twi-ny recommended events

WINTER RESTAURANT WEEK 2017

restaurant-week

Who: More than three hundred and fifty restaurants throughout the city
What: Winter Restaurant Week
Where: All five boroughs
When: January 23 – February 10, three-course lunches $29, three-course dinners $42
Why: Reservation lines are now open for Winter Restaurant Week, in which hundreds of New York City eateries offer three-course prix-fixe lunches for $29 and dinners for $42. (Some restaurants do only lunch or dinner, and others offer the deals only on weekdays.) Many of the prix-fixe menus are available online so you know just what you’re in for. Among the many restaurants are such favorites as ‘21 Club,’ ABC Kitchen, American Cut, Asia de Cuba, Aureole, Bann, Barbetta, Blue Fin, Calle Ocho, Casa Lever, Charlie Palmer Steak, Chez Jospehine, Circo, Darbar, DB Bistro Moderne, Delmonico’s, Dos Caminos, Esca, Estiatorio Milos, Gotham Bar & Grill, HanGawi, Haru, i Trulli, Il Mulino, Indochine, Le Cirque, Lure Fishbar, Mercer Kitchen, Monkey Bar, Nice Matin, Nobu, Periyali, the Red Cat, Rosa Mexicano, the Russian Tea Room, Shun Lee Palace, the Strip House, Tao, Tribeca Grill, Victor’s Cafe, and the Water Club. As a bonus, if you register your American Express card, you will receive $5 back each time you charge at least $35 at a participating restaurant.

COMEDY ON FILM: WHAT MAKES THE FRENCH LAUGH? DELICATESSEN

Butcher-landlord Clapet (Jean-Claude Dreyfus) has a unique way of taking care of his tenant-customers in DELICATESSEN

CINÉSALON: DELICATESSEN (Marc Caro & Jean-Pierre Jeunet, 1991)
French Institute Alliance Française, Florence Gould Hall
55 East 59th St. between Madison & Park Aves.
Tuesday, January 10, $13, 4:00 & 7:30
Series continues Tuesdays through February 21
212-355-6100
fiaf.org

Following a rather rough 2016, the world doesn’t seem to be as funny as it once was. FIAF is trying to do something about it with its first CinéSalon series of 2017, “Comedy on Film: What Makes the French Laugh?” Running on Tuesday nights through February 21 — without a hint of Jerry Lewis in sight — the festival kicks off January 10 with Marc Caro and Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s delicious debut, Delicatessen. In a bizarre, postapocalyptic future, one apartment complex is surviving via its ground-floor butcher shop, where landlord Clapet (Jean-Claude Dreyfus) carefully wields his giant cleaver, hiring desperate, lonely men to do odd jobs for him before carving them up and selling their flesh and bones to his hungry customers. His latest potential victim is Louison (Dominique Pinon), a mild-mannered clown struggling to get by. But when Clapet’s shy daughter, Julie (Marie-Laure Dougnac), takes a liking to Louison, the butcher has to decide whether someone else should be their next meal. Meanwhile, Aurore Interligator (Silvie Laguna) keeps devising Rube Goldberg-esque ways to kill herself, Marcel Tapioca (Ticky Holgado) tries to prevent Clapet from making mincemeat of his mother-in-law (Edith Kerr), Frog Man (Howard Vernon) has come up with his own curious menu, Clapet gives special treatment to sexpot Mademoiselle Plusse (Karin Viard), and an underground group of Troglodistes are preparing for revolution.

Louison (Dominique Pinon) clowns around in Marc Caro and Jean-Pierre Genet’s brilliant audiovisual feast

Inspired by the work of Terry Gilliam, Delicatessen is a brilliant audiovisual feast, with every sound and image orchestrated for maximum absurdity, courtesy of cinematographer Darius Khondji (Seven, Stealing Beauty), longtime Marguerite Duras composer Carlos d’Alessio (India Song, The Children), and art director Miljen Kreka Klakovic (The Pillars of the Earth, The Order). Caro also did the gorgeous production design and makes a cameo as Fox. Several scenes turn into wildly inventive, hysterical musical numbers with a vaudevillian sensibility. Winner of four César Awards, the film is wickedly funny, taking place in a grim, fantastical, surreal vision of the future that is part Road Warrior, part Brazil, part Monty Python, where even methods of surveillance are downright strange. The cast is appropriately weird, none more so than Caro and Jeunet regular Pinon and his familiar, oddball face. The directors went on to collaborate on the stunning sci-fi gem The City of Lost Children before going their separate ways, Jeunet making such films as Alien: Resurrection, A Very Long Engagment, and Amélie and Caro writing and directing Dante 01. A twenty-fifth anniversary digital restoration of Delicatessen is screening January 10 at 4:00 and 7:30; “Comedy on Film: What Makes the French Laugh?” continues through February 21 with such other French laugh fests as Mohamed Hamidi’s One Man and His Cow, Jean-Christophe Meurisses’s Apnée, Michel Hazanavicius’s OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies, and Quentin Dupieux’s Reality, with each show followed by a reception and the 7:30 show introduced by a special guest.

LIVE FROM BARNES & NOBLE: JOSH GROBAN, DENÉE BARTON, DAVE MALLOY, AND CAST MEMBERS FROM THE GREAT COMET…

great-comet

Who: Josh Groban, Denée Barton, Dave Malloy, Steve Suskin, more
What: Live performance and book signing
Where: Barnes & Noble, 150 East 86th St. at Lexington Ave., 212-369-2180
When: Friday, January 13, free, 4:00 (priority seating with book purchase at B&N Upper East Side starting at 9:00 am)
Why: Steven Suskin’s new book, The Great Comet: The Journey of a New Musical to Broadway (Sterling, November 2016, $40), takes theater fans behind the scenes of the remarkable story of Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812, an electropop opera based on a seventy-page section of Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace that began life in the eighty-seven-seat house Ars Nova in 2012, only to find itself a smash hit at the 1,200-capacity Imperial on Broadway four years later. The book includes a five-song CD (with three songs from the off-Broadway production and two from the Broadway edition) as well as a foreword by Public Theater artistic director Oskar Eustis. On January 13 at 4:00, Suskin will be at the Upper East Side B&N on Eighty-Sixth St. to sign copies of the book, joined by Denée Barton, who is exquisite as Natasha, Josh Groban, who has earned raves as Pierre, and Dave Malloy, the show’s creator, composer, librettist, orchestrator, music director, and original Pierre. The B&N event will include live performances along with a signing; the participants will only be signing copies of the new book that were purchased that day, starting at 9:00, at the store, which also gets you priority seating; no other memorabilia will be autographed.

NEW YORK JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL OPENING NIGHT: MOON IN THE 12th HOUSE

Mira (Yuval Scharf) returns home but younger sister Lenny (Yaara Pelzig) is not yet ready to have her back in her life in MOON IN THE 12th HOUSE

MOON IN THE 12th HOUSE (Dorit Hakim, 2016)
Film Society of Lincoln Center, Walter Reade Theater
165 West 65th St. at Amsterdam Ave.
Wednesday, January 11, 3:30 & 9:00
New York Jewish Film Festival runs January 11-24
212-875-5601
nyjff.org
www.filmlinc.org

The 2017 New York Jewish Film Festival opens with the tender, emotionally wrenching Moon in the 12th House, the debut feature by Dorit Hakim, who won the 1998 Silver Lion for Best Short Film for her eleven-minute Small Change. Hakim, a journalist and filmmaker who was born in Tel Aviv, lived for several years with her husband, Israeli hi-tech success Shlomo Kramer, in Silicon Valley, then moved back to her homeland. For her first full-length work, she reaches deep into her Israeli youth to tell the story of two sisters separated by tragedy when they were girls. Now adults, the vain Mira (Yuval Scharf) works in a glitzy Tel Aviv nightclub, where she does drugs and sleeps with her selfish, mean-spirited boss, Doron (Gal Toren). Her younger sister, twenty-one-year-old Lenny (Yaara Pelzig), has chosen to remain in the family home in the country, taking care of their ailing father (Avraham Horovitz), who is in an assisted living facility after a stroke. Lenny, who goes for a precious swim every day to temporarily escape her overwhelming responsibilities, is also watching her neighbor’s teenage son, Ben (Gefen Barkai), while his artist mother is away. Long estranged, the sisters are reunited when a desperate Mira suddenly shows up on Lenny’s doorstep, but as much as Mira might need her, Lenny is not yet ready to accept her back in her life. “It’s not as easy for me as it is for you,” Mira says, not understanding the sacrifices that Lenny has made, part of the reason why they are estranged.

Lenny (Yaara Pelzig) takes care of her ailing father (Avraham Horovitz) in debut feature by Dorit Hakim

Inspired by events from her life but not wholly autobiographical, Moon in the 12th House is a fragile, delicate film; it feels as if it could break at any moment, echoing how the sisters exist on a psychological precipice. Writer-director Hakim never makes things simple, avoiding clichéd plot twists as details emerge about what tore Lenny and Mira apart. Scharf (Ha-Emet Ha’Eroma, Ana Arabia) and Pelzig (Policeman, Good Family) have a strong chemistry, whether they’re fighting or cuddled together in bed. The film is beautifully photographed by Amit Yasur (The Slut, Next to Her), with a warm, spare soundtrack by Ishai Adar (Mr. Gaga, Bethlehem). Nominated for six Israeli Oscars — Scharf for Best Supporting Actress, Toren for Best Supporting Actor, Yasur for Best Cinematography, Li Alembik for Best Costume Design, Vered Mevorach for Best Makeup, and Adar for Best Music — Moon in the 12th House is screening at the Walter Reade Theater on January 11 at 3:30 and 9:30, with each show followed by a Q&A with Hakim and Scharf. The twenty-sixth annual New York Jewish Film Festival, a joint production of the Jewish Museum and the Film Society of Lincoln Center, runs January 11-24, with more than three dozen programs, from new fiction and nonfiction films to special tributes to Valeska Gert and the duo of Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder and a master class with Israeli documentarian Tomer Heymann.

NEW EAR FESTIVAL 2017

Yulan Grant will close out the second annual New Ear Festival at Fridman Gallery on January 16 (photo courtesy of the artist)

Fridman Gallery
287 Spring St. by Hudson St.
January 8-16, $20, 8:00 (6:00 opening night)
www.fridmangallery.com

Curated by Peter Evans, the second annual New Ear Festival at Fridman Gallery on Spring St. consists of nine days of unique musical performances that push the edge of sound art. On January 8, opening night pays tribute to accordionist, composer, and humanitarian Pauline Oliveros, who passed away in November at the age of eighty-four, with performances by cellist and composer Leila Bordreuil, turntablist Maria Chavez, trumpeter Nate Wooley, and Evans and the premiere of the film Apple Box Orchestra. January 9 will feature jazz trumpeter, composer, and vocalist Amir ElSaffar, saxophonist and clarinetist Ole Mathison, and drummer Tomas Fujiwara. Drummer and alt rapper Kassa Overall will perform on January 10, followed the next night by keyboardist, vocalist, and mixed-media artist Ohal Grietzer and multimedia artist Victoria Keddie. January 12’s lineup boasts Grammy-nominated composer, musician, and installation artist Miya Masaoka, electronic artist Byron Westbrook, and performance and video artist Ursula Scherrer, while January 13 brings cellist and composer Tomeka Reid, trumpeter Jaimie Branch, and mixed-media and animation artist Selina Trepp. Percussionist, installation artist, and composer Diego Espinosa performs January 14, followed by multimedia artist, percussionist, and instrument inventor Levy Lorenzo and composer Lea Bertucci on January 15. The festival concludes January 16 with a sound and video performance by multidisciplinary artist Yulan Grant. If you can’t make it to the gallery, you can livestream the events here.

LUMBERYARD SHOWCASE AT NEW YORK LIVE ARTS

Jane Comfort and Company will be performing January 9 at Lumberyard showcase at New York Live Arts

Who: Dan Hurlin, Vicky Shick, the feath3r theory, Cynthia Hopkins, Jane Comfort and Company, Steven Reker/Open House, LMnO3
What: Lumberyard Contemporary Performing Arts APAP showcase
Where: New York Live Arts, 219 West 19th St., 212-727-7476
When: Monday, January 9, free with advance RSVP, 2:00 & 5:00
Why: Formerly known as American Dance Institute, the newly rechristened Lumberyard is presenting a pair of free showcases on January 9 at New York Live Arts in conjunction with the annual APAP|NYC performance festival. The two-hour showcases of fifteen-minute pieces take place at 2:00 and 5:00 with the following lineup and times: Dan Hurlin (2:00, 5:00), Vicky Shick (2:20, 5:20), the feath3r theory (2:40), Cynthia Hopkins (3:00, 6:00), Jane Comfort and Company (3:20, 5:40), Steven Reker/Open House (3:40, 6:40), and LMnO3 (6:20).

BROOKLYN MUSEUM FIRST SATURDAY: NEW YEAR, NEW FUTURES

Jason Benjamin’s SUITED will be shown at the Brooklyn Museum on Saturday night, followed by the discussion “Queer Style as Resistance in Post-Trump Activism”

Brooklyn Museum
200 Eastern Parkway at Washington St.
Saturday, January 7, free, 5:00 – 11:00
212-864-5400
www.brooklynmuseum.org

A lot of Americans were glad to bid good riddance to 2016, although there’s plenty of fear for what can happen in 2017. The Brooklyn Museum explores some of those very legitimate concerns in its free First Saturday program on January 7. There will be live performances by Tank and the Bangas, Discwoman (DJs BEARCAT and SHYBOI) and Cakes Da Killa; a Brooklyn Dance Festival workshop; a book club reading, discussion, and signing with Daniel José Older for his latest Bone Street Rumba novel, Battle Hill Bolero; a hands-on art workshop in which participants can make masks inspired by “A Woman’s Afterlife: Gender Transformation in Ancient Egypt”; a screening of Jason Benjamin’s Suited, followed by a “Queer Style as Resistance in Post-Trump Activism” talkback with Benjamin, dapperQ, Anita Dolce Vita, Daniel Friedman, Debbie-Jean Lemonte, and Rae Tutera; a curator tour of “A Woman’s Afterlife” with Edward Bleiberg; pop-up gallery talks on “Marilyn Minter: Pretty/Dirty”; a community resource fair with Active Citizen Project/Project EATS, Caribbean Leadership Empowerment Foundation, Historic Districts Council, Spaceworks, Carroll Gardens Association, and Pioneer Works; Kids Corner storytelling (“Virtuous Journeys”) with Rezz and Mando; and pop-up publishing with DIY feminist publishers Pilot Press, led by Jen Kennedy and Liz Linden. In addition, you can check out such exhibits as “Iggy Pop Life Class by Jeremy Deller,” “Beverly Buchanan — Ruins and Rituals,” “The Dinner Party by Judy Chicago,” “Life, Death, and Transformation in the Americas,” “Marilyn Minter: Pretty/Dirty,” and “Infinite Blue”; admission to “Who Shot Sports: A Photographic History, 1843 to the Present,” which closes January 8, requires a discounted admission fee of $10.