twi-ny recommended events

MoRUS FILM FEST — RECLAIMED SPACE: 7th STREET

7th STREET (Josh Pais, 2002)
6th & B Community Garden
Ave. B & Sixth St.
Thursday, August 8, strongly suggested donation $5, 7:30
Festival runs August 3-10, all access pass $20
973-818-8495
www.7thstreetmovie.com
www.morusnyc.org

Actor Josh Pais, who was in the Raphael suit in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, turns the camera on the neighborhood he grew up in, Seventh Street between Avenues C & D, in this fascinating documentary that examines class struggle, racism, anti-Semitism, poverty and homelessness, the drug trade, gentrification, but, above all, family and friendship. Along the way, Pais, who is almost too reminiscent of Ben Stiller, introduces viewers to a fabulous and frightening cast of characters, including Manny the millionaire, Mickey the con man, Rex the draft dodger, Merlin the homeless sage, and many more. This is a special little documentary that will surprise you, delight you, and scare you while making you think back about the place where you grew up. Of course, it is also about a part of Alphabet City that has continued to undergo significant change since the film was made more than ten years ago. Pais will be on hand on August 8 when 7th Street is screened in the 6th & B Community Garden as part of the inaugural MoRUS Film Fest, sponsored by the Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space, whose mission “is to preserve history and promote scholarship of grassroots urban space activism by researching and archiving efforts to create community spaces.” The festival continues through August 10 with such other events as a compilation of Loisaida films in La Plaza Cultural and Jacob Burckhardt’s Landlord Blues and Phil Hartman’s No Picnic in Orchard Alley.

CONEY ISLAND FLICKS ON THE BEACH / RIVER FLICKS FOR GROWN-UPS: THE AVENGERS

The Avengers face a powerful enemy in Joss Whedon’s action-adventure superhero blockbuster

THE AVENGERS (Joss Whedon, 2012)
Flicks on the Beach, Monday, August 5, Coney Island, 1001 Boardwalk West, free, dusk
River Flicks for Grown-Ups, Wednesday, August 7, Hudson River Park, Pier 63 lawn at 23rd St., free, dusk
www.marvel.com

After a spectacular energy device known as the Tesseract opens a wormhole that allows the evil Loki (Tom Hiddleston) to enter present-day Earth and ultimately steal the machine, turning Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) and Dr. Erik Selvig (Stellan Skarsgård) into unwitting allies in the process, S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg) and director Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) bring back the Avengers Initiative, reuniting Tony Stark / Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Steve Rogers / Captain America (Chris Evans), Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), and an extremely tentative Dr. Bruce Banner / Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), who are gathered together to regain the Tesseract and foil Loki’s evil plans to take over Earth. Also entering the fray is Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Loki’s brother, who needs to decide which side of the battle he is on. As egos get in the way and wisecracks fly by like so much machine-gun rattle, particularly from Stark, the Avengers realize they are facing a supremely powerful force, one that will require, well, superhuman effort to defeat. Writer-director Joss Whedon, the genius behind Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and Firefly, plays things a little loose in this comic-book blockbuster, not worrying too much about gaping plot holes that could have been created by the Tesseract itself and letting the superhero banter and tech-heavy set pieces take center stage. Downey goes over the top as the brash Stark, while Ruffalo, following in the failed footsteps of Edward Norton and Eric Bana (and, of course, the great Bill Bixby), is relegated to a whole lot of brooding. But there’s still lots of fun to be had as the characters team up to save the world. Be sure to stick around through the credits for a pair of bonus scenes. The Avengers is screening August 5 as part of the free summer series “Coney Island Flicks on the Beach,” which continues August 12 with Fame, August 19 with a film to be announced, and August 27 with the sixtieth-anniversary presentation of Little Fugitive, which was supposed to kick off the series on July 1 but was rained out and instead has been rescheduled to close out the fest. The Avengers is also being shown on August 7 as part of Hudson River Park’s “River Flicks for Grown-Ups,” which continues the following two weeks with Pitch Perfect and The Hunger Games. For a day-by-day listing of free summer movie screenings throughout New York City, go here.

BEGINNINGS: LIVE!

BEGINNINGS WITH ANDY AND MARK
Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre
153 East Third St.
Tuesday, August 6, $5, 8:00
212-366-9231
www.east.ucbtheatre.com
www.beginningspod.com

Back in July 2011, Andy Beckerman and Mark Bisi created the Wrestling Team podcast “Beginnings,” in which Beckerman interviews entertainers, primarily comedians, about the start of their careers. Over the past two years, he has spoken with such writers and entertainers as Ben Katchor, Greg Proops, Sean Patton, Christian Finnegan and Kambri Crews, Marnie Stern, Ben Marcus, Rachel Dratch, Bill Griffith, Girl Talk, Wyatt Cenac, Sam Lipsyte, and many others, along with such musical guests as Au Revoir Simone, Cymbals Eat Guitars, Jean Grae, Andrew W.K., Savoir Adore, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. The discussions focus on the question “Where do creative people come from?” On August 6, “Beginning” will take place live at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre on East Third St., with a stellar lineup, including the always outrageous Jim Norton from The Opie & Anthony Show,, Canadian stand-up Bonnie McFarlane, Eric Drysdale from The Daily Show and The Colbert Report, and a musical performance by New York City band ARMS. Beckerman will be joined by guest cohost Mike Pace of “Worst Gig Ever”; admission is only five bucks.

BREAKUP AT A WEDDING

Phil Havemeyer (Philip Quinaz) has to reconvince his bride-to-be (Alison Fyhrie) to marry him in BREAKUP AT A WEDDING

BREAKUP AT A WEDDING (Victor Quinaz, 2013)
IndieScreen
289 Kent Ave. at South Second St.
August 2-8, 7:00
347-227-8030
www.breakupatawedding.com

With their wedding day upon them, Alison Jones (Alison Fyhrie) suddenly gets cold feet, convincing her fiance, Philip Havemeyer (cowriter Philip Quinaz), that they should go ahead with the festivities anyway, faking it for the guests and then calling it quits afterward in the silly but fun pseudo-mockumentary Breakup at a Wedding. The film is set up as wedding videographer Vic James’s (cowriter, director, and producer Victor Quinaz, Philip’s brother) self-proclaimed masterpiece; James and his small team of photographers have been given unlimited access to the previously happy couple and their friends and families, capturing intimate moments, deep, dark secrets, and general mayhem as all hell breaks loose, from the rehearsal dinner through the wedding itself. “Weddings make people go insane, but I always edit out the crazy,” Vic says at the beginning, “that is, until I met these two.” There are battles between the competing best men (Damian Lanigan and Chris Manley), maid of honor Mary (Mary Grill) is determined to get laid, and Alison has trouble dealing with her divorced parents (Hugh Scully and Caitlin B. FitzGerald), her father’s new Czech mail-order bride (Helena Lukas Martemucci), and her stepmother’s goddaughter, Lenka Jones (cowriter and producer Anna Martemucci, who is married to Victor Quinaz), who is betrothed to Alison’s brother, Brian (Brian Shoaf). It all makes for a host of bizarre antics, some very funny, others too far over the top, but there’s a charming genuineness and warmth to it all, probably in part because many of the actors and filmmakers are related themselves, and Philip Quinaz has most likely experienced a whole lot in one of his other jobs, professional wedding DJ. Cinematographer and coeditor Giovanni P. Autran, who also plays the florist, keeps it all honest, mixing in interview segments, handheld shots at the wedding, and playfully lit dance scenes. And thankfully, the film avoids getting overly sentimental while including some fresh insights into love, friendship, responsibility, and trust. Breakup at a Wedding continues at indieScreen in Williamsburg nightly at 7:00 through August 8; one of the producers, Zachary Quinto, who plays Spock on the relaunched Star Trek franchise, will be on hand for a Q&A following the August 6 show.

THE WAY, WAY BACK

Duncan (Liam James) is not exactly looking forward to summer on the beach in Jim Rash and Nat Faxon’s thoughtful coming-of-age drama

THE WAY, WAY BACK (Nat Faxon & Jim Rash, 2013)
In theaters now
www.foxsearchlight.com

Jim Rash and Nat Faxon’s The Way, Way Back is a gentle, deeply affecting, and tender coming-of-age drama about an awkward adolescent boy having difficulties dealing with his parents’ divorce and his mother’s new boyfriend. Liam James stars as fourteen-year-old Duncan, who is forced to spend the summer in a Massachusetts beach resort town with his mother, Pam (Toni Collette); Trent (Steve Carell), the man she is considering settling down with; and Trent’s stuck-up daughter, Steph (Zoe Levin), who resents having to watch over the brooding, nearly silent Duncan. Everyone has to deal with their neighbor, the wildly wacky Betty (a wildly wacky Allison Janney), who continually chastises her son, Peter (River Alexander), because of his odd right eye and whose daughter, Susanna (AnnaSophia Robb), is the only one who seems to recognize what Duncan is going through. To get away from it all, Duncan heads off to a local water park (the actual Water Wizz), where he is taken under the wing of one of the managers, Owen (Sam Rockwell), who hasn’t really grown up himself yet, a man-child who is always goofing around with his fellow employees, the customers, and his boss, Caitlyn (Maya Rudolph). As Duncan starts finding out some disturbing truths about his mother, Trent, and Trent’s friends Kip (Rob Corddry) and Joan (Amanda Peet), he also learns a lot about life in general and his situation specifically.

Duncan (Liam James) learns about life and love from Owen (Sam Rockwell) in THE WAY, WAY BACK

Evoking such films as Greg Mottola’s underrated Adventureland and Wes Anderson’s cult classic Rushmore, The Way, Way Back is an honest, poignant examination of one boy’s summer to remember. James (Psych, The Killing) gives a riveting performance as Duncan, a kid who is turning away from a world that keeps letting him down. But just as he’s giving up on trusting adults, be becomes friends with a man who doesn’t seem to take anything seriously, until he does, played with hysterically reckless abandon by Rockwell, channeling Stripes-era Bill Murray. Although the film is set in the modern day, Rash and Faxon, who teamed up with director Alexander Payne to win the Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar for The Descendants, give The Way, Way Back an engaging retro feel, from the references to 1980s music (Bonnie Tyler’s “Holding Out for a Hero,” REO Speedwagon’s “I Can’t Fight This Feeling Anymore”) to Trent’s mint Buick woody station wagon. Rash (Craig Pelton on Community) and Faxon (Ben in Ben and Kate) — who also appear in the film as Water Wizz employees, Rash playing the very strange Lewis and Faxon as the hunky Roddy — also manage to save several scenes that threaten to become uncomfortable and take away from the otherwise believable plot twists. Carell and Collette, who were brother and sister in Little Miss Sunshine, here make a good couple, a pair of adults who still have some growing up of their own to do. The opening scene, with Duncan sitting in the way, way back of the station wagon, facing where they’ve been, not where they’re going, sets a marvelous tone for this small gem.

GRAVITY AND GRACE: MONUMENTAL WORKS BY EL ANATSUI

El Anatsui’s hanging works welcome visitors to fascinating show (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

El Anatsui’s hanging works welcome visitors to fascinating retrospective (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Brooklyn Museum
Morris A. and Meyer Schapiro Wing and Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Gallery, fifth floor
200 Eastern Parkway at Washington St.
Wednesday – Sunday through August 18, suggested donation $12
212-864-5400
www.brooklynmuseum.org

Over the last decade, Ghana-born, Nigerian-based abstract artist El Anatsui has been gaining international fame for his unique sculpture-paintings that hang from ceilings and walls and climb across floors. The works, which often resemble maps, are composed of aluminum liquor bottle caps of a multitude of colors, woven together with copper wire by a team of assistants into patterns that Anatsui then puts together to form larger pieces that evoke African history, mass consumption, environmentalism, and the intimate physical connection between people all over the world. This continuing series welcomes visitors to the outstanding Brooklyn Museum exhibition “Gravity and Grace: Monumental Works by El Anatsui,” which also looks back at the artist’s past while revealing his fascinating process.

El Anatsui’s “Waste Paper Bags” look back at African history while also evoking modern-day environmentalism (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Much of Anatsui’s oeuvre changes every time it’s shown at a new location, hung a little differently, without the same type of lighting, allowing them to be experienced anew; they also benefit from being viewed from a distance and then close up, offering varying perspectives. The show is expertly laid out, from the mazelike hallway entrance to the side-by-side “Red Block” and “Black Block” to the inclusion of several videos that show Anatsui at work in his studio and walking around, seeking out found objects and ideas for future projects. “I don’t believe in artworks being things that are fixed,” the artist and longtime teacher has said. “You know, the artist is not a dictator.” Indeed, painted wood reliefs such as “Motley Crowd” and “Amewo (People)” from the 1980s and ’90s are meant to be altered, with curators encouraged to rearrange the blocks of wood as they see fit. It’s all part of Anatsui’s “nomadic aesthetic” and dedication to the “nonfixed form,” representing multiple materials in varying shapes and sizes while also celebrating personal freedom. His titles also capture an international flavor, with such names as “Drifting Continents,” “Earth’s Skin,” and “Amemo (Mask of Humankind).” And make sure to get up close to “Ozone Layer,” which has the added bonus of air being blown in through the wall, creating sound and movement.

“Red Block” and “Black Block” hover behind “Peak” in beautifully curated show (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

“Red Block” and “Black Block” hover behind “Peak” in beautifully curated exhibition (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

The exhibition, Anatsui’s first solo show in a New York museum, also features charcoal and graphite drawings, acrylic works on paper, and “Waste Paper Bags,” a collection of large-scale sculptures made of discarded aluminum printing plates that relate to Nigerian culture as well as go-bags that Ghanaian refugees packed when escaping their country in a hurry. It’s a terrific show that has been extended two weeks through August 18; there is also still time to see his “Broken Bridge II” outdoor wall piece on the High Line, which runs through September. Admission to the Brooklyn Museum is free on August 4 for the monthly First Saturdays program, the theme of which is Caribbean, with live performances by Casplash, Los Hacheros, and Zing Experience, curator talks, screenings of the omnibus film Ring Di Alarm and Storm Saulter’s Better Mus’ Come, an artist talk with Miguel Luciano, dance workshops, a discussion with author Nelly Rosario about her debut novel, Song of the Water Saints, and pop-up gallery talks focusing on specific works by Anatsui.

WONG KAR-WAI: DAYS OF BEING WILD

DAYS OF BEING WILD is Wong Kar-wai’s first collaboration with master cinematographer Christopher Doyle

DAYS OF BEING WILD (A FEI JING JUEN) (Wong Kar-wai, 1990)
Museum of the Moving Image
35th Ave. at 36th St., Astoria
Sunday, August 4, free with museum admission, 5:30
718-777-6800
www.movingimage.us

Wong Kar-wai’s second film, Days of Being Wild, following the surprising success of his debut feature, As Tears Go By, was a popular failure, as Hong Kong audiences were not yet ready for his introspective, character-driven, nonlinear style. (However, it did win five Hong Kong Film Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actor.) Days is Wong’s first film with master cinematographer Christopher Doyle, who has since shot all of Wong’s work, including Chungking Express, Fallen Angels, Happy Together, and In the Mood for Love. The late Leslie Cheung, who jumped out a hotel window in 2003, stars as Yuddy, a disaffected, beautiful youth who lures in women and then, after they fall in love with him, verbally mistreats them and cheats on them. Among his conquests are the gorgeous Su-Lizhen (Maggie Cheung), often shot in magnificent close-up, and the trampy Mimi (Carina Lau), who is jealous of Su, who takes comfort in telling her tale of woe to local police officer Tide (Andy Lau). Meanwhile, Yuddy, who was raised by a former prostitute, is obsessed with finding his birth mother, two facts that just might be part of the reason he treats women as he does. Set in 1960, the film’s leitmotif involves time and memory, with clocks ticking loudly and lots of long, lingering looks. The story goes a bit haywire in the latter sections, although the ending is a gem. (Look for Tony Leung there.) Days of Being Wild is screening August 4 at 5:30 as part of the Museum of the Moving Image series “Wong Kar-wai,” which continues with such other works by the Hong Kong Second Wave auteur as My Blueberry Nights, As Tears Go By, In the Mood for Love, 2046, and his latest, The Grandmaster, for a special “Fist and Sword” event with Wong present.