Yearly Archives: 2012

IMAGENATION OUTDOORS — EVERYDAY SUNSHINE: THE STORY OF FISHBONE

Angelo Moore and Norwood Fisher are the heart and soul of Fishbone (photo by Erin Flynn)

EVERYDAY SUNSHINE: THE STORY OF FISHBONE (Lev Anderson & Chris Metzler, 2010)
Marcus Garvey Park
18 Mount Morris Park West
Wednesday, July 11, free, music at 7:30, film at 8:30
imagenation.us
www.fishbonedocumentary.com

When they were junior high school students in South Central Los Angeles in 1979, Angelo Moore and Norwood Fisher formed the core of Fishbone, what would soon become one of the most exciting live bands on the planet. Chris Metzler and Lev Anderson document the band’s rise and fall — and rise and fall, and rise and fall, etc. — in the stirring Everyday Sunshine: The Story of Fishbone. Using archival footage, old and new interviews, and playful animation, Metzler and Anderson follow the group — Moore and Fisher along with fellow founding members Chris Dowd, Walter “Dirty Walt” Kibby II, and Kendall Jones — through its many personal and financial struggles as it tries to deal with such socioeconomic issues as racism, violence, and the anti-liberal bias taking hold of the nation in Ronald Reagan’s 1980s. Fishbone held nothing back on such albums as In Your Face (1986), Truth and Soul (1988), The Reality of My Surroundings (1991), Give a Monkey a Brain and He’ll Swear He’s the Center of the Universe (1993), and Chim Chim’s Badass Revenge (1996), mixing in pop, punk, funk, ska, reggae, R&B, soul, jazz, and hardcore, prancing about the stage without shirts, diving into the crowd, and always speaking their mind, and they hold nothing back in Everyday Sunshine as well. Narrated by Laurence Fishburne, the film really picks up speed when it delves into the Rodney King beating and the mysterious circumstances involving Jones’s religious transformation and the band’s attempt at an intervention. The decidedly unusual tale also features an impressive lineup of talking heads offering their views on the history of Fishbone, including Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Perry Farrell from Jane’s Addiction, fIREHOSE’s Mike Watt, No Doubt’s Gwen Stefani and Tony Kanal, the Roots’ ?uestlove, Gogol Bordello’s Eugene Hutz, Parliament-Funkadelic’s George Clinton, Primus’s Les Clayool, Living Colour’s Vernon Reid, Circle Jerk Keith Morris, Ice-T, and, perhaps most informatively, Columbia Records executive David Kahne, who lends fascinating insight into what made Fishbone great — and what kept them from greater success. While you definitely don’t have to know a thing about Fishbone to enjoy this very intimate documentary, longtime fans should eat it up. Everyday Sunshine is screening on July 11 in Marcus Garvey Park as part of the ImageNation Outdoors summer series and will be preceded by live performances by GAME Rebellion and Daví. The festival continues with such free screenings as Night Catches Us on July 21 at Weekesville, Africa United with live music by Taj Weekes & Adowa, Shine & the Moonbeams, and Randolph Matthews on July 29 in Springfield Park, and Taking Root! A Tribute to Wangari Maathal on August 1 in West Harlem Pier Park.

RIVER FLICKS FOR GROWN-UPS: MONEYBALL

Oscar nominees Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill take a different approach with the Oakland A’s in MONEYBALL

MONEYBALL (Bennett Miller, 2011)
Hudson River Park, Pier 63 at 23rd St.
Wednesday, July 11, free, dusk
www.moneyball-movie.com
www.riverflicks.com/RFgrownups.html

After winning 102 games during the 2001 season but then falling to the New York Yankees in the American League Division Series in five tough games, the cash-poor Oakland A’s also lost three of their most prominent players, Jason Giambi, Johnny Damon, and Jason Isringhausen, to free agency. To rebuild the team with limited funds, general manager Billy Beane (Brad Pitt) turns to an unexpected source: Peter Brand (Jonah Hill), a young stat geek who believes that on-base percentage is the key to the game. The A’s scouts find it hard to believe that Beane is looking at has-been catcher Scott Hatteberg (Chris Pratt), aging outfielder David Justice (Stephen Bishop), and underperforming submariner Chad Bradford (Casey Bond) to get the A’s to the World Series, as does manager Art Howe (Philip Seymour Hoffman), who refuses to use the new players the way Beane insists. But when the A’s indeed start winning after a few more questionable deals pulled off by Beane and Brand, the entire sport world starts taking a much closer look at what is soon known as “moneyball.” Based on the 2003 bestseller Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game by Michael Lewis, Moneyball is an exciting film even though the vast majority of it occurs off the field. Pitt is wonderfully understated as Beane, a former five-tool prospect for the Mets and divorced father of a twelve-year-old girl (Kerris Dorsey). Pitt earned an Oscar nod for Best Actor for his portrayal of the real-life Beane, a confident but nervous man who may or may not have a big chip on his shoulder. Hill was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his role as wiz-kid Brand, a fictional character inspired by Paul DePodesta, who refused to let his name and likeness be used in the film; Brand instead is an amalgamation of several of the people who work for Beane. Director Bennett Miller (The Cruise, Capote) takes the viewer into a number of fascinating back-room dealings, including a revealing scene in which Beane tries to acquire Ricardo Rincon from the Cleveland Indians, furiously working the phones to pull off the deal. Also nominated for Best Picture, Best Editing, Best Sound Mixing, and Best Adapted Screenplay, Moneyball firmly belongs in the playoff pantheon of great baseball movies, with the added bonus that you don’t have to be a fan or know a lot about the game to get sucked into its intoxicating tale. Moneyball is screening July 11 at Hudson River Park’s Pier 63, kicking off the free River Flicks for Grown-Ups series, which continues through August 22 with such films as Super 8, Bridesmaids, Limitless, Cowboys & Aliens, Crazy, Stupid Love, and Horrible Bosses. For a day-by-day listing of free summer movie screenings in New York City, go here.

A.O. MOVEMENT COLLECTIVE: barrish

AOMC’s “barrish” comes together at HERE (photo by Sarah A. O. Rosner)

HERE Arts Center
145 Sixth Ave. at Dominick St.
July 12-14, $18
212-647-0202
www.here.org
www.theaomc.org

Over the last two years, Brooklyn-based A.O. Movement Collective has been preparing its evening-length piece, barrish, in a very public way, raising funds on Kickstarter, staging segments in such locations as La MaMa, Exit Art, Dance New Amsterdam, and various homes and apartments, and working with numerous curators as part of its MENU project. The world premiere is now set for July 12-14 at Here, where all twenty-seven sections will be performed for the very first time. Featuring Lillie DeArmon, Leah Ives, Anna Adams Stark, and Emily Skillings along with twenty guest performers, barrish examines desire, power, and threat in unique ways, one of its signature moves involving two dancers’ shirts suddenly becoming stuck together as issues of gender and intimacy and public and private space take center stage. The work, which is influenced by Law and Order SVU and the writings of Virginie Despentes, Andrea Dworkin, Catherine A. MacKinnon, and Virginia Woolf and consists of such sections as “SVU,” “Gyroscopic Pillow Score,” “Get the Fuck Out,” and “Skinless,” is choreographed by Sarah A. O. Rosner and the dancers, with a score by Jonah Rosenberg and lighting by Edward Rice.

NEW YORK ASIAN FILM FESTIVAL: SECRET LOVE

Yeon’s (Yoon Jin-seo) and Jin-ho (Yoo Ji-tae) get caught up in complex family affair in SECRET LOVE

KOREAN MOVIE NIGHT: SECRET LOVE (Kwon Ji-yeon & Ryoo Hoon-I, 2010)
Tribeca Cinemas
54 Varick St. at Laight St.
Tuesday, July 10, free, 7:00
212-759-9550
www.koreanculture.org
www.subwaycinema.com

A soap-opera melodrama that morphs into an erotic thriller, Secret Love tells the intense story of a complex and dangerous love triangle in modern-day Korea. Shortly after a whirlwind courtship, Yeon’s (Yoon Jin-seo) new husband, Jin-woo (Yoo Ji-tae), lapses into a coma that he might never awake from. Yeon is soon shocked to meet Jin-woo’s twin brother, Jin-ho (also played by Yoo Ji-tae), who recently emerged from a coma himself. As Yeon and Jin-ho grow closer, their relationship threatens to go to the next level — but when Jin-woo suddenly and unexpectedly arises from his coma, the love triangle becomes overwhelmed by betrayal, uncontrollable passion, and mistaken identity. Directed by Kwon Ji-yeon and cowriter Ryoo Hoon-I (who penned the screenplay with Park Hyun-soo), Secret Love, which is also known as The Secret River, uses water as an underlying motif, with many scenes taking place over a river, in the shower or bath, or at an aquarium. Although it begins slowly and sappy, the film picks up speed as hidden passions explode and danger lurks at every twist and turn. Secret Love is screening for free July 10 at Tribeca Cinemas as part of the ongoing Korean Movie Night series as well as the New York Asian Film Festival, which continues through July 12 at Lincoln Center and July 15 at Japan Society in conjunction with Japan Cuts. As an added bonus, Yoon Jin-seo, who has also appeared in such films as Oldboy, Chihwaseon, and A Good Day to Have an Affair, will participate in a Q&A following the screening. She had to cancel an earlier appearance at a screening of Oldboy because she was rushed to the emergency room less than two weeks ago after an overdose of cold medication that was initially — and apparently falsely — reported to be a suicide attempt, so it should make for a lively discussion on July 10.

TRISHA BROWN DANCE COMPANY: ASTRAL CONVERTED

Trisha Brown’s ASTRAL CONVERTED will be performed July 10-14 at the Park Ave. Armory (photo © Stephanie Berger 2012)

Park Avenue Armory
643 Park Ave. at 67th St.
July 10-14, $35-$45, 7:30
212-933-5812
www.armoryonpark.org
www.trishabrowncompany.org

Last year, the Trisha Brown Dance Company celebrated its fortieth anniversary by presenting new works and updated repertory pieces at such locations as the Whitney, the High Line, and, for the first time ever, Dance Theater Workshop. Following a series of open rehearsals, lectures, panel discussions, and children’s workshops on Governors Island as part of the River to River Festival this summer, the company will premiere its latest work, a reconstruction of 1991’s Astral Converted, at another offbeat location, the Park Ave. Armory’s cavernous Ward Thompson Drill Hall, from July 10 to 14. Originally adapted from 1989’s Astral Convertible, Astral Converted features an extraordinary pair of collaborators: Robert Rauschenberg, who designed the set and lighting with Ken Tabatchnik as well as the costumes, and John Cage, who composed the score, which is impacted by motion detectors triggered by the dancers’ movement. The fifty-five-minute Astral Converted is the finale of Brown’s Valiant series, which began in 1985 with Lateral Pass and continued with 1987’s Newark, Astral Convertible, and 1990’s Foray Forêt. In conjunction with the performances, there will be a number of public programs held at the armory, including free screenings July 11-14 at 6:30 of Burt Barr’s 1990 documentary, Aeros, which goes behind the scenes with Brown; the preshow talk “Trisha Brown & John Cage: Seeing the Score” with Julie Martin and Susan Rosenberg on July 10 ($10, 6:00); the postshow talk “Reconstructing Astral Converted” on July 11 with Kristy Edmunds and members of the company and crew (free for ticket holders); the postshow talk “Deconstructing Astral Converted” on July 13 with Neal Beasley and members of the company (free for ticket holders); an onstage master class with company dancer Samuel Wentz on July 14 at 10:00 am ($15 for preregistration, $20 for walk-ins); and an “Astral Artists” family workshop on July 14 (free for ticket holders but advance registration is required).

Samuel Wentz and Megan Madorin go cosmic in beautifully reconstructed ASTRAL CONVERTED (photo by Stephanie Berger)

Update: As Trisha Brown’s reconstructed Astral Converted begins, it appears to have picked up right after the previous exhibition in the massive Wade Thompson Drill Hall, Tom Sachs’s charming “Space Program: Mars.” Robert Rauschenberg’s eight wheeled metal towers, which contain car batteries, headlights, and speakers that are triggered by motion, look like leftover lunar equipment from Sachs’s engaging re-creation, and Rauschenberg’s costumes evoke space suits, although much tighter fitting. Even the dancers’ graceful, elegant, fluid movements recall astronauts floating in zero gravity. And when two of the dancers pick up large brooms, well, it’s as if they’re cleaning up the mess left behind when Sachs unsuccessfully tried to dig up the armory floor / lunar landscape. Set to a dazzling electronic score by John Cage — although on opening night the sound of a photographer snapping away in the balcony during the live performance proved to be rather distracting — Astral Converted is a beautiful piece, fifty-five smooth-flowing minutes of human and mechanical interaction, as the towers are occasionally moved around the stage to provide barriers as well as companionship. The dancers — Patrick Ferreri, Tara Lorenzen, Megan Madorin, Leah Morrison, Tamara Riewe, Jamie Scott, Stuart Shugg, Nicholas Strafaccia, and Samuel Wentz — wait their turn on the dark sidelines, then slither across the black mat and fold their bodies into unusual shapes with an intoxicating gentleness that is reminiscent of some of the movement in Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. Running through July 14 at the Park Ave. Armory, Astral Converted, which made its debut in 1991 in Washington, DC, outside by the Mall, is a wonderfully cosmic experience reconstituted for a terrific indoor location that continues to surprise with its many splendid presentations.

THALIA FILM SUNDAYS: GERHARD RICHTER PAINTING

Gerhard Richter reveals his creative process in fascinating new documentary (photo courtesy of Kino Lorber)

GERHARD RICHTER PAINTING (Corinna Belz, 2011)
Symphony Space, Leonard Nimoy Thalia
2537 Broadway at 95th St.
Sunday, July 8, 15, 22, $14, 8:00
212-864-5400
www.symphonyspace.org
www.gerhard-richter-painting.de

There’s nothing abstract about the title of Corinna Belz’s documentary on German artist Gerhard Richter, no missing words or punctuation marks. Gerhard Richter Painting is primarily just that: Ninety-seven minutes of Gerhard Richter painting as he prepares for several exhibitions, including a 2009 show at the Marian Goodman Gallery in New York City. In 2007, Belz got a rare chance to capture Richter on camera, making a short film focusing on the stained-glass window he designed for the Cologne Cathedral. Two years later, the shy, reserved German artist, who prefers to have his art speak for itself, invited Belz into his studio, giving her remarkable access inside his creative process, which revealingly relies so much on chance and accident. Belz films Richter as he works on two large-scale canvases on which he first slathers yellow paint, adds other colors, then takes a large squeegee and drags it across the surface, changing everything. It’s fascinating to watch Richter study the pieces, never quite knowing when they are done, unsure of whether they are any good. It’s also painful to see him take what looks like an extraordinary painting and then run the squeegee over it yet again, destroying what he had in order to see if he can make it still better. “They do what they want,” he says of the paintings. “I planned something totally different.” About halfway through the film, a deeply concerned Richter starts regretting his decision to allow the camera into his studio. “It won’t work,” he says. “At the moment it seems hopeless. I don’t think I can do this, painting under observation. That’s the worst thing there is.” But continue he does, for Belz’s and our benefit. Belz (Life After Microsoft) even gets Richter to talk a little about his family while looking at some old photos, offering intriguing tidbits about his early life and his escape to Düsseldorf just before the Berlin Wall went up. Belz also includes clips from 1966 and 1976 interviews with Richter, and she attends a meeting he has with Goodman about his upcoming show, lending yet more insight into the rather eclectic artist. “To talk about painting is not only difficult but perhaps pointless, too,” Richter, who turned eighty last month, says in the 1966 clip. However, watching Gerhard Richter Painting is far from pointless; Belz has made a compelling documentary about one of the great, most elusive artists of our time. “Man, this is fun,” Richter says at one point, and indeed it is; watching the masterful artist at work is, well, a whole lot more fun than watching paint dry. Gerhard Richter Painting is screening at Symphony Space on July 8, 15, and 22 at 8:00 as part of the ongoing series Thalia Film Sundays.

WARM UP 2012

HWKN’s “Wendy” will provide necessary cooling for MoMA PS1’s summer Warm Up series (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

MoMA PS1
22-25 Jackson Ave. at 46th Ave.
Saturdays from 3:00 to 9:00, July 7 – September 8, $15
718-784-2084
www.ps1.org
wendy slideshow

MoMA PS1’s exhilarating hot and sweaty weekly summer Warm Up dance party turns fifteen this year, with another wide-ranging lineup of live performances and DJ sets that are sure to get your booty shaking. And this year you can move and groove a rotating series of site-specific stage installations by such artists and collectives as CONFETTISYSTEM, Fort Makers, the Principals, and others. Warm Up begins July 7 with Todd Terry, Light Asylum, Nguzunguzu, Trust, and Arca ft. HBA. The July 14 show consists of Terrence Parker, D3, Ron Morelli, Jeremie Delon, Steve Summers, and Professor Genius, while July 21 brings together DJing Matthew Dear, Sepalcure, Le1f, MikeQ, and JDH and Dave P. On July 28, MJ Cole, Sinkane, DJ Spoko, Slava, and Van Rivers will lead the way, followed August 4 by Jamie xx, Pearson Sound, Lemonade, Sinjin Hawke, Zora Hones, and Miguel. On August 11, Photek, Evian Christ, Shlohmo, Autre Ne Veut, and Howse will man the boards and mics, while Floating Points, Jacques Greene, Secret Circuit, and Hieroglyphic Being will take care of things on August 18. August 25’s lineup features Just Blaze, Nick Catchdubs, Danny Brown, the Stallions, and BAIO, while September 1 boasts James Holden, Kassem Mosse, Om Unit, and Silent Diane. The season comes to an awesome close on September 8 with a DJ set by Atoms for Peace, Rustie, Holy Other, Maria Minerva, and Justin Strauss. Food will be provided by Long Island City favorites M. Wells, while much necessary cooling will come courtesy of “Wendy,” HWKN’s giant courtyard installation that won this year’s Young Architects Program. A giant ecologically friendly multifaceted blue star made of titania-nanoparticle-treated nylon that neutralizes air pollution, “Wendy” also has water cannons, big fans, pools of fresh water, and metal steps that lead into its epicenter. As always, the museum will be open as well, so be sure to check out “Jack Smith: Normal Love,” “Zackary Drucker: At Least You Know You Exist,” “Esther Kläs – Better Energy,” “Lara Favaretto: Just Knocked Out,” “Max Brand: no solid footing – (trained) duck fighting a crow,” Janet Cardiff’s “The Forty Part Motet,” and solo projects by Rey Akdogan, Edgardo Aragón, Ilja Karilampi, and Caitlin Keogh.