Dual Exhibit of the Week
05.28.08
1. Taking your time with Olafur Eliasson at MoMA and P.S.1
3. Art, music, literature, and barbecue in Madison Square Park
4. Music and art at MetroTech Center Commons
5. The World Science Festival, the Bicycle Film Festival, and Internet Week
Volume 7, Number 52
May 28 — June 11, 2008
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at admin@twi-ny.com.
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Site Design/Subway Photo:
Fred Gates Design, New York.
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"Sunset Kaleidoscope" offers unique view of the neighborhood
P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center / MoMA
22-25 Jackson Ave. at 46th Ave., Long Island City
Thursday through Monday through June 30, 12 noon - 6:00
Suggested donation: $5
718-784-2084
take your time p.s.1 slideshow
Danish-born artist Olafur Eliasson creates unique and compelling environments using light, mirrors, water, metal, and other materials. His fascinating installations engage the spectator while challenging the idea of the museum as a place of art. "Take your time," which is on view at MoMA and P.S.1 through June 30, consists of dozens of projects — Eliasson refers to them as "experimental setups" — that invite visitors to interact with them in ways foreign to regular museumgoers. The oldest piece in the exhibit, 1991’s "Wannabe," seems to just be a spotlight shining down on the floor, but it also reaches to the very heart of what much of Eliasson’s work is all about if the user steps into the light, making the spectator the star. Eliasson’s immersive environments play with light and color, perception and reality, but these are no mere optical illusions or tricks; unlike magicians, Eliasson reveals the mechanisms behind his projects, giving away his secrets and making the behind-the-scenes materials part of the overall experience. He even includes gorgeous photographic series of islands, caves, glaciers, and other Northern landscapes that influence his work as well as two "Model rooms" filled with dozens of small pieces that hint at his methods and thought processes.
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"Take Your Time" is centerpiece of exhibit at P.S.1
In the basement of P.S.1, visitors can walk through "Beauty," a sheer wall of mist that forms an ever-changing rainbow. "The natural light setup" is a room bathed in different shades of white light that seem to affect the temperature based on the intensity of the light emanating from the ceiling. The views seen in "Colour spectrum kaleidoscope" and "Sunset kaleidoscope" change as spectators alter their position. The centerpiece of the exhibition, and the work that gives it its name, is "Take your time," a large room with a giant oval mirror hanging above, at a slight angle. It is best experienced by lying down on the wooden floor and observing as the mirror rotates, the reflection causing distortions of bodies and even making people seemingly disappear. Although it’s cool as hell, it also connects the artist and the spectator in ways that are rewarded the longer you stay in the room, watching yourself and others, especially as they enter and leave. "Taking one’s time means to engage actively in a spatial and temporal situation, either within the museum or in the outside world," Eliasson says in a conversation with artist Robert Irwin published in the exhibition catalog. "It requires attention to the changeability of our surroundings." (Bonus: Eliasson has lined the walls next to the escalators of the 53rd St. E train stop — which is one of the best, most direct ways to get from MoMA to P.S.1 — with behind-the-scenes photos of him working in his studio, preparing for the show.)
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Olafur Eliasson, "Room for One Colour," monofrequency lights, 1997
Museum of Modern Art
West 54th St. between Fifth & Sixth Aves.
Through June 30 (closed Tuesdays; Fridays free from 4:00 to 8:00)
Admission: $20 (includes same-day film screening)
212-708-9400
While photography is not allowed at P.S.1, resulting in people having to actively engage with the works instead of spending their time trying to snap a good photo on their camera phone — which is often impossible given the nature of Eliasson’s ouevre — MoMA does permit photography, but we strongly recommend that you experience the projects first before attempting to record what can be a very individual and intimate relationship between artist and user. As Eliasson says in a conversation with artist Robert Irwin in the exhibition catalog, "I have great faith in the spectator and in the self-reflective experience….Your experience of the thing is integrated as a part of the thing itself." "Space reversal" puts the spectator right in the middle of the action, reflected hundreds of times in a narrow, mirrored room built into the wall overlooking the sculpture garden. "Negative quasi brick wall," set against a window, distorts and refracts the outside world. Three versions of "Mirror door" — identified as "user," "spectator," and "visitor" — consist of spotlights, tripods, and mirrors that alter your perception of what is real and what exists only in the dimension beyond the mirror. ("Mirror door [observer]," at P.S.1, cleverly bends the spotlight between reflection and reality.) "Moss wall" brings the outside world inside, as a wall of moss will decompose over the course of the exhibit. Strobe lights seem to stop falling drops of water in a moment in time in "Your strange certainty still kept."
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"I Only See Things When They Move" bathes room in color bars
Eliasson, who lives and works in Copenhagen and Berlin, uses color as a central theme in his work. For "360 degree room for all colours," gradations of the color spectrum move slowly across a panoramic screen, changing the color not only inside the circle but also of the room outside. In "I only see things when they move," a lamp in a glass cylinder on a tripod in the center of an otherwise empty room splashes vertical color stripes against the walls; as people walk around it, their shadows interact with the color bars. Meanwhile, in the hallway, the monochromatic bulbs of "Room for one colour" bathe everything and everyone in a dense yellow light. While "Take your time" is spread across the third floor, there is one piece in the Marron Atrium on the second floor that provides wonderful closure to the show. In the wide-open, cavernous white room, a circular black fan swings from the extremely high ceiling, nearly hitting people on the head as it passes by, its motor buzzing in their ears. (Don’t worry; the fan never dips low enough to actually make contact with anyone.) The seemingly living, breathing piece actively engages the spectator in a fun environment devoid of color. Both physical and conceptual, "Ventilator" is yet another of Eliasson’s involving, compelling environments that doesn’t hit you over the head while also not being afraid to reveal its inner magic. (Bonus: Eliasson will install four temporary waterfalls — one by the Brooklyn Bridge, two by Piers 4 & 5 in Brooklyn, and a fourth at Pier 35 in Lower Manhattan — from June 26 through October 13.)
Roy and Niuta Titus Theaters
11 West 53rd St. between Fifth & Sixth Aves.
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
All three of the Bourne films, based on Robert Ludlum’s trilogy, are thrilling action pics starring Matt Damon as an amnesiac killing machine trying to find out who he really is. In a rarity, the final film is actually the best of the bunch. The series features appearances by Clive Owen, Chris Cooper, Julia Stiles, Albert Finney, Franka Potente, Brian Cox, Joan Allen, and David Strathairn and some amazing chases, especially the one set on the roofs of Tangiers in the finale. MoMA will be screening all three flicks over three consecutive days — these were meant to be seen on the big screen, so settle in for some awesome late-night popcorn munching. There are also some cool films from MoMA’s ongoing Jazz Score series playing over the next few weeks.
Thursday, May 29 THE BOURNE IDENTITY (Doug Liman, 2002), 6:00
Friday, May 30 THE BOURNE IDENTITY (Doug Liman, 2002), 5:00
Friday, May 30 The Brain and Bourne: Neuroscience in the Bourne Trilogy, screening of THE BOURNE IDENTITY followed by panel discussion with Doug Liman and Guilio Tononi, moderated by James Schamus, 7:30
Saturday, May 31 THE BOURNE SUPREMACY (Paul Greengrass, 2004), 2:00
THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM completes trilogy at MoMA
Saturday, May 31 THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM (Paul Greengrass, 2007), 5:00
Saturday, May 31 Jazz Score: BULLITT (Peter Yates, 1968), 4:00
Saturday, May 31 Jazz Score: THE GAUNTLET (Clint Eastwood, 1977), 6:45
Sunday, June 1, 2:30
and
Wednesday, June 4, 6:00 Jazz Score: ALFIE (Lewis Gilbert, 1966)
Friday, June 6, 6:00
and
Sunday, June 8, 2:30 Jazz Score: THE PAWNBROKER (Sidney Lumet, 1964)
Friday, June 6, 8:30
and
Sunday, June 8, 5:00 Jazz Score: IN COLD BLOOD (Richard Brooks, 1967)
Saturday, June 7, 6:00
and
Thursday, June 12 Jazz Score: THE TAKING OF PELHAM ONE TWO THREE (Joseph Sargent, 1974)
Monday, June 9
through
Monday, June 16 MoMA Presents: DEREK (Isaac Julien, 2008)
MoMA Film
Roy and Niuta Titus Theaters
11 West 53rd St. between Fifth & Sixth Aves.
June 1—26
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
MoMA celebrates the arrival of summer — if it ever comes — with a collection of films that take place during the hottest season of the year. The flicks are not exactly popcorn munchers — they range from Andy Warhol and Chuck Wein’s story of a gay hustler to François Ozon’s maddeningly frustrating UNDER THE SAND — but they do include Steve Spielberg’s JAWS, which features a different kind of munching. And if you’ve never seen Morris Engel’s LITTLE FUGITIVE, which is set in Coney Island, well, what are you waiting for? There are also summer-set works by Jean Renoir, Ingmar Bergman, Otto Preminger, Hou Hsiao-hsien, and the Taviani brothers.
Sunday, June 1 MY HUSTLER (Andy Warhol & Chuck Wein, 1965), 4:30
Wednesday, June 4 MY HUSTLER (Andy Warhol & Chuck Wein, 1965), 8:30
Friday, June 6 SOUS LE SABLE (UNDER THE SAND) (François Ozon, 2000), 6:15
Unlikely duo Marie (Charlotte Rampling) and Jean Drillon (Bruno Cremer) are hopelessly in love with each other. But when Jean suddenly disappears into the ocean, Marie refuses to believe he might be dead and instead continues to speak with him and think he’s actually with her. Rampling is outstanding in a very difficult role made even more challenging by François Ozon’s relentlessly uneasy directing.
Saturday, June 7 LITTLE FUGITIVE (Ray Ashley, Morris Engel & Ruth Orkin), 5:00
Sunday, June 8 SOUS LE SABLE (UNDER THE SAND) (François Ozon, 2000), 2:00
Thursday, June 19 LA NOTTE DI SAN LORENZO (THE NIGHT OF THE SHOOTING STARS) (Paolo Taviani & Vittorio Taviani, 1982), 6:15
Thursday, June 19 DONGDONG DE JIAQI (A SUMMER AT GRANDPA'S) (Hou Hsiao-hsien, 1984), 8:30
Friday, June 20 JAWS (Steven Spielberg, 1975), 6:00
Saturday, June 21 LA NOTTE DI SAN LORENZO (THE NIGHT OF THE SHOOTING STARS) (Paolo Taviani & Vittorio Taviani, 1982), 2:00
Saturday, June 21 JAWS (Steven Spielberg, 1975), 7:30
Sunday, June 22 LITTLE FUGITIVE (Ray Ashley, Morris Engel & Ruth Orkin), 2:00
Monday, June 23 DONGDONG DE JIAQI (A SUMMER AT GRANDPA'S) (Hou Hsiao-hsien, 1984), 6:00
Wednesday, June 25 BONJOUR TRISTESSE (Otto Preminger, 1958), 6:00
Wednesday, June 25 Summer Melancholia Double Bill: UNE PARTIE DE CAMPAGNE (A DAY IN THE COUNTRY) (Jean Renoir, 1936/1946) and SOMMARNATTENS LLENDE (SMILES OF A SUMMER NIGHT) (Ingmar Bergman, 1955), 8:00
Thursday, June 26 Summer Melancholia Double Bill: UNE PARTIE DE CAMPAGNE (A DAY IN THE COUNTRY) (Jean Renoir, 1936/1946) and SOMMARNATTENS LLENDE (SMILES OF A SUMMER NIGHT) (Ingmar Bergman, 1955), 5:30
Thursday, June 26 BONJOUR TRISTESSE (Otto Preminger, 1958), 8:30
Juliette Binoche stars in Amos Gitai’s DISENGAGEMENT
Walter Reade Theater
165 West 65th St. between Broadway & Amsterdam Ave., Plaza Level
Israel @ 60 Series Pass: $40 for any five films
May 28 - June 5
212-496-3809
New York City’s celebration of the sixtieth anniversary of the founding of the State of Israel continues with this film series at Lincoln Center comprising fifteen films, all made within the last ten years, that examine the historical and cultural legacy of the land and its people, which has been swarmed by controversy since its creation. The films delve into such topics as faith, Palestinian resistance, the West Bank, compulsory military service, traditions battling contemporary culture, refugee camps, suicide bombings, prostitution, and life, love, and family.
Wednesday, May 28 THREE MOTHERS / SHALOSH IMA’OT (Dina Zvi-Riklis, 2006), 2:00
Wednesday, May 28 LATE MARRIAGE / HATUNA MEUHERET (Dover Koshashvili, 2001), 4:15
Thursday, May 29 LIVE AND BECOME / VA, VIS ET DEVIENS (Radu Mihaileanu, 2005), 1:30
Thursday, May 29 CAMPFIRE / MEDURAT HASHEVET (Joseph Cedar, 2004), 4:15
Thursday, May 29 AVENGE BUT ONE OF MY TWO EYES / NEKRAM ACHAT MISHTEY EYNAY (Avi Mograbi, 2005) , 6:20
Thursday, May 29 THREE MOTHERS / SHALOSH IMA’OT (Dina Zvi-Riklis, 2006), 8:30
Friday, May 30 CLOSE TO HOME / KAROV LA BAYIT ('Vidi' Vardit Bilu & Dalia Hager, 2006), 2:00
http://www.ifcfilms.com/closetohome
Smadar (Smadar Sayar) and Mirit (Naama Schendar) are two very different eighteen-year-olds thrust together by Israel’s compulsory military service in Vidi Bilu and Dalia Hager’s small but intriguing CLOSE TO HOME. Smadar and Mirit are assigned to register (racially profile) Palestinians as they pass through the area near the Jerusalem gate, checking IDs on the streets and on the buses. While Smadar is a rebellious spirit who is free with her sexuality and refuses to follow any rules, Mirit is meek and timid, still living at home with her parents, afraid to get in any kind of trouble. The movie takes a sudden turn when a terrorist bomb goes off on their beat, changing personal relationships and public and private responsibilities. Despite its controversial subject matter, CLOSE TO HOME hits close to home, a gentle, tender slice of life that is about a lot more than just young women in military service.
Friday, May 30 THIRST / ATASH (Tawfik Abu Wael, 2004), 4:10
Friday, May 30 DISENGAGEMENT / DÉSENGAGEMENT (Amos Gitai, 2007), 6:30
Friday, May 30 THE INNER TOUR (Ra’anan Alexandrowicz, 2001), 9:15
Saturday, May 31 THIRST / ATASH (Tawfik Abu Wael, 2004), 2:00
Saturday, May 31 LIVE AND BECOME / VA, VIS ET DEVIENS (Radu Mihaileanu, 2005), 4:20
Saturday, May 31 CAMPFIRE / MEDURAT HASHEVET (Joseph Cedar, 2004), 7:20
Saturday, May 31 LATE MARRIAGE / HATUNA MEUHERET (Dover Koshashvili, 2001), 9:20
Sunday, June 1 THE INNER TOUR (Ra’anan Alexandrowicz, 2001), 12:00
Sunday, June 1 PURITY: BREAKING THE CODES OF SILENCE / TEHORA (Anat Zuria, 2002), 2:00
Smadar (Smadar Sayar) and Mirit (Naama Schendar) do time in the military in CLOSE TO HOME
Sunday, June 1 CLOSE TO HOME / KAROV LA BAYIT ('Vidi' Vardit Bilu & Dalia Hager, 2006), 3:40
Sunday, June 1 USHPIZIN (Giddi Dar, 2004), 5:40
Sunday, June 1 CHECKPOINT / MACHSSOMIM (Yoav Shamir, 2003), 7:30
Sunday, June 1 DISENGAGEMENT / DÉSENGAGEMENT (Amos Gitai, 2007), 9:15
Monday, June 2 AVENGE BUT ONE OF MY TWO EYES / NEKRAM ACHAT MISHTEY EYNAY (Avi Mograbi, 2005), 2:00
Monday, June 2 OR (MY TREASURE) (Keren Yedaya, 2004), 4:15
Monday, June 2 KADDIM WIND: MOROCCAN CHRONICLES / RUAH KADDIM — CHRONIKA MAROKAIT (David Benchetrit, 2002), 6:30
Tuesday, June 3 KADDIM WIND: MOROCCAN CHRONICLES / RUAH KADDIM — CHRONIKA MAROKAIT (David Benchetrit, 2002), 1:00
Tuesday, June 3 USHPIZIN (Giddi Dar, 2004), 6:15
Tuesday, June 3 CLOSE TO HOME / KAROV LA BAYIT ('Vidi' Vardit Bilu & Dalia Hager, 2006), 8:15
Wednesday, June 4 USHPIZIN (Giddi Dar, 2004), 1:00
Wednesday, June 4 PURITY: BREAKING THE CODES OF SILENCE / TEHORA (Anat Zuria, 2002), 2:50
Wednesday, June 4 OR (MY TREASURE) (Keren Yedaya, 2004), 4:30
Wednesday, June 4 LIVE AND BECOME / VA, VIS ET DEVIENS (Radu Mihaileanu, 2005), 6:30
Wednesday, June 4 NO. 17 (David Ofek, 2003), 9:30
Thursday, June 5 NO. 17 (David Ofek, 2003), 2:00
Thursday, June 5 CHECKPOINT / MACHSSOMIM (Yoav Shamir, 2003), 3:45
Shea Stadium
123-01 Roosevelt Ave.
Thursday, May 29 The New York Mets salute Israel’s sixtieth anniversary with Glatt kosher food stands, pregame traditional Israeli music and dance by the Parparim Ensemble, the first pitch thrown by Consul General Asaf Shariv, and other Israeli-themed events, as well as a 7:10 night game against the Los Angeles Dodgers
57th St. & Fifth Ave., 11:00 am
Sunday, June 1
Admission: free
Israel celebrates its sixtieth anniversary with this annual parade, featuring more celebrities, performers, floats, and politicians than ever before. Among the one hundred thousand participants, cheered on by one million spectators, are Valerie Harper, Lainie Kazan, Lisa Edelstein, Steve Guttenberg, Ron Rifkin, Freddie Roman, Marissa Jaret Winokur, Miri Ben-Ari, Richard Kind, the Brighton Ballet Theatre, the Israeli Dance Institute Festival Dancers, the Parparim Dance Ensemble, Binyomin Ginzberg, Chai Five, the Hamsa Boys, the Tefillah Band, the Harlem Drummers, Steppers, and Flag Team, Jerome "Bump" Robinson Drum Corps, the Bushwackers, the First Panamanian Drum & Bugle Corps, the New York Scottish Pipes & Drums, and many more. Also paying their respects are General Colin Powell, Vice President Al Gore, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Senators Hillary Clinton and Chuck Schumer, Ambassador Sallai Meridor, Consul General Asaf Shariv, Ambassador Dan Gillerman, and other politicos. The parade runs up Fifth Ave. from 57th St. to 79th St., starting at 11:00 am and continuing through 4:30 pm.
The Jewish Museum
1109 Fifth Ave. at 92nd St.
Admission: free
212-423-3337
http://www.thejewishmuseum.org
Tuesday, June 3 Panel discussion with Uri S. Cohen, David D’Arcy, and Noah Stollman, 6:30
JCC in Manhattan
334 Amsterdam Ave. at 76th St.
Tickets: $8
646-505-5708
Tuesday, June 3 Screening of THREE MOTHERS (Dina-Zvi-Riklis, 2006), as part of Lincoln Center’s Israel at 60 film series, 8:00
Photo: Rosalie O'Connor
Michele Wiles and David Hallberg in SWAN LAKE
Metropolitan Opera House
Lincoln Center
Through July 7
Tickets: $25-$174
The American Ballet Theatre’s spring season is under way at the Metropolitan Opera House, with such repertory classics as Tchaikovsky’s SWAN LAKE and THE SLEEPING BEAUTY and Franz Lehár’s THE MERRY WIDOW as well as a world premiere from Twyla Tharp. The season concludes with GISELLE, featuring Nina Ananiashvili, Diana Vishneva, and Irina Dvorovenko taking on the coveted lead role. The principal dancers rotate through multiple productions with several partners, including Sascha Radetsky, Ethan Steifel, Gillian Murphy, Marcelo Gomes, Paloma Herrera, David Hallberg, Julie Kent, and others.
Tuesday, May 27
through
Monday, June 2 SWAN LAKE, choreography by Kevin McKenzie after Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov, music by Tchaikovsky
Saturday, May 31 ABT Kids, one-hour program for children ages four to twelve, $25, 11:30 am
Tuesday, June 3
through
Saturday, June 7 Twyla Tharp World Premiere, including Harald Lander’s "Etudes," set to the music of Carl Czerny, and a world premiere set to an ABT-commissioned score by Danny Elfman
Monday, June 9
through
Saturday, June 14 DON QUIXOTE, choreography by Marius Petipa and Alexnder Gorsky, music by Ludwig Minkus
Monday, June 16
through
Saturday, June 21 THE SLEEPING BEAUTY, choreography by Kevin McKenzie, Gelsey Kirkland, and Michael Chernov after Marius Petipa, music by Tchaikovsky
Photo: Marty Sohl
Irina Dvorovenko in LA BAYADÈRE.
Monday, June 23
through
Saturday, June 28 LA BAYADÈRE, choreography by Natalia Makarova after Marius Petipa, music by Ludwig Minkus
Monday, June 30
through
Saturday, July 5 THE MERRY WIDOW, choreography by Ronald Hynd, music by Franz Lehár
Monday, July 7
through
Saturday, July 12 GISELLE, choreography by Jean Coralli, Jules Perrot, and Marius Petipa, music by Adolphe Adam
Barnes & Noble Lincoln Triangle
1972 Broadway at West 66th St.
Admission: free
212-595-6859
http://storelocator.barnesandnoble.com
Tuesday, May 27 Nancy Ellison, IN CLASSIC STYLE: THE SPLENDOR OF AMERICAN BALLET THEATRE (Rizzoli, May 2008, $100), book signing and slide presentation with ABT dancers, 7:00
IN CLASSIC STYLE: THE SPLENDOR OF AMERICAN BALLET THEATRE is a gorgeous, oversized hardcover that displays the famed dance company in all its glory upon its thirtieth anniversary at the Metropolitan Opera House. The elongated horizontal book comprises dozens of full-page photographs taken by Nancy Ellison of ten of ABT’s productions, including LA BAYADÈRE, SWAN LAKE, and GISELLE — each of which is part of the current spring season at Lincoln Center. For MANON, Ellison captures an emotional Diana Vishneva alone on the stage, as well as group shots showing off Nicholas Georgiadis’s elaborate costumes and scenery. The opening shot from CINDERELLA is an intoxicating, dreamy landscape. ABT executive director (and former dancer) Rachel S. Moore comments in her foreword, "Through her extraordinary photographs, Nancy Ellison allows us to embrace and cherish these magical worlds, and continue to be transported by them over and over again." Whether you’ve seen the dances or not, the photos will make you feel like you have. The nearly two dozens photos of THE DREAM are appropriately playful, while more than thirty photos of ROMEO AND JULIET run the gamut of emotion, from exhilarating to heartbreaking, especially the stunning final spread. "Ballet has always been a pursuit of excellence," ABT artistic director Kevin McKenzie writes in his introduction. "That’s what we really strive for, those moments in theater that are transcendent, that are a respite and wellspring in our lives." And in her brief essay, Ellison herself adds, "The transcendental grace that dancers feel, we the audience will experience as well. In these evanescent moments at the ballet, we are offered an opportunity to meditate on beauty, to swim in the currents of ritual healing, to feel cleansed of despair, and to encounter all that is rich in the magnificent assurance of aesthetic splendor." Like ABT, IN CLASSIC STYLE itself is a meditation of beauty, a beautiful example of aesthetic splendor.
twi-ny/mdr
Richard Deacon’s "Tropic" is one of seven sculptures on the Madison Square Park lawn
Madison Square Park
Broadway & Madison Ave. and Twenty-third & Twenty-fifth Sts.
On view daily 10:00 am — 6:00 pm through August 24
Admission: free
212-538-9310
https://www.madisonsquarepark.org
Welsh-born performance artist, teacher, and sculptor Richard Deacon, who won the Turner Prize in 1987, has crafted seven colorful sculptures that occupy the oval lawn in Madison Square Park. Deacon admits to losing his rhythm after his involvement with the Welsh Pavilion at the 2007 Venice Bienniale, but he got his groove back when he began experimenting with cardboard tubes and ceramic glaze. Working with Niels Dietrich’s ceramic studio in Cologne and with computer expert Dick Lyon, he developed a unique way to make the geometric tubes, which he then put together in what he calls assemblies, resulting in "Morning Assembly," "Evening Assembly," "Free Assembly," and "Other Assembly," four sculptures that meld well with the lush lawn and shady trees in the park, glittering in blue, green, yellow, and red. At certain angles, the abstract works resemble animals or stick figures relaxing on the grass, along with sunbathers, families, and lovers. The Assembly series is supplemented with three other pieces, including "Temperate," a vertical sculpture of melonlike balls oozing their juice, and "Tropic," a horizontal, twisting angular work that lies low to the ground. Deacon’s work comes alive the closer you get to them, so be sure to walk around the them to breathe in their life. (And as far as we know, he is not related to the Richard Deacon who starred as Mel Cooley on THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW.)
Madison Square Park
Broadway & Madison Ave. and Twenty-third & Twenty-fifth Sts.
Admission: free
https://www.madisonsquarepark.org
Saturday, May 31 Family-friendly activities featuring live performances by AudraRox and the Vital Children’s Theater, a Peace Flag activity by the Rubin Museum, snacks and treats from Whole Foods, and self-guided exploration kits, 10:30 am — 2:00 pm
The Deedle Deedle Dees use music to teach kids
Madison Square Park
Broadway & Madison Ave. and Twenty-third & Twenty-fifth Sts.
Tuesdays & Thursdays at 10:30 am
Admission: free
https://www.madisonsquarepark.org
On Tuesday and Thursday mornings throughout the summer, Madison Square Park hosts its annual series of music and stories for kids. This year’s lineup includes such well-known family-friendly acts as the Dirty Sock Funtime Band, the Paper Bag Players, Hot Peas ‘N Butter, AudraRox!, LuAnn Adams, and others.
Tuesday, June 3 Danna Banana
Thursday, June 5 Father Goose
Tuesday, June 10 David Grover & the Big Bear Band
Thursday, June 12 Erin Lee & Marci
Tuesday, June 17 The Deedle Deedle Dees
Thursday, June 19 Bubble Does Beatles
Tuesday, June 24 The Dirty Sock Funtime Band
Thursday, June 26 Puppeteers from the Swedish Cottage Marionette Theater
Tuesday, July 1 The Suzi Shelton Band
Thursday, July 3 Hot Peas ‘N Butter
Tuesday, July 8 Paper Bag Players
Thursday, July 10 Trout Fishing in America
Tuesday, July 15 AudraRox!
Thursday, July 17 Tada! Youth Theater
Tuesday, July 22 Funky Monkeys
Thursday, July 24 Robbi K.
Tuesday, July 29 Ernie & Neal
Thursday, July 31 Astrograss
Tuesday, August 5 Opus Ditty and the Hoedown Gang
Thursday, August 7 Jazz-a-ma-tazz featuring Hayes Greenfield
Tuesday, August 12 Ellen & Matt
Thursday, August 14 LuAnn Adams
Tuesday, August 19 Sweetbeatz featuring Meredith Wright
Thursday, August 21 John Flynn
Jennifer 8 Lee talks Chinese food
at Madison Square Park this summer
Madison Square Park
Broadway & Madison Ave. and Twenty-third & Twenty-fifth Sts.
Thursdays at 6:30 through August 7
Admission: free
https://www.madisonsquarepark.org
The third annual Mad Sq. Reads series features writers who will be reading from their latest works at a podium set up in front of the statue of Admiral Farragut in the north side of the park. The series kicks off with Richard Price and includes a special literary farewell to both Shea and Yankee Stadiums.
Thursday, June 5 Richard Price, LUSH LIFE
Thursday, June 12 Family Connections: Marie Brenner, APPLES AND ORANGES: MY BROTHER AND ME, LOST AND FOUND, and Bliss Broyard, ONE DROP
Thursday, June 19 New York Lives: Susanna Sonnenberg, HER LAST DEATH, and Dorothy Gallagher, HOW I CAME INTO MY INHERITANCE
Thursday, June 26 Poetry: Vision and Beauty, with Mark Strand, NEW SELECTED POEMS, and Honor Moore, THE BISHOP’S DAUGHTER
Thursday, July 10 Goodbye, Old Friends!, with Scott Pitoniak, MEMORIES OF YANKEE STADIUM, and Matt Silverman, 100 THINGS METS FANS SHOULD KNOW AND DO BEFORE THEY DIE
Thursday, July 17 Proust’s Madeleine: Following the Food Trail, with Jennifer 8 Lee, THE FORTUNE COOKIE CHRONICLES: ADVENTURES IN THE WORLD OF CHINESE FOOD, and Laura Schenone, THE LOST RAVIOLI RECIPES OF HOBOKEN: A SEARCH FOR FOOD AND FAMILY
Thursday, July 24 Women and Pop: Sheila Weller, GIRLS LIKE US, and May Pang, INSTAMATIC KARMA
Thursday, July 31 The Wisest, Kindest Voice: A Celebration of the Work and Life of William Maxwell, with Benjamin Cheever Edward Hirsch, Daniel Menaker, and Stewart O’Nan, moderated by Christopher Carduff
Thursday, August 7 Dog Days of Summer, THE DANGEROUS BOOK FOR DOGS, with Joe Garden, Janet Ginsburg, Chris Pauls, Anita Serwacki, Scott Sherman, and Emily Flake.
twi-ny/mdr
People will be lining up again for barbecue in Madison Square Park
Madison Square Park
Intersection of 23rd St., Broadway & Fifth Ave.
June 8-9, 12 noon - 6:00 pm
Admission: free; barbecue $8, sides and desserts $4
'Cue Seminars: free - $26
FastPass: $100
646-747-0584
http://www.madisonsquarepark.org
Every year we complain about the enormous lines at the annual Big Apple Barbecue Block Party in Madison Square Park, and with good reason — they are absolutely enormous. So go with a group, with each member hitting a different line, then meet up at the tent on East 25th St. to enjoy your barbecue with some live music (see schedule below). This year’s pitmasters include Garry Roark from Ubon’s Champion’s Choice in Yazoo, MS (pulled pork shoulder and coleslaw); Chris Lilly from Big Bob Gibson Bar-B-Q in Decatur, IL (pulled pork shoulder and beans); Jimmy Hagwood from Black Jack BBQ in Charleston, SC; Ed Mitchell from the Pit in Raleigh, NC (whole hog and coleslaw); Mike Mills from the 17th Street Bar & Grill in Memphis, TN (baby back ribs and beans); Michael Rodriguez from the Salt Lick BBQ in Driftwood, TX (beef brisket, sausage, and coleslaw); Joe Duncan from Baker’s Ribs in Dallas, TX (beef brisket and coleslaw); Tommy Houston from the Checkered Pig in Martinsville, VA (chopped pork sandwich and coleslaw); Jonathan Burrows from Mr. Cecil’s in Los Angeles, CA (beef ribs and cucumber tomato salad); Ed Wilson from Wilson’s Barbecue in Fairfield, CT (Texas-style brisket and coleslaw); and local boys John Stage from Dinosaur Bar-B-Que (pulled pork shoulder and beans), John Wheeler from Rack & Soul (baby back ribs and beans), Pete Daversa from Hill Country (beef ribs and beans), and Kenny Callaghan from Blue Smoke (Kansas City ribs and pickles). There are also free seminars, cooking demonstrations, panel discussions, and book signings; we recommend "The Geography of ’Cue" on Saturday at 2:00, with Lolis Eric Elie, Peter Kaminsky, Kathleen Purvis, and Calvin Trillin, and "Real American Idols: Champion Pitmasters" on Sunday at 12:30, with Chris Lilly, Mike Mills, Jeffrey Steingarten, and Dotty Griffith.
Saturday, June 7 The Defibulators, 1:00; the Sweet Divines, 2:45; the Wild Magnolias, 4:30
Sunday, June 8 Alex Battles & the Whiskey Rebellion, 1:00; Eli "Paper Boy" Reed & the True Loves, 2:45; the Sadies, 4:30
twi-ny/mdr
Ollabelle plays free show in Madison Square Park on July 9
Madison Square Park
Broadway & Madison Ave. and Twenty-third & Twenty-fifth Sts.
Wednesday nights at 7:00, June 18 - August 6
Blankets encouraged, no chairs allowed
Admission: free
https://www.madisonsquarepark.org
The annual Mad Sq. Music free concert series in Madison Square Park is another eclectic collection of folk, rock, pop, bluegrass, soul, R&B, and jazz, with appearances by the great Phoebe Snow, local faves Ollabelle, and Grammy nominee Ryan Shaw.
Wednesday, June 18 The Kennedys
Wednesday, June 25 Raul Midon
Wednesday, July 2 Cherryholmes
Wednesday, July 9 Ollabelle
Wednesday, July 16 Robert Glasper Trio
Wednesday, July 23 Phoebe Snow: One of a Kind
Wednesday, July 30 Trio Da Paz Jazz
Wednesday, August 6 Ryan Shaw
twi-ny/mdr
Rob Fischer’s "As Above, So Below" is a transformed Dumpster
MetroTech Center Commons at MetroTech Center
Civic Center/Borough Hall area of Downtown Brooklyn
Corner of Flatbush & Myrtle Aves.
BAM Rhythm & Blues Festival: Thursday afternoons, 12:00 - 2:00
"Everyday Eden" through September 17
Admission: free
718-636-4100 / 212-980-4575
BAM has put together another great summer concert series at MetroTech Center, but the Thursdays-at-noon starting time is a bummer for anyone working in Manhattan or other parts of Brooklyn. If you can get away, you can check out such fab performers as Oleta Adams, Phoebe Snow, Otis Clay, Meshell Ndegeocello, and the legendary Richie Havens, playing with young Marcus Carl Franklin; the two teamed up recently in Todd Haynes’s I’M NOT THERE.
MetroTech Center Commons is also home to "Everyday Eden," an ecologically themed public art show that is, unfortunately, rather lackluster. Although it’s not worth a trip all by itself, if you make it to any of the below concerts, you might as well walk around the park, where you’ll find Tony Feher’s "A little bird told me," groups of plastic bottles filled with red liquid placed in trees, as if they are nesting; Rob Fischer’s "As Above, So Below," a Dumpster transformed into a magical doorway of stained glass; and Nina Katchadourian’s "Please, Please, Pleased to Meet’cha," consisting of a half dozen bird sounds vocalized by humans and then translated by UN interpreters.
Thursday, June 5 Lionel Loueke Trio with Somi
Thursday, June 12 Otis Clay and Ryan Shaw
Thursday, June 19 The Skatalites
Thursday, June 26 Orchestra Baobab
Thursday, July 3 Oleta Adams
Thursday, July 10 Leela James
Thursday, July 17 Phoebe Snow
Thursday, July 24 Alice Smith
Thursday, July 31 Meshell Ndegeocello
Thursday, August 7 Richie Havens with special guest Marcus Carl Franklin
Armitage Gone! Dance gets elegant at the Guggenheim
Multiple venues
May 28 — June 1
http://www.worldsciencefestival.com
The brainiacs have arrived! The World Science Festival is here, featuring five days of lectures, panel discussions, readings, screenings, and seminars featuring a remarkable collection of prizewinning scientists and a whole lot of other really smart people. Below are only some of the highlights; there are more than forty events all told, at such locations as the CUNY Graduate Center, NYU’s Skirball Center, the Miller Theatre at Columbia, the Paley Center for Media, the New York Academy of Sciences, Symphony Space, Water Taxi Beach, the 92nd St. Y, MoMA, the Met, the American Museum of Natural History, the Rubin Museum of Art, and the Abyssinian Baptist Church. Below are only some of the many fascinating events about things we won’t even pretend to understand.
Thursday, May 29 Parallel Worlds, Parallel Lives, with Mark Oliver Everett II, Michio Kaku, and Max Tegmark, the Paley Center for Media, 6:00
Thursday, May 29 You and Your Irrational Brain: An Evening of Experimentation Under the Stars, with Dan Ariely, Jonah Lehrer, Jad Abumrad, and Robert Krulwich, Water Taxi Beach, 7:00
Thursday, May 29 Toil and Trouble...Stories of Experiments Gone Wrong, with Sam Shepard, Jim Gates, Nathan Englander, Lucy Hawking, and Michael Turner, the Moth at Symphony Space, 7:30
Thursday, May 29 Illuminating Genius: Unlocking Creativity, with Bill T. Jones, Michael York, V.S. Ramachandran, Nancy C. Andreasen, and David Eagleman, NYU Skirball Center, 8:00
Friday, May 30 The Mind's Eye, with Oliver Sacks and Robert Krulwich, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 6:00
Friday, May 30 Armitage Gone! Dance: The Elegant Universe, performance followed by discussion with Karole Armitage, Works & Process at the Guggenheim Museum, 7:30
Friday, May 30 The Sixth Extinction, with Richard Leakey and Bernie Krause, Columbia University Miller Theatre, 8:00
Friday, May 30 Invisible Reality: The Wonderful Weirdness of the Quantum World, with Alan Alda, Brian Greene, and William Phillips, NYU Skirball Center, 8:00
Saturday, May 31 Einstein, Time & Cool Stuff, with William Phillips, NYU Lecture Hall, 12:30
Saturday, May 31 Faith & Science, with Julia Sweeney, NYU Kimmel Center for University Life, 3:30
Saturday, May 31 Music and the Brain, with the Abyssinian Gospel Choir and Oliver Sacks, Abyssinian Baptist Church, 6:00
Saturday, May 31 QED: A Reading, with Alan Alda, followed by a conversation with physicists who knew Richard Feynman, Columbia University Miller Theatre, 8:00
Sunday, June 1 Beyond Einstein, with Leonard Susskind, Jim Gates, Peter Galison, and Paul Nurse, NYU Kimmel Center for University Life, 1:00
Sunday, June 1 Looking for the Laws of Life, with John Hockenberry, Paul Davies, Steven Benner, and Maggie Turnbull, NYU Kimmel Center for University Life, 4:00
Sunday, June 1 90 Is the New 50: The Science of Longevity, with Robert Butler, David Sinclair, and Richard Weindruch, NYU Kimmel Center for University Life, 7:00
Sunday, June 1 DEAR ALBERT, staged reading by Alan Alda with Anthony LaPaglia, Columbia University Miller Theatre, 7:00
Max Knight’s "Walking Bike" is on view at film festival art show
Anthology Film Archives
32 Second Ave. at Second St.
May 28-June 1
Tickets: $10 (Festival Pass $50)
718-399-6359 / 212-505-5181
http://www.anthologyfilmarchives.org
http://bicyclefilmfestival.com
The eighth annual Bicycle Film Festival, which travels to such sites as Toronto, Chicago, San Francisco, Tokyo, Zurich, Paris, Sydney, Vienna, London, and Austin, pedals into the Lower East Side for five days of film screenings, concerts, an art show, and other special events. This year’s festival features full-length works and shorts from all over the world, including the Czech Republic, the UK, Japan, Argentina, Italy, Iraq, Russia, and Canada in addition to the U.S. And please, do not drive to any of the below programs; ride your bike, walk, or take public transportation. Otherwise, you’re sort of missing the point.
Wednesday May 28 Bikes Rock, with Soft Circle and Daniel Leeb, IMPOSSIBLE HOUR (Jorgen Leth) with live score by Simone Pace of Blonde Redhead, a dance party, and more, Studio B, suggested donation, 9:00
Thursday May 29 "Dear Velo" art show opening, 40 Great Jones St., 6:00 — 9:00, followed by after-party at Lit, 93 Second Ave., with DJ Paul Sevigny and DJ Eric Foss, RSVP required at rsvp@bicyclefilmfestival.com; art show is open to the public May 30 — June 2, 12 noon — 7:00
Friday May 30 Fun Bike Shorts and Standing Start, including BICYCLE STORIES (Daniel Leeb, 2008), starring Matthew McGuinness, George Bliss, and Matthew Modine, 7:00, 9:15, 11:15
Friday May 30 Afterparty TBA
Saturday May 31 Street Party, 1:00
Saturday May 31 Free BMX Program, 1:00
Saturday May 31 Bike Scene It with Matthew Modine, featuring Matthew Modine and friends screening their favorite bike-related scenes from movies, 3:00
Saturday May 31 The Way Bobby Sees It, featuring LIFE CYCLE (Tom Mansfield, 2008), FIXIE DAVE (Terry Breheny, 2008), ACROSS THE CZECH REPUBLIC (Jason Reid, 2008), HAVE YOU SEEN IT (Eric Crosland, 2007), and THE WAY BOBBY SEES IT (Jason Watkins & Wendy Todd, 2008), 5:00
Saturday May 31 Messenger Program: Fast Friday, 7:00, 9:15, 11:15
Saturday May 31 Afterparty | Bootleg Sessions V.2
Sunday June 1 Shorts and Recycle a Bicycle Film, 1:00
Sunday June 1 Angels Die in the Soil, featuring HISTORY OF BICYCLE WITH NO NAME (Simone Cariello & Luca Puglia, 2007), WHITE SNOW, BLACK ICE: CYCLING OVER LAKE BAIKAL (Andrei Rozov & Gleb Stepanov, 2006), and ANGELS DIE IN THE SOIL (Babak Amini, 2008), 2:00
Sunday June 1 Adventures for the Cure, featuring PEOPLE WHO RIDE (Angelique Little, 2008), FLAT (Elizabeth Press & Caroline Samponaro, 2008), FROM TRAGEDY TO ADVOCACY: MARY BETH KELLY (Clarence Eckerson Jr., 2008), and ADVENTURES FOR THE CURE (Philip Knowlton, 2007), 3:00
Sunday June 1 Les Ninja du Japon, featuring PANTANI E LE TOUR DE FRANCE (Natali Fabrizio, 2008), COPPI (Antonio Poce & Valerio Murat, 2006), and LES NINJA DU JAPON (Giovanni Giommi, 2007), 5:00
Sunday June 1 Road to Roubaix, featuring STANDING START (Adrian McDowall & Finlay Prestsell, 2007), MILLARS TALE (Nigel Dick, 2007), and ROAD TO ROUBAIX (David Deal & David Cooper, 2008), 7:00
Sunday June 1 The Six-Day Bicycle Races, 9:15
Sunday June 1 Afterparty TBA
Faux Punk will be bringing its daft beats to Internet Week
Multiple venues
June 3-10
Free - $198
The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences comes to New York City to celebrate the Big Apple’s online industry with a large slate of lectures, panel discussions, seminars, conferences, summits, parties, and other special events, investigating digital and mobile marketing, start-ups, new media, network security, applied cryptography, search strategies, online political sites, and more at such venues as the South Street Seaport, SobelMedia World Headquarters, Bryant Park, Worldwide Plaza, Columbia, NYU, Pace, Fordham, the Chelsea Art Museum, the IFC Center, hotels and libraries, and local bars and restaurants, culminating in the twelfth annual Webby Awards. Below are only some of the more than fifty events.
Tuesday, June 3 EconAds: Economics of Ad Deals, seminar with Douglas Anmuth, Samir Arora, Lynda Clarizio, Peter Horan, Lance Maerov, Dave Morgan, Nancy Peretsman, and Mike Walrath, New World Stages, 340 West 50th St., 1:00 — 5:30
Wednesday, June 4 Time Warner’s Conversations on the Circle: News & Politics, with Steve Grove and Nadira Hira, moderated by David Bohrman, Time Warner Center, 58th St. between Eighth and Ninth Aves., 8:00 am
Wednesday, June 4 Thrillist’s Information Superparty: Web 1.0 to the Maximum Extreme!, with Faux Punk (the World's Best/Worst/Only Daft Punk DJ Cover Crew), Terry Diabolik (Finger on the Pulse), and Lauren Flax (U.N.I.T.Y.), Hiro Ballroom, 371 West 16th St.
Thursday, June 5 Time Warner’s Conversations on the Circle: Entertainment Culture, panel discussion with Brett Bouttier, Mark Golin, Gillian Sheldon, and Charlie Walk, moderated by Scott Donaton, Time Warner Center, 58th St. between Eighth and Ninth Aves., 8:00 am
Thursday, June 5 Where Internet and Film Collide: Watch, Learn, & Meet, IFC Center, 323 Sixth Ave., 7:30
Friday, June 6 Time Warner’s Conversations on the Circle: Health, panel discussion with Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Benjamin Heywood, Scott Mowbray, and Mitchell Rothschild, moderated by: Kendall Lockhart, Time Warner Center, 58th St. between Eighth and Ninth Aves., 8:00 am
Friday, June 6 nextNY Softball: Founders vs. the World, Central Park, Hecksher Field #2, West 65th St. & Central Park West, 6:15
Saturday, June 7 Wiimbledon 2008, Wii Tennis tournament, Barcade, 388 Union Ave., 10:00 am — 5:00 pm
Saturday, June 7 Festival Travel Channel Beer Bash & Screenings, the Sixth Ward, 191 Orchard St., 6:00
Sunday, June 8 Where Internet and Film Collide: Watch, Learn, & Meet, Soho Apple Store, 103 Prince St., 3:00
Sunday, June 8 Where Internet and Film Collide: Watch, Learn, & Meet, Chinatown Brasserie, 380 Lafayette St., 8:00
Monday, June 9 Webby Film and Video Awards, Skirball Center for Performing Arts, 566 LaGuardia Pl., 6:00
Monday, June 9 Make Good Ideas Happen, the Delancey, 168 Delancey St., 7:00
Tuesday, June 10 Magazines 24/7, Time & Life Building, Luce Room, 1271 Sixth Ave., 8:00 am — 10:00 pm
Tuesday, June 10 The twelfth annual Webby Gala, Cipriani Wall Street, 55 Wall St., featuring five-word acceptance speeches, 7:00
The girls are back in town and on the big screen
Opens Friday, May 30
http://www.sexandthecitymovie.com
From 1998 to 2004, SEX AND THE CITY was a mainstay on HBO, following the life and loves of Miranda Hobbes (Cynthia Nixon), Charlotte York (Kristin Davis), Samantha Jones (Kim Cattrall), and Carrie Bradshaw as they traipsed about Manhattan in designer duds and really expensive shoes, dining and dishing at all the right places. The chic chicks have now reunited in the highly anticipated big-screen version of the award-winning cable series, picking up four years later, with Miranda having troubles with Steve (David Eigenberg) while they raise Brady (Joseph Pupo) out in Brooklyn, Samantha struggling to continue a monogamous relationship with hulky model and actor Smith Jerrod (Jason Lewis) in Hollywood, Charlotte loving her life with husband Harry (Evan Handler) and their adopted daughter, Lily (Alexandra and Parker Fong), and Carrie finally deciding to move in with — and marry — Mr. Big (Chris Noth). Written and directed by Michael Patrick King, an executive producer and writer on the original series, the movie hiccups its way through nearly two and a half hours of predictable story lines and frustrating plot twists — albeit with some very tender moments — trying too hard to please fans of the show as well as newcomers to this silly, superficial world. But it’s still fun to see the girls back together — with Carrie facing forty and Samantha heading toward fifty — even if the film feels more like two episodes strung together than the cinematic extravaganza it wants to be.
Liv Tyler goes through some rough times in THE STRANGERS
Opens Friday, May 30
At the beginning of THE STRANGERS, Bryan Bertino’s debut as a writer-director, it is explained that the film was inspired by actual events and that it is still not fully known what happened at 1801 Clark Road on February 11, 2005. Neither the film’s official production notes nor Internet searches verify any of that information, detracting somewhat from a horror movie that is otherwise extremely gripping and very scary. Liv Tyler gives a dynamic performance as Kristen McKay, a beautiful young woman who has just rejected a marriage proposal from her boyfriend, James Hoyt (Scott Speedman). A devastated James drives them to his parents’ secluded ranch house, where the tension between the two is nearly paralyzing. But soon after a stranger knocks on the door several times, asking for Tamara, a trio of masked weirdos (Gemma Ward, Kip Weeks, and Laura Margolis) begin terrorizing James and Kristen, who are forced to band together to try to save their lives. The first half hour of Bertino’s psychological thriller is an exceptional character study of the troubled couple, and the three villains, who apparently are attacking James and Kristen for no reason, are appropriately creepy. But the film, which evokes such horror and home-invasion fare as Michael Haneke’s FUNNY GAMES, Tom Gries’s HELTER SKELTER, Sean S. Cunningham’s FRIDAY THE 13TH, Nimród Antal’s VACANCY, and any number of killer-clown movies, suffers from its claim of supposedly being at least partially true. Still, it’s one frightening flick.
Stephen Rea gets caught in a tight spot in STUCK
Angelika Film Center
18 West Houston St. at Mercer St.
Opens Friday, May 30
212-995-2000
http://www.city-cinemas.com/angelika.html
Tom (Stephen Rea) is having a really bad day: His slimy landlord evicts him, employment services loses his records, and a cop boots him off the park bench where he was planning to sleep. Meanwhile, Brandi (Mena Suvari) is having a great day: She finds out she’s being considered for a promotion at the retirement home where she works as a dedicated caregiver, so she goes out partying, drinking and taking ecstasy. Driving home in her fancy car, she suddenly smashes into Tom, who is pushing a grocery cart with his few meager belongings across the street, against the light, in the middle of the night. Tom goes flying through the windshield, where he gets stuck — the top half of his body is inside the car, while the bottom is splayed on the hood. And he can’t get out. A freaked Brandi decides that she can’t report the accident because it would ruin everything, so she goes home and locks the car in the garage — with a bloody, battered Tom still on the hood. As Brandi tries to go about her day, heading off to work, Tom attempts to get out of his life-threatening predicament, with neither having much luck. Director Stuart Gordon, who has a fine way with gore and horror — he’s directed such cult faves as RE-ANIMATOR and FROM BEYOND — keeps the tension mounting in this highly unusual story inspired by a real incident. Suvari is a hoot as Brandi, a hottie who enlists her supposedly big, tough boyfriend, drug dealer Rashid (Russell Hornsby), to help her (although that side plot gets tedious fast), while Rea is spectacular as the glass-encased Tom, who can rely only on himself if he’s going to survive. As visually creepy as it is, Gordon ups the ante with terrific use of deliciously squishy sound as Tom tries to wiggle his way out of his tight spot. Despite some minor setbacks, STUCK is a wholly original, gory, squishy delight.
Giuseppe Tornatore’s Italian thriller is spectacularly awful
Angelika Film Center
18 West Houston St. at Mercer St.
Opens Friday, May 30
212-995-2000
http://www.city-cinemas.com/angelika.html
http://www.theunknownwoman.com
The Italian thriller THE UNKNOWN WOMAN (LA SCONOSCIUTA) is, quite simply, one of the worst films we’ve ever seen. Written and directed by Giuseppe Tornatore, whose sentimental melodrama CINEMA PARADISO won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film some twenty years ago, THE UNKNOWN WOMAN is a manipulative, lurid tale that is as insipid as it is insulting. Xenia Rappoport stars as Irena, a Ukrainian woman who comes to Italy dead set on working for the Adacher family — father Donato (Pierfrancisco Favino), mother Valeria (Claudia Gerini), and, most important, daughter Thea (Clara Dossena). Amid annoying flash memories of her days as an abused sex worker, Irena grows close to Thea, whom she believes is her actual daughter. But when her old pimp, Mold (Michele Placido), shows up, Irena — and everyone she comes into contact with – is suddenly in grave danger. Rappaport mopes her way through the film, eliciting little sympathy from moviegoers, who won't care about any of the characters. Inexplicably, this total embarrassment won five major David di Donatallo Awards, the Italian equivalent of the Oscars. But don't let that make you curious; THE UNKNOWN WOMAN is spectacularly awful.
James Coburn learns some presidential secrets in ANALYST
Film Forum
209 West Houston St. between Sixth & Seventh Aves.
June 6-12, 1:00, 3:10, 5:20, 7:30, 9:40
212-727-8110
THE PRESIDENT’S ANALYST is one of the grooviest, most underrated films of the 1960s. James Coburn and his enormous toothful smile star as Dr. Sidney Schaefer, a psychiatrist who gets called in to treat the president of the United States, who is having some personal problems and crises of conscience as the Cold War intensifies. When word of the presidential therapy sessions gets out, international spies — including the great Godfrey Cambridge as a CEA agent and the fabulous Severn Darden as a Soviet operative — want to know just what the doc is finding out, sending Schaefer out on an unforgettable psychedelic journey through drugs, free sex, Greenwich Village, hippie music, and suburbia. The film also features cool cameos from Barry McGuire, Pat Harrington, William Daniels, Arte Johnson, Will Geer, and Jill Banner as Snow White. Writer-director Theodore J. Flicker made very few theatrical films; he spent most of his career directing episodes of such television series as I DREAM OF JEANNIE, THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW, NIGHT GALLERY, THE STREETS OF SAN FRANCISCO, BANACEK, and BARNEY MILLER, which he co-created. Film Forum will be screening THE PRESIDENT’S ANALYST in a new 35mm scope print; don’t miss it.
Sergei Bodrov’s biopic follows life of the man who would be Genghis Khan
Opens Friday, June 6
The story of Genghis Khan has been told several times on the big and small screen — Omar Sharif played the Mongolian warrior in 1965, John Wayne ridiculously had the lead role in Dick Powell’s 1956 film THE CONQUEROR, and there also have been Japanese, Chinese, and British versions — but Russian director Sergei Bodrov (PRISONER OF THE MOUNTAINS) takes a whole new approach in the gripping historical and romantic epic MONGOL. Set in the late twelfth century and shot on location in China, Mongolia, and Kazakhstan, MONGOL follows the life of young Temudgin from the age of nine as he grows into one of the fiercest fighters the world has ever known. Although the film features exciting, bloody battle scenes, at its heart it’s a moving character study of Temudgin, based on Lev Gumilev’s 1990s book THE LEGEND OF THE BLACK ARROW. Played as a child by Odnyam Odsuren and an adult by Japanese star Tadanobu Asano (ICHII THE KILLER, LAST LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE), Temudgin is a brutal but highly principled leader with an undying love for his strong wife, Borte (the stunning Khulan Chuluun in her film debut), and his family as well as a deep connection with his blood brother, Jamukha (Chinese actor Honglei Sun), later to become his mortal enemy. Set to Tuomas Kantelinen’s sweeping score and throat singing by Mongolian folk group Altan Urag, MONGOL is a lush, beautiful, and surprisingly personal film.
Jet Li and Jackie Chan finally unite
in THE FORBIDDEN KINGDOM
AMC Empire 25
234 West 42nd St. between Broadway & Eighth Ave.
212-398-3939
http://www.forbiddenkingdommovie.com
In the most exciting first-time movie pairing since Al Pacino and Robert De Niro appeared together in Michael Mann’s less-than-sizzling HEAT in 1995, martial arts masters Jackie Chan and Jet Li team up in Rob Minkoff’s THE FORBIDDEN KINGDOM, with much hotter results. Based on the famous Chinese legend of the Monkey King, the film opens in modern-day South Boston, where martial arts fan Jason Tripitikas (Michael Angarano) is the new kid in town, getting pushed around by local bullies. But when the tough kids try to rob a local pawnshop, Jason grabs a legendary staff and suddenly gets sent back to ancient China, where the Jade War Lord (Collin Chou) has imprisoned the Monkey King in stone and is terrorizing the population. Jason is soon joined by drunken immortal Lu Yan (Chan), the meditative Silent Monk (Li), and vengeance-seeking Golden Sparrow (Liu Yifei) as they head to Five Elements Mountain to return the staff to its rightful owner — and meet their destiny. Their journey takes them through the Bamboo Forest, a field of cherry blossoms, hundreds of warriors, and white-haired demoness Ni Chang (Li Bingbing), with Lu Yan and Silent Monk trying their best to train Jason so he is prepared to fight the Jade War Lord at the end of their quest. Minkoff takes a huge step up into live-action drama after directing such Disney fare as STUART LITTLE, THE LION KING, and THE HAUNTED MANSION; THE FORBIDDEN KINGDOM is still family-friendly, but kung fu fans won’t be disappointed, as Minkoff has brought along famed cinematographer Peter Pau (CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON) and fight choreographer extraordinaire Yuen Wo Ping (the MATRIX trilogy, KILL BILL). It’s all sort of THE WIZARD OF OZ meets TIME BANDITS meets THE KARATE KID meets KILL BILL, which is not necessarily a bad thing.
Jason Segel wrote and stars in vastly overrated "romantic disaster comedy"
http://www.forgettingsarahmarshall.com
Jason Segel, the twenty-first-century Judge Reinhold, wrote and stars in FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL, the latest in the successful string of comedies from producer Judd Apatow, which include THE 40-YEAR-OLD VIRGIN, KNOCKED UP, and SUPERBAD. In this self-described "romantic disaster comedy," Segel stars as Peter, a television-series composer whose big dream is to stage a Dracula musical with puppets. When his girlfriend, Sarah Marshall (Kristen Bell), the star of the TV show CRIME SCENE: SCENE OF THE CRIME, suddenly breaks up with him, he goes on a downward spiral of cheap sex and depression. His stepbrother, Brian (SNL’s Bill Hader), convinces him to get away and go on vacation, but when Peter heads off to Hawaii, he immediately discovers that Sarah is staying at the same resort, with her new sex toy, indie pop star Aldous Snow (British comedian Russell Brand). While exploring a friendship with hotel worker Rachel (Mila Kunis), Peter can’t get him mind off Sarah, following her around like a pathetic little puppy dog. Segel is likable enough, and there are a bunch of legitimately laugh-out-loud moments, but the film ultimately fails because of sloppy direction by first-timer Nicholas Stoller (hey, get that boom mic out of the shot!), terrible editing and continuity, cliches galore, silly subplots and minor characters, and way too many frontal nude shots of Segel. (Once was plenty, thank you very much.)
Harold and Kumar are back for more fun in ESCAPE
AMC Empire 25
234 West 42nd St. between Broadway & Eighth Ave.
212-398-3939
Regal Union Square Stadium
13th St. & Broadway
Overflowing with more toilet humor than you can shake a plunger, HAROLD AND KUMAR ESCAPE FROM GUANTANAMO BAY is the very funny follow-up to the unforgettable HAROLD AND KUMAR GO TO WHITE CASTLE. Written and directed by Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg, who wrote the original as well, the sequel lets viewers know just what they’re in for right from the very start; the first few minutes — which take place immediately after Harold (John Cho) and Kumar (Kal Penn) have fed their crave at White Castle and are preparing to go to Amsterdam so Harold can declare his love for Maria (Paula Garces) — include no-holds-barred aural and visual jokes about flatulence, pubic hair, and self-pleasure, setting the stage for a naughty road movie that quickly lands the pair in Guantanamo Bay when a frightened airline passenger mistakes Kumar’s homemade smokeless bong for a bomb. Former DAILY SHOW correspondent Rob Corddry is a riot as the inept racist deputy chief of Homeland Security, determined to track down the alleged terrorists, who encounter the Ku Klux Klan, a bizarre southern family, a Texas whorehouse, and, once again, the great Neil Patrick Harris along the way. Also back are Goldstein (David Krumholtz) and Rosenberg (Eddie Kaye Thomas), with LAW AND ORDER: SVU’s Christopher Meloni, who made a bizarre cameo as Freakshow in the original, now doing a bizarre cameo as a KKK grand wizard in the new film. Penn gets to show his romantic chops as well this time, as Kumar tries to deal with the frustration of his first love, Vanessa (Danneel Harris), getting married to super-Republican douchebag Colton (Eric Winter). Even when it crosses the bounds of extremely bad taste and utterly ridiculous silliness, HAROLD AND KUMAR ESCAPE FROM GUANTANAMO BAY somehow always manages to bring itself back and make you laugh your head off. Stick around for the end of the credits for a little bonus.
Robert Downey Jr. muscles up for IRON MAN
http://ironmanmovie.marvel.com
Robert Downey Jr. stars as a different kind of superhero in Jon Favreau’s grand retelling of the comic-book hero Iron Man. Tony Stark is a glitzy scientific genius whose rock-star life is filled with beautiful women, fancy parties, and a gorgeous cliff-side Hollywood home. Keeping things barely in perspective is his devoted personal assistant, Pepper Potts (an excellent Gwyneth Paltrow). As the head of Stark Industries — along with his late father’s former partner, Obadiah Stane (a villainously bearded and bald Jeff Bridges) — Tony uses cutting-edge technology to make and market weapons of mass destruction. On a business deal in Afghanistan to show off his latest creation, his convoy is blown up and he is taken hostage by terrorists, who demand that he build a missile for them right then and there. But instead he makes himself an iron suit to help him escape — and having seen how his own weapons have been used against him and America, has a change of heart about the future of his business, which doesn’t make Obadiah very happy. Unlike most superheroes, Stark has no innate super powers; he is merely a deeply conflicted man in a really cool metal suit. Favreau lets the character’s troubled soul and uneasy heart — which is kept pumping by a special magnet protecting it from shrapnel — not special effects, drive the film. Look for Iron Man creator and Marvel legend Stan Lee in a cameo, and be sure to stick around till the end of the credits for a special little bonus.
Partners Etgar Keret and Shira Geffen collaborate on JELLYFISH
Cinema Village
22 East 12th St. between University Pl. & Fifth Ave.
212-924-3363
Short-story writer and children’s book author Etgar Keret and playwright and kids’ book writer Shira Geffen, who are life partners, have teamed up for their feature-film directorial debut, JELLYFISH (MEDUZOT), a small, charming Israeli film that won the Camera D’Or at Cannes. Written by Geffen, the story follows three women dealing with family problems that threaten to leave them lost and lonely. After her boyfriend dumps her, Batya (Sarah Adler) heads off to her job working for a wedding caterer, where she is surrounded by happy people celebrating a marriage while she contemplates her own bleak future. But her life changes when she is sitting on the beach and a silent young girl (Nikol Leidman) comes walking out of the ocean and approaches her. When a policeman says that no one has reported the girl missing or is looking for her, Batya decides to take care of the child herself, perhaps as a reaction to the offhanded way in which her own wealthy, successful mother treats her. Meanwhile, Keren (Noa Knoller), who broke her leg at her wedding reception after being trapped in the bathroom, has to spend her honeymoon in a local seaside hotel instead of jetting off to the Caribbean; her unhappiness is soon magnified when she suspects her husband (Gera Sandler) might have eyes for an older woman who is staying alone in the deluxe penthouse suite. And Joy (Ma-nenita De Latorre) is a Filipino guest worker who has come to Israel to make money to send back to her son in the Philippines, but because she cannot speak Hebrew, it is difficult for her to communicate with anyone, especially one old woman (Zharira Charifai) she has been hired to care for. Like the multiple-character drama BABEL, Keret and Geffen’s film focuses on complex family relationship and the challenges of interpersonal communication, with water — whether it’s the leak in Batya’s ceiling, the ocean rumbling outside Keren’s hotel room, the sea the young girl mysteriously emerges from, or the large expanse that separates Joy from her family — serving as a metaphor for both life and death, joy and sorrow. This sweet, painful, and somewhat surreal examination of four generations of women might be set in Tel Aviv, but its themes are universal.
The Pevensies' return to Narnia is a drag
http://www.disney.go.com/disneypictures/narnia
Watch out for the flying matzoh balls of doom! Andrew Adamson's sequel to 2005's THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE is a slow-moving, silly action-adventure movie that's filled with ridiculous plot holes, extreme suspensions of disbelief, and terrible closing music. Lucy (Georgie Henley), Edmund (Skandar Keynes), Peter (William Moseley), and Susan (Anna Popplewell) are back in Narnia, having been summoned by Prince Caspian (Ben Barnes), whose life is in danger now that his uncle, King Miraz (Sergio Castellitto), has his own heir to the Telmarine throne. Based on the fourth book in C. S. Lewis's Christian parable series, PRINCE CASPIAN evokes the story of Moses and the Israelites escaping from King Ramses II and the Egyptians, but Adamson and his co-screenwriters, Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, have upped the action ante, with disastrous results. The always excellent Peter Dinklage does his best as Trumpkin, but just about everything else is a real mess.
Emily Mortimer and Chiwetel Ejiofor prepare for battle
Regal Union Square Stadium
13th St. & Broadway
http://www.sonyclassics.com/redbelt
Chiwetel Ejiofor, one of America’s best and most underrated actors, gives a mesmerizing performance in REDBELT, a rather bizarre offering from David Mamet. Ejiofor stars as Mike Terry, an honest, hardworking master of self-defense who runs a Jiu Jitsu studio in L.A. and lives by a samurai-like code. When a distraught woman, Laura Black (Emily Mortimer), enters the studio on a rainy night and ends up grabbing police officer Joe Collins’s (Max Martini) gun and shooting it, shattering the front window, a series of events soon finds Terry in the midst of an elaborate con, a specialty of Mamet’s. However, lurking in the background as Terry meets a Hollywood action hero (Tim Allen), his right-hand man (Joe Mantegna), and a shady fight promoter (Ricky Jay), is the prospect that Terry might have to participate in a mixed-martial-arts competition in order to solve his personal and financial woes, a low-grade, conventional plot device that is more KARATE KID II, ROCKY V, and BEST OF THE BEST 3 than THE SPANISH PRISONER and HOUSE OF GAMES. It’s almost inconceivable that such an accomplished writer and director as Mamet (THINGS CHANGE, HOMICIDE) could use such a ridiculous story line until one discovers that Mamet has been studying Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu for several years now, so he worked his obsession into an otherwise compelling drama. However, REDBELT, fresh off its screenings at the Tribeca Film Festival, is still worth watching for Ejiofor, although even he can’t save the embarrassing final fifteen minutes.
Charming British flick channels Richard Crenna and Sylvester Stallone
AMC Empire 25
234 West 42nd St. between Broadway & Eighth Ave.
212-398-3939
Village East
181 Second Ave. at 12th St.
212-529-6998
http://citycinemas.moviefone.com
Garth Jennings has followed up his extremely quirky 2005 adaptation of Douglas Adams’s THE HITCHHHIKER’S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY with the charming and engaging — and plenty quirky — SON OF RAMBOW. Bill Milner stars as Will Proudfoot, a young boy whose family is part of the Brethren, a religious group that shuns much of the modern world. Will is not allowed to watch movies or television, including educational films in class, and he is not permitted to have friends outside the group. However, he secretly uses his Bible as a sketchbook for his wildly creative illustrations and stories. After getting into a tussle with tough kid Lee Carter (Will Poulter), Will is forced by Lee to help him make a homemade version of FIRST BLOOD that he wants to submit to a TV contest. Will’s life changes dramatically when he watches the Sylvester Stallone film; not only does he fall in love with the character, but he writes his own sequel, the misspelled SON OF RAMBOW, and is soon recruiting more and more kids to participate in the movie, including the ultra-cool androgynous French exchange student Didier Revol (Jules Sitruck). But as the production grows in scope — and gets out of control — his budding friendship with Lee becomes seriously compromised. SON OF RAMBOW is a feel-good British comedy that is as much about the cinema as childhood itself, a parable about independence, interdependence, and, above all, family, of all kinds. Jennings, who gives short shrift to the beliefs of the Brethren but otherwise gets things right, sets the films in the 1980s, before technology turned everyone into a potential auteur, and includes classic period-defining songs by the Cure, Gary Neumann, Depeche Mode, and others.
http://speedracerthemovie.warnerbros.com
In 1967-68, fifty-two episodes of a poorly dubbed Japanese animated television series aired in the U.S., following the exploits of a skilled young racecar driver and his family. Forty years later, the Wachowski Brothers (THE MATRIX trilogy, BOUND) have reinvented that
low-budget cult classic, SPEED RACER, as a visually spectacular, coldly dispassionate movie that’s almost always set to overload. Mixing live action with cutting-edge CGI technology, Larry and Andy Wachowski bring to life Speed Racer (Emile Hirsch), Trixie (Christina Ricci), Pops Racer (John Goodman), Mom Racer (Susan Sarandon), Sparky (Kick Gurry), Spritle (Paulie Litt), and Chim-Chim the chimpanzee in a highly stylized candy-colored world. Shortly after Speed starts displaying his remarkable talent driving the Mach 5, mega-tycoon Royalton (Roger Allam), who runs a powerful global corporation, wants Speed to race for him, but Speed decides to remain with his down-to-earth mom-and-pop team, enraging Royalton, who promises to ruin the entire Racer family. Shady back-room dealings and race fixing come to light as Speed considers participating in the dangerous race that killed his older brother, Rex, and just might force him to join sides with two of his toughest competitors, Taejo Togokahn (Korean pop star Rain) and the masked Racer X (Matthew Fox). The film works best when it focuses on the changing relationships within the family as Speed grows up; unfortunately, the Wachowskis spend way too much time showing off their own technological prowess. It is often difficult to figure out what is going on in the racing scenes (which take place across futuristic Matchbox-like courses), and parents will have difficulty explaining to their children what happens to the many drivers whose cars get blown up. And at more than two hours, the movie is at least a half hour too long. The original SPEED RACER series worked because of its charming simplicity; the Wachowski Brothers have taken it through the matrix and ended up with one seemingly endless left turn.
Errol Morris looks at Abu Ghraib in new documentary
Village East
181 Second Ave. at 12th St.
212-529-6998
http://citycinemas.moviefone.com
Oscar-winning documentarian Errol Morris (THE FOG OF WAR, A THIN BLUE LINE) examines the use of still photography as evidence in STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE, which focuses in on the recording of the abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib. Morris speaks with five of the seven members of the military who were directly involved (Sabrina Herman, Megan Ambuhl, Lynndie England, Jeremy Sivitz, and Javal Davis — Charles Graner and Ivan Frederick were still in prison and not permitted to talk to him) who describe the events surrounding the systematic torture in which prisoners were forced to commit humiliating, degrading acts for what appears to be the pleasure of their captors, who take still photos and video of the events, even including themselves in the images, smiling and pointing. Among the other men and women he speaks with is Brent Pack, the special agent for criminal investigations, who discusses which of the acts constitutes actional abuse and which doesn’t, and former brigadier general Janis Karpinski, who was relieved of command and demoted once the events were made public. One of the most fascinating parts of the film are Herman’s letters to her domestic partner, containing worries that are not visible as Herman parades around with naked prisoners. But in many ways that gets to the heart of the problem; the photographs show one thing, but the testimony describes circumstances that go outside the frame. It also examines how the responsibility for the abuses did not reach very far up the chain of command. Morris supplements the film with emotionally effective and artistic, if somewhat manipulative, reenactments that heighten the tension.
City Center
West 55th St. between Sixth & Seventh Aves.
Tickets: $40-$96
212-581-1212
For more than thirty years, the New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players have continued their mission of "giving vitality to the living legacy of Gilbert & Sullivan through performance and education." Founded by artistic director Albert Bergeret, the group, which has played all across the country and in England, moves into City Center in Midtown for its 2008 season, featuring productions of the Gilbert & Sullivan classics H.M.S. PINAFORE, THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE, THE MIKADO, and THE GONDOLIERS.
TWI-NY TICKET CONTEST: What Oscar-winning 1999 British film goes behind the scenes to tell the story of W. S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan? Send your answer to contest@twi-ny.com by Wednesday, May 28, at 5:00 pm for your chance to win a pair of tickets to the below performance of your choice. Three lucky winners with the correct response will be chosen at random. (Only one entry per household; employees of This Week in New York, City Center, and the New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players are ineligible.)
Friday, June 6 H.M.S. PINAFORE, 8:00
Saturday, June 7 THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE, 2:00
Saturday, June 7 THE MIKADO, 8:00
Sunday, June 8 H.M.S. PINAFORE, 3:00
Tuesday, June 10 Free Kids Night: H.M.S. PINAFORE, each paying adult receives one free children’s ticket, 7:00
Wednesday, June 11 H.M.S. PINAFORE, 2:00
Thursday, June 12 THE GONDOLIERS, 8:00
Friday, June 13 THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE, 8:00
Saturday, June 14 THE MIKADO, 2:00
Saturday, June 14 THE GONDOLIERS, 8:00
Sunday, June 15 THE GONDOLIERS, 3:00
The Waco Brothers will stomp into the Highline Ballroom June 3
Highline Ballroom, 431 West 16th St. between Ninth & Tenth Aves.
Tuesday, June 3, 8:00
Tickets: $12-$15
212-414-5994
http://www.highlineballroom.com
http://www.bloodshotrecords.com
A few issues back, we raved about the Waco Brothers’ new album and complained that there were no local gigs coming up. Well, change your plans, because the Wacos will be playing a CD release show on June 3 at the Highline Ballroom. Introducing "Death of Country Music" on the new disc, WACO EXPRESS: LIVE & KICKIN’ AT SCHUBA’S TAVERN (Bloodshot, March 2008), the Waco Brothers announce, "It’s something we’ve been working towards over the years. And I think with this album we will finally achieve it." Filled with hard-rockin’ raucous hardcore country punk from a misanthropic group of don’t-call-them-alt-country-vets all-stars, the album is a nonstop paean to sweaty, gut-wrenching, foot-stomping music. As they sing in "Death of Country Music, they’re "picking the flesh off the bone." Singer-guitarist Jonboy Langford, drummer Steve Lil’ Willy Goulding, bassist Alan "Sprockets" Doughty, singer-guitarist Deano, singer-mandolinist Tracy Dear, and pedal steeler Marc "Durantula" Durante — with such pedigrees as the Mekons, Dollar Store, KMFDM, and Jesus Jones — are inspired by "booze and political malcontent," and those elements are plastered all over WACO EXPRESS, which was recorded live at Schubas Tavern in their adopted hometown of Chicago. (The club doesn’t use a hyphen but the album title does.) At the Highline Ballroom, they’re sure to get down and dirty on mind-blowing forays into the dire depths of barn-burnin’ cowpunk.
Camille A. Brown’s THE GROOVE TO NOBODY’S BUSINESS is part of Alvin Ailey program at BAM
BAM Howard Gilman Opera House
30 Lafayette Ave. between Ashland Pl. & St. Felix St.
June 3-8
Tickets: $20-$70
718-636-4100
The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, which is celebrating its fiftieth anniversary this year, has made a triumphant return to the Brooklyn Academy of Music, where it last performed thirty-five years ago. Presented by the Joyce Theater, the short season consists of two programs, “Classic Ailey” and “Best Of,” offering longtime favorites and a special rarity. On opening night, June 3, “Classic Ailey” began with “Night Creature,” featuring a sizzling star turn by Alicia J. Graf as the diva in a group of night owls partying in 1920s New York City to the sounds of Duke Ellington. “Night Creature” is followed by the brilliantly titled “Pas de Duke,” a lovely duet danced by Linda Celeste Sims and Matthew Rushing to yet more songs by Ellington, including “Such Sweet Thunder” and “Old Man’s Blues”; Sims’s solo during “Sonnet to Hank Cinq,” her body reacting with each piano note, was breathtaking. (“Pas de Duke” was originally danced by current Alvin Ailey artistic director Judith Jamison and Mikhail Baryshnikov in 1976.) After the first intermission — in which many audience members tested out their own moves in Daniel Rozin’s fun “Snow Mirror” installation in the BAM lobby’s Natman Room — the sheer jubilation and exhilaration of the first two pieces was countered with the dark desperation of “Masekela Langage.” Set to the music of South African trumpeter Hugh Masekela, the piece — which made its world premiere in 1969 at BAM and has not been performed in more than a decade — takes place in a sweaty, smoke-filled South African shebeen (beer house) where a group of men and women dance away their anger and frustration at living under apartheid. “Masekela Langage,” which appeared five years before “Night Creature,” is in many ways that work’s opposite; whereas New York nightlife is sexy and exuberant, South African high life is dank and dangerous, filled with fighting, drug addicts, and, in the end, violent death. The piece, which features an emotionally wrenching solo by Renee Robinson, opens and closes with the superb cast staring out at the audience accusingly, implicating everyone in the rampant racism that dominated South Africa for so long and still exists in so many parts of the world today.
The spectacular evening concluded with the Ailey classic “Revelations,” which brings the African American experience to life through glorious sections set to some of Ailey’s favorite spirituals he heard as a child, including “Fix Me, Jesus,” wonderfully danced by Linda Celeste Sims and Glenn Allen Sims; “I Wanna Be Ready,” a sparkling solo by Amos J. Machanic Jr.; and the vibrant finale, “Rock My Soul in the Bosom of Abraham.” As the audience filed out, the joy of having seen Ailey back in Brooklyn was enhanced by the news that Barack Obama had secured the Democratic nomination for president, something that would have been thought impossible when all of these dances made their debuts, between 1960 and 1976. “Classic Ailey” continues June 6 and 8, while “Best of” will be performed June 4, 5, and 7, comprising Twyla Tharp’s “The Golden Section,” with music by David Byrne; Robert Battle’s “Unfold,” with music by Leontyne Price, which had its company premiere at City Center this past November; Camille A. Brown’s energizing and entertaining “The Groove to Nobody’s Business,” which had its world premiere at the 2007 City Center season; and, again, the unforgettable “Revelations.” The June 5 performance will be followed by a Q&A with Ailey artistic director Judith Jamison and Camille A. Brown, moderated by Ronald K. Brown.
Tuesday, June 3
Friday, June 6
and
Sunday, June 8 Program A: Classic Ailey, featuring NIGHT CREATURES, PAS DE DUKE, MASEKELA LANGAGE, and REVELATIONS
Wednesday, June 4
Thursday, June 5
and
Saturday, June 7 Program B: Best of, featuring THE GOLDEN SECTION, UNFOLD, THE GROOVE TO NOBODY’S BUSINESS, and REVELATIONS
Indie super group plays three-night stand at Terminal 5
Terminal 5
610 West 56th St. between Eleventh & Twelfth Aves.
May 30 — June 1, $40, 8:00
212-260-4700
The title track of the Raconteurs’ second album, CONSOLER OF THE LONELY (Third Man / Warner Bros., March 2008), declares, "I’m bored to tears." Fortunately, these fourteen songs, from drummer Patrick Keller, guitarist Brendan Benson, keyboardist and guitarist Jack White III, and bass and banjo player Jack L. J. Lawrence, will do nothing of the sort to eager listeners. Like their debut disc, 2006’s BROKEN BOY SOLDIERS, the second album amply displays the band’s vast influences, from 1960s psychedelia and Britpop to 1970s funk, prog, and guitar rock. "You Don’t Understand Me" features a haunting piano melody that Coldplay would melt for (and a bridge that would Paul McCartney’s been searching for), while "Old Enough" sounds like a Celtic folk classic, complete with strings. The Memphis horns lift the Western tale "The Switch and the Spur," and the organ hook on "Attention" is sure to get your attention. But the album is anchored by the amazing final song, "Carolina Drama," an epic story of violence that rivals some of the bloody tales told by the master of the genre, Nick Cave. The Raconteurs will be headlining three nights at Terminal 5, but be sure to get there early to catch the opening act, Atlanta’s Black Lips, who tear through their catalog with an infectious abandon. As we said back in September, "The Black Lips are an outrageous live band, sweating, spitting, breaking things, tongue kissing each other, and just having a monster good time. You will too."
Blender Theater at Gramercy
127 East 23rd St. at Lexington Ave.
Wednesday, June 11, 8:00
Tickets: $22.50-$31
212-307-7171
http://www.jameshuntermusic.com
British soul man James Hunter will be headlining a show at the Blender Theater, celebrating the release of his latest disc, THE HARD WAY (Hear Music, June 2008), playing with special guest Allen Toussaint. North Carolina folie Tift Merritt opens the show, featuring tunes from her most recent album ANOTHER COUNTRY (Fantasy, February 2008).
twi-ny/mdr
"Murder" marquee welcomes visitors to Bill Shannon’s world
Douz and Mille
138 Mulberry St. between Grand & Broome Sts., sixth floor
Through June 18
Admission: free
212-505-2075
Multimedia artist Bill Shannon has taken over an abandoned floor on Mulberry St., turning it into an intoxicating audiovisual environment. "The goal," he writes, "is to create a compelling layered experience of the textures, sounds, and pace of the urban landscape and the implications of my role within it as a concepteur, visual artist, performance artist, and streetdance choreographer." Visitors need to take the outside freight elevator up to the sixth floor, where they are greeted by a marquee that flashes, "Murder." Underneath that, an eerie sound rises from "Elegy — Arrangement 1," a video sculpture of a man playing a dirge on a church organ. But "Work" is not a depressing, dark trip into death; rather, it’s an unusual celebration of life by the talented, complex Shannon, who walks (and dances) with crutches because of a congenital hip disorder — in fact, instead of the disability being a detriment, he turns it into a unique aspect of his personal universe. In a micro-version of "Bench," one of a four-screen setup, Shannon records people as they first pass by him as if he were invisible, then turn around and stare at him, as if proving his existence. Across from the micro-versions is "Static," four monitors that show television snow, with a ghostly apparition — Shannon — occasionally appearing. "Attempts" is a full-size two-screen video showing Shannon twisting and turning — and falling down — as he moves on his crutches, which he also incorporates into his choreography with his well-regarded dance ensemble.
twi-ny/mdr
"Attempts" shows Shannon dancing on his crutches
Shannon traveled city streets (including New York and Pittsburgh) on a skateboard, sitting on a suitcase that held six cameras. The resulting footage, in which the life of the city speeds by at multiple angles at the same time, is currently being shown on two white-brick walls, but it will soon be projected onto a 360-degree screen. Reminiscent of Steve McQueen’s triptych shot from inside a rolling barrel, Shannon’s video installation sucks you in and makes you part of the immersive street dance. In the back of the second room, it appears as if Shannon is sitting at a desk, writing, while a fan blows behind him; he has projected different parts of himself onto plates shaped to make it seem like he’s actually sitting down. The video of the fan was taken of the actual fan in the left corner, increasing the play between fantasy and reality. Shannon is also an urban archaeologist, making sculptures out of found objects, bringing the city off the screen and into the actual world in such pieces as "Balancing Act" and "Theatre Sound." He even takes his shoes off for "Conflict of Interests," mounting them in front of "Linoleum Session," a sheet of linoleum he rode over in those shoes and that now hangs on the wall like a Sol LeWitt abstract drawing. And like Olafur Eliasson, whose work is on view at MoMA and P.S.1 (see above), Shannon lays bare the mechanics behind his art; the visible wires, stands, projectors, outlets, and fans are all part of the overall experience. And just as Eliasson’s show is called "Take Your Time," visitors to Shannon’s exhibit should take their time as well, absorbing his fascinating world.
© Rubino
Chris Rubino creates a new tourist attraction in Times Square
Chashama Times Square
112 West 44th St. between Sixth Ave. & Broadway
May 30 - June 15, Tuesday - Saturday 12pm-7pm
Admission: free
Billed as a "limited tourist attraction," artist-designer Chris Rubino’ solo show, "The Center of Something," will play with the visual language of New York City, Times Square, souvenirs, and tourism, most likely both confusing and enthusing those who stop in for a look. The opening reception will be held May 30 from 6:00 to 9:00.
The Neue Galerie opens its doors for free for festival
Fifth Ave. between 82nd & 105th Sts.
Tuesday, June 3, 6:00 — 9:00 pm
Admission: free
212-606-2296
http://www.museummilefestival.org
The thirtieth annual Museum Mile Festival features free admission to nine institutions on Upper Fifth Ave. — the Goethe-Institut, the Museum of the City of New York, the Jewish Museum, the Cooper Hewitt, the National Academy, the Guggenheim, the Neue Galerie, the Met, and El Museo del Barrio (whose galleries are under renovation but will have special programs outside) — with art and music filling twenty-three car-free blocks, including performances by Paul Labarbera and Rockbeat Music Group, Metropolitan Klezmer, Hayes Greenfield Duo, the Danny Petrow Band, Melange, and Isengart in addition to face painting, magic, balloons, jugglers, chalk drawings, workshops, and more. It’s a terrific opportunity to check out some museums you probably haven’t been to in a while, if ever; we particularly recommend the Museum of the City of New York ("Catholics in New York 1808-1946"), the National Academy (the 183rd Annual), the Cooper-Hewitt ("Rococo: The Continuing Curve, 1730-2008"), and the Neue Galerie ("Gustav Klimt: The Ronald S. Lauder and Serge Sabarsky Collections").
twi-ny/mdr
Special cart dishes out fab Dutch herring
Grand Central Oyster Bar
Grand Central Terminal, lower level
Scheduled to begin: June 3, 11:30 am
212-490-6650
Every year around late May / early June, we start getting that itch for the new Dutch herring from the North Sea to arrive on these shores, served up first at the Oyster Bar in Grand Central Terminal. The Silver of the Sea is scheduled to show up on June 3, and it should be available for about two weeks after that. The Oyster Bar devotes a cozy nook in the fabled restaurant to the Dutch delicacy, serving the fabulous Hollandse Nieuwe Haring from Scheveningen with chopped egg, diced raw onion, and seeded flatbread, along with genever (Dutch gin) as desired, from a special cart (marked De Haringkoning — the Herring King) between 11:30 and 3:00 and again from 5:00 to closing, as long as they don’t sell out.
Swiss artist and writer Thomas Ott’s first full-length graphic novel, THE NUMBER 73304-23-4153-6-96-8, is a wordless wonder. While cleaning up after pulling the switch on death-row inmate Joe Perez, an executioner finds a piece of paper with a long number on it. (Perez had been keeping the number in his Bible.) The executioner, a dour loner, soon starts finding parts of the number everywhere he turns — at a bus stop, in the newspaper, and even on a stray dog he befriends named Lucky — and, indeed, his luck starts to change. He finds romance, and he scores big at a casino — but all is not quite what it seems. Ott tells the story through intricately designed black-and-white scratchboard illustrations, using no dialogue or captions. His drawings are filled with emotion; one particular panel, depicting Perez curled up on his bed in his cell, is shown from directly above, a geometric marvel that evokes a compelling mix of Cubism, abstraction, and German Expressionism. And the main character, who is never named, serves as a kind of everyman and no man, stuck in a rut but not exactly desperate for a way out. But when the opportunity to escape comes, he jumps at it with newfound gusto.
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Wednesday, May 28, IFC Center, 323 Sixth Ave. at West Third St., $10, 7:00
Friday, May 30, Tribeca Cinemas, 54 Varick St. at Laight St., $10, 7:00
Saturday, May 31, Rose Live Music, 345 Grand St. between Havemeyer & Marcy, free, 10:00 pm — 4:00 am
http://www.mediathatmattersfest.org
The eighth annual Media That Matters Film Festival features twelve short films that will be shown at two venues, first at the IFC Center and then at the Tribeca Cinemas. The works tackle such issues as the environment, politics and government, immigration, religious and sexual freedom, racial and economic justice, human rights, and other hot-button topics. At each event there will be Take Action tables, where people can learn about how they can make a difference, and many of the filmmakers will be present as well. The festival concludes with an after-party on May 31 at Rose Live Music in Williamsburg, featuring the Waaw Band and DJ Ben Herson.
Dance Theater Workshop
219 West 19th St. between Seventh & Eighth Aves.
Tickets: $20
212-924-0077
http://www.dancetheaterworkshop.org
Wednesday, May 28
through
Saturday, May 31 Nami Yamamoto presents the world premiere of "a howling flower," a dance for five performers and a puppet; Yamamoto will participate in a discussion with Sara Nash following the May 28 show
Rockefeller Park in Battery Park City (RP) / World Financial Center Plaza (WFC)
Wagner Park in Battery Park City (WP)/ Historic Battery Park Lawn (BPL)
Music at Castle Clinton, in Battery Park (CC) / South Street Seaport, Pier 17 (SSS)
Zuccotti Park (ZP) / Governors Island (GI)
Michael Schimmel Center for the Arts, Pace University (MSC)
South Cove, Battery Park City, Hudson River at South End Ave. (SC)
One New York Plaza at Water & Whitehall Sts. (ONE)
Admission: free
212-528-2733
http://www.rivertorivernyc.org
Wednesday, May 28
through
Friday, May 30 (LMCC) SITELINES: Buglisi Dance Theatre, Under the Buttonwood Tree.Com, outside the New York Stock Exchange on Broad St., 12:30
Wednesday, May 28 An Evening of Arias with soprano Leah Partridge and tenor Norman Reinhardt, SC, 7:30pm
Wednesday, May 28 She Wolves from the Tiber to the Hudson, multimedia site-specific animations and music, SC, 9:00
Thursday, May 29 Abigail Washburn and the Sparrow Quartet featuring Béla Fleck/Mirah and Spectratone International, CC, 7:00
Thursday, May 29 She Wolves from the Tiber to the Hudson, CC, 9:00
Friday, May 30, Seaport Music, South Street Seaport, 7:00
Postpunk icons Wire may be more referenced than listened to these days, but count on their Friday evening South Street Seaport appearance to be thronged with fortysomething devotees and young’uns curious about Wire’s undeniably groundbreaking cerebral brilliance, pressed into vinyl from 1977 through 1979 on their first three albums: PINK FLAG, CHAIRS MISSING, and 154. Fans of these Brits’ brainy take on rock, punk, and electronica include R.E.M., the Cure, and Guided by Voices, while bands as widely diverse as My Bloody Valentine, Minor Threat, and Fischerspooner have all covered Wire tunes. The band hasn’t been terribly active for quite a while, so this rare live appearance may be packed, so get there early. Die! Die! Die! opens the show.
Friday, May 30 She Wolves from the Tiber to the Hudson, SSS, 9:00
Saturday, May 31, 6:00pm
through
Sunday, June 1, 6:00am bang on a can marathon, featuring Alarm Will Sound, Bang on a Can All-Stars, Hartt Basses, Caleb Burhans, Contact Contemporary Music, Crash Ensemble, Dan Deacon, Karsh Kale, Lisa Moore, Ensemble Nikel, Owen Pallett, Signal Ensemble, So Percussion, Marnie Stern, Toby Twining Music, Bora Yoon, Young People’s Chorus of NYC, and Pamela Z., WFC
Monday, June 2
through
Saturday, June 7 SITELINES: Headlong Dance Theatre, HOTEL POOL, swimming pool at 23 Rector St., RSVP required at www.lmcc.net/sitelines
Wednesday, June 4 Domingo Quiñones y orquesta, WP, 7:00
Wednesday, June 11 Otis Clay and Ryan Shaw, RP, 7:00
Paul Krik takes on the 9/11 conspiracy in ABLE DANGER
Brooklyn Lyceum, 227 Fourth Ave. (BL)
Brooklyn Heights Cinema, 70 Henry St. (BHC)
Brooklyn Central Library, Grand Army Plaza (BCL)
Lumenhouse, 47 Beaver St.
East Coast Aliens, 216 Franklin St.
Studio B, 259 Banker St.
Admission: free
The eleventh Brooklyn International Film Festival features more than one hundred shorts, full-length documentaries and narratives, animated flicks, and children’s movies, screening at such locations as the Brooklyn Lyceum, the Brooklyn Heights Cinema, and the Brooklyn Central Library. Below are only select highlights; there are more than eighty programs in all, with an awards ceremony on June 8 in which more than $23,000 worth of cash and equipment will be handed out.
Wednesday, May 28 Kick-off Party, Red Bull Offices, 15 Watts St. at Thompson St., 7:00 — 11:00
Friday, May 30 Opening night: ABLE DANGER (Paul Krik, 2008), with cast and crew in attendance, $25, 7:30
Saturday, May 31 THICK-SKINNED (Jean-Bernard Marlin & Benoit Rambourg) and BIGGA THAN BEN (S A Halewood), BHC, 5:00
Saturday, May 31 APROP (Aitor Echeverria) and AUGUST (Austin Chick), BHC, 7:00
Sunday, June 1 KidsFilmFest, BL, 1:00 & 2:30
Sunday, June 1 MY LITTLE BROTHER FROM THE MOON (Frédéric Philibert) and THE CLASS (Ilmar Raag), BHC, 5:00
Monday, June 2 DANCE LIKE YOUR OLD MAN (Gideon Obarzanek & Edwina Throsby) ELEGY FOR THE ELSWICK ENVOY (Nancy Willis, England) RA, THE MECHANIC (Mamadou Cisse, Mali), and BLOOD AND INCENSE (Carl Valiquet, Canada), BHC, 5:00
Monday, June 2 SUDDENLY, LAST WINTER (Gustav Hofer & Luca Ragazzi), BL, 6:00
Monday, June 2 KILLING TIME (Haritz Zubillaga, Spain) and COYOTE (Brian Petersen), BHC, 7:00
Tuesday, June 3 GAZA SOUVENIRS (Samuel Albaric) and SEEDS OF SUMMER (Hen Lasker), BHC, 5:00
Tuesday, June 3 THING WITH NO NAME (Sarah Friedland), BPL, 7:00
Tuesday, June 3 THE LOCAL (Dan Eberle), BL, 8:00
Wednesday, June 4 HEZURBELTZAK, A COMMON GRAVE (Izibene Oñederra) and CACTUS (Jasmine Yuen-Carrucan), BHC, 7:00
Wednesday, June 4 CRAWFORD (David Modigliani), BL, 8:00
Wednesday, June 4 NICO&TINA (Rodolfo Pastor) and COYOTE (Brian Petersen), BL, 10:00
Thursday, June 5 NOTHING ELSE MATTERS (Julia von Heinz), BHC, 5:00
Thursday, June 5 THE COLLECTIVE (Judson Pearce Morgan & Kelly Overton), BL, 8:00
Thursday, June 5 ABC COLOMBIA (Enrica Colusso), BHC, 9:00
Friday, June 6 ESMA (Alen Drljevic), THE END FOR BEGINNERS (David Lale), COCAIS, THE REINVENTED TOWN (Ines Cardoso), JOBURG (Thabo Wolfaardt), and NEW EDUCATIONAL SERIES - CANARIES IN COLOUR (Jill Kennedy), BHC, 5:00
Friday, June 6 WELL-FOUNDED CONCERNS (Tim Cawley) and THE LOCAL (Dan Eberle), BL, 10:00
Saturday, June 7 APOLLO 54 (Giordano Giulivi), BHC, 5:00
Saturday, June 7 THE UNIDENTIFIED (Kevan Tucker), BL, 8:00
Saturday, June 7 PANG NAT DET (Andreas Geiger), BL, 10:00
Sunday, June 8 THE PLAYGROUND (Jack Tarling) and CARNY (Alison Murray), BL, 2:00
Sunday, June 8 CRAWFORD (David Modigliani), BL, 8:00
Sunday, June 8 ON THE SAFE SIDE? (David Dietl), BHC, 9:00
National Academy Museum and School of Fine Arts
1083 Fifth Ave. between 89th & 90th Sts.
Admission: $5 (includes entry to exhibits at National Academy)
212-369-4880
http://www.nationalacademy.org
Thursday, May 29 Panel discussion with Katy Siegel, Julie Heffernan, David Reed, and Danielle Tegeder
Bowery Ballroom
6 Delancey St. at Bowery
Tickets: $33 (includes $20 donation to the cause)
212-533-2111
http://www.charitywater.org/thekin
Thursday, May 29 Fundraiser for Thirst Thing’s First, "a partnership between various artists and friends to raise awareness about the world’s water crisis and bring clean, safe drinking water to people in need," featuring Philly’s Jealousy Curve at 9:00, DC’s Army of Me at 10:00, and the Aussie/NYC band the Kin at 11:00
Thursdays — Sundays through June 22
Inside Central Park at 103rd St.
Admission: free
212-252-4531
http://www.newyorkclassical.org
Thursday, May 29
through
Sunday, June 22 New York Classical Theater, led by artistic director Stephen Burdman, presents CYMBELINE, moving through the park, incorporating the natural landscape into the production, directed by Louis Scheedar, 7:00
Fontana’s Bar
105 Eldridge St. between Broome & Grand Sts.
Tickets: $8
Friday May 30 Taigaa!, Gelatine, Mutation, Me You Us Them, 7:00
The Morgan Library & Museum
225 Madison Ave. at 36th St.
Admission: free (tickets available at admissions desk day of screening)
212-685-0008
http://www.themorgan.org/public
Friday, May 30 Screening of PHILIP GUSTON: A LIFE LIVED (Michael Blackwood, 1980), 7:00
TriBeCa Performing Arts Center
199 Chambers St. between Greenwich & West St.
212-220-1460
http://tribecapac.org/music.htm
Friday, May 30 Jazz Gallery featuring film footage of Betty Carter and Joe Williams, moderated by Willard Jenkins, free, 7:00
Friday, May 30 Jazz Gallery featuring concert by Vanessa Rubin, Allan Harris, and the Norman Simmons Trio, $25, 8:30
Bryant Park Upper Terrace
42nd St. between Fifth & Sixth Aves.
Fridays through August 24 at 7:00 am
Admission: free
http://www.bryantpark.org/calendar
http://abcnews.go.com/Sections/GMA
Friday, May 30 Usher
Friday, June 6 Ashanti with special guest
Neue Galerie, Café Fledermaus
1048 Fifth Ave. at 86th St.
Fridays through June 27 at 6:30
Admission: free
212-628-6200
Friday, May 30 BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY’S (Blake Edwards, 1961)
Friday, June 6
and
Friday, June 13 TOPKAPI (Jules Dassin, 1964)
Tobacco Warehouse
Empire Fulton-Ferry State Park, Brooklyn Bridge Park
Tickets: $85-$95 (includes three meal tickets)
http://www.brooklynbridgepark.org
Saturday, May 31 Eighth annual event benefiting the Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy, featuring Jeff Riley of the Smokin’ Grill and Bon Soir Catering and Sam Barbieri of the Waterfront Ale House, live music by the South Slope String Band and the Cobble Hillbillies, beer from the Brooklyn Brewery, and more, 1:00 — 6:00
South Street Seaport Pier 17
Fulton & South Sts.
Admission: free
866-894-1812
http://www.southstreetseaport.com
Saturday, May 31 International Music and Dance Celebration, with Johnny Rivera, 12 noon — 5:00
Sunday, June 1 Latin Dance Spectacular, 12 noon — 5:00
Washington Square Park area
Information booth at corner of Eighth St. & University Pl.
Admission: free
212-982-6255
http://www.washingtonsquareoutdoorartexhibit.org
Saturday, May 31
and
Sunday, June 1 Works will be on display and for sale from more than two hundred international artists, including fine arts, photography, sculpture, jewelry, ceramics, and mixed media, 12 noon — 6:00
Multiple venues
Tickets: $9 unless otherwise noted
Saturday, May 31 AT THE DEATH HOUSE DOOR (Steve James & Peter Gilbert, 2008), on the lawn in Fort Greene Park, free
Friday, June 6 Opening Night: This Is What We Mean by Short Films, Open Road Rooftop Project, 350 Grand St. between Essex & Ludlow Sts.
Saturday, June 7
and
Sunday, June 8 Fundraise the Roof, featuring live music, film screenings, and graffiti raising money for New Design High School, Open Road Rooftop Project, 350 Grand St. between Essex & Ludlow Sts.
Columbus Park Pavilion Grounds
67 Mulberry St. at Bayard St.
Cultural and family activities at 7:00
Film screenings at sunset
Admission: free
These free evenings begin at 7:00 with tai chi, roving puppets, and interactive projects, with live music at 7:45 and films at sundown.
Saturday, May 31 NANA (Kentarou Ootani, 2005)
Saturday, June 7 HOOKED ON YOU (Wing-cheong Law, 2007)
Riverside Park
Pier 1 at 70th St.
Registration begins at 9:00 am, walk begins at 10:00 am
Sunday, June 1 More than five hundred people are expected to take part in the first annual Hemophilia Walk, sponsored by National Hemophilia Foundation to help sufferers of blood clotting disorders live better, fuller lives
Central Park, East Meadow
Enter at 99th St. & Fifth Ave.
Admission: free
212-398-7145
Sunday, June 1 All-day festival, including Lion Dance at 7:45 am, four-mile race at 8:00, kids run at 9:30, Soh Daiko, Yosakoi Kids Project, and Samurai Sword Soul at 10:30, the Japanese Folk Dance Institute of New York at 12:30, karaoke, Leonard Eto and Manolo Badrena, and an anime costume contest at 2:00, and Giajim a Go Go, Happy Fun Smile, HALCALI, and Shota Shimizu at 3:15, with food tents and such activities as calligraphy, origami, robot battles, and yo-yo scooping, 10:00 am — 5:00 pm
Center for Jewish History
15 West 16th St. between Fifth & Sixth Aves.
Tickets: $18
212-294-6160
Sunday, June 1 The music of Paul Richards, Arkadie Kougell, Ofer ben Amotz, M. Samiaten, and Paul Schoenfield, 3:00
Charles A. Dana Discovery Center
Inside Central Park at 110th St. & Lenox Ave.
Sundays at 4:00 through September 28
Admission: free
212-860-1370
Sunday, June 1 Harlem Renaissance Orchestra
The Yard
400 Carroll St. between Bond & Nevins Sts.
Sundays from 3:00 — 9:00 through August 31
Cover: $8
Sunday, June 1 Dance party with special guest King Britt, resident DJs Eamon Harkin, Justin Carter, and Doug Singer, and barbecue, free
Sunday, June 8 Dance party with special guest Trusme, resident DJs Eamon Harkin, Justin Carter, and Doug Singer, and barbecue, free
South Street Seaport Pier 17
Admission: free
Monday, June 2 Caribbean Heritage Month celebration featuring a meet and greet with Beacon Street Girls founder Addie Swartz, authentic Jamaica cuisine, traditional island arts and crafts, live music by Sean Kingston & Richie Stephens (at 5:00), and more, 11:00 am
Museum of Jewish Heritage — A Living Memorial to the Holocaust
36 Battery Pl.
Free with suggested donation
646-437-4200
Monday, June 2 Screening of BLESSED IS THE MATCH: THE LIFE AND DEATH OF HANNAH SENESH (Roberta Grossman, 2008), followed by a discussion with star Joan Allen and director Grossman, 7:00
B.B. King Blues Club
237 West 42nd St. between Seventh & Eighth Aves.
Tickets: $25
212-997-4144
http://www.broadwayunderground.org
Monday, June 2 Featuring talent from the streets of New York City, with Jared Grimes, DeWitt Fleming Jr., the BU Band, Tadah Dance Company, and the Open Session (bring your groove), 8:00
Hispanic Society of America, Audubon Terrace
Broadway between 155th & 156th Sts.
Tuesdays in June
Admission: free
Reservations recommended: 212-293-5583
Tuesday, June 3 Screening of ZÓCALO, 22 MAY 1999 (Francis Alÿs, 1999), 11:00 am – 11:00 pm, with reception at 8:00
Tuesday, June 10 Reading and performance featuring Carolyn Bergvall, MY CHAUCER, and Mario Diaz de León, 7:30
NYU Skirball Center for the Performing Arts
566 LaGuardia Pl. at Washington Square South
Tickets: $38
212-992-8380
Tuesday, June 3
through
Saturday, June 7 RIOULT presents the world premiere of a newly commissioned piece set to Bach’s "Art of Fugue," along with repertory works "Prelude to Night" and "Bolero"
French Institute Alliance Française
Florence Gould Hall
Tinker Auditorium (TA)
55 East 59th St. between Park & Madison Aves.
June 3 — July 22
Tickets: $10
212-307-4100
Tuesday, June 3 THE WAGES OF FEAR / LE SALAIRE DE LA PEUR (Henri-Georges Clouzot, 1953), 12:30, 4 & 7:30
LE SALAIRE DE LA PEUR (WAGES OF FEAR) (Henri-Georges Clouzot, 1953)
In a very poor South American village, four men are needed to transport two truckloads of nitroglycerin to the scene of an industrial accident. The men jump at the chance to risk their lives for a small amount of cash because they have nothing else in their pitiful lives. Yves Montand stars in this endlessly tense, harrowing film that won the Golden Bear in Berlin, the BAFTA in England, and the Grand Prize at Cannes.
Tuesday, June 10 THE LONELINESS OF THE LONG DISTANCE SINGER / LA SOLITUDE DU CHANTEUR DE FOND (Chris Marker, 1974), 12:30, 4 & 7:30
92nd Street Y, Buttenwieser Hall
1395 Lexington Ave. at 92nd St.
Tickets: $26
212-415-5500
Thursday, June 5 Panel discussion with Danny Meyer, Bobby Flay, and Chris Lilly, moderated by Leonard Lopate, followed by a tasting, 8:15
Bronx Museum of the Arts
1040 Grand Concourse at 165th St.
Admission: free
RSVP for program: 718-681-6000 ext102
Friday, June 6 First Fridays, featuring a screening of EVERYTHING REMAINS RAW (Devin Dehaven & J. Kevin Swain, 2003); a panel discussion with Adesola Osakalumi, Budda Stretch, Jorge "Fabel" Pabon, Ana "Rokafella" Garcia, and Moncell "Ill Kozby" Durden, moderated by April Silver; music by DJ Doc, 6:00 — 10:00 (galleries open 12 noon — 8:00 pm, including "Making It Together: Women’s Collaborative Art + Community")
The New School, Theresa Lang Center, second floor
55 West 13th St. between Fifth & Sixth Aves.
Admission: free
212-980-3942
Friday, June 6 Sneak preview of Issi Dayan’s documentary about radio pioneer Vin Scelsa, followed by a Q&A with the director, 6:00
Whitney Museum of American Art
745 Madison Ave. at 75th St.
Friday nights at 7:00 through June 27
Admission: pay-what-you-wish
212-570-7715
Friday, June 6 American Contemporary Music Ensemble with the Berg Sans Nipple: Kevin Volans’s "White Man Sleeps" and John Adams’s "Book of Alleged Dances"
K2 Lounge
Rubin Museum of Art
150 West 17th St. at Seventh Ave.
Free admission to galleries from 7:00 to 10:00
212-620-5000 ext 344
Friday, June 6 Harlem in the Himalayas: Jane Ira Bloom with Min Xiao-Fen and Mark Dresser, $18-$20, 7:00
Friday, June 6 Tibetan Poetry Reading: Tsering Wangmo Dhompa, 7:15
Friday, June 6 PeaceTalks, with Andrew Burtless, free, 8:30
Friday, June 6 Gallery Talk: On Point: The Intersection of the Triangle in Himalayan Art, with Greg Franklin, free, 8:30
Friday, June 6 CabaretCinema: What Price Paradise? -- LOST HORIZON (Frank Capra, 1937), introduced by Adam Gopnik, free with $7 bar minimum, 9:30
Cantor Film Center at NYU
36 East Eighth St.
Admission: free
212-254-3511 / 212-998-2100
This prelude to the MOCCA Art Festival 2008 is an all-day celebration of comics and comic-book art.
Friday, June 6 Comics and Canon Formation, with John Carlin, Dan Nadel, and Rob Storr, 11:15 am
Friday, June 6 Comics and Kid’s Lit, with Lisa von Drasek, Leonard Marcus, Francouise Mouly, Mo Willems, and Sara Varon, 1:30
Friday, June 6 Comics and the Literary Establishment, with Hillary Chute, David Hajdu, Jeet Heer, and Douglas Wolk, 3:00
Friday, June 6 Comics and the Internet, with Sarah Boxer, Shaenon Garrity, Hope Larson, Siva Vaidhyanathan, and Kent Worcester, 5:30
Friday, June 6 Art Spiegelman in conversation with Gary Panter, 7:00
Friday, June 6 Hillary Chute in conversation with Lynda Barry, 8:15
Christopher Kennedy installations occurs at 42 Beaver St.
Multiple locations in Bushwick
June 6-8, 12 noon — 7:00
Admission: free
This annual event shows off the growing art community in Bushwick, featuring public art projects, live performances, poetry and prose readings, walking tours, film screenings, and artists opening their studios to display painting, sculpture, video, collage, installations, music, fashion, jewelry, printmaking, graphic design, and just about anything else you can think of. Below are only a handful of the many highlights.
Friday, June 6 Monduna (A Graphic Novel in 3-D), 330 Melrose St., third floor, 9:30 pm — 2:00 am
Friday, June 6 Sport, improvised movement piece for Neutral Masks by Christopher Loar, softball field, Flushing Ave. at Central Ave., 2:30
Saturday, June 7 House of Yes Cabaret and Street Faire, Artistic Evolution, Bogart St. at Grattan St.
Saturday, June 7 Art Circus, a day of free art workshops, music, and fun, Hope Gardens Community Center, 422 Central Ave., 12 noon — 6:00
Saturday, June 7 Movement installation by Lydia Bell, 1 Grattan St., Studio 221, 1:00
Saturday, June 7 Bushwick: Back in the Day, Up from Flames walking tour with Adam Schwartz, Life Café, 983 Flushing Ave., 2:00
Saturday, June 7 Closing party and barbecue for "Dirt Mansion" installation by Judith Supine, English Kills, 114 Forrest St., alley entrance
Saturday, June 7 BOS Music Festival: Thought, Yva Las Vegass, and Robyn Siwula, outside stage, 3:00; Lucas Ligeti, inside stage, 3:00; Brad Lauretti, Gunfight, and Zack Hagan, outside stage, 5:00; Magnets for Teeth, Smite, Ching-Chong Song, inside stage, 5:00; Adam Varga, Chantilly, New York Howl, outside stage, 7:00; Brittain Ashford, Adrienne Anemone, and Alana Amram & the Rough Gems, inside stage, 7:00; Buffie Gilbert, Afuche, and Woodpecker, outside stage, 9:00; Hollow Jones, From the Museums, and Love Like DeLoreans, inside stage, 9:00; Pass Kontrol, Low Water, and Hugga Broomstick, outside stage, 11:00, Good Bye Blue Monday, 1087 Broadway
Saturday, June 7 Live music by Katemattben&sarah and Snazz Mammoth, with paintings and tapestries by Sarah Valeri, To See Studios, 222 Varet St. 2C, 4:00 — 7:00
Saturday, June 7 Loft party with experimental performances, Cream Studios, 238 Melrose St., second floor, 8:00
Saturday, June 7 Nikita Shoshensky Marshmallow Roast, poetry reading with marshmallows over the fire, Harrison Space, 14 Harrison St., 9:00
Saturday, June 7 Mangoose and Prince Pluto: Duck…Duck…Mangoose!, DJ dance party, Duckduckduck, 153 Montrose Ave., 9:00 pm — 4:00 am
It's the last weekend for Judith Supine's "Dirt Mansion" at English Kills
Saturday, June 7
and
Sunday, June 8 Interactive installation, Christopher Kennedy, 42 Beaver St., 2:00 — 4:00
Saturday, June 7
and
Sunday, June 8 Christi Mueller Dance Performance, Eileen Weitzman Gallery, 56 Bogart St., fourth floor, 2:00 & 4:00
Saturday, June 7
and
Sunday, June 8 Open Dance Rehearsals, with Makram Hamdam, Heather Kravas, and "Everything Smaller," Chez Bushwick, 304 Boerum St. #23, 6:00 — 8:00
Sunday, June 8 Bushwick Arts and Neighborhood Sustainability Forum, community discussion, 69 Central Ave., 2:00
Sunday, June 8 ART-B-Q!, with live music, a group show, and barbecue, Palmetto A.I.R., 130 Palmetto St., 2:00 — 7:00
Sunday, June 8 Bushwick Impact Mural and Garden Party, 69 Central Ave., 3:00
Sunday, June 8 Homely Movies, Space Space, 390 Seneca Ave., first floor, 8:00
Sunday, June 8 BOS Music Festival: Don Pedro’s, 90 Manhattan Ave., 8:00 pm — 1:00 am
McCarren Park Pool
Lorimer St. between Driggs & Bayard Aves.
While the free Pool Parties concerts at McCarren Park Pool have yet to be announced, the pay shows kick off Friday, June 6, with an awesome pairing of M.I.A. and the Holy F*ck. We’re not quite so psyched for Death Cab for Cutie on June 10, although we’ve heard good things about Rogue Wave.
Friday, June 6 M.I.A., the Holy F*ck, $37.50
Tuesday, June 10 Death Cab for Cutie, Rogue Wave, $42.50
Multiple venues on the Lower East Side
Admission: free but RSVP required
212-226-9010
http://www.LowerEastSideNY.com
Saturday, June 7 Bar Crawl on the Rocks, with Panther Tighter at the Slipper Room and Dan Peluso at Le Lupanar at 1:00, Moe Isaac at the Living Room and Peter Hadar at Fat Baby at 2:00, and Ghost Ghost & Misnomer(S) at Arlene's Grocery and the Last Minet & Trajik Magic at Piano's at 3:30
East River Amphitheater
FDR Dr. at Cherry St.
Admission: free
Saturday, June 7 Lucky Dragons, John Weise, Lexie Mountain Boys, Soiled Mattress and the Springs, and Animental, 2:00
Brooklyn Museum of Art
200 Eastern Parkway
Admission: free after 5:00 pm (some events require free tickets available that night)
Admission to "© Murakami": $5
718-638-5000
Saturday, June 7 Music: Akoya Afrobeat, 5:00 - 7:00
Saturday, June 7 Artist Talk: Feminist artist Ghada Amer discusses her exhibition "Love Has No End," free tickets available at the Visitor Center at 5:00, talk at 6:00
Saturday, June 7 Music and Dance: Gamelan Dharma Swara presents traditional Balinese music and dance, free tickets available at the Visitor Center at 5:00, performance from 6:30 to 8:00
Saturday, June 7 Hands-On Art: Participants are invited to design a piece of jewelry using special materials, free timed tickets available at the Visitor Center at 5:30, workshop from 6:30 to 8:00
Saturday, June 7 Curator Talk: Joan Cummins, Curator of Asian Art, gives a talk on South Asian art in the museum's collection, free tickets available at the Visitor Center at 5:00, talk at 7:00
Saturday, June 7 Music: Bora Yoon and Samita Sinha, 7:00 — 9:00
Saturday, June 7 Young Voices Gallery Talk: Student Guides give a talk on Utagawa and its connections to "© MURAKAMI," 8:00
Saturday, June 7 Panel Discussion: South Asian Women's Creative Collective member Mariam Bhani moderates a panel including artists Sadia Rahman, Mareena Daredia, and Sara Rahbar, with a spoken word performance by Sarah Husain and a question-and-answer session with the audience, free tickets available at the Visitor Center at 7:00, discussion at 8:00
Saturday, June 7 Film: AKIRA'S HIP HOP SHOP (Joseph Doughrity, 2007) and SINGAPORE DREAMING (Colin Goh & Woo Yen Yen, 2006), followed by a Q&A with Goh and Yen Yen, free tickets available at the Visitor Center at 7:00, film at 8:30
Saturday, June 7 Dance Party DJ Spinna plays all-eighties music, 9:00 — 11:00
Puck Building
295 Houston St. at Lafayette St.
June 7-8
Admission: $10 per day, $15 for both days
212-254-3511
One of our favorite annual events, the MoCCA Art Festival returns to the Puck Building with more than two dozen exhibitors, including the Center for Cartoon Studies, DC / Vertigo / Minx / Zuda Comics, Drawn & Quarterly, Fantagraphics, Meathaus, NBM Publishing, and Top Shelf. It’s an intimate opportunity to speak with up-and-coming writers, artists, and illustrators, much more manageable than the New York Comic-Con. You can find us chatting with such participants as Jessica Abel, Liz Baillie, Brendan Burford, Jacob Chabot, Farel Dalrymple Neil Kleid and Rob Vollmar, Hope Larson, Bryan Lee O'Malley, and Neil Swaab as well as stopping by some of the below special events.
Saturday, June 7 Blake Bell on The World of Steve Ditko, MoCCA Gallery, 594 Broadway just below Houston, Suite 401, 11:00 am
Saturday, June 7 David Hajdu on The Great Comic Book Scare, 594 Broadway just below Houston, Suite 401, 12:15
Saturday, June 7 MoCCA Art Festival Award Ceremony: with Signe Baumane presenting the award to Bill Plympton, 594 Broadway just below Houston, Suite 401, 1:30
Saturday, June 7 Rebecca Donner and Brian Wood in conversation, 594 Broadway just below Houston, Suite 401, 2:30
Saturday, June 7 Spotlight on Frank Santoro, 594 Broadway just below Houston, Suite 401, 3:45
Saturday, June 7 Dan Nadel in conversation with CF (Christopher Forgues), 594 Broadway just below Houston, Suite 401, 5:00
Sunday, June 8 Nick Thorkelson on the History of Radical Cartooning, Puck Building, 11:00 am
Sunday, June 8 Alex Robinson and Mike Dawson in conversation, Puck Building, 12:10
Sunday, June 8 Chip Kidd on the Secret History of Batman in Japan, Puck Building, 1:20
Sunday, June 8 Spotlight on David Heatley, Puck Building, 2:30
Sunday, June 8 Drawing Words and Writing Pictures: A Workshop, with Matt Madden and Jessica Abel, Puck Building, 3:40
Sunday, June 8 Nordic Animation, Puck Building, 5:00
Atlantic Ave. from downtown Brooklyn to Brooklyn Heights
Admission: free
http://www.atlanticavenueartwalk.com
Saturday, June 7
and
Sunday, June 8 Fifth annual open studios weekend, with more than one hundred artists participating, with special public projects and site-specific installations, workshops, live music, film screenings, readings, artist talks, demonstrations, public performances, food specials, and more, 1:00 — 6:00
Noguchi Museum
9-01 33rd Rd. at Vernon Blvd.
Free with museum admission of $10
Reservations recommended: 718-204-7088 ext209
718-204-7088 ext209
Sunday, June 8 Arturo O’Farrill, first-floor galleries, 3:00
Solar 1
East River waterfront at East 23rd St.
Admission: free
Sunday, June 8 Fifth annual event celebrating legalized interracial relationships upon the forty-first anniversary of Loving v. Virginia, featuring DJ Spooky with Dhundee, free barbecue, free beer and ice cream for the first hour, raffles, and more, 3:00 — 7:00
The Philoctetes Center for the Multidisciplinary Study of Imagination
247 East 82nd St.
Admission: free
646-422-0544
Monday, June 9 LOUISE BOURGEOIS: THE SPIDER, THE MISTRESS, AND THE TANGERINE (Marion Cajori & Amei Wallach, 2008), followed by a discussion with codirector Amei Wallach and Matthew von Unwerth, 7:00
The Town Hall
123 West 43rd St. between Sixth Ave. & Broadway
Tickets: $40-$45
212-608-0555
http://www.the-townhall-nyc.org
Monday, June 9 KT Sullivan and Mark Nadler lead a cabaret show celebrating Cole Porter’s birthday, 8:00
Scandinavia House
58 Park Ave. at 38th St.
Tickets: $8
212-847-9737
http://www.scandinaviahouse.org
Monday, June 9 INGMAR BERGMAN COMPLETE: BERGMAN AND THE CINEMA (Marie Nyreröd, 2004), 6:30, and Ingmar Bergman: Behind the Scenes, featuring Marie Nyreröd’s live commentary to archival footage by Bergman, 7:45, followed by a Q&A with Marie Nyreröd and a reception
Tuesday, June 10 INGMAR BERGMAN COMPLETE: BERGMAN AND FÅRÖ ISLAND (Marie Nyreröd, 2004), 6:30, and INGMAR BERGMAN COMPLETE: BERGMAN AND THE THEATER (Marie Nyreröd, 2004), 7:45, followed by a Q&A with Marie Nyreröd and a reception
Blue Note
131 West Third St.
Tickets: table $55, bar $35
212-475-8592
Monday, June 9
and
Tuesday, June 10 Vocalist Cassandra Wilson performs with Reginald Veal on bass, Marvin Sewell on guitar, EJ Strickland on drums, Lekan Babalola on percussion, and Jonathan Batiste on piano, 8:00 & 10:30
Chelsea Art Museum
556 West 22nd St. between 10th & 11th Aves.
Tickets: $50
Reservations recommended: 212-293-5583
http://www.sustainablestyles.com
Tuesday, June 10 Fundraiser cocktail party for the Sustainable Planet film festival to be held on July 19 at the Chelsea Art Museum and the expansion of Sustainable Styles magazine; organized by environmental economist, eco-consultant, television producer, and writer Pamela Peeters, the fundraiser will honor eight Sustainable Stewards in the fields of art, business, lifestyle, food, entertainment, personal development, sports, and ecotourism, 7:00 – 9:00
Bowery Ballroom
6 Delancey St. at Bowery
Tickets: $15
212-533-2111
Tuesday, June 10 Strong folk / antifolk / alterna-country lineup of New York natives Jaymay and AA Bondy and Rhode Island’s Deer Tick, 7:30