Street Walk of the Week
10.22.08
2. Celebrating street art and street life in the Bronx
4. Comedy festival offers best medicine
5. South Asian and Israeli film festivals
6. Saving and projecting at MoMA, and saving and projecting Asia in Brooklyn
8. Riff’s Rants & Raves: Live Music, including Pit Er Pat, the Roots, and Matt & Kim
Volume 8, Number 21
October 22 — November 5, 2008
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at admin@twi-ny.com.
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twi-ny/mdr
Banksy shows New York some love with murals and pet store
89 Seventh Ave. between West Fourth & Bleecker Sts.
Through Friday, October 31, 10:00 am — 12 midnight
Admission: free
http://thevillagepetstoreandcharcoalgrill.com
The mysterious British street artist and activist known as Banksy has been painting, drawing, and stenciling his personal manifesto in neighborhoods all around London for more than ten years, attempting to take back public space from private commercial use. His work rails against capitalist greed, government surveillance, and animal abuse, among other politically charged topics. The anonymous anarchist, whose true identity may or may not have been revealed this past summer by the Daily Mail, recently hit New York City, turning a Seventh Ave. storefront into a makeshift "pet store," where wickedly ironic animatronic animals are on display. A monkey sits in a cage, eating pizza and seemingly muttering to himself as he watches his brethren on the Discovery Channel. A fish stick swims around a fish bowl. A rabbit is preparing for a night out on the town, applying makeup (some of which is, of course, tested on bunnies) and filing down one of his paws, which is now a stump (as it must have been cut off to be turned into a cute rabbit’s foot good-luck charm). One of the front cases contains a bunch of surveillance cameras acting as if they’re birds in a tree. Meanwhile, a hen watches her flock of nuggets repetitively dip themselves into small containers of barbecue sauce. And a case of sausages — well, we don’t want to give everything away. Expect a line whenever you go, and make sure you have enough juice left on your camera to take a few videos, because still photos don’t quite do it justice.
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Caged animatronic monkey watches the Discovery Channel in the Village
As long as he was in New York, Banksy decided to leave a few other messages in and around the Village, all including his iconic rat. "Win the rat race and you’re still a rat," he wrote in his minibook BANGING YOUR HEAD AGAINST A WALL. On Canal and West Broadway, a large rat is snipping one of the ropes holding up a scaffold on which a man is painting over the rat itself, as Banksy takes back the public space. On Howard and Broadway, a large rat holding up an umbrella and wearing a tie looks over his shoulder as he absconds with a briefcase full of cash, blood on his hands; behind him are the words "Let them eat crack," as Banksy displays his anger at all the Wall Street fat cats who are stilling getting their cake and eating it as so many others lose their jobs and their life savings. On West Broadway and McDougal, the giant rat is whitewashing over an ad for a Fox television show, adding his own insight: "There’s no such thing as good publicity." Banksy even includes a bogus permit below the lower right-hand corner. "A wall is a very big weapon," the provocateur also wrote in BANGING YOUR HEAD AGAINST A WALL. "It’s one of the nastiest things you can hit someone with." But his fourth mural, at Grand and Wooster, features a large rat in an "I Love NY" T-shirt in the midst of drawing a smaller rat. Although Banksy usually savages his victims with sly humor and some very sharp teeth, in this case he seems to be simply proclaiming his love for the city that he has just beautifully bombarded.
Courtesy the artist and Charim Gallery, Vienna
Valie Export, "From the Portfolio of Doggedness," action photograph with Peter Weibel, 1968
Bronx Museum of the Arts
1040 Grand Concourse at 165th St.
Thursdays through Sundays through January 25
Suggested admission: $5 (children free); free on Fridays
718-681-6000
In Banksy’s murals and pet shop installation, the British artist and activist turns surveillance upside down and inside out; he even includes a glassed-in cage in which surveillance cameras are on display as if birds in a zoo, still trying to peer out onto the street and all around them. In “Street Art, Street Life,” at the Bronx Museum of the Arts through January 25, more than three dozen artists make the public private, and vice versa, in a compelling collection of photographs, videos, and text revisiting the last 50 years. Guest curated by Lydia Yee, the exhibit features sociopolitical works that are confrontational and revealing, clever and conceptual. In Yoko Ono’s “Rape,” made in 1968 with John Lennon, a two-person camera crew follows a woman from a cemetery, through the streets, and ultimately into her apartment; to this day, it is not known how much the subject, Eva Majlath, knew about the project. The video is shown on four monitors, a minute apart, allowing the viewer to stand in the middle and be surrounded by this very frightening personal invasion. The next year, performance artist Vito Acconci began “Following Piece,” in which he chose a random person on the street and followed them until the man or woman entered a private space. Although the subject was unaware of being followed, Acconci knew that he was, by a photographer documenting the events. Sophe Calle adds yet another facet to the photographic discourse, asking her mother to hire a private detective to follow her through the streets of Paris. The detective’s notes are then shown alongside Calle’s own descriptions of the day, two very different versions of the same reality.
Courtesy the artist
Kimsooja, "A Needle Woman: Mexico City/Cairo/Lagos/London," four-channel video projection, 2000-2001
Kimsooja takes to the streets of Mexico City, Cairo, Lagos, and London, where she stands stockstill amid floods of oncoming pedestrians who glance at her, make faces, or simply ignore her. Blank Noise Project takes the theme of the treatment of women on the streets to the next level, examining “Eve teasing,” coaxing people to discuss the harassment prevalent in India. Martha Rosler’s photos of the Bowery include no people at all; displayed alongside text that features words often used to describe drunks, the work evokes the sadness and loneliness of these lost people. Nils Norman’s photos are also devoid of people; instead, he takes shots of specially designed benches and street obstacles that have been put in place to prevent the homeless from gathering there and using the benches as beds. “A vernacular of terror is stalking in our city streets and public spaces,” he writes in his accompanying manifesto. To lighten things up, Daniel Guzman makes his way through Mexico City getting random people to join him dancing to Paul Stanley’s “New York Groove,” Nikki S. Lee changes her persona to become part of close-knit Latino neighborhoods, Jamal Shabazz documents exuberant kids posing on the streets of New York, Valie Export examines sexuality and gender with a sly sense of humor, and David Van Tieghem turns New York into one huge musical instrument as he drums on street signs, mailboxes, poles, and the pavement itself. Though by no means exhaustive, “Street Art, Street Life,” which also features work by such seminal artists as Robert Frank, Joseph Beuys, Gordon Matta-Clark, Garry Winogrand, David Wojnarowicz, Claes Oldenburg, and Lee Friedlander, is a fun and fascinating trip through the streets of world cities, filled with life and death, the ecstatic and the destitute, the public and the private.
Wednesday, November 5 First Wednesdays: Américo Casiano Jr., ON THE STAND, and Marta Moreno Vega, WHEN THE SPIRITS DANCE MAMBO, reading and signing, free, 5:30
Friday, November 7 First Fridays! Africa2K: The Griots Invazion, featuring screening of AFRICAN UNDERGROUND: DEMOCRACY ON DAKAR (Ben Herson), followed by a panel discussion, and a live performance by the African Underground All Stars, free, 6:00 — 10:00
Saturday, November 15 Street/Language, panel discussion with Christian Bok, Kabir Carter, and Kenneth Goldsmith, moderated by Sergio Bessa, $5, 3:00
© Fatimah Tuggar
Fatimah Tuggar, "Transient Transfer," interactive multimedia collage, 2008
Grand Concourse
Through November 19
Admission: free
Just inside the main entrance of the Bronx Museum of the Arts is Fatimah Tuggar’s "Transient Transfer," an interactive installation in which people are invited to create their own collage by moving about photos that the Nigerian-born artist took around the Bronx. Although the work is part of the museum’s "Street Art Street Life" exhibit, visitors can participate without paying an admission fee, since it’s actually in the museum’s lobby store. Using their hands to select and place the images, adults and children alike can come up with unique street scenes, set against any of nine backgrounds, featuring a gushing fire hydrant, a tourist with a cell phone, a crushed soda can, a graffiti’d subway car, a barber cutting hair, a lunch cart, a pay phone, and other Bronx images. Winning entries — don’t forget to save yours! — will be plastered over city bus shelters through November 15. (You can also make your own collage via the second Web site above, but doing it at the museum is so much more fun.)
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Lorelei Fountain shines bright in Joyce Kilmer Park
Grand Concourse at Walton Ave. between East 161st & 164th Sts.
Admission: free
Right across from the Bronx County Courthouse on the Grand Concourse sit nearly seven beautiful acres of public parkland, dedicated to New Jersey journalist and poet Alfred Joyce Kilmer, who was killed in action in the second Battle of the Marne and was buried in France, at the age of thirty-one. After going up the stairs on the south side, with Yankee Stadium behind you to the left, you are greeted by Ernst Herter’s Heinrich Heine Fountain, also known as the Lorelei Fountain, honoring the nineteenth-century Romantic poet. The white marble statue, which features angels, mermaids, doves, skulls, and a portrait of the German writer, is based on "Die Lorelei," in which he wrote, "The highest peak still gleaming / Reveals enthroned in the air, / A Siren lost in her dreaming / Combing her golden hair." Nearby, Kilmer’s most famous work, "Trees," is carved into the path, declaring, "I think that I shall never see / A poem lovely as a tree. / A tree whose hungry mouth is prest / Against the sweet earth’s flowing breast; / A tree that looks at God all day, / And lifts her leafy arms to pray; / A tree that may in summer wear / A nest of robins in her hair; / Upon whose bosom snow has lain; / Who intimately lives with rain. / Poems are made by fools like me, / But only God can make a tree." Also in the southern end of the park is a bronze cast of Louis J. Heintz, designed by William Welles Bosworth and sculpted by Pierre Feitu to honor the Bronx politician who first proposed the development of the Grand Concourse. Like Kilmer, Heintz died too young, from pneumonia at age thirty-two. A wide expanse of greenery surrounded by trees leads to a small but cool children’s playground on the north side.
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Acconci and Brandt collaborate on inventive subway installation
161st St. Yankee Stadium subway station — B, D, 4 lines
Admission: free
Be sure to take your time in the 161st St. subway stop before heading to the Grand Concourse, as Vito Acconci and Helene Brandt collaborated on a fascinating installation inside the station. Bronx-born writer and performance artist Acconci, who is represented in the "Street Art Street Life" exhibit at the Bronx Museum of the Arts, contributed "Wall Slide," in which the walls of the station appear to be slipping and sliding away, tumbling down to reveal what’s behind them. In some cases, they drift into actual seating (both inside and outside the station), while other times they uncover former dancer and teacher Brandt’s trompe-l’oeil mosaic "Room of Tranquility," which seemingly offers views of the grass and trees that exist outside. Seen together, the works wonderfully capture Brandt’s mission statement: "I want to reduce the boundary between art and spectator. I want the viewer to walk around and even get inside some of the sculptures, and to understand them both physically and emotionally."
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Los Straitackets will get in line for 2008 CMJ Marathon
Multiple venues
October 21-25
Badges: $295-$495
Most individual shows under $20
In the last issue, we offered our recommendations for the 2008 CMJ Music Marathon, which has just swung into town for its annual onslaught of indie bands spreading pop, punk, emo, blues, country, funk, rap, heavy metal, and everything else under the sun at venues all over the city. Well, since the festival just started, here’s another look at what should be five crazy days and nights. There’s nothing like heading into a dark, small, narrow space packed with people listening to multiple groups playing back-to-back-to-back night after night, or making your way across town, seeing one band here, then another there, and a third there. Don’t be scared off by the price of the badges; those are primarily for industry. Individual tickets are available for all shows, with the vast majority going for twenty bucks or less, but they go fast, because space is reserved for badge holders as well. Below are only some of our recommended shows; there will also be performances by such hot bands as the Cool Kids, Ambulance Ltd., Beach House, Coheed & Cambria, Department of Eagles, Gringo Star, Sebastian Grainger & the Mountains, Shout Out Out Out Out, at least six bands with the word "Bear" in their name, and at least nine with "Dead" or "Death" in theirs. Our CMJ experience started on Tuesday with Gringo Star playing an awesome early set at the festival’s Red Bull Space on Thompson St., the Ruby Suns concluding a showcase of New Zealand bands at the narrow sardine can known as the Delancey, followed by the Ettes kicking off the late-night Magnum showcase there. Night two got going with Dutch punks Bonne Aparte and the Moi Non Plus at the Subbacultcha Showcase at Cake Shop before continuing on the high stage at the Annex with Radio Luxembourg and then Elida Zulu kicking lots of ass with Dirty Fuzz.
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Jonathan Lethem will perform as part of I’m Not Jim at Bloodshot Records Showcase
Many of the more than one thousand groups playing CMJ are already familiar to regular readers of This Week in New York; among this year’ cadre of up-and-coming and comebacking CMJ bands that have already been featured in twi-ny are a Place to Bury Strangers, Aa, Takka Takka, Ha Ha Tonka, Silent Years, I’m Not Jim, the Teenage Prayers, Thank You, Delta Spirit, Justin Townes Earle, the Howlies, the Rosebuds, James F*&^ing Friedman, Los Straitjackets, the Forms, DJ Rekha, the Howlies, and Die! Die! Die! This year’s nominees for best (or worst) band name include Natalie Portman’s Shaved Head, Check Out the Tits on Tutuba, the Dreadful Yawns, Five Finger Death Punch, the Poison Control Center, and Team Facelift. Keep checking this space for more recommendations as the festival draws near.
Tuesday, October 21 Brooklyn Vegan Showcase: Emmy the Great, the Sammies, Secret Guest, Ponytail, Passion Pit, singing DJ Jens Lekman, and midnight set by the Phenomenal Handclap Band, Music Hall of Williamsburg, $15, 7:00
Tuesday, October 21 Lykke Li, Friendly Fires, Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson, Micachu, Bowery Ballroom, $20, 7:00
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Gringo Star celebrates outstanding new album at CMJ
Tuesday, October 21 Magnum PR Showcase: the Ettes, Gringo Star, the High Wire, Radio Luxembourg, the Delancey, 10:45
Tuesday, October 21 Deerhoof, Fat Worm of Error, Nymph, Spiegeltent, $16, 10:00
Wednesday, October 22 Fujiya & Miyagi, Tobacco, Who Made Who Mercury Lounge, $15, 7:00
Wednesday, October 22 Mirah, No Kids, Tara Jane O’Neil, Highline Ballroom, $15, 7:00
Wednesday, October 22 Deerhoof, Experimental Dental School, Flying, the Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza, $16.50, 7:00
Wednesday, October 22 Prototypes, the Shakeltons, Feral Children, the Terrodactyls, the Pomegranates, and Look Mexico, Crash Mansion, 7:00
Wednesday, October 22 Subbacultcha Showcase: The Moi Non Plus, Bonne Aparte, Adept, Women, and Skeletons (DJ set), Cake Shop, $8 (free beer), 7:00
Wednesday, October 22 ASCAP Showcase: Kate Tucker and the Sons of Sweden, Other Lives, Sarah Solovay, 2AM Club, the Howlies, and As Tall as Lions, 7:00
Thursday, October 23 The Faunts, the Shondes, Mr. Gnome, Saxon Shore, James Jackson Toth, Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players, the Vandelles, Alexandra Hope, Wet Secrets, Zs, Drug Rug, Gary Lucas, Lady Dottie and the Diamonds, Team Genius, Capstan Shafts, Boo and Boo Too, Brass Bed, the Pharmacy, and the Terrodactyls, Knitting Factory, free, 2:00
Thursday, October 23 The Dears, Eulogies Hiro Ballroom at the Maritime Hotel, $15-$17, 7:00
Thursday, October 23 Juliana Hatfield, Housing Works Used Book Café, $25, 7:30
Thursday, October 23 The Magnetic Fields, Landmark Loews Theatre, $35, 8:00
Thursday, October 23 Mission of Burma, King Khan & BBQ Show, the Dutchess & the Duke, and Jay Reatard, Music Hall of Williamsburg, $5-$7, 8:30
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Broken Social Scene is one of the highlights of CMJ 2008
Thursday, October 23 Totally Michael, Best Fwends, and High Places, NYU E&L Auditorium, $6, 9:00
Friday, October 24 The Helio Sequence, Au, Tara Jane O'Neil, Al James the Unfazed, Tenlons Fort, and others, Knitting Factory, $10-$12, 12 noon
Friday, October 24 New York Noise five-year anniversary show: Vivian Girls, Woods, Takka Takka, Cut Off Your Hands, the Pains of Being Pure at Heart, and Picture Picture, Cake Shop, $10, 7:00
Friday, October 24 Jay Reatard, Longwave, White Lies, Violens, and Japanese Motors, Bowery Ballroom, $15, 7:00
Friday, October 24 The Killers, Hammerstein Ballroom, $45.50, 7:00
Friday, October 24 The Virgins, Eagle Seagull, Delta Spirit, Ambulance Ltd., Wild Light, Mother Mother, and Other Lives, Mercury Lounge, $12, 7:00
Friday, October 24 URB ALT, multimedia event with short films, live video projection, and live music by MuthaWit, Jihae, Tenderhead, and AuntKeKe, Crash Mansion, $10 ($5 with canned-good donation, 7:00
Friday, October 24 Soulwax, 2 Many DJs, Pete Tong, James Lavelle, Late of the Pier, the Whip, the Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza, $55, 7:00
Friday, October 24 Broken Social Scene, Brooklyn Masonic Temple, $25, 7:30
Friday, October 24 Gang Gang Dance, Growing, Psychic Ills, Sian Alice Group, Santos Party House, $15, 9:00
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Annuals will head indoors at Webster Hall for CMJ
Saturday, October 25 Thrill Jockey / No Quarter Showcase: Doug Paisley, 6:45; Thank You, 7:30; Pit Er Pat, 8:15; High Places, 9:00; Pontiak, 9:45; Arbouretum, 10:30; the Psychic Paramount, 11:15, the Annex, $8
Saturday, October 25 Oakley Hall, the Rosebuds, the Broken West, Portastatic, Wye Oak, the Music Tapes, Mercury Lounge, $15, 8:00
Saturday, October 25 The Toxic Avenger, NinjaSonik, Heartsrevolution, Team Robespierre, Totally Michael, Shout Out Out Out Out, Designer Drugs, Juiceboxxx, Franki Chan, Lauren Flax, Music Hall of Williamsburg, $12-$14, 8:00
Saturday, October 25 A Place to Bury Strangers, Crystal Antlers, All the Saints, Bowery Ballroom, $13
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The Whip will be getting down at the Fillmore during music fest
Saturday, October 25 Los Straitjackets, Laika & the Cosmonauts, and the Dexter Romweber Duo, Brooklyn Southpaw, $13-$15, 9:00
Saturday, October 25 Bloodshot Records Showcase: I’m Not Jim, Ben Weaver, Charlie Pickett, Cordero, Dexter Romweber Duo, Ha Ha Tonka, Justin Townes Earle, Union Pool, $10, 1:00
Saturday, October 25 Lee "Scratch" Perry, Restavrant, Iran, the Muslims, Vaz, and the Sundelles, Santos Party House, $20, 10:00
Saturday, October 25 Scars on Broadway, the Duke Spirit, the Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza, $19.50, 8:00
Saturday, October 25 Minus the Bear, Sylvie, Annuals, Webster Hall, $23-$25, 6:00
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King Khan will bare his soul in DIY panel on October 24
CMJ Music Marathon
NYU Kimmel Center, 60 Washington Square South
Dozens of panels featuring hundreds of industry insiders are scheduled for this year's CMJ, primarily being held in NYU's Kimmel Center. Below are only some of our recommended discussions, geared for those who are looking to break into the music business as artists, engineers, publicists, executives, etc.
Tuesday, October 21 Thank God We Got Dropped? with Michael Caplan, Jeffrey Epstein, Lang Freeman, Michael Goldstone, Ed Harris, and Patti Rothberg, Eisner & Lubin Auditorium (Room 401), 2:00
Wednesday, October 22 Independent Success Stories, with Shira, Mike Butterworth, Peter Gordon, Del McCoury, and Stan Strickland, Room 405, 11:00 am
Wednesday, October 22 The Political Spin on the Music Industry, with Daryl P. Friedman, Jeffrey Gandel, Charles J. Sanders, moderated by Gary Adelman and Catherine M. Fitterman, Room 905/907, 12:30
Thursday, October 23 College Day 2008, featuring such panels and forum as WMP3: The Revolution Will Be Digitized, Radio Hostesses with the Mostesses, the College Radio Awards, live performances, and more, Eisner & Lubin Auditorium
Friday, October 24 Music and Philanthropy, with Annie Balliro, Rebecca Lichtenfeld, Darryl "DMC" McDaniels, Michael Solomon, Noreen Springstead, Eisner & Lubin Auditorium (Room 401), 11:00 am
Friday, October 24 Artist X The D.I.Y Route, with Alexia Erlichman, Lang Freeman, King Khan, Karen Sundell, Peter Wells, and Jon Wyman, Shorin Performance Studio (Room 802), 12:30
Friday, October 24 Breaking Through the Cluster of Beat Makers, Nerve, Sharkey, El-P, Jay Deasel, Room 406, 3:30
Kevin Smith brings porn to CMJ Film Festival
Tribeca Cinemas, 54 Varick St. at Laight St. unless otherwise noted
Badge: $100 film festival only
Tuesday, October 21 AMERICAN SWING (Jon Hart & Matthew Kaufman, 2008), Opening Night Reception 6:30, screening followed by a Q&A with Jon Hart and Matthew Kaufman, Tribeca Grand, 2 Sixth Ave., 7:00
Tuesday, October 21 WHAT ABOUT ME? (Duncan Bridgeman & Jamie Catto, 2008), Tribeca Grand, 2 Sixth Ave., 9:00
Wednesday, October 22 THE BROTHERS BLOOM (Rian Johnson, 2008), 6:30
Wednesday, October 22 Raspberry Brothers — Bad Movies, Good Jokes, 9:00
Wednesday, October 22 AGILE, MOBILE, HOSTILE: A YEAR WITH ANDRE WILLIAMS (Tricia Todd & Eric Matthies, 2008), 11:00
Thursday, October 23 ZACK AND MIRI MAKE A PORNO (Kevin Smith, 2008), followed by a Q&A with Kevin Smith, Regal Cinemas Union Square, 850 Broadway, 7:00
Friday, October 24 JOHNNY CASH AT FOLSOM PRISON (Bestor Cram, 2008), NYU Cantor Film Center, 36 East Eighth St., 6:00
Friday, October 24 A WINK AND A SMILE (Deirdre Timmons, 2008), live burlesque performance 6:45, screening 7:15
Friday, October 24 100 FEET (Eric Red, 2008), 9:15
Friday, October 24 DONKEY PUNCH (Oliver Blackburn, 2008), 11:15
Saturday, October 25 PRESSURE COOKER (Jennifer Grausman & Mark Becker, 2008), followed by a Q&A with filmmakers and cast, 6:00
Saturday, October 25 FOR MY FATHER (Dror Zahavi, 2008), followed by a Q&A with Israeli producer Rami Damri, 7:00
Saturday, October 25 SUNSHINE CLEANING (Christine Jeffs, 2008), followed by a Q&A with producer Peter Saraf, 9:00
Saturday, October 25 WHO IS KK DOWNEY? (Darren Curtis & Pat Kiely, 2008), 9:15
Saturday, October 25 AC/DC — NO BULL: DIRECTOR'S CUT (David Mallet, 2008), 11:15
Saturday, October 25 MIRAGEMAN (Ernesto Díaz Espinoza, 2008), 11:30
Louis CK is one of laugh-fest headliners
Multiple venues
November 4-9
212-840-2824
http://www.nycomedyfestival.com
http://www.myspace.com/nycomedyfestival
The annual New York Comedy Festival gets under way at a critical point in this nation’s future, just as the race for president is decided, giving this year’s lineup the opportunity to be among the first to publicly riff on the outcome. The festival will once again kick off with a benefit show for the Bob Woodruff Foundation, in honor of the reporter who was seriously injured while on assignment in Iraq; among the scheduled performers are Ricky Gervais, Whoopi Goldberg, John Pinette, and Bruce Springsteen and Patti Scialfa, hosted by Regis Philbin. The laugh riot continues with such fine comedians as the much-lamented LUCKY LOUIE’s Louis CK, 30 ROCK’s pseudo-star Tracy Morgan, CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM’s foul-mouthed Susie Essman, master impersonator Frank Caliendo, THE SOUP’s Joel McHale, THE OFFICE’s BJ Novak, Sarah Silverman (who’s never met a fart joke she’d pass by), MIND OF MENCIA’s Carlos Mencia (who’s never met a stereotype he couldn’t make fun of), and the LATE LATE SHOW’s Craig Ferguson (who has made quite a political stand on his program in the last few months, especially since becoming a U.S. citizen).
There will also be panel discussions with the writers of THE DAILY SHOW and LATE NIGHT WITH CONAN O’BRIEN, Mike Birbiglia’s one-man show, new-talent showcases, and the great Dick Gregory talking politics with Paul Mooney. Prices range from a free MySpace secret stand-up show to $10 tickets for the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater and as much as $93.50 for Katt Williams at Carnegie Hall, with most performances between $38 and $65, which ain’t exactly cheap.
Tuesday, November 4 Stand Up for Diversity, Carolines on Broadway, $11, 7:00
Tuesday, November 4 The Best of New Talent, Carolines on Broadway, $19.50, 9:30
Wednesday, November 5 Stand Up for Heroes: A Benefit for the Bob Woodruff Foundation, Town Hall, $100-$500
Wednesday, November 5 Frank Caliendo Live, Carnegie Hall Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage, $37.50-$64.50, 8:00
Wednesday, November 5 We Have a Winner moderated by Lizz Winstead, featuring Roseanne Barr, Monica Crowley, Robert A. George, Baratunde Thurston & Tedd Bell, 92nd Street Y, $27, 8:00
Wednesday, November 5 New York's Funniest Stand-Up Finals, Carolines on Broadway, $19.50, 9:30
Wednesday, November 5 The Web Video Cram-Off, hosted by Pete Holmes, the UCB Theatre, $10, 7:30
Thursday, November 6 Louis C.K.: They’re with Me, Town Hall, $35.50-$47.50, 8:00
Thursday, November 6 Katt Williams Live in Concert, Carnegie Hall Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage, $49.50-$93.50, 8:00
Thursday, November 6 Sherri Shepherd and Friends, Carolines on Broadway, $34.75, 9:30
Thursday, November 6 MySpace Secret Stand-Up Show: Michael Ian Black and Michael Showalter, Carolines on Broadway, free with MySpace Profile Printout, 7:00
Thursday, November 6 The Best Sketch in New York Showcase, with Elephant Larry, Sidecar, Harvard Sailing Team, Derrick, and Dirty Jeans & Thunderchief, hosted by Kurt Braunohler & Kristen Schaal, the UCB Theatre, $10, 7:30
Thursday, November 6 FUCT (Fordham Underground Comedy Troupe), Carolines on Broadway , $19.50, 11:00
Sarah Silverman headlines the Hammerstein on November 8
Friday, November 7 Carlos Mencia: At Close Range, Avery Fisher Hall, $52.50, 8:00
Friday, November 7 An Evening with Craig Ferguson, Town Hall, $35.50-$52.50, 8:00
Friday, November 7 Writers Speak! A Potentially Regrettable Evening with the Writers of THE DAILY SHOW, with Kevin Bleyer, Rich Blomquist, Tim Carvell, J.R. Havlan, Rob Kutner, Sam Means, Jason Ross, Rory Albanese, Steve Bodow, Wyatt Cenac, D.J. Javerbaum, and John Oliver, moderated by David Remnick, Paley Center, $30 (or $12 closed circuit viewing room), 8:00
Friday, November 7 The Luis Jimenez Freak Show, Carolines on Broadway, $31, 10:30, and $38, 12:30
Friday, November 7 TONY Approved, with Kristen Schaal, Anthony Jeselnick, Reggie Watts, the Hazzards, Sean Patton, and Seth Herzog, hosted by Jane Borden, the UCB Theatre, $10, 7:00
Friday, November 7
and
Saturday, November 8 Sleepwalk with Me, with Mike Birbiglia, Bleecker Street Theatre, $49.50
Friday, November 7
and
Saturday, November 8 Susie Essman, Carolines on Broadway, $38, 8:00
Saturday, November 8 Sarah Silverman and Friends, Hammerstein Ballroom, $50-$65, 8:00
Saturday, November 8 Tracy Morgan: Coming Back Home, Apollo Theater, $52.50, 8:00
Saturday, November 8 Joel McHale Live at Town Hall, $38.50-$49.50
Saturday, November 8 Deconstructing Conan: A Panel Discussion with the Emmy Award Winning Writers of NBC’s LATE NIGHT WITH CONAN O’BRIEN, with Berkley Johnson, Brian McCann, Guy Nicolucci, Matt O’Brien, Brian Stack, and Mike Sweeney, Paley Center, $30 (or $12 closed circuit viewing room), 8:00
Saturday, November 8, 12:30 am
and
Sunday, November 9, 10:00 I Told You So: Negrodamus Paul Mooney Sounds Off on the 2008 Presidential Election, with Dick Gregory, Carolines on Broadway, $38
Saturday, November 8, 10:30
and
Sunday, November 9, 8:00 John Pinette, Carolines on Broadway, $38
Sunday, November 9 Brian Regan Live in Concert, Avery Fisher Hall, $64.50, 8:00
Sunday, November 9 B.J. Novak and Friends, Town Hall, $35.50-$44.50
Nandita Das’s FIRAAQ will kick off festival at the Ziegfield
Ziegfeld Theatre, 141 West 54th St.
AMC/Loews Theater, 890 Broadway at 19th St.
Rubin Museum of Art, 17th St. at Seventh Ave.
October 22-28
Tickets: $15 films, $5 panels
212-620-5000 ext344
Now in its fifth year, the South Asian International Film Festival highlights works from India, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh. Headquartered at the Rubin Museum of Art, the 2008 SAIFF features dozens of screenings of shorts, documentaries, and full-length narrative films; panel discussions with industry insiders; and free parties for festivalgoers. This year’s slate will be competing for such prizes as Audience Awards for best narrative feature, best documentary feature, and best short film as well as Grand Jury Awards in such categories as best director, acting performance, cinematography, and music. Nandita Das’s emotionally gripping FIRAAQ holds its New York premiere on opening night, October 22, at the Ziegfeld, while Mehreen Jabbar’s RAMCHAND PAKISTANI, which deals with family separation during times of war, closes things out on October 28. In between are such animated shorts as Ali Kapadia’s TUM YEH KEHTAY HO AB KOEE CHARAH NAHIN and Param Bhattacharyya’s MARA MOVE ON; documentaries examining the 2004 tsunami disaster (Alison Thompson’s THE THIRD WAVE) and women and politics (Sabiha Sumar and Sachithanandam Sathananthan’s DINNER WITH THE PRESIDENT); and such highly anticipated features as Chris Smith’s THE POOL, which won an award at Sundance, and Madhur Bhandarkar’s glitzy FASHION.
Wednesday, October 22 Opening Night: FIRAAQ (Nandita Das, 2008), Ziegfeld, $20-$35, 7:00
Thursday, October 23 SUPER 30 (Christopher Mitchell), Rubin, 5:00
Thursday, October 23 THE POOL (Chris Smith, 2007) and MORNING RITUAL (Ritesh Batra, 2007), Loews, 6:00
Thursday, October 23 Tibet: Beyond Fear: TUM YEH KEHTAY HO AB KOEE CHARAH NAHIN (Ali Kapadia, 2007), TIBET: BEYOND FEAR (Michael Perlman, 2007), and HOLDING FAST (Mary Harron & John C. Walsh, 2007), Rubin, 7:00
Thursday, October 23 KISSING COUSINS (Amyn Kaderali, 2007), Loews, 9:00
Thursday, October 23 Finding a Voice: Short Docs: TO BE...ME (Yashodhara Datar, 2006), NAR NARMAAN (Mazhar Zaidi), MILIND SOMAN MADE ME GAY (Harjant Gill), and WILL THINK FOR FOOD (Parvinder Kaur), Rubin, 9:00
Thursday, October 23 SAIFF party, Forum, 127 Fourth Ave. between 12th and 13th Sts., free for festival filmgoers, 10:00
Friday, October 24 DOORMAT (Christy Garland & Susan Armstrong) and LALBATTI (Angshuman Barkakoty), Rubin, 5:00
Friday, October 24 DINNER WITH THE PRESIDENT (Sabiha Sumar and Sachithanandam Sathananthan) and A DROP OF LIFE (Shalini Kantayya, 2008), Loews, 6:00
Friday, October 24 FLYING ON ONE ENGINE (Joshua Weinstein), Rubin, 7:00
Friday, October 24 THE PRESIDENT IS COMING (Kunaal Roy Kapoor) and WILL THINK FOR FOOD (Parvinder Kaur), Loews, 7:30
Friday, October 24 Arresting Images Shorts: REWIND (Atul Taishete), TUM YEH KEHTAY HO AB KOEE CHARAH NAHIN (Ali Kapadia), VERTICAL LIVING MADE EASY (Kris Cheppaikode), NARMEEN (Dipti Gogna), and SMALL VOICES (Sofian Khan), Rubin, 9:00
Friday, October 24 FASHION (Madhur Bhandarkar, 2008), Loews, 10:00
Friday, October 24 SAIFF party, Rubin, free for festival filmgoers, 10:00
Saturday, October 25 Finding a Voice Narrative Shorts: CLEAN LINEN (Zia Mandviwalla), MORNING RITUAL (Ritesh Batra), THE ONLY THING (Rachel Greenberger), THE PRIVATE LIFE OF ALBERT PINTO (Sidharth Singh), and SUKRIT'S SUNDAYS (Vasant Nath), Loews, 11:00 am
Saturday, October 25 Fix It in Post: Post-Production 101 for Filmmakers, Rubin, 11:30 am
Saturday, October 25 KISSING COUSINS (Amyn Kaderali), Loews, 12:30
Saturday, October 25 Selling Your Film & Saving Yourself, Rubin, 1:30
Saturday, October 25 AKASA KUSUM (FLOWERS IN THE SKY) (Prasanna Vithanage) and CLEAN LINEN (Zia Mandviwalla), Loews, 3:00
Saturday, October 25 Close Distances Shorts: ARRANGING LOVE (Sheila Jayadev, 2007), MARWA (Iram Parveen Bilal, 2007), and SEVENTH SEAM (Aseem Mishra, 2008), Rubin, 3:30
Saturday, October 25 Up Close & Personal Shorts: A DROP OF LIFE (Shalini Kantayya), HEALTHY. HAPPY. HOLY (Adithya Sambamurthy), KERALA BRIDES (Sonia Narang), LALBATTI (Angshuman Barkakoty), and HOLDING FAST (Mary Harron & John C. Walsh, 2008), Rubin, 5:30
Saturday, October 25 SAIFF Short Film Competition, Loews, 5:30
Saturday, October 25 A HOME IN THE SKY (Bipin Nadkarni, 2006), Rubin, 7:00
Mehreen Jabbar’s RAMCHAND PAKISTANI will be part of closing night of festival
Saturday, October 25 LITTLE BOX OF SWEETS (Meneka Das, 2006), Loews, 7:30
Saturday, October 25 A CRICKET IN THE COURT OF AKBAR (Andrew Mendelson, 2008), Rubin, 9:30
Saturday, October 25 SHADES OF RAY (Jaffar Mahmood), Loews, 9:45
Saturday, October 25 Awards and Post-Awards Party, BLVD, 199 Bowery between Spring & Rivington Sts., free for festival filmgoers, 10:00
Sunday, October 26 ANTARDWAND (Sushil Rajpal) and THE PRIVATE LIFE OF ALBERT PINTO (Sidharth Singh), Loews, 11:00 am
Sunday, October 26 The Art & Craft of Screenwriting, Rubin, 11:30 am
Sunday, October 26 THE WHISPERERS (Rajeev Virani) and REWIND (Atul Taishete), Loews, 1:30
Sunday, October 26 Top Gun Bootcamp: Cutting Edge Filmmakers Share Advice, Rubin, 1:30
Sunday, October 26 MAHEK (Kranti Kanade) and SUKRIT'S SUNDAYS (Vasant Nath), Rubin, 3:30
Sunday, October 26 THE THIRD WAVE (Alison Thompson, 2007) and ECLIPSE (Mark Lapwood, 2008), Lowes, 4:00
Sunday, October 26 GOING ON 13 (Kristy Guevara-Flanagan & Dawn Valadez), Rubin, 5:30
Sunday, October 26 MOHANDAS (Mazhar Kamran), Loews, 7:30
Sunday, October 26 Arresting Images Shorts: REWIND (Atul Taishete), TUM YEH KEHTAY HO AB KOEE CHARAH NAHIN (Ali Kapadia), VERTICAL LIVING MADE EASY (Kris Cheppaikode), NARMEEN (Dipti Gogna), and SMALL VOICES (Sofian Khan), Rubin, 7:30
Sunday, October 26 Time & Space Shorts: LOST & FOUND (Harshavardhan Kulkarni), 21-12-2012 (Siddharth Dwan), SAMSARA: JEFF (Roshan Murthy), FENG (WIND) (Aaron Wilson), and MARA MOVE ON (Param Bhattacharyya, 2008), Rubin, 9:30
Sunday, October 26 SAIFF party, Flute Gramercy, 40 East 20th St., free for festival filmgoers, 10:00
Monday, October 27 Grand Jury Winner: Best Documentary, Loews, 6:00
Monday, October 27 BIOSCOPE (K. M. Madhusudhanan) and TUM YEH KEHTAY HO AB KOEE CHARAH NAHIN (Ali Kapadia), Rubin, 7:00
Monday, October 27 Grand Jury Winner: Best Narrative Feature & Best Short, Loews, 8:30
Monday, October 27 LEAVING HOME (Jaideep Varma, 2008), Rubin, 9:30
Tuesday, October 28 Closing Night: RAMCHAND PAKISTANI (Mehreen Jabbar, 2008) and NARMEEN (Dipti Gogna), Loews, 7:00
Tuesday, October 28 SAIFF party, Slate, 54 West 21st St., free for festival filmgoers, 10:00
Nannies have their hands full in CHILDREN OF THE SUN
Clearview’s 62nd & Broadway Cinema
October 29 - November 13
Tickets: $12, matinees $9, festival pass $60
1-877-966-5566
http://www.israelfilmfestival.com
Billed as "the largest showcase of Israeli films in the world," the twenty-third annual Israel Film Festival celebrates the nation’s sixtieth birthday with a wide-ranging collection of shorts and features covering both the personal and political, which collide regularly in Israeli cinema. On November 5, six films will screen consecutively, all dealing with some aspect of the founding of the Jewish homeland in 1948, including such older documentaries as THE TRUE STORY OF PALESTINE (Joel Silberg, 1962) and BEN-GURION REMEMBERS (Simon Hasera, 1973). Two days later, the festival will pay tribute to documentarian brothers Barak and Tomer Heymann with four of their works. There will also be films by students, television dramas, and nearly a dozen contemporary features, including Reshef Levy’s box-office hit LOST ISLANDS, the American premiere of Amos Kellek’s poignant RESTLESS, and Erez Tadmor and Guy Nettiv’s filmfest fave, STRANGERS, set around the 2006 World Cup held in Germany. This year’s special awards recipients are Danny DeVito, Irwin Winkler, and Edward Zwick, who will be honored at the opening-night gala.
Wednesday, October 29 Opening Night Gala, including awards presentations (Lifetime Visionary Award Honoree Danny DeVito presented by Michael Douglass; Lifetime Achievement Award Honoree Irwin Winkler, presented by Mort Zuckerman; and Outstanding Achievement in Film Award Honoree Edward Zwick, presented by Liev Schreiber) and screening of LOST ISLANDS (Reshef Levy), Ziegfield Theatre, $125, 7:00
Thursday, October 30 OUT OF FOCUS (Tomer Heymann, 2007) and WAITING FOR GODIK (Ari Davidovich, 2007), 1:00
Thursday, October 30, 3:00
Monday, November 10, 7:30
and
Thursday, November 13, 3:00 THE GALILEE ESKIMOS (Jonathan Paz, 2007)
Thursday, October 30, 5:15
Tuesday, November 4, 3:00
and
Thursday, November 13, 3:00 ALTALENA (Eli Cohen, 2008)
Thursday, October 30, 7:30
Monday, November 3, 9:45
Sunday, November 9, 9:45
and
Tuesday, November 11, 1:00 THE DEBT (Assaf Bernstein, 2007)
Thursday, October 30, 9:45
Saturday, November 8, 7:30
and
Thursday, November 13, 7:30 THE SECRETS (Avi Nesher, 2007)
Saturday, November 1 FATHER’S FOOTSTEPS (Marco Carmel, 2007), followed by panel discussion, 5:15
Saturday, November 1, 7:45
Sunday, November 9, 3:00
and
Wednesday, November 12, 9:45 THE LITTLE TRAITOR (Lynn Roth, 2007)
Saturday, November 1, 9:45
Thursday, November 6, 7:30
and
Sunday, November 9, 5:15 LOST ISLANDS (Reshef Levy, 2008)
Sunday, November 2, 12 noon
Saturday, November 8, 5:15
and
Tuesday, November 11, 9:45 ELI & BEN (Ori Ravid)
Sunday, November 2 CHILDREN OF THE SUN (Ran Tal) and HOMELAND (Dani Rosenberg, 2007), followed by panel discussion, 2:00
Sunday, November 2, followed by panel discussion, 2:00
Wednesday, November 5, Homage to Israel’s 60th, 5:15
Sunday, November 10, 5:15
Ran Tal’s CHILDREN OF THE SUN (YALDEY HASHEMESH) poignantly examines the kibbutz culture that developed in Israel from the 1930s trough the 1970s. The film is composed exclusively of home-movie footage of life on numerous kibbutzim as people who grew up in these experimental communes watch and discuss what their lives were like, focusing on the treatment of children and the family unit. The kibbutz movement sought to create strong individuals dedicated to Zionism above all else; cut off from the outside world, members were not permitted to watch television, read newspapers, or listen to radios. The children, who worked at physical labor in addition to going to school, were raised in separate buildings by nannies, with daily parental visits the only thing keeping them tied to their mothers and fathers, whose marriages had been arranged by the community. This attempt to forge a kind of new man is reminiscent of the growth of Nazism and the Aryan race, giving the film an uneasy undercurrent. Tal, who was born on Kibbutz Beit Hashita, offers no third-person narration or talking-head “experts,” only interstitials that include fascinating — and often frightening — rules about life on the kibbutz. The speakers, who are seen (but not identified by name) only at the end of the film (and include Tal’s mother), look back at their childhood with both fondness and sadness, as well as an anger that slowly bubbles to the surface. Named Best Israeli Documentary at the 2007 Jerusalem Film Festival and nominated for an Ophir Award, CHILDREN OF THE SUN is a revealing look at a surprising movement. (CHILDREN OF THE SUN will screen with Dani Rosenberg’s HOMELAND during the festival.)
Sunday, November 2 THE SECRETS (Avi Nesher), 5:15
Sunday, November 2, 7:30
Thursday, November 6, 9:45
and
Monday, November 10, 9:45 OUT OF THE BLUE (Igal Burstyn, 2008), 9:45
In British-born Israeli author and filmmaker Igal Burstyn’s absurdist romantic comedy, Shabtai (Alon Abutbul) and Herzel (Moshe Ivgy) are a sad-sack Don Quixote and Sancho Panza, going through life in their own unique, bizarre way. Low-grade junk dealers who putt-putt around the outskirts of Tel-Aviv in a ramshackle motorcycle/cart contraption, Shabtai dreams of local cosmetics queen Lily Dekel (Dorit Bar-Or), while Herzel has a crush on his partner’s daughter, Batya (Zehavit Passi), who is still in school. Determined to meet his red-haired beauty, Shabtai decides to bring her a legless Ping-Pong table as a gift; meanwhile, Herzel spends many an afternoon watching Batya play Ping-Pong from behind the school gates. It takes a while to warm up to Shabtai, who is a rather unpleasant fellow, but Herzel is charming from the get-go, wearing a simplistic, never-ending smile the whole way through. Igvy and Abutbul shared the Best Actor prize at the 2008 Jerusalem Film Festival, while the film garnered seven nominations at the Israeli Film Academy Awards, including Best Actor (Igvy), Best Supporting Actor (Abutbul), Best Screenplay (Burstyn), and Best Film, taking home Best Music (Israel Bright).
Sunday, November 2, 9:45
and
Sunday, November 9, 7:30 RESTLESS (Amos Kollek, 2007)
Monday, November 3 MAPPING (Asaf Saban), ROADS (Lior Geller), and WIND CHIMES (Orr Sav Schulman), 1:00
Monday, November 3, 3:00
and
Wednesday, November 12, 5:15 BEN-GURION REMEMBERS (Simon Hasera, 1973)
Monday, November 3, 5:15
and
Monday, November 10, 3:00 PRAYING IN HER OWN VOICE (Yael Katzir, 2007) and THE QUEST FOR THE MISSING PIECE (Oded Lotan, 2007)
Monday, November 3, 1:00
Thursday, November 6, 5:15
and
Sunday, November 9, 7:30
and
Tuesday, November 11, 7:30 SRUGIM (Eliezer [Laizy)] Shapiro)
Tuesday, November 4 WAITING FOR GODIK (Ari Davidovich, 2007), 1:00
Tuesday, November 4, 5:15
Thursday, November 6, 3:00
and
Thursday, November 13, 1:00 I’M A CIVIL WAR (Omri Lior, 2007) and YOU NEVER KNOW (Boaz Shahak, 2008)
Tuesday, November 4, 7:30
Saturday, November 8, 9:45
and
Wednesday, November 12, 7:30 FATHER’S FOOTSTEPS (Marco Carmel, 2007)
Tuesday, November 4, 9:45
and
Tuesday, November 11, 9:45 STRANGERS (Erez Tadmor & Guy Netiv, 2007)
Wednesday, November 5 Homage to Israel’s 60th: THE TRUE STORY OF PALESTINE (Joel Silberg, 1962), 1:00
Wednesday, November 5 Homage to Israel’s 60th: BEN-GURION REMEMBERS (Simon Hasera, 1973), 3:00
Wednesday, November 5 Homage to Israel’s 60th: CHILDREN OF THE SUN (Ran Tal, 2007) and HOMELAND (Dani Rosenberg, 2007), 5:15
Wednesday, November 5 Homage to Israel’s 60th: ALTALENA (Eli Cohen, 2008), 7:30
Wednesday, November 5 Homage to Israel’s 60th: THE LITTLE TRAITOR (Lynn Roth, 2007), 9:45
Thursday, November 6 RESTLESS (Amos Kollek, 2007), 1:00
Friday, November 7 Homage to Tomer and Barak Heymann, reception, 1:00
Friday, November 7 Homage to Tomer and Barak Heymann: DANCING ALFONSO (Barak Heymann) and OUT OF FOCUS (Tomer Heymann, 2007), 1:45
Friday, November 7 Homage to Tomer and Barak Heymann: BRIDGE OVER THE WADI (Tomer Heymann & Barak Heymann, 2006) and IT KINDA SCARES ME (Tomer Heymann, 2001), 4:00
Sunday, November 10 BEN’S MOM (Omer Yefman), FULL OF LIFE (Tamar Ben Baruch), and RIDE (Lior [Kipod] Segev), 1:00
Sunday, November 10 CHILDREN OF THE SUN (Ran Tal, 2007) and HOMELAND (Dani Rosenberg, 2007), 5:15
Tuesday, November 11 OUT OF FOCUS (Tomer Heymann, 2007) and DANCING ALFONSO (Barak Heymann), 5:15
Wednesday, November 12 THE TRUE STORY OF PALESTINE (Joel Silberg, 1962), 1:00
Wednesday, November 12 BRIDGE OVER THE WADI (Tomer Heymann & Barak Heymann, 2006), 3:00
Wednesday, November 12 IT KINDA SCARES ME (Tomer Heymann, 2001), 3:00
Museum of Modern Art Stills Archive
Melvin Van Peebles will be on hand for restored blaxploitation classic
MoMA Film
Roy and Niuta Titus Theaters
11 West 53rd St. between Fifth & Sixth Aves.
October 24 — November 16
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
Now in its sixth year, MoMA’s "To Save and Project" series features preserved and restored classics and little-known gems from all over the world. Melvin Van Peebles gets things going by introducing the restored version of his 1971 genre-defining blaxploitation flick, SWEET SWEETBACK'S BAADASSSSS SONG, and continues with such treats as Marco Ferreri’s DILLINGER IS DEAD, Frank Borzage’s THE RIVER, Vilgot Sjöman’s controversial I AM CURIOUS YELLOW, Rob Epstein’s poignant documentary THE TIMES OF HARVEY MILK (see it before checking out Sean Penn as the title character in the upcoming MILK), Charles Sheeler and Paul Strand’s thrilling 1921 silent MANHATTA, D. W. Griffiths’s HEART OF THE WORLD, and many others, with some featuring live piano accompaniment. The series concludes with a pair of creepy classics from Italian horror master Dario Argento, whose daughter, Asia, is being celebrated with her own retrospective at BAMcinematek.
Friday, October 24 SWEET SWEETBACK'S BAADASSSSS SONG (Melvin Van Peebles, 1971), introduced by Melvin Van Peebles, 6:30
Friday, October 24 MILLIONS LIKE US (Frank Launder & Sidney Gilliat, 1943), 8:45
Saturday, October 25 SWEET SWEETBACK'S BAADASSSSS SONG (Melvin Van Peebles, 1971), 12:30
Saturday, October 25 JIMMY THE GENT (Michael Curtiz, 1934), 2:30
Saturday, October 25 THE RIVER (Frank Borzage, 1929), 4:00
Saturday, October 25 LADY WINDERMERE'S FAN (Ernst Lubitsch, 1925), with piano accompaniment by Ben Model, 6:00
Saturday, October 25 DILLINGER È MORTO (DILLINGER IS DEAD) (Marco Ferreri, 1969), 8:00
Sunday, October 26 LADY WINDERMERE'S FAN (Ernst Lubitsch, 1925), with piano accompaniment by John Spurney, Education and Research Center, 12:30,
Monday, October 27 DILLINGER È MORTO (DILLINGER IS DEAD) (Marco Ferreri, 1969), 6:15
Monday, October 27 JAG ÄR NYFIKEN — GUL (I AM CURIOUS (YELLOW)) (Vilgot Sjöman, 1967), 8:15
Wednesday, October 29 Women's Film Preservation Fund, Program 1:THE SECRET AGENT (Jacki Ochs, 1983), 6:00
Wednesday, October 29 Women's Film Preservation Fund, Program 2: THAT MAN OF MINE (Leonard Anderson, 1947), followed by a discussion with Ruby Dee and historian Pearl Bowser, 7:30
Thursday, October 30 JIMMY THE GENT (Michael Curtiz, 1934), 6:00
Thursday, October 30 MILLIONS LIKE US (Frank Launder & Sidney Gilliat, 1943), 7:30
Friday, October 31 THE RIVER (Frank Borzage, 1929), 6:00
Friday, October 31 JAG ÄR NYFIKEN — GUL (I AM CURIOUS (YELLOW)) (Vilgot Sjöman, 1967), 7:30
Saturday, November 1 MEN IN WAR (Anthony Mann, 1957), 2:00
Saturday, November 1 SUSUZ YAZ (DRY SUMMER) (Metin Erksan, 1964), 6:45
World Cinema Foundation
Restored African classic will be screened at MoMA
Saturday, November 1 TOUKI BOUKI (Djibril Diop Mambéty, 1973), 8:30
Saturday, November 1
through
Friday, November 7 HELL DRIVERS (Cy Endfield, 1957) and INFLATION (Cy Endfield, 1942)
Sunday, November 2 WESTERN UNION (Fritz Lang, 1941), 1:00
Sunday, November 2 The Gish Prize: HEARTS OF THE WORLD (D. W. Griffith, 1918), with piano accompaniment by Donald Sosin, 5:15
Monday, November 3 SUSUZ YAZ (DRY SUMMER) (Metin Erksan, 1964), Education and Research Center, 6:15
Wednesday, November 5 TOUKI BOUKI (Djibril Diop Mambéty, 1973), 6:15
Thursday, November 6 THE TIMES OF HARVEY MILK (Rob Epstein, 1984), 6:00
Friday, November 7 HAPAX LEGOMENA I—VII: (nostalgia), Poetic Justice, Critical Mass, Traveling Matte, Ordinary Matter, Remote Control, Special Effects (Hollis Frampton, 1971—72), introduced by Bill Brand, 6:30
Saturday, November 8 HAPAX LEGOMENA I—VII: (nostalgia), Poetic Justice, Critical Mass, Traveling Matte, Ordinary Matter, Remote Control, Special Effects (Hollis Frampton, 1971—72), 2:00
Saturday, November 8 THE TIMES OF HARVEY MILK (Rob Epstein, 1984), 8:30
Sunday, November 9 WESTERN UNION (Fritz Lang, 1941), 3:00
Sunday, November 9 MEN IN WAR (Anthony Mann, 1957), 5:00
Wednesday, November 12 The British Documentary Movement: EASTERN VALLEY (Paul Rotha, Donald Alexander, 1937), AIRPORT (Roy Lockwood, 1934), THE SILENT VILLAGE (Humphrey Jennings, 1943), and SUMMER ON THE FARM (Ralph Keene, 1943), 6:00
Wednesday, November 12 BAB EL HADID (CAIRO STATION) (Youssef Chahine, 1958), 8:00
Thursday, November 13 The British Documentary Movement: EASTERN VALLEY (Paul Rotha, Donald Alexander, 1937), AIRPORT (Roy Lockwood, 1934), THE SILENT VILLAGE (Humphrey Jennings, 1943), and SUMMER ON THE FARM (Ralph Keene, 1943), 6:00
Friday, November 14, 6:15
and
Saturday, November 15, 2:00 NYC Restored: Paul Strand and Charles Sheeler's Manhatta and Other City Views — MANHATTA (Charles Sheeler, Paul Strand, 1921), views of New York shot by Lumière cameraman Alexandre Promio (1896), and N.Y., N.Y (Francis Thompson, 1957), with piano accompaniment by Donald Sosin, introduced by Bruce Posner, 6:15
Saturday, November 15 BAB EL HADID (CAIRO STATION) (Youssef Chahine, 1958), 3:30
Saturday, November 15 L'UCCELLO DALLE PIUME DI CRISTALLO (THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE) (Dario Argento, 1970), 6:00
Saturday, November 15 IL GATTO A NOVE CODE (THE CAT O' NINE TAILS) (Dario Argento, 1971), 8:30
Sunday, November 16 L'UCCELLO DALLE PIUME DI CRISTALLO (THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE) (Dario Argento, 1970), 1:00
Sunday, November 16 The Gish Prize: HEARTS OF THE WORLD (D. W. Griffith, 1918), with piano accompaniment by Donald Sosin, 2:00
Sunday, November 16 IL GATTO A NOVE CODE (THE CAT O' NINE TAILS) (Dario Argento, 1971), 3:15
Asia Argento works for Daddy again in MOTHER OF TEARS
BAMcinematek, BAM Rose Cinemas
30 Lafayette Ave. between Ashland Pl. & St. Felix St.
November 1-9
718-636-4100
Being the product of Italian horror director Dario Argento — he of such films as SUSPIRIA (1977), INFERNO (1980), TENEBRAE (aka UNSANE, 1982), PHENOMENA (aka CREEPERS, 1985), and TERROR AT THE OPERA (1987)— and Daria Nicolodi, who has starred in several of her longtime partner’s works, it isn’t much of a surprise that Asia Argento has had quite a varied career already, even though she is still only thirty-three. BAM pays tribute to the daring actress, who seems to love to take her clothes off — including in Daddy’s movies — with seven of her full-length films, including the controversial THE HEART IS DECEITFUL ABOVE ALL THINGS, which she wrote, directed, and starred in, based on a book by hoaxer J. T. Leroy. But Argento also has had the opportunity to star in films by directors other than herself and her father; among those represented here are Abel Ferrara’s NEW ROSE HOTEL, Olivier Assayas’s BOARDING GATE, and Catherine Breillat’s THE LAST MISTRESS.
Saturday, November 1 NEW ROSE HOTEL (Abel Ferrara, 1998)
Sunday, November 2 SCARLET DIVA (Asia Argento, 2003) and CINDY: THE DOLL IS MINE (Bertrand Bonello, 2005)
Tuesday, November 4
and
Wednesday, November 5 THE HEART IS DECEITFUL ABOVE ALL THINGS (Asia Argento, 2004)
Asia Argento has a tough go of it in underrated HEART IS DECEITFUL
http://www.heartisdeceitful.com
Asia Argento wrote, directed, and stars in this inspired adaptation based on the supposedly autobiographical novel by the recently exposed JT Leroy (a mysterious writer who turned out to be an elaborate creation of a former sex-phone operator). Argento, whose long resume includes a trio of films directed by her cult-fave father, Italian horrormeister Dario Argento, plays Sarah, a drug-addled loser who reclaims her seven-year-old son, Jeremiah (the frightfully good Jimmy Bennett), from his loving and well-off foster parents. Sarah, one of the worst mothers to ever grace the silver screen, mistreats the boy horribly again and again, even allowing her stream of dangerous and weird boyfriends (which include Michael Pitt, Marilyn Manson, and Jeremy Sisto) to do the same — and worse. At one point Jeremiah winds up living with his grandparents (Peter Fonda and Ornella Muti), religious nutcakes who harbor their own secrets. With pulsating original music by Marco Castoldi and Sonic Youth, brutal, fast-paced action, and leather-and-chains sadomasochism, THE HEART IS DECEITFUL is reminiscent of Alex Cox’s SID & NANCY (1986), with a little bit of MOMMIE DEAREST (Frank Perry, 1981) thrown in. Argento’s compelling vision, which will grow on you if you let it, is not for everyone; at times it’s lurid, graphic, and hard to watch, but it’s also got its share of breathtaking moments. Just try your best to forget about the literary hoax that gave birth to this sordid story in the first place.
Thursday, November 6 THE LAST MISTRESS (Catherine Breillat, 2007)
Friday, November 7 BOARDING GATE (Olivier Assayas, 2007)
Saturday, November 8 THE MOTHER OF TEARS (Dario Argento, 2007) and CINDY: THE DOLL IS MINE (Bertrand Bonello, 2005)
Sunday, November 9 ON WAR (Bertrand Bonello, 2008)
Paramount Pictures
STRANDED recounts harrowing tale of crash survivors
Film Forum
209 West Houston St. between Sixth & Seventh Aves.
October 22 - November 4
212-727-8110
http://www.filmforum.org/films/stranded.html
On October 13, 1972, a plane carrying a Uruguayan rugby team and some of their friends and family crashed in the Andes. Twenty-nine of the forty-five passengers lived through the initial crash, but the worst was perhaps yet to come, as the survivors battled through freezing temperatures, a catastrophic avalanche, and no food, trapped in a vast mountain range where their chances of rescue were seemingly impossible. Writer-director Gonzalo Arijon, who grew up with some of the survivors, brings them back to that time and place, both literally and figuratively, in STRANDED, speaking with the survivors and family members and re-creating scenes as they return to the crash site in the Valley of Tears for the first time in thirty-five years. Although the remarkable story has already been told in Piers Paul Read’s 1974 book, ALIVE!, and Frank Marshall’s 1993 adaptation starring Ethan Hawke, Vincent Spano, and Josh Hamilton, STRANDED gives viewers the opportunity to look into the actual eyes of the survivors as they relate specific incidents and share their deepest feelings.
They might have been a fun-loving bunch of young athletes in 1972, but today they are a group of thoughtful, insightful men able to reach deep within themselves to express the horrors they experienced with a calm, beguiling intelligence. It’s especially compelling when they go into graphic detail explaining what food they used to keep themselves alive — they had no choice but to eat those who had died. (STRANDED might not be the best choice for a dinner-and-a-movie date.) Another of the many poignant moments occurs when several of the survivors discuss their near-death experiences as they were buried under a fierce avalanche. Arijon sets up STRANDED like an action-adventure movie, allowing it to unfold chronologically; even though the audience knows who survived — those who are seen on camera, relating the story in the present, of course — viewers will still be on the edge of their seats every step of the way, unsure of what comes next, living each desperate moment as if they’re lost in the valley as well. Arijon and survivor Fito Strauch will participate in Q&As following screenings on October 22, 23, and 24 at 6:40.
Angelina Jolie stars in latest Clint Eastwood drama
Opens Friday, October 24
http://www.changelingmovie.net
The opening-night selection at this year’s New York Film Festival, Clint Eastwood’s CHANGELING is an overblown melodrama about a mother’s desperate search for her missing child. On a March day in 1928, Christine Collins (Angelina Jolie with perhaps the puffiest, reddest lips ever seen on-screen) comes home from work late to find her young son, Walter (Gattlin Griffith), gone. The corrupt Los Angeles Police Department, in need of some good publicity, is little help — until, months later, it claims to have found Walter. But the child they present to Christine is not her son — yet the police, led by the smug Captain Jones (a smug Jeffrey Donovan), do all they can to try to convince her that she is mistaken and that the boy is indeed her offspring, just to protect their reputation. A local pastor, Rev. Gustav Briegleb (John Malkovich), takes an interest in the case, thinking it is yet more evidence of the LAPD’s incompetence. Unwilling to give up, Christine decides to take on the police, but she gets much more than she ever bargained for. Based on a true story, CHANGELING is a laboriously straightforward film with no nuance whatsoever; everything is black and white, good versus evil, with the only shades of gray the lovely cinematography by Tom Stern.
Sisters try to deal with the past in brilliant melodrama
Opens Friday, October 24
Angelika Film Center
18 West Houston St. at Mercer St.
212-995-2000
Lincoln Plaza Cinemas
1866 Broadway at 63rd St.
212-757-2280
http://www.lincolnplazacinema.com
http://www.city-cinemas.com/angelika.html
http://www.sonyclassics.com/ivelovedyousolong
French novelist Philippe Claudel’s directorial debut, I’VE LOVED YOU SO LONG, is a brilliant melodrama told by an expert storyteller. A never-better Kristin Scott Thomas stars as Juliette, an intensely private woman who has moved in with her younger sister, Léa (Elsa Zylberstein), after having been away for fifteen years. Léa’s husband, Luc (Serge Hazanavicius), is clearly unhappy that Juliette has come to live with them; he particularly does not want her spending too much time with their two adopted daughters. As Juliette goes on job interviews and makes new friends — including Léa’s fellow teacher, Michel (Laurent Grevill), who has more than a passing interest in her — her deep, dark pain is always bubbling just below the surface, ready to burst out. Through carefully constructed scenes of beauty, simplicity, honesty, and suppressed rage, Claudel slowly reveals the details of Juliette’s missing years, spent in prison for an unspeakable crime. Thomas is absolutely breathtaking as Juliette, a tortured soul hiding a horrific secret as she tries to resurrect her once-promising life. Don’t miss it.
Caden Cotart (Philip Seymour Hoffman) is having a tough time in SYNECDOCHE
Opens Friday, October 24
http://www.sonyclassics.com/synecdocheny
In films such as BEING JOHN MALKOVICH (Spike Jonze, 1999), ADAPTATION (Spike Jonze, 2002), CONFESSIONS OF A DANGEROUS MIND (George Clooney, 2002), and ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND (Michel Gondry, 2004), writer Charlie Kaufman has created bizarre, compelling alternate views of reality that adventurous moviegoers have embraced, even if they didn’t understand everything they saw. Well, Kaufman has done it again, challenging audiences with his directorial debut, the very strange but mesmerizing SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK. Philip Seymour Hoffman stars as the bedraggled Caden Cotard, a local theater director in Schenectady mounting an inventive production of DEATH OF A SALESMAN. Just as the show is opening, his wife, avant-garde artist Adele Lack (Catherine Keener), decides to take an extended break in Europe with their four-year-old daughter, Olive (Sadie Goldstein), and Adele’s kooky assistant, Maria (Jennifer Jason Leigh).
As Caden starts coming down with a series of unexplainable health problems, he wanders in and out of offbeat personal and professional relationships with box-office girl Hazel (a nearly unrecognizable Samantha Morton), his play’s lead actress, Claire Keen (Michelle Williams), his therapist, Madeleine Gravis (Hope Davis), and Sammy (Tom Noonan), a man who has been secretly following him for years. After winning a MacArthur Genius Grant, Caden begins his grandest production yet, a massive retelling of his life story, resulting in radical shifts between fantasy and reality that will have audiences laughing as they continually scratch their heads, hoping to stimulate their brain in order to figure out just what the heck is happening on-screen. Evoking such films as Federico Fellini’s 8 1/2 and CITY OF WOMEN, Woody Allen’s STARDUST MEMORIES, and Ingmar Bergman’s WILD STRAWBERRIES as well as the labyrinthine tales of Argentine writers Jorge Luis Borges and Julio Cortazar, SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK is the kind of work that is likely to become a cult classic over the years, requiring multiple viewings to help understand it all.
Fred Lebow’s legacy is examined in RUN FOR YOUR LIFE
Village East
181 Second Ave. at 12th St.
Limited run beginning October 29
212-529-6998
http://www.villageeastcinema.com
RUN FOR YOUR LIFE tells the remarkable story of Fischl Leibowitz, better known to the world as Fred Lebow. At the age of fourteen, Lebow left his home in Romania and eventually immigrated to the United States. In the late 1960s, he became obsessed with running, at the time a strange form of exercise practiced by very few New Yorkers. But soon Lebow was organizing events such as the Cherry Tree Marathon through the Bronx in 1969 and the Central Park Marathon, leading to the first-ever five-borough New York City Marathon in 1976, a race that many believe helped lead the city through its financial, crime-filled crisis. Through archival footage, news reports, photos, and new interviews with Lebow’s friends, family, and colleagues, a fascinating picture emerges of a driven visionary who was a masterful manipulator and negotiator, a man ahead of his time with regard to marketing and sponsorship. Among the people who share their memories of Lebow are marathoners Bill Rodgers, Frank Shorter, and Greta Waitz, former mayor Ed Koch, parks commissioners Henry Stern and Gordon Davis, past presidents and board members of the New York Road Runners Club, and his sister, who makes latkes for filmmaker Judd Ehrlich. Lebow was one of the all-time great New York characters, forever wearing a painter’s cap and sweatsuit, doing whatever was necessary to get himself and his sport to the next level. The ending is both exhilarating and heartbreaking. With the New York City Marathon scheduled for November 2, RUN FOR YOUR LIFE, which was a highlight of this year’s Tribeca Film Festival, will begin a special limited engagement at Village East on October 29; it will also be released a day earlier on DVD, featuring deleted scenes and additional interviews.
Paramount Pictures
Things get a little hellish for Mia Farrow in horror classic
Film Forum
209 West Houston St. between Sixth & Seventh Aves.
October 31 — November 6
212-727-8110
Mia Farrow and John Cassavetes star in Roman Polanski’s faithful adaptation of Ira Levin’s novel, which finds horror in the most mundane and everyday places. Rosemary (Farrow) and Guy (Cassavetes) have their whole life ahead of them as they move into a beautiful Victorian apartment building (actually the Dakota) overlooking Central Park. Guy is trying to get his big acting break, and Rosemary wants to start a family. After Rosemary has a terribly realistic, horrific nightmare, a series of frightening events begins to threaten her pregnancy, not the least of which is the attention paid her by her almost too kind neighbors, the Castevets (Oscar winnder Ruth Gordon and Sidney Blackmer). Polanski turns up the terror in this scarefest, produced by the legendary William Castle, which is made all the more spooky by the violence that surrounded its maker and setting in real life: Polanski’s wife, Sharon Tate, who has a cameo in the film, was brutally murdered in 1969 by the Manson family, who had written "Helter Skelter" in blood on the wall, after the Beatles song; eleven years later, John Lennon was gunned down in the street in front of the Dakota on Central Park West, where he and Yoko lived. Just in time for Halloween, Film Forum will be presenting the flick in a new 35mm print, in honor of its fortieth anniversary.
Lau Wai Keung and Chan Yuen Kai © 1994, 2008 Block 2 Pictures
Tony Leung Ka Fai loses his past in restored Wong Kar Wai period pic
Village East
181 Second Ave. at 12th St.
212-529-6998
http://citycinemas.moviefone.com
Nearly fifteen years ago, writer-director Wong Kar Wai’s ASHES OF TIME was released, a thinking man’s martial arts epic inspired by Jin Yong’s THE EAGLE-SHOOTING HEROES novels. With numerous versions in circulation and the original negatives in disrepair, Wong (CHUNGKING EXPRESS, IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE) decided to painstakingly reedit and restore the film, renaming it ASHES OF TIME REDUX. The plot–which is still as confusing as ever — revolves around Ouyang Feng (Leslie Cheung), a loner who lives in the desert, where people come to him when they need someone taken care of. Every year he is visited by Huang Yaoshi (Tony Leung Ka Fai), who keeps him informed of the world outside jianghu — especially about his lost love (Maggie Cheung). Meanwhile, Murong Yang (Brigitte Lin) has demanded that Ouyang kill Huang for having jilted his sister, Murong Yin (also played by Lin), who in turn hires Ouyang to kill Yang. There’s also a blind swordsman (Tony Leung Chiu Wai), a peasant girl with a basket of eggs (Charlie Young), a poor, rogue swordsman (Jacky Cheung), and a bottle of magic wine that can erase memories. Or something like that. But what’s most impressive about ASHES OF TIME REDUX is Christopher Doyle’s thrilling, swirling cinematography, which sweeps the audience into the film, and Wu Tong’s rearranged score, based on the original music by Frankie Chan and Roel A. Garcia and featuring soaring cello solos by Yo-Yo Ma.
Lol Crawley
Lawrence’s (Micheal J. Smith Sr.) small world gets turned upside down in BALLAST
Cinema Village
22 East 12th St. between University Pl. & Fifth Ave.
212-924-3363
Filmed on location in the Mississippi Delta with nonprofessional actors, BALLAST is a mesmerizing, unforgettable tale of family and survival. After his brother commits suicide, Lawrence (Micheal J. Smith Sr.) gives up on life, just sitting in front of the television, staring blankly at the screen, paying no attention to his dog or a neighbor (Johnny McPhail) offering help. Marlee (Tarra Riggs) is a single mother working a demeaning job while trying to keep her twelve-year-old son, James (Jimmyron Ross), out of trouble. But James has dropped out of school, instead spending his days smoking crack he thinks he is getting for free from a local dealer. But when the dealer ultimately starts asking for the money he’s owed, James gets his hand on a gun, desperate for cash. The interconnected lives of the three protagonists are slowly revealed in haunting scenes that linger in the mind. Masterfully directed by Lance Hammer, BALLAST is a powerful condemnation of modern-day poverty in America without being preachy or political. All but one member of the cast lives in the townships where the film was shot, most of the dialogue is improvised, and Hammer uses only natural light and sound to tell this tragic tale, adding to the film’s overwhelming sense of desperation and realism.
John Malkovich is a foul-mouthed riot in Coen brothers’ latest
http://www.burnafterreading.com
After delighting audiences with such outstanding indie fare as BLOOD SIMPLE (1984), FARGO (1996), and O BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU? (2000), brothers Joel and Ethan Coen hit a midcareer slump with the mediocre THE MAN WHO WASN’T THERE (2001), the much-maligned INTOLERABLE CRUELTY (2003), and the just plain awful remake of THE LADYKILLERS (2004). It was three years before they released their next film, the Oscar-winning monster hit NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN. Now they have toned things down again with the slight but entertaining BURN AFTER READING. John Malkovich is hysterical as Osborne Cox, an angry, bitter, foul-mouthed CIA agent who loses his job and decides to write a tell-all memoir, which bizarrely ends up in the hands of a pair of bumbling idiots, Chad Feldheimer (an extremely funny Brad Pitt) and Linda Litzke (Frances McDormand). Linda really wants to get a whole bunch of plastic surgery done, so she plans on squeezing a lot of money out of old Mr. Cox, who has no patience for anyone other than himself. Throw in a cold-as-ice wife (Tilda Swinton), a philandering G-man (George Clooney), a Russian ambassador named after Severn Darden’s character in THE PRESIDENT’S ANALYST, and some shocking violence and — well, we’ve told you too much already. BURN AFTER READING might not be grade-A Coen brothers, but it’s still a worthwhile endeavor from two of America’s most ingenious filmmakers.
Heath Ledger is a scary scream in THE DARK KNIGHT
Quad Cinema
34 West 13th St. between Fifth & Sixth Aves.
212-255-8800
http://www.thedarkknight.warnerbros.com
Christopher Nolan’s follow-up to his 2005 hit BATMAN BEGINS is one of the most brilliant superhero films ever made. Christian Bale is back as billionaire bachelor Bruce Wayne, who spends his evenings fighting crime in Gotham City, which is under siege, victim to a brutal crime spree led by the vicious Joker (Heath Ledger in a massive, spectacular performance). As the madman with the wild hair and evil clown face starts knocking off public officials, mob bosses, ordinary citizens, and even his own minions, Wayne is also beset by the blossoming relationship between Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhall), the woman he loves and who knows his secret, and the new DA, Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart), who has come into his high-profile job with both arms swinging, determined to make Gotham City safe. The Bat-Man is joined once again by his faithful butler, Alfred (Michael Caine), Wayne Industries exec Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman), and police lieutenant Jim Gordon (Gary Oldman); the film also features Anthony Michael Hall as a television talk-show host who finds himself in danger, Eric Roberts as a smooth-talking gangster, and Cillian Murphy as Scarecrow in a brief cameo. THE DARK KNIGHT is a carefully constructed tale of good and evil, love and death, and everything in between, working as both a thrilling action movie as well as a psychoanalytic examination of what lurks deep in the soul. Although there are special effects aplenty, it is primarily a very intimate, personal film about one man’s tortured existence. In the summer of the high-octane superhero flick (IRON MAN, THE INCREDIBLE HULK, HELLBOY II, HANCOCK), THE DARK KNIGHT towers above them all.
Simon Mein/ Courtesy of Miramax Films
Sally Hawkins is absolutely delightful in Mike Leigh’s latest
Lincoln Plaza Cinemas
1866 Broadway at 63rd St.
212-757-2280
Landmark Sunshine Cinema
143 East Houston St. between First & Second Aves.
212-330-8182
http://www.landmarktheatres.com
http://www.lincolnplazacinema.com
http://www.happygoluckythemovie.com
Writer-director Mike Leigh (SECRETS & LIES, NAKED, TOPSY-TURVY) has made the most charming film of his career with HAPPY-GO-LUCKY. Sally Hawkins gives a career-making performance as Poppy, the most delightful film character since Audrey Tatou’s Amélie (in Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s 2001 French comedy LE FABULEUX DESTIN D'AMÉLIE POULAIN). Poppy is a primary school teacher who has an endearing, seemingly limitless love of life; she talks playfully with strangers in bookstores, teases her sister (Kate O’Flynn) and best friend (Alexis Zegerman) with the sweetest of smirks, takes a flamenco lesson on a whim with a colleague, and, when her bicycle is stolen, simply starts taking driving lessons. However, her driving instructor, Scott (Eddie Marsan of the recently underappreciated SIXTY SIX), is a tense, angry man with numerous chips on his shoulder, trying to sour Poppy at every turn. But Poppy is no mere coquettish ingenue; when she senses a problem with one of her students, she is quick get to the bottom of the situation, with the appropriate serious demeanor. As with most Leigh films, much of the dialogue is improvised (following long rehearsal periods), adding to its freshness. But also as with most Leigh films, there are dramatic turning points, but even those can’t wipe away Poppy’s — or the audience’s — endless smile.
Landmark Sunshine Cinema
143 East Houston St. between First & Second Aves.
212-330-8182
http://www.landmarktheatres.com
Winner of the Audience Award at the Sundance, Edinburgh, and Los Angeles Film Festivals, MAN ON WIRE is a thrilling examination of Philippe Petit’s attempt to walk on a wire connecting the two towers of the World Trade Center. Using archival footage, home movies, still photos, black-and-white re-creations, and new interviews with all the primary characters, director James Marsh (THE KING, WISCONSIN DEATH TRIP) sets up MAN ON WIRE like a heist film as Petit and his cohorts discuss the detailed planning that went into the remarkable event, including getting the wires and cable to the top of the South Tower and hiding under a tarp as a security guard has a smoke right next to them. Petit, who had previously — and illegally — traversed Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris and the Sydney Harbour Bridge in Australia, had become immediately obsessed with the Twin Towers as soon as he learned they were being built; Marsh intercuts scenes of the construction of the WTC as Petit puts together the seemingly impossible caper, leading to his August 7, 1974, walk between the two towers, more than a quarter mile above the ground. Petit has a relationship with the World Trade Center unlike anyone else’s; interestingly, Marsh and Petit do not so much as even hint at the destruction of the towers on September 11, 2001, a questionable decision that leaves a gap in the film. (They could have at least mentioned it in the end captions.) Still, MAN ON WIRE is an exhilarating documentary; even though you know that Petit survives, you’ll be breathless as he balances high above Lower Manhattan, one tiny step from death.
Bill Maher takes on organized religion and faith in comedy doc
http://www.lionsgate.com/religulous
Bill Maher, who regularly shares his views on religion in his stand-up act, on his HBO show, and in books, takes on Christianity, Islam, Judaism, and other faiths in the very sharp, very funny documentary RELIGULOUS (a combination of “religious” and “ridiculous”). Taking a page out of Michael Moore’s guerrilla filmmaking style, Maher and director Larry Charles (SEINFELD, CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM, BORAT) go on the road, speaking with priests, rabbis, scientists, activists, doctors, ministers, politicians, and everyday plainfolk in Italy, Israel, England, the Netherlands, and across America, meeting some very strange characters with a wide array of religious beliefs, all of which the agnostic Maher, who doesn’t believe in God and considers the Bible a fairy tale, thinks are idiotic. Among the most outrageous segments are Maher’s visit to the Holy Land Experience theme park in Orlando, a bizarre battle with Jewish activist Yehuda Etzion, and Maher and his crew getting thrown out of the Vatican. Although RELIGULOUS primarily preaches to the choir and is unlikely to make many converts, Maher does bring up some cogent points about the history of religion and its eventual transcription, raising questions that will make you think about your own personal faith.
Angelika Film Center
18 West Houston St. at Mercer St.
212-995-2000
http://www.city-cinemas.com/angelika.html
http://www.vickycristina-movie.com
After a trio of films made in England (the justly celebrated MATCH POINT, the disappointing SCOOP, and the underappreciated CASSANDRA’S DREAM), Woody Allen heads to Spain, setting his latest adult romantic comedy in the gorgeous city of Barcelona. The very serious Vicky (Rebecca Hall, channeling Mia Farrow) and the flirtatious free spirit Cristina (Scarlett Johansson) are best friends spending the summer at a villa owned by Judy (Patricia Clarkson) and Mark (Kevin Dunn). Vicky is about to get married to the very responsible and successful Doug (Chris Messina), while Cristina is just looking to have a wild time. When hot artist Juan Antonio (a gentle Javier Bardem) invites Vicky and Cristina to join him for wine and sex in Oviedo, Vicky thinks he is a pig, while Cristina wants to take him up on his offer. Further complicating the situation is Juan Antonio’s homicidal, suicidal ex-wife, Maria Elena (an inspired Penelope Cruz), who forces herself back into his life. VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA features one of Allen’s best scripts in years. Hall, a young British actress who primarily works on stage and television, is captivating as Vicky; cinematographer Javier Aguirresarobe’s camera falls in love with her charming face the moment it first lays eyes on her. Bardem and Cruz inject fire and ice into this complex relationship drama, which examines the nature of love in intelligent and intriguing ways. In addition to filming at such sites as Antoni Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia, Parc Guell, and La Pedrera, Allen infuses the proceedings with a soundtrack of delightful Spanish music, structured around Gulia y Los Tellanini’s "Barcelona."
twi-ny/mdr
Pit Er Pat’s latest is a dark, eerie pleasure
ADP
526 West 114th St. between Broadway & Amsterdam Ave.
Thursday, October 23, $5, 9:00
HIGH TIME (Thrill Jockey, October 21, 2008), the new album by Brooklyn’s Pit Er Pat, has come out at just the right time, a great soundtrack for that Halloween party you’re going to this weekend. Not that you won’t want to play it the rest of the year as well, but it’s a dark, eerie pleasure. Lead singer and multi-instrumentalist Fay Davis-Jeffers (who plays piano, guitar, and kalimba), bassist Rob Doran, and percussionist Butchy Fuego take listeners on a thrilling ride, starting with the haunting, nearly-seven-minute opener, "Evacuation Days," followed by the creepy five-and-a-half-minute "Omen" and the funereal instrumental "My Darkness." Davis-Jeffers offers a beautiful falsetto on "Cairo Shuffle" before the band gets a little more cheerful with another instrumental, "Creation Stepper." The disc is filled with unusual sounds and instrumentation, including Burmese temple gongs, agogo bells, vibraslap, anandolohori, and a melodica, creating a captivating experience enhanced by Doran and Fuego’s intricate electronic assemblages. HIGH TIME reaches its sweet conclusion with "The Good Morning Song," a heavenly tune led by Davis-Jeffers’s lilting voice. In addition to their October 23 show at ADP with DMBQ and Scary Living, Pit Er Pat will be playing the strongly recommended Thrill Jockey / No Quarter CMJ showcase on October 25 at the Annex, along with labelmates the Psychic Paramount, Arbouretum, Pontiak, High Places, Thank You, and Dough Paisley.
twi-ny/mdr
The Roots will rise up at Roseland
Roseland Ballroom
239 West 52nd St. between Broadway & Eighth Ave.
Tuesday, October 28, $43.50, 6:00
212-247-0200
http://www.roselandballroom.com
Touring behind their tenth album, RISING DOWN (Def Jam, April 29, 2008), Tariq “Black Thought” Trotter, Ahmir “?uestlove” Thompson, Kamal Gray, Frank Knuckles, Kirk “Captain Kirk” Douglas, and Owen Biddle, better known as the Roots, come to Roseland with Gym Class Heroes for a show that figures to be politically charged as the election approaches. {They’ve also added Tuba Gooding Jr., who plays, well, the tuba.) The Roots recently tore it up at the All Points West Festival, playing a searing set that included a killer extended guitar solo by Captain Kirk. Their latest release features instrumentals, discussion “pow wows,”and guest appearances by Mos Def, Saigon, Malik B., Talib Kweli, Common, and others. They drop the N-bomb all over the place as they rip through such songs as “75 Bars (Black’s Reconstruction),” “I Will Not Apologize,” and “Rising Up,” rapping about crime, the environment, drugs, surveillance, war, addiction, and everyday survival during the Bush years. The April 29 release date was no accident; it was the sixteenth anniversary of the Rodney King beating at the hands of L.A. cops.
twi-ny/mdr
The infectiously happy Matt & Kim will play Halloween show in Brooklyn
Danbro Brewery Warehouse
Friday, October 31, 8:00
http://www.myspace.com/mattandkim
If there’s a more cheerful band out there than Matt & Kim, well, we’ve yet to find them. This past summer singer/keyboardist Matt Johnson and drummer Kim Schifino, Pratt graduates and current Brooklynites, turned McCarren Park Pool into an intimate gathering, with lots of friends and fans feeling the joy. We can’t get enough of their eponymously titled debut CD, which features such delightful songs as “Yeah Yeah,” “Ready OK,” and “5K.” They’ll be playing a Halloween show at the mysterious Danbro Brewery Warehouse with DMBQ, Ponytail, AIDS Wolf, the Homosexuals, Screens, Fiasco, and Child Abuse; don’t be surprised if they show up in costume.
twi-ny/mdr
B-boys battle ballerinas in street-set dance drama
37 ARTS
450 West 37th St. between Ninth & Tenth Aves.
October 22 — December 21 (October 14 preview performance reviewed below)
Tickets: $60.25-$70.25
212-560-8912
http://www.ballerinawholovesbboy.com
ballerina who loves b-boy slideshow
At the start of BALLERINA WHO LOVES B-BOY, one of the cast members comes onstage apparently to make the familiar announcement that all cell phones should be turned off and cameras put away. Instead, he strongly recommends that people take photographs, including flash, and post them on Facebook while also calling and texting their friends, telling them what a great time they are having. This ingenious viral marketing campaign reveals the heart behind the show, which is essentially a standard Romeo & Juliet tale told on the streets of New York City, as a quaint ballerina (Eun Hae Yoo) falls for an energetic hip-hopper (Youngkwang Joung). Writer-director Hee-ill Choi flip-flops between scenes in which three ballerinas practice in a loft studio and a group of street dancers show their stuff down below, in front of a colorfully graffiti’d wall. While the ballet moves are not that pretty — actually, none of the "acting" is very memorable, all performed without dialogue but with silly silent-film exaggerations — the b-boys and hip-hoppers go crazy, spinning, jumping, twirling, swirling, and sliding as they gyrate across the stage to old and new beats. Choi includes a pair of haunting dream sequences in which masked dancers encircle Yoo, and he also has the cast dance in the aisles with audience members at one point. A hit in Korea and at the 2007 Edinburgh Fringe Festival, BALLERINA WHO LOVES B-BOY features Extreme Crew, the Korean dance group that won the International Battle of the Year breakdance competition last fall.
Gregory Georges
Eiko & Koma should satisfy dance lovers’ hunger at the Joyce
Joyce Theater
175 Eighth Ave. at 19th St.
Tuesday, October 28, through Sunday, November 2, $19-$39
212-645-2904
HUNGER, the latest evening-length piece from Japanese dancers Eiko & Koma, delves into humanity’s need for fulfillment, seeking to feed the soul, the heart, and the body, both for the living and the dead. The first section is an adaptation of Eiko & Koma’s mesmerizing “Rust,” in which the two dancers, naked, are pressed upside down against a chain-link fence in the center of the stage. They grip the fence with their feet as they achingly twist and turn, switching positions with an agonizing slowness, in complete silence. At times they appear to be creating their own calligraphic letters, as if announcing a unique dance vocabulary, exhibiting deep emotion using unfamiliar reference points. Following “Rust,” David Ferri’s subtle lighting changes reveal a backdrop of a painting of a Cambodian village as Joko Sutrisno plays minimalist sounds from the gamelan at the side of the stage. Soon Charian (Chakrya So) and Peace (Setpheap Sorn), a pair of teenage Cambodian students, paint birds on the backdrop as Eiko and Koma re-create “Grain” (originally performed in 1983, then revived last year), incorporating uncooked grains of rice into their movements, which often evoke birds and animals. Charian and Peace also take their turn at the front of the stage with the rice, but their movement is not nearly as smooth and effortless, displaying the inexperience of youth (as well as the passing of the torch). As the evening continues, Koma brings cooked rice to Eiko, who partakes of it as Cambodian songs play over the speakers and the dancers’ movements evoke a more corporeal presence. At one point Koma begins consuming Eiko in a beautifully dramatic moment. Intellectually and emotionally demanding, HUNGER, co-commissioned by the Joyce and the Walker Arts Center in Minneapolis in honor of the Joyce’s twenty-fifth anniversary season, is a wrenching work, eighty minutes of sound and movement that are both exhilarating and draining.
Lee Ming-Hsun
U Theatre returns to BAM with BODHISATTVA
Brooklyn Academy of Music Next Wave Festival
BAM Howard Gilman Opera House
30 Lafayette Ave. between Ashland Pl. & St. Felix St.
October 29 — November 1
Tickets: $20-$45
718-636-4100
Five years after its stunning presentation THE SOUND OF OCEAN at BAM, Taiwan’s U Theatre has returned to the Next Wave Festival with the captivating, contemplative MEETING WITH BODHISATTVA. The eighty-minute piece is divided into six scenes as a shirtless warrior (music director Huang Chih-Chun) travels an inner path of self-actualization. After receiving a cudgel that becomes a sword of spirits, he confronts his two sides, attempting to conquer his conflicting duality as he searches for wisdom. Along the way, he is joined by a singer/chanter (Iki Tadaw) and ten drummers, wheeling their many instruments on- and offstage, helping guide him toward enlightenment. Combining martial arts, tai chi, butoh, operatic dance, and other movements, Huang powerfully demonstrates his character’s inner struggle, especially in “Confronting,” when he battles his two sides, with one of the other dancers mocking him loudly as all three use their sticks to beat the drums, both on the skin and the shell, as well as the ground. Later Huang turns away from the audience, pounding away with two smaller cudgels on a large, elevated drum, the muscles in his back rippling, revealing his turmoil. Under the guiding leadership of artistic director Liu Ruo-Yu, MEETING WITH BODHISATTVA is another sparkling triumph for U Theatre, a thrilling night of dance, music, and theater, performed with expert precision.
New York City native Caitlin Leffel and Londoner Jacob Lehman’s follow up THE BEST THINGS TO DO IN NEW YORK: 1001 IDEAS with the impressive, well-researched, lengthily titled NYC: AN OWNER’S MANUAL: ARRIVING, SURVIVING, AND THRIVING IN THE GREATEST CITY IN THE WORLD. More than just another guide to life in the big city, the book offers lots of helpful tips and insider information for people choosing not merely to vacation here but to move here, becoming true New Yorkers. "Moving to live somewhere new can be a life-changing experience," they write. "The great thing about New York is that with care and knowledge you can live however you want to." Leffel and Lehman first introduce prospective Gothamites to such intricacies as sublets and leases, rent control vs. rent stabilization as they examine the importance of having friendly neighbors and getting on your super’s good side. After a neighborhood-by-neighborhood study, they then head to "Surviving," taking readers on a journey through necessary paperwork, choosing between the bus or the subway, finding an all-night drugstore, and where to go when you really gotta go. Finally, "Thriving" offers up how to maintain your chosen lifestyle in the city, from making friends to selecting the right gym, from knowing where to go for a cheap haircut to getting that table at the hottest new restaurant.
NYC: AN OWNER’S MANUAL is best when it offers more general information — tips on specific restaurants, clubs, and stores are not only available on the Internet but are subject to constant changes. (For example, Leffel and Lehman recommend checking out Galapagos in Williamsburg, but it recently moved to Dumbo.) The book ends with one of twi-ny’s mantras: taking some time away from your ridiculously scheduled life to just enjoy the city, wandering around and letting yourself be surprised by all New York has to offer.
McNally Jackson
52 Prince St. between Lafayette and Mulberry Sts.
Admission: free
212-274-1160
http://pensivemischief.blogspot.com
Friday, October 31 Second annual event, featuring a Literary Costume Contest, refreshments, prizes, projections, and signings by writers Joe Harris and Stuart Moore and artist Bill Sienkewicz (THE NIGHTMARE FACTORY VOLUME 2), a Scary Story Slam, and readings by Doug Dorst (ALIVE IN NECROPOLIS), David Wellington (VAMPIRE ZERO: A GRUESOME VAMPIRE TALE), and Moore again (BREUCKELEN), 6:30 – 8:30
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Coney Island Sideshows by the Seashore
3006 West 12th St. at Surf Ave.
Admission: $10 adults, $5 kids under twelve
718-372-5159
Through Friday, October 31 Phantom of the Presidential Wax Museum, including presidential shooting gallery, first lady robots, funeral speeches, and tour of building not usually open to public
542 West 27th St. between Tent & Eleventh Aves.
Thursdays through Sundays plus October 29
Tickets: $25-$30
877-340-3002
Through Saturday, November 1 The Nightmare on 27th St., featuring frightening rooms often based on horror flicks, 7:30 pm — 1:00 am
CSV Cultural Center
107 Suffolk St. at Rivington St.
Tickets: $30 Super Haunt, $60 VIP Haunt (no waiting)
212-352-3101
http://www.nightmarenewyork.com
Through Saturday, November 8 Annual scarefest on Lower East Side
Kico Gallery / Chelsea Market
75 Ninth Ave.
Admission: free
http://www.gochelsea.com/pumpkins
Through Wednesday, November 26 An Exhibit of Pumpkin Carving, Photographs, and More, by Hugh McMahon
Two Boots Pioneer Theater
155 East Third St. at Ave. A
Through October 31
212-254-3300
http://www.twoboots.com/pioneer
Wednesday, October 22
and
Thursday, October 23 Daggers: The Short Festival of Short Horror, 9:00
Friday, October 24 GOTHKILL: THE SOUL COLLECTOR (JJ Connelly), with JJ Connelly and cast member present, 9:00
Saturday, October 25 Tooth & Nail Terror Show, 9:00
Thursday, October 30 BLOODSUCKING FREAKS (THE INCREDIBLE TORTURE SHOUW) (Joel M. Reed, 1976) in 35mm print, followed by a Q&A with Joel M. Reed, 11:00
Friday, October 31 THE NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (George A. Romero, 1968) in 35mm print, 12 midnight
Symphony Space, Peter Jay Sharpe Theatre
2537 Broadway at 95th St.
Tickets: $25-$30
212-349-0330
Thursday, October 23
through
Saturday, October 25 At Last–An Election! musical theater and comedy with Jane Curtin, Ivy Austin, Jay Leonhard, David Buskin and Rebecca Donner, Isaiah Sheffer, Marion Cowings, the Chalks, Gregory Jones, and musical director Lanny Meyers
Multiple locations in Central Park
Admission: free
Thursday, October 23 Halloween Crafts for Tots, Chess & Checkers House, 212-794-4064, 12 noon — 3:00
Saturday, October 25 Pumpkin Festival, including pumpkin picking, scarecrow building, and haunted house, Naumburg Bandshell, Cherry Hill, and Bethesda Fountain, 3:00 — 8:00
Saturday, October 25 Spooks at Belvedere, including frights from 4:00 and screening of THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS at 6:30, limited seating, 212-772-0210
Sunday, October 26 Halloween Pumpkin Sail, including crafts, storytelling, live saw music, candy, and more, with visitors encouraged to bring five- to ten-pound jack o’lantern by 6:00 to participate in flotilla on Harlem Meer, Charles A. Dana Discovery Center, 4:00 — 7:00
92YTribeca
200 Hudson St. at Canal St.
212601-1000
Thursday, October 23 GUNNIN’ FOR THAT #1 SPOT (Adam Yauch, 2008), introduced by Adam Yauch, $12, 10:00
Wednesday, October 29 Pre-Election Comedy with Greg Giraldo, Todd Barry, Jon Glaser, and Laurie Kilmartin, $12, 8:00
Wednesday, November 5 Eugene Mirman and Friends, featuring Arj Barker, Jessi Klein, Hannibal Buress, and Kumail Nanji, $12, 8:30
Merchant’s House Museum
29 East Fourth St. between Lafayette St. and Bowery
212-777-1089
Friday, October 24
through
Thursday, October 30 Ghost tours of "Manhattan’s Most Haunted House," reservations required, $25, 6:00 — 10:00 pm
Friday, October 31 Spine Tingling & True: Ghost Stories of the Merchant’s House Museum, with Anthony Bellov, with nineteenth-century funeral room, $15-$20, 7:00 & 9:00
Sunday, November 2 Mid-19th-century Funeral & Cemetery Tour, re-creating the 1865 funeral of Seabury Tredwell, including march to New York Marble Cemetery with black armbands, $10-$15, 3:00
Multiple locations
Admission: free
Telephone: 311
Saturday, October 25 Participate in special projects at the Williamsbridge Oval, Hunts Point Recreation Cente, Tappan Park, Highbridge Park, Shore Road Park, Sara D. Roosevelt Park, Morningside Park, Kaiser Park, Rainey Park, and others, including pumpkin painting, bicycle demonstrations, storytelling, arts & crafts, garbage can painting, barbecues, live performances, sports, costume parade, and more, 10:00 am — 4:00 pm
Metropolitan Museum of Art Uris Center for Education
1000 Fifth Ave. at 82nd St.
Free with museum admission, reservations suggested
212-650-2833, diadelosmuertos@metmuseum.org
Saturday, October 25 Bilingual celebration for families, featuring films, tours, workshops, storytelling, and music, 11:00 am — 2:00 pm
Tompkins Square Park Dog Run
East Ninth St. between Aves. A & B
Admission: $5 raffle ticket for iPod Nano
Saturday, October 25 Eighteenth annual event, with dogs and owners competing in several categories, with prizes, photographers, gift baskets, and more, 12 noon
World Financial Center Winter Garden
225 Vesey St.
Admission: free
212-945-2600
http://www.worldfinancialcenter.com
Saturday, October 25 Annual Halloween pumpkin party, featuring face painting, pumpkin decorating, storytelling, trick-or-treating in the WFC shops, and the Magical Great Pumpkin, 12 noon — 3:00 pm
Grand Ballroom at Manhattan Center
311 West 34th St. between Eighth & Ninth Aves.
Tickets: $40
917-589-8578
Saturday, October 25 Activist singer-songwriter is touring behind his highly acclaimed latest album, MR LOVE & JUSTICE, with the Watson Twins opening, 9:00
Bronx Zoo/Prospect Park Zoo/Central Park Zoo/Queens Zoo/New York Aquarium
All weekend special events 10:00 am — 5:30 pm
Free with zoo admission
Saturday, October 25
and
Sunday, October 26 Annual festival featuring magic shows, storytelling, sing-along hayrides, live music, face painting, pumpkin picking and painting, trick-or-treat-bag workshops, cats, bats, and rats, a costume parade, and a spooktacular Halloween celebration
Prospect Park
Lefferts Historic House / Audubon Center / Prospect Park Zoo
Admission: free
718-965-8999
Saturday, October 25 Annual Halloween Haunted Walk and Carnival, featuring monsters on Lookout Hill, carnival on the Nethermead, live music, hayrides, games, candy, and more, 12 noon — 3:00
Saturday, October 25
and
Sunday, October 26 Haunted Carousel ($1.50), Scary Stories from the Past, Creepy Crawly Halloween, and more, 12 noon - 5:00
Green-Wood Cemetery Landmark Gothic Archway, Brooklyn
Fifth Ave. at 25th St. entrance
Tickets: $20
718-768-7300
Saturday, October 25
and
Sunday, October 26 Two Historic Fund Tours, with tales of murder, mayhem, spirits, and ghosts, 1:00
The Barrow Group Arts Center
312 West 36th St. at Eighth Ave.
Tickets: $18
Saturday, October 25, 8:00
and
Sunday, October 26, 2:00 & 8:00 Second annual event featuring ninety one-minute plays by forty-two playwrights staged by nine directors with forty actors
Queens Farm Museum
73-50 Little Neck Parkway
Admission: $4 (hayrides additional $2)
718-347-3243
Saturday, October 25
Sunday, October 26
and
Friday, October 31 Haunted house, hayrides, apple and pumpkin treats, and more, 4:00 — 7:00
Central Park
Glow Heart Pumpkins: $10
Admission: free
http://www.campsunshine.org/pumpkinfestival
Sunday, October 26 Pumpkin carving, Great Pumpkin Walk, pumpkin lighting, live music, magic shows, face painting, food, and more, benefiting Camp Sunshine, 9:00 am — 6:00 pm
Brooklyn Botanic Garden Cherry Esplanade
1000 Washington Ave.
Admission: $8 adults, children under 12 free
718-623-7200
Sunday, October 26 Annual Halloween celebration featuring Weird Workshops, Batty Book Corner with children’s books authors and illustrators, costume parade, stilt walkers, carnivorous plant feedings, temporary tattoo parlor, Phydeaux’s Flying Flea Circus of Fate, live performances by the Revolutionary Snake Ensemble, John Carlin & the Kids Music Underground, Guy Davis, Bash the Trash, Maracatu NY, and the Von Swing Family, and Other Oddities, 12 noon — 6:00 pm
New-York Historical Society
170 Central Park West between 76th & 77th Sts.
Tickets: $10
212-712-SCFS
Sunday, October 26 Laurel & Hardy in HABEAS CORPUS (1928) and John Barrymore in DR. JEKYLL & MR. HYDE (John S. Robertson, 1920), with an introduction and Q&A with Bruce Lawton and Steve Massa and live piano accompaniment by Ben Model, 2:00
Various venues and events
Admission: free unless otherwise noted
212-423-2249
Sunday, October 26 Poland Spring Marathon Kickoff (5M), Central Park, 8:30 am
Thursday, October 30 Run with Champions, Central Park, 9:00 am
Thursday, October 30
through
Saturday, November 1 ING New York City Marathon Health and Fitness Expo, Jacob Javits Convention Center, free, 10:00 am - 8:00 pm
Saturday, November 1 Continental Airlines International Friendship Run, United Nations, $25, 9:00 am
Saturday, November 1 Barilla Marathon Eve Dinner, Tavern on the Green, 4:30 - 9:00
Saturday, November 1 Marathon Fireworks, with live entertainment, New York City Marathon finish line, 7:30
Sunday, November 2 The New York City Marathon: staggered start times, including professional women at 9:37 am and professional men at 10:08 am, followed by awards ceremony and celebration at the Hammerstein Ballroom); race begins on Staten Island at the foot of the Verrazano Narrows Bridge and ends by Tavern on the Green in Central Park, with entertainment zones throughout
La MaMa E.T.C. (Annex Theater)
66 East Fourth St.
Tickets: $50-$350
413-339-4332
Monday, October 27 Benefit performance of Jean-Claude van Itallie’s play, raising money for Shantigar
Joe’s Pub
425 Lafayette St. between East Fourth St. & Astor Pl.
Monday nights through December
Tickets: $30
212-539-8778
Monday, October 27 REEFER MADNESS CD release party, with live performances by Alan Cumming, Ana Gasteyer, Steven Weber, John Kassir, and other original cast members, 11:30
School of Visual Arts
209 East 23rd St., third floor
Admission: free
212-592-2010
Tuesday, October 28 Panel discussion with Sara and Marc Schiller of the Wooster Collective, artist and curator Thomas Beale of Honey Space, SVA teacher Frank Anselmo, and artist ELBOW-TOE, moderated by artist and teacher Amy Wilson, 7:00
Mount Vernon Hotel Museum and Garden
421 East 61st St.
Tickets: $20
212-838-6878
Wednesday, October 29
through
Friday, October 31 Eerie one-man play read and reenacted by Kevin Mitchell Martin in the candlelit Upper Hall, 6:15 & 8:00
Macy’s Herald Square Cellar Kitchen
151 East 34th St. at Broadway
Admission: free
212-494-3827
Thursday, October 30 Patricia Helding, Fat Witch Bakery, 1:00
Live from the NYPL
Humanities and Social Sciences Library, South Court Auditorium
Tickets: $15
212-930-0855
Thursday, October 30 Leslie S. Klinger plays literary detective, treating the legend of Dracula as a true story, 7:00
JCC in Manhattan
334 Amsterdam Ave. at 76th St.
Tickets: $10
646-505-5708
Thursday, October 30 Sana Krasikov, ONE MORE YEAR, and Lara Vapnyar, BROCCOLI AND OTHER TALES OF FOOD AND LOVE, 7:30
Judson Memorial Church
55 Washington Square South
Tickets: $50-$250
212-279-4200
Thursday, October 30 With Black Taxi, Cello, Conjunto Suor, DJ Brian Pennington, the New York Circus Arts Academy, dancing, open bar, raffles, silent auction, gift bags, light fare, art exhibition, and more, All Hallow’s Eve-ningwear suggested, 9:00 pm — 1:00 am
Bruce Springsteen has a special Halloween message about the Jersey Devil
American Museum of Natural History
Central Park West & 79th St.
Admission: $10 (bring your own trick-or-treat bag)
Monster Meal packages $18
212-769-5200
Friday, October 31 Thirteenth annual spooktacular celebration featuring arts and crafts, cartoon characters, origami workshop, pumpkin carving, and live performances by David Grover and the Big Bear Band and Louie & Subanda, come in costume and go trick-or-treating through the exhibits, 4:00 - 7:00
Brooklyn Academy of Music
30 Lafayette Ave. between Ashland Pl. & St. Felix St.
Admission: free
718-636-4100
Friday, October 31 Seventh annual street festival featuring free trick-or-treat bags, a haunted garden, children’s costume contest, and carnival performances, all with a prehistoric dinosaur/caveman theme, 4:00 — 7:00 pm
Trinity Church
Broadway at Wall St.
212-602-0800
http://www.trinitywallstreet.org
Friday, October 31 Ghouls, Games, and Graves, featuring tricks, treats, storytelling, and more, free, 4:00 — 6:00
Friday, October 31 Haunted Hamilton Happy Hour, alcoholic and nonalcoholic drinks available, suggested donation $5, 6:00 — 8:00 pm
Friday, October 31 Screening of DR. JEKYLL & MR. HYDE (John S. Robertson, 1920), accompanied by Cameron Carpenter on the pipe organ, contributions welcome, 8:00
Theater for the New City
155 First Ave. at Tenth St.
Outdoor entertainment: free, 4:00 to 8:00 pm
Indoor tickets: $20, 8:00 pm to 1:00 am
212-254-1109
http://www.theaterforthenewcity.net
Friday, October 31 Thirty-first annual event featuring free outdoor party from 4:00 to 8:00, with stilt walkers, jugglers, fire-eaters, vaudeville and burlesque entertainment, and the Red and Black Masque medieval ritual show, followed by ticketed indoor party featuring the Witches’ Cauldron grand buffet, Monsters and Miracles Costume Parade and contest at 11:30, and live music
Halloween happenings get spooky at St. John the Divine
The Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine
1047 Amsterdam Ave. at 112th St.
Tickets: $15
212-316-7540
Friday, October 31 Screening of THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (, 19), with live organ accompaniment by Timothy Brumfield, followed by procession of puppets, creatures, and special effects, $15, 7:00 & 10:00
TriBeCa Performing Arts Center
199 Chambers St. between Greenwich & West St.
Tickets: $25-$35
212-220-1460
Friday, October 31 Nightmarish Masterworks by Puente, Zappa, Ellis, and others, featuring the Bobby Sanabria Big Band, celebrating Tribeca PAC’s twenty-fifth anniversary, 7:30
B.B. King Blues Club & Grill
237 West 42nd St. between Seventh & Eighth Aves.
Tickets: $26-$30
212-997-4144
Friday, October 31 Jerry Only, Dez, and Robo celebrate Halloween, with Martyrd, Johnny B. Morbid, and Until Destiny, 8:00
Snug Harbor Cultural Center
VMH Playhouse
1000 Richmond Terr.
Admission: $12, plus $3 for audience participation bag
718-815-SNUG
Friday, October 31 Fourth annual screening of THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW (Jim Sharman, 1975), virgin viewing (no alcohol) at 8:00, 11:00 preshow party, followed by midnight viewing
Club Delancey
168 Delancey St.
Tickets: $25-$30
917-378-5012
Friday, October 31 Fourth annual Night for All Vamps, Pagans, Witches, Druids, Goths, Faerie Folk, Magickal Fold, Indigos, and Urbanites, with DJ Ian Fford, the Cross Between, Shakti, DMD, DJ Dan Drogynous, Magical Michael Lee, Chovexani, an ancestral drum circle, costume contest, tarot readers, psychics, and much more, benefiting Avon Walk breast cancer research, 8:00 pm — 4:00 am
Central Park West at 67th St.
Tickets: $25
http://www.tavernonthegreen.com
Friday, October 31 Featuring four rooms of ghoulish excitement, a haunted house in the tented garden, DJs RB and Journey, live music, and more, costumes required, 10:00 pm — 4:00 am
Spiegelworld
Pier 17, South Street Seaport, Fulton & South Sts.
Admission: $20
http://www.geminiandscorpio.com
Friday, October 31 A Night of Witchy Devilry for Globetrotting Vagabonds, with Samba Nation and the Sugartone Brass Band playing outside, GlobeSonic Sound System’s Fabian Alsultany and Derek Beres and Parashakti & the Gatekeepers in the Ancestral Tent, DJ Sub Swara and tribal fustion bellydance by Alchemy Dance Theater in the Futur-JuJu Tent, free energy drinks, costume contest, and more, 11:00 pm – 6:00 am
Pier 92
12th Ave. at 52nd St.
Friday 7:00 — 11:00
Saturday 12 noon — 4:00 and 5:00 — 9:00
Tickets: $50-$59 per session
718-249-4965
Friday, October 31
and
Saturday, November 1 Sixth annual event, featuring live music and samplings from nearly three dozen breweries
Ghost ship haunts seaport this Halloween
South Street Seaport Museum
Admission: $15-$20
212-748-8786
http://www.southstreetseaportmuseum.org
Friday, October 31
and
Saturday, November 1 Adult program aboard the Peking (the Ship of the Dead), with gargoyles, ghosts, goblins, vampires, and more, hourly from 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm
National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian Institution
George Gustav Heye Center
Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House
1 Bowling Green
Admission: free
212-514-3737
Saturday, November 1 Performances, storytelling, and workshops honoring the memory of the departed, featuring Danza Mexica Cetiliztli Nauhcampa, storytelling with Elvira and Hortensia Colorado, art installation by Tlisza Jaurique, hands-on workshops, and the Dedication of the Altar, 1:00 - 5:00 pm
New York Hall of Science, the Great Hall
47-01 111th St., Flushing Meadows Corona Park
Free with museum admission
Free shuttle bus from 15th St. & Tenth Ave. at 12:15: rsvp@publicartfund.org
718-699-0005
Saturday, November 1 Klara Hobza stages paper airplane contest based on 1967 competition at the Great Hall, with prizes in such categories as distance flown, duration aloft, beauty, failure, and more, 1:00 - 5:00
Flushing Town Hall
137-35 Northern Blvd.
Admission: free
718-463-7700
http://www.flushingtownhall.org
Saturday, November 1 Special activities celebrating Halloween, the Day of the Dead, and All Saints Day, with arts & crafts, workshops, treats, giveaway, and more, costumes recommended, 2:00
Museum of the City of New York
1220 Fifth Avenue at 103rd St.
Admission: $
Reservations required: 212-926-2550
Saturday, November 1 Drummer Thelonius Monk Jr. and guitarist Yuchiro Oda in a special collaboration of American and Japanese cross-culture, 5:00
Brooklyn Museum of Art
200 Eastern Parkway
Free after 5:00 (*requires advance free tickets available a few hours before showtime)
718-638-5000
Saturday, November 1 Create Your Own Performance Art, inspired by Gilbert & George's Singing Sculpture, 5:30-7:30
Saturday, November 1 Music: Adama, 6:00
Saturday, November 1 Film: Election Day (Katy Chevigny, 2007), followed by a discussion with the director (free tickets available at the Visitor Center at 5:00), 6:00
Saturday, November 1 Artist Talk: Edwina Sandys (free tickets available at the Visitor Center at 5:00), 6:30
Saturday, November 1 Hands-On Art: Visitors are invited to create a collage of their neighborhood inspired by Gilbert & George's dedication to their London neighborhood. Participants are encouraged to bring photographs or items from their neighborhood to include in their collages (free timed tickets available at the Visitor Center at 5:30), 6:30
Saturday, November 1 Young Voices Talk: Student Guides lead a gallery talk on the boundary-breaking work of Gilbert & George, 7:00
Saturday, November 1 Artist Talk: Jesper (free tickets available at the Visitor Center at 7:00), 8:00
Saturday, November 1 Film: My Beautiful Laundrette (Stephen Frears, 1986), free tickets available at the Visitor Center at 7:00), 8:30
Saturday, November 1 Dance Party: DJs Miss Modular, Dr. Maz, and Kevington of Mondo, spinning Brit pop, Northern soul, new wave, beat, and British indie, 9:00 — 11:00
Cultural Performing Arts Center
1020 East 48th St. at Farragut Rd.
Tickets: $30
718-421-6927
Saturday, November 1 Fourth annual celebration of the coronation of Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie I, featuring the Mighty Diamonds, the Melodians, Ranking Trevor, Khari Kill, Ainsley Burrows, Down Beat the Ruler, Nyahbinghi drumming, a screening of AFRICA UNITE (Stephanie Black), Caribbean cuisien, and more, 8:00
Hudson River Park
Pier 54, West 14th St. & the West Side Highway
Admission: free (some activities $2)
212-533-park
http://www.hudsonriverpark.org
Saturday, November 1
and
Sunday, November 2 Tenth scary year, featuring a haunted house, face painting, wax hands, rides, the Striking Viking Story Pirates (at 2:00 & 4:30), and the Maze of Horror, 12 noon — 9:00 pm
South Street Seaport Museum
Melville Gallery, 213 Water St.
Admission: $15
212-748-8786
http://www.southstreetseaportmuseum.org
Saturday, November 1
and
Sunday, November 2 Special family activities aboard the Good Ship Adventure, with pirates, ghosts, goodies, and more, 1:00 & 3:00
twi-ny/mdr
The Brothers Felice will play under Spiegeltent at seaport
Spiegelworld
Fulton Fish Market, Pier 17, South Street Seaport
Tickets: $20
212-279-4200
http://www.myspace.com/thefelicebrothers
Sunday, November 2 American roots music purveyors the Felice Brothers close out the season under the Spiegeltent at the seaport, 10:00
Morgan Library & Museum
225 Madison Ave. at 36th St.
Tickets: $35
212-685-0008
Monday, November 3 Pianist Vassily Primakov: Mendelssohn, Fantasia in F-sharp Minor, op. 28, Sonate Eccossaise; Chopin, Six Mazurkas; Chopin, Ballade no.3 in A-flat Major, op. 47; Chopin, Ballade no.4 In F Minor, op. 52; Liszt, Nuages Gris; and Liszt, Sonata in B Minor, in conjunction with the exhibit "Liszt in Paris: Enduring Encounters," exhibit open at 6:30, concert at 7:30
Highline Ballroom
431 West 16th St. between Ninth & Tenth Aves.
Tickets: $50 (VIP $100)
212-414-5994
http://www.highlineballroom.com
Monday, November 3 Election eve party benefiting nonprofit group HeadCount, with Robert Randolph, Stanton Moore, Joe Russo and Marc Benevento of the Duo, Chris Barron of the Spin Doctors, Dave Dreiwitz of Ween, Tom Hamilton and Scott Metzger of American Babies, and Aron Magner of the Disco Biscuits, playing in various conglomerations, including a Led Zeppelin tribute, a Garage a Trois, Flying Circus, and more with DJ sets by ?uestlove of the Roots, 8:00
Judson Memorial Church
55 Washington Square South
Admission: $10
212-477-0351
Tuesday, November 4 An Election Night Concert of Free Improvisation, with John Zorn, Joan La Barbara, Shahzad Ismaily, Kevork Mourad, Zeena Parkins, Colin Jacbobsen, Charles Waters, Kinan Azmeh, Gordon Befferman, Russ Johnson, Mick Rossi, and Kyle Sanna, curated by Lisa Bielawa in New York and Carla Kihlstedt in San Francisco, with live feeds of simultaneous performances in SF, 6:00 pm — 12 midnight
Galapagos Art Space
16 Main St. at Water St., Dumbo
Tickets: $5
718-222-8500
http://www.galapagosartspace.com
Thursday, November 4 Galapagos, which recently moved into its new space in Dumbo, will be projecting the election results, with a new live act as each state is called
The New School, Tishman Auditorium
66 West 12th St. between Fifth & Sixth Aves.
Admission: $5
212-980-4575
Wednesday, November 5 Sculptor Tom Friedman, 6:30