twi-ny recommended events

UNSILENT FILM SERIES: BATTLESHIP POTEMKIN

Matt Darriau’s Paradox Trio will play a live score to Eisenstein’s classic BATTLESHIP POTEMKIN at (le) poisson rouge

(le) poisson rouge
158 Bleecker St.
Sunday, October 3, $10-$12, 10:00 pm
212-228-4854
www.lepoissonrouge.com

Sergei M. Eisenstein’s classic BATTLESHIP POTEMKIN has had its fair share of scores over the years, and on Sunday night it will be getting the Paradox Trio treatment as part of (le) poisson rouge’s Unsilent Film Series. Matt Darriau, Brad Shepik, Rufus Cappadocia, and Seido Salifoski will be playing such instruments as the kaval, the gaida, Balkan strings, and dumbeks to Eisenstein’s dramatic tale of revolution in Russia. In addition, Vision Fugitive composers Elias (Constantopedos), Lydia (Ainsworth), and Shruti (Kumar) will play live to scenes from René Laloux’s 1973 animated film LA PLANÈTE SAUVAGE (FANTASTIC PLANET).

BATTLESHIP POTEMKIN (Sergei M. Eisenstein, 1925)
Sergei M. Eisenstein’s BATTLESHIP POTEMKIN might be a seminal silent classic that changed the nature of filmmaking, but it is also still a vastly entertaining movie regardless of its cinematic influence and worldwide importance. Divided into five episodes — Men and Maggots, Drama at the Harbour, A Dead Man Calls for Justice, The Odessa Staircase, and The Rendez-vous with a Squadron — the film tells the based-on-fact story of a mutiny on board a sailing vessel, the result of unfair treatment of the workers, a microcosm of the Russian Revolution of 1905 that later led to the bigger revolution of 1917. The film is like an editing primer, its approach to montage causing its own revolution at the time, particularly during the unforgettable Odessa Steps sequence, in which Eisenstein’s cuts manipulate the action in powerful, emotional ways that were new to cinema. The film also features the best mustaches in the history of movies.

ARTISTS ON ARTISTS

Sonic Youth’s Kim Gordon will speak on the career of multimedia artist and rock writer Dan Graham as part of the Dia Foundation’s Artists on Artists series (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Dia: Chelsea
535 West 22nd St. between Tenth & Eleventh Aves.
Monthly Mondays at 6:30
Admission: $6
212-989-5566
www.diaart.org

Upon the opening of the excellent Dan Graham retrospective “Beyond” at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles in early 2009 (and later seen here at the Whitney), Graham sat down for a conversation with Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon. Gordon continues that rather interesting relationship on November 8 when she talks about admitted Sonic Youth fan Graham’s life and career as part of the Dia Foundation’s Artists on Artists series. Since 2001, Dia has been sponsoring fascinating lectures in which one artist discusses the work of another artist, offering unique ruminations on creativity, influence, and the art world in general. The fall season got under way September 13 with Daniel Lefcourt speaking on Imi Knoebel. Next up is Peter Halley on Franz Erhard Walther on October 18, followed by Gordon on Graham on November 8 and Joachim Koester on Sol LeWitt on December 13. The series then continues into 2011, with Abraham Cruzvillegas on Robert Smithson on February 14, Laylah Ali on Joseph Beuys on March 21, and Josephine Meckseper on Hanne Darboven on April 4. (Although some are already sold out, there will be a first-come, first-served waiting list the night of the event.)

THE HEIST: TOPKAPI

Peter Ustinov provides the comic relief in Dassin caper classic

TOPKAPI (Jules Dassin, 1964)
Film Forum
209 West Houston St.
Sunday, October 3, 1:00, 4:10, 7:20
Series runs through October 21
212-727-8110
www.filmforum.org

We’re suckers for heist films. Just give us THE HOT ROCK (Peter Yates, 1972), THE ANDERSON TAPES (Sidney Lumet, 1972), THE ASPHALT JUNGLE (John Huston, 1950), THE KILLING (Stanley Kubrick, 1956) — heck, even THE BRINK’S JOB (William Friedkin, 1978) — and we’ll settle in for a great coupla hours. But the king of them all just might be Jules Dassin’s ultrahip TOPKAPI, about a group of multicultural thieves who plan to steal the world’s most priceless emerald from a bejeweled dagger in Topkapi Palace in Istanbul. The movie is worth seeing just for Ms. Mercouri herself, who opens the film by talking right to us, luring us in with her alluring sex appeal and endless charm. And oh, those clothes, especially the emerald green outfit with her nails painted to match. Maximilian Schell, Peter Ustinov, Robert Morley, and others join in for the elaborate plan that has been ripped off in so many movies ever since. And we were happy to see that they really got things right, shooting on location in Turkey, because we’ve been to Topkapi Palace, and the Topkapi dagger is indeed breathtaking. We deleted a quarter star because some of the scenes with Ustinov are a bit long and awkward, but the rest is simply marvelous. TOPKAPI is screening with Nick Park’s WALLACE & GROMIT IN THE WRONG TROUSERS (1993), part of Film Forum’s awesome series “The Heist,” which includes all of the aforementioned flicks and more, continuing through October 21.

JUDY CHICAGO

Judy Chicago and art historian Frances Borzello will discuss their new book on Frida Kahlo at the Brooklyn Museum on October 3 (photo by Donald Woodman)

Brooklyn Museum
200 Eastern Pkwy.
Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Auditorium, third Floor
Sunday, October 3, free with suggested contribution of $10, 2:00
718-638-5000
www.brooklynmuseum.org

Judy Chicago, creator of the world famous “Dinner Party” installation currently at the Brooklyn Museum and one of the pioneers of feminist art, will make a special visit to the Eastern Parkway institution on Sunday afternoon, October 3, at 2:00, celebrating the release of her latest book, FRIDA KAHLO: FACE TO FACE (Prestel, September 2010, $65). Chicago will be joined by her collaborator, art historian Frances Borzello, in discussing Kahlo’s place as a painter of women’s portraits; in the book, Chicago and Borzello examine 120 such works by the renowned Mexican artist, looking at them from both a personal and professional angle. The discussion will be followed by a Q&A and book signing.

Before or after the book launch, be sure to save plenty of time to see “The Dinner Party,” which has found a long-term home in the Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art on the fourth floor. The world’s most remarkable dinner party is held at a triangular table that consists of three 48-foot sides with 13 place settings apiece, paying tribute to 39 women who helped shape and change the world. The plate design — a combination of a butterfly pattern and a vulva — and the embroidered silk covering are different for each historical figure, based on their life and accomplishments, which are listed in the accompanying booklet and on Heritage Panels in an adjoining room. Another 999 women are honored with their names inscribed in gold on the Heritage Floor beneath the table; Chicago arranged it so that women who were successful in the same field are placed together. For example, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and other suffragists are written under Susan B. Anthony’s setting, and Harriet Tubman and other civil rights leaders are under Sojourner Truth’s setting. Chicago celebrates these women by using so-called feminine iconography, including embroidery, table setting, and tapestry weaving, all of which are generally associated with women, and placing the vulva front and center as an expression of not only life but power.

ART IN ODD PLACES: CHANCE

Paul Notzold’s “TXTual Healing” will project audience texts onto a 14th St. building as part of Art in Odd Places public art festival

14th St. between the Hudson & East Rivers
October 1-10
Admission: free
www.artinoddplaces.org

Everyday life in New York City is built around the idea of chance — risk as well as luck, both good and bad — as residents, tourists, workers, and other visitors are all part of a daily maelstrom filled with expected and unexpected encounters with friends and strangers, taxis and buses, parks and skyscrapers. If the city is its own massive museum, then its streets are like individual galleries, and with that in mind, curators Yaelle Amir and Petrushka Bazin have taken over 14th St. from October 1 to 10. “Chance” is the latest presentation from Art in Odd Places, which seeks to stretch the limits of public art. Playing off the themes of “proposition, luck, randomness, risk, and opportunity,” Amir and Bazin have gathered together more than two dozen site-specific projects that run the length of 14th St. from the Hudson to the East River, as passersby will come upon live music, dance, sound installations, interactive sculpture, and other participatory events. Perhaps you’ll find one of Sheryl Oring’s “To a Young Poet” envelopes, inside of which is an excerpt from Rainer Maria Rilke and a request for you to respond. Or maybe your movement will be incorporated into Simonetta Moro’s “Chance Drawing: Reverse Window Shopping” at Rags-a-Gogo. Make sure you have proper identification if you want to take one of notary public Carrie Dashow’s “Great Oaths.” Go ahead and answer that ringing phone, as it could be Christopher Dameron and Annika Newell’s “Silent Call” on the other end. Be brave and enter Einat Amir’s “Enough About You,” in which you’ll be put in a room with a stranger and then have a conversation. Although it might be raining anyway, you won’t want to get wet from BroLab Collective’s “Pump 14,” which will be transporting water down 14th St. via a manual bucket filtration system. Watch to see if Irvin Morazan, munching on Cheez Doodles while dressed in a Mayan-inspired headdress, is able to hail a cab in “Taxi!! Taxi!! Taxii!!” If someone is waving at you from across the street, be sure to wave back, because it’s probably part of Flux Factory’s “Sign a Waver.” And if three women suddenly start telling you stories on a street corner, it could very well be Jessica Ann Peavy’s “Two Lies and a Truth,” and it’s up to you to decide which rumor is real. Some of the events will continue all week, while others will take place only tonight, so check the schedule at the above website if you’re interested in a specific performance.

THE HEIST

Walter Matthau tries to get to the bottom of a bizarre subway robbery in THE TAKING OF PELHAM ONE TWO THREE, which kicks off three-week heist festival at Film Forum

Walter Matthau tries to get to the bottom of a bizarre subway heist in THE TAKING OF PELHAM ONE TWO THREE

THE TAKING OF PELHAM ONE TWO THREE (Joseph Sargent, 1974)
Film Forum
209 West Houston St.
October 1-2
Series runs through October 21
212-727-8110
www.filmforum.org

Loosely adapted from the book by John Godey, THE TAKING OF PELHAM ONE TWO THREE wonderfully captures the cynicism of 1970s New York City. Four heavily armed and mustached men — Mr. Blue (Robert Shaw), Mr. Green (Martin Balsam), Mr. Gray (Hector Elizondo), and Mr. Brown (Earl Hindman), colorful pseudonyms that influenced Quentin Tarantino’s RESERVOIR DOGS — hijack an uptown 4 train, demanding one million dollars in one hour from a nearly bankrupt city or else they will kill all eighteen passengers, one at a time, minute by minute. The hapless mayor (Lee Wallace) is in bed with the flu, so Deputy Mayor Warren LaSalle (Tony Roberts) takes charge on the political end while transit detective Lt. Zachary Garber (a great Walter Matthau) and Inspector Daniels (Julius Harris) of the NYPD team up to try to figure out just how in the world the criminals expect to get away with the seemingly impossible heist. Directed by Joseph Sargent (SYBIL), the film offers a nostalgic look back at a bygone era, before technology radically changed the way trains are run and police work is handled. The film also features a very funny, laconic Jerry Stiller as Lt. Rico Patrone and the beloved Kenneth McMillan as the borough commander. The film was remade as a television movie in 1998, starring Edward James Olmos, Vincent D’Onofrio, and Lorraine Bracco, and as an embarrassingly bad big-budget bomb in 2009 by Tony Scott, who we’re hoping won’t ruin his upcoming remake of THE WARRIORS as well.

Robert Redford, Paul Sand, and George Segal form an offbeat band of crooks in Peter Yates’s THE HOT ROCK (courtesy Photofest)

THE TAKING OF PELHAM ONE TWO THREE, which is being shown as part of a double feature October 1-2 with Don Siegel’s underrated CHARLEY VARRICK, in which Matthau stars as a small-time crook who gets a little too lucky, kicks off the three-week series “The Heist” at Film Forum, an exciting collection of thirty-seven films featuring unique attempts at stealing audience’s hearts and minds. Who doesn’t love a good caper movie? Programmer extraordinaire Bruce Goldstein certainly does, as seen by the awesome lineup he has put together, which includes Jules Dassin’s classics TOPKAPI (1964) and RIFIFI (1955); Sidney Lumet’s suspenseful THE ANDERSON TAPES (1971), screening with William Friedkin’s fluffy but fun THE BRINK’S JOB (1978); an inspired double bill of Norman Jewison’s THE THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR (1968) and Peter Yates’s very funny THE HOT ROCK (1972), in which Robert Redford, Geoge Segal, Paul Sand, and Ron Leibman break into the Brooklyn Museum; Quentin Tarantino’s violent bloodbath RESERVOIR DOGS (1992); a double play of the great Sterling Hayden in John Huston’s THE ASPHALT JUNGLE (1950) and Stanley Kubrick’s THE KILLING (1956); and a Nouvelle Vague pairing of Jean-Luc Godard’s BAND OF OUTSIDERS (1964) and Jean-Pierre Melville’s BOB LE FLAMBEUR (1955). Keep watching twi-ny for select reviews and further recommendations as the series continues.

CHILE PEPPER FIESTA

Brooklyn Botanic Garden
900 Washington Ave.
Saturday, October 2, $10-$15, 12 noon – 6:00 pm
718-623-7200
www.bbg.org

Things are going to get mighty spicy at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden on Saturday as the annual Chile Pepper Fiesta arrives, ready to burn through an afternoon of special events galore. There will be fiery cooking demonstrations by Dave Schuttenberg of Cabrito (12:30), Corwin Kave of Fatty Crab and Fatty ’Cue (2:00), Karthik Kumar of Brick Lane Curry House (3:30), and Simon Glenn of Tchoup Shop (5:00), along with plenty of tantalizing tastings that should go well with cocktails prepared by spicy mixologist Kara Newman, who will also be signing copies of her recently published book SPICE & ICE. Chocolate lovers can participate in the Brooklyn Chile Chocolate Takedown and partake of particularly peppery chocolate desserts, hot cocoa, and chocolatey beer. The Chile Goddess will be offering gardening tips at the Lily Pool Terrace (1:00 – 5:00), and tours of the garden’s chile plants are scheduled for 3:00 and 4:00. Live music, featuring bands from international regions that love their chile peppers, will run all day on the Cherry Esplanade Stage, with Mandingo Ambassadors (West Africa, 12:15), Red Baraat! (North India, 1:45), Atlas Soul (North Africa / Middle East, 3:15), and Boukman Eksperyans (Haiti, 4:45). Dawn Drake & Zapote (12 noon & 3:15) and the Ukuladies (1:15 & 4:15) will grace the Chile Chocolate Stage at the Meadow. Rain or shine, it should be one helluva hot time.