twi-ny recommended events

IN FOCUS: FORTISSIMO FILMS — THE EYE

Wong Kar Mun (Lee Sin-Je) is seeking to see things in a different way in the Pang brothers thriller THE EYE

THE EYE (JIAN GUI) (Danny & Oxide Pang, 2002)
MoMA Film
Museum of Modern Art
11 West 53rd St. between Fifth & Sixth Aves.
Wednesday, November 16, 7:00, and Saturday, November 19, 4:00
Series runs through November 21
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 beginning at 9:30 am
212-708-9400
www.moma.org

The Pang Brothers, who hail from Thailand, will creep you out with this tale of a woman who receives an eye transplant and starts seeing strange paranormal events. Lee Sin-Je is excellent as Wong Kar Mun, a musician who is suddenly cast into a frightening world — which belonged to Ling (Chutcha Ruhinanon), the original owner of her eyes. As Dr. Wah (Lawrence Chou) tries to help her, she heads from Hong Kong to Thailand to try to find out Ling’s terrifying secret. Stick with this one; the payoff’s a doozy. But skip the awful sequel, a boring, repetitive snoozefest starring Shu Qi, as well as the Hollywood remake starring Jessica Alba. The Eye is screening on November 16 and 19 as part of MoMA’s tribute to the twentieth anniversary of Fortissimo Films, which continues with such international works as Wisit Sasanatieng’s Tears of the Black Tiger, Pen-Ek Ratanaruang’s Last Life in the Universe, and Pieter Kramer’s Yes Nurse! No Nurse!

FOO FIGHTERS / SOCIAL DISTORTION / THE JOY FORMIDABLE

Foo Fighters headline hot triple bill at the Garden tonight and Prudential Center tomorrow

Madison Square Garden
31st to 33rd Sts. between Seventh & Eighth Aves.
Sunday, November 13, $49.50 – $69.50, 7:30
www.thegarden.com

Looking for a big kick to finish off the weekend? There are still tickets available for tonight’s blowout at the Garden, featuring Foo Fighters, Social Distortion, and the Joy Formidable. Dave Grohl, Nate Mendel, Taylor Hawkins, Chris Shiflett, Pat Smear, and Rami Jaffee are touring North America behind their latest release, Wasting Light (RCA, April 2011), which you can check out for free here. Meanwhile, heavy hitters Social D are blasting out songs from Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes (Epitaph, January 2011), while Brit trio the Joy Formidable will be featuring tunes from their full-length debut, The Big Roar (Atlantic/Canvasback, March 2011). If you can’t get to the Garden, you can catch the show Monday night at the Prudential Center in Newark as well.

SELECTED SHORTS: MIRANDA JULY PRESENTS IT CHOOSES YOU

Symphony Space, Peter Jay Sharp Theatre
2537 Broadway at 95th St.
Wednesday, November 16, $15-$27, 7:00
212-864-5400
www.symphonyspace.org
www.mirandajuly.com

In her second feature-length film, The Future, writer-director-star Miranda July extensively researched PennySaver ads to develop a major plot point — and even discovered Joe Putterlik, who played an important role in the indie flick. The author of the delightful short-story collection No one belongs here more than you., July has turned her PennySaver adventures into It Chooses You (McSweeney’s, November 15, 2011, $24), a book that details her adventures tracking down some of the people who advertise in the paper, accompanied by photographs by Brigitte Sire. “Tuesday was the day the PennySaver booklet was delivered,” July writes early on. “It came hidden among the coupons and other junk mail. I read it while I ate lunch, and then, because I was in no hurry to get back to not writing, I usually kept reading it straight through to the real estate ads in the back. I carefully considered each item — not as a buyer, but as a curious citizen of Los Angeles. Each listing was like a very brief newspaper article. News flash: someone in LA is selling a jacket. The jacket is leather. It is also large and black. The person thinks it is worth ten dollars. But the person is not very confident about that price, and is willing to consider other, lower prices. I wanted to know more things about what this leather-jacket person thought, how they were getting through the days, what they hoped, what they feared — but none of that information was listed. What was listed was the person’s phone number.” The multimedia performance artist, whose interactive “Eleven Heavy Things” filled Union Square Park back in the summer of 2010, will be at Symphony Space on November 16 for a special presentation of the “Selected Shorts” series, performing selections from It Chooses You with Olga Merediz, Adrian Martinez, and Tom Bloom. July is an endearing, engaging figure, so it should make for a memorable event. The evening will begin with Betty Gilpin reading Hannah Pittard’s “Orion’s Belt.” (July will also be reading from and signing copies of It Chooses You at BookCourt in Brooklyn on November 15 at 7:00.)

LAURA PETERSON CHOREOGRAPHY: WOODEN

Laura Peterson finds splendor in the grass in WOODEN (photo by Steven Schreiber)

HERE
145 Sixth Ave. at Dominick St.
Through November 12, $20
212-647-0202
www.here.org
www.lpchoreography.com

This month several dancer/choreographers have been putting on unique performances in transformed spaces. In SHOW, Maria Hassabi and Hristoula Harakas wound their way across the floor of the Kitchen, right in the middle of the audience. In The Thank-you Bar at New York Live Arts, Emily Johnson/Catalyst invites people through a long corridor into a dark room where they can sit on small cushions and later gather around a kiddie pool filled with leaves. And in Wooden at HERE, Laura Peterson has cut the usual stage in half, with one side covered by live grass that has been turning brown since the run began November 4. Instead of the usual rafters, the audience sits on long wooden benches on a hard white surface amid thick tree branches hanging from the ceiling. Peterson, Kate Martel, Edward Rice, and Janna Diamond move slowly on the grass, gently falling and rolling, Amanda K. Ringger’s lighting casting multiple shadows on the walls. The natural beauty of the piece is enhanced by the intoxicating smell of the outdoors and interstitial, animalistic solos by rotating guest artists Shannon Gillen, Meredith Fages, Luke Gutgsell, and Asimina Chremos in a makeshift hallway. Following an intermission in which the audience must leave the theater, the space is reversed, the benches now on the soft grass, the dancers performing on the harder floor. Whereas the first half, “Ground,” featured beautifully mellifluous organic movement, the second half, “Trees,” is much harsher, the choreography more robotic, the dancers wearing kneepads to protect them as they fall hard to the floor. Soichiro Migita’s sound design changes as well, now more techno-based, blips and beeps replacing the smoother sounds of the first section. Although the general comparison might be obvious, setting the warm, organic environment against a cold, computerized soulless society, and it occasionally does get repetitive, Wooden is a compelling work whose elements are, appropriately, biodegradable. To read our twi-ny talk with Peterson, click here.

SMORGASBURG: A BROOKLYN FLEA FOOD MARKET

The outdoor Brooklyn Smorgasburg season is winding down (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Williamsburg waterfront between North Sixth & North Seventh Sts.
Saturday, November 12, 19, free, 10:00 am – 5:00 pm
www.brooklynflea.com/smorgasburg

There are only two weekends left to enjoy Smorgasburg outdoors, a gathering of unique and unusual food vendors offering their wares along the Brooklyn waterfront every Saturday. The season lasts through November 19, after which some, but not all, of the carts, trucks, and booths will head indoors to the Williamsburg Savings Bank. We prefer getting there via the East River Ferry, which drops you off right at the entrance to the weekly food fest, where you can show up with a twenty and sample all kinds of goodies. We like starting with the breakfast taco from Cemita’s, followed by maple bacon on a stick from Landhaus, the bulgogi burger from Asiadog, and a Salvadoran specialty from Solber Pupusas. Dessert’s a tough decision, with fine fare from Lush Candy, Danny’s Macaroons, Cutie Pies, Fine & Raw Chocolate, Kumquat Cupcakery, and our fave, the giant s’more from S’more Bakery. Other choices include slow smoked St. Louis spare ribs from Mighty Quinn’s, caramel chorizo lollipops from Bocata, fried anchovies from Bon Chovie, Nordic sushi from Noshi, and the fried Brussels sprouts sandwich with apple and whiskey from I8NY. Among the other rotating vendors are Victor’s Famous Empanadas, Pizza Moto, Mimi & Co., Sunday Gravy, Choncho’s Tacos, Porchetta, Schnitz, Bep, Dough, Noodle Lane, Barry’s Tempeh, Granola Lab, Milk Truck, Brooklyn Bangers, and many others. Some of them come back on Sunday, when Smorgasburg morphs into the Brooklyn Flea, a market that sells handcrafted items, antiques, collectibles, clothing, and plenty of oddities.

ELLIOTT BROOD: SNEAK PEEK

Nearly two years ago, we raved about Elliott BROOD’s Mountain Meadows album, calling it “bright, jangly feel-good alt country Americana roots rock,” so we’re psyched that the Canadian trio is getting ready to release its follow-up, the highly anticipated Days into Years (Paper Bag, February 7, 2012). Although there are no NYC dates scheduled yet — we’ll let you know as soon as they’re available — you can get a taste of the album with a free download of “Northern Air” here. In addition, for a limited time you can stream the new record here. It’s sounding damn good to us, so we can’t wait for Casey, Mark, and Stephen to come back our way.

ANATOMY OF A BREAKOUT

Sameul L. Jackson will take part in special Drama Desk panel discussion on such recent Broadway breakouts as THE MOUNTAINTOP

Fordham Mainstage at Lincoln Center
Pope Auditorium
113 West 60th St. at Columbus Ave.
Sunday, November 13, $15-$20, 6:30
www.dramadesk.org

The Drama Desk and the Fordham University Theatre Program are teaming up November 13 to present a special panel discussion, “Anatomy of a Breakout,” that examines just what it takes for a play, as well as an individual performance, to break through and become a critical and/or popular success. Editor and critic Randy Gener and Drama Desk vice president Leslie (Hoban) Blake will moderate an illustrious panel that features book writer Douglas Carter Beane, composer/lyricist Lewis Flinn, choreographer/director Dan Knechtges, and actress Liz Mikel of Lysistrata Jones; playwright David Henry Hwang, director Leigh Silverman, and actress Jennifer Lim of Chinglish; Venus in Fur playwright David Ives; actor Samuel L. Jackson of The Mountaintop; and Stick Fly and The Mountaintop director Kenny Leon. Tickets are $15 for Drama Desk members (which includes us) and their guests and $20 for the general public with advanceRSVP. The discussion will take place in front of the backdrop being used for Matthew Maguire’s production of Pierre Beaumarchais’s The Marriage of Figaro for the Fordham University Theatre Company, which continues November 11 and 17-19.