Tag Archives: Anthology Film Archives

A Film Student Comes to Town

First of all please pardon me for a second while I sing my own praises… Gemini & Scorpio, the lovely event entrepreneurs who I have been working for these last few months (to the detriment of this blog I am afraid), have been featured in an article in the New York Times. My name is actually included! My grandmother is less excited about this than you might expect but I for one am pretty thrilled.

Setup for G&S Party; image from the NYTimes

Setup for G&S Party, image from the NYTimes

Ok, moving on… I have a friend coming to town this weekend who went to film school at NYU and is taking some sort of test to try to get into a film apprenticeship program in the city. As per usual when I have a visitor I have drafted a list of all sorts of wonderful events taking place and I thought I would share them with you!

Friday night the Mad Breaks Tea Party is sure to be a riotous good time, of the G&S/underground/alt-events variety. There will be aerialists, a tea garden (of course), sculptural installations, fire spinners, a hookah lounge and all sorts of other madness.

On Saturday at Galapagos Art Space, Floating Kabarette takes burlesque to the air in a gravity defying weekly show only to be found in the Big Apple.

Also on Saturday, for a much more G-rated (and more film centered) evening, you can head to 92Y Tribeca for a sing-along with Fieval and friends! An American Tail is one of those Spielberg movies that you associate much more with childhood than with Spielberg. If you remember the songs get ready to belt them with other fans! Here’s a clip to refresh your memory:

On Sunday, another film related event, my favorite comedians are making fun of one of the most ridiculous things to hit the cinema in recent years- Twilight! Head to the Knitting Factory to see the Raspberry Brothers make a comedy out of this mess.

Since this is a film-centric weekend I also advised my visiting friend to check out the offerings at

I advise you to do the same, anytime you want to check out new foreign/independent film or see classics on the big screen! Enjoy!

Follow me and Miss Scorpio on Twitter for the latest event listings and be sure to sign up for the G&S weekly event list- everything you need to know about alt-events in NYC!

July 31-August 2 (+ Ongoing) Events!

Watching To Catch a Thief under the Brooklyn Bridge was amazing; it was one of those evenings that make you fall in love with NYC all over again; I’ll post some pictures of the magic later today. First let me tell you (a bit belatedly this week, sorry about that!) about the great events happening this weekend!

If you missed seeing Cary Grant last night you have another chance to tonight- Notorious is showing at the Rubin Museum as part of their Cabaret Cinema series. This is another great Hitchcock film, complete with secrets, treachery and lust; Ingrid Bergman and Claude Rains (both of Casablanca fame) play alongside Grant. Here’s the original 1946 trailer:

For something a bit more explicit you can join fans of Andy Warhol for a screening of his rather unusual film The Nude Restaurant at the Anthology Film Archives:

Wondrous Warhol vixen Viva dishes up a monologue of hysterically epic proportions while co-star Taylor Mead and other nearly naked actors comically mill about the set in this rarely screened feature from The Factory gang. Warhol and crew supposedly rented a restaurant called The Mad Hatter and filmed this barebones, bare-skinned comedy in just one day. While the title aptly reflects the film’s content, it was also a smart marketing move on the part of Warhol and his assistant, Paul Morrissey, to exploit the then-current controversy surrounding “skin flicks” and the emergence of pornography in Times Square grindhouse theaters. Many favorite superstars – Billy Name, Alan Midgette, Louis Waldron, Ingrid Superstar, and someone named Electro Banana – appear in g-strings and much less….

If it proves to be a nice night stay out and enjoy it with opera in East River Park; this lovely strip of green has much the same feel as Brooklyn Bridge Park and tonight’s performance, with two singers from the Metropolitan Opera (Joyce El-Khoury and Keith Miller), is sure to be enchanting.

If you’d rather spend the evening in a less… hmm… green outdoor space, head down to Ludlow and Broome where Shakespeare in the Parking Lot is performing Measure for Measure- starting this weekend and continuing through August 15th.

Shakespeare in the Parking Lot

Shakespeare in the Parking Lot

On Saturday you can continue the celebration of all things Warhol at the Prospect Park Bandshell, where his even weirder film Silent Film Portraits will be accompanied by a live soundtrack, provided by Dean & Britta:

Dean & Britta, who are beloved as one of the sexiest duo’s in rock, in addition to being alumni of the groundbreaking alt-rock band Luna, perform original scores to Warhol’s rarely seen short silent film portraits, which captured Factory superstars, celebrities, and anonymous teenagers in mesmerizing four-minute shots. Commissioned by the Andy Warhol Museum, the project is like an archeological dig unearthing NYC’s 1960s art scene, complete with an unforgettable soundtrack. Brooklyn’s Crystal Stilts, whom Pitchfork describes as “moody-sounding f*ckers who make fabulous stripped-down garage-pop,” will set the tone for the night.

Move from Warhol’s 60s milieu to the 70s punk scene with a visit to a hot new exhibit at the MOMA-Looking at Music: Side 2. I was there last week and I thought the setup was very effective; there are listening stations where you can hear the music being discussed, as well as music videos and various ephemera. Here’s a pic of a mother and daughter rocking out together:

Mom and daughter at Looking at Music: Side 2

Mom and daughter at Looking at Music: Side 2

For a different sort of punk you can learn to Punk Rope this Saturday at 10am  on the Driggs side of the track at McCarren Park!

Punk Rope in action!

Punk Rope in action!

If you like your comedy outdoors head back to East River Park for NYC Laughs– the only outdoor comedy series!

On Sunday get one last dose of black and white cinema this weekend with a screening of Pygmalion at Symphony Space! I saw the live version with Claire Danes in 2007 but she can’t hold a candle to Wendy Hiller.

Wendy Hiller and Leslie Howard in Pygmalion

Wendy Hiller and Leslie Howard in Pygmalion

Finally, I’m pleased to announce that Restaurant Week has been extended- make your reservations fast!

Have an excellent weekend and stay tuned for additions! Don’t forget you can get the latest updates by following TheBigRedApple on Twitter!

April 16-19 Take 1

I have a very busy weekend planned and I’m not even going to half of the events I’d like to go to.

Tonight I will be missing the Brit Boras concert at Pianos I told you about but I urge you to do what I say and not what I do (haha) and dance the night away! I have it on good authority that the cellist is adorable and the music’s good too.

Also tonight, Look Presents Detour: NY’s Premier Film Noir and Arts Festival. Go out to Galapagos for independent film noir, steamy burlesque and all sorts of other “unexpected adventures.”

Ongoing throughout the weekend is the Migrating Forms Film Festival at Anthology Film Archives:

Migrating Forms is the organization that grew out of the New York Underground Film Festival (1993–2008), presenting five days of new experimental film and video.

Here’s the trailer for this year:

On Friday Clay Space 1205 hosts an opening party for their new 11-artist group show from 6-9pm. Ask about their spring classes and ceramic workshops- pottery classes aren’t just for bored housewives afterall!

Clay Space 1205

Clay Space 1205

Friday is also opening night for the Raspberry Brothers at Chelsea Clearview Cinemas! I know I’ve told you about them in the past and now you’ll be able to see them every Friday and Saturday night at midnight! This month their victim is ‘Dirty Dancing’ and you can find me in the audience this Saturday night giggling whilst trying to eat popcorn.

dirtydancing

On Friday night I will be rocking out to the tunes of Emanuel and the Fear at Crash Mansion. Here’s their promo video:

On Friday and Saturday you can hear Wynton Marsalis play at Lincoln Center:

Tap dancers Jared Grimes and Dewitt Fleming, Jr. join the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalisin “Spaces,” a five-movement tap ballet by artistic director Wynton Marsalis along with the premiere of “Jesse B. Semple Suite,” based on stories by Langston Hughes set to music by JLCO trombonist Vincent Gardner. The “Jesse B. Semple Suite” will feature actors Anthony Thompson Adeagbo and Summer Hill Seven.

Saturday night check out the Cameo Art Gallery in Williamsburg, where Sigmund Droid will be turning up the funk factor with his dirty dance punk.

Sigmund Droid at Cameo Art Space

Sigmund Droid at Cameo Art Gallery

Also on Saturday night there’s an awesome lineup at the Bowery Poetry Club– Paul Muldoon, the Pulitzer Prize winning poetry editor of the New Yorker, is the featured reader and Racket provides the tunes. The late show is !BadAss! Burlesque with Velocity Chyaldd.

!BadAss! Burlesque

!BadAss! Burlesque

Ongoing this month, the ISSUE Project Room is presenting all sorts of experimental madness at Old American Can Factory near the Gowanus Canal, before making their big move to their new digs at 110 Livingston Street in Downtown Brooklyn. Read what Brooklyn Based has to say about the artists/musicians/performers involved.

P.S. Tickets for the Tribeca Film Festival go on sale to the general public on Monday!

April 10-12 How to decide?

I’ve already mentioned a number of wonderful events taking place this weekend; these additions may make it impossible to choose!

Tonight is the start of The Anthology Film Archives’ weekend at the Chelsea Hotel. They’ll be showing films about, filmed at, or created by residents of The Chelsea Hotel.

The Chelsea Hotel has been a haven for artists and thinkers for 125 years, and, despite recent forebodings of change, it remains an almost miraculous island of continuity and cultural integrity in a city that makes such longevity nearly impossible. Countless legends have made the Chelsea their home including writers from Mark Twain and Dylan Thomas to Arthur Miller and Jean Paul Sartre; musicians such as Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Jimi Hendrix, Sid Vicious, and Iggy Pop; and a whole host of artists, including Jasper Johns, Arman, Willem De Kooning, and Robert Crumb. Among the famous figures who lived (or worked) there are many whose histories are intertwined with Anthology, from early associates, friends, and supporters (Shirley Clarke, Patti Smith, Julian Schnabel, Michel Auder) to filmmakers included in the Essential Cinema collection (Robert Flaherty, Harry Smith, Andy Warhol, and PULL MY DAISY participants Allen Ginsberg, Gregory Corso, and Jack Kerouac), and many others from the downtown counter-cultural milieu from which Anthology emerged in the late-sixties.

Tonight check out Alex Cox’s cult classic ‘Sid and Nancy.’

What’s the most hipster event conceivable? A symposium about what the hipster culture “was” (apparently it is no longer authentic; how ironic is that?). Saturday afternoon the literary magazine n+1 hosts “An Afternoon Panel, Symposium, and Historical Investigation” entitled “What Was the Hipster.” Need I say more?

Also on Saturday you can learn a new way to paint Easter Eggs, or experience the art form for the first time, at Spacecraft Brooklyn:

In the Ukranian tradition, you can intimately greet Spring’s arrival by decorating eggs using the ancient technique and tools of psanky. You will have the opportunity to learn the meaning of all classic symbols and designs and be encouraged to create new ones of your own.

Saturday is also the first day of the Food For Thought Film Festival, which is devoted to several crucial issues: access to clean food and water; human rights; local and sustainable agriculture; and the effects of policy on small American farmers.

food

I would also like to add a few ongoing theater productions that have been stirring up some excellent buzz.

“Exit The King”marks Geoffrey Rush’s Broadway debut as a king who refuses to retire without a fight. He plays alongside Susan Sarandon, Lauren Ambrose, Andrea Martin, William Sadler and Brian Hutchinson. All six actors have received high marks for their performances.

Lauren Ambrose (Queen Marie), Geoffrey Rush (King Berenger), William Sadler (The Doctor) and Susan Sarandon (Queen Marguerite).

Lauren Ambrose (Queen Marie), Geoffrey Rush (King Berenger), William Sadler (The Doctor) and Susan Sarandon (Queen Marguerite).

Another Broadway debut worth celebrating is that of Neil LaBute, the writer of the hit play “Reasons to be Pretty.” This love story, about a man who mentions the unthinkable to the woman he adores ( her physical imperfections), is a “hopelessly romantic drama about the hopelessness of romance.”

Also ongoing, and recently extended, is Christopher Durang’s play “Why Torture is Wrong and the People Who Love Them.”

torture

Stay tuned for more weekend events!