Yearly Archives: 2012

TICKET GIVEAWAY: SILENCE! THE MUSICAL

SILENCE! THE MUSICAL parodies controversial Oscar-winning thriller, with Jenn Harris as Clarice Starling and David Garrison as Hannibal Lector

Silence! The Musical
9th Space Theatre at Performance Space 122
150 First Ave. at Ninth St.
Thursday – Tuesday through May 6, $25-$79
www.silencethemusicalnyc.comg

In 2005, Silence! The Musical was named Best Musical at the New York International Fringe Festival and has continued to build a devoted cult following over the years. An “Unauthorized Parody of Silence of the Lambs” — Jonathan Demme’s controversial 1991 serial-killer thriller that won five Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Actor (Anthony Hopkins), Best Actress (Jodie Foster), Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay (Ted Tally) — this comic satire follows the exploits of rookie FBI agent Clarice Starling (Swan!!!’s Jenn Harris) as she seeks help from imprisoned madman Hannibal “the Cannibal” Lector (Married with Children’s David Garrison) in order to catch another crazed killer, Buffalo Bill (Stephen Bienskie). Directed and choreographed by Christopher Gattelli, Silence! The Musical features a book by Obie winner Hunter Bell ([title of show]), music, lyrics, and “screenplay” by Jon & Al Kaplan (24: Season Two: The Musical), and a cast that also includes Callan Bergmann, Harry Bouvy, Ashlee Dupre, Annie Funke, Deidre Goodwin, Howard Kaye, and Topher Nuccio.

TICKET GIVEAWAY: Silence! The Musical is currently running through May 6 at the 9th Space Theatre at Performance Space 122, and twi-ny has four pairs of tickets to give away for free for select shows March 1 – April 27. Just send your name, daytime phone number, and all-time favorite serial-killer movie to contest@twi-ny.com by Wednesday, February 22, at 3:00 to be eligible. All entrants must be twenty-one years of age or older; four winners will be selected at random.

INSPIRATION ON THE STREETS WITH WOOSTER COLLECTIVE: EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP

Banksy reveals only so much of himself in new documentary

Banksy reveals only so much of himself in controversial documentary

EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP (Banksy, 2010)
JCC in Manhattan
334 Amsterdam Ave. at 76th St.
Tuesday, February 21, $11, 7:30
646-505-5708
www.jccmanhattan.org/film?page=cat-content&progid=25238
www.banksyfilm.com

In 1999, L.A.-based French shopkeeper and amateur videographer Thierry Guetta discovered that he was related to street artist Invader and began filming his cousin putting up his tile works. Guetta, who did not know much about art, soon found himself immersed in the underground graffiti scene. On adventures with such famed street artists as Shepard Fairey, Swoon, Ron English, and Borf, Guetta took thousands of hours of much-sought-after video. The amateur videographer was determined to meet Banksy, the anarchic satirist who has been confounding authorities around the world with his striking, politically sensitive works perpetrated right under their noses, from England to New Orleans to the West Bank. Guetta finally gets his wish and begins filming the seemingly unfilmable as Banksy, whose identity has been a source of controversy for more than a decade, allows Guetta to follow him on the streets and invites him into his studio. But as he states at the beginning of his brilliant documentary, Exit Through the Gift Shop, Banksy—who hides his face from the camera in new interviews and blurs it in older footage—turns the tables on Guetta, making him the subject of this wildly entertaining film.

Guetta is a hysterical character, a hairy man with a thick accent who plays the jester in Banksy’s insightful comedy of errors. Billed as “the world’s first Street Art disaster movie,” Exit, which is narrated by Welsh actor Rhys Ifans (Danny Deckchair) and features a soundtrack by Portishead’s Geoff Barrow sandwiched in between Richard Hawley’s declaratory “Tonight the Streets Are Ours,” is all the more exciting and intriguing because the audience doesn’t know what is actually true and what might be staged; although the film could be one hundred percent real and utterly authentic, significant parts of it could also be completely made up. Who’s to say that’s even Banksy underneath the black hood, talking about Guetta, who absurdly rechristens himself Mr. Brainwash? It could very well be Banksy’s F for Fake from start to finish. No matter. Exit Through the Gift Shop is riotously funny, regardless of how you feel about street art, Banksy, and especially the art market itself (as the title so wryly implies). Exit Through the Gift Shop is screening on February 21 at 7:30 at the JCC in Manhattan in conjunction with the exhibit: “Community Portrait: A Gabriel Specter Installation.”

CINEMA & FASHION — CARTE BLANCHE TO AGNÈS B.: PIERROT LE FOU

Jean-Paul Belmondo and Anna Karina star in Godard’s colorful crime musical, PIERROT LE FOU

CINÉMATUESDAYS: PIERROT LE FOU (Jean-Luc Godard, 1965)
French Institute Alliance Française
Florence Gould Hall
55 East 59th St. between Madison & Park Aves.
Tuesday, February 21, $10, 7:30
Series continues through February 28
212-355-6160
www.fiaf.org

Art, American consumerism, the Vietnam and Algerian wars, Hollywood, and the cinema itself get skewered in Jean-Luc Godard’s fab feaux gangster flick / road comedy / romance epic / musical Pierrot Le Fou. Based on Lionel White’s novel Obsession, the film follows the chaotic exploits of Ferdinand Griffon (Jean-Paul Belmondo) and Marianne Renoir (Anna Karina, Godard’s then-wife), former lovers who meet up again quite by accident. The bored Ferdinand immediately decides to leave his wife and family for the flirtatious, unpredictable Marianne, who insists on calling him Pierrot despite his protestations. Soon Ferdinand is caught in the middle of a freewheeling journey involving gun running, stolen cars, dead bodies, and half-truths, all the while not quite sure how much he can trust Marianne. Filmed in reverse-scene order without much of a script, the mostly improvised Pierrot Le Fou was shot in stunning color by Raoul Coutard. Many of Godard’s recurring themes and style appear in the movie, including jump cuts, confusing dialogue, written protests on walls, and characters speaking directly at the audience, which is more or less along for the same ride as Ferdinand. And as with many Godard films, the ending is a doozy. Pierrot Le Fou is screening February 21 at 7:30 as part of FIAF’s “Cinema & Fashion: Carte Blanche to agnès b.” series, which also includes Godard’s Vivre sa vie the same day at 12:30 & 4:00 and concludes February 28 with Jacques Becker’s Casque d’or.

SPA CASTLE

Spa Castle features an outdoor deck with numerous pools to relax in

131-10 11th Ave., College Point, Queens
Monday – Friday, $35; Saturday – Sunday, $45
718-939-6300
www.nyspacastle.com

You’ve heard the rumors about an amazing Korean spa in Queens, and we’re here to tell you that they’re absolutely true. Spa Castle, previously known as InSpa, is a treat for all five senses. The massive 100,000-square-foot complex in College Point features five floors of heated baths, pools, waterfalls, saunas, food and drink, massage, a sleep area, and more. Upon entering the facility, men and women are separated, given shorts and a T-shirt (don’t forget to bring your own bathing suit to wear underneath), and begin their journey stark naked in Healing Rooms (one for women, one for men) filled with multiple pools of water of varying temperatures, from cool to more than a hundred degrees. Men can also take a seat and give themselves a shave. After that, you head upstairs and proceed at your own pace, stopping off in an outdoor bade pool, holding on as powerful aqua jets shoot against your back and shoulders, letting a powerful surge of water fall down from above on your head and body, relaxing in a soothing Hinoki bath made from three-hundred-year-old pine, getting a foot or full-body massage (for an additional fee), or taking a nap in a dark room with comfortable lounge chairs (and, for some reason, individual televisions, which are not extremely helpful if you’re trying to sleep and the person next to you is watching some stupid program).

Healing saunas range from boiling hot to freezing cold at Spa Castle

The second floor is sauna heaven: seven saunas of varying sizes and styles. Each of the saunas is lined with different rocks, minerals, and other materials — from gold, jade, and salt to natural herbs, infrared, and ice — with unique properties that help promote the mind-body connection in different ways, working on circulation, breathing, blood pressure, the immune system, digestion, muscle fatigue, and other physical and psychological life energies. Even light and color come into play as healing methods. After that, you can grab a cocktail in the Aqua Bar or sit down for a fine Korean meal in the Sky Restaurant while looking down on people in the outdoor pool section or gazing upon the Whitestone Bridge in the distance. We actually prefer going in the wintertime, letting the freezing-cold air stab at your body as you move from pool to pool on the outdoor deck, making your ultimate immersion that much more satisfying. It’s best to go by car; otherwise, you have to meet up in a parking lot in Queens, where a too-small shuttle can only take so many people at a time, and it’s a free-for-all, with no line, just everyone pushing one another out of the way to get in first. Returning is a similar experience as well. It’s also much more crowded on weekends and holidays, when children are running around everywhere, so plan accordingly. The basics are a mere $35 Monday through Friday, with food, drink, the workout room, and massage extra. You pay via a plastic band you wear on your wrist, which also operates the aqua jets (at no extra charge). You really will feel like a king or queen at Spa Castle, a glorious way to spend a day and feel like you’re a million miles away from the maelstrom of the big city.

HOCKEY WEEKEND IN NEW YORK

As Linsanity continues and MSG finally returns to nearly two million homes on Time Warner Cable, don’t forget that there’s another hot team in New York City these days. The Broadway Blueshirts are atop their conference for the first time in many a year, playing solid, thrilling hockey that reaches deep into their roster, every night getting contributions from all four lines and a young, determined defense. The New York Rangers might be back on cable, but they’ll also be all over town for Hockey Weekend in New York, part of the NHL’s Hockey Weekend in America program promoting the country’s most exciting live sport. This second annual outdoor hockey festival will feature a number of appearances by current and former Rangers, beginning Saturday at 12 noon (and continuing till 5:00) with Nick Fotiu, Young Ron Greschner, Brian Mullen, Chris Ferraro, and Peter Ferraro giving skating lessons, signing autographs, and holding hockey clinics at Wollman Rink in Central Park; admission is free to anyone in Rangers gear. On Sunday night from 5:00 to 11:00, Youth Hockey Night at MSG will include a pregame forum with John Giannone, Adam Graves, Fotiu, and Mullen, as well as an in-game presentation of the fifth annual Emile Francis Award. And on Presidents’ Day, the Rangers Free Skate will take place at the World Ice Arena in Queens, the Oyster Bay Skating Rink in Bethpage, the Floyd Hall Arena in Little Falls, and the Rye Playland Ice Casino, with Fotiu, Mullen, Graves, Greschner, and Pete Stemkowski giving lessons, posing for photos, signing autographs, and giving away prizes.

FIST AND SWORD: KLITSCHKO

Vitali and Wladimir Klitschko let audiences get the inside scoop in fascinating documentary

KLITSCHKO (Sebastian Dehnhardt, 2011)
Museum of the Moving Image
35th Ave. at 36th St., Astoria
Sunday, February 19, free with museum admission, 4:00
718-777-6800
www.movingimage.us
www.klitschko.com

When brothers Vitali and Wladimir Klitschko first entered the boxing arena in the 1990s, they were each like Ivan Drago in Rocky IV, seemingly unbeatable Russian machines. But both of them ended up facing tremendous adversity and rising up again, as depicted in the surprisingly intimate German documentary Klitschko. Director Sebastian Dehnhardt was given unlimited access to the brothers, their parents, Vitali’s wife, and other members of Team Klitschko, revealing the two skyscrapers to be much more than just a couple of great fighters. Both Vitali and his younger brother, Wladimir, are shown to be intelligent, well-spoken men (each with PhDs) who had one goal when they left kickboxing for professional boxing — to be heavyweight champions of the world. On their remarkable journey, Dehnhardt captures them training together, carefully watching each other’s performances in the ring, and playing chess. At one point Wladimir bans Vitali from his training camp, evoking the separation between “Irish” Micky Ward and his brother, Dicky Eklund, as seen in David O. Russell’s Oscar-nominated The Fighter, but the Klitschkos handle it very differently. The film features plenty of original fight footage in which Dehnhardt zooms in and slows things down to get breathtaking action shots from such contests as Vitali’s epic battle with Lennox Lewis, in which Klitschko got a horrifically deep gash over his left eye; Wladimir’s dizzying loss to Lamon Brewster; and both brothers taking on Corrie Sanders and Samuel Peter. Sharing their thoughts on the Klitschkos are longtime manager Bernd Bonte, Wladimir’s trainer Emanuel Steward, Vilati’s coach Fritz Sdunek, former champions Lewis, Brewster, and Chris Byrd, and boxing announcer Larry Merchant, none of whom have anything bad to say about the brothers, who come off as calm, thoughtful souls who love their mother dearly and rarely get riled up outside the ring. The film is disjointed, with an often hard-to-follow time line, and background information seems haphazard at best, but Klitschko is still a knockout of a film. Klitschko is screening February 19 at 4:00 as part of the Museum of the Moving Image’s “Fist and Sword” series, which continues March 13 with Patrick Alessandrin’s District 13: Ultimatum.

SUPER SABADO: CARNAVAL!

Lila Downs will perform a free concert as part of Carnaval celebration at El Museu del Barrio

FREE THIRD SATURDAYS
El Museo del Barrio
1230 Fifth Ave. at 104th St.
Saturday, February 18, free, 11:00 am – 9:00 pm
212-831-7272
www.elmuseo.org

Fat Tuesday is next week, kicking off Mardi Gras celebrations all over the world. El Museo del Barrio will be holding a free Carnaval party on Saturday, featuring special events all day long. Mask-making workshops will take place 11:00 to 4:00 in Las Galerias and El Taller. From 12 noon to 3:00, you can dance to traditional music in the Black Box Theater, while from 1:00 to 4:00 you can don a jaguar mask made by artist Balam Soto and get your picture taken in the photo booth. Latin Grammy winner Lila Downs will perform a Carnegie Hall Neighborhood Concert at 4:00 in El Teatro, highlighting songs from her 2011 disc, Pecados y Milagros. Also at 4:00, Caridad de la Luz “La Bruja” will host a spoken-word workshop for teens in the Black Box. And at 7:00, a group of poets including Martín Espada, Jesús Papoleto Meléndez, Junot Díaz, Willie Perdomo, Mayda del Valle, and Emanuel Xavier will pay homage to writer, poet, and teacher Piri Thomas, who passed away in October at the age of eighty-three. In addition, there will be tours of the current exhibitions, “Testimonios: 100 Years of Popular Expression” and “Voces y Visiones: Gran Caribe.”