Art Exhibit of the Week
06.25.08
1. Philip Guston on the Upper East Side
3. A new sculpture and free events in Union Square Park
4. Golden Boy William Holden at Lincoln Center
5. A new structure rises in Rockefeller Center
Volume 8, Number 4
June 25 — July 9, 2008
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Site Design/Subway Photo:
Fred Gates Design, New York.
twi-ny/mdr
The Morgan Library & Museum
225 Madison Ave. at 36th St.
Closed Mondays
Through August 31
Admission: $12 (free Fridays from 7:00 to 9:00)
212-685-0008
Michael Korol
Philip Guston, "Web," ink on paper, 1975
More than one hundred drawings by American painter Philip Guston are on view in two galleries at the Morgan Library which rarely features twentieth-century works — amply displaying the Montreal-born artist’s superb hand and innovative mind. Born Philip Goldstein in 1913 in Montreal, Guston was one of the early members of the Abstract Expressionist movement, with such colleagues as Willem de Kooning and Jackson Pollock. He had previously been a Social Realist, and he had the audacity, in the 1960s, to veer into figuration and representation, losing him many of his friends in the art world. Arranged chronologically, the exhibit follows Guston’s career from the mid-1940s and 1950s, featuring such abstracts as an untitled 1950 ink on parchment paper in which dense lines jumble in the center, with thinner lines heading toward the edges, and “Drawing Related to Zone (Drawing No. 19),” with its thick blotches and stray marks. In the 1960s, recognizable shapes began emerging, including shoes, books, clocks, and hooded figures, first more abstract, as in 1961’s “Celebration,” and later far more overtly, with a political potency and wicked sense of humor. In the 1970s, Guston’s oeuvre gained a cartoonish quality, reminiscent of the work of R. Crumb, with a sensational use of line in such drawings as “Figure in Interior” and “Web.” In the former, small dotted lines can be seen nearly everywhere, surrounding a framed picture, circling a table, moving across a hooded man, and serving as building windows in the distance, while in the latter, a spider has cornered a couple in its web, perhaps evoking how Guston felt trapped by what others expected of him. In his later years, Guston focused on drawing and painting what he saw, depicting the world around him in a wonderful simplicity. Guston died in 1980, shortly after a major retrospective held at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
In addition to the outstanding Philip Guston drawings show, the Morgan also has several other exhibits of note. "Illuminating the Medieval Hunt" runs through August 10, and Three Gutenberg Bibles are on view through September 28. And look for one of the Morgan’s most prized recent acquisitions, the 2 3/4 x 2 inch Prayer Book of Queen Claude de France, a tiny illuminated manuscript from around 1517. On Fridays, the museum is free from seven to nine, with live music in the first-floor atrium.
Gemini G.E.L.
Philip Guston, "Studio Corner," 1-color lithograph, 1980
Gemini G.E.L. at Joni Moisant Weyl
980 Madison Ave., fifth floor
Tuesday through Saturday, 10:00 am — 6:00 pm
Admission: free
212-249-3354
In November 1979, Philip Guston collaborated with the print studio Gemini G.E.L., creating a suite of twenty-five lithographs in Guston’s Woodstock studio. The black-and-white pieces are playful and funny, depicting images from Guston’s everyday life, shortly before his death. With his health failing, he drew shoes, a coat, a car, an easel, a clock, an iron, and other objects, creating captivating scenes dominated by his superb use of line. Works such as “Pile Up,” “Room,” and “Studio Corner” have a charming flow to them, delightfully cartoonish, while “Scene” and “Objects” are darker and more foreboding. “The Private Eye of Philip Guston” is running concurrently with the excellent drawings show at the Morgan; although the Morgan show continues through August 31, this print exhibit at Joni Moisant Weyl closes July 11.
Prince Chatrichalerm Yukol’s two-part KING NARESUAN is festival highlight
IFC Center
323 Sixth Ave. at West Third St.
212-924-7771
The seventh annual collection of the latest and greatest, strangest and weirdest in Asian film, organized by Subway Cinema, features another cool lineup of works from China, Japan, Thailand, Korea, Hong Kong, Vietnam, and Malaysia. There’s horror, romantic comedy, gore, detective stories, suspense thrillers, and historical epics from directors both familiar and new. The films screen at the IFC Center through July 3, then continue at the Japan Society from July 13.
Wednesday, June 25 RETRO GAME MASTER: MYSTERY OF ATLANTIS, free, 11:30
Wednesday, June 25 THE MOST BEAUTIFUL NIGHT IN THE WORLD (Daisuke Tengan, 2008), 1:00
Wednesday, June 25 CHANBARA BEAUTY (Yohei Fukuda, 2009), 4:00
Wednesday, June 25 ASSEMBLY (Feng Xiaogang, 2007), 6:00
Wednesday, June 25 KING NARESUAN (Prince Chatrichalerm Yukol, 2007), 8:30
Thursday, June 26 LOVE ON SUNDAY (Ryuichi Hiroki, 2006), 1:00
Thursday, June 26 DOG IN A SIDECAR (Kichitaro Negishi), 3:00
Thursday, June 26 SHAMO (Soi Cheang, 2008), 5:00
Thursday, June 26 SPARROW (Johnnie To, 2008), 7:15
Thursday, June 26, 7:15
Wednesday, July 2, 9:40
It’s the Rat Pack meets Busby Berkeley by way of Robert Bresson, Jules Dassin, and Jacques Demy in this charming, playful, very different kind of gangster picture from acclaimed Hong Kong director Johnnie To (EXILED, RUNNING OUT OF TIME). Simon Yam (ELECTION) stars as Kei, an amateur photographer, bird lover, and erstwhile leader of a quartet of pickpockets ? — the four stooges? — who each becomes entranced by femme fatale Chung Chun-Lei (Kelly Lin), the moll of a powerful but aging warlord Mr. Fu (Lo Hoi-pang). Humor and pathos ensue as they attempt to pull off caper after caper, usually with painfully funny results. And when umbrellas suddenly twirl in the rain to Xavier Jamaux and Fred Avril’s delightfully retro score, you’ll think Gene Kelly is about to show up and burst out into song. Famously three years in the making, SPARROW, which premiered at the 2008 Berlin International Film Festival, is a lighthearted, beautifully choreographed joy from beginning to end.
Thursday, June 26 KALA (Joko Anwar, 2007), 9:15
Friday, June 27 THE REBEL (Charlie Nguyen, 2007), 11:30
Friday, June 27 ACTION BOYS (Jung Byoung-Gul, 2008), 1:30
Friday, June 27 Mise en Scene’s Short Film Festival: Korean Short Films, program 1, introduced by Park Jae-young, 3:45
Friday, June 27 M (Lee Myung-Se, 2007), 5:30
Friday, June 27 SHADOWS IN THE PALACE (Kim Mee-Jeung, 2007), 7:45
Friday, June 27 TAMAMI: THE BABY’S CURSE (Yudai Yamaguchi, 2008), 10:15
Friday, June 27, 10:15
Monday, June 30, 4:00
Fifteen-year-old orphan Yoko (Nako Mizusawa) is both excited and nervous when her father, who has been looking for her since she went missing as a baby, finds her and prepares to welcome her back home. However, home turns out to be a scary mansion on a hilltop deep in the woods, with dark secrets and danger around every corner. And while her father, some type of unidentified scientist who works away in a mysterious tower, is thrilled to have her back, her mother is not quite so happy, as she’s a bit mad — she walks around cuddling a teddy bear as if it were her real child — and the housekeeper makes it clear from the start that she wishes Yoko had never returned. Oh yeah, there’s also a killer baby named Tamami that lives in the walls — and doesn’t exactly like suddenly having a sister. Yudai Yamaguchi’s adaptation of Kazuo Umezu’s manga series Akanbo Shojo is a creepy retro frightfest (with great music) that stumbles a bit but is still plenty of fun, playing off just about every genre cliché it can think of, manipulating the audience in all the right ways.
Friday, June 27 TOKYO GORE POLICE (Yoshinori Nishimura, 2008), 12:15
Saturday, June 28 RETRO GAME MASTER: MYSTERY OF ATLANTIS, free, 12 noon
Saturday, June 28 THIS WORLD OF OURS (Ryo Nakajima, 2008), 1:00
Saturday, June 28 Mise en Scene’s Short Film Festival: Korean Short Films, program 2, introduced by Park Jae-young, 3:00
Saturday, June 28 HAPPINESS (Hur Jin-Ho, 2007), 5:20
Saturday, June 28 THE REBEL (Charlie Nguyen, 2007), 7:45
Saturday, June 28 THE BUTCHER (Kim Jin-Won, 2007), 9:50
The Korean gorefest THE BUTCHER is one of the most vile, repellent horror movies we’ve ever had the displeasure to sit through, and we don’t mean that in a good way. Even the most ardent admirers of such series as SAW, HOSTEL, and THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE will be disgusted by this pointless blood party involving two dudes (one called the Director) and a giant pig man who have captured four people and are planning on slicing and dicing them in an abandoned slaughterhouse for snuff films they are going to sell overseas, primarily in America, which tends to go for that sort of thing. If the intense violence doesn’t make you nauseous, the shaky camerawork will, as the entire story is told through camera helmets worn by one of the murderers and one of the victims. Somewhere within all of the insanity, this indie film, directed by newcomer Kim Jon-won, is trying to make a point about horror films and the movie industry, but whatever that is gets lost long before the intestines start showing up. THE BUTCHER, which is thankfully only seventy-five minutes long, will be preceded by CHAINSAW HIGH SCHOOL GIRL, an earlier thirty-six minute effort by Kim. We can’t imagine what that might be about.
Saturday, June 28 X-CROSS (Kenta Fukasaku, 2007), 12:05
Kenta Fukasuku’s X-CROSS brings some J-horror to festival
Saturday, June 28, 12:05
After Shiyori (Nao Matsushita) catches her boyfriend with another woman, her friend Aiko (Ami Suzuki) takes her on a short getaway to Ashikari Village, a small town in the middle of deep, dark, scary woods where they can relax in healing hot springs and hopefully forget about their troubles. But they’re barely there before Shiyori is on the run, being chased by a legion of grunting, gimpy men with torches who want to put her up on a cross and cut off her left leg, imprisoning her there for the rest of her life. Shiyori discovers many of the village’s dirty secrets via a cell phone that was left in her room, with a mystery man named Mononobe on the other end, trying to help her escape. (The film is based on the mobile manga series by Nobuyuki Jôkô, which was distributed via cell phone.) Meanwhile, Aiko is battling a one-eyed witch in a bizarre dress who is wielding a five-foot-long pair of very sharp scissors that she very much would like to use to cut Aiko up. Despite its share of stupid scenes — Shiyori often stops to speak on her cell phone, and her pursuers seem to just stop and wait for her to finish — X-CROSS is lots of fun, written by Oishi Tetsuya of DEATH NOTE fame and directed by Kenta Fukasaku (YO-YO GIRL COP), the son of the late master Kinji Fukasaku (BATTLES WITHOUT HONOR AND HUMANITY, BATTLE ROYALE). The film is told from both Shiyori’s and Aiko’s points of view, as the film often rewinds just before a climactic moment and shows the same events from the other character’s perspective. The conceit gets tiring, but the film, which is actually not as gory as one might imagine, is able to rise above it.
Sunday, June 29 RETRO GAME MASTER: GHOSTS AND GOBLINS, free, 12 noon
Sunday, June 29 LOVE ON SUNDAY (Ryuichi Hiroki, 2006), 1:00
Sunday, June 29 LOVE ON SUNDAY — LAST WORDS (Ryuichi Hiroki, 2007), 3:00
Sunday, June 29 KING NARESUAN (Prince Chatrichalerm Yukol, 2007), 5:00
Sunday, June 29 KING NARESUAN 2 (Prince Chatrichalerm Yukol, 2007), 8:15
Monday, June 30 THE MOST BEAUTIFUL NIGHT IN THE WORLD (Daisuke Tengan, 2008), 12:45
Monday, June 30 TAMAMI: THE BABY’S CURSE (Yudai Yamaguchi, 2008), 4:00
Monday, June 30 THIS WORLD OF OURS (Ryo Nakajima, 2008), 6:15
Monday, June 30 KING NARESUAN 2 (Prince Chatrichalerm Yukol, 2007), 8:15
Tuesday, July 1 THE SHADOW SPIRIT (Masato Harada, 2007), 1:15
Tuesday, July 1 SHADOWS IN THE PALACE (Kim Mee-Jeung, 2007), 4:15
Tuesday, July 1 M (Lee Myung-Se, 2007), followed by a Q&A with the direcor, 7:00
Hitoshi Yazaki’s STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKES is more than it appears
Tuesday, July 1 STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKES (Hitoshi Yazaki, 2006), 9:15
Wednesday, July 2 RETRO GAME MASTER: GHOSTS AND GOBLINS, free, 11:30
Wednesday, July 2 LOVE ON SUNDAY — LAST WORDS (Ryuichi Hiroki, 2007), 12:30
Wednesday, July 2 THIS WORLD OF OURS (Ryo Nakajima, 2008), 2:45
Wednesday, July 2 SHAMO (Soi Cheang, 2008), 4:40
Wednesday, July 2 ALWAYS: SUNSET ON THIRD STREET (Takashi Yamazaki, 2005), 7:00
Wednesday, July 2 SPARROW (Johnnie To, 2008), 9:40
Thursday, July 3 THE REBEL (Charlie Nguyen, 2007), 12 noon
Thursday, July 3 LIKE A DRAGON (Takashi Miike, 2007), 2:10
Thursday, July 3 TOKYO GORE POLICE (Yoshinori Nishimura, 2008), 4:20
Thursday, July 3 PUBLIC ENEMY RETURNS (Kang Woo-Suk, 2008), 6:30
Thursday, July 3 ACTION BOYS (Jung Byoung-Gul, 2008), with an introduction and postscreening Q&A with Jung Byung-Gil, producer Lee Ji-Youn, and actor/stuntman Kwak Jin-Seock, 9:00
Thursday, July 3 SASORI (Joe Ma, 2008), 11:55
Ichikawa tribute is part of Japan Cuts festival
Japan Society
333 East 47th St. between First and Second Aves.
July 2-13
212-715-1258
The Japan Society will be hosting nearly two weeks of shorts and feature-length films comprising some of the best works currently coming out of Japan. The Short Cuts series is free, so there’s no excuse not to stop by and check out some great flicks. Among the highlights of the full-length films are Takashi Miike’s SUKIYAKI WESTERN DJANGO, Shinji Aoyama’s SAD VACATION, Takashi Yamazaki’s ALWAYS series, and Koji Wakamatsu much anticipated UNITED RED ARMY. There are also special sidebars honoring Naomi Kawase, who will be on hand for a Q&A on July 2, as well as the legendary Kon Ichikawa, who passed in February.
Wednesday, July 2 TARACHIME (Naomi Kawase, 2006) and THE MOURNING FOREST (MOGARI NO MORI), followed by a Q&A with Naomi Kawase, 6:30
Thursday, July 3 ADRIFT IN TOKYO (TENTEN) (Satoshi Miki, 2007), 4:20
Thursday, July 3 Short Cuts: The Origin of Naomi Kawase, Part 1: EMBRACING (NITSUTSUMARETE) (Naomi Kawase, 1992) & KYAKARABAA (Naomi Kawase, 2001), free, 6:15
Thursday, July 3 FINE, TOTALLY FINE (ZENZEN DAIJOBU) (Yosuke Fujita, 2007), 6:30
Thursday, July 3 Short Cuts: The Origin of Naomi Kawase, Part 2: Grandmother Trilogy — KATATSUMORI, (Naomi Kawase, 1994), SEE HEAVEN, (Naomi Kawase, 1995), and HI WA KATABUKI (Naomi Kawase, 1996), free, 8:00
Thursday, July 3 ACCURACY OF DEATH (SHINIGAMI NO SEIDO) (Masaya Kakei, 2008), 8:45
Friday, July 4 ACCURACY OF DEATH (SHINIGAMI NO SEIDO) (Masaya Kakei, 2008), 12:15
Takeshi Kaneshiro and his telepathic dog can’t get out of the rain
Thursday, July 3, 8:45
Friday, July 4, 12:15
http://www.shinigaminoseido.jp
In director Masaya Kakehi’s offbeat ACCURACY OF DEATH (also known as SWEET RAIN), Japanese/Taiwanese actor Takeshi Kaneshiro stars as a Grim Reaper named Chiba who gets sent down from above with a telepathic dog to judge whether to proceed with or suspend a person’s impending death, depending on whether he or she has served their purpose on earth. Chiba first shows up in the 1980s, where a lonely customer service employee, Kazue Fujiki (Manami Konishi), is tired of having everyone close to her die and has given up on her own life. In the present, Chiba must determine whether a double-crossed Yakuza leader, Mr. Fujita (Ken Mitsuishi), has more to accomplish before getting whacked by a rival, although Chiba spends most of his time with a young gangster, Akutsu (Takuya Ishida), who immediately regrets selling his boss down the river. And in 2026, Chiba arrives at the seaside home of an old hairdresser (Sumiko Fuji) who, with the help of her robot companion (Erika Okuda), is determined to give a group of seven-year-old boys free haircuts. Kaneshiro (HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS, FALLEN ANGELS), appearing in his first Japanese film in six years, is cool, calm, and collected as the cool, calm, and somewhat confused Chiba, a sympathetic, music-loving reaper who takes everything at face value while hoping that the rain that perpetually follows him through the ages will finally stop, allowing him to see a clear blue sky for the first time. However, the three interrelated stories stretch credulity, even in a fantasy film, and you’ll figure out the twist well before Chiba does. And things aren’t helped by Gary Ashiya’s sappy score.
Friday, July 4 DAINIPPONJIN (BIG MAN JAPAN) (Hitoshi Matsumoto, 2007), 2:30
Saturday, July 5 ALWAYS: SUNSET ON THIRD STREET 2 (ALWAYS: ZOKU SANCHOME NO YUHI) (Takashi Yamazaki, 2007), 1:00
Saturday, July 5 Short Cuts: Digista Vol. VI, free, 1:45
Saturday, July 5 Short Cuts: SHADOW OF SAND (Yusuke Kaida, 2007), 3:15
Saturday, July 5 YASUKUNI (Li Ying, 2008), 4:00
Saturday, July 5 Short Cuts: OFF HIGHWAY 20 (Katsuya Tomita, 2007), 5:00
Saturday, July 5 FINE, TOTALLY FINE (ZENZEN DAIJOBU) (Yosuke Fujita, 2007), 6:30
Saturday, July 5 Short Cuts: Planet+1 Selection: Immoral Films, free, 6:45
Saturday, July 5 Short Cuts: Open Art Animation, free, 8:15
Saturday, July 5 SUKIYAKI WESTERN DJANGO (Takashi Miike, 2007), followed by Sukiyaki Western Party, $15, 9:00
Sunday, July 6 SAD VACATION (Shinji Aoyama, 2007), 1:15
Sunday, July 6 UNITED RED ARMY (JITSUROKU RENGOSEKIGUN — ASAMA SANSO E NO MICHI) (Koji Wakamatsu, 2008), followed by a live digital video Q&A with Koji Wakamatsu from Tokyo, 4:00, preceded by a talk with screenwriter Masayuki Kakegawa at 3:00
Sunday, July 6 Short Cuts: LAZARUS — THE HOUSE OF THE RISING SUN (Kishu Izuchi, 2007), 4:15
Sunday, July 6 Short Cuts: JVC Tokyo Video Festival, free, 6:00
Sunday, July 6 Short Cuts: A PERMANENT PART-TIMER IN DISTRESS (Hiroki Iwabuchi, 2007), 7:45
Sunday, July 6 ALWAYS: SUNSET ON THIRD STREET 2 (ALWAYS: ZOKU SANCHOME NO YUHI) (Takashi Yamazaki, 2007), 8:15
Monday, July 7 TARACHIME (Naomi Kawase, 2006) and THE MOURNING FOREST (MOGARI NO MORI), 6:30
Monday, July 7 Short Cuts: Digista Vol. VI, free, 6:45
Monday, July 7 SHADOW OF SAND (Yusuke Kaida, 2007), 8:15
Tuesday, July 8 UNITED RED ARMY (JITSUROKU RENGOSEKIGUN — ASAMA SANSO E NO MICHI) (Koji Wakamatsu, 2008), 7:30, preceded by a talk with screenwriter Masayuki Kakegawa at 6:30
Tuesday, July 8 Short Cuts: Vortex and Others — 5 Short Works by Yoshihiro Ito, free, 6:45
Tuesday, July 8 Short Cuts: 893239 (Yakuza Short Films), free, 8:45
Wednesday, July 9 KISARAGI (Yuichi Sato, 2007), 8:45
Internet chat buddies meet to celebrate the life of their deceased idol
Wednesday, July 9, 8:45
Sunday, July 13, 5:30
On the first anniversary of the suicide of model Miki Kisaragi, five of her biggest fans, who met in an Internet chat room dedicated to her, gather to pay tribute to her by sharing their photos, autographs, and other Miki-related items. The five very different personalities include the perky and proud Iemoto (Shun Oguri), the ultra-cool Snake (Keisuke Koide), the serious and mournful Yuuji Oda (Yusuke Santamaria), the fat and goofy Yasuo (Muga Tsukaji), and the creepy and mysterious Strawberry Girl (Teruyuki Kagawa). But as each one relates his own personal memories, secrets begin to emerge calling into question their real identities — and whether Miki’s suicide was actually an accident, or maybe even murder. Director Yuichi Sato (PRAY) sets the film almost entirely in one apartment, but it never feels too stagey; instead, its claustrophobic nature allows the complex emotions of the five main characters to guide the narrative flow with an entertaining combination of humor and mystery. Be sure to stay through the closing credits for an added bonus.
Thursday, July 10 YASUKUNI (Li Ying, 2008), 6:30
Thursday, July 10 Short Cuts: Open Art Animation, free, 6:45
Thursday, July 10 Short Cuts: Planet+1 Selection: Immoral Films, free, 8:15
Thursday, July 10 GUMMI, CHOCOLATE, PINE (Keralino Sandorovich, 2007), 9:00
Friday, July 11 FILMFUL LIFE (ICHIKAWA KON MONOGATARI) (Shunji Iwai, 2006), 6:30
Friday, July 11 Short Cuts: A PERMANENT PART-TIMER IN DISTRESS (Hiroki Iwabuchi, 2007), 6:45
Friday, July 11 OFF HIGHWAY 20 (Katsuya Tomita, 2007), 8:15
Friday, July 11 Inugami X 2: A Tribute to Kon Ichikawa — THE INUGAMI FAMILY (Kon Ichikawa, 1976), 8:30
Ichikawa’s remake brings murder back to the Inugami clan
Friday, July 11, 8:30
Saturday, July 12, 5:45
In 1976, internationally renowned director Kon Ichikawa (FIRES ON THE PLAIN) made Japan’s biggest blockbuster ever, the immensely entertaining THE INUGAMI FAMILY. In 1947, when family patriarch and wealthy industrialist Sahei dies, his relatives gather around like moths to a flame to find out what he has left them in his will. Alas, his fortune is destined for Tamayo, a young woman who is not part of the family. However, she must marry one of Sahei’s daughters’ sons — including one who has returned home from the war in a form-fitting mask to hide his horrific facial wounds — in order to inherit the estate, pitting sister against sister, cousin against cousin, and everyone against everyone. As the body count starts rising, private detective Kohsuke Kindaichi — sort of a Japanese Columbo — tries to sift through the many lies, half-truths, and long-buried secrets in order to discover who the mysterious killer is before the whole family is dead. THE INUGAMI FAMILY is filled with beautiful colors, excellently suspicious characters, and Yuji Ono’s wonderfully cheesy music. Oddly, Ichikawa remade the film thirty years later, his final production (he died in February 2008), re-creating the original in a near-duplication, using the same sets, music, dialogue, camera angles, and, in one case, actor — Koji Ishizaka plays Kindaichi in both films — making only small, subtle changes. Both films are a lot of fun, but we strongly recommend checking out the 1976 version first.
Saturday, July 12 NEAR EQUAL KUSAMA YAYOI: I ADORE MYSELF (NEAR EQUAL KUSAMA YAYOI — WATASHI DAISUKI) (Takako Matsumoto, 2008), followed by a Q&A with Takako Matsumoto, 12:45
Saturday, July 12 Short Cuts: JVC Tokyo Video Festival, free, 1:15
Saturday, July 12 GUMMI, CHOCOLATE, PINE (Keralino Sandorovich, 2007), 3:15
Saturday, July 12 Short Cuts: The Origin of Naomi Kawase, Part 1: EMBRACING (NITSUTSUMARETE) (Naomi Kawase, 1992) & KYAKARABAA (Naomi Kawase, 2001), free, 3:30
Saturday, July 12 Short Cuts: The Origin of Naomi Kawase, Part 2: Grandmother Trilogy — KATATSUMORI, (Naomi Kawase, 1994), SEE HEAVEN, (Naomi Kawase, 1995), and HI WA KATABUKI (Naomi Kawase, 1996), free, 5:30
Saturday, July 12 Inugami x 2: A Tribute to Kon Ichikawa — MURDER OF THE INUGAMI CLAN (Kon Ichikawa, 2006), 5:45
Saturday, July 12 Short Cuts: Vortex and Others — 5 Short Works by Yoshihiro Ito, free, 7:30
Saturday, July 12 SAKURAN (Mika Ninagawa, 2007), followed by Red Light Party, $15, 8:30
Sunday, July 13 A GENTLE BREEZE IN THE VILLAGE (TENNEN KOKEKKO) (Nobuhiro Yamashita, 2007), free, 3:00
Sunday, July 13 SAKURAN (Mika Ninagawa, 2007), 12:45
Sunday, July 13 Short Cuts: A Girl in the Sunset, free, 1:00
Sunday, July 13 LAZARUS — THE HOUSE OF THE RISING SUN (Kishu Izuchi, 2007), 3:15
Sunday, July 13 Short Cuts: 893239 (Yakuza Short Films), free, 5:15
Sunday, July 13 KISARAGI (Yuichi Sato, 2007), 5:30
Walter Reade Theater
165 West 65th St. between Eighth Ave. & Broadway
June 27 — July 1
Tickets: $11 (Series Pass $40)
212-875-5600
Tickets: $11
Series Pass: $40
If the New York Asian Film Festival and Japan Cuts are not quite enough for you, MoMA is screening all six of Japanese animation master Satoshi Kon’s major works, including his recent hit PAPRIKA, as well as such previous delights as MILLENNIUM ACTRESS and TOKYO GODFATHERS. Kon will be on hand June 27 for a special conversation with Richard Peña following a screening of PAPRIKA. In addition, Kon’s artwork will be on view June 27 through July 15 in the Frieda and Roy Furman Gallery at the Walter Reade Theater.
Friday, June 27 PERFECT BLUE (Satoshi Kon, 1998), 2:30
Friday, June 27 MILLENNIUM ACTRESS / SENNEN JOYÛ (Satoshi Kon, 2001), 4:15
Friday, June 27 A Conversation with Satoshi Kon: Screening of PAPRIKA (Satoshi Kon, 2006), followed by a conversation with Satoshi Kon featuring onscreen highlights of his work, $15, 6:15
Saturday, June 28 TOKYO GODFATHERS (Satoshi Kon & Shôgo Furuya, 2003), 2:30
Saturday, June 28 PERFECT BLUE (Satoshi Kon, 1998), 4:30
Saturday, June 28 MILLENNIUM ACTRESS / SENNEN JOYÛ (Satoshi Kon, 2001), 6:15
Saturday, June 28 PARANOIA AGENT / MÔSÔ DAIRININ (Satoshi Kon, 2004), Part One: Chapters 1-7, 8:15
Sunday, June 29: PARANOIA AGENT / MÔSÔ DAIRININ (Satoshi Kon, 2004), Part One: Chapters 1-7, 1:00
Sunday, June 29 PARANOIA AGENT / MÔSÔ DAIRININ (Satoshi Kon, 2004), Part Two: Chapters 8-13, 4:15
Sunday, June 29 TOKYO GODFATHERS (Satoshi Kon & Shôgo Furuya, 2003), 7:15
Sunday, June 29, 7:15
Monday, June 30, 2:00
Satoshi Kon and Shôgo Furuya’s animated adaptation of John Ford’s 1948 THREE GODFATHERS is a charming look at the many forms a family can take. New Year’s Eve is approaching, and a trio of homeless friends — Gin, a boozer and gambler who has lost his wife and child; Miyuki, a young runaway; and the hysterical Hana, a flamboyant transvestite — find an abandoned baby in the trash. They unofficially adopt the baby, which they name Kiyoko, while also searching for the real parents, becoming a family themselves through a series of slapstick scenes and a few tender moments. The film gets sappy and melodramatic in the latter stages as the coincidences start getting out of hand, as if Kon (PAPRIKA, MILLENNIUM ACTRESS) and Furuya (key animator for MILLENNIUM ACTRESS, SPIRITED AWAY, and other anime films) had to suddenly end the film, but it’s still an endearing story with some fascinating, unforgettable characters.
Sunday, June 29 PERFECT BLUE (Satoshi Kon, 1998), 9:15
Monday, June 30 TOKYO GODFATHERS (Satoshi Kon & Shôgo Furuya, 2003), 2:00
Monday, June 30 PAPRIKA (Satoshi Kon, 2006), 4:00
Tuesday, July 1 PAPRIKA (Satoshi Kon, 2006), 2:30 & 9:10
Satoshi Kon’s animated fantasy is set in a dreamlike future
http://www.sonyclassics.com/paprika
Based on the novel by Yasutaka Tsutsui, PAPRIKA is an animated, futuristic sci-fi thriller in which reality and dreams merge in clever and confusing ways. The title character is a superhero psychotherapist who can enter people’s dreams by using cutting-edge technology known as the DC MINI, which was invented by Dr. Tokita, a huge man with a baby face and a tremendous appetite. When one of the prototypes is stolen, Paprika, whose alter ego is Dr. Atsuko Chiba of the Foundation for Psychiatric Research, sets out to find the thief, who is using the invaluable — and not fully tested and approved — equipment for seemingly evil purposes. Other central characters include Torataro Shima, the adorable old chief of the lab; the ruthless, wheelchair-bound foundation chairman, Seijiro Inui; Detective Konakawa, who develops a liking for Paprika; Dr. Osanai, a hunky researcher; and lab assistant Himuro, who has gone missing but can be seen in dreams. Adapted by Satoshi Kon, the director of MILLENNIUM ACTRESS and TOKYO GODFATHERS, and featuring the voices of Megumi Hayashibara, Toru Emori, Katsunosuke Hori, Toru Furuya, and Akio Ohtsuka, PAPRIKA is an entertaining, if at times hard to follow, anime with lots of cute characters and some very beautiful scenes.
Tuesday, July 1 MILLENNIUM ACTRESS / SENNEN JOYÛ (Satoshi Kon, 2001), 4:20
Tuesday, July 1 PARANOIA AGENT / MÔSÔ DAIRININ (Satoshi Kon, 2004), Part Two: Chapters 8-13, 6:15
ImaginAsian Theatre
239 East 59th St. at Second Ave.
Admission: free
RSVP: http://www.newyork-tokyo.com/wp/paprika
Monday, June 30 PAPRIKA (Satoshi Kon, 2006), introduced by Satoshi Kon, doors at 6:15, introduction at 7:00
© Toho Co., Ltd.
Tatsuya Nakadai battles Toshiro Mifune in SAMURAI REBELLION
Film Forum
209 West Houston St. between Sixth & Seventh Aves.
Through August 7
212-727-8110
Japanese star Tatsuya Nakadai (1932- ) might not be a household name in the United States, but many of his films are — primarily such Akira Kurosawa classics as KAGEMUSHA, RAN, SANJURO, YOJIMBO, and HIGH AND LOW. He’s also made such cult favorites as Hiroshi Teshigahara’s THE FACE OF ANOTHER, Masaki Kobayashi’s SAMURAI REBELLION and KWAIDAN, and Kihachi Okamoto’s SWORD OF DOOM and KILL! Whether playing a rogue samurai, a 1960s detective, an obsessive artist, a hip gangster, a ruthless government official, or a Shakespearean king, Nakadai always makes an impact. This exciting series concludes with a three-week run of Kobayashi’s three-part, ten-hour WWII epic, THE HUMAN CONDITION. (For even more of Nakadai, check out Kon Ichikawa’s 2006 remake MURDER OF THE INUGAMI CLAN, which is part of the Japan Cuts series detailed above; Nakadai makes a fab appearance as family patriarch Sahei Inugami.)
Tuesday, June 24 THE FACE OF ANOTHER (1966, Hiroshi Teshigahara)
Wednesday, June 25
and
Thursday, June 26 SWORD OF DOOM (1966, Kihachi Okamoto)
Thursday, June 26 ONIMASA (1982, Hideo Gosha)
Friday, June 27 GOYOKIN (1969, Hideo Gosha)
Saturday, June 28 YOJIMBO (1961, Akira Kurosawa)
Toshiro Mifune is a lone samurai on the road following the end of the Tokugawa dynasty in Akira Kurosawa’s unforgettable masterpiece. Mifune comes to a town with two warring factions and plays each one off the other as a hired hand. Neo’s battles with myriad Agent Smiths are nothing compared to Yojimbo’s magnificent swordfights against growing bands of warriors that include one man with a gun. Try watching this film and not think of several Clint Eastwood Westerns as well as HIGH NOON. (In fact, Sergio Leone’s 1964 Western A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS is virtually a shot-by-shot remake of YOJIMBO.)
Tuesday, June 29
and
Monday, June 30 HIGH AND LOW (1963, Akira Kurosawa)
Monday, June 30 PORTRAIT OF HELL (1969, Shiro Toyoda)
Tuesday, July 1 AGE OF ASSASSINS (1967, Kihachi Okamoto)
Wednesday, July 2 I AM A CAT (1975, Kon Ichikawa)
Thursday, July 3 WHEN A WOMAN ASCENDS THE STAIRS (1960, Mikio Naruse)
Friday, July 4 BLACK RIVER (1957, Masaki Kobayashi)
Saturday, July 5 SAMURAI REBELLION (1957, Masaki Kobayashi)
Sunday, July 6
and
Monday, July 7 KAGEMUSHA (1980, Akira Kurosawa)
Monday, July 7 SOLAR ECLIPSE (1975, Satsuo Yamamoto)
Tuesday, July 8 TENCHU (HITOKIRI) (1969, Hideo Gosha)
Wednesday, July 9 UNTAMED (1957, Mikio Naruse)
Thursday, July 10 IMMORTAL LOVE (1961, Keisuke Kinoshita)
Friday, July 11
and
Saturday, July 12 RAN (1985, Akira Kurosawa)
Sunday, July 13 KWAIDAN (1964, Masaki Kobayashi)
© Toho Co., Ltd.
Nakadai doesn’t like what he sees in KWAIDAN
Masaki Kobayashi paints four marvelous ghost stories in this eerie collection that won a Special Jury Prize at Cannes. In "The Black Hair," a samurai (Rentaro Mikuni) regrets his choice of leaving his true love for advancement. Yuki (Keiko Kishi) is a harbinger of doom in "The Woman of the Snow." Hoichi (Katsuo Nakamura) must have his entire body covered in prayer in "Hoichi, the Earless." And Kannai (Kanemon Nakamura) finds a creepy face staring back at him in "In a Cup of Tea."
Monday, July 14 ODD OBSESSION (1959, Kon Ichikawa)
Tuesday, July 15
and
Wednesday, July 16 KILL! (1968, Kihachi Okamoto)
Wednesday, July 16 CONFLAGRATION (ENJO) (1958, Kon Ichikawa)
Thursday, July 17 SANJURO (1962, Akira Kurosawa)
In this YOJIMBO-like tale, Toshiro Mifune shows up in a small town looking for food and fast money and takes up with a rag-tag group of wimps who don’t trust him when he says he will help them against the powerful ruling gang. Funnier than most Kurosawa samurai epics, the film is unfortunately brought down a notch by a bizarre soundtrack that ranges from melodramatic claptrap to a jazzy big-city score.
Friday, July 18
through
Thursday, August 7 THE HUMAN CONDITION (1959-61, Masaki Kobayashi), presented in three parts
twi-ny/mdr
Dennis Oppenheim’s "Tumbling Mirage" has been installed on median
Union Square Park, South Plaza
Park Ave. to Broadway between 14th & 17th Sts.
Thursday afternoons from through August 14
Kids music at 12:30, yoga at 3:00, adult music at 5:30
Book readings and signings at B&N, 33 East 17th St.
Admission: free
212-460-1208
http://www.dennis-oppenheim.com
Born in Washington State seventy years ago and currently living and working in New York City, sculptor and performance artist Dennis Oppenheim has installed "Tumbling Mirage" on the Union Square Park median at the intersection of 14th St. and Park Ave. South. Oppenheim, who received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2007 Vancouver Sculpture Biennale, has installed public art projects all over the world, including the Netherlands, Italy, and Alaska. "Tumbling Mirage" is a three-part sculpture that people can walk in, around, and through. In addition, Oppenheim’s powerful 1982 installation piece "Vibrating Forest" is on view as part of P.S.1’s "That Was Then...This Is Now" exhibit.
Thursday, June 26 Books in the Square: Sally Lloyd-Jones, HOW TO BE A BABY BY ME, THE BIG SISTER, 12 noon
Thursday, June 26 Kids in the Square: Moey’s Music Party, 12:30
Thursday, June 26 Yoga in the Square: East West Yoga, 3:00
Thursday, June 26 Music in the Square: JVC Jazz Presents the New School Jazz Band, 5:30
Thursday, July 3 Books in the Square: Daniel Kirk, LIBRARY MOUSE, 12 noon
Thursday, July 3 Kids in the Square: Astrograss, 12:30
Thursday, July 3 Yoga in the Square: East West Yoga, 3:00
Thursday, July 3 Music in the Square: TheaterMania.com Presents an Off-Broadway Revue, 5:30
Thursday, July 10 Books in the Square: Edel Rodriguez, SERGIO MAKES A SPLASH!, 12 noon
Thursday, July 10 Kids in the Square: Hot Peas ‘N Butter, 12:30
Thursday, July 10 Yoga in the Square: East West Yoga, 3:00
Thursday, July 10 Music in the Square: TheaterMania.com Presents an Off-Broadway Revue, 5:30
Thursday, July 17 Kids in the Square: Princess Katie & Racer Steve, 12:30
Thursday, July 17 Yoga in the Square: Tao Yoga, 3:00
Thursday, July 17 Music in the Square: the John Malino Band, 5:30
Thursday, July 24 Books in the Square: Michael Buckley, THE SISTERS GRIMM: TALES FROM THE HOOD, 12 noon
Thursday, July 24 Kids in the Square: Dirty Sock Funtime Band, 12:30
Thursday, July 24 Yoga in the Square: OM Yoga, 3:00
Thursday, July 24 Music in the Square: the Nashville Attitude, 5:30
Thursday, July 31 Kids in the Square: JUMP presents Carnival of the Animals, 12:30
Thursday, July 31 Yoga in the Square: OM Yoga, 3:00
Thursday, July 31 Music in the Square: Jukebox the Ghost, 5:30
Thursday, July 31 Upstairs at the Square: Joseph O’Neill & Aimee Mann, 7:00
Thursday, August 7 Books in the Square: John Rocco, MOONPOWDER, 12 noon
Thursday, August 7 Kids in the Square: Suzi Shelton, 12:30
OM Yoga will have people twisting in the park this summer
Thursday, August 7 Yoga in the Square: OM Yoga, 3:00
Thursday, August 7 Music in the Square: Virgin Presents World Music Night, 5:30
Thursday, August 7 Books in the Square: Dan Yaccarino, LITTLE BOY WITH A BIG HORN, 12 noon
Thursday, August 14 Kids in the Square: the Daryl Roth Theatres Present Children’s Fall Preview, 12:30
Thursday, August 14 Yoga in the Square: Tao Yoga, 3:00
Thursday, August 14 Music in the Square: Virgin Presents World Music Night, 5:30
United Artists / The Kobal Collection
Holden played an aging, distinguished television exec in NETWORK
Walter Reade Theater
165 West 65th St. between Eighth Ave. & Broadway
July 2 — 15
Tickets: $11 (Series Pass $40)
212-875-5600
Among Hollywood’s elite, few were as dignified on-screen as the Golden Boy himself, William Holden, although off-screen he was a womanizing war vet battling a serious drinking problem that resulted in a vehicular manslaughter charge and his accidental death at the age of sixty-three. Born William Franklin Beedle Jr. in Illinois in 1917, Holden was raised in South Pasadena, making his film debut in 1938. For the next forty years, he was a superstar, earning three Oscar nominations (winning for STALAG 17) while appearing in such classic, wide-ranging dramas as SUNSET BOULEVARD, THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI, NETWORK, PICNIC, SABRINA, and THE WILD BUNCH. By the end of his career — and his life — he had earned every deep line on his superbly craggy face. For this series, the Film Society of Lincoln Center has introduced "Back 2 Back," in which a ticket to one screening automatically allows you to stay for the next one for free.
Wednesday, July 2 SUNSET BOULEVARD (Billy Wilder, 1950), 1:45 & 6:15
Wednesday, July 2 FEDORA (Billy Wilder, 1978), 4:00 & 8:30
Thursday, July 3 THE MAN FROM COLORADO (Henry Levin, 1948), 2:15 & 6:15
Thursday, July 3 STREETS OF LAREDO (Leslie Fenton, 1949), 4:14 & 8:30
Saturday, July 5 THE BRIDGES AT TOKO-RI (Mark Robson, 1954), 1:00 & 6:20
Columbia / The Kobal Collection
Holden’s quite the hunk in THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI
Saturday, July 5 THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI (David Lean, 1957), 3:15 & 8:30
Sunday, July 6 THE HORSE SOLDIERS (John Ford, 1959), 1:00 & 5:30
Sunday, July 6 ESCAPE FROM FORT BRAVO (John Sturges, 1953), 3:30 & 8:00
Monday, July 7 GOLDEN BOY (Rouben Mamoulian, 1939), 2:30 & 6:30
Monday, July 7 OUR TOWN (Sam Wood, 1940), 4:30 & 8:30
Thursday, July 10 BREEZY (Clint Eastwood, 1973), 1:30 & 6:15
Thursday, July 10 NETWORK (Sidney Lumet, 1976), 3:45 & 8:30
Friday, July 11 S.O.B. (Blake Edwards, 1981), 1:00 & 6:15
Saturday, July 11 THE WILD BUNCH (Sam Peckinpah, 1969), 3:30 & 8:45
Saturday, July 12 THE KEY (Carol Reed, 1958), 1:30 & 6:50
Saturday, July 12 THE COUNTERFEIT TRAITOR (George Seaton, 1962), 4:10 & 9:30
Sunday, July 13 THE LION (Jack Cardiff, 1962), 1:30 & 6:00
Sunday, July 13 PICNIC (Joshua Logan, 1955), 3:30 & 8:00
Monday, July 14 STALAG 17 (Billy Wilder, 1953), 3:45 & 8:30
Monday, July 14 SABRINA (Billy Wilder, 1954), 1:30 & 6:15
Tuesday, July 15 SABRINA (Billy Wilder, 1954), 3:35
Tuesday, July 15 THE WILD BUNCH (Sam Peckinpah, 1969), 1:00
twi-ny/mdr
Rockefeller Center has a new skyscraper in its midst
Rockefeller Center
Fifth Ave. at 49th St.
Through July 19
Admission: free
Performance artist and sculptor Chris Burden pays tribute to his engineer father and New York City skyscrapers with the endlessly intriguing and wholly enjoyable "What My Dad Gave Me." Burden created his own erector set, fabricating approximately one million individual electro-polished stainless-steel pieces — beams, nuts, bolts, screws, etc. — and has built a six-story, sixty-five-foot-high hollow, see-through building at the base of Rockefeller Center’s Channel Gardens, rising in the shadow of 30 Rock. While it is clearly a toy from some angles, others make it appear to be Midtown’s latest skyscraper. And make sure to see it with the sun shining down on it, making it glitter as the rays bounce around inside it. Burden, who was born in Boston and lives and works in Los Angeles, has given Manhattan a cute and cuddly early Christmas present. (In addition, Burden’s "Deluxe Photo Book 1971-73" is currently on view as part of the "Retrospective" exhibit at the Gagosian Gallery in Chelsea, his "The Reason for the Neutron Bomb" is part of P.S.1’s "That Was Then...This Is Now" exhibit, and he is also represented in "JACK*%SS" at the Susan Inglet gallery in Chelsea.)
Gunn’s blaxploitation flick GANJA AND HESS still has quite a bite
BAMcinematek
BAM Rose Cinemas
30 Lafayette Ave. between Ashland Pl. & St. Felix St.
July 4-13
Movie screenings: $11
718-636-4100
BAM once again goes afro-punk over the July 4 holiday, hosting a variety of films, musical events, and a big block party. Documentaries include looks at funkmeister George Clinton, Brooklyn’s Federation of Black Cowboys, the treatment of African American soldiers, turntable master Lee Scratch Perry, Black Panthers in Kansas City, cult leader Jim Jones, and Ghanaian independence. Fiction films feature works by Bill Gunn, Larry Clark, Jules Dassin, and festival regular James Spooner. We’re particularly excited abut a rare screening of Hal Ashby’s 1970 racial drama THE LANDLORD, a great New York City flick set in a very different Park Slope. And if you missed Shane Meadows’s powerful skinhead film THIS IS ENGLAND a few years ago, BAM gives you two more chances, on July 6 and 8.
Friday, July 4 PANTHER IN AFRICA (Aaron Matthews , 2004), 1:30
Friday, July 4 THE FEDERATION OF BLACK COWBOYS (Eric Martz, 2003), 3:30
Friday, July 4 NO VIETNAMESE EVER CALLED ME N****R (David Loeb Weiss, 1968), 6:00
Friday, July 4 JONESTOWN: THE LIFE AND DEATH OF PEOPLES TEMPLE (Stanley Nelson, 2006), 7:40
Friday, July 4 SOUL BRITANNIA (Don Letts, 2007) and GEORGE CLINTON: TALES OF DR. FUNKENSTEIN (Don Letts, 2006), 9:40
Saturday, July 5 SOUL TO SOUL (Denis Sanders, 1971), 2:00
Saturday, July 5 Bill Gunn Sidebar: GANJA AND HESS (Bill Gunn, 1973), 4:30
Saturday, July 5 Concerts in the Afro-Punk Skate Park: Festival Launch Party featuring Janelle Monae, The Apes, Shawn Hewitt, and Millsted, free, 6:00 —10:00 pm
Saturday, July 5 PASSING THROUGH (Larry Clark, 1977), followed by a Q&A with Larry Clark, 6:50
Saturday, July 5 THE UPSETTER: THE MUSIC AND GENIUS OF LEE SCRATCH PERRY (Ethan Higbee & Adam Bhala Lough, 2008), introduced by Ethan Higbee and Adam Bhala Lough, 9:30
Saturday, July 5
through
Wednesday, July 9 Afro-Punk Skate Park, featuring ramps and half-pipe, demonstrations, free instruction, and live music and DJ sets, parking lot adjacent to BAM, free, 12 noon to 10:00 pm
Sunday, July 6 SOUL BRITANNIA (Don Letts, 2007) and GEORGE CLINTON: TALES OF DR. FUNKENSTEIN (Don Letts, 2006), 2:00
Sunday, July 6 Concerts in the Afro-Punk Skate Park: The Five One, No Surrender, Jen Militia, P.O.S, Souliquest of Sound, free, 4:00 — 10:00 pm
Sunday, July 6 UP TIGHT! (Jules Dassin, 1968), IB Technicolor print followed by a Q&A and after-party with star Ruby Dee, 4:30
Sunday, July 6 WHITE LIES, BLACK SHEEP (James Spooner, 2007), followed by a Q&A with James Spooner, 7:00
Sunday, July 6 THIS IS ENGLAND (Shane Meadows, 2006), 9:40
Thomas "Tommo" Turgoose gives a powerhouse performance in THIS IS ENGLAND
http://www.ifcfilms.com/thisisengland
http://www.thisisenglandmovie.co.uk
Based on elements from his own childhood, Shane Meadows’s THIS IS ENGLAND is a powerful drama set in the tempestuous 1980s in the UK during the controversial Falklands War. Thirteen-year-old Thomas "Tommo" Turgoose makes a stunning debut as Shane, a twelve-year-old boy whose father recently died in the war and who gets picked on because he is short — and never backs away from the chance to defend himself and his dad. Shane is "adopted" by a goofy group of skinheads led by Woody (Joe Gilgun) who like to hang out at a local coffee shop and occasionally perform minor forms of anarchy. Shane also gets a small taste of romance from Smell (Rosamund Hanson), a sweetly innocent teen who dresses like a Boy George groupie. But when Combo (Stephen Graham) shows up, just released from prison, he causes a split among the friends, asking them to join him in his crazed nationalistic fervor fueled by hatred and racism. At that point, the film turns from a charming coming-of-age drama to an angry, politically charged story. Turgoose, a street-savvy underprivileged kid himself, is unforgettable as Shane, who learns fast about the hard, cold world. Graham (SNATCH) is frightening as Combo, a ticking time bomb ready to explode at any moment. The excellent soundtrack features Culture Club, Percy Sledge, Soft Cell, the Specials, Dexy’s Midnight Runners, UK Subs, and several songs by Toots & the Maytals. Be sure not to show up late — the opening montage, beautifully summarizing Thatcher’s England, is simply awesome.
Monday, July 7 Concerts in the Afro-Punk Skate Park: Hollwood Holt, Tim Williams, Shala, Proton, Skyhy, 4:00 — 10:00 pm
Monday, July 7 JONESTOWN: THE LIFE AND DEATH OF PEOPLES TEMPLE (Stanley Nelson, 2006), 4:30
Monday, July 7 WHITE LIES, BLACK SHEEP (James Spooner, 2007), followed by a Q&A with James Spooner, 6:50
Monday, July 7 I’M THROUGH WITH WHITE GIRLS (Jennifer Sharp, 2007), followed by a Q&A with Jennifer Sharp, 9:30
Tuesday, July 8 Concerts in the Afro-Punk Skate Park: Whole Weat Bread, Disaster Us, LIke Gravity, Irradio, McRad, Echo Jinx, 4:00 — 10:00 pm
Tuesday, July 8 UP TIGHT! (Jules Dassin, 1968), IB Technicolor print, 4:30
Tuesday, July 8 WHITE LIES, BLACK SHEEP (James Spooner, 2007), followed by a Q&A with James Spooner, 7:00
Tuesday, July 8 THIS IS ENGLAND (Shane Meadows, 2006), 9:40
Wednesday, July 9 SOUL TO SOUL (Denis Sanders, 1971), 4:30
Wednesday, July 9 AFRO-PUNK (James Spooner, 2003) and PARIAH (Dee Rees, 2007), 6:50
Wednesday, July 9 THE LANDLORD (Hal Ashby, 1970), 9:40
Wednesday, July 9 Concerts in the Afro-Punk Skate Park: Planet Ubiquity, Voodoo Fee, Lets Go To War, Bazaar Royale, Game Rebellion, Bone Crusher, free, 4:00 — 10:00 pm
Saturday, July 12 Concert in Fort Greene Park: Sophia Ramos, the Dirtbombs, Tamar Kali, Little Jackie, and Bermuda featuring Antibalas Horn Section, with DJ Dustbin Brothers and DJ Hard Hitting Harry, 1:00 — 8:00, followed by film screening at 8:00, free
Sunday, July 13 Second annual Afro-Punk Block Party, featuring live music, DJ sets, food, fashion, arts & crafts, and more, with Kudu, J*Davey, the Carps, the Caesarz, DJ Hard Hitting Harry, and the Dustbin Brothers, Clinton Ave. between Myrtle and Willoughby, free, 12 noon — 8:00 pm
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
In conjunction with BAM’s Afro-Punk Festival, the Brooklyn Museum is dedicating its July free First Saturday programming to African-related film, dance, music, and art, culminating in a dance party led by Botswana’s DJ Stone. It’s also the start of the final week of the "© Murakami" exhibition, so get there while you can.
Saturday, July 5 Music: Somi, Steinberg Family Sculpture Garden, 6:00 - 8:00
Saturday, July 5 Film and Discussion: MOOLAADÉ (Ousmane Sembene, 2005), followed by a discussion with Dr. Natasha Gordon-Chipembere, free tickets available at the Visitor Center at 5:00, film at 6:00
Saturday, July 5 Dance: Maimouna Keita Dance Company presents traditional Senegalese folklore and dance, free tickets available at the Visitor Center at 5:00, performance from 6:30 to 8:00
Saturday, July 5 Hands-On Art: Participants are invited to create a collage of an African animal, free timed tickets available at the Visitor Center at 5:30, workshop from 6:30 to 8:30
Saturday, July 5 Curator Talk: Ladan Akbarnia, Curator of Islamic Art, gives a sigh language talk on "Ghada Amer: Love Has No End," free tickets available at the Visitor Center at 5:00, talk at 7:00
Saturday, July 5 Gallery Talk: Shelley Bernstein on "Click! A Crowd-Curated Exhibition," free tickets available at the Visitor Center at 7:00, talk at 8:00
Saturday, July 5 Film: WAITING FOR HAPPINESS (Abderrahmane Sissako, 2002), free tickets available at the Visitor Center at 7:00, film at 8:30
Saturday, July 5 Dance Party: DJ Stone from Botswana plays pan-African dance music, 9:00 — 11:00
Art Kaleidoscope Foundation
Louise Bourgeois shares some of her doubts and fears in new doc.
Film Forum
209 West Houston St. between Sixth & Seventh Aves.
June 25 — July 8, 1:15, 3:15, 6:00, 8:00, 10:00
212-727-8110
On June 27, a major Louise Bourgeois career retrospective, "A Life in Pictures," opens at the Guggenheim, running through September 28. Marion Cajori and Amei Wallach’s highly entertaining and illuminating LOUISE BOURGEOIS: THE SPIDER, THE MISTRESS AND THE TANGERINE is a great way to prepare for the Guggenheim show. The iconoclastic, eclectic, and rather feisty Bourgeois, who is still working in her mid-90s, is one of the seminal female artists of the twentieth — and twenty-first — century. Her intensely personal sculptures hint at childhood traumas, especially relating to the relationship between her father, her mother, and her father’s live-in mistress, in such exciting and mysterious installations as "Red Room," "Cell II," "Precious Liquids," and her ubiquitous "Spiders," brought to life by cinematographers Mead Hunt and Ken Kobland. Cajori and Wallach filmed and interviewed Bourgeois beginning in the artist’s Brooklyn studio in May 1993 and continuing into 2007, also speaking with her assistants, curators, son, and others who shed light on this fascinating, bigger-than-life figure. The film is divided into three sections — "I Do," I Undo," and "I Redo" — as the ornery Bourgeois is very careful about not giving away too many of her secrets ("You have to read between the lines when I talk," she tells Wallach), although she does share many of the intimate emotions behind her unique artistic process, discussing the unconscious, memory, and fear. "The purpose of sculpture is self-knowledge," she says at one point. "I’m full of doubts." Wallach, a longtime art critic at Newsday, will be on hand for the 8:00 show on June 27 to talk about the film.
Brittany Snow and Matthew Broderick star in lame comedy
Landmark Sunshine Cinema
143 East Houston St. between First & Second Aves.
Opens Friday, June 27
212-330-8182
http://www.landmarktheatres.com
Peter Tolan, who serves as an executive producer on Denis Leary’s RESCUE ME series (he’s also written and directed episodes of the show and been nominated for an Emmy), makes his feature-film debut as writer-director with FINDING AMANDA — and audiences will be begging for someone to rescue them from this inane comedy. Matthew Broderick does a lame Woody Allen impersonation — one that only Kenneth Branagh would appreciate — as Taylor Peters, a has-been Hollywood television writer and producer for a terrible show who is a recovering alcoholic with a bit of a gambling problem. After Taylor goes to the track once too often, his wife, Lorraine (Maura Tierney), leaves him, and he is determined to win her back by finding their twenty-year-old niece, Amanda (Brittany Snow), who is working as a hooker in Las Vegas, and getting her into rehab. There’s barely even a chuckle or two in this inept flick, which most likely got accepted to the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival merely for its star power. Tolan, who has also been involved with such losers as JUST LIKE HEAVEN, AMERICA’S SWEETHEARTS, GUESS WHO, and BEDAZZLED, based the character of Taylor on himself; the moviegoing public would have been better off if he’d kept the apology stage of his recovery to his friends and relatives and not shared it so openly.
Dalton Trumbo fights the power in cold war America
Opens Friday, June 27
Lincoln Plaza Cinemas
1886 Broadway between 62nd & 63rd Sts.
212-757-0359
Landmark Sunshine Cinema
143 East Houston St. between First & Second Aves.
212-330-8182
http://www.landmarktheatres.com
http://lincolnplaza.moviefone.com
In 2004-5, Christopher Trumbo’s play TRUMBO: RED, WHITE, AND BLACKLISTED, based on the writings of his father, jailed Hollywood Ten screenwriter and novelist Dalton Trumbo (1905-76), toured the country, a staged reading directed by Peter Askin and starring such actors as Nathan Lane, Joe Mantegna, Bill Irwin, Brian Dennehy, and F. Murray Abraham in the title role. Christopher and Askin have now turned the show into a documentary film, with decidedly mixed results. Although Trumbo’s letters are works of art on their own, funny and incisive, biting and cynical, with a wry, dry sense of humor that summarizes the social and political climate of the cold war era, they lose much of their power when read overdramatically onscreen by Dennehy, Josh Lucas, Paul Giamatti, and others. The camera will linger on Michael Douglas or David Strathairn as they contemplate what they have just read, adding an unnecessary sense of seriousness and importance. It is almost impossible to concentrate on Trumbo’s words as you wonder why Joan Allen was selected, whether Liam Neeson should have tried an American accent, how long and white Donald Sutherland’s hair is, or how many sly gestures Lane will make as he relates a riotous treatise on onanism. Interviews with such friends and colleagues as Manny Azenberg, Kate Lardner, Kirk Douglas, and Trumbo’s children, Christopher and Mitzi, dig deeper into the kind of man Trumbo was, along with archival footage of Trumbo on talk shows, in home movies, and telling the House Un-American Committee to go to hell. Askin tries so hard to focus on the actual words of the Oscar-winning screenwriter behind such classics as JOHNNY GOT HIS GUN, ROMAN HOLIDAY, SPARTACUS, EXODUS, and PAPILLON that he ends up obscuring the portrait as a whole. But oh, what words they are.
Squires and Shapiro share a strange friendship in THE WACKNESS
Opens Thursday, July 3
http://www.sonyclassics.com/thewackness
Winner of the Audience Award for Dramatic Film at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival, THE WACKNESS is a quirky coming-of-age drama set in 1994 New York City, which is quickly being taken over by new mayor Rudy Giuliani’s so-called quality-of-life initiatives. Josh Peck stars as Luke Shapiro, an easygoing loner who sells pot in the parks from a disguised Italian ices cart. He’s just graduated high school, and he’s trying to raise enough money so he can go to college. Luke has a strange relationship with his drug-addled shrink, Jeffrey Squires (a wickedly funny Ben Kingsley), that changes when Luke starts getting a little too friendly with Dr. Squires’s hot stepdaughter, Stephanie (Olivia Thirlby). Meanwhile, Luke’s father (David Wohl) has lost a large sum of money, leaving the family facing possible eviction. Writer-director Jonathan Levine (ALL THE BOYS LOVE MANDY LANE), who graduated high school in 1994 himself, sets the film amid the burgeoning world of hip hop, featuring songs by Nas, the Notorious B.I.G., a Tribe Called Quest, and Method Man (who also plays Luke’s supplier) that heavily influenced his own coming of age. In Luke and Dr. Squires, Levine has created a truly odd, engaging couple in this offbeat, surprisingly affecting film.
Ana Geislerová gives a marvelous performance in BEAUTY IN TROUBLE
Angelika Film Center
18 West Houston St. at Mercer St.
212-995-2000
Ana Geislerová gives a multilayered, mesmerizing performance as the title character in Jan Hrebejk’s Czech drama BEAUTY IN TROUBLE. Geislerová stars as Marcela, a young mother of two who leaves her husband, Jarda (Roman Luknar), who runs a small chop shop, moving in with her mother (Jana Brejchová) and her creepy stepfather (Jirí Schmitzer). After Jarda is arrested for stealing a car, Marcela starts a friendship with the car’s owner, the much older Evžen (Josef Abrhám), a wealthy, gentle soul who wants to bring Marcela and her kids to Tuscany with him. But Evžen lacks the raw passion and sexuality that Jarda offers, complicating Marcela’s continuing life-altering decisions. Directed by Hrebejk and written by Petr Jarchovsky, who previously collaborated on such films as DIVIDED WE FALL and COSY DENS, BEAUTY IN TROUBLE features smart dialogue amid a sometimes disjointed and uneven plot that is redeemed by the solid acting and the many unexpected twists and turns in the story. English-language songs by Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová, the stars of ONCE, add to the general moodiness, while Czech accordion chansioner Raduza regales audiences on-screen with a few numbers. The film premiered at the 2006 Karlovy Vary International Film Festival; it’s about time it made it over here.
Jason Segel wrote and stars in vastly overrated "romantic disaster comedy"
AMC Empire 25
234 West 42nd St. between Broadway & Eighth Ave.
212-398-3939
Regal Union Square Stadium
13th St. & Broadway
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.)
Anne Hathaway & Steve Carell get smart — and plenty stupid — in slapstick flick
http://getsmartmovie.warnerbros.com
From 1965 to 1970, the television series GET SMART, created by Buck Henry and Mel Brooks, parodied the cold-war-era secret-agent genre exemplified by James Bond and Inspector Clouseau on the big screen and THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. on the small screen. The slapstick comedy starred Don Adams as Maxwell Smart, aka Agent 86, a bumbling spy who always managed to get his man and save the world, with the help of his ultra-capable, ultra-cool partner, Agent 99 (Barbara Feldon). Director Peter Segal, who has helmed such loser sequels and remakes as THE LONGEST YARD, NAKED GUN 33 1/3: THE FINAL INSULT, and NUTTY PROFESSOR II: THE KLUMPS, does significantly better with this updated version of GET SMART, primarily because Steve Carell does such a good job reimagining the title character instead of merely impersonating Adams. Carell’s Smart is a detail-oriented analyst who dreams of becoming a field agent, and he finally gets his chance when nearly every other CONTROL agent is either killed or compromised. Working with the Chief (an aggressively funny Alan Arkin), the perfect Agent 23 (Dwayne Johnson), and the gorgeous Agent 99 (Anne Hathaway, holding her own surprisingly well), Smart has to infiltrate KAOS in order to prevent Siegfried (a wasted Terence Stamp) and his right-hand man, Shtarker (BORAT’s Ken Davitian), from detonating a nuclear bomb. But the absurd plot is not the point here; instead, it’s the stupidly fun interplay between the main characters. True, many of the jokes fall flat, the handful of attempts at seriousness are lame, and some of the smaller characters are just too silly and overused (including Masi Oka and Nate Torrence as juvenile weapons experts and David Koechner as a totally wrong Larabee), but Carell keeps things going with his deadpan charm. Segal’s smartest decision might have been to allow his cast to ad lib, resulting in a bunch of laugh-out-loud moments, while bringing back such familiar items as the Cone of Silence and most of the classic tag lines (what, no “and loving it”?). The film also features cameos by series cocreator Leonard Stern, Bill Murray as Agent 13, and, most importantly, the original Siegfried, Bernie Kopell.
Hollywood’s giving it another go-round with the Hulk
http://incrediblehulk.marvel.com
Come back, Ang Lee — all is forgiven. Five years ago this month, Ang Lee let loose the Hulk on an unsuspecting public, and although twi-ny called it a “fun ride,” just about everyone else hated the flick. Well, Louis Letterier, who is responsible for both TRANSPORTER films as well as the awful Jet Li vehicle UNLEASHED, has unleashed a new Hulk on the world, with Edward Norton starring as the illegitimate offspring of a tawdry three-way between Shrek, Princess Fiona, and the Jolly Green Giant. Although there are cute cameos by former Hulksters Bill Bixby and Lou Ferrigno as well as Hulk cocreator Stan Lee (and a surprise appearance by another superhero in the final scene), the rest of the movie is about as flat as the verdant superhero’s haircut. The cast also includes Liv Tyler as Dr. Ross, Bruce Banner’s former flame; a well-mustachioed William Hurt as her father, a general who is seeking the ultimate weapon; Tim Roth as a military mercenary with a bit of a God complex; and Tim Blake Nelson as a mad scientist.
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.
Sergei Bodrov’s biopic follows life of the man who would be Genghis Khan
Landmark Sunshine Cinema
143 East Houston St. between First & Second Aves.
212-330-8182
http://www.landmarktheatres.com
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.
Guy Maddin looks back on his hometown as only he can
IFC Center
323 Sixth Ave. at West Third St.
212-924-7771
Earlier this year, Guy Maddin (THE SADDEST MUSIC IN THE WORLD, CAREFUL) returned to the Tribeca Film Festival, where his splendid cinematic installation COWARDS BEND THE KNEE was a hit in 2003, with MY WINNIPEG, an insanely brilliant homage to his native city. In MY WINNIPEG, he pays tribute to the long, bizarre history of the title Canadian province, which sits directly in the middle of North America, what Maddin refers to as the "heart of the heart of the continent." Combining archival footage with newly re-created scenes, all of which look like faded newsreels and early, degraded prints, Maddin, in voice-over narration, tells of horses buried in ice with their heads sticking out, the Happyland amusement park, Ledge Man, the Hudson’s Bay Company, stampedes, spirit photography and seances, a beauty pageant for men, local scavenger hunts in which the winner gets a ticket out of town, and other strange elements; one of the many joys of the film is not knowing what is exactly true and what is invention, although there is more fact here than you might think. "Everything that happens in this city is a euphemism," Maddin says, just to keep us guessing. He also gets personal in the film, which he calls a "docu-fantasia," with many scenes focusing on his mother — or an actress playing his mother. A masterful meditation on memory, MY WINNIPEG is one of Maddin’s most accomplished, most accessible works, the successor to such classic avant-garde filmmakers as Dali and Bunuel (UN CHIEN ANDALOU), Brakhage (DOG STAR MAN), and Welles (F FOR FAKE). To get a little taste of what Maddin is all about, you can check out many of his short films, including NUDE CABOOSE, FUSEBOY, A TRIP TO THE ORPHANAGE, and SISSY-BOY SLAP-PARTY, on YouTube. Don’t worry about feeling like you’re "stealing" them by seeing them for free; Maddin put them up there himself.
The Pevensies' return to Narnia is a drag
AMC Empire 25
234 West 42nd St. between Broadway & Eighth Ave.
212-398-3939
Regal Union Square Stadium
13th St. & Broadway
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.
The girls are back in town and on the big screen
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
AMC Empire 25
234 West 42nd St. between Broadway & Eighth Ave.
212-398-3939
Regal Union Square Stadium
13th St. & Broadway
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.
twi-ny/mdr
Eddie Vedder and band kick out the jams at the Garden
Madison Square Garden
31st St. to 33rd St. between Seventh & Eighth Aves.
Tuesday, June 24, and Wednesday, June 25, $77, 7:30
“Why be satisfied,” Eddie Vedder declared early last night in Pearl Jam’s first appearance at Madison Square Garden since July 2003. “We’ve got all night.” Explaining that they had negotiated a deal that allowed them to play past curfew, Vedder led the band through thirty songs and more than two and a half hours of nonstop energy. On a very brief tour (twelve shows in nine cities in twenty days) organized around the group’s recent appearance at Bonaroo, PJ is not out promoting an album, or even a specific political candidate. Instead, they are having a blast, mixing up setlists with songs from throughout their nearly twenty-year career. Vedder seemed particularly pumped to be back in New York City, waxing poetic about its record stores — after playing “Spin the Black Circle” — and sharing memories of past gigs here. For the uninitiated, Pearl Jam shows have taken on the aura and epic proportions of Springsteen concerts, as fans know just what words to shout at and when to pump their fists in unison; the band mixes up the setlist every night, with songs about the working man and war; they make cover songs their own (on Tuesday night, they included the Who’s “Love Reign o’er Me,” Bob Dylan’s “All Along the Watchtower,” and the Ramones’ “I Believe in Miracles,” with special guest CJ Ramone); most of the band has been together from the beginning; and chants of “Bruuuuce!” can be heard throughout the night. (Actually, those would be chants of “Boooooooooooom!” whenever keyboardist extraordinaire Boom Gaspard joins Pearl Jam onstage.)
With Jeff Ament on bass, Stone Gossard on rhythm guitar, Mike McCready on lead guitar, and Matt Cameron on drums, Vedder led the ferocious crowd through such songs as “Corduroy,” “Faithfull,” “Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town,” and “Even Flow,” with McCready striking all the requisite guitar god poses (and holding a fierce duel with Gaspard on the Victoria Williams song “Crazy Mary”) and Vedder rambling around the stage, occasionally stopping for a little wine and a cigarette. Vedder dedicated “Do the Evolution” to comedian George Carlin, who passed away Sunday, and the antiwar singalong “No More” to a seriously wounded Iraq veteran, making his cries of “I’m still alive” on the encore “Alive” that much more potent. (Of course, playing it immediately after the Ramones cover, he might have simply been celebrating that CJ was still with us, after the tragic deaths of Joey, Johnny, and DeeDee.) PJ will be doing the evolution all over again tonight. Don’t miss it. (That is, if you can get tickets.) Ted Leo and the Pharmacists open the show.
Thievery Corporation headlines benefit show in Central Park
Central Park SummerStage
Rumsey Playfield
Central Park (enter at Fifth Ave. & 69th St.)
Thursday, June 26, 6:00, $59.50-$65
212-360-2756
Rob Garza and Eric Hilton, the duo at the core of Thievery Corporation, bring their ultra-sophisticated down-tempo style and international eclecticism to SummerStage in a rare East Coast appearance outside their home base of Washington, DC. Fans of TC’s heady mix of dub, bossa nova, soul, psychedelic rock, and electronica won’t be disappointed by their live show; last time TC was in town, two years ago at Webster Hall, the groove was deep and wide, and the dancing went on for hours. Brazilian star Seu Jorge, who burst on the U.S. scene with his acoustic David Bowie covers in Wes Anderson’s THE LIFE AQUATIC WITH STEVE ZISSOU, will get the crowd moving, along with TC’s labelmate Federico Aubele. The blockbuster bill also includes the classic sound of Bebel Gilberto and our own homegrown Turntables on the Hudson. Note to the SummerStage crew: Save time and don’t bother setting up chairs; with this lineup there’s little chance anyone will be sitting down.
Matt Wignall
Delta Spirit will pay tribute to sunshine at two hot local shows
Thursday, June 26, Mercury Lounge, 217 East Houston St. at Ave. A, 212-260-4700, $12, 6:30
Friday, June 27, Union Hall, 702 Union St. at Fifth Ave., $10-$12, 212-220-1460, 8:00
http://www.myspace.com/deltaspirit
http://www.mercuryloungenyc.com
Self-described grindcore minimalists Delta Spirit are in the midst of a national tour in support of the rerelease of their latest CD, ODE TO SUNSHINE, which comes out on Rounder Records on August 26. The album displays the band¹s infectious looseness on such songs as the sweet but brief Beatles-esque “Tomorrow Goes Away,” the rollicking Springsteen-esque “Strange Vine,” and the poetic Dylanesque “Children.” The San Diego band really struts its stuff on “Streetwalker,” while they break out the harmonica on the antiwar tune “People, Turn Around.” On June 26, they’ll be playing the early show with Kid Catastrophe (Arch of Illinois), while the next night they’ll be at Union Hall in Brooklyn with AA Bondy and Two Dark Birds.
Pier 17, South Street Seaport
Friday, June 27, 7:00, free
http://www.rivertorivernyc.org
http://www.aplacetoburystrangers.com
Over the past few years, Seaport Music has become the go-to free music series (part of the River to River Festival), showcasing both up-and-coming international indie bands as well as such seminal groups as Suicide and Wire. This year’s lineup once again has some great shows, so forget about the touristy location and get ready to rock out. On June 27, Brooklyn’s a Place to Bury Strangers is headlining one of this summer’s most intriguing concerts. Expect a solid dose of experimental psychedelia from lead singer and guitarist Oliver Ackermann, drummer Jspace, and bassist Jono MOFO, featuring songs from their eponymous album, released on Killer Pimp records. In August they’re going on tour with Nine Inch Nails, which will only spread their inspired insanity. There’s no telling what to expect from Montreal’s King Khan and the Shrines, as the title of their 2007 CD, WHAT IS?!, makes pretty clear. Australia’s Black Acid will dole out a dose of intense sounds to get things going.
twi-ny/mdr
Craig Finn stays positive in yet another free summer gig
McCarren Park Pool
Lorimer St. between Driggs & Bayard Aves.
Saturday, June 29, 12 noon, free
Brooklyn’s own the Hold Steady (by way of Minneapolis) completes the free summer music hat trick with this show at McCarren Park Pool, following their acoustic 2006 show at Castle Clinton in Battery Park and their raucous, barricade-breaking performance in Prospect Park at the Celebrate Brooklyn! festival last year. They’re just beginning a U.S./UK tour in support of their new disc, STAY POSITIVE, which will be released on July 14. They play with the frenzy and wild abandon of the best bar bands, but they’ve long since graduated to bigger venues. The only person who will be sweatier than you at the show will be lead singer Craig Finn. Also on the bill are Philly punk bands the Loved Ones and Baltimore’s J Roddy Walston and the Business.
Guess who will be playing classic rock and more at B.B. King’s?
B.B. King Blues Club
237 West 42nd St. between Seventh & Eighth Aves.
Tuesday, July 1, 7:30, $28-$32
212-997-4144
Legendary rock-and-roll guitarist Randy Bachman makes his long-awaited return to New York City on July 1 when he headlines at B.B. King’s Blues Club. Bachman, former lead guitarist of the Guess Who and Bachman-Turner Overdrive (BTO), has been touring with former Guess Who lead singer Burton Cummings, but with Cummings resting his voice for a little while, Bachman will be making a rare solo appearance, backed up by his crack band, featuring Roge Belanger on drums, Mick Dalla-Vee on bass, and Colin Wiebe on keyboards. The closest Bachman has come to the New York area in recent years was a 2000 appearance with the Guess Who on Long Island. He recently told us via telephone, “I am very excited to be playing in New York, where there are many fans that have stayed loyal to my music over the years. It has been over twenty years since I’ve had a chance to play for the great people of New York City, and I am really looking forward to this show.” Bachman has been very busy over the last few decades, not just resting on his 1970s laurels. In April 2007, he released JAZZTHING II, which features a guitar explosion with Duke Robillard, Jay Geils, Gerry Beaudoin, and Bachman noodling on such standards as “Exactly Like You” as well as Bachman’s own “Takin’ Care of Business.” In addition to playing some classic BTO and Guess Who songs, Bachman will also be performing songs from the soundtrack to WILLARD THE HERMIT OF GULLY LAKE, a 2007 Canadian film by Amy Goldberg for which Bachman composed the score. Race Odyssey and their double guitar attack opens the show.
Battery Park
Friday, July 4, 3:30
Admission: free but advance tickets no longer available
212-835-2789
http://www.rivertorivernyc.org
http://www.myspace.com/thefeelies
On July 4, 1992, Sonic Youth played one of the greatest Fourth of July shows New York City has ever seen, on a bill with the ailing but still remarkable Sun Ra. We were there, so we can vouch for its legendary status. This year Sonic Youth will be headlining what could be another memorable Independence Day concert, playing on the Battery Park Lawn with the early indies group the Feelies as part of the River to River Festival. Although tickets are free, they were scarfed up within minutes when made available online June 12, but a limited amount of tickets will be released at 9:00 am on July 4 across from the main entrance at Castle Clinton. Sonic Youth and its members have been all over the place the last few years. Kim Gordon recently reunited with Free Kitten and appeared in Todd Haynes’s I’M NOT THERE. Lee Ranaldo has been part of several group exhibitions and will be playing the Knitting Factory on June 28 with Alan Licht in a show billed as "Text of Light." Thurston Moore curated a gallery show, released a solo album (TREES OUTSIDE THE ACADEMY), and, with Byron Coley, put together the deluxe hardcover NO WAVE: POST-PUNK. UNDERGROUND. NEW YORK. 1976-1980. The band is about to release the instrumental album SYR8: ANDRE SIDER AF SONIC YOUTH (and distributed the compilation disc HITS ARE FOR SQUARES exclusively through Starbucks). And an exhibition about the band and its multitudinous multidisciplinary activities, "Sonic Youth Etc.: Sensational Fix," is scheduled to tour Europe. Underground legends the Feelies, who hail from New Jersey, have reunited and will open the show. Perhaps most well known for their 1980 album CRAZY RHYTHM and their appearance as the high school reunion band in Jonathan Demme’s SOMETHING WILD, the Feelies broke up in 1992, but Glenn Mercer, Bill Million, Dave Weckerman, Brenda Sauter, and Stan Demeski will be back onstage this summer, playing a couple of warm-up gigs at Maxwell’s (July 1-2) before celebrating Independence Day in Battery Park with Sonic Youth.
Taha headlines global rock show in Central Park
Central Park Summerstage
Rumsey Playfield
Central Park (enter at Fifth Ave. & 69th St.)
Saturday, July 5, 3:00
Admission: free
212-360-2756
As evidenced by his fine 2007 compilation, THE DEFINITIVE COLLECTION, Algerian Rachid Taha doesn’t easily fit categorization, mixing North African instruments, power pop, French cabaret, punk, techno, and raï folk into his intriguing sound. LA’s Dengue Fever plays psychedelic Cambodian pop and rock, with Cambodian native Chhom Nimol singing covers and originals in both Khmer and English. Twins Daniel and Danny Chavis lead well-connected shoegazers Apollo Heights, who will open the show with songs from their excellently titled 2007 debut CD, WHITE MUSIC FOR BLACK PEOPLE.
Joe’s Pub
425 Lafayette St. between East Fourth St. & Astor Pl.
Tuesday, July 8, $15, 7:30
212-539-8778
http://www.myspace.com/estiempo
The Chicago-based Latino group Allá will show that it’s time for a revolution on July 8 when they bring their unique sound to Joe’s Pub, touring behind their self-financed debut, the four-years-in-the-making ES TIEMPO (Crammed Disc, June 2008). Allá, which consists of lead singer Lupe Martinez, producer, guitarist, and keyboard player Jorge Ledezma, and his brother, drummer Angel Ledezma, along with various musical guests, creates ethereal, dreamlike music that edges into psychedelia and, at times, experimental (as on “La Montaña Sagrada”). The band, which cites such influences as the Beach Boys, Os Mutantes, Phil Spector, Sun Ra, and Can, also honors its Mexican heritage on the new record, which is sung completely in Spanish. Atmospheric songs such as “Un Dia Otra Noche,” “Tu y Yo,” “Sigue Tu Corazon,” and “No Duerma Mas,” led by Martinez’s whispery vocals, mix pop, jazz, folk, and other genres in delightful ways before letting it all hang out on the album’s last two songs, the title track and the six-minute “Golpes del Sol.”
twi-ny/mdr
Swoon and Watson honor the memory of the dead and missing women of Juarez
Honey Space
148 Eleventh Ave. between 21st & 22nd Sts.
Tuesday — Saturday 11:00 am — 6:00 pm through July 5
Admission: free
http://www.mujeresdejuarez.org
In 1995, Ramona Morales Huerta’s seventeen-year-old daughter, Silvia Elena Rivera Morales, was killed in Juarez, Mexico. In the last fifteen years, between five hundred and four thousand women and girls, most of whom traveled to Juarez to find low-paying factory jobs, have been raped and killed or have gone missing. Swoon, a New York City street artist whose wheatpaste and paper cutout figures can be seen throughout Chelsea — as well as other parts of the U.S. and in Europe — has collaborated with audio producer Tennessee Jane Watson, coordinator for the Youth Noise Network in Durham, North Carolina, on "Portrait of Silvia Elena," a mournful, important exhibit that brings to light the femicide that is occurring in Juarez, Guatemala, and elsewhere around the world. In the back of Thomas Beale’s Honey Space gallery is a table filled with information about many missing women. A hole in the floor leads down a few feet to a murky, dank lower level where Swoon has put up a large portrait of Silvia Elena on a brick wall, her face and body slowly turning into butterflies that offer her the promise of a freedom that will never come. Candles lie at the base of the work, transforming it into a living shrine. As visitors look around into the dark, rocky, claustrophobic room — perhaps similar to the kind Silvia Elena or others like her were molested, murdered, and dumped in — speakers emit frightening sounds along with the words of Silvia Elena’s mother talking about her daughter. "Portrait of Silvia Elena" is a powerful representation of something that is still happening in Juarez, as the police and government officials continue to turn their backs on these horrific cases. And it’s time for it to end. It would be great to think that exhibits such as this one will finally get the right people to take action and end the killings.
twi-ny/mdr
La Merde decorates the Giant Robot wall with a fun mural
Giant Robot Gallery
437 East Ninth St. between First Ave. & Ave. A
Through July 16
Admission: free
212-674-grny
The revolution continues at the Giant Robot Gallery in the East Village, where young people gather monthly to check out the latest in comic-based art and illustration and maybe even take home a piece or two. "Mossy & Glossy," which opened June 21, features nearly five dozen works that are available for between $30 and $500 apiece. Justin "Scrappers" Morrison, who by day labors in an advertising agency in Portland, OR, also runs the Grass Hut art collective and creates fun, fascinating works featuring reused house paint on found wood (with bark and lychen often still attached), bearing such titles as "The Weight of Glory," "I Hate Shavin," and "We All Die." Candi "Snaggs" Hibert, who hails from Seattle, uses colorful felt to make pillows and tell bizarrely charming tales such as "Good Time Brownies" and "Whoops, the Wind." Completing the Pacific Northwest hat trick is Mike "La Merde" Kelly, a member of the Portland Grass Hut collective who specializes in limited-edition figures with such names as "the Malignus Youth Silver Pinky Skulls," "Burgerguts Red Skull Orange Guts," and "Custom Le Turd Clear Blue Head."
© Max Snow / courtesy of Moeller Snow Gallery
Max Snow takes on KKK, black metal, and gangs in photo exhibit
Moeller Snow Gallery
8 Bond St.
Admission: free
646-407-2144
Max Snow reveals the dark underbelly of America in his new show at the Moeller Snow Gallery. The exhibit includes photos Snow took of Ku Klux Klan members in Indiana and Kentucky (who keep their masks on), gang members in Los Angeles (who seem to get quite a kick out of posing for the camera), and participants in the dangerous black metal culture in Norway and Sweden.
Meet at 38-38 43rd St. unless otherwise noted
Admission: free
718-707-3362
Flux Factory might have closed its space in Long Island City, but that hasn’t stopped them from taking their art on the road. Throughout the summer, they will be offering free bus tours on which a licensed driver and an artist-guide will decide where you will be going and for how long, from a few hours to maybe a few days. Although you won’t know in advance where your trip will be taking you, they will tell you the length (and what to bring) so you don’t feel suddenly kidnapped for a surprise long weekend. Space is limited, so sign up quickly and take a chance on what could be one of the coolest art projects of the season.
Sunday, June 29 The Pennsyltucky Expedition," day trip with Douglas Paulson
Sunday, July 6 Annie Reichert
Saturday, July 12 Gary Wiseman, Wandering restaurant
Saturday, July 19 Stefany Anne Golberg, Morgan Meis, Jean Barberis
Saturday, August 2 Flux Factory
Saturday, August 23 Miss Rockaway Armada
Chuck Palahniuk is the master of the "Oh no, he wouldn’t, he couldn’t — I can’t believe he just did that" genre, continually going further than imaginable in such quirky, disturbing, and very funny black comedies as RANT, FIGHT CLUB, CHOKE, and, perhaps most memorably, HAUNTED. His latest book, the slim but satisfying SNUFF, follows three would-be sex actors and a woman coordinator as six hundred guys prepare to get it on with onetime porn queen Cassie Wright, making the ultimate record-breaking adult movie, scheduled to end with Wright’s onscreen death. Mr. 72 is a teenager who shows up with roses to present to Ms. Wright, whom he believes to be his birth mother. Mr. 137 is a former TV detective who lost everything when an embarrassing sex scandal came to light. Mr. 600 is fading porn king Branch Bacardi, who first brought Wright into the industry and is now planning to end her career — and life — with a bang. And overseeing it all is Sheila, a tough young woman who is doing her best to keep things running on track. Palahniuk tells the story through the eyes of those four protagonists in alternating chapters, allowing readers to get different takes on the same bizarre events. SNUFF is filled with disgusting scenes, vile episodes, and hysterical twists and turns, with an ending that will have readers saying to themselves, ""Oh no, he wouldn’t, he couldn’t — I can’t believe he just did that."
Barnes & Noble — TriBeCa
97 Warren St at Greenwich St.
Admission: free
212-587-5389
http://www.kensingtonbooks.com
Friday, June 27 Mingmei Yip reads from and signs PEACH BLOSSOM PAVILION, 7:00
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Blue Note
131 West Third St.
Tickets: table $35, bar $20
212-475-8592
Tuesday, June 24
through
Sunday, June 29 Dizzy Gillespie All-Star Big Band, featuring Slide Hampton, James Moody, Jimmy Heath, Roy Hargrove, Gary Smulyan, Cyrus Chestnut, and many more, 8:00 & 10:30
Tuesday, July 1
through
Sunday, July 6 Duke Ellington Orchestra, conducted by artistic director Paul Mercer Ellington, 8:00 & 10:30
Sara D. Roosevelt Park
Chrystie St. between Canal & Grand Sts.
Admission: free
Wednesday, June 25 John Williams, Gabrielle Mitchell-Marell, Debbie Kuan, and Amy Shearn battle it out in ten-minute reading sessions (or less), with judges Jeff Gordinier, Ben Greenman, and Julie Klausner, hosted by Todd Zuniga and Terry Selucky, 6:30
The Philoctetes Center for the Multidisciplinary Study of Imagination
247 East 82nd St.
Admission: free
646-422-0544
Wednesday, June 25 Discussion and improvisation performances by Don Byron and Dr. Lewis Porter, 7:00
BAMcinematek
BAM Rose Cinemas
30 Lafayette Ave. between Ashland Pl. & St. Felix St.
Through July 3
Tickets: $11
718-636-4100
Wednesday, June 25 LE LIT DE LA VIERGE (Philippe Garrel, 1969), 6:50
Wednesday, June 25 ACÉPHALE (Patrick Deval, 1969), 5:00 & 9:15
Thursday, June 26 THE TRIP (Roger Corman, 1967), 4:30, 6:50, 9:15pm
Friday, June 27 THE SALAMANDER (Alain Tanner, 1971), 3:00, 6:00 (followed by a Q&A with Bulle Ogier and Elliott Stein), 9:00
Saturday, June 28 40 x 15 (Olivier Jahan, 2008), 2:00 & 6:50
Saturday, June 28 FOSTER CHILD (Brillante Mendoza, 2007), 4:30, 9:15
Sunday, June 29 LA FRANCE (Serge Bozon 2007), 2:00 & 6:50
Sunday, June 29 BEFORE I FORGET (AVANT QUE J'OUBLIE) (Jacques Nolot, 2007), 4:30, 9:15
Monday, June 30 CHANGE OF ADDRESS (CHANGEMENT D'ADRESSE) (Emmanuel Mouret, 2006), 4:30, 6:50, 9:15
Tuesday, July 1 ON FIRE (ÇA BRÛLE) (Claire Simon 2006), 4:30, 6:50, 9:15
Wednesday, July 2 THE HEARTBEAT DETECTOR (LA QUESTION HUMAINE) (Nicolas Klotz, 2007), 6:00 & 9:00
Thursday, July 3 WERCKMEISTER HARMONIES (WERCKMEISTER HARMÓNÍAK) (Béla Tarr, 2000), 6:00 & 9:00
Tompkins Square Park
Between Seventh & Tenth Sts. and Aves. A & B
Gates open at 6:00, films begin at sundown
Admission: free
Wednesday, June 25 BLADE RUNNER: THE FINAL CUT (Ridley Scott, 1982/2007)
Wednesday, July 2 THE BIG LEBOWSKI (Joel Coen, 1998)
Stuyvesant Town Oval
Enter at Ave. A & 14th St.
Wednesday nights at 6:00
Admission: free
Wednesday, June 25 DJ Sean Holland and Tortured Soul
Wednesday, July 2 DJ Pocketnife and High Places
Wednesday, July 9 DJ Busquelo and Slavic Soul Party
Pier A Park at First & Sinatra Dr.
Hoboken
June & July, around 9:00
August & September, around 8:15
Admission: free
Blankets & low lawn chairs encouraged
201-420-2207
Bring a low-back chair and a beach blanket and grab a good spot at Hoboken’s annual outdoor screening series, complete with a splendid view of the Hudson River.
Wednesday, June 25 SICKO (Michael Moore, 2007)
Wednesday, July 9 HAIRSPRAY (Adam Shankman, 2007)
Prospect Park, Long Meadow
Admission: free
Thursday, June 26 E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL (Steven Spielberg, 1982), 8:30
Galapagos Art Space
70 North Sixth St. between Wythe and Kent, Williamsburg
Admission: $5 ($2 draft beer)
718-384-4586
http://www.galapagosartspace.com
Thursday, June 26 The Spectacles, Broken Carousel, and the K’s, back room, 10:00
Sapphire Lounge
249 Eldridge St.
Admission: $5 before 12 midnight, $10 after
Thursday, June 26 Winter Santos, Kamala, and Moni, 10:00 pm — 4:00 am
Merce Cunningham Studio
55 Bethune St., eleventh floor, between Washington St. & the West Side Highway
Tickets: $20
212-866-9341
Thursday, June 26
through
Saturday, June 28 James Martin Music/Dance presents ON MERCE’S FLOOR and FLOATS DOWN / BATTED UP, featuring choreography and music by James Martin, text and lyrics by Emily Dickinson and James Martin, lighting by Kate Ashton, live music by Lucille Goeres, James Martin, Fredi Meli, Jerome Morris, and Bill Moulton, and dancing by Erin Ghislin, Traci Klein, Josh Palmer, Elizebeth Randall, Gary Schaufeld, Mariah Steele, and Jaclyn K. Walsh
Miranda Arden
Macbeth goes on the run through Battery Park
Castle Clinton in Battery Park
Thursdays — Sundays through July 12
Admission: free
212-252-4531
http://www.rivertorivernyc.org
http://www.newyorkclassical.org
Thursday, June 26
through
Saturday, July 12 New York Classical Theater, led by artistic director Stephen Burdman, presents THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH, moving through the park, incorporating the natural landscape into the production, directed by Louis Scheedar, 7:00
Solar One, Stuyvesant Cove Park
23rd St. & the East River
Admission: free
212-505-6050
Thursday, June 26 Care Bears on Fire, A-OK Collective, Apollo Heights, and Slim Dixon and friends, 6:00 — 10:00
Friday, June 27 Panel discussion with Situ Studios & Kiss + Cathcart Architects, followed by "Good Clean Fun" comedy with Greg Johnson, Roger Hailes, Tom McCaffrey, and Baron Vaughn, and music by DJ Get Live, 6:00
Saturday, June 28 MC Ant Marshall and So Percussion premiere their new work "16 Words," Dirty Projectors, Burkina Electric, Shilpa Ray & Her Happy Hookers, Selan, No Surrender, Ecstatic Sunshine, and Selan and Blitz the Ambassador, with installation art from Tova Carlin, Adam Eckstrom, Eve Mosher, Kerry O’Connor, Aurora Robson, Evan Wheller, and Brian Zeeger, 12 noon — 10:00 pm
Sunday, June 29 Field Day, featuring games and workshops, expert panels, and more, 1:00
Prospect Park Bandshell
Through August 11
Keep It Great: Give $3 at the Gate
718-855-7882
http://www.celebratebrooklyn.org
Thursday, June 26 The Carolina Chocolate Drops / the Dixie Hummingbirds, 7:30
Friday, June 27 Cold War Kids / Elvis Perkins in Dearland / Sam Champion, 7:00
Saturday, June 28 Crooklyn Dodgers Reunion with O.C. / Jeru the Damaja / Chubb Rock / EMC featuring Masta Ace / DJ Premier / Ali Shaheed Mohaamad, hosted by Buckshot of Black Moon and Special Ed, 7:00
Saturday, July 5 Michael Stuart / William Cepeda’s Grupo Esencia / Zemog El Gallo Bueno, 7:00
MoMA Film
Roy and Niuta Titus Theaters
11 West 53rd St. between Fifth & Sixth Aves.
June 26—July 23
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
Thursday, June 26 CAREFUL (Guy Maddin, 1992) and THE HEART OF THE WORLD (Guy Maddin, 2000), introduced by Maddin, 6:00
Thursday, June 26 LES PARAPLUIES DE CHERBOURG (THE UMBRELLAS OF CHERBOURG) (Jacques Demy, 1964), introduced by Guy Maddin, 8:30
Sunday, June 29 LES PARAPLUIES DE CHERBOURG (THE UMBRELLAS OF CHERBOURG) (Jacques Demy, 1964), 5:00
Friday, June 27 LET'S GET LOST (Bruce Weber, 1988), introduced by Weber, 6:00
Friday, June 27 POISON (Todd Haynes, 1991 and DOTTIE GETS SPANKED (Todd Haynes, 1994), introduced by Haynes, 8:30
Saturday, June 28 PRIVILEGE (Yvonne Rainer, 1990), introduced by Rainer, 7:00
Monday, June 30 CAREFUL (Guy Maddin, 1992) and THE HEART OF THE WORLD (Guy Maddin, 2000), 8:30
Wednesday, July 2 POISON (Todd Haynes, 1991 and DOTTIE GETS SPANKED (Todd Haynes, 1994), 5:00
Thursday, July 3 PRIVILEGE (Yvonne Rainer, 1990), 5:30
Sunday, July 6 THE CORPORATION (Mark Achbar & Jennifer Abbott, 2004), 3:00
Monday, July 7 THE CORPORATION (Mark Achbar & Jennifer Abbott, 2004), 5:30
Wednesday, July 9 FIRE (Deepa Mehta, 1996), 5:30
Wednesday, July 9 SHIJIE (THE WORLD) (Jia Zhangke, 2004), 8:00
Jia Zhangke’s fourth film (following PICKPOCKET, PLATFORM, and UNKNOWN PLEASURES) is set in a Beijing theme park called the World, where people come to see miniature versions of major international cities and landmarks, including Paris, New York, London, and Tokyo, the Taj Mahal, the Pyramids, the World Trade Center, Big Ben, and the Eiffel Tower. The luminous Zhao Tao stars as Tao, a park dancer dating security guard Taisheng (Chen Taisheng). She becomes friendly with Anna, a Russian woman who has come to the park to make money so she can reunite with her daughter. However, dreams don’t always come true in this microcosm of urbanization. As Tao questions her relationship with Taisheng, he starts seeing Qun (Wang Yiqun), a fashion designer who makes knock-offs and is trying to return to her husband, who lives in Belleville. Meanwhile, Xiaowei (Jing Jue) is trapped in an abusive relationship with Niu (Jiang Zhongwei) that threatens to explode. THE WORLD is a charming little film, not looking to make any grand statements, just concentrating on the problems of ordinary people all over the globe who are struggling to survive financially, emotionally, and romantically.
The Jewish Museum
1109 Fifth Ave. at 92nd St.
Thursday nights, June 26 through July 24
Tickets: $15 (includes complimentary beverage)
212-423-3337
http://www.thejewishmuseum.org
Thursday, June 26 My Song for You: Libby Shapiro and special guests, 8:00
Thursday, July 3 Margot Leverett and the Klezmer Mountain Boys, 8:00
El Museo del Barrio Teatro Heckscher
1230 Fifth Ave. at 104th St.
Admission: free
212-831-7272
The galleries might be under renovation, but there is still plenty to do at El Museo del Barrio — and it’s all free.
Thursday, June 26 Women on the Verge, with Sofia Tosello and Sabrina Lastman, 7:00
Thursday, July 3 Women on the Verge, with ¡Retumba!, 7:00
Admission: free
212-440-2202
Friday, June 27
through
Sunday, June 29 Figment Festival: three days of art, culture, and interactive performances
Saturday, July 5 New York Philharmonic plays classical favorites including Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture, conducted by Bramwell Tovey, followed by fireworks display, 6:30
Saturday, July 5 Folks on the Island! Janis Ian, 1:30
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 27 JVC Jazz Festival: Tim Berne & Craig Taborn Duo,$20, 7:00
Friday, June 27 Gallery Talk: From the Hands of Masters: Newar Art, Tibetan Patronage, with RMA guide Adam Swart, free, 8:00
Friday, June 27 CabaretCinema: What Price Paradise? -- BRIGADOON (Vincente Minnelli, 1954), introduced by Liza Lerner, free with $7 bar minimum, 9:30
Central Park, near the Naumburg Bandshell
Admission: free
http://newyorkbookfestival.com
Saturday, June 28 Free family events and activities including children’s storytelling, live music, authors and publishers, balloons, food, and more, 10:00 am — 6:00 pm
East River Amphitheater
FDR Dr. at Cherry St.
Admission: free
Saturday, June 28 Titus Andronicus, Obits, Emperor X, Blood City, 2:00
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, June 28 LOVE ON A DIET (SAU SAN NAAM NEUI) (Johnnie To & Wai Ka-fai, 2001)
Rumsey Playfield
Central Park (enter at Fifth Ave. & 69th St.)
Admission: free unless otherwise noted
212-360-2756
Saturday, June 28 Vieux Farka Toure, Fallou Dieng, Kaleta & ZoZo Afrobeat, 3:00
Sunday, June 29 Mosh Ben Ari, Rupa and the April Fishes, Y-Love, DJ Diwon, 3:00
Saturday, July 5 Rachid Taha, Dengue Fever, Apollo Heights, 3:00
Sunday, July 6 Seun Kuti and Egypt 80, Afrika Bambaataa, Love Trio with U-Roy, 3:00
Wednesday, July 9 Music & Film: LA LUPE QUEEN OF LATIN SOUL (Ela Troyano), BRAGGING RIGHTS: STICKBALL STORIES (Sonia N. Gonzalez), Cucu Diamentes, 7:00
Coney Island Museum
1208 Surf Ave. between Stillwell Ave. and West 12th St.
Saturday nights at 8:30 through September 13
Tickets $5, including free popcorn
718-372-5159
Saturday, June 28 Coney Island Films
Saturday, July 5 FREAKS (Tod Browning, 1932)
Water Taxi Beach
Second St. & Borden Ave, Long Island City
June 28 - Saturday, August 30
Saturdays from 8:00pm to 3:00 am
Cover: $5 unless otherwise noted
Saturday, June 28 Moodymann, with resident DJs Justin Carter, DJ Probus, and the Brothers’ Brothers
Saturday, July 5 I:Cube
Various venues
Admission: free
212-807-7433
Sunday, June 29 Pridefest, LGBT street fair, Hudson St. between Abingdon Sq. & West 14th St., 11:00 am — 7:00 pm
Sunday, June 29 The March, including Moment of Silence at 2:00, Fifth Ave. & 52nd St. to Christopher & Greenwich Sts., 12 noon
SculptureCenter
44-19 Purves St., Long Island City
Admission: free
718-361-1750
http://www.sculpture-center.org
Sunday, June 29 An evening of blues, rock, country, rockabilly, and experimental music by Bebe and Serge, Al Foul, Al Perry, Chris Taylor, Pork Torta, and more, including barbecue from Tucson, with proceeds from CD sales benefiting Primavera in Tucson, which "promotes economic and social justice to build a future in which all people are assured of basic human rights, a livable income, and safe, affordable housing," 7:00
Jewish Music Café
401 Ninth St. between Sixth & Seventh Aves., Park Slope
Admission: $10
http://www.myspace.com/mosheweidenfeld
http://www.jewishmusiccafe.com
Sunday, June 29 CD release party for Moshe Weidenfeld’s Latin Jewish jazz album IN THE MOMENT (Arava Music, 2008), 8:00
Symphony Space, Leonard Nimoy Thalia
2537 Broadway at 95th St.
Tuesdays & Saturdays through September 2
Tickets: $11
212-864-5400
Sunday, June 29 Double Feature: SUMMERTIME (David Lean, 1955), 2:00 & 7:00, and NOW, VOYAGER (Irving Rapper, 1942), 4:00 & 9:00
Tuesday, July 1 Double Feature: NOW, VOYAGER (Irving Rapper, 1942), 7:00, and SUMMERTIME (David Lean, 1955), 9:15
Sunday, July 6 Double Feature: PAT AND MIKE (George Cukor, 1952), 2:00 & 7:00, and ADAM’S RIB (George Cukor, 1949), 4:00 & 9:00
Tuesday, July 8 Double Feature: ADAM’S RIB (George Cukor, 1949), 7:00, and PAT AND MIKE (George Cukor, 1952), 8:45
Fulton Park, Bedford Stuyvesant
Fulton St. between Lewis & Stuyvesant Aves.
Admission: free
718-707-1457
Sunday, June 29
and
Sunday, July 4
through
Wednesday, July 6 Fiftieth annual art fair, featuring work from more than seventy members of one of the oldest black artist collectives in the world, 12 noon - 6:00
Bryant Park
Sixth Ave. from 40th to 42nd Sts.
Monday nights through August 20
Lawn opens at 5:00 pm for blankets and picnicking
Films begin at dusk (between 8:00 & 9:00 pm)
Admission: free
212-512-5700/212-983-4142
Monday, June 30 HUD (Martin Ritt, 1963)
Monday, July 7 THE MAN WHO CAME TO DINNER (William Keighley, 1942)
French Institute Alliance Française
Florence Gould Hall
Tinker Auditorium (TA)
55 East 59th St. between Park & Madison Aves.
Tuesdays through July 22
Tickets: $10
212-307-4100
Tuesday, July 1 WOMANLIGHT / CLAIR DE FEMME (Costa-Gavras, 1979), 12:30, 4 & 7:30
Tuesday, July 8 JEAN DE FLORETTE(Claude Berri, 1986), 12:30, 4 & 7:30
Wave Hill House
West 249th St. at Independence Ave., the Bronx
Free with grounds admission of $4 adults, children under six free
718-549-3200
Wednesday, July 2 Steven Beck, George Gershwin’s "Rhapsody in Blue," 12:30
Wednesday, July 9 Ritt Henn, 12:30
Scandinavia House
58 Park Ave. at 38th St.
Wednesday nights in July
Cover charge: $12 including drinks
212-847-9737
http://www.scandinaviahouse.org
Wednesday, July 2 Bjørn Solli
Wednesday, July 9 Anne Mette Iversen Quartet
Commodore Barry Park
Navy St. between Park & Flushing Aves., Brooklyn
Admission: free
718-638-6700
Thursday, July 3
through
Sunday, July 6 Thirty-seventh annual International African Arts Festival, featuring an African Marketplace, a July 4th parade, kids events, live street theater, a Children’s Village, music and dance, a talent show, spoken word performances, and special dedications, 10:00 am — 9:00 pm
Friday, July 4, 12 noon
Sweikert Alley, Nathan’s Famous, 1310 Surf Ave. at Stillwell Ave.
212-627-5766
http://nathansfamous.com/nathans
Since 1916, Nathan’s has been sponsoring a hot dog eating contest in which men and women from all over the world compete to see who can devour the most hot dogs (and buns) in twelve minutes. Each contestant has his or her own method; some dunk the bread in water before swallowing, while others just stuff the slimy dogs down their throats. After six years of dominance by Takeru Kobayashi, Joey Chestnut came up big last year, setting a new world record of sixty-six dogs, bringing the Coveted Mustard Yellow International Belt back where it belongs. (Chestnut also holds records in asparagus, chicken wings, grilled cheese sandwiches, gyoza, horseshoe sandwiches, jalapeno poppers, Krystal Burgers, Pizza Hut P’Zones, pork ribs, pulled pork, and sausage and cheese Kolaches.) If you can’t make it to Coney, ESPN will be broadcasting this year’s contest live. And if you visit Nathan’s official site, there’s a buy one, get one free coupon good through the end of the year.
Walter Reade Theater
165 West 65th St. between Eighth Ave. & Broadway
Tickets: $11
212-875-5600
Friday, July 4 Special holiday screenings of new 35mm print of JAZZ ON A SUMMER’S DAY (Bert Stern, 1960), 2:00, 4:00, 6:00 (with Bert Stern and George Wein present), and 8:30
Solar One / Rooftop Films
23rd Street @ the East River
Advance tickets: $25
Friday, July 4 Independence Day celebration with live music, open bar, film screenings, and a great view of the fireworks, featuring Titus Andronicus and live music presented by Sound Fix from 6:00 to 9:00, with films following the fireworks: 22nd AMENDMENT (Andrew Sloat), JFK (Brad Neely), GERMANS IN THE WOODS (Tim Rauch), LEFT IN BAGHDAD (Peter Jordan & John Kane), CITY (Topaz Adizes), A LOUD COLOR (Brent Joseph), W. (The Vikings), doors open at 5:00 with open bar 5:00 — 7:00
Southpoint Park, Roosevelt Island
Tickets: $20, with guaranteed seats
No large backpacks, big coolers, chairs, bicycles, boomboxes, camera tripods, beach umbrellas, or alcohol
212-832-4540
Thursday, July 4 View the Macy’s fireworks, with food and drink from Dinosaur Bar-B-Que, live music from the Jazz Collective, Citizens of Contrary Knowledge, Victor Quezada y su Banda, and the Therapy Band, and children’s activities, and more, gates open at 5:00 pm
Approximate starting time: 9:25 pm
Televised live on NBC-TV
Broadcast live on WINS 1010
Admission: free
212-494-4495
Thursday, July 4 Thirty-second annual event, featuring more than 120,000 bursts from 35,000 shells — including the new parallel quad rings -- paying tribute to such American dance songs as "The Twist," "Rock Around the Clock," "The Tennessee Waltz," and "Save the Last Dance for Me," featuring the New York Pops, Natasha Bedingfield, Kenny Chesney, Katherine McPhee, and Jordin Sparks. The FDR will be closed from 14th to 42nd St. for prime viewing and between Houston and 63rd Sts. from 7:00 pm until cleanup for Macy’s annual extravaganza. There will be pedestrian-only access to the FDR Drive at 23rd, 38th, and 42nd Sts. Other good viewing areas include Greenpoint, Brooklyn, and portions of the Queens East River front. Also, NYFD fire boats will shoot red, clear, and blue water 300 feet over the East River at around 7:30.
P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center / MoMA
22-25 Jackson Ave. at 46th Ave., Long Island City
Saturdays from 3:00 to 9:00 July 5 - September 6
Admission: $10, includes admission to art galleries, free from 12 noon to 2:00
718-784-2084
Saturday, July 5 Nublu hosts Nublu Orchestra conducted by Butch Morris, DJs Justin Carter & Probus, Dex aka Nomadico, and So Percussion performs Steve Reich
The Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Sculpture Garden
Enter through Sculpture Garden gate on West 54th St. between Fifth & Sixth Aves.
Sundays July 6 — August 24
Gates open at 7:00, concerts start at 8:00 (gates close if capacity is met)
Admission: free
Sunday, July 6 Juilliard Concert I: Music for String Quartet
Rockwood Music Hall
196 Allen St. between Houston & Stanton Sts.
Admission: free
212-477-4155
http://www.rockwoodmusichall.com
Sunday, July 6 Pianist Michelle Amador will be featuring songs from her upcoming release, HIGHER, 10:00
McCarren Park Pool
Lorimer St. between Driggs & Bayard Aves.
Tuesdays through August 26
Live music at 7:00, screening at 9:00
Admission: free
718-596-3462
http://www.mccarrenpark.com/film.html#film
Tuesday, July 8 RUSHMORE (Wes Anderson, 1998)
Naumburg Bandshell
Central Park
Admission: free
http://www.naumburgconcerts.org
Tuesday, July 8 Jupiter Symphony Chamber Players, Ani Aznavoorian, cello:Works by Hofmann, Bruch, and Haydn, 7:30
Joe’s Pub
425 Lafayette St. between East Fourth St. & Astor Pl.
Tickets: $20
212-539-8778
http://www.myspace.com/estiempo
Tuesday, July 8 New York City debut of the highly toutetd Allá
Multiple venues
Admission: free
Tuesday, July 8 Mozart’s Divertimento in D major, K.125a, Bach’s Concerto for Two Violins in D minor, and Elgar’s Enigma Variations, featuring violinists Sheryl Staples and Michelle Kim, conducted by Xian Zhang, Richmond County Bank Ballpark, Staten Island, 8:00
Wednesday, July 9 Mozart’s Divertimento in D major, K.125a, Bach’s Concerto for Two Violins in D minor, and Elgar’s Enigma Variations, featuring violinists Sheryl Staples and Michelle Kim, conducted by Xian Zhang, PNC Bank Arts Center, New Jersey, 8:00
Pier 54, Hudson River at Fourteenth St.
Wednesdays around dusk July 9 — August 20
Admission: free
http://www.hudsonriverpark.org
Wednesday, July 9 LA BAMBA (Luis Valdez, 1987)
Museum of Jewish Heritage — A Living Memorial to the Holocaust
36 Battery Pl.
Tickets: $20 (includes open bar)
646-437-4200
Wednesday, July 9 Third annual event, featuring storyteller Eve Lederman, fashions by designer Levi Okunov, music from Luminescent Orchestrii, a piano performance by Israeli singer/songwriter Or Matias, and a mix of Yemenite/hip-hop beats by Diwon, hosted by comedian Catie Lazarus, and followed by an open-bar after-party on the third-floor terrace, 7:00
Socrates Sculpture Park
Broadway at Vernon Blvd.
Wednesday nights at 7:00 through August 20
Admission: free
718-956-1819
http://www.socratessculpturepark.org
Wednesday, July 9 SLINGSHOT HIP HOP (Jackie Salloum, 2008), introduced by the director, and WHO’S ON FIRST (Valerie Kontakos, 2006), introduced by the director, with live music by Mohammed Al Farra and Abeer and Greek cuisine from Opa! Souvlaki
American Museum of Natural History
Central Park West at 79th St.
Advance registration required: $129
212-769-5200
http://www.amnh.org/sleepovers
Friday, July 11 & 25
and
Friday, August 8 & 15 Kids age eight to twelve (plus one caregiver per up to three children) can sleep overnight in the American Museum of Natural History, including screening of IMAX film SEA MONSTERS, a Prehistoric Adventure, dinosaur exploration by flashlight, and sleeping either in the Milstein Hall of Ocean Life under the big blue whale, beneath famous dioramas in the Hall of North American Mammals, or among the geological formations in the Hall of Planet Earth
