Memorial Exhibit of the Week
09.05.07
1. Remembering 9/11 in Battery Park
2. Louise Nevelson at the Jewish Museum and all over town
3. Tickets go on sale for the New York Film Festival, the New Yorker Festival, and TimesTalks
4. Fritz Lang shows his dark side in Queens
5. Celebrating books in Brooklyn
6. Celebrating Allen Ginsberg on the Lower East Side
Volume 7, Number 14
September 5-19, 2007
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Historic Battery Park
Through September 30
Admission: free
Daily News photographer and native New Yorker Susan Watts documents Lower Manhattan’s recovery from the events of 9/11 in "Milestones to Recovery," thirty large-scale photographs that run along the fence outside the Battery Park lawn. Billed as a "photographic celebration of the rebirth and revitalization of Lower Manhattan" and sponsored by the Alliance for Downtown New York, the exhibit shows how tourists, people from the neighborhood, and other city residents got together and proved that life goes on, even in the face of such death and devastation. In these four-foot-by-six-foot works, businesspeople cut deals in the back of cars, couples get married, kids turn cartwheels, friends gather for expensive meals, silhouetted figures wave American flags, expectant mothers practice Yoga for Two, seniors swim in a pool, parents read to their children, a man gets his shoes shined, and a baby gets examined by a doctor, new life rising in the midst of such horror. Watts doesn’t focus on the tragedy, although it is always evident, lurking in the background — in one photo, a family sits down to dinner, Ground Zero eerily seen through the window, but the future is bright, especially for one of the sons, who is appearing in a Broadway musical.
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Fritz Koenig’s "The Sphere" was destroyed on 9/11 and moved to Battery Park
Lower tip of Manhattan
In 1626, the Dutch built Fort Amsterdam in what is now Battery Park, an event that is commemorated on the flagpole that stands near the corner of Battery Pl. & Greenwich. Walk around the pole to see depictions of the purchase of Manhattan from the Indians and a map of Fort Amsterdam, which became Fort James after the British captured it in 1664, then was recaptured by the Dutch nine years later and went through a series of names, including Fort Willem Hendrick, Fort Anne, and Fort George, before being demolished in 1790. Continue toward the water and stop by Fritz Koenig’s battered "Sphere," which used to reside on Austin J. Tobin Plaza at the World Trade Center and was moved here exactly six months to the minute after the WTC attacks. Next comes the colorful Hope Garden, which was dedicated in 1988 to those with HIV/AIDS. Next to Castle Clinton is Luis Sanguino’s spectacular bronze statue "The Immigrants," portraying men, women, and children arriving in New York with dreams of a new life. From 1807 to 1811, the South-west Battery was built, a round fortification with twenty-eight guns on one tier. It protected the tip of Manhattan Island during the War of 1812 but never saw battle; it was renamed in 1815 after former NYC mayor DeWitt Clinton. It later became a performance venue and an aquarium. In the northwest corner of the park is the granite stele dedicated to the Belgian Huegenot Walloon Settlers, by Henry Bacon, who also designed the Lincoln Memorial.
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Marisol’s American Merchant Mariners Memorial holds on in Battery Park
To the west you’ll come upon Jonathan Scott Hartley’s 1903 statue of John Ericsson, the Swedish engineer who designed the Monitor warship. Ericsson is holding out a boat in one hand while the other grasps engineering plans; walk around the statue to see bas relief of the Monitor in battle and other inventions by Ericsson. Continue around the circle north of Castle Clinton to see the stunning Korean War Veterans Memorial, designed by Mac Adams. At the center of this monument is a fifteen-foot-high black granite stele with the Universal Soldier cut out of it; he is surrounded by a list of countries involved in the Korean conflict and how many people were killed, injured, or MIA from each. On July 27, at ten in the morning, the exact time the fighting stopped in Korea, the sun shines through the Universal Soldier and onto the commemorative plaque. Be sure to walk to the water next to see the incredible American Merchant Mariners Memorial near Pier A. The 1991 sculpture, by Marisol depicts a merchant marine vessel sinking, having been attacked by a Nazi U-boat. Three men stand on top of the ship, one reaching down, desperately trying to save one of his fallen comrades, who is in the water. The sculpture was based on a German photograph of an actual event. On the other side of Castle Clinton stands a memorial plaque dedicated to the Supreme Being by General William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army.
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Figures look to the heavens in Luis Sanguino’s "The Immigrants"
Because of massive construction in the southeast corner of the park, where the city will be building food kiosks, an aquatic carousel, and a bosque that were originally scheduled to be completed by now, they’ve taken down some sculptures, including that of Giovanni da Verazzano, who sailed through New York Bay in the early sixteenth century and has a suspension bridge named after him; he’s memorialized in a 1909 sculpture by Ettore Ximenes. Don’t miss the two interactive sound sculptures on the ground, including Alfons van Leggelo’s Dance Chimes, not far from the dancing water fountain. Continue on along through the blooming Gardens of Remembrance by the water and toward the ferry terminal and stop by the largest memorial in the park, the East Coast Memorial, in the southern end, featuring an angry, mournful eagle sculpted by Albino Manca. The eagle looks out on nineteen-foot granite blocks that contain the names of those military men and women who "sleep in the American coastal waters." Next, outside of Battery Gardens restaurant, was Norman M. Thomas’s 1947 Coast Guard Memorial, featuring two men helping a shirtless third man, a sculpture that, along with the merchant marine memorial at the north end of the park, encapsulates the overall feeling of the remarkable statuary that line this historic area, even with some of the pieces currently not on view.
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Louise Bourgeois’s "Eyes" can look a little risqué from the right angle
Just outside of the Museum of Jewish Heritage to the north of Battery Park is this beautiful oasis overlooking the Hudson River. The park is named after Bobby Jr., son of the former mayor; Jr. served on the City Council and headed the City Planning Commission and the Board of Education. Walk along the riverside and you’ll first come upon Jim Dine’s "Ape & Cat (At the Dance)," in which the two large bronze animals are enjoying a spin together. Continue along the river’s edge and gaze into Louise Bourgeois’s "Eyes," two large eyeballs — which look more like breasts — that are peering out into the water. Bear left and wander through Lynden Miller’s fabulous series of gardens, where lots of flowers are in bloom. Walk up the brick pavilion built by Olin Partners and Machado Silvetti and take a seat on the wooden-slatted benches. Walk under the arch and get lost in the view. On the left side of the pavilion, study the timeline of New York harbor and read about the ships that have sailed there. Walk through the lower arch back down to the street to check out Tony Cragg’s two "Resonating Bodies," one looking like a guitar/whale, the other a trumpet/elephant foot. The park is a great place to take the family; check the BPC Parks Web site above for a list of such events as preschool plays, Elements of Nature Drawing, Go Fish, birdwatching, public art tours, and more.
Elevated Acre
55 Water St. at Old Slip
Admission: free
Wednesday, September 5
and
Thursday, September 6 Collaboration between Ryutaro Mishima, Restu Imansari Kusumaningrum, and Dean Moss, involving shadow play, text, and dance, 12:30
Historic Battery Park
September 6-9 at 7:30
Bring a blanket
Admission: free
212-219-9401 ext304
http://www.rivertorivernyc.com
Thursday, September 6 Palladium Nights, with Ballet Hispanico and the Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra with Arturo O’Farrill
Friday, September 7 American Masterpieces, featuring an excerpt from KAHEKILI by Hokulani Holt / Pa’u O Hi’Laka; Jose Limon’s THE TRAITOR, performed by the Limon Dance Company; and excerpt from David Gordon’s TRYING TIMES, performed by Pick Up Performance Company; and Talley Beatty’s SOUTHERN LANDSCAPES, performed by Philadanco
Saturday, September 8 Paul Taylor Dance Company performing DE SUENOS, POLARIS, and COMPANY B
Saturday, September 9 Celebration of Tap, with Tap City Tap Off, 3:30; Tap City Master Class, 4:30; and Tap City Down Town, with Michelle Dorrance, Mable Lee, Margaret Morrison, and many more, emceed by Tony Waag, 7:30
Graffiti Research Lab’s special outdoor Big Draw event was canceled
River to River Festival
Multiple venues
Admission: free (including sketchbook)
212-528-2733
http://www.rivertorivernyc.com
Saturday, September 8 Second annual celebration of drawing, with hands-on art projects, self-guided and artist-led drawing workshops, and more, at Teardrop City (with Larry Dobens and Valerie Hammond), the National Museum of the American Indian (with Wayne Price, Jeffrey Gibson, and Athena LaTocha), the South Street Seaport (with Christian Nguyen), the World Financial Center (with Sheila Pepe), 11:00 am — 4:00 pm
Saturday, September 8 Canceled: Graffiti Research Lab will allow participants to use the Mobile Broadcast Unit to project light onto surrounding structures; artists on hand may include AVONE, whose laser tag appears above — and whose new painting show is opening at Bias Contemporary Art (www.biascontemporaryart.com) on September 15; Old Slip between Water & Front Sts., 9:30 - 11:00 pm
Robert F. Wagner Jr. Park
Battery Park City
Admission: free
212-267-9700
Sunday, September 9 The Family Music Festival at BPC, featuring Tom Chapin and Friends, Guy Davis and the High Flyin’ Rockets, Elizabeth Mitchell, the Double Dutch Divas, and more, 1:00 — 6:00 pm
36 Battery Pl.
Safra Hall
646-437-4202
Sunday, September 9 Budd Mishkin in conversation with Kirk Douglas, LET’S FACE IT: 90 YEARS OF LIVING, LOVING, AND LEARNING, $10, 2:30
Tuesday, September 11 Entrance to museum is free with suggested donation in remembrance of 9/11, 10:00 am — 5:45 pm
National Museum of the American Indian
George Gustav Heye Center, Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House
1 Bowling Green
Admission: free
212-514-3737
Sunday, September 9 Northern Tide Dancers (Tlingit) from Alaska perform traditional dance, 1:00 & 3:30
Saturday, September 15 Celebrate Mexico Now Festival: Words of the People/Palabras de los Seres Verdaderos, 2:00
Castle Clinton National Monument in Battery Park
Admission: free tickets available day of show at 5:00
http://www.rivertorivernyc.com
Monday, September 10 Edward Albee in conversation with James Houghton of the Signature Theatre Company, followed by a screening of WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF? (Mike Nichols, 1962), 7:30
38 Park Row at Beekman St. across from City Hall
Admission: free but RSVP required to enter theater
Tuesday, September 11
through
Sunday, September 16 One hundred artists present a "memorial gift for the city of New York" in Yehuda Duenyas’s interactive performance piece in which the audience will be behind a window in a transformed former porn store watching the artists, 7:00 and 9:00
140 Broadway at Cedar St.
Admission: free but RSVP required
Monday, September 17
through
Friday, September 21 For five consecutive days at 12 noon, Bill Shannon and the Step Fienz will conduct an improvisational street performance with random pedestrians as the audience looks on from both inside a window and via holographic screens, featuring live audio mixing and sampling by DJ Excess
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Louise Nevelson, "Mrs. N’s Palace," painted wood, mirror, 1964-77
The Jewish Museum
1109 Fifth Ave. at 92nd St.
Through September 16
Closed Friday
Admission: adults $12, children under twelve free (free Saturdays)
212-423-3337
Born Leah Berliawsky in Kiev, Louise Nevelson lived and worked in New York City for more than fifty years, using scraps of wood, bits of furniture, and other discarded objects — her father was a woodcutter and junk dealer — to create remarkable, unique works of art. Her abstract Cubist structures (with a little Surrealism, Dada, and Minimalism thrown into the mix) were painted either all black or all white — in two different studios, one for each color — forming fascinating objects that breathe with life. "The Sculpture of Louise Nevelson: Constructing a Legend" contains more than sixty works, including painted wood installations, photographs, drawings, etchings, Plexiglas sculptures, steel pieces, and silkscreens, displaying her depth and range. Many of her works are like sliced-open souls, revealing the complexities inside, abstract conglomerations in small boxes that are both heartbreaking and life-affirming. "Black Moon" is like a grandfather clock, evoking the passage of time. The re-created "Dawn’s Wedding Feast" is a room-size installation that includes the bride and groom and various guests, all painted white in celebration of the nuptials.
Louise Nevelson, "Dawn’s Wedding Chapel," painted wood, 1959
"Homage to 6,000,000 I" is long and horizontal, two primary pieces of painted black wood seemingly pulled open to reveal the hearts and souls lost during the Holocaust, with dozens of small boxes filled with varying objects, emphasizing the tragedy of each individual. "Mrs. N’s Palace" is a self-contained room unto itself, with a mirror, as if Nevelson has opened up her own soul. Themes such as royalty and matrimony, day and night, nature and the environment, and religion are evident in such pieces as "Sky Cathedral Presence," "Rain Forest Column XVIII," and "Royal Tide I" (one of several works painted in gold). The vertical "Dream House XXXII" is almost like a person, with some hinged doors open, some closed, as if revealing only certain parts, hiding others. One of the most telling works is "First Personage," in which a flat front section, with a knot in the wood that almost looks like a mouth trying to open up and say something, stands in front of a second section that has sharp edges shooting out one side, unable to hold in what it contains, as if the artist herself is about to explode. The exhibit also includes the new short film "Louise Nevelson: A Conversation with Six Artists," in which archival of footage of Nevelson at work in her studio and talking about her career is combined with a half dozen modern artists discussing Nevelson’s influence on them.
Sunday, September 9 Second Sundays: Nevelson’s World, including live performance, workshops, gallery tours, and more, for children five to twelve and their families, free with museum admission, 11:15 am
© Neil Goldberg
Neil Goldberg, still from "My Parents Read Dreams I’ve Had About Them," 1988
http://www.thejewishmuseum.org
Whenever we go to the Jewish Museum, we always walk through the fascinating permanent exhibition "Culture and Continuity: The Jewish Journey." Near the end, we take our time in the always changing "Realizing a Future: Contemporary Voices" room, which currently includes Nona Orbach’s "Incessant Mezuzah," a video in the wall where the mezuzah would normally go; Hannah Wilke’s "Venus Pareve," nine brightly colored hand-painted plaster of Paris figures of herself in miniature, but without arms or legs; and several other conceptual works, in addition to George Segal’s remarkable, heartbreaking sculpture "The Holocaust" (on permanent view), in which a shriveled man is behind barbed wire looking out, a pile of dead victims strewn about behind him. Through October 14 in the Media Center, "Love and Loss: A Video Trilogy by Neil Goldberg" features the short works (totaling seventeen minutes) "My Parents Read Dreams I’ve Had About Them" from 1998, "My Father Breathing into a Mirror" from 2006, and "A System for Writing Thank You Notes" from 2001. In each video, the camera remains in place as the actions described in the title occur onscreen. They are bittersweet, as all three deal either directly or indirectly with death.
Sunday, September 9 Funky Monkeys concert, for children two to six, adults $15, kids $10, 2:00
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Louise Nevelson, "Night Presence IV," 1973
Multiple locations
http://www.louisenevelsonfoundation.org
Louise Nevelson left her mark on New York City in more ways than one, with several public sculptures still standing, a wonderful gift to the people. Just a few blocks from the Jewish Museum, Nevelson’s "Night Presence IV" stands in the Park Ave. median at 92nd St., facing south. Originally installed in 1973 on 60th St. at Fifth Ave., the Cor-Ten steel work was presented to the city by Nevelson in celebration of her fiftieth anniversary of living and working in New York.
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Louise Nevelson, Erol Beker Chapel of the Good Shepherd
Not many people are familiar with Saint Peter’s Church on Lexington Ave. at 54th St., a small, modern-looking structure built in 1977 that hides some treasures inside and outside its hallowed halls. Nearly every inch of the Erol Beker Chapel of the Good Shepherd, an airy five-sided room of natural-colored and white-painted wood, frosted glass, and an abstract white cross on a gold background ("Cross of the Resurrection"), was designed by Nevelson, who entitled the east wall "Frieze of the Apostles" and the west wall "Sky Vestment — Trinity."
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Louise Nevelson, "Shadows and Flags," 1977
Also in 1977, Nevelson installed "Shadows and Flags" in the newly renamed Louise Nevelson Plaza in Legion Memorial Square, at the intersection of Maiden Ln. and William and Liberty Sts. "Shadows and Flags" contains seven pieces, several of which are set on a long, narrow pedestal, resulting in works that look like they’re blowing in the wind. Finally, one piece we can no longer see is "Sky Gate — New York," which used to hang in the lobby of 1 World Trade Center, a black-painted wood relief that looked like a flying ship with circles and square and rectangular "doors" throughout; it was destroyed on 9/11.
Nicole Kidman and Jennifer Jason Leigh star in MARGOT AT THE WEDDING
Frederick P. Rose Hall
Broadway at 60th St.
September 28 – October 14
Selected by Richard Peña, Scott Foundas, J. Hoberman, Kent Jones, and Lisa Schwarzbaum, the films at the forty-fifth New York Film Festival make up another intriguing collection of international fare, with Wes Anderson’s THE DARJEELING LIMITED the Opening Night film, Joel and Ethan Coen’s NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN the Centerpiece, and Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud’s PERSEPOLIS the Closing Night film. Other highlights include Noah Bambauch’s MARGOT AT THE WEDDING, starring Nicole Kidman and Jennifer Jason Leigh; Todd Haynes’s I’M NOT THERE, with Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, Richard Gere, and Heath Ledger; Sidney Lumet’s BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOWS YOU’RE DEAD, with Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ethan Hawke, and Albert Finney; and Gus Van Sant’s PARANOID PARK, Brian De Palma’s REDACTED, John Landis’s MR. WARMTH: THE DON RICKLES PROJECT, Julian Schnabel’s THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY, Abel Ferrara’s GO GO TALES, Hou Hsiao-hsien’s THE FLIGHT OF THE RED BALLOON, Eric Rohmer’s THE ROMANCE OF ASTREA AND CELADON, music documentaries about Fados, Bob Dylan, and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, and other works by Catherine Breillat, Alexander Sokoruv, Jia Zhang-ke, and Lee Chang-dong, among others.
"Definitive cut" of BLADE RUNNER premieres at NYFF
There will be yet another version of Ridley Scott’s BLADE RUNNER (this one called the "definitive cut," in honor of the film’s twenty-fifth anniversary), the Alloy Orchestra will play their new score to Josef von Sternberg’s UNDERWORLD, and John Ford’s THE IRON HORSE will be celebrated. In addition, the sidebars include works by Brazilian filmmaker Joaquim Pedro de Andrade, the annual Views from the Avant-Garde series, and a tribute to Hong Kong’s Cathay Studios. Tickets go on sale Sunday, September 9, at noon at the Frederick P. Rose Hall box office and 212-721-6500, with online sales beginning September 10. Keep watching www.twi-ny.com for the full schedule and select reviews in the coming weeks.
Various venues
October 5-7
1-877-391-0545
This annual festival features readings, interviews, tours, live music, and interesting pairings of the literati and the glitterati. Among this year’s big names are Steve Martin, Norman Mailer with Martin Amis, Miranda July, Jumpa Lahiri, Zadie Smith, Neil LaBute, Seymour M. Hersh, Simon Schama, Yo La Tengo, Fiona Apple, Rosanne Cash, and Salman Rushdie. Tickets go on sale September 15 at twelve noon — and they go ridiculously fast, so get ready.
Friday, October 5 Fiction Night — Readings: Daniel Alarcón and Zadie Smith, Angel Orensanz Foundation, $16, 7:00
Friday, October 5 Fiction Night — Readings: Junot Díaz and Annie Proulx, Cedar Lake Dance Studios, $16, 7:00
Friday, October 5 Fiction Night — Readings: Jhumpa Lahiri and Edward P. Jones, Ailey Citigroup Theatre, Joan Weill Center for Dance, $16, 7:00
Friday, October 5 Fiction Night — Readings: Karen Russell and Jonathan Lethem, Anthology Film Archives, $16, 7:00
Friday, October 5 Fiction Night — Readings: Marisa Silver and Paul Theroux, Acura Stage at Helen Mills Theatre, $16, 7:00
Friday, October 5 Fiction Night — Readings: Ann Beattie and Jonathan Franzen, Cedar Lake Dance Studios, $16, 9:30
Friday, October 5 Fiction Night — Conversations Between Writers: Salman Rushdie and Orhan Pamuk on Homeland, Highline Ballroom, $25, 7:00
Friday, October 5 Fiction Night — Conversations Between Writers: Norman Mailer and Martin Amis on Monsters, Highline Ballroom, $25, 9:30
Friday, October 5 Fiction Night — Conversations Between Writers: Lorrie Moore and Jeffrey Eugenides on Conformity, Ailey Citigroup Theatre, Joan Weill Center for Dance, $25, 9:30
Friday, October 5 Fiction Night — Conversations Between Writers: George Saunders and Jonathan Safran Foer on the Incredible, Angel Orensanz Foundation, $25, 9:30
Friday, October 5 Fiction Night — Conversations Between Writers: Miranda July and A. M. Homes on Deviants, Anthology Film Archives, $25, 9:30
Friday, October 5 Fiction Night — Conversations Between Writers: Donald Antrim and Colm Tóibín on Mothers, Acura Stage at Helen Mills Theatre, $25, 9:30
Friday, October 5 The New Yorker Town Hall Meeting Iraq Revisited, Town Hall, $16, 7:00
Friday, October 5 Friday Night Film Project: Errol Morris talks with Philip Gourevitch, Directors Guild of America, $25, 8:00
Friday, October 5 A New Yorker Dance Party, Hiro Ballroom and Lounge, $20, 10:00
Saturday, October 6 Casuals: Wake-Up Call with Andy Borowitz, the New Yorker Cabaret at Festival Headquarters, Metropolitan Pavilion, $12, 10:00 am
Saturday, October 6 Writers and Their Subjects: Neil LaBute and John Lahr, Acura Stage at Helen Mills Theatre, $25, 10:00 am
Saturday, October 6 Writers and Their Subjects: Matthew Bourne and Joan Acocella, Cedar Lake Dance Studios, $25, 1:00
Saturday, October 6 Writers and Their Subjects: Anthony Lane and Simon Schama on History and Film, Acura Stage at Helen Mills Theatre, $25, 1:00
Saturday, October 6 Writers and Their Subjects: Peter Sellars and Alex Ross, Acura Stage at Helen Mills Theatre, $25, 4:00
Saturday, October 6 In Conversation with Ian McEwan, interviewed by David Remnick, Directors Guild of America, $25, 10:00 am
Saturday, October 6 In Conversation with Seymour M. Hersh, interviewed by David Remnick, Directors Guild of America, $25, 1:00
Saturday, October 6 In Conversation with Steve Martin, interviewed by Susan Morrison, Directors Guild of America, $25, 4:00
Saturday, October 6 New Yorker Talks: Sasha Frere-Jones: What Isn’t Hip-Hop? Ailey Citigroup Theatre, Joan Weill Center for Dance, $25, 2:00
Saturday, October 6 New Yorker Talks: Samantha Power: Darfur, Activism Without Action, Ailey Citigroup Theatre, Joan Weill Center for Dance, $25, 4:30
Saturday, October 6 Panels: Outside the Box, Florence Gould Hall, French Institute Alliance Française, $25, 10:00 am
Saturday, October 6 Panels: Investigative Journalism, Highline Ballroom, $25, 10:00 am
Saturday, October 6 Panels: Casualties of War, Florence Gould Hall, French Institute Alliance Française, $25, 1:00
Saturday, October 6 Panels: Superheroes, Highline Ballroom, $25, 1:00
Saturday, October 6 Panels: Costume Design, Cedar Lake Dance Studios, $25, 4:00
Saturday, October 6 Early Shift: Fiona Apple talks with Sasha Frere-Jones, a Conversation with Music, Brooklyn Lyceum, $35, 7:30
Saturday, October 6 Early Shift: Anna Deavere Smith talks with John Lahr, a Conversation with Performance, Cedar Lake Dance Studios, $35, 7:30
Saturday, October 6 Early Shift: An Evening with Sigur Rós, Florence Gould Hall, French Institute Alliance Française, $35, 7:30
Saturday, October 6 Early Shift: Eugene Levy talks with Susan Orlean, Acura Stage at Helen Mills Theatre, $35, 7:30
Saturday, October 6 Early Shift: Rosanne Cash talks with Hendrik Hertzberg, a Conversation with Music, Highline Ballroom, $35, 7:30
Saturday, October 6 Early Shift: Saturday Night Sneak Preview: THE KITE RUNNER, Directors Guild of America, $25, 7:30
Saturday, October 6 Saturday Night Special: David Byrne Presents: How New Yorkers Ride Bikes, Town Hall , $16, 7:30
Saturday, October 6 The New Yorker Debate: Resolved: The Ivy League Should Be Abolished, New York Society for Ethical Culture, $20, 8:00
Saturday, October 6 Casuals: New Yorker Parlor Games with Henry Alford, the New Yorker Cabaret at Festival Headquarters Metropolitan Pavilion, $25, 8:00
Saturday, October 6 Late Shift: Yo La Tengo talk with Ben Greenman, A Conversation with Music, Brooklyn Lyceum, $35, 10:00
Saturday, October 6 Late Shift: John C. Reilly talks with Dana Goodyear, Cedar Lake Dance Studios, $35, 10:00
Saturday, October 6 Late Shift: Bill Nighy talks with Michael Specter, Acura Stage at Helen Mills Theatre, $35, 10:00
Saturday, October 6 Late Shift: Dick Dale, Billy Gibbons, Vernon Reid, and Omar Rodriguez-Lopez talk with Nick Paumgarten, a Conversation with Music, Highline Ballroom, $35, 10:00
Sunday, October 7 Casuals: Bagels with Bob, the New Yorker Cabaret at Festival Headquarters, Metropolitan Pavilion, $12, 10:00 am
Sunday, October 7 About Town — Behind the Scenes at the Museum: Mike Novacek talks with Burkhard Bilger, American Museum of Natural History, $60, 11:00 am
Sunday, October 7 About Town — Come Hungry with Calvin Trillin, ticket buyers will be contacted as to the starting point, $100, 11:00 am
Sunday, October 7 About Town — Inside the Artist’s Studio: Jeff Koons talks with Calvin Tomkins and Dodie Kazanjian, ticket buyers will be contacted about the location, $80, 11:00 am
Sunday, October 7 About Town — The Next Century’s Newsroom: A tour of Bloomberg L.P. headquarters, Bloomberg Tower, $60, 12 noon
Sunday, October 7 About Town — Parkour New York: David Belle talks with Alec Wilkinson, event location to be announced, free, 1:00
Sunday, October 7 Writers and Their Subjects: Rachel Brand, Neal Katyal, and Jeffrey Toobin, Florence Gould Hall, French Institute Alliance Française, $25, 1:00
Sunday, October 7 Writers and Their Subjects Judd Apatow, Seth Rogen, and David Denby, Directors Guild of America, $25, 4:00
Sunday, October 7 New Yorker Talks — Jerome Groopman: What Is Missing in Medicine? Ailey Citigroup Theatre Joan Weill Center for Dance, $25, 10:00 am
Sunday, October 7 New Yorker Talks — Oliver Sacks, Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain, Ailey Citigroup Theatre, Joan Weill Center for Dance, $25, 1:00
Sunday, October 7 New Yorker Talks — Alex Ross, The Rest Is Noise: A Multimedia Tour of Twentieth-century Music, Ailey Citigroup Theatre, Joan Weill Center for Dance, $25, 4:00
Sunday, October 7 Master Classes — Poetry: Robert Hass and Katha Pollitt, Acura Stage at Helen Mills Theatre, $35, 10:00 am
Sunday, October 7 Master Classes — Profile Writing: Susan Orlean and Mark Singer, Acura Stage at Helen Mills Theatre, $35, 1:00
Sunday, October 7 Master Classes — Photography: Mary Ellen Mark and Martin Schoeller, Acura Stage at Helen Mills Theatre, $35, 4:00
The TimesCenter, 242 West 41st St., unless otherwise noted
Tickets: $15-$25
888-NYT-1870
This year’s series of TimesTalks includes such highlights as Philip Pullman discussing THE GOLDEN COMPASS, which will be released soon as a film; Ben Affleck interviewed by Janet Maslin; Sir Ian McKellen examining his extraordinary career; and the always entertaining Steve Martin, interviewed by Deborah Solomon. Even though some of the below events are already sold out, tickets are expected to be available at the door the night of each event.
Wednesday, September 5 ON THE ROAD at 50: A Celebration of Jack Kerouac with Douglas Brinkley, Billy Collins, and Joyce Johnson, moderated by John Leland, The Lighthouse International Theater, 111 East 59th St., 6:30
Monday, September 17 An Actor’s Life: A Conversation With Ian McKellen, with Ian McKellen in conversation with Jesse Green, 6:30
Tuesday, September 18 Taking Care: Helping Your Loved Ones as They Age, with Audrey Chun, Carol Levine, Vincent Russo, and David Vail, moderated by Jane Gross, 6:30
Tuesday, September 25 A Reporter’s Legacy, with Lt. General Harold G. Moore, William Stueck, Don Oberdorfer, Joseph Goulden, Dexter Filkins, and Frances Fitzgerald, moderated by Leslie Gelb, 6:30
Wednesday, September 26 The New Anxiety: Getting into the "Right" College, with Jacques Steinberg and Susan Dominus, moderated by Jim Schachter, 6:30
Wednesday, October 17 Ben Affleck, Actor-Screenwriter-Director, interviewed by Janet Maslin, 6:30
Friday, October 19 The Conscience of a Liberal: A Conversation with Paul Krugman, moderated by Andrew Rosenthal, 6:30
Wednesday, October 24 T Style Talks with . . . Fashion Designer Alber Elbaz of Lanvin, with Stefano Tonchi, Lynn Hirschberg, and Alber Elbaz, 6:30
Tuesday, October 30 THE GOLDEN COMPASS: A Conversation with Philip Pullman, interviewed by Charles McGrath, 6:30
Monday, November 19 Inside the 2008 Presidential Campaign, moderated by Rick Berke, 6:30
Tuesday, November 20 Born Standing Up: A Conversation with Steve Martin, interviewed by Deborah Solomon, 6:30
Peter Lorre hides a terrible secret in Fritz Lang’s M
Museum of the Moving Image
35th Ave. at 36th St., Astoria
September 8-30
Tickets: $10 (includes museum admission)
718-784-4520
Born in Vienna in 1890, Fritz Lang became one of the most successful German filmmakers with such influential classics as M, METROPOLIS, and the Dr. Mabuse and Die Nibelungen films. When he came to Hollywood, he brought his expressionist sensibility with him, crafting thrilling noirs — as well as disappointing melodramas — working with many of the greatest actors of their time. The Museum of the Moving Image is mixing in a few of the early works with his major Hollywood output; we’ve always been suckers for Edward G. Robinson’s gentle performance in SCARLET STREET, but it’s hard to go wrong with Glenn Ford and Lee Marvin in THE BIG HEAT, Henry Fonda in YOU ONLY LIVE ONCE, or Spencer Tracy in FURY.
Saturday, September 8 M (Fritz Lang, 1931), 3:00
Saturday, September 8 FURY (Fritz Lang, 1936), 5:30
Sunday, September 9 THE TESTAMENT OF DR. MABUSE (Fritz Lang, 1933), 3:00
Sunday, September 9 MINISTRY OF FEAR (Fritz Lang, 1944), 5:30
Saturday, September 15 THE WOMAN IN THE WINDOW (Fritz Lang, 1944), 2:00
Saturday, September 15 SCARLET STREET (Fritz Lang, 1945), 4:00
Sunday, September 16 YOU ONLY LIVE ONCE (Fritz Lang, 1937), 4:30
Saturday, September 22 SECRET BEYOND THE DOOR (Fritz Lang, 1948), 3:00
Saturday, September 22 HOUSE BY THE RIVER (Fritz Lang, 1950), 5:30
Sunday, September 23 CLASH BY NIGHT (Fritz Lang, 1952), 3:00
Sunday, September 23 HUMAN DESIRE (Fritz Lang, 1954), 5:30
Saturday, September 29 THE BLUE GARDENIA (Fritz Lang, 1953), 4:30
Saturday, September 29 THE BIG HEAT (Fritz Lang, 1953), 6:30
Sunday, September 30 WHILE THE CITY SLEEPS (Fritz Lang, 1956), 3:00
Lipstick Killer is on the run in
Fritz Lang noir classic
When media magnate Amos Kynes (Robert Warwick) dies, his son Walter (Vincent Price) takes over despite Amos’s greatest fears. Walter decides that whoever gets a scoop on the Lipstick Killer will become his number two man, so the backstabbing race is on among sleazy wire service chief Mark Loving (George Sanders); managing editor Jon Day Griffith (Thomas Mitchell), who’ll do just about anything for a story; and Harry Kritzer (James Craig), who thinks the best way to get the job is from the bed of Walter’s wife (Rhonda Fleming). Throw in cynical television journalist Ed Mobley (Dana Andrews) and hot-to-trot columnist Mildred Donner (Ida Lupino) and you have another one of Hollywood’s terrific newspaper pics. Director Lang pulls no punches; the film is filled with plenty of sexual undertones (and overtones), and Kynes himself is a take-off of Charles Foster Kane, the glistening K atop his New York City skyscraper reminiscent of the K atop Xanadu’s front gate.
Sunday, September 30 BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT (Fritz Lang, 1956), 5:00
Brooklyn Borough Hall Court Room (CT) and Plaza
St. Francis College (SFC)
Admission: free (advance tickets needed for select events)
http://www.brooklynbookfestival.org
More than sixty authors, most of whom hail from the great Borough of Kings, will be on hand in and around Borough Hall for the second annual Brooklyn Literary Festival, featuring readings, signings, lectures, panels, and other special events. Below is the complete schedule for the lineups in the court room inside Brooklyn Borough Hall and at St. Francis College as well as a few other select events, some of which require advance ticketing even though they are free.
There will also be events at the Brooklyn Historical Society and Borough Hall plaza, with such participants as Danny Simmons, Kimiko Hahn, Rashidah Ismaili, Dominic Carter, Chuck Klosterman with Rob Sheffield and Ed Park, Colin Harrison, Wayne Barrett, Neal Pollack with Amy Sohn, Errol Louis, David Bouley, Michael Ian Black, Mo Willems, Pat Cummings, Jacqueline Woodson, and many more, 10:00 am to 6:00 pm.
Sunday, September 16 TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD: The Rule of Law, with Patricia Williams and Wayne Greenshaw, introduced by Jay Kaplan, CT, 10:00 am
Sunday, September 16 Culture Crash: readings by Ana Castillo, Colin Channer, and Amitav Ghosh, CT, 11:00 am
Sunday, September 16 Crack in the Façade: readings by Stephen Carter, Colson Whitehead, and Mary Gaitskill. CT, 12 noon
Sunday, September 16 Enchanted Escapades, with Gail Carson Levine, Michael Buckley, and Troy CLE, the Independence Community Foundation Young Writers Pavilion, 12 noon
Sunday, September 16 Reality & the War on Terror, with Rajiv Chandrasekaran, Christian Parenti, and Moustafa Bayoumi, moderated by Laura Flanders, CT, 1:00
Sunday, September 16 Honor & Justice, with Chris Abani, Pete Hamill, and Susanna Moore, CT, 2:00
Sunday, September 16 My Life, with Edwidge Danticat, Mike Farrell, and Katha Pollitt, CT, 3:00
Sunday, September 16 Brooklyn Bridges to Europe, with Jonathan Lethem in conversation with Jonathan Safran Foer, moderated by Liesl Schillinger, SFC, 3:00
Sunday, September 16 A.M. Homes in Conversation with Francine Prose, CT, 4:00
Sunday, September 16 Born & Raised, with Phillip Lopate, Pete Hamill, and Bernice McFadden, SFC, 4:00
Sunday, September 16 Works-in-Progress, with Jim Carroll, Gloria Naylor, and Joe Meno, CT, 5:00
Sunday, September 16 Dave Eggers and Valentino Achak Deng Build a School, introduced by Chris Abani, SFC, 5:00
© Paul Pope
Tompkins Square Park
Between Seventh & Tenth Sts. and Aves. A & B
September 5-9
Admission: free
We were disappointed that the Howl! Festival was canceled last year, but it’s back again, celebrating the monumental work by Allen Ginsberg. All weekend, free events are being held in Tompkins Square Park, featuring readings, live music, and stage performances. In addition, special events will be going on all over the Lower East Side. "I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked," the poem, written for Carl Solomon, begins, and just builds from there, one of New York’s true revolutionary epics.
Friday, September 7 The Allen Ginsberg Poetry Festival, with Taylor Mead, John Giorno, the Mayhem Poets, Poetry Drill Team "4 Minute Howl" led by poet Gary Glazner, Stacy Szymaszek, Bob Holman, Danny Shot, Amy Ouzoonian, Chavisa Woods, Paolo Javier, Rachel Levitsky, and Filip Marinovich, 5:00 — 7:30
Saturday, September 8 South Stage: Heavy Trash, 2:00; The Little Death NYC, featuring Moby, 2:30; excerpt from THE BRIG by the Living Theater, directed by Judith Malina, 3:15; Rene Risque, 3:45; Low Life, 5:00
Saturday, September 8 North Stage: Energy Up! 11:00 am; Mod Rocket, 12:50; Quinn Marston, 1:15; Milo McBride, 1:30; Fiasco, 1:50; NYC All Stars, 2:15; Urban Word with Youth Poetry Artists and a poetry slam, 2:35; Urban Gypsy Circus, with Miz Metro, the Trashion Dancers, and Consider the Source, 4:00; Authentic Music for Authentic People, 5:10; Clean and Nasty, 6:00
Saturday, September 8
and
Sunday, September 9 Carl Solomon Book Expo, featuring small press comics, graphic novels, literature, and poetry, all day
Saturday, September 8
and
Sunday, September 9 Children’s activities, including mural painting and sculpture and drawing classes, all day
Sunday, September 9 South Stage: Pantheon Parade, with Manhattan Samba and Hungry March Band, 12 noon; Middle Church Jerriese Johnson East Village Gospel Choir, 1:00; Faith, 2:00; downtownTV.com presents Tracks with Crosby / Cowings / Miz Metro, 2:25; Paper and Sand, 3:45; minute of silence for Hilly Kristal, 4:15; Fire Flies, 4:20; and Vision Jazz Fest, with William Parker, Charles Gayle, Rob Brown, Sabir Mateen, Roy Campbell & Lewis Barnes, Jason Kao Hwang, Gerald Cleaver, and Patricia Nicholson, 5:30
Sunday, September 9 North Stage: Energy Up! 11:00 am; Tubby the Tuba Orchestra, 2:30; tappers Niall O’Leary, Parker Hall, Kahiry Bess, and Jake James Dancers with Djimbe; 3:35; Sweetbeats, 3:55; Mr. Ray, 4:30; Greg Patillo, 5:00; Open Water, 5:40; Susan Mitchell, Richard West’s Melange, with Jiggers Turner, 6:00
Wednesday, September 5 All-Night Howl Opening Party, with cocktails, art auction, ON THE ROAD performances by Judith Malina and the Frank Perowsky Jazz Combo with Kirpal Gordon, Bowery Poetry Club, 308 Bowery, free, 6:00 — 8:00, with the NY Howl performing at 12 midnight
Thursday, September 6 Hare Krsna Howl, with Laura Fay Lewis of the Blisstones & Krsna Fitch with Taj Black, VAPA, 26 Second Ave., free, 7:00
Thursday, September 6 Howl! Performance Art Panel, with Rosalie Goldberg, Carlo McCormick, David Leslie, Pat Oleszko, Martha Wilson, and Brian Butterick, moderated by Tom Murrin, Bowery Poetry Club, 308 Bowery, free, 8:00
Thursday, September 6 Crones, Ducks, and Babes: A Howling Vic Revue, Dixon Place, 258 Bowery, second floor, $12, 8:00
Thursday, September 6 Howling Mad, presented by the Antagonist Art Movement, with Liz Adele, Mauncio Salmon, Kev Mullin, Maria Delgado Giambini, James Rubio, Chantel Smith, Jessica Germany, Andrea Ramirez, Brooke Ederie, Scott Hill, Rosa, Tori, Kaethlin Perna, Mystie Chamberlin, and Jim Knoblauch, Niagara, 112 Ave. A at Seventh St., free, 9:00 pm — 2:00 am
Thursday, September 6 Benefit for Federation of East Village Artists, with DJ Spooky, Liquid Todd, and Sub Swara, Crash Mansion, 199 Bowery between Spring & Rivington Sts., $10, 9:00 pm — 2:00 am
Thursday, September 6 Howlfest: Fiftieth anniversary of the publication date for ON THE ROAD, featuring readings from ON THE ROAD and Edie Kerouac’s new book, Bowery Poetry Club, 308 Bowery, free, 10:00, followed by Moony’s Spooky Trailer, 12 midnight
Friday, September 7 Howl! Fine Art Panel, with Carlo McCormick, Walter Robinson, Steven Lack, Judy Glantzman, James Romberger, and Gracie Mansion, moderated by Keiko Bonk, 308 Bowery, free, 8:00, followed by Mayhem Poets, 10:00
Saturday, September 8 Punk Matinee: Rotten Cadaver, Terror Red Level, Dissytema, and more, ABC No Rio, 156 Rivington St. between Clinton & Suffolk Sts., $6, 3:00
Saturday, September 8 Tom Savage’s Annual Garden Reading with Merry Fortune, Steve Dalachinksy, Ron Price, Yuko Otomo, and Jeffrey Cyphers Wright, 11BC Community Garden, East 11th St. between Aves. B & C, free, 4:00
Saturday, September 8 Remembering Allen: A Paen to Allen Ginsberg, with Richard West, Marguerite Van Cook, and Joe Birdsong, Rapture Café, 200 Ave. A between 12th & 13th Sts., free, 8:00
Saturday, September 8 Driven to Punk Panel, with moderators Marguerite Van Cook and Danny Fields and participants Judy Nylon, Becky Wreck, Cynthia Sley, Elda Stilletto, Gabby Glaser, Suzy Horgan, Honeychild Coleman, Leee Black Childers, Walter Lure, Alan Vega, C.J. Ramone, and Arturo Vega, followed by live music from the Waldos, Maul Girls, and the Mallrats, Crash Mansion, 199 Bowery between Spring & Rivington Sts., 9:00
Saturday, September 8 Howl at Café 5C, with Pheobe Legere, Robert Roth, Steve Dalachinsky, Yuko Otono, Eliot Katz, Cliff Fyman, Joanie Fritz-Zosike, Steve Witt, Sharon Mesmer, Bill Kushner, Tom Walker, Richard West, and Tsaurah Litsky, 68 Ave. C at Fifth St., 9:30
Saturday, September 8 C.O.M.A.: the John McDonough Ensemble, ABC No Rio, 156 Rivington St. between Clinton & Suffolk Sts., suggested donation $5, 8:00
Saturday, September 8 Working Space 07: featuring work by Paolo Bertocchi, Ernest Concepcion, Rachel Frank, Haegeen Kim, Fay Ku, Stephanie Lempert, Dulce Pinzón, and Adam Smith, Cuchifritos, 120 Essex St. between Delancey & Rivington Sts., free, 4:00-6:00
Saturday, September 8 Urban Gypsy Circus Masquerade, hosted by Miz Metro, Howl! Headquarters, 531 East 13th St. between Aves. A & B, 10:00 pm — 2:00 am
twi-ny/mdr
Lower East Side garden will host special Howl! event
Saturday, September 8 Avant Garde(n)s: You’re an Animal, featuring films by Emily Breer, Rudy Burckhardt, Stan Brakhage, Alan Berliner, and Carol Wilder, Sixth St. & Ave. B Garden, free, 7:30
Saturday, September 8 War Poems / War Music, part 1, with Ron Whitehead, Steve Dalichinsky, Larissa Schmailo, Michael Warren McHugh, Ad Augeri, Ekayani, Lauren O’Brien and her band, War Folk with McQ and the Dude, David Peel and the Lower East Side, Heavy Weather, and the Father and the Son, Bar on A, 170 Ave. A at Eleventh St., free, 5:30 — 12 midnight
Sunday, September 9 Trace, performance art piece by Theresa Byrnes, Howl! Headquarters, 531 East 13th St. between Aves. A & B, 7:30
Sunday, September 9 Avant Garde(n)s: Howl! Out! Against the War, with live dance and short films, Le Petit Versailles Garden, 346 East Houston @ Ave. C, free, 7:30
Sunday, September 9 Marathon of vintage Beat poetry videos, featuring Allen Ginsberg, Gregory Corso, Anne Waldman, the Fugs, and more, 308 Bowery, free, 4:00, followed by worldwide reading against the regime of Robert Mugabe, with Akim da Funk Buddha, 5:30, and Bowery women poetry video program, 6:00
Sunday, September 9 War Poems / War Music Part, part 2, with George Wallace, Zoe Artemis, Steve Dalichinsky, Larissa Schmailo, Michael Warren McHugh, Ekayani, and Lauren O’Brien and Ad Augeri, a Gathering of the Tribes, 285 Third St. between Aves. C & D, free, 7:00
Manual Harlan
Sir Ian McKellen stars as King Lear in Royal Shakespeare Company production
BAM Harvey Theater
September 6-30
Tickets: $30-$90
718-636-4100
The Royal Shakespeare Company descends on the Brooklyn Academy of Music for a month-long residency starring Sir Ian McKellen. The company will perform William Shakespeare’s KING LEAR and Anton Chekhov’s THE SEAGULL in repertory, both productions directed by Trevor Nunn. (McKellen will share the role of Sorin in THE SEAGULL with William Gaunt.) Although KING LEAR is sold out, there are still a handful of tickets left for THE SEAGULL, so scavenge them while you can for this very special event.
MoMA Film
Roy and Niuta Titus Theaters
11 West 53rd St. between Fifth & Sixth Aves.
Wednesday, September 5, 6:00
Saturday, September 8, 2:00
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
Poor Bernard Chanticleer (Peter Kastner). His mother (Geraldine Page) sends him locks of her hair and pays a prudish landlord (Julie Harris), aided by a tough cop (Dolph Sweet), to make sure no girls visit him in his new apartment. Bernard's father (Rip Torn) rules over him with an iron fist in the basement of the New York Public Library. A nice, innocent young woman (Karen Black in her first major role) is interested in him, but he wants a psycho go-go dancer/actress (Elizabeth Hartman). Meanwhile, he is getting all the wrong advice from his best friend (Tony Bill). Francis Ford Coppola’s little-known romantic comedy earned Page an Academy Award nomination, Kastner a BAFTA nomination as Most Promising Newcomer, and a Palme d’Or nomination at Cannes. Coppola uses the New York City settings to perfection, whether Bernard is chasing a kite across the Sheep Meadow, wandering through the Times Square peep shows, or being chased through the New York Public Library. The Lovin’ Spoonful supplies the fabulously sixties soundtrack.
Opens Friday, September 7
http://www.myspace.com/fierce_people_movie
There’s a reason why Griffin Dunne’s FIERCE PEOPLE, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2005, is only getting released now: The annoying story is filled with irritating stereotypes that you wouldn’t want to spend more than five minutes with. Instead, lucky moviegoers get to spend 107 minutes with elitist snobs hanging out with the hired help, doing drugs, sleeping around, and acting ever-so superior. Dunne, who made a name for himself as an actor in AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON (John Landis, 1981) and AFTER HOURS (Martin Scorsese, 1985), has yet to distinguish himself behind the camera (PRACTICAL MAGIC or ADDICTED TO LOVE, anyone?). Comparing the absurdly wealthy New Jersey tribe led by Ogden C. Osborne (Donald Sutherland) to the fictional Ishkanani in the Amazon, Dunne and screenwriter Dirk Wittenborn (who also wrote the novel FIERCE PEOPLE and plays Fox Blanchard in the film) hit audiences over the head with their cleverness. The story is told from the point of view of teenager Finn (Anton Yelchin), whose mother (Diane Lane) is a drug-addicted masseuse who gives lots of happy endings. But don’t expect any happy endings from this rancid tale, which gets pretty fierce indeed.
Richard Gere is on the hunt for a war criminal in THE HUNTING PARTY
Opens Friday, September 7
AMC Loews Lincoln Square 13
1998 Broadway at 84th St.
212-336-5020
Landmark Sunshine Cinema
143 East Houston St. between First & Second Aves.
212-330-8182
http://www.landmarktheatres.com/Market/NewYork/NewYork_frameset.htm
http://www.thehuntingpartymovie.com
Fearless reporter Simon Hunt (Richard Gere) and his trusty cameraman, Duck (Terrence Howard), have circumnavigated the globe, flying in the face of danger as they report on brutal wars in Iraq, El Salvador, Somalia, and other international hotspots. But when things hit too close to home in Bosnia, Hunt suffers a major meltdown, disappearing into the ether. Meanwhile, Duck settles into a comfy network studio gig. Five years later, covering the anniversary of the end of the war in Bosnia with smooth-talking anchorman Franklin Harris (James Brolin), Duck is suddenly visited by Hunt, who has a plan to track down and interview the Fox (Ljubomir Kerekes), a wanted war criminal who is still revered in some parts of the country. They are joined on the impossible mission by young reporter Benjamin (Jesse Eisenberg), the Harvard-educated nephew of a network VP who has no idea what he’s getting himself into. Together they travel deep into Serb territory, risking their lives for a story that is much more complicated than any of them imagined. Inspired by an Esquire article based on actual events, THE HUNTING PARTY, written and directed by Richard Shepard (THE MATADOR), is an exciting — and very funny — political thriller, featuring excellent performances by the three leads in addition to an entertaining supporting cast of oddball characters. Gere is particularly outstanding, on quite a roll following this year’s earlier fine turn as Clifford Irving in Lasse Hallström’s THE HOAX.
Clive Owen has violently good fun as 007’s alter ego
Opens Friday, September 7
Clive Owen might not have been chosen as the next James Bond, but he gets to play quite the hero — nearly the opposite of 007 — in Michael Davis’s riotously funny and hysterically violent SHOOT ’EM UP. Owen stars as Mr. Smith, a haggard, homeless dude who unwittingly finds himself in a rather bloody mess, on the run with lactating hooker DQ (Monica Bellucci) trying to protect a baby from the villainous Hertz (a scenery-chewing Paul Giamatti) and dozens and dozens and dozens and dozens and dozens of hired assassins. Smith constantly munches on carrots — not only to preserve his eyesight but to convert them into weapons as necessary — and uses guns in wild and wacky ways, not merely to shoot the bad guys. Paying homage to the spaghetti Westerns of Sergio Leone and Clint Eastwood, Sam Peckinpah’s THE WILD BUNCH and STRAW DOGS, the Bond films, Quentin Tarantino’s KILL BILL, Joel and Ethan Coen’s RAISING ARIZONA, John Woo’s HARD-BOILED (the most direct influence), and even Alfonso Cuarón’s CHILDREN OF MEN (in which Owen protects the world’s first pregnant woman in a generation), Davis creates some of the most inventive, remarkable shootouts ever filmed, one following another in an endless parade of bullets — more twenty-five thousand, according to the production notes, resulting in fifteen gallons of blood. The plot makes little sense, but that doesn’t really matter; the action’s the thing, and it’s a thing of beauty.
Christian Bale and Russell Crowe are on opposite sides of the law in remake
Opens Friday, September 7
James Mangold’s remake of Delmer Daves’s 1957 Western 3:10 TO YUMA starts out promising but ultimately delves into the wholly ludicrous. Christian Bale stars as Ben Evans, a hobbled Civil War vet who is about to lose his ranch — and the respect of his wife (Gretchen Mol) and kids (Logan Lerman and Benjamin Petry). Desperate for money, he signs on to help transport vicious killer Ben Wade (Russell Crowe) on a dangerous three-day journey from Bisbee to Contention, where Wade will be sent straight to prison on the 3:10 train to Yuma. But even handcuffed, Wade is a dangerous criminal and a more-than-worthy adversary; meanwhile, his villainous crew, led by the brutally evil Charlie Prince (Ben Foster), has set out to rescue him, killing all who get in their way. Based on an Elmore Leonard story, the film gets muddled quickly, with far too much of the action beyond belief. Why don’t they just tie up Wade’s arms and legs, or at least cuff him behind his back? How many hundreds of bullets does it take to miss easy targets? By choosing to focus more on the transporting of Wade — which was not the center of the 1957 original, which starred Glenn Ford as Wade, Van Heflin as Evans, and Richard Jaeckel as Charlie Prince — Mangold (HEAVY, WALK THE LINE) has turned the film into an annoying chase flick lacking in real drama. But it’s always fun seeing Peter Fonda, here playing grizzled Pinkerton detective Byron McElroy.
http://www.henryholt.com/holt/bookofillusions.htm
After losing his wife and kids in a plane crash, David Zimmer has just about given up on life. Living in a self-described "blur of alcoholic grief and self-pity," the Vermont professor considers ending it all until he catches a clip of little-known silent-comedy star Hector Mann on television. He suddenly becomes obsessed with seeing all twelve of Mann’s films, which are available only in the collections of several museums in the U.S. and Europe. He also writes a book about the films of Mann, who mysteriously disappeared in 1929 and was never heard from again. And then he gets a strange letter one day, supposedly from Mann’s wife, asking him to come out to New Mexico to meet the man himself. Although he doubts the veracity of the letter, Zimmer soon is on his way out west, not only seeking the master comedian but a new reason for living. Auster (LEVIATHAN, CITY OF GLASS, THE MUSIC OF CHANCE) spends much of THE BOOK OF ILLUSIONS detailing the work of Hector Mann, from his dapper suit to the subtle twisting of his mustache, creating a compelling character who seemingly exists only on celluloid. Part detective story, part pseudo-biography, part psychological drama, THE BOOK OF ILLUSIONS is one of Auster’s best forays into the inner mind of the artist and the creative process.
Auster turns film-within-a-novel into a film unto itself
In addition, Auster has written and directed THE INNER LIFE OF MARTIN FROST, a feature-length film (opening September 7) based on an unreleased Hector Mann film vividly described in THE BOOK OF ILLUSIONS. Picador has also released the screenplay, complete with an interview with Auster about the making of the film. In the interview, conducted by Céline Curiol, Auster discusses how THE INNER LIFE OF MARTIN FROST was initially meant to be part of producer Regina Ziegler’s Erotic Tales series, comprising short works by such directors as Hal Hartley, Susan Seidelman, Ken Russell, and others, but after financing couldn’t be agreed upon, Auster set the project aside — resurrecting it as a film within a book and, now, turning it into a film in its own right, starring David Thewlis, Irene Jacob, Michael Imperioli, and Sophie Auster.
Monday, September 10 Paul Auster and Michael Imperioli in conversation about the making of THE INNER LIFE OF MARTIN FROST, Barnes & Noble Union Square, 33 East 17th St., free, 7:00
Opens Friday, September 14
AMC Loews Village 7
Third Ave. at Eleventh St.
AMC Loews Lincoln Square 13
1998 Broadway at 68th St.
800-326-3264
http://wip.warnerbros.com/decemberboys
Maps (Daniel Radcliffe), Misty (Lee Cormie), Sparks (Christian Byers), and Spit (James Fraser) are four orphans who are selected to go on a brief vacation to a cove, sponsored by two aging supporters of the orphanage where they live, Bandy (Jack Thompson) and Skipper (Kris McQuade). Reveling in this rare opportunity, the boys experience new things, meet fascinating people, spy on naked women, and even ride on a motorcycle. But when Misty overhears that Fearless (Sullivan Stapleton) and Teresa (Victoria Hill) are considering adopting one of them, three of the boys go on their best behavior while the older Maps, who can’t wait to turn eighteen and head out into the world on his own, grows close with the sexy Lucy (Teresa Palmer). Based on the novel by Michael Noonan and directed by Rod Hardy, DECEMBER BOYS, set in 1960s Australia, is a well-meaning but ultimately disappointing coming-of-age drama, filled with clichéd scenes and maudlin sentimentality.
Martin and Clarence go for the gold in GREAT WORLD OF SOUND
Opens Friday, September 14
Angelika Film Center
18 West Houston St. at Mercer St.
212-995-2000
Lincoln Plaza Cinemas
1886 Broadway between 62nd & 63rd Sts.
212-757-0359
http://lincolnplaza.moviefone.com
http://www.city-cinemas.com/angelika
Craig Zobel’s debut feature film is a smart, subtle comedy set in the somewhat shadier corners of the music industry. Desperately in need of money and jobs, soft-spoken Martin (Pat Healy) and rambunctious Clarence (Kene Holliday) become traveling salesmen for GWS, a small music company that auditions wannabes, then asks them to pay (up front) upwards of thirty percent of the costs of producing their own CD. As Martin and Clarence get better and better at their sales pitch, they become more and more suspicious of the whole endeavor as they are ordered by company founder Layton (Robert Longstreet) and his right-hand man, Shank (John Baker), to sign up the hopefuls regardless of their talent level. Using the Maysles brothers’ outstanding documentary SALESMAN (1969) as a point of departure, Zobel adds the public’s seemingly insatiable demand for reality-show stardom — all of the musical performers in the film believed they were auditioning to make records, not appearing in a fiction film, resulting in a series of wonderful unscripted scenes. (The filmmakers revealed their true intentions at the end of each audition.) Healy (UNDERTOW) and Holliday (who starred in such TV shows as MATLOCK and CARTER COUNTRY and is now an evangelical minister) make a great team, both in good times and bad, as they each attempt to better their life — much the way the wannabe musicians try to as well. GREAT WORLD OF SOUND is a terrific sleeper of a film that has been a film festival hit all over the world.
Michael Douglas and Evan Rachel Wood go on quite a quest in KING OF CALIFORNIA
Opens Friday, September 14
AMC Loews Lincoln Square 13
1998 Broadway at 68th St.
800-326-3264
Angelika Film Center
18 West Houston St. at Mercer St.
212-995-2000
http://www.city-cinemas.com/angelika
http://www.firstlookstudios.com/films/king
Sixteen-year-old Miranda (Evan Rachel Wood) is doing her best just to get by. With her mother long gone and her father (Michael Douglas) in a mental institution, she is desperately trying to save their house by dropping out of school and working extra shifts at McDonald’s. But when her father, whom she calls Charlie instead of Dad, suddenly shows up at her doorstep declaring that he has broken a code in the memoirs of a sixteenth-century Spanish explorer that will lead them to buried treasure, she has to decide whether to believe him, humor him, or have him recommitted. His Quixote-like quest takes the two of them through the mallification of America, as nearly every stop along the way includes some corporate franchise. Wood (THIRTEEN, ONCE AND AGAIN), one of Hollywood’s best young actors, is excellent as Miranda, a confused teenager forced to make some important decisions well beyond her years. Douglas, wild-eyed and bushy-faced and looking more and more like his father, Kirk, is full of surprises; the audience never knows what crazy thing he’s going to do next. Written and directed by first-time filmmaker Mike Cahill, KING OF CALIFORNIA gets past some early muddled moments in which it is too happy with its own cleverness, but the last half hour or so is gripping and exciting.
IFC Center
323 Sixth Ave. at Third St.
Opens Friday, September 14
212-924-7771
http://www.milestonefilms.com/movie.php/brother
Following the breakout success of the 2006 release of Charles Burnett’s remarkable KILLER OF SHEEP (1977), Milestone Films is now releasing a restored and digitally reedited version of Burnett’s poignant MY BROTHER’S WEDDING. Everett Silas stars as Pierce Mundy, a ne’er-do-well slacker who loafs around in his parents’ dry-cleaning store, waits for his best friend, the smooth-talking Soldier (Ronnie Bell), to get out of jail, and resents that his brother, Wendell (Dennis Kemper), has become a successful lawyer and is preparing to marry the snobby Sonia (Gaye Shannon-Burnett, the director’s real-life wife). As he did with KILLER OF SHEEP, Burnett (TO SLEEP WITH ANGER) sets the film in Watts, where poor black families struggle to make a go of it in the shadow of ritzy Los Angeles. Although Pierce never seems to make the right decision, his choices are limited, but that doesn’t stop Burnett from coming up with some very droll, funny scenes. Shot in color (KILLER OF SHEEP was made in black and white), MY BROTHER’S WEDDING is another low-budget treasure from a vital director who is vastly underrecognized.
Matt Damon is looking for answers in THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM
In theaters now
http://www.thebourneultimatum.com
Still struggling to find out who he really is — and who was behind the top-secret program that turned him into a killing machine for the government — Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) is on the run again, spurred by a reporter (Paddy Considine) who has uncovered some classified information about the operation that might just lead Bourne to the answers he’s been searching for. But Noah Vosen (David Strathairn), the head of a special government organization, is desperate to make sure Bourne doesn’t find out anything — and that he ends up dead in the process. THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM, the last of three films based on the trilogy by Robert Ludlum, actually surpasses its predecessors, THE BOURNE IDENTITY (Doug Liman, 2002) and THE BOURNE SUPREMACY (Paul Greengrass, 2004), both of which were good. Greengrass (UNITED 93) ups the action quotient with breathless chases, well-choreographed fights, and nonstop suspense, including sensational scenes set in Tangiers, Paris, and New York City. Although it helps to have seen the first two films, it is not absolutely necessary. Joan Allen and Julia Stiles are back, with new additions Albert Finney and Scott Glenn. Moby contributes the song over the closing credits.
Anthony Wong leads his gang of tough guys through murder and mayhem in Johnnie To’s EXILED
Angelika Film Center
18 West Houston St. at Mercer St.
212-995-2000
Lincoln Plaza Cinemas
1886 Broadway between 62nd & 63rd Sts.
212-757-0359
http://lincolnplaza.moviefone.com
http://www.city-cinemas.com/angelika
Hong Kong master Johnnie To (ELECTION, RUNNING OUT OF TIME) reunites many of the main actors from his 1999 crime drama, THE MISSION, for EXILED, a thinking man’s gangster thriller. Having failed to assassinate the leader of his syndicate, Wo (Nick Cheung) has been on the lam, but when he settles back in Macau with his wife (Josie Ho) and baby, he is suddenly visited by his former team, led by the always sunglassed Blaze (Anthony Wong). The syndicate leader, Boss Fay (Simon Yam), has ordered them to kill Wo for his treachery, but they are unable to pull the trigger on their friend. Instead, they hang out at his place for a while before sending him off on a suicide mission to whack Boss Keung (Lam Ka Tung), but things don’t quite go as planned, with double crosses galore, leaving everyone looking over their shoulder, not knowing from where — or from whose gun — that fatal bullet will come. To fills EXILED with fabulously tense set pieces — and some very funny bits as well — shot like a Sergio Leone Spaghetti Western as seen through the cross-hairs of Sam Peckinpah and John Woo. EXILED is one cool, calm action flick that is ready to explode at any moment — and look out when it finally does.
Franc. Reyes’s ILLEGAL TENDER is better than it has any right to be
AMC Empire 25
42nd St. between Seventh & Eighth Aves.
212-398-3939
http://www.illegaltendermovie.net
Clichéd characters, silly dialogue, predictable scenes, gaping plot holes, and ethnic stereotyping all combine to make the Latino gangster film ILLEGAL TENDER — enjoyable? You bet. Written and directed by Franc. Reyes (EMPIRE), ILLEGAL TENDER is anchored by a terrific performance from Wanda De Jesus as Millie De Leon, a single mother of two who has been on the run for more than twenty years, ever since her husband (Manny Perez) was gunned down in cold blood. Millie has tried to keep her sons from knowing about the past, but Wilson Jr. (Rick Gonzalez), now twenty-one, wants to find out the truth, thinking that nothing bad can possibly intrude on his pretty cool, supposedly safe life. But the more the 4.0 college student with a flashy car and a sweet, beautiful girlfriend (Dania Ramirez) learns, the further involved he gets in extremely dangerous territory, forcing him to reach deep inside himself to determine just how far he is willing to go to defend his family, which also includes endearingly cute younger brother Randy (Antonio Ortiz). But the revelation here is De Jesus, channeling Pam Grier. Look for Puerto Rican rap/Reggaetón star Tego Calderón, who also contributes to the soundtrack, as ’70s throwback Choco.
AMC Empire 25
42nd St. between Seventh & Eighth Aves.
212-398-3939
http://theinvasionmovie.warnerbros.com
Perhaps it’s finally time for Hollywood to put Jack Finney’s classic sci-fi novel to bed, where it can enjoy a peaceful sleep (uninterrupted by alien spores and giant pea pods). In 1956, Don Siegel’s groundbreaking INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS frightened a public already terrified of the Soviet Union. In 1978, Philip Kaufman’s interpretation was an involving reaction to the Vietnam War and Watergate. In 1993, Abel Ferrara’s BODY SNATCHERS turned the story into a militaristic nightmare. And now comes THE INVASION, which is about as cold and boring as any one of its changed characters. Set in Washington, DC, the film stars Nicole Kidman as Dr. Carol Bennell, a divorced mother who starts noticing something weird going on with her ex-husband, friends, and patients, as people no longer seem to be themselves. With the help of her best friend, Ben Driscoll (an utterly uninspiring Daniel Craig), and his colleague Stephen Galeano (a misused Jeffrey Wright), she is determined to stop the alien infestation while protecting her son, Oliver (Jackson Bond). German director Oliver Hirschbiegel (DOWNFALL), making his English-language debut, and first-time screenwriter David Kajganich comment on the Iraq war, government secrecy, Darfur, and Americans’ dependence on mood-altering prescription drugs, but the filmmakers end up all over the place, losing their focus, especially as Bennell becomes more like Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) in ALIENS (James Cameron, 1986), fighting to save a child. (Rumors of production problems and reshoots are not difficult to understand.) However, here’s our favorite touch: In the 1978 remake, Kevin McCarthy, who played Dr. Miles Bennell in the original 1956 film, has a cameo as a man stumbling through traffic, trying desperately to tell people what is happening, as if he has been running for twenty-two years; in this 2007 version, Veronica Cartwright, one of the stars of the 1978 version, plays a patient of Carol Bennell’s who is scared because her husband seems to no longer be himself.
Lincoln Plaza Cinemas
1886 Broadway between 62nd & 63rd Sts.
212-757-0359
http://lincolnplaza.moviefone.com
http://www.monmeilleurami-lefilm.com
The great and suddenly ubiquitous Daniel Autieul is a goofy delight in Patrice Leconte’s lightweight but fun MY BEST FRIEND. Auteuil stars as François, a successful antique dealer who is surprised to suddenly discover that no one likes him. His business partner, Catherine (Julie Gayet), bets him that he won’t be able to prove that he has a best friend. Given ten days, François sets out to find someone he can call his best friend, with pathetically funny results. Desperate, he hires Bruno, a gregarious cabdriver (Dany Boon, who also stars in THE VALET), to show him how to be nice to people and make friends. Leconte, the director of such acerbic comedies as THE HAIRDRESSER’S HUSBAND and RIDICULE as well as such powerful dramas as INTIMATE STRANGERS and THE WIDOW OF ST. PIERRE, aims low but hits high with this charming, if silly, little film. Add half a star if you can’t get enough of Autieul.
Landmark Sunshine Cinema
143 East Houston St. between First & Second Aves.
212-330-8182
http://www.landmarktheatres.com/Market/NewYork/NewYork_frameset.htm
http://www.lookforthenines.com
Screenwriter John August, who has cut his teeth on such Tim Burton projects as CORPSE BRIDE and BIG FISH as well as both CHARLIE’S ANGELS movies, makes his directorial debut with THE NINES, a complex, unnerving tale that starts out slow, finishes up in la-la land, but is mesmerizing in between. August has divided THE NINES into three interrelated stories, each starring three primary actors (Ryan Reynolds, Melissa McCarthy, and Hope Davis) playing characters caught up in alternate realities and various levels of fiction. In “The Prisoner,” Reynolds is a TV star under house arrest, but he’s living in the house of a director he’s never met. In “Reality Television,” Reynolds plays the director, who is putting together a series pilot while being filmed for a reality show. And in “Knowing,” Reynolds is the fictional lead, a video-game designer, in that very series pilot. Along the way, things occasionally get very confusing and way too existential, but it’s still a fun ride, delving into the nature of creation and character. And do look out for those nines.
Lincoln Plaza Cinemas
1886 Broadway between 62nd & 63rd Sts.
212-757-0359
Quad Cinema
34 West 13th St. between Fifth & Sixth Aves.
212-255-8800
http://lincolnplaza.moviefone.com
Be prepared to get very angry. First-time filmmaker Charles Ferguson looks at the past, present, and future of America’s occupation of Iraq in the mind-blowing documentary NO END IN SIGHT. Examining specific policies and their effects — permitting the looting of Baghdad, disbanding the Iraqi army, and more — Ferguson presents such experts as Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage; Ambassador Barbara Bodine; Gen. Jay Garner, administrator for the Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance; Robert Hutchings, chairman of the National Intelligence Council; Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, chief of staff to Secretary of State Colin Powell; Col. Paul Hughes, director of Strategic Policy for the U.S. Occupation; and other former and current military personnel, journalists, UN advisers, and others with direct involvement in what is happening in Iraq. Ferguson lets them speak for themselves, and their insights and experiences reveal what went wrong — and continues to go wrong — there, and the answer is not too surprising. Despite myriad warnings, the Bush administration shut its eyes and ears and proceeded with a poorly thought out plan doomed to fail, including providing a scarcity of needed resources for the troops, de-Baathifying the country, and allowing partisan groups access to munitions dumps, all of which fueled the violence and disorder that engulfs Iraq today.
Homer finally meets his match in big-screen SIMPSONS movie
In theaters now
In 1999, Comedy Central’s SOUTH PARK hit the big screen, announcing it was "Bigger Longer & Uncut." After eighteen years, perennial Fox favorite THE SIMPSONS has finally gone bigger and longer as well, although not nearly as uncut. (However, it does include the hysterical appearance of Bart’s little willie in addition to a few hints of bestiality and other family-friendly no-nos.) After Grandpa Abe has an apocalyptic vision at church, Homer adopts a pig (don’t ask) and eventually creates an environmental disaster that devastates Springfield, leading President Arnold Schwarzenegger (voiced by Harry Shearer) and EPA head Russ Cargill (Albert Brooks) to place the town in a dome, cutting it off from the rest of the world. Forced to flee in a FRANKENSTEIN-like manner, the Simpsons make a run for it, but can they leave their beloved Springfield behind? Directed by longtime SIMPSONS team member David Silverman and written by nearly a dozen regulars (including co-executive producer James L. Brooks and creator Matt Groening), the movie starts out impressively, much like the TV series did, then gets confused along the way, much like the TV series did, and then devolves into some ridiculous scenarios, much like the TV series does now. THE SIMPSONS always worked better the more realistic it was, so things do get out of hand here. Although not a blockbuster, THE SIMPSONS MOVIE is still an entertaining hour and a half that is more than just a very long episode; it has bigger ideas, a grander look, Green Day playing the theme song, and numerous self-referential jokes to ensure that you don’t feel like you’re sitting on your couch on Sunday night. Nearly all the regulars make at least a cameo appearance, and maybe, just maybe, Maggie speaks. The jokes continue through the closing credits.
Village East
181 Second Ave. at 12th St.
August 24 - September 6
212-529-6998
http://citycinemas.moviefone.com
http://www.skidrowthemovie.com
For nine days, Pras Michel of the Fugees goes undercover on brutal Skid Row, living among the homeless, who have been “contained” within a fifty-square-block area in downtown Los Angeles. Armed with nine dollars and a hidden camera and followed by a tiny film crew in a van, Pras speaks with the broken men and women who live in horrific conditions, immersed in booze, drugs, prostitution, and little hope. At first, Pras can’t believe he’ll be without his cell phone, but soon he is far more concerned with where he’s going to get his next meal, where he will sleep, and even where he will go to the bathroom. Pras and the filmmakers speak with various local workers — all formerly homeless addicts — who are devoting their lives to helping those in trouble. Although the film often loses its focus, telling too many stories at once, it is far more than some publicity stunt; SKID ROW is an honest, revealing portrait of the dire circumstances that hover just around the corner for many Americans, whether they realize it or not.
Lincoln Plaza Cinemas
1886 Broadway between 62nd & 63rd Sts.
212-757-0359
http://lincolnplaza.moviefone.com
Zhang Yang’s SUNFLOWER is a mini-epic in the style of Zhang Yimou’s TO LIVE (1994), following the trials and tribulations of one small family through four decades of change in China, from Mao Zedong to the Cultural Revolution to the end of the twentieth century, with the country poised to dominate the next one. The story of Xiangyang (Zhang Fan at nine, Gao Ge at nineteen, Wang Haidi at thirty-two) focuses on the years 1967, 1976, 1987, and 1999, as the troublesome child grows into a troubled adult, at odds with his father, Gengnian (Sun Haiying), nearly every step of the way while his mother, Xiuqing (the wonderful Joan Chen), tries desperately to keep the family together. Having spent six years in a labor camp, Gengnian wants Xiangyang to become a painter, like he could have been, but imposing his will on Xiangyang, refusing to allow him to live his own life and make his own decisions, drives his son away, leading to volatile, powerful scenes. Although set amid forty years of social transformation in mainland China, SUNFLOWER is, at its heart, a compelling family drama — it is Zhang’s third consecutive film to feature a complex father-son dynamic, after SHOWER (1999) and QUITTING (2001); perhaps not coincidentally, Zhang’s own father, Huaxun, is a filmmaker as well, having made his mark in Hong Kong martial arts movies in the 1970s.
IFC Center
323 Sixth Ave. at Third St.
212-924-7771
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.
Delpy and Goldberg play lovers having a rough two days in Paris
Angelika Film Center
18 West Houston St. at Mercer St.
212-995-2000
Lincoln Plaza Cinemas
1886 Broadway between 62nd & 63rd Sts.
212-757-0359
http://lincolnplaza.moviefone.com
http://www.city-cinemas.com/angelika
http://www.2daysinparisthefilm.com
Julie Delpy’s delightful debut, 2 DAYS IN PARIS, is a true DIY indie, with Delpy serving as writer, director, editor, star, composer, soundtrack performer, and one of the producers. Delpy plays Marion, a flitty Frenchwoman who decides to bring her boyfriend of two years, Jack (a heavily tattooed Adam Goldberg), to spend two days with in her hometown in Paris as a stopover on their way from Venice to their apartment in New York City. But spending forty-eight hours with Marion’s family (Delpy’s real-life parents, Albert Delpy and Marie Pillet, and sister, Alexia Landeau) and bumping into a seemingly endless stream of Marion’s former boyfriends while not understanding a word anyone is saying might be a bit much for Jack, an interior designer whose own insides are rife with stomach problems and migraines. 2 DAYS IN PARIS is Delpy’s ANNIE HALL (Woody Allen, 1977), an engaging film filled with slapstick humor, inventive characters, and underlying truths about love and life.
twi-ny/mdr
Ethan Nichtern signs copies of ONE CITY at BEA in May
Rubin Museum of Art K2 Lounge
Friday, September 14, 7:30
OM Yoga Center, 826 Broadway, sixth floor
Saturday, September 15
Admission: free
http://www.rmanyc.org/programs/calendar
Meditation teacher Ethan Nichtern, founder of the Interdependence Project, will be reading from and discussing his book, ONE CITY: A DECLARATION OF INTERDEPENDENCE (Wisdom Publications), at two locations this weekend, first at the Rubin as part of the free K2 Lounge party, then at OM Yoga. In ONE CITY, Nichtern — an FOT (friend of twi-ny) — sees everyday life as the real internet, where all things are connected, both physically and mentally. Some of the molecules in a breath exhaled in New York City might end up being inhaled on the other side of the world, directly linking two strangers. He talks about such complex concepts as egolessness, interdependence, enlightenment, and spirituality, often working in Buddhist philosophy, but he writes in a breezy, entertaining style that doesn’t go over the reader’s head. Whether you’re an expert meditator or a novice — or, like us, you have no desire to ever cross your legs, free your mind, and chant — ONE CITY is a fun and fascinating look at who we are, who we can be, and how every individual can make a difference.
PB&J are up against the wall as they come to metropolitan area
Maxwell’s, 1039 Washington St., Hoboken
Wednesday, September 5, $20, 9:00
201-653-1703
http://www.myspace.com/peterbjornandjohn
Roseland Ballroom
239 West 52nd St. 239 West 52nd St. between Broadway & Eighth Ave.
Thursday, September 6, with the Clientele, $26.50, 6:45
212-840-0770 ext268
http://www.roselandballroom.com
http://www.peterbjornandjohn.com
Recently nominated by MTV as best new artist, PB&J will be playing Maxwell’s and Roseland, featuring songs from their albums WRITER’S BLOCK, FALLING OUT, and S/T. Hailing from Sweden, Peter Morén, Bjorn Yttling, and John Eriksson are a fun, lighthearted trio who seem to always be having a good time, even when singing about heartbreak. It’s hard to resist the infectious jaunt of "Young Folks" (featuring vocals from Victoria Bergsman of the Concretes), the playful pop of "Let’s Call It Off," or the more complex delights of "Objects of My Affection" and "Up Against the Wall." We dare you not to be whistling the rest of the night after seeing either of these two shows.
Friday, September 14, the Stone, Ave C & Second St., $10
Saturday, September 15, 55 Bar, 55 Christopher St.,
Sunday, September 16, Stuyvesant Cove Park, free
Kate McGarry grew up in Hyannisport, Massachusetts, where she and her siblings would put on shows for their parents. Mixing her Irish Catholic routes with jazz and her love of performing, she’s spent much of the last ten years honing her craft, playing with such musicians as Fred Hersch, Bobby McFerrin, and Clark Terry and releasing such well-received albums as SHOW ME (2001) and MERCY STREETS (2005). Her latest album, THE TARGET (Palmetto, April 2007), features a wide range of material, from songs by Sting, Lerner and Lowe, Bobby Troup, and Rodgers and Hammerstein to originals by McGarry and her husband, guitarist Keith Ganz, to an instrumental by Miles Davis to which McGarry has added poetic lyrics. On such tunes as "The Target (Miracles Like These)," "She Always Will," and "It Might as Well Be Spring," McGarry’s voice is as light and airy as spring itself, backed by Gary Versace on organ, Reuben Rogers on bass, Greg Hutchinson on drums, and Ganz on guitar, with Donny McCaslin adding occasional tenor sax. She’ll be in New York for a weekend of different shows, beginning on September 14 at the Stone and September 15 at 55 Bar with Ganz and percussionist Clarence Penn, while on September 16 she and Ganz will be playing a free show in Stuyvesant Cove Park. In addition, McGarry will also begin teaching jazz this semester at the Manhattan School of Music.
twi-ny/mdr
human kinetics movement arts weave their way through unique space on Nassau St.
145 Nassau St. between Spruce & Beekman Sts.
Dance performances and films Saturdays at 6:00
Installation viewing: Thursdays and Saturdays 12 noon - 7:00, Fridays 6:00 - 8:00 pm
Admission: free
http://www.epdvs.com/choreographingspace
On Saturday, September 8, as part of the Choreographing Space series, human kinetics performed a mesmerizing dance in the transformed storefront at 145 Nassau St., designed by e+i architecture. Amid taut wires strung with white plastic balls, Veruska Cantelli, Eva Perrotta, and artistic director Yana Schnitzler moved hauntingly through the small, cramped room, in and around a rapt crowd sitting on the floor, lining the doorway, and watching through the window from the street. In total silence, the three dancers started in different locations, making their way almost agonizingly slowly toward the center, each ever-so-slight movement of a finger, a head, a toe, or a hand reaching seemingly through the clouds a carefully measured choice. The three eventually came together for a few brief moments in the middle before heading outside one at a time, continuing their exquisite moves on the street before finishing up in the Blimpie’s next door, where they at last took a bow. It was an extraordinary performance, beautifully nuanced, much of it improvised as they interacted with the movable wires and balls.
Saturday, September 15 A site specific installation exploring the intersection of architecture, dance, and moving image, with Esther Eiras, Saskia Hannemann, Eva Perrotta, Kristina Skjelberg, Kristina Skovby, and Maia Sørenson, with the short film DAY DREAM by Pascale Servoz-Gavin, 6:00
Highline Ballroom
431 West 16th St. between Ninth & Tenth Aves.
Sunday, September 16
Tickets: $12-$15
212-414-5994
http://www.highlineballroom.com
http://www.myspace.com/chthonictw
Taiwanese heavy metal band Chthonic are having one heckuva time on their current international tour. The airline in Frankfurt screwed up, so their instruments never made it to a gig in Hamburg and they had to use borrowed instruments. Their RV broke down on the way to Boston, but instead of canceling any shows, they continued on in a van lent to them by "Taiwanese Madams" (according to their online diary). Their driver was robbed at knifepoint in Philly. They had to stop a show in Cleveland because of severe monitor problems. And in Indiana, they were bombarded with Ghost Money, celebrating one of their biggest hits. So who knows what might happen when they come to the Highline Ballroom, ready to take on New York City.
twi-ny/mdr
Olabelle is one of nine groups playing free festival downtown
7 World Trade Center plaza
Greenwich & Barley Sts.
Admission: free
It’s first come, first served at this trio of hot, free shows downtown. We’ve previously described the Hold Steady as America’s best rock-and-roll band, so you can check them out on September 17. M. Ward headlines the second night, followed by the exciting threesome of Nick Lowe, the Holmes Brothers, and Ollabelle on September 19.
Monday, September 17 The Hold Steady, Old 97’s, Illinois, 5:30
Tuesday, September 18 M. Ward, Victoria Williams, McCarthy Trenching, 5:30
Wednesday, September 19 Nick Lowe, Holmes Brothers, Ollabelle, 5:30
twi-ny/ees
Black Lips will get fists pumping again with new album
Bowery Ballroom, September 18, 8:00
Music Hall of Williamsburg, September 19, 8:00
http://www.myspace.com/blacklips
One of our favorite live bands, Atlanta’s Black Lips, will be celebrating the release of their latest album, GOOD BAD NOT EVIL, with two shows in New York City, with the Selmanaires at Bowery Ballroom on September 18 and with the Selmanaires and the Imaginary Icons at the Music Hall of Williamsburg on September 19. They are an outrageous live band, sweating, spitting, breaking things, tongue kissing each other, and just having a monster good time. You will too.
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New World Stages, 340 West 50th St. between Eighth & Ninth Aves.
Comix, 353 West 14th St. between Eighth & Ninth Aves.
Tickets: $85-$350
718-350-8519
http://www.newyorktelevisionfestival.com
Wednesday, September 5
through
Sunday, September 9 Television professionals, wannabes, and fans will converge on New World Stages and Comix for panel discussions, sketch comedy, and screenings of upcoming television series, unsigned pilots, and more
Barnes & Noble Park Slope
267 Seventh Ave.
Admission: free
18-832-9066
http://storelocator.barnesandnoble.com
Wednesday, September 5 Dave Praeger, POOP CULTURE, 7:30
Hudson Guild Theater
441 West 26th St. between Ninth & Tenth Aves.
Tickets: $16-$20
http://www.americandanceguild.org
Wednesday, September 5
through
Saturday, September 8 Nearly three dozen dance companies from the United States, Canada, and France will be performing, including Mary Ford’s version of Mary Anthony’s 1948 LADY MACBETH
Pratt Manhattan Gallery
144 West 14th St.
Admission: free
RSVP: 718-636-3635 or alumni@pratt.edu
http://www.pratt.edu/exhibitions
Thursday, September 6 Fay Ku, Rossana Martinez, Jean Shin, and Swoon discuss the exhibit "Four Artists: Work by Recent Pratt Alumni," 6:00
Museum of Modern Art Titus 1 Theater
11 West 53rd St. between Fifth & Sixth Aves.
Tickets: $10
212-708-9781
Thursday, September 6 A Conversations Between Lynne Cooke and Richard Serra, Titus 1, followed by a book signing, 6:00
Elebash Recital Hall, CUNY Graduate Center
CUNY Graduate Center
365 Fifth Ave. at 34th St.
Tickets: $35-$50
202-633-7959
Friday, September 7 Featuring opening remarks by John W. Smith, keynote address by Wanda M. Korn, and such speakers as Karen Zubowski, "Shocking Scenes of Dissipation:" Artists' Studios and Cultural Backlash in the Gilded Age"; Brian E. Hack, "Genius Imperiled: George Grey Barnard and the Billings Studio Eviction Controversy of 1930"; Helen A. Harrison, "Moving In/Moving On: Lee Krasner’s Work in Jackson Pollock’s Studios"; Stephanie L. Taylor, "Joseph Cornell’s Home/Studio: Utopia Parkway as a Space of Creation and Performance"; Joshua A. Shannon, "Wall Street as Studio: Robert Rauschenberg"; Gwendolyn Owens, "Documenting Matta-Clark’s ‘Studio’"; Joe Fig, "The Studio in Miniature"; and Tom Burckhardt. "Full Stop," 9:00 am — 5:00 pm
Friday, September 7 All symposium participants are invited to reception and special viewing of "Artists in their Studios: Images from the Smithsonian's Archives of American Art," Forbes Galleries, 60 Fifth Ave. at 12th St., 6:00
Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum
2 East 92nd St. at Fifth Ave.
Friday nights through September 7 from 6:00 to 9:00
Free with museum admission of $12
212-849-8380
Friday, September 7 Nicky Siano
Zebulon
258 Wythe Ave.
Admission: free
718-218-6934
http://www.zebuloncafeconcert.com
Friday, September 7 Blaval Balkan Music, 9:00, followed by Hungry March Band, 10:00
Historic Richmond Town
441 Clarke Avenue at Arthur Kill Road, Staten Island
S74 bus from Staten Island Ferry
One-price admission: $15, children five and under free
718-351-1611
http://www.historicrichmondtown.org
Friday, September 7
through
Sunday, September 9 Twenty-eighth annual county fair featuring baking contests, arts & crafts, exhibits, diaper derby, shopping cart scurry, rides, eating contests, live performances by Kimberly Caldwell and Paris Bennett, Uniqua and Tyrone, Grand Marshal Daniel Rodriguez, and more, 11:00 am — 7:00 pm
Cove between Brooklyn Bridge Park and Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park
1 Main St. at Water St.
Admission: free
718-802-0603
http://www.brooklynbridgepark.org
http://www.silverbrowndance.org
Friday, September 7
through
Tuesday, September 11 Silver-Brown Dance Company presents its fourth annual memorial dance, beginning between 5:00 & 8:00 depending on the day
Film Forum
209 West Houston St. between Sixth & Seventh Aves.
September 7-18
212-727-8110
http://www.filmforum.org/films
Friday, September 7
and
Saturday, September 8 LOVE ME TONIGHT (Rouben Mamoulian, 1932), 1:00, 4:40, 8:20, and DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE (Rouben Mamoulian, 1932), 2:50, 6:30, 10:10
Sunday, September 9 BLOOD AND SAND (Rouben Mamoulian, 1941), 3:20, 7:30, and MARK OF ZORRO (Rouben Mamoulian, 1940), 1:30, 5:40, 9:50
Monday, September 10 THE MARK OF ZORRO (Rouben Mamoulian, 1940), 1:30, 5:40, and BLOOD AND SAND (Rouben Mamoulian, 1941), 3:20
Tuesday, September 11 APPLAUSE (Rouben Mamoulian, 1929), 2:35, 7:00, CITY STREETS (Rouben Mamoulian, 1931), 1:00, 5:25, 9:50, and ROUBEN MAMOULIAN: THE GOLDEN AGE OF BROADWAY AND HOLLYWOOD (2006), 4:10, 8:35
Wednesday, September 12 GOLDEN BOY (Rouben Mamoulian, 1939), 1:00, 4:35, 8:10, and RINGS ON HER FINGERS (Rouben Mamoulian, 1942), 2:55, 6:30, 10:05
Thursday, September 13 HIGH, WIDE, AND HANDSOME (Rouben Mamoulian, 1937), 2:40, 6:25, 10:10, and THE GAY DESPERADO (Rouben Mamoulian, 1936), 1:00, 4:45, 8:30
Friday, September 14
and
Saturday, September 15 QUEEN CHRISTINA (Rouben Mamoulian, 1933), 2:45, 6:25, 10:05, and THE SONG OF SONGS (Rouben Mamoulian, 1933), 1:00, 4:40, 8:20
Sunday, September 16 SILK STOCKINGS (Rouben Mamoulian, 1957), 3:30, 7:35, and SUMMER HOLIDAY (Rouben Mamoulian, 1948), 1:40, 5:45, 9:50
Monday, September 17 WE LIVE AGAIN (Rouben Mamoulian, 1934), 1:00, 5:25, 9:50, ROUBEN MAMOULIAN: THE GOLDEN AGE OF BROADWAY AND HOLLYWOOD (2006), 2:35, and BECKY SHARP (Rouben Mamoulian, 1935), 3:50, 8:15
Tuesday, September 18 WE LIVE AGAIN (Rouben Mamoulian, 1934), 1:00, 5:25, ROUBEN MAMOULIAN: THE GOLDEN AGE OF BROADWAY AND HOLLYWOOD (2006), 2:35, and BECKY SHARP (Rouben Mamoulian, 1935), 3:50
All events approximately 11:00 am - 6:00 pm unless otherwise noted
Admission: free
http://nycstreetfairs.com/sched.html
Friday, September 7 United Nations Festival: 47th St. between First & Second Aves.
Saturday, September 8 Big Apple Performing Arts Festival: Seventh Ave. between 47th & 57th Sts.
Sunday, September 9 Midtown Fall Festival: 52nd St. between Lexington & Seventh Aves.
Saturday, September 15 The Great Irish Festival: Sixth Ave. between 42nd & 56th Sts.
Sunday, September 16 Thirty-eighth Annual African American Day Parade, 111th St. to 142nd St. on Adam Clayton Powell Blvd., 2:00
Civic Center/Borough Hall area of Downtown Brooklyn
Corner of Flatbush & Myrtle Aves.
Fridays at 12 noon
Admission: free
718-403-1630
Friday, September 7 Ginetta’s Vendetta
Friday, September 14 Dominic Kanza and the African Rhythm Machine
Sideshows by the Seashore
Surf Ave. & West 12th St.
Coney Island, Brooklyn
Friday night burlesque & vaudeville shows at 10:00, followed by fireworks
Thursday night Bawdville at the Beach shows at 10:00
Through September 21
Admission: $10 at the door
http://www.coneyislandusa.com/burlesque
Friday, September 7 Pinchbottom Burlesque
Friday, September 14 The Miss Coney Island Burlesque Beauty Pageant
Madison Ave. between 57th & 86th Sts.
Tickets: $50 per family
917-601-0068
http://www.cookieassortment.com
http://www.theartofelysium.org
Saturday, September 8 Third annual shopping and charity event, with check-in and gift bags at DKNY and Catimini from 9:00 to 11:00 am, face painting, live music, magicians, storytelling, special shopping offers, giveaways, and more, benefiting the Art of Elysium; participating retailers include Bulgari, Carmen’s Exclusives for Children, Cartier, Cozy’s Cuts for Kids, Gucci, Jimmy Choo, Juicy Couture, and many more
Joe’s Pub
425 Lafayette St. between East Fourth St. & Astor Pl.
Tickets: $12-$15
212-967-7555
Saturday, September 8 Family concert series with husband-and-wife team Bakithi Kumalo and Robbi K. and the Putumayo Kids, 12 noon
East River Amphitheater
FDR Dr. at Cherry St.
Admission: free
Saturday, September 8 Made out of Babies, Dalek, Clockcleaner, Despot, These Are Powers, 1:00
West Broadway from Houston to Grand Sts.
Admission: free
212-343-7300
Saturday, September 8 Third annual parade, featuring artists, performers, designers, and more, including Tauba Auerbach, Assume Vivid Astro Focus, Matthew Rodriguez, the Dazzle Dancers, Kenny Scharf, COCO’s Demoiselles, Trevor Stone and the Conundrums, sponsored by Deitch Projects, Creative Time, and Paper magazine, 4:00
Solar One at Stuyvesant Cove Park
2420 FDR Dr. at 22nd St. and Ave. C
Admission: free
212-505-6050
Saturday, September 8 South Asian classical and folk performing arts, with live music and dance, a marketplace, South Asian cuisine, vendors, and more, 5:00 — 11:00 pm
Coney Island Museum
1208 Surf Ave. between Stillwell Ave. and West 12th St.
Saturday nights at 8:30 through September 8
Tickets $5, including free popcorn
718-372-5159
http://www.coneyisland.com/films
Saturday, September 8 THE TERROR OF TINY TOWN (Sam Newfield, 1938), preceded by LOST WEEKENDERS (Lux Killmore)
St. John’s University, Staten Island campus, student center gym
300 Howard Ave.
Admission: free
718-990-1941
Saturday, September 8
through
Monday, September 10 Final viewing of memorial quilt, 9/8-9 11:00 am — 6:00 pm, 9/10 9:00 am - 12 noon
Multiple venues
Through September 16
Admission: free
212-254-1109
http://www.theaterforthenewcity.net
The Theater for the New City’s Street Theater Company presents a new musical, with book, lyrics, and direction by Crystal Field and music by Joseph Vernon Banks.
Saturday, September 8 Wise Towers at West 90th St between Columbus & Amsterdam Aves., 2:00
Sunday, September 9 Washington Square Park, 2:00
Saturday, September 15 Sobel Court & Bowen St., 2:00
Sunday, September 16 St. Marks Church, East Tenth St. at Second Ave., 2:00
Select weekend days in each borough, 8:00 am — 2:00 pm
Admission: free
The city will be collecting unwanted electronics (computers, laptops, monitors, desktop printers and scanners, keyboards and mice, TVs, VCRs, DVD players, and cell phones only) and gently used clothing and linens (pants, dresses, shirts, sweaters, shoes, handbags, belts, blankets, towels, sheets, curtains, and tablecloths), sponsored by the NYC Department of Sanitation Bureau of Waste Prevention, Reuse, and Recycling. Clothing and linen should be placed in securely tied plastic bags; tax-deductible receipts for clothing and linen donations are available on request. Donations of electronics are limited to five per New York City resident; no businesses can participate.
Saturday, September 8 Staten Island Mall, 2655 Richmond Ave., Parking Lot F
Sunday, September 9 Union Square, North Plaza, southeast corner of 17th St. & Broadway
Sunday, September 16 Lehman College, Goulden Ave. south of Beford Park West, North Lot
Saturday, September 29 St. John’s University, Utopia Pkwy and Union Tpke, Alumni Hall Parking Lot
Sunday, September 30 KeySpan Park, Surf Ave. & 19th St., Coney Island
Riverside Park at 72nd St.
Admission: free
212-608-0555
Sunday, September 9 Featuring Dan Zanes & Friends at 12:30, Chana Rothman at 2:00, New Orleans Klezmer Allstars at 3:30, Pharaoh’s Daughter at 5:00, SolomonPalooza with Hamakor, Soulfarm, and Moshav Band at 6:30, with DJ Balagan, information booths, food, kosher wine, and more, 12 noon — 9:00 pm
The Noguchi Museum
9-01 33rd Rd. at Vernon Blvd.
Free with museum admission of $10
Reservations required: 718-204-7088 ext209, ddivincenzo@noguchi.org
Sunday, September 9 Poetry in the Presence of Sculpture, with Queens Poet Laureates Julio Marzan and Hal Sirowitz, followed by a Q & A with the authors, 3:00
Staten Island Botanical Garden
1000 Richmond Terr.
Admission: $8
718-273-8200
Sunday, September 9 Annual traditional Chinese festival, 5:00 — 8:00
Spiegelworld
Fulton Fish Market, Pier 17, South Street Seaport
212-279-4200
Sunday, September 9 Paul Capsis: Capsis Through the Red Door, $20, 5:30
Tuesday, September 11 Penny Arcade’s "Bitch! Dyke! Faghag! Whore!," $35, 10:00
Sunday, September 16 Paul Capsis: Capsis Through the Red Door, $20, 5:30
Tuesday, September 18 Weimar NY: The Spiegel Sessions, $35, 10:00
Charles A. Dana Discovery Center
Inside Central Park at 110th St. & Lenox Ave.
Through September 30
Sundays at 4:00
Admission: free
212-860-1370
Sunday, September 9 I.S. 143 Performance Ensemble
Sunday, September 16 Conservatory Garden Anniversary Celebration
MoMA Film
Roy and Niuta Titus Theaters
11 West 53rd St. between Fifth & Sixth Aves.
September 9-30
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
Sunday, September 9 LOST IN TRANSLATION (Sofia Coppola, 2003), 2:00
Sunday, September 9 JOHANNA d’ARC OF MONGOLIA (Ulrike Ottinger, 1989), 2:00
Monday, September 10 THE WIND (Victor Sjöström, 1928), 6:00
Monday, September 10 MANHATTAN (Woody Allen, 1979), preceded by ONE CHASE MANHATTAN PLAZA (Morris Engel, 1961), 8:00
Wednesday, September 12 FARGO (Joel Coen, 1996), 6:00
Wednesday, September 12 A ROOM WITH A VIEW (James Ivory, 1986), 8:15
Thursday, September 13 BENT KELTOUM (DAUGHTER OF KELTOUM) (Mehdi Charef, 2001), 6:00
Thursday, September 13 THE GRAPES OF WRATH (John Ford, 1940), 8:30
Friday, September 14 MEAN STREETS (Martin Scorsese, 1973), 6:00
Friday, September 14 A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH (STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN) (Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger, 1946), 8:30
Saturday, September 15 UNFORGIVEN (Clint Eastwood, 1992), 2:00
Saturday, September 15 LORD OF THE FLIES (Peter Brook, 1963), 5:00
Saturday, September 15 IL DESERTO ROSSO (THE RED DESERT) (Michelangelo Antonioni, 1964), 7:00
Sunday, September 16 THE RIVER (Jean Renoir, 1951), 2:00
Sunday, September 16 MANHATTAN (Woody Allen, 1979), preceded by ONE CHASE MANHATTAN PLAZA (Morris Engel, 1961), 4:30
Monday, September 17 IL DESERTO ROSSO (THE RED DESERT) (Michelangelo Antonioni, 1964), 6:00
Monday, September 17 LOST IN TRANSLATION (Sofia Coppola, 2003), 8:30
Wednesday, September 19 UNFORGIVEN (Clint Eastwood, 1992), 6:00
Wednesday, September 19 THE WIND (Victor Sjöström, 1928), 8:30
Trinity Church, Broadway at Wall St.
St. Paul’s Chapel, Broadway at Fulton St.
Admission: free
http://www.trinitywallstreet.org/calendar
Tuesday, September 11 Tolling of the Change-Ringing Bells, 8:45
Tuesday, September 11 Ringing of the Bell of Hope, 8:45
Tuesday, September 11 Down Town Glee Club, 10:00 am
Tuesday, September 11 Open Music Ensemble, 1:30 — 3:30
Multiple venues
Admission: free
http://www.septemberconcert.org
Tuesday, September 11 Free concerts throughout New York City, including office buildings, parks, squares, plazas, subway stations, temples, churches, theaters, colleges and high schools, music venues, hospitals, and more
Symphony Space, Peter Jay Sharp Theatre
2537 Broadway at 95th St.
Tickets: $35-$125
212-864-5400
http://www.musicians4harmony.org
Tuesday, September 11 Musicians for Harmony’s sixth annual concert, with Claude Frank, Guarneri Quartet members Arnold Steinhardt, Michael Tree, and Peter Wiley, the Shanghai Quartet, pipa player Wu Man, violinist Colin Jacobsen, cellist Eric Jacobsen; kora player Yacouba Sissoko, and Musique Sans Frontieres, 7:30
Tribeca Cinemas
Creative Time
54 Varick St.
Admission: free, but seating is limited: events@creativetime.org
Tuesday, September 11 Screening of Mel Chin’s animated film of tragic 9/11 events in Chile and New York, 8:00, followed by a Q&A and reception at 9:00
The Knitting Factory
74 Leonard St. between Broadway & Church St.
Admission: $10-$12
212-219-3006
http://www.knittingfactory.com
Tuesday, September 11 Sixth annual September 11th Musical Memorial by Tim Tuttle, with Jeremy Slansky, Rich Lamb, Donna Kelly, Owen Yost, Jonathan Fritz, and Claudia Chopek, benefiting the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund, 7:30
Blue Note
131 West Third St.
Tickets: $35 table, $20 bar
212-475-8592
Tuesday, September 11
through
Sunday, September 16 The Ron Carter Trio (Ron Carter, Mulgrew Miller, and Russell Malone) and a Christian McBrice Situation (Christian McBride, George Colligan, and Billy Hart), 8:00 & 10:30
The Joyce Theater
175 Eighth Ave. at 19th St.
Tickets: $44 (Sunday night $25)
212-242-8088
Tuesday, September 11
through
Sunday, September 23 The Martha Graham Dance Company will be performing three different programs and other special events at the Joyce, including such works as "Diversion of Angels," "Night Journey," "Cave of the Heart," "Acts of Light," "Appalachian Spring," "Sketches from Chronicle," "Lamentation Variations," "Embattled Garden," and "From the Horse’s Mouth," a look back at the history of the company
CinémaTuesdays
French Institute Alliance Française
Florence Gould Hall, 55 East 59th St. between Park & Madison Aves.
September 11-25
Tickets: $10
212-355-6160
Tuesday, September 11 WHEN THE SEA RISES (QUAND LA MER MONTE) (Yolande Moreau & Gilles Porte, 2005), preceded by HYACINTH (Joann Sfar & Kerascoet, 2005), 12:30, 4:00, 7:30
Tuesday, September 18 COLD SHOWERS (DOUCHES FROIDES) (Antony Cordier, 2005), preceded by RACHEL (Frédéric Mermoud, 2006), 12:30, 4:00, 7:30
Tuesday, September 25 HALF-PRICE (DEMI-TARIF) (Isild Le Besco, 2003), preceded by SNOWING IN MARAKECH (IL NEIGE A MARRAKECH) (Hicham Alhayat, 2006), 12:30, 4:00
BAMcinematek
BAM Rose Cinemas
30 Lafayette Ave. between Ashland Pl. & St. Felix St.
Tickets: $11
718-636-4100
Wednesday, September 12
through
Wednesday, September 19 W.R.: MYSTERIES OF THE ORGANISM (Dukan Makavejev, 1971), new print
Japan Society
333 E. 47th St. at First Ave.
Tickets: $38
212-715-1258
Wednesday, September 12
through
Saturday, September 22 The Japan Society’s 2004 commission returns for another run, staged by puppeteer Basil Twist, with live music by Yumiko Tanaka
Mulberry St. between Canal & Houston Sts. and Hester & Grand Sts. between Mott & Centre Sts.
September 13-23, 11:00 am - 11:30 pm
Admission: free
212-768-9320
Expect huge crowds that will slow you down and drive you crazy, and try not to be lured in by the barkers looking to empty your wallet in impossible-to-win games. In addition to more than three hundred vendors for this eightieth annual event, there will be live music, a cannoli-eating contest, and religious processions from the Most Precious Blood Church on Mulberry. San Gennaro (Saint Januarius) himself was an Italian bishop who was martyred in 305 under the rule of Roman emperor Diocletian. Januarius is buried in Naples; he is associated with the gooey red liquid because the blood from his severed head was stored in a vial and is believed to liquefy and bubble at certain times of the year. In addition to the below special events, there will be free live entertainment nightly from 7:30 to 11:00 at the Feast Stage at Grand & Baxter Sts.
Thursday, September 13 The Blessing of the Stands, 6:00 — 8:00 pm
Friday, September 14 Sixth Annual Cannoli Eating Contest, Feast Stage, 2:00 pm
Saturday, September 15 Grand Procession, featuring annual parade with floats, marching bands, statue of San Gennaro, and Grand Marshal Tony LoBianco, 2:00
Wednesday, September 19 Religious Procession, 7:00 pm
South Street Seaport
Piers 16-17, Fulton & South Sts.
Tickets: $45-$55
631-957-7035
Friday, September 14 Second annual event celebrating craft beer, featuring more than three hundred beers from fifty-eight breweries, food from Spanky’s BBQ, and live music by the Bag Pipe Dudes, Bernie Clarke and the Rhythm Sharks, Shelley King, the Blue Method, and the Josh Dion Band, 5:00 — 10:00
American Museum of Natural History
Rose Center for Earth and Space
Cullman Hall of the Universe
Central Park West & 81st St. entrance
Tickets: $20 (includes future admission to museum)
Friday, September 14 DJs, VJs, and live music from Bonde do Role, King Britt, and Plastic Little, with free screenings of PASSPORT TO THE UNIVERSE, 9:00 pm — 1:00 am
St. Ann’s Warehouse
38 Water St.
Tickets: $35
718-254-8779
http://www.stannswarehouse.org
Friday, September 14
through
Sunday, September 16 American premiere of collaboration between Catalan painter Miguel Barceló and French choreographer/dancer Josef Nadj, with live soundscape by Alain Mahé
Museum of the City of New York
1220 Fifth Avenue at 103rd St.
Free with museum admission of $9
212-534-1672 ext3395
Saturday, September 15 Ms. Ghanniyya Greene and her ensemble, Ladies Singing the Blues, 3:00
Madison Square Park
Southwest corner, 23rd St., Broadway, & Fifth Ave.
Admission: free
212-538-9310
http://www.madisonsquarepark.org
Saturday, September 15 Twilight Hotel, Antje Duvekot, 4:00
Randalls Island
Tickets: $40-$125
Saturday, September 15 Celebration of Latino culture, featuring live performances by Gilberto Santa Rosa and El Gran Combo, Sergio Vargas, Fernando Villalona, Tono Rosario, Los Hermanos Rosario, Ivy Queen, Rakim y Ken-Y, Nina Sky, Xtreme, and others, playing salsa, meringue, bachata, reggaeton, and Spanish pop, with interactive zones including sports, food, fashion, auto, and DJ/dance, 12 noon — 10:00 pm
Fort Washington Park
178th St. & Hudson River
Admission: free
212-360-8737
http://www.lighthousemuseum.org
Saturday, September 15 Fifteenth annual festival, featuring celebrity readings, live music, children’s activities, hayrides, lighthouse tours, and more, 12 noon — 5:00 pm
Galapagos Art Space
70 North Sixth St. between Wythe and Kent
Admission: $8
718-384-4586
http://www.galapagosartspace.com
Saturday, September 15 Afuche, 8:30; Lowry, 9:30; Kinetic, 10:30; the Black Hollies, 11:30, front room
Saturday, September 15 Federale, 10:00; NY Howl, 11:00; the Dead Betties, 12 midnight, back room
Lexington Ave. between 79th & 94th Sts.
Admission: free
Sunday, September 16 Thirteenth annual street festival featuring live music and dance, children’s activities, storytelling, raffles, International Way food booths, fitness demonstrations, health screenings, sample spa treatments, and more, 11:00 am — 5:30 pm
Orchard St. between Broome & Grand Sts.
Admission: free
212-226-9010
http://www.lowereastsideny.com
Sunday, September 16 Seventh annual event, featuring culinary and canning tips, special exhibitions, live music, and lots of free samples, 11:00 am — 4:30 pm
Times Square
Admission: free
http://www.broadwayonbroadway.com
Sunday, September 16 Sixteenth annual free outdoor contest featuring scenes from many Broadway productions, 11:30 am
Riverside Park
116th St. Overlook, lower level
Admission: free
212-870-3070
http://www.riversideparkfund.org
Sunday, September 16 Manhattan School of Music’s Brass Quintet, 2:00
Museum of the Moving Image
35th Ave. at 36th St., Astoria
Tickets: $10 (includes museum admission)
718-784-4520
http://movingimage.us/site/screenings
Sunday, September 16 DYNAMITE WARRIOR (Chalerm Wongpim, 2006), 2:00
Metropolitan Opera House
Admission: free tickets available at box office at 12 noon day of event
Sunday, September 16 Tribute to the late Beverly Sills, featuring speakers Plácido Domingo, Henry Kissinger, Michael Bloomberg, Carol Burnett, Julius Rudel, and Barbara Walters and performances by James Levine, Craig Rutenberg, Anna Netrebko, Natalie Dessay, and Nathan Gunn, 5:00
Multiple venues
Sunday, September 16
through
Sunday, September 23 Eight days of mostly free jazz in Williamsburg, at multiple venues to be announced
Barbès
376 Ninth St. at Sixth Ave.
Park Slope, Brooklyn
(Very strongly) suggested donation: $10
718-965-9177
http://www.barbesbrooklyn.com/calendar
http://www.brooklynindependent.com
Monday, September 17 HEAVY METAL JR. (Chris Waitt, 2005), and SILVER JEW (Michael Tully, 2007), followed by a Q&A with Michael Tully, 7:00
92nd St. Y
1395 Lexington Ave. at 92nd St.
Tickets: $18
212-415-5500
http://www.92ndsty.org/calendar
Monday, September 17 Derek Walcott, introduced by Glyn Maxwell, 8:00
Langston Hughes Community Library Auditorium
100-01 Northern Blvd., Corona, Queens
718-997-3670
Tuesday, September 18 Viewing of "Breaking Barriers: Louis Armstrong and Civil Rights," Louis Armstrong House and Museum, 34-56 107th St., with free shuttle bus to Langston Hughes Community Library Auditorium, $8, 5:00 — 6:30
Tuesday, September 18 A Reporter’s Story, Fifty Years Later, featuring Larry Lubenow interviewed by David Margolick, followed by a reception, free, 7:00
South Street Seaport Museum
12 Fulton St.
Tickets: $35-$50
212-748-8786
http://www.southstreetseaportmuseum.org
Tuesday, September 18 Fundraiser beginning with guided tour of the exhibit "Fighting Irishmen Celebrating Celtic Prizefighters 1820-Present," 6:00, followed by a panel discussion at the Down Town Association at 60 Pine St. with Tony LoBianco, "Irish" Micky Ward, Maureen Shea, Lou DeBella, and Budd Schulberg (no jeans or sneakers), 7:30
McNally Robinson
52 Prince St. between Lafayette & Mulberry Sts.
Admission: free
212-274-1160
http://www.mcnallyrobinsonnyc.com
Tuesday, September 18 Ronna Wineberg reads from SECOND LANGUAGE, and Frances Madeson reads from COOPERATIVE VILLAGE, 7:00
Europa
98-104 Meserole Ave. at Manhattan Ave.
Admission: $12
718-383-5723
Tuesday, September 18 Sham 69, Reagan Youth, L.E.S. Stitches, the Krays, the Black Tie Party, 7:30
Washington Square Park Tent
Fifth Ave. & Washington Square North
Tickets: $40
212-777-2173
http://www.villagealliance.org/taste
Tuesday, September 18 Annual benefit, featuring tastings from such area restaurants as Blue Hill, Café Spice, Crumbs, EN Japanese Brasserie, Knickerbocker, La Palapa Cocina Mexicana, and SushiSamba7, with beverages from Anthony Road Wines, Brooklyn Brewery, Fizzy Lizzy, Gizzi’s Coffee, and IS-Wine, 6:00 — 8:00 pm
Union Square Park Northern Plaza
Seventeenth St. between Broadway & Park Ave.
Tickets: $115-$125
212-460-1208
http://www.unionsquarenyc.org/harvest
Thursday, September 20 Twelfth annual event, featuring unlimited tastings from such neighborhood restaurants as Fleur de Sel, Union Square Café, Gramercy Tavern, Blue Water Grill, Beppe, Blue Smoke, Big Daddy’s Diner, Max Brenner — Chocolate by the Bald Man, Chat ‘n’ Chew, Craft, Daphne’s — the Blue Mahoe, Dévi, L’Express, Pure Food and Wine, Republic, Steak Frites, SushiSamba, Tamarind, Tocqueville, and Todd English’s Olives NY, with wine and beer from area beverage suppliers and bars that will be specially matched with each dish, benefiting the Capital Campaign for the Redevelopment of Union Square Park’s North Plaza, 7:30