this week in film and television

OSCAR DOTTER: NORDIC POP

Oscar Dotter’s “Nordic Pop” exhibit examines people’s role in the fate of the environment and the polar bear (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Gallery 151
132 West 18th St. between Sixth & Seventh Aves.
Through May 3, free, 1:00 – 7:00
www.nordicpop.com

“If I Were a Polar Bear I’d Eat You,” declares the light-up sign luring visitors into Gallery 151 in Chelsea. Once inside, they’re surrounded by the multimedia exhibition “Nordic Pop” by New York City–based self-taught artist Oscar Dotter, an examination of climate change and the fate of the polar bear through paintings, sculptures, film, and installation. Incorporating such series as “The Dots” and “Abstract Polar,” along with a pair of life-size polar bears at the center, Dotter points a clear finger at humanity’s responsibility to protect nature — and how we’re failing in this purest of goals. In addition to the works, Dotter is selling “Nordic Pop” merchandise (buttons, shirts, skateboards, etc.) and holding a raffle ($20 donation) to win one of his paintings, with the proceeds going to the World Wildlife Fund and its mission to save the polar bear.

IDEAS CITY: UNTAPPED CAPITAL

Markus Kayser’s “SolarSinter” is part of “Adhocracy” exhibit opening at New Museum during Ideas City festival

The second biannual Ideas City festival takes place May 1-4, with more than one hundred programs featuring conferences, workshops, seminars, panel discussions, walking tours, live music and dance, interactive art installations, a street festival, and other events tackling urgent urban issues at home and around the globe. Following up on 2011’s Festival of Ideas for the New City, this year’s theme is “Untapped Capital,” exploring ways to better use available resources to provide better infrastructure and general societal needs. On May 1, the keynote address will be delivered by MIT Media Lab director Joi Ito at the Great Hall of the Cooper Union, who will examine the internet’s role in untapped capital. On May 2 at the Great Hall, four prestigious panels will examine “Ad Hoc Strategies,” “Waste,” “Play,” and “Youth,” with such impressive guests as Jeffrey Inaba, Emeka Okafor, Thaddeus Pawlowski, Nancy Lublin, Barry McGee, Charles Renfro, and Carlos Motta. On May 3, the Old School at 233 Mott St. will host a series of workshops, including “A Discussion about the Armed Forces and the Arts,” “Social Mirroring,” “Hack City,” “Wherefore Store and Designing for Future Economies,” and “Revitalizing Space — Unlocking Creativity,” while “Pitching the City: New Ideas for New York” will be held at St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral. Among the projects on view throughout the four-day presentation are the Uni Portable Library, “TrafficCom” by Tomorrow Lab and Change Admin, “In Art and Cooperation We Trust!” by Trust Art, and “The Plastic Bag Mandala” by what makes you move. On May 4, the Basilica of St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral will host “Music of the Invisible”; the talk and performance “Big Art in All Spaces” occurs at Dixon Place; Downtown Art will stage the roaming outdoor opera The Great Struggle for Cheap Meat; and First City Green will screen the multichannel video Urban Exquis III. Also on Saturday, Streetfest offers dozens of fascinating presentations downtown, including Art in Odd Places 2013: “NUMBER,” “Ask a Prisoner,” “Dance for DNA,” “Raw Candy Innovation,” “Sewer in a Suitcase,” “SUSTAIN: Steering Urban Sustainability through Action, Innovation & Networks,” “Truck Farm,” “Unboxed,” and “The Urban Habitat Project.” Home base for the festival is the New Museum, where you can catch “The Money Shot: Roundtable with Karen Finley” on May 3 at 1:00, “Performance Beyond the Limits: Short Works” with Erin Markey, Sally May, Brigham Mosley, and Tobaron Waxman on May 3 at 7:00, a screening of Robert Garcia and Kevin Couliau’s Doin’ It in the Park, followed by a Q&A with the director on May 4 at 8:00, “Change of State” video projections on the facade of the museum on Saturday night, and other special events.

DAY OF HEAVEN: THE NEW WORLD

THE NEW WORLD is part of daylong tribute to Terence Malick at BAM

THE NEW WORLD (Terrence Malick, 2005)
BAMcinématek, BAM Rose Cinemas
30 Lafayette Ave. between Ashland Pl. & St. Felix St.
Sunday, April 28, 8:00
212-415-5500
www.bam.org

When The New World was released in 2005, it was only iconoclastic American auteur Terrence Malick’s fourth film in a forty-year career that also included the gems Badlands (1973), Days of Heaven (1978), and The Thin Red Line (1998). Now, following the success of 2011’s The Tree of Life and its polarizing follow-up, To the Wonder, the very next year, BAMcinématek is presenting a daylong tribute to Malick that is appropriately titled “Day of Heaven.” Spectacularly photographed by Malick’s longtime cinematographer, Emanuel Luzbeki, The New World reimagines the story of Captain John Smith (Colin Farrell) and Pocahontas (Q’orianka Kilcher) as an epic tale of unrequited desire, a fiercely passionate, if not completely accurate, love story for the ages. In 1607, a crew led by Captain Christopher Newport (Christopher Plummer) has landed in what will come to be known as Jamestown. The disgraced Smith, who was nearly hanged for mutiny, is ordered to meet with “the naturals” in order to develop a favorable relationship. But Smith falls deeply for Chief Powhatan’s (August Schellenberg) beautiful young daughter, who shares his feelings, leading to a dangerous love that threatens to leave death and destruction in its wake. Large stretches of the film feature no dialogue, instead consisting of gorgeously framed shots with gentle, poetic narration from Smith, Pocahontas, and, later, John Rolfe (Christian Bale). The scenes between Farrell and Kilcher nearly ignite the screen, their eyes burning into each other. Malick and Luzbeki focus on lush, rolling fields and rushing rivers that are more than just beautiful scenery; the gorgeous landscape of this new world is filled with promise, with hope, even though we know what eventually, tragically happens. The film bogs down considerably when Smith’s place in the newly named Rebecca’s life is taken over by Rolfe, but it all builds to a heart-wrenching conclusion. The New World is screening at BAM on April 28 at 8:00, preceded by Days of Heaven at 2:00 and The Thin Red Line at 4:15.

THE WEIMAR TOUCH: THE STRANGER

Orson Welles is a Nazi on the run in THE STRANGER

Orson Welles is a Nazi on the run in small-town America in THE STRANGER

THE STRANGER (Orson Welles, 1946)
MoMA Film, Museum of Modern Art
11 West 53rd St. between Fifth & Sixth Aves.
Saturday, April 27, 2:00, and Sunday, April 28, 5:30
Tickets: $12, in person only, may be applied to museum admission within thirty days, same-day screenings free with museum admission, available at Film and Media Desk beginning at 9:30 am
212-708-9400
www.moma.org

A mere warm-up to The Third Man, Orson Welles’s 1946 noir thriller, The Stranger, is still a gripping examination of postwar paranoia and Fascism. Welles, who directed the film to show studio heads that he could be a team player, stars as Dr. Charles Rankin, a seemingly bright and charming teacher who shows up in a small town and wins the heart of Mary Longstreet (Loretta Young), daughter of the town judge (Philip Merivale). However, right behind Rankin is Mr. Wilson (Edward G. Robinson, somewhat reprising his role as insurance investigator Barton Keyes in Double Indemnity), who is hot on the trail of Nazi murderer Franz Kindler. What follows is a highly theoretical battle of wits between Wilson and Rankin/Kindler that is more than a little out of place in the simple perfection of small-town Harper, Connecticut. “The German’s dream world comes alive when he takes his place in shining armor beneath the banners of the Teutonic knights,” Rankin says during a family dinner reminiscent of Alfred Hitchcock’s Shadow of a Doubt. “Mankind is waiting for the Messiah,” he continues, “but for the German, the Messiah is not the Prince of Peace. No, he’s . . . another Barbarossa . . . another Hitler.” In addition to philosophizing, Rankin is obsessed with trying to fix the clock in the town tower, with his efforts trying to control time leading to a memorable finale. Rankin is no Harry Lime — of course, who is? — but he’s yet another intriguing character in Welles’s pantheon of intriguing characters. There are several amateurish moments that bring the film down a notch from greatness, but The Stranger remains a compelling tale with more than its fair share of Wellesian delight. After years of late-night television airings of a dilapidated print, the film was restored about ten years ago and looks much better on the big screen, where it can be seen April 27 & 28 as part of MoMA’s “The Weimar Touch” series, which includes such other films as Jacques Tourneur’s Berlin Express, Max Ophuls’s Letter from an Unknown Woman, Alfred Hitchcock’s I Confess, Charles Laughton’s The Night of the Hunter, and Billy Wilder’s Some Like It Hot, all of which relate visually or thematically to the German cinema of F. W. Murnau, Carl Th. Dreyer, G. W. Pabst, and Weimar Expressionism.

TRIBECA FAMILY FESTIVAL STREET FAIR & TRIBECA/ESPN SPORTS DAY

Crowds will flock to TriBeCa for film festival street fair and sports day on Saturday

Tribeca Family Festival Street Fair: Greenwich St. between Chambers & Hubert Sts., free, 10:00 am – 6:00 pm
Tribeca/ESPN Sports Day: North Moore St. between Greenwich & Wall Sts., free, 10:00 am – 6:00 pm
www.tribecafilm.com/festival

The Tribeca Film Festival celebrates the TriBeCa neighborhood with its annual downtown street fair on April 27, a full day of special activities for children and adults. There will be signature dishes from such local chefs as Morimoto of Tribeca Canvas, Jehangir Mehta of Mehtaphor, Keith Klein of Milk Truck, and Rachel Thebault of Tribeca Treats, along with specialties from Bubby’s, Kutsher’s Cavaniola’s, Grandaisy Bakery, and others; live performances by the Amazing Max, Judy Pancoast, Jody Prusan, LAVA Brooklyn, TADA!, Noel MacNeal, Rolie Polie Guacamole, and the casts of Rock of Ages, Spider-Man Turn Off the Dark, Motown: The Musical, Cinderella, and Kinky Boots; plenty of arts & crafts booths; a green-screen studio backlot and other film-related activities; and a free screening of The Smurfs, with an appearance by Christina Ricci and a sneak peek at The Smurfs 2. Meanwhile, Tribeca/ESPN Sports Day will be taking place nearby, featuring a full slate of sports-related events, including live performances, demonstrations, competitions, and lessons involving basketball, hockey, badminton, fencing, flag football, cricket, jump roping, lacrosse, Ultimate Frisbee, women’s baseball, golf, soccer, sailing, and more, with street teams from the Rangers, the Mets, the Red Bulls, and others.

WAVERLY MIDNIGHTS: MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL

Monty Python fiinds the Holy Grail of comedy in classic flick

Monty Python finds the Holy Grail of comedy in quotable classic romp

TERRY GILLIAM: MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL (Terry Gilliam & Terry Jones, 1975)
IFC Center
323 Sixth Ave. at West Third St.
Friday, April 26, and Saturday, April 27, 12:20 am
212-924-7771
www.ifccenter.com
www.pythonline.com

In 1975, a comedy troupe consisting of five Oxford and Cambridge grads and an American animator, the six best known for their absurdist sketches, teamed up to make the most quotable, and perhaps all-time-funniest, film to ever come from across the pond. In Monty Python and the Holy Grail, King Arthur (Graham Chapman) leads his ne’er-do-well Knights of the Round Table —Sir Lancelot the Brave (John Cleese), Sir Robin-the-Not-Quite-So-Brave-as-Sir-Lancelot (Eric Idle), Sir Bedevere the Wise (Terry Jones), and Sir Galahad the Pure (Michael Palin) — on a quest to find the Holy Grail, as ordered by God himself (voice of Chapman, cartoon of cricket legend W. G. Grace). So off they go, visiting strange castles with even stranger knights, answering silly questions to get across a bridge, seeking advice from a mad wizard, battling a cute little killer rabbit, and searching for shrubbery. The wild romp, in which the Pythons never meet a joke too high-brow or low-brow, helped warp the minds of several generations and continues to result in much rejoicing in living rooms and movie theaters around the world. The Pythons play multiple roles throughout the hysterical romp, with such particularly riotous turns as Cleese as the Black Knight (“It’s just a flesh wound.”), Tim the Enchanter (“So! Brave knights! If you do doubt your courage or your strength, come no further, for death awaits you all with nasty, big, pointy teeth.”), and a French taunter (“Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries.”), Gilliam as Patsy (“Camelot!” “It’s only a model.”), the Bridgekeeper (“What . . . is the air-speed velocity of an unladen swallow?”), and the animator (“Ughck!”), Idle as the Dead Collector (“Who’s that then?” “I dunno, must be a king.” “Why?” “He hasn’t go shit all over him.”) and Roger the Shrubber (“Oh, what sad times are these when passing ruffians can say ‘Ni’ at will to old ladies.”), Palin as Dennis (“Oh, king, eh? Very nice. And how’d you get that, eh? By exploiting the workers. By hanging on to outdated imperialist dogma which perpetuates the economic and social differences in our society.”) the chief Knight Who Says “Ni” (“One that looks nice. And not too expensive.”) and Jones as Prince Herbert (“One day, lad, all this will be yours.” “What, the curtains?”). Python regulars Connie Booth and Carol Cleveland appear as well, the former as a witch who is facing being burned at the stake (“She turned me into a newt.” “A newt?” “I got better.”), the latter as twins Zoot and Dingo (“Oh, wicked, bad, naughty, evil Zoot! Oh, she is a bad person, and she must pay the penalty!”). Monty Python and the Holy Grail kicks off the IFC Center Waverly Midnights series “Terry Gilliam,” which continues through July 20 with such other Python classics as The Meaning of Life and Life of Brian up next, neither of which was actually directed by the sole American Python.

TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL: BEFORE MIDNIGHT

Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Celine (Julie Delpy) are back together again in Richard Linklater’s BEFORE MIDNIGHT

BEFORE MIDNIGHT (Richard Linklater, 2013)
Wednesday, April 24, Clearview Cinemas Chelsea 8, 6:45
www.tribecafilm.com
www.sonyclassics.com/beforemidnight

Unable to resist revisiting the characters who first fell in love in 1995’s Before Sunrise and again in 2004’s Before Sunset, Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy reprise their roles as Jesse and Celine, respectively, in Richard Linklater’s absolutely wonderful Before Midnight. The couple first met on a train to Vienna in 1994, talking at length about their hopes and desires and planning on getting together in six months’ time, but they don’t reconnect for another nine years, when Celine comes to one of Jesse’s book signings in Paris. In real time, they walk around the City of Light, catching up on what has happened in their lives as Jesse prepares to take a plane back home to his wife and son. And now another nine years have passed, and Jesse and Celine are living together, the parents of twins (Charlotte and Jennifer Prior). As the film opens, the divorced Jesse is putting his teenage son, Hank (Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick), on a plane after having spent the summer together in Greece. What follows is a marvelous fourteen-minute scene of Jesse driving down a mountain road as he and Celine essentially let the audience know what has occurred over the last nine years: They have twin girls (sleeping in the back), Celine has been offered an important environmental job, and Jesse is considering moving to Chicago to be closer to Hank. They return to a country estate owned by Patrick (award-winning cinematographer Walter Lassally, making his acting debut at the age of eighty-six), who is hosting an outdoor lunch with a group of friends (including French actress Ariane Labed, coproducer and filmmaker Athina Rachel Tsangari, and Xenia Kalogeropoulou, who came out of retirement to appear in her first picture since 1985). They all talk of life and love, with Celine being particularly charming. But when Jesse and Celine go off to a hotel room for what is supposed to be a romantic rendezvous, some things are said and truths revealed that complicate things.

Cowriters Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke explore life and love in Greece in third film about Celine and Jesse

As with the first two films, Before Midnight consists of long takes of Jesse and Celine discussing their past, present, and future as cowriters Linklater (Slacker, Dazed and Confused), Delpy, and Hawke, who were nominated for an Oscar for their script for Before Sunset, continue to explore these engaging characters; both the dialogue and the acting have matured with an intelligent grace and elegance that are captivating. The couple wanders around Messinia examining their lives as only fortysomethings can, trying to figure out whether what they have is what they want. The central focus, though, once again is time, whether it is the years Jesse and Celine have spent together, the time they have left, time as a concept in Jesse’s semiautobiographical novels, or Jesse making a joke about being a time traveler. It’s been eighteen years since we first met Jesse and Celine, and we’ve grown eighteen years older too, lending fascinating perspectives that can’t help but force us to take a look at our own lives as well. The trilogy is America’s version of François Truffaut’s Antoine Doinel series, filled with humor, lyricism, and an inherent understanding of twenty-first-century realities. Will there be a fourth film in nine years? As of now, the principals aren’t saying because they just don’t know, but Before Midnight ends on just about the perfect ambiguous note.