twi-ny recommended events

SMALL GIFT: CELEBRATING 50 YEARS OF SANRIO

The Sanrio mobile pop-up truck pulls into Herald Square on Thursday and Friday, but you better get there before they sell out of all their cute stuff

Herald Square, 36th St. & Broadway
Thursday, December 9, 12 noon – 8:00 pm
Friday, December 10, 11:00 am – 7:00 pm
www.sanrio.com

Back in 1960, the Yamanashi Silk Center was founded by Shintaro Tsuji, who changed its name thirteen years later to the more familiar Sanrio. The makers of such internationally beloved branded kawai characters as Hello Kitty, Strawberry, and My Melody have been celebrating their fiftieth anniversary this year by sending a mobile pop-up truck across the country, beginning in San Francisco on October 23 and pulling into Herald Square on Thursday and Friday (too late for Hanukkah!), offering limited-edition collectibles organized into a menu divided into Special Starters, Main Dishes, Happy Hour, Sweets, Sides, and Snacks. The items on sale — games, T-shirts, stickers, calendars, plush toys, keychains, a fisheye camera, a flash drive, and other ridiculously cute accessories — promote the company’s “Small gift, big smile” philosophy. (Oh, and be sure to save some Chococat stuff for us.)

FILMS ABOUT NOTHING: THE SEVENTH SEAL

Death (Bengt Ekerot) is not exactly holding out the red carpet in Bergman classic



THE SEVENTH SEAL (Ingmar Bergman, 1957)
Cabaret Cinema
Rubin Museum of Art
150 West 17th St. at Seventh Ave.
Friday, December 10, free with $7 bar minimum, 9:30
212-620-5000
www.rmanyc.org

It’s almost impossible to watch Ingmar Bergman’s THE SEVENTH SEAL without being aware of the meta surrounding the film, which has influenced so many other works and been paid homage to and playfully mocked. Over the years, it has gained a reputation as a deep, philosophical paean to death. However, amid all the talk about emptiness, doomsday, the Black Plague, and the devil, THE SEVENTH SEAL is a very funny movie. In fourteenth-century Sweden, knight Antonius Block (Max von Sydow) is returning home from the Crusades with his trusty squire, Jöns (Gunnar Björnstrand). Block soon meets Death (Bengt Ekerot) and, to prolong his life, challenges him to a game of chess. While the on-again, off-again battle of wits continues, Death seeks alternate victims while Block meets a young family and a small troupe of actors putting on a show. Rape, infidelity, murder, and other forms of evil rise to the surface as Block proclaims “To believe is to suffer,” questioning God and faith, and Jöns opines that “love is the blackest plague of all.” Based on Bergman’s own play inspired by a painting of Death playing chess by Albertus Pictor (played in the film by Gunnar Olsson), THE SEVENTH SEAL, winner of a Special Jury Prize at Cannes, is one of the most entertaining films ever made. (Bergman fans will get an extra treat out of the knight being offered some wild strawberries at one point.) The film is screening on December 10 as part of the Rubin Museum’s Cabaret Cinema series Films About Nothing, being held in conjunction with the exhibition “Grains of Emptiness,” and will be introduced by former Vogue editor in chief Joan Juliet Buck. (The series continues December 17 with Lisa Birnbach introducing Robert Redford’s 1980 dysfunctional family drama ORDINARY PEOPLE.)

PASS THE BLUTWURST, BITTE

La MaMa Ellen Stewart Theatre
66 East Fourth St. between Second Ave. & Bowery
Thursday – Sunday through December 19
Tickets: $25-$30
212-475-7710
www.lamama.org

In 1928, Austrian painter Egon Schiele died at the age of twenty-eight. Perhaps not coincidentally, visual artist John Kelly is retiring his masterwork, a dance-theater piece about Schiele’s life and career, in its twenty-eighth year. PASS THE BLUTWURST, BITTE was first performed in a very different, much shorter version back at the Pyramid Club in 1982. The constantly evolving piece earned Kelly an Obie for its 1986 run at Dance Theater Workshop, then was revived in an expanded version at La MaMa in 1995. As part of La MaMa’s fortieth anniversary season, founder and artistic director Ellen Stewart convinced Kelly to once again bring back BLUTWURST, which is now running at the Ellen Stewart Theatre through December 19. Kelly has vowed that this will be the last time he ever performs the show, which in its fourth version features several new dances and videos. It’s a thrilling production about art and love that pits the bohemian lifestyle against a repressive culture, told in brilliant and unique ways. The rubbery-limbed Kelly marvelously embodies the sharp, angular Schiele, accompanied by a pair of Alter Egons (Luke Murphy and Eric Jackson Bradley) as he first woos free-spirited Wally Neuzil (Tymberly Canale), whom he meets in a café chugging beer and eating sausage, as his muse and mistress, and later the more traditional Edith (MacKenzie Meehan), who soon becomes his wife. Kelly alternates between silent-movie-like vignettes, set dance pieces, and short Expressionistic film segments, including a marvelous one in which he incorporates glass, his own drawing, and one of Schiele’s most famous self-portraits. The scenes between Schiele and Wally are particularly effective, as Kelly and Canale nearly melt into each other despite Schiele’s social awkwardness. Kelly has kept the show decidedly low-tech, with lo-fi music played on an old record player, the videos choppy and old-fashioned, and Huck Snyder’s sets sparse and intimate. BLUTWURST, which also garnered Kelly an NEA American Masterpieces Award, is playing Thursdays through Sundays through December 19.

Although you don’t have to know anything about Schiele’s extraordinary work to fall in love with the show, we suggest you do just a bit of homework before you go; you can find numerous images and an excellent essay on Schiele online from his New York dealer, Galerie St. Etienne, and several of his works are usually on view at the Neue Galerie. In addition, “Schiele-Kelly,” a collection of new photographs of Kelly posing as Schiele as well as ephemera from the show’s history, continues December 9-12 at La MaMa La Galleria at 6 East First St.

TAKEMITSU: KWAIDAN

Tōru Takemitsu “wanted to create an atmosphere of terror” in Masaki Kobayashi’s quartet of ghost stories

KWAIDAN (Masaki Kobayashi, 1964)
Film Forum
209 West Houston St.
Friday, December 10, 1:00, 6:30
Series continues through December 16
212-727-8110
www.filmforum.org

Masaki Kobayashi paints four marvelous ghost stories in this eerie collection that won a Special Jury Prize at Cannes. In “The Black Hair,” a samurai (Rentaro Mikuni) regrets his choice of leaving his true love for advancement. Yuki (Keiko Kishi) is a harbinger of doom in “The Woman of the Snow.” Hoichi (Katsuo Nakamura) must have his entire body covered in prayer in “Hoichi, the Earless.” And Kannai (Kanemon Nakamura) finds a creepy face staring back at him in “In a Cup of Tea.” Winner of the Special Jury Prize at Cannes, KWAIDAN is one of the greatest ghost story films ever made, four creepy, atmospheric existential tales that will get under your skin and into your brain. The score was composed by Tōru Takemitsu, who said of the film, “I wanted to create an atmosphere of terror.” He succeeded.

Japanese composer Tōru Takemitsu will be celebrated in film and music in New York City this month

KWAIDAN is screening as part of Film Forum’s two-week salute to composer Tōru Takemitsu (1930-96), who scored KWAIDAN and more than one hundred other films, including such diverse works as Teshigahara’s ANTONIO GAUDI, PITFALL, THE FACE OF ANOTHER, and WOMAN IN THE DUNES, Nagisa Oshima’s THE CEREMONY, Masahiro Shinoda’s CHINMOKU and PALE FLOWER, Mitsuo Yanagimachi’s HIMATSURI, Kon Ichikawa’s ALONE ON THE PACIFIC, Masaki Kobayashi’s YOUTH OF JAPAN, HARAKIRI, and SAMURAI REBELLION, and Akira Kurosawa’s RAN and DODES’KA-DEN, all of which are part of the series. The music of Takemitsu will also be celebrated this month at the JapanNYC Festival, with Seiji Ozawa conducting the Saito Kinen Orchestra in a presentation of Takemitsu’s “November Steps,” with Yukio Tanaka on biwa and Kifu Mitsuhashi on shakuhachi, at Carnegie Hall on December 15 (in addition to Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique), a concert featuring traditional hōgaku instruments at the Institute for Medieval Japanese Studies at Columbia University on December 16, and a tribute concert at Zankel Hall on December 17 curated by his daughter, Maki Takemitsu, with jazz performances of his film scores performed by guitarists Kazumi Watanabe and Daisuke Suzuki, accordionist coba, and percussionist Tomohiro Yahiro.

SAINT MISBEHAVIN’: THE WAVY GRAVY MOVIE

Wavy Gravy will be at the IFC Center for screenings of remarkable documentary on Wednesday and Thursday nights

IFC Center
323 Sixth Ave. at Third St.
December 8-14
212-924-7771
www.ifccenter.com
www.saintmisbehavin.com

The true message of the sixties never ended for village poet, inspired fool, pied piper, and self-described intuitive clown Hugh Romney, better known as Wavy Gravy. The remarkable life of the longtime peace activist and environmentalist is documented in Michelle Esrick’s wonderful SAINT MISBEHAVIN’: THE WAVY GRAVY MOVIE, which follows Wavy from Greenwich Village to Woodstock to Berkeley to the Third World. From his days performing at the Gaslight, sharing a room with Bob Dylan, participating in the Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test and the Further bus tour, and running the free kitchen at Woodstock to developing the Hog Farm commune, teaching children about peace, love, and understanding at Camp Winnarainbow, and traveling the globe helping restore sight for millions of blind people, Wavy’s life takes him all over the place, but the film never gets lost along the way. Wavy, who has his own Ben & Jerry’s flavor (caramel cashew Brazil nut ice cream with chocolate hazelnut fudge swirl and roasted almonds), spreads humor and compassion everywhere he goes. “Wavy was always trying to take the ordinary and make it into something funny and magical,” explains his wife, Jahanara, who has been by his side for this entire long, strange trip. Among those who share stories about the irrepressible Wavy are Ram Dass and Dr. Larry Brilliant, the two men who cofounded the international health organization SEVA with him, as well as Odetta, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt, Dr. Patch Adams, and Buffy Sainte-Marie, who together paint a colorful portrait of a humble, sweet, bigger-than-life bodhisattva who is just doing what comes naturally, believing that we all have the power to change the world, one small act at a time, reaching for that “carrot of divine life.” Wavy (a doppelganger for the great British actor Peter Ustinov) and Esrick will be at the IFC Center for the 6:25 and 8:30 shows on Wednesday, December 8, and Thursday, December 9, and Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield will personally deliver free ice cream at the 8:30 Wednesday screening.

ROOFTOP FILMS: TRAPPED IN THE TUNNEL / TUNNEL OF LOVE

Spelunkers and underground movie lovers will gather in Atlantic Ave. tunnel for special two-day edition of Rooftop Films (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Atlantic Ave. tunnel
Atlantic Ave. & Court St.
Saturday, December 11, and Sunday, December 12, $20, 1:00
www.rooftopfilms.com
atlantic ave. tunnel slideshow

Rooftop Films is known for presenting “underground movies outdoors” at offbeat and unusual locations throughout New York City, but on December 11-12, they’ll literally be showing underground films underground as they head beneath the streets of Brooklyn and into the amazing Atlantic Ave. tunnel. Built in 1844 and rediscovered in 1980 by Bob Diamond, who has been leading tours of the landmarked site for many years, the tunnel, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1989, offers a unique experience to those who love trains as well as those seeking access to New York’s hidden treasures. On both days, Diamond will first lead a tour before the films begin. On the schedule for Saturday afternoon’s Trapped in the Tunnel program are Robert Glickert’s ROAD TO MOLOCH, Matt Palmer’s DAYLIGHT HOLE, Eric Scherbarth’s SINKHOLE, Emily Carmichael’s LEDO AND IX GO TO TOWN, Nathan Kensinger and Meghan O’Hara’s COVERED TRACKS, and S. Vollie Osborn’s MONSTERS DOWN THE HALL, while Sunday’s Tunnel of Love lineup consists of Sean Durkin’s MARY LAST SEEN, Carter Smith’s BUGCRUSH, Bobby Miller’s TUB, and Yohan Guignard’s STRATES. Tarps for seating will be provided, or you can bring your own small cushion, but no food or drink is allowed in the tunnel, and there are no bathrooms either; you can take care of some of those needs at the official after-party at Last Exit, which will feature complimentary spiced rum drinks courtesy of Sailor Jerry. And if you’re afraid of confined spaces, ladders, and the dark, you might want to think twice before buying a ticket or else be ready to battle your phobias at what should be a pair of awesome events.

LICK ME: HOW I BECAME CHERRY VANILLA

Borders, 2 Penn Plaza
Tuesday, December 7, free, 2 5:00
www.borders.com
www.cherry-vanilla.com

Poet, actress, songwriter, publicist, Mad woman, and all-around good-time girl Cherry Vanilla holds nothing back in her free-wheeling memoir, LICK ME: HOW I BECAME CHERRY VANILLA (Chicago Review Press, November 2010, $24.95). Born Kathleen Anne Dorritie in 1943 and raised in Queens, Vanilla tells of a life filled with lots of sex, lots of drugs, and lots of rock & roll. A chronic bedwetter as a child, she later developed OCD, picking at cuts and blemishes all over her body. She dreamed of being in show business, first working at Madison Ave. advertising firms before getting involved in the burgeoning downtown arts scene, hanging out at the hottest clubs and enjoying a never-ending stream of lovers. She starred in Warhol’s off-Broadway show PORK and went from groupie to music publicist to poet and performer; her stories about working with David Bowie just as he was trying to break through in the States are intimate and revealing — and might come as quite a surprise for longtime Bowie fans. She talks in-depth about her desire to bed such men as Kris Kristofferson, Warren Beatty, Leon Russell, and Bowie — but you’ll have to read the book to find out which attempts were successful. Among the many celebrities she meets in her ever-evolving career, some who became close friends, others just passing through her wild life, are Mick Jagger, Patti Smith, Joel Schumacher, Debbie Harry, Helmut Newton, Joni Mitchell, Don Johnson, Melanie Griffith, Sting, Candy Darling, Ringo Starr, Angie Bowie, Rudolf Nureyev, and Mick Ronson, and she shares some very interesting details about many of them. But Vanilla never comes off as needlessly gossipy or self-aggrandizing; instead, LICK ME is an honest portrait of a woman who knew what she wanted and went after it. The book also includes excerpts from her 1970s diaries and a sixteen-page black-and-white insert that features several shots of her in two of her favorite positions, either partially or fully unclothed. Cherry Vanilla will be at the Penn Plaza Borders on December 7, discussing her outrageous life and signing copies of the book, joined by special guest May Pang, who figures in a story in the book about Cherry trying to give John Lennon a special birthday present from Ringo.