There almost wasn’t a Mermaid Parade this year, but the community responded and it’s all set for June 22 at 1:00
Coney Island
Saturday, June 22, free, 1:00
Parade starts at West 21st St. & Surf Ave.
Mermaid Riverboat Ball: Queen of Hearts, $75, 8:00 – 11:00 pm
www.coneyisland.com
Back in early May, there was a chance that one of Coney Island’s signature events would not take place. A dispatch from Coney Island USA founder Dick Zigun announced, “We do not know whether there will be a Mermaid Parade this year. Don’t panic — we have a plan. But first I want you to understand were we are and what we’re up against.” Zigun described the growing size of the parade, new city regulations and restrictions, and the devastation wrought by Hurricane Sandy, but New Yorkers responded via a “Save the Mermaid Parade” Kickstarter campaign and a Red Hook Winery benefit, so the thirtieth anniversary celebration is a go. Whether you’re marching in it or just playing spectator, there is nothing quite like the Mermaid Parade. An annual tradition since 1983, harkening back to the Coney Island Mardi Gras, which was held from 1903 to 1954, the parade begins with classic antique cars before giving itself over to scantily clad sea creatures and very strange floats, making their way from West Twenty-First St. & Surf Ave. at 1:00 and winding east to West Tenth St., turning south to the boardwalk, and heading to Steeplechase Plaza, after which King Neptune and Queen Mermaid will lead their minions into the sea. This year’s regal pair, following in the footsteps of such famed New Yorkers as David Byrne, Roz Chast, Harvey Keitel, Queen Latifah, David Johansen, and Lou Reed and Laurie Anderson, are comedian Judah Friedlander and author Carole Radziwill. The Mermaid Riverboat Ball after-party ($75) will take place on board the Queen of Hearts, featuring members of the Coney Island Sideshow, burlesque performers (Little Brooklyn, Kita St Cyr, Sincerely Yours, Wae Messed, Heather Whatever), DJs (Fresh Prince of Darkness, Lemar Soulflower, Frank Clemente & Stereomike), live music (the Moto-Wrays, Amour Obscur, Labretta Suede and the Motel 6), and other bizarre participants and activities hosted by Adam Realman, with a cash bar along with free Two Boots Pizza, Dub Pies, and nonalcoholic drinks.
Wes Anderson’s Rushmore is a dazzlingly dark, sublime masterpiece. Anderson (The Royal Tenenbaums, Moonrise Kingdom) created one of the all-time-great quirky indie antiheroes in Max Fischer, played with relish by Jason Schwartzman. Max is a troubled genius at the private Rushmore Academy, where his eccentricities make him somewhat of an outcast. His best friend is wealthy iconoclast Herman Blume (Bill Murray in a career-redefining role), but their relationship turns sour when it becomes apparent that they both have their hearts set on beautiful teacher Rosemary Cross (Olivia Williams). A unique take on disaffected youth, Rushmore, which also features such Anderson regulars as Luke Wilson and Seymour Cassel and was cowritten by Owen Wilson, helped launch a new wave of American independent cinema with its offbeat narrative and eclectic soundtrack, which includes songs by Donovan, the Rolling Stones, Django Reinhardt, Cat Stevens, Yves Montand, and the Faces, along with original material by Devo’s Mark Mothersbaugh. Rushmore is screening June 20 as part of the free Films in Tompkins programming in Tompkins Square Park and will be preceded by a live performance by the all-women’s AfroBrazilian Samba Reggae drumming band BatalaNYC. The summer series continues into August with such other fab films as Reservoir Dogs (with Amour Obscur), Easy Rider (with Main Street Quintet), The Big Lebowski (with Jade Pinto and the Yeahtones), and O Brother, Where Art Thou?, which was rescheduled for August 22 after getting rained out on June 13.
Award-winning Haitian filmmaker Raoul Peck’s Fatal Assistance begins by posting remarkable numbers onscreen: In the wake of the devastating earthquake that hit his native country on January 12, 2010, there were 230,000 deaths, 300,000 wounded, and 1.5 million people homeless, with some 4,000 NGOs coming to Haiti to make use of a promised $11 billion in relief over a five-year period. But as Peck reveals, there is significant controversy over where the money is and how it’s being spent as the troubled Haitian people are still seeking proper health care and a place to live. “The line between intrusion, support, and aid is very fine,” says Jean-Max Bellerive, the Haitian prime minister at the time of the disaster, explaining that too many of the donors want to cherry-pick how their money is used. Bill Vastine, senior “debris” adviser for the Interim Commission for the Reconstruction of Haiti (CIRH), which was co-chaired by Bellerive and President Bill Clinton, responds, “The international community said they were gonna grant so many billions of dollars to Haiti. That didn’t mean we were gonna send so many billions of dollars to a bank account and let the Haitian government do with it as they will.” Somewhere in the middle is CIRH senior housing adviser Priscilla Phelps, who seems to be the only person who recognizes why the relief effort has turned into a disaster all its own; by the end of the film, she is struggling to hold back tears. A self-described “political radical,” Peck doesn’t play it neutral in Fatal Assistance, instead adding mournful music by Alexei Aigui, somber English narration by a male voice (Peck narrates the French-language version), and a female voice-over reading melodramatic “Dear friend” letters that poetically trash what is happening in Haiti. “Every few decades, the rich promise everything to the poor,” the male voice-over says. “The dream of eradication of poverty, disease, death remains a perpetual fantasy.” Even though Peck (Lumumba, 2010 Human Rights Watch Film Festival centerpiece 