday, February 11 Woodie King Jr.: A Performance Retrospective, with Woodie King Jr., Ruby Dee, Melba Moore, and Trazana Beverly and a special excerpt from the New Federal Theatre, 2:15
Saturday, February 11 The State of Black Theater: Solutions, panel discussion with Woodie King Jr., Ed Bullins, Will Power, Melissa Skinner, and Voza Rivers, 3:45
Saturday, February 11 Woodie King Jr. and Friends: A Book & CD Signing, with King, Ed Bullins, Ruby Dee, Melba Moore, and others, theater lobby, 4:45
Langston Hughes Auditorium
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, New York Public Library
515 Malcolm X Blvd. at 135th St.
Buffet and concert: $30
Concert only: $18
212-491-2206
http://nypl.org/research/calendar/prog/sch/schprog.cfm
Sunday, February 12 Joyful Joyful: A Gospel Celebration, with the Harlem Gospel Singers from MAMA, I WANT TO SING, soul food buffet (1:00) and concert (3:00)
French Institute Alliance Française
The Sky Room
22 East 60th St.
Tickets: $75 (must be purchased by February 10)
212-355-6160
http://www.fiaf.org/events/winter2006/2006-01-19-lecture-cartoons.shtml
Monday, February 13 Valentine Chocolates from Fauchon, with executive pastry chef Florian Bellanger preparing the Megève, along with Sherry and Port tastings, 5:00
Brooklyn Comedy Company
85 Ave. A between Fifth & Sixth Sts.
Monday nights at 8:30
Admission: free
http://www.brooklyncomedycompany.com/new$h!t
Monday, February 13 Stand-up comedy featuring Emily Epstein and others, hosted by Larry Bailey
Madison Square Garden
Seventh Avenue to Eighth Avenue between 31st & 33rd Sts.
February 13-14
Tickets: $35-$100
http://www.westminsterkennelclub.org
This annual event in which people run around in funny ways as they lead crazily groomed dogs takes over the Garden for a few days, featuring 165 breeds and varieties of pups. Below are some of the highlights of the judging schedule in case you want to check out a specific breed.
Monday, February 13 Yorkshire Terrier, 9:30 am
Monday, February 13 Tibetan Spaniel, 9:45 am
Monday, February 13 Chinese Shar-Pei, 10:30 am
Monday, February 13 Akita, 11:00 am
Monday, February 13 Bernese Mountain Dog, 12:30 pm
Monday, February 13 Affenpinscher, 1:15
Tuesday, February 14 Borzoi, 9:30 am
Tuesday, February 14 Welsh Corgi, 11:00 am
Tuesday, February 14 Greyhound, 11:30 am
Tuesday, February 14 Irish Wolfhound, 12:45 pm
Tuesday, February 14 Old English Sheepdog, 2:30 pm
Tuesday, February 14 Basset Hound, 8:30
Sotheby’s
1334 York Ave. at 72nd St., fifth floor
Monday, February 13, 3:00 - 5:00
Tuesday, February 14, 10:00 am to 5:00 pm
Wednesday, February 15, 10:00 am to 3:00 pm
Admission: free, but RSVP in advance to Gramercy 32 Fine Arts Gallery, 212-780-0932 or info@32finearts.com
http://www.32finearts.com/painter.cfm?painter_id=35&int_period=3
Monday, February 13
through
Wednesday, February 15 One of twi-ny’s favorite photographers has a special show at Sotheby’s, featuring some of his most romantic work taken all over the world
Makor
Steinhardt Building
35 West 67th St. between Amsterdam & Columbus Aves.
Tickets: $9 per person, $15 per couple
Special prix-fixe dinner menu available in Makor Café
212-601-1000
Tuesday, February 14 THE PRINCESS BRIDE (Rob Reiner, 1987), 8:00
The Corner Bookstore
1313 Madison Ave. between 92nd & 93rd Sts.
Admission: free
212-831-3554
http://www.randomhouse.com/broadway/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780767919760
Tuesday, February 14 BOY CRAZY: KEEPING YOUR DAUGHTER’S FEET ON THE GROUND WHEN HER HEAD IS IN THE CLOUDS, discussion and book signing with Charlene Giannetti and Margaret Sagarese, 6:30
Russian & Turkish Baths
268 East Tenth St.
Tickets: $35-$45 depending on when you reserve
http://www.geminiandscorpio.com/events.html
http://www.russianturkishbaths.com
Tuesday, February 14 Fourth annual steamy Valentine’s bash, featuring steam baths, dancing, live music from Romashka, optional massages, complimentary ZYR vodka and pierogies, DJ Poodlecannon, and the promise of many nearly naked New Yorkers, 8:00 pm - 1:00 am
BAMcinematek / BAM Rose Cinemas
Brooklyn Academy of Music
30 Lafayette Ave. between Ashland Pl. & St. Felix St.
Tickets: $35 for movie screening & three-course dinner
718-636-4139
http://bam.org/film/series.aspx?id=65
Tuesday, February 14 BALL OF FIRE (Howard Hawks, 1941), 7:00 & 9:30
92nd St. Y
1395 Lexington Ave. at 92nd St.
Admission: free
212-415-5500
http://www.longmarriedcouples.com
Tuesday, February 14 Public reception for new exhibit, with Scharffen Berger chocolates, wine and seltzer, and catalogs signed by photographer Robert Fass available for $20, 5:00 - 6:45