twi-ny recommended events

REVISITING THE QUIET MAN: IRELAND ON FILM — THE WIND THAT SHAKES THE BARLEY

THE WIND THAT SHAKES THE BARLEY is part of MoMA series on films about Ireland, curated by Gabriel Byrne

THE WIND THAT SHAKES THE BARLEY (Ken Loach, 2006)
MoMA Film, Museum of Modern Art
11 West 53rd St. between Fifth & Sixth Aves.
Wednesday, May 25, 8:00
Friday, May 27, 4:30
Series runs May 20 – June 3
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
www.moma.org
www.thewindthatshakesthebarley.co.uk

Winner of the 2006 Palme d’Or at Cannes, The Wind that Shakes the Barley is a brutal masterpiece from director Ken Loach (Riff-Raff, Bread and Roses). It’s 1920, and the English black and tans are running roughshod through Ireland, leaving broken and dead bodies in their wake as they keep the population frightened and in poverty. But poorly armed yet determined local guerrilla armies are forming, prepared to fight for freedom in their homeland. In one small town, Damien (Cillian Murphy) is getting ready to move to London to train as a doctor, but he decides instead to join the burgeoning Irish Republican Army after seeing one too many bloody beatings. Swearing their loyalty to the cause and led by Damien’s brother, Teddy (Padraic Delaney), they set up ambushes of British forces, gathering weapons in a desperate attempt to win back their country. Damien also falls for Sinead (Orla Fitzgerald), one of many women who work as messengers and spies and run safe houses. But when a questionable treaty is signed, loyalty is tested and families torn apart. Written by Paul Laverty and also featuring Liam Cunningham, Mary Riordan, Myles Horgan, and Mary Murphy, The Wind that Shakes the Barley is a fierce, no-holds-barred, if one-sided, look at a violent conflict that has lasted for centuries.

The Wind that Shakes the Barley is screening May 25 and 27 as part of MoMA’s “Revisiting The Quiet Man: Ireland on Film” series, curated by Gabriel Byrne and featuring such other works made in and/or about Ireland as The Magdalene Sisters (Peter Mullan, 2002), The Dead (John Huston, 1987), The Informer (John Ford, 1935), The Butcher Boy (Neil Jordan, 1997), and Into the West (Mike Newell, 1993), with such actors, directors, writers, and experts as Jim Sheridan, Enda Walsh, Dr. Luke Gibbons, and Byrne participating in introductions and postscreening discussions and Q&As that examine the way Ireland has been portrayed on film throughout the years and how that relates to the true social and cultural concerns of the nation.

DELTA DUGOUT

Jose Reyes will lead the Mets — without Ike Davis and David Wright — against the Yankees this weekend in the Bronx, but fans can catch all the action in Madison Square Park as well (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Madison Square Park
May 20-22, free
www.madisonsquarepark.org
www.delta.com

We miss the Mayor’s Trophy Game, the annual battle between the Mets and the Yankees that used to be held during the season but was only an exhibition match. Purists that we are, we refuse to financially support the way-overhyped Subway Series that this weekend brings the Queens-based Metropolitans, struggling to get out of last place, to the Bronx, where the Bombers are trying to fight their way into the division lead. In celebration of this overrated event, Delta Air Lines is setting up the Delta Dugout in somewhat neutral Manhattan, hosting a bevy of special programming in Madison Square Park, including a baseball memorabilia silent auction that will benefit Harlem RBI. Each day will feature a Gaming Village and the Delta Sky360 Lounge, with children’s activities, trivia contests, a photo booth, batting cages, a fast-pitch challenge, and other baseball- and airline-related things to do and see, after which Mets and Yankees fans can join together to watch the games. On Saturday at 12 noon, Joba Chamberlain will give a pitching clinic, while Josh Thole will lead a home-run derby contest; the very scary Mr. Met will pose for pictures at 3:00, followed at 5:15 by a concert by former Yankees outfielder and current jazz sensation Bernie Williams. On Sunday, the third annual Fan Flair Challenge will take place, with lots of giveaways for most spirited and best costumed fans. Even if you’re not much of a baseball person, Madison Square Park is a great place to spend an afternoon; don’t miss Jaume Plensa’s spectacular “Echo” sculpture on the lawn, and avoid the ridiculously long lines at Shake Shack and instead pick up something to eat at the cool booths at the intersection of Fifth Ave. & Broadway. Oh, and also, “Let’s go, Mets!”

TEDDY THOMPSON

Teddy Thompson will sing about love and heartbreak at City Winery on May 21 and 27

City Winery
155 Varick St. at Vandam St.
Saturday, May 21, $18-$28, 8:00
Friday, May 27, Off the Cuff w/ Friends, $18-$25, 8:00
212-608-0555
www.citywinery.com
www.myspace.com/teddythompson

Last year we were having trouble watching eclectic British singer-songwriter Richard Thompson perform solo at City Winery because the woman in front of us, who had a clear view, kept leaning over a railing, blocking us completely. After a little while, we decided to nicely ask her if she could stop doing that; when she turned to us, mouthing the words to the song Thompson was playing, our heart instantly froze as the woman we suddenly recognized to be Thompson’s former wife and singing partner, Linda Thompson, said in a friendly way, “I’m sorry. Of course. I’ve seen him enough. After all, I used to live with him, you know.” Richard and Linda Thompson produced some of the greatest records of the 1970s and 1980s, from I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight to Shoot Out the Lights. The relationship also produced the musical progeny known as Teddy Thompson, who has been releasing his own records since 2000, including Separate Ways (2005), Upfront & Down Low (2007), and A Piece of What You Need (2008). His latest, Bella (Verve, February 2011), is an intimate song cycle inspired by his most recent ex-girlfriend. (There seem to have been a lot of ex-girlfriends for the thirty-five-year-old musician.) Melding the folk-rock style of his father with the country twang of his mother, Thompson paints a searing portrait of love and loneliness through direct lyrics and boldly admitting his shortcomings when it comes to honesty and fidelity. “I been looking for a girl who drinks and smokes / Who takes a lot of drugs and can take a joke / Where does this girl of mine hide herself away / Whoever she is I hope she’s on her way,” he declares in the album’s opener, “Looking for a Girl.” Later, on “I Feel,” he admits, “There’s a road that I travel and it’s long and it’s narrow / Without signs along the way to take you home / You were there when I needed something to believe in / But I’ll only let you down and break your heart.” And on “Over and Over,” he confesses, “Some time ago I came up with a plan / Shit on myself so that no one else can / I have perfected this stance / You better keep your distance,” the last line echoing a song by his dad. The production is steeped in traditional country rhythms with flourishes of 1960s pop, with strings and Thompson’s falsetto voice evoking Roy Orbison (when not sounding, on several songs, like Jackson Browne); the album also features a lovely duet with another musical progeny, Jenni Muldaur, the daughter of Geoff and Maria Muldaur, on “Tell Me What You Want.” Born in London and living in New York City for the last decade, Thompson, with drummer Ethan Eubanks and bassist Jeff Hill, will be playing a pair of hometown shows at City Winery, on May 21 and, by popular demand, on May 27 for a show being billed as “Off the Cuff w/Friends.”

BNLX

BNLX is back for another pair of area shows

Friday, May 20 Piano’s, 158 Ludlow St., 212-505-3733, $7, 8:00
Saturday, May 21 Rock Shop, 249 Fourth Ave., 718-230-5740, $10, 10:30
www.myspace.com/bnlxmusic

As we wrote back in February, whenever a new pop band emerges from the shadows, the music industry rushes to pigeonhole them, but some groups defy categorization. The mysterious BNLX, who surfaced in 2010 in Minneapolis by releasing a series of four-track EPs in plain brown cardboard packages, is one such band. Just a look at the songs they covered on BNLX4 makes you scratch your head in wonder: Can’s “Soul Desert,” Rhianna’s “Shut Up and Drive,” Black Flag’s “Rise Above,” and a smokin’ version of fellow Minneapolis native Prince’s “When Doves Cry.” Led by husband-and-wife-team Ed Ackerson and Ashley Ackerson, who run the Minneapolis label Susstones, BNLX plays joyful pop built around groovy synths and fuzzy guitars, evoking such forerunners as X, the B-52s, Norman Greenbaum, and Cracker in such rave-ups as “Do Without,” “Where Is the Love,” and “Frogger.” The impossibly infectious “Blue and Gold” is one of the most beautifully crafted pop songs of last year; when Ed sings, “I’ve been here before,” you might think you have too, but you haven’t. The BNLX First One Year Plan continues with the release of BNLX5, another outstanding collection of fine tunage, described by the band as “four ‘music’ compositions expressing Nordic, Gallic, Tri State, and West Coast idioms.” The quartet of power-pop gems are laden with catchy hooks; Ed Ackerson even channels Morrissey on the too-cool “Garbage Strike.” The EP concludes with a ridiculously amazing version of Ice Cube’s “It Was a Good Day” that we’ve had on repeat play all week. BNLX, consisting of e.a., a.a., knobby, and blinky, will be at Piano’s on May 20 at 10:00 with Kleenex Girl Wonder (8:00), Thunder and Lightning (9:00), Creepoid (11:00), Fantan (12 midnight), and Arpline (1:00) and at the Rock Shop in Brooklyn on May 21 with Black Onassis. We can’t wait for BNLX6.

KNICKERBOCKER

Bob Dishy and Alexander Chaplin play father and son in Jonathan Marc Sherman’s warmly inviting KNICKERBOCKER (photo by Carol Rosegg)

Anspacher Theater at the Public Theater
425 Lafayette St.
Through May 29, $15
212-967-7555
www.publictheater.org

The Public Theater’s 2010-2011 Public LAB season concludes with Jonathan Marc Sherman’s warmly entertaining, very funny Knickerbocker. On the surface, Knickerbocker would appear to be doomed from the start, a one-set play about a forty-year-old man hanging out in a restaurant, worrying over whether he is ready for fatherhood now that his wife is pregnant. But Sherman and director Pippin Parker work their way in and around the obvious clichés with just the right turns of phrase and small twists, resulting in a smart, insightful ninety minutes. The play takes place in Jerry’s (Alexander Chaplin) favorite diner, where he sits in a half-moon booth facing the audience. Over the course of six months, he meets individually with his wife, Pauline (Mia Barron), best friends Melvin and Chester (Ben Shenkman and Zak Orth), ex-girlfriend Tara (Christina Kirk), and father (Bob Dishy). Each scene cleverly reveals parts of Jerry’s past as he deals with the pressures of his impending future, every character offering different, sometimes conflicting advice. Chaplin is charming as Jerry, remaining calm and sane as Tara flirts with him, Chester tells him to head for the hills, and his dad infuriates him. Dishy nearly steals the show as the soon-to-be grandfather, putting on an acting clinic despite the limiting possibilities. In fact, even though the entire play consists of pairs of people sitting in a confined space, it never gets bogged down or boring. Knickerbocker opens May 19 and continues through May 29, with tickets a mere $15; the May 24 performance will be followed by the panel discussion “Childhood Memories and Grown-up Dreams,” with Sherman and filmmaker Alan Berliner, moderated by Public Theater artistic associate Jocelyn Prince.

THE PROVERBIAL PICTURESHOW: ALL ABOUT EVE

Anne Baxter and Bette Davis put on quite a show in ALL ABOUT EVE (yes, that’s Marilyn Monroe in the center)

ALL ABOUT EVE (Joseph L. Mankiewicz, 1950)
Cabaret Cinema, Rubin Museum of Art
150 West 17th St. at Seventh Ave.
Friday, May 20, free with $7 bar minimum, 9:30
212-620-5000
www.rmanyc.org/cabaretcinema

Nominated for fourteen Academy Awards and winner of six, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Screenplay, All About Eve is one of Hollywood’s all-time greatest movies, a searing depiction of naked ambition set on the Great White Way. Based on Mary Orr’s 1946 short story “The Wisdom of Eve,” writer-director Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s flawless drama stars Anne Baxter as Eve Harrington, who is not exactly the mousey wallflower she at first appears to be. She quickly worms her way into an inner circle of Broadway vets populated by superstar Margo Channing (Bette Davis), her younger lover, Bill Sampson (Gary Merrill), playwright and director Lloyd Richards (Hugh Marlowe), and Richards’s wife, Karen (Celeste Holm), who takes Eve under her wing. Joining in on all the fun is powerful theater critic Addison DeWitt (Oscar winner George Sanders), who marvels at all the manipulation and backstage drama, much of which he wickedly orchestrates himself. “There never was, and there never will be, another like you,” DeWitt tells Eve in one of the film’s most poignant moments. All About Eve is filled with classic quotes, including the iconic “Fasten your seatbelts, it’s going to be a bumpy night,” boldly proclaimed by Davis. In a movie about acting and the theater, Mankiewicz never shows anyone onstage; instead, he focuses on the characters and the intrigue with a sly flair that is deliciously entertaining. All About Eve is screening on May 20 at the Rubin Museum as part of the Proverbial Pictureshow series, being held in conjunction with the Tibet carpet exhibit “Patterns of Life,” and will be introduced by writer Anne Christopherson. Admission to the museum is free on Friday nights, so be sure to check out the other current exhibits as well, which include “Masterworks: Jewels of the Collection,” “Body Language,” “Quentin Roosevelt’s China,” and “The Nepalese Legacy in Tibetan Painting.”

LYKKE LI

Lykke Li lit up Webster Hall on May 17 (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Webster Hall
125 East 11th St. between Second & Third Aves.
Wednesday, May 18, $30, 8:00
www.websterhall.com
www.myspace.com/lykkeli

Swedish sensation Li Lykke Timotej Zachrisson lit up Webster Hall on May 17, returning to New York City to celebrate the release of her long-awaited second album, Wounded Rhymes (Atlantic, March 1). An intoxicating blend of Stevie Nicks and Sinead O’Connor, the twenty-five-year-old Li and her band were all dressed in black, Li in a shawl covering a bodysuit, her hair tightly pulled back like one of Robert Palmer’s backup singers. On a stage with long black strips of filmy cloth hanging from the ceiling, smoke machines pouring out cloudy mists, and lights continually flashing, Li put on a dazzling seventy-five-minute set that included songs from Rhymes, 2008’s Youth Novels, and such singles as “Possibility,” from the New Moon soundtrack, music steeped in synthesizers and percussion. She played autoharp on the lovely “I Know Places” and added her own percussion to “Rich Kid Blues.” Although far from a melancholic evening, many of her songs deal with loneliness and heartbreak; “Sadness is a blessing / Sadness is a pearl / Sadness is my boyfriend / Oh, sadness, I’m your girl,” she opines on “Sadness Is a Blessing,”and in “Unrequited Love” she wails, “Oh my love, I’ve been denied it / Oh my love is unrequited.” But long before she tore into the set-closing “Get Some,” from the new record, she had the crowd wrapped around her finger like a lonely lover’s charm. Li will be back at Webster Hall on May 18, with Grimes opening up.