this week in lectures, signings, panel discussions, workshops, and Q&As

MOVIE MEDICINE — A FILM SERIES ABOUT THE HEALING FACTOR IN CINEMA: ZATOICHI

Takeshi Kitano stars in his own thrilling remake of popular Japanese serial ZATOICHI

CABARET CINEMA — THE BLIND SWORDSMAN: ZATOICHI (Takeshi Kitano, 2003)
Rubin Museum of Art
150 West 17th St. at Seventh Ave.
Friday, August 8, free with $10 K2 minimum, 9:30
212-620-5000
www.rubinmuseum.org
www.zatoichi.co.uk

Now we’re talking. Hardboiled action director and comic Takeshi Kitano takes on the Zatoichi legend that was a Japanese favorite from 1962 to 1989 (starring Shintaro Katsu), updating the story of the blind swordsman, gambler, and masseuse magnificently, adding a lot of blood while staying true to the heart of this classic tale. Beat Takeshi, the name Kitano uses as an actor, stars as the unlikely platinum blonde superhero who shuffles across the countryside battling the bad guys and rescuing damsels in distress. This is the first period film of Kitano’s career, which has included such bloodfests as Violent Cop, Brother, and Boiling Point and such moving dramas as Sonatine and Kikijuro. He has combined all the elements of his previous work to create this unforgettable masterpiece, a thrilling, beautifully shot, and wonderfully realized cinematic achievement that suffers only at the very end with a silly coda that is just way too out of place. Zatoichi is screening August 8 as part of the Rubin Museum Cabaret Cinema series “Movie Medicine: A Film Series about the Healing Factor in Cinema,” being held in conjunction with the “Bodies in Balance: The Art of Tibetan Medicine” exhibition, and will be introduced by Stephen Globus. The series continues August 15 with John Cromwell’s Of Human Bondage, introduced by psychiatrist and psychopharmacologist Harvey Roy Greenberg, and August 22 with Shohei Imamura’s Dr. Akagi, introduced by Gregory Hosho Abels.

BLADE: KING OF GRAFFITI

Museum of the City of New York
1220 Fifth Avenue at 103rd St.
Friday, August 8, $10 ($40 with book), 6:30
212-534-1672
www.mcny.org
www.bladekingofgraf.com

During the 1970s, Bronx native Steven Ogburn began turning subway trains into his canvas. Taking the street name BLADE, he went on to tag more than five thousand cars between 1972 and 1984. The man also known as the King of Graffiti and the King of Trains is now coming to the Museum of the City of New York in conjunction with the exhibit “City as Canvas: Graffiti Art from the Martin Wong Collection.” On August 8, BLADE will sit down for an intimate conversation, accompanied by a slideshow, with Chris Pape, his cowriter on the new book Blade: King of Graffiti (Schiffer, June 2014, $39.99). “I was just developing my moral compass at the time,” BLADE writes near the beginning of the book, “and if there’s one thing I learned it’s that everyone drew the line in the sand somewhere.” BLADE will talk about the line and more as he examines his life and career; the discussion will be followed by a book signing. “City as Canvas” continues at MCNY through September 21.

SOUND + VISION / ROOFTOP FILMS — PULP: A FILM ABOUT LIFE, DEATH & SUPERMARKETS

Jarvis Cocker takes a ride through his hometown of Sheffield as he prepares for Pulp farewell concert

PULP: A FILM ABOUT LIFE, DEATH & SUPERMARKETS (Florian Habicht, 2013)
SOUND + VISION
Film Society of Lincoln Center, Walter Reade Theater
144 West 65th St. between Broadway & Amsterdam Ave.
Wednesday, August 6, 8:30
212-875-5600
www.filmlinc.com

ROOFTOP FILMS
Industry City roof and courtyard
220 36th St., Sunset Park
Thursday, August 7, live music 8:30, film screening 9:00
www.rooftopfilms.com
www.pulpthefilm.com

Florian Habicht’s Pulp: A Film About Life, Death & Supermarkets is a brilliant inside look at the long-lasting relationship between a band and its hometown. In December 2012, British alternative band Pulp returned to the place of its birth, the rugged, working-class city of Sheffield in the north of England, for what was being billed as its last-ever concert on dry land. Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker hooked up with Habicht (Love Story, Woodenhead), conceiving a project in which the time and place, along with the fans, would be just as important as the band and its music, if not more so. In the nonchronological film, Habicht cuts between archival footage of Pulp, clips from the final concert, interviews on the street with old and young fans, and brief chats with Pulp tour manager Liam Rippon and the other band members: guitarist Mark Webber, keyboardist Candida Doyle, bassist Steve Mackey, and drummer Nick Banks, who are pretty much taking it all in stride. But at the center of it all is the soft-spoken, enigmatic Cocker, who founded Pulp back in 1978 when he was fifteen years old.

Habicht shows Cocker biking and driving through Sheffield, discussing his first job working for a fishmonger in a mall, and, most thrillingly, fixing a flat tire on his less-than-fancy car. The theme song of the documentary is Pulp’s “Common People,” in which a woman tells Cocker, “I want to live like common people / I want to do whatever common people do / I want to sleep with common people / I want to sleep with common people like you.” Is it possible for a rock star to be “common people”? It doesn’t really matter as Cocker reestablishes his connection to Sheffield. “We stopped playing in 2001 or 2002 or whatever it was, and I did feel that the way it finished was kind of a bit, I don’t know, not right,” he says in the film. “It didn’t feel like a good ending. . . . So I know that tidying up isn’t the greatest rock-and-roll motivation, but I did want to kind of tidy things up and give the story a happy ending.” It is all very happy indeed, as Habicht also delves into such Pulp favorites as “This Is Hardcore” and “Help the Aged” as well as “Disco 2000,” “Underwear,” and “Sheffield: Sex City.” The band, which released seven studio albums during its career, from 1983’s It through 2001’s We Love Life, has no arguments or complaints, just positive attitudes that make Pulp a thoroughly exhilarating experience. The film opens in November but is having two special screenings this week, first as the closing-night selection of the “Sound + Vision” festival at Lincoln Center on August 6, followed by a Q&A with Habicht, then the next night at Industry City in Sunset Park as part of the annual summer Rooftop Films series, preceded by a live set by Mondo and followed by a Q&A with Cocker and Habicht and a Pulp karaoke contest that the two men will judge at the after-party.

SUMMER STREETS 2014

Park Ave. & 72nd St. to Foley Square
Saturday, August 2, 9, 16, free, 7:00 am – 1:00 pm
www.nyc.gov

Now in its fifth year, Summer Streets takes place the next three Saturday mornings, as Park Ave. will be closed to vehicular traffic from 72nd St. to Foley Square and the Brooklyn Bridge from 7:00 am to 1:00 pm, encouraging people to walk, run, jog, blade, skate, and bike down the famous thoroughfare, getting exercise and enjoying the great outdoors without car exhaust, speeding taxis, and slow-moving buses. There are five rest stops along the route (Uptown at 52nd St., Midtown at 25th, Astor Pl. at Lafayette St., SoHo at Spring & Lafayette, and Foley Square at Duane & Centre), where people can stop for some food and drink, live performances, fitness classes, site-specific art installations, dog walks, bicycle and parkour workshops, ziplining, wall climbing, and other activities, all of which are free. Below are only some of the many highlights.

August 2, 9, 16
Cigna Recovery Zone classes: Bendable Body (7:00), Sunrise Salutations (7:30), Body Art (8:00), Balanced Body Yoga (8:30), Yoga Unplugged (9:00), Brazilian Burn n’ Firm Pilates (9:30), Pon De Flo (10:00), Ab Attack (10:30), Retro-Robics (11:00), Hard Knocks (11:30), Masala Bhangra (12 noon), Astor Place Rest Stop

“The Course of Emotions: A mini-golf experience by Risa Puno,” nine-hole miniature golf course in which each hole represents a different emotion, Uptown Rest Stop, 7:00 am – 1:00 pm

“Dive by Jana Winderen,” site-specific sound installation turning Park Ave. Tunnel into an underwater environment, line begins at Park Ave. & 32nd St., 7:00 am – 12:30 pm

August 2
Live music by the Poor Cousins (9:30), Yaz Band (10:00), Mecca Bodega (10:30), Robert Anderson Band (11:00), Uptown Rest Stop

Live performances by Annabella Gonzalez Dance Theatre (10:00), Salsa NY (11:00), Underground Horns (11:30), NY Laughs (12 noon), Feraba (12:30), Foley Square Rest Stop

“Matt Postal, Midtown Modern Tour,” two-hour MAS tour, Uptown Rest Stop, northwest corner of 52nd St. & Park Ave., 10:30

Food demos and talks by Veggiecation (10:30), Seeds in the Middle (10:50), Omowale Adewale (11:10), Jenne Claiborne the Nourishing Vegan (11:25), Creative Kitchen (11:45), Asphalt Green (12:07), Midtown Rest Stop

“Trumpet City: Park Avenue by Craig Shepard,” ninety-one trumpeters join musician Craig Shepard, lining up between 45th & 72nd Sts. on Park Ave., playing a one-hour piece that interacts with such natural sounds as traffic, 11:30 am – 12:30 pm

August 9
Live performances by Salieu Suso and Malang Jobateh (9:00), Caty Grier: NYC Subway Girl (9:30), Leah Coloff (10:00), TAANY Santaizi Troupe (10:30), Charly and Margaux (11:00), Afrikumba (11:30), Karikatura (12 noon), Uptown Rest Stop

Live performances by Salsa NY (10:00), Harmony Program (10:30), Cherub Improv (11:00), Improv 4 Kids (12 noon), Foley Square Rest Stop

Abolitionist Walking Tour, African Burial Ground, National Park Service tour, Foley Square Rest Stop, southwest corner of Duane & Lafayette Sts., 10:00 (also August 16 at 10:00 and 12 noon)

“Peter Laskowich, New York City: A Gateway,” two-hour MAS tour, Foley Square Rest Stop, southwest corner of Duane & Lafayette Sts., 10:00

“Tilt Brass by Chris McIntyre,” interactive sound installation using infrared technology and live trombones, trumpets, and drums, Foley Square Rest Stop, 10:30 – 1:00

Food demos and talks by Sally Graves the Supermarket Fairy (10:30), Omowale Adewale (11:10), Seeds in the Middle (11:25), Taza Chocolate (11:45), Midtown Rest Stop

August 16
“My (Our) Way by Nick Tobler,” interactive musical event in which Tobler will hand out between fifty and a hundred music boxes for a mass performance of “My Way,” Astor Place Rest Stop, 8:00 and 10:30

Live performances by Seya (10:00), Exit 12 (10:30), Salsa NY (11:00), Darrah Carr (12 noon), Foley Square Rest Stop

Food demos and talks by Yoli Ouiya (10:12), Creative Kitchen (10:30), Omowale Adewale (10:50), Chris Santos of Morningstar Farms (11:10), Min Liao from Culinary (11:45), and Seeds in the Middle (12:07), Midtown Rest Stop

Live performances by Matt Pana (10:30), Yung-Li Dance Company (11:00), the Vocalists (11:30), Cupcake Ladies Productions comedy wrestling (12 noon), Uptown Rest Stop

“Judy Richeimer, Public Art in New York’s Civic Center,” two-hour MAS tour, Foley Square Rest Stop, southwest corner of Duane & Lafayette Sts., 11:00

THE ALMOST MAN

Henrik (Henrik Rafaelsen) and Tone (Janne Heltberg Haarseth) goof around in a supermarket in THE ALMOST MAN

THE ALMOST MAN (MER ELLER MINDRE MANN) (Martin Lund, 2012)
Village East Cinemas
181-189 Second Ave. at 12th St.
Opens Friday, August 1
212-529-6799
www.bigworldpictures.org
www.villageeastcinema.com

So this is thirty-five. Norwegian filmmaker Martin Lund’s feature debut as writer and director, The Almost Man, is a mature, insightful, and very funny look at immaturity. Henrik Rafaelsen, a kind of cross between Liam Neeson and Jason Segel, stars as Henrik, a thirty-five-year-old man who isn’t quite ready to grow up yet. He has a new office job, a new house, and a loving girlfriend, Tone (Janne Heltberg Haarseth, a kind of cross between Julianne Moore and Diane Lane), but he’d rather goof around with his crazy high school buddies than take life seriously. In the opening scene, the happy couple, decorating their new place, lightheartedly imagine what their neighbors might be thinking of them. Next Henrik and Tone are grooving to Lionel Richie. “Let me see you dance without irony,” Tone says. During a group lunch on his first day at work, his fellow employees debate what his name should be. “But my name is Henrik,” he says, appearing unsure of his own identity. (Perhaps it is no coincidence that it is also the first name of the actor himself.) He is awkward and uncomfortable in his own skin, instead choosing to remain a kid who refuses to acknowledge the real world and the responsibilities he is facing. After an argument with Tone, he visits with his mother (Anne Ma Usterud), who still treats him like a child. But soon he is faced with important decisions that could have very serious repercussions on his and Tone’s future.

Henrik takes a long look at himself in offbeat coming-of-age film from Norwegian writer-director Martin Lund

Winner of Best Film and Best Actor at the forty-seventh Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, The Almost Man is an unusual coming-of-age film, a genre generally about teens. Rafaelsen (Limbo; Happy, Happy) and Haarseth, in her film debut, are both appealing actors who are terrific together, playing off each other in charming, believable ways. Cinematographer Morten Halfstad Forsberg’s camera is almost always in motion, purposely unsteady as Henrik wanders through a life he is scared of committing to; he’d rather read a Peter Pan picture book than hang out at a party with Tone’s publishing colleagues. (And just wait till you see what he does with the book.) Lund’s script is sharp and incisive, often going to surprising, uneasy places that don’t always paint Henrik in the best light. The score, by Alf Lund Godbolt and Simen Solli Schøien, appears sparingly, with Lund favoring natural sound in most scenes, adding to the realistic feel. At only seventy minutes, The Almost Man is almost shockingly short, but it covers some major territory that most everyone should be able to relate to. The Almost Man opens August 1 at the Village East; Lund and producer Ruben Thorkildsen will participate in a Q&A following the 8:05 screening on August 2.

FIRST SATURDAYS: CARIBBEAN COMMUNITY

Brooklyn Museum
200 Eastern Parkway at Washington St.
Saturday, August 2, free, 5:00 – 11:00 ($10 discounted admission to “Ai Weiwei: According to What?”)
212-864-5400
www.brooklynmuseum.org

The Brooklyn Museum starts getting ready for the annual West Indian American Day Carnival on Labor Day with a Caribbean-themed First Saturdays program on August 2. There will be live music from the Crossfire Street Orchestra, Heritage O.P., Melanie Charles, and Request Band (RQB), a movement workshop with Candace Thompson, screenings of Hannah Roodman’s Crown Heights-set documentary 2×1 and Dalton Narine’s Mas Man, a woven-fish arts workshop, a Caribbean-inspired fashion show, and Uraga storytelling with James Lovell. In addition, you can check out a quartet of exhibitions about art and activism: “Ai Weiwei: According to What?” (which closes August 10), “Swoon: Submerged Motherlands” (which closes August 24), “Chicago in L.A.: Judy Chicago’s Early Works, 1963–74,” and “Revolution! Works from the Black Arts Movement.”

SOUND + VISION 2014

David Byrne will be at Lincoln Center for thirtieth anniversary screening of STOP MAKING SENSE as part of Sound + Vision festival

Film Society of Lincoln Center
Walter Reade Theater
144 West 65th St. between Broadway & Amsterdam Ave.
July 31 – August 9, film screenings $13, live performances $8-$15
212-875-5600
www.filmlinc.com

The Film Society of Lincoln Center’s second Sound + Vision festival is a lively combination of music documentaries and performances covering a wide range of genres from around the world. Eric Green’s Beautiful Noise, which revisits such seminal 1980s bands as the Cocteau Twins, My Bloody Valentine, and the Jesus and Mary Chain, opens the festival on July 31, with a Q&A and reception with Green and producer Sarah Ogletree. The closing night selection, Florian Habicht’s Pulp, follows Jarvis Cocker’s reunited band as they play what could be their final concert in Sheffield, their hometown; Habicht will be on hand for a Q&A after the August 6 screening. There will be a free showing of The 78 Project Movie, in which Alex Steyermark and Lavinia Jones Wright travel the country recording on 78s contemporary musicians playing early American songs; after the film, Steyermark and Wright will host a live recording session. Among the other dozen and a half or so films are Alejandro Franco’s For Those About to Rock: The Story of Rodrigo y Gabriela; Kiley Kraskouskas’s The Last Song Before the War, about the 2011 Festival in the Desert in Timbuktu; Dominique Mollee and Vinny Sisson’s My Way, which tracks Rebekah Starr as she reaches for fame; Beth Harrington’s The Winding Stream, a free screening of a film that traces the development of the Carter Family; and thirtieth anniversary celebrations of Jonathan Demme’s game-changing Stop Making Sense (followed by a Q&A with David Byrne) and Daniel Schmid’s Tosca’s Kiss. There will be separate live performances by Amkoullel, Dragons of Zynth, and Glass Ghost (incorporating LYFE technology), while Bubblyfish and Binärpilot will play after Javier Polo’s Europe in 8 Bits, didgeridoo master GOMA will take the stage after Tetsuaki Matsue’s Flashback Memories in 3D, and Zlatne Uste Balkan Brass Band will get the joint jumping in conjunction with Meerkat Media Collective’s Brasslands.