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Your Guide to the 2013 Northside Festival

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 11:00:00 -0400

tktktk 06/13 Warsaw Showcase Jameson Black Barrel Lounge Vitamin Water House…

The Best Old Movies on a Big Screen This Week

Aaron Cutler — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 09:00:00 -0400

Crash (1996)
Directed by David Cronenberg
Holey leg-fucking, it’s the carmaggedon. Transposed from bleak early-70s London to equally bleak mid-90s Hollywood, the phlegmatic, single-minded characters of this Cronenberg vehicle are no less brilliant ruminations on humanity’s inherent violence and how such violence is enhanced by technology.…

#Wiening: Museum Hours

Henry Stewart — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 04:00:00 -0400

Jem Cohen's gorgeous ode to Vienna, museums, and art. by Henry Stewart Museum HoursDirected by Jem Cohen There are two main characters, but to say that this movie's about them wouldn't quite be right.…

Fred Valentine: Humorous Haunts

Paul D'Agostino — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 04:00:00 -0400

A studio visit prior to the artist’s solo exhibition at Sometimes permits glimpses of fantastical horrors and humors alike. by Paul D'Agostino A dozen or so new paintings lined and sidled up against the walls in Fred Valentine’s Ridgewood home studio—which also functions as the main room of his gallery, Valentine, on weekends—when I paid him a visit recently. It was about a week before the opening of his solo show at Sometimes (through July 12), another artist-helmed exhibition space, this one operated by James Siena in Chinatown.…

Polytechnicalities

Audrey Ference — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 04:00:00 -0400

Dear Audrey, my girlfriend says she's poly, but I don't believe you can love two people at once. by Audrey Ference Dear Audrey,My girlfriend and I have been together since high school. We’re now in our late 20s.…

A Hijacking: The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything

Benjamin Mercer — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 04:00:00 -0400

This Somali-hijacking movie is tauter for its stretches of eerie calm. by Benjamin Mercer A HijackingDirected by Tobias Lindholm By now, the Somali-pirate hijacking will be a familiar nightmare scenario to anyone who’s even casually perused the headlines since the turn of the 21st century.…

The Fundamental Things Apply: The Silver Cord

Dan Callahan — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 04:00:00 -0400

Peccadillo revives this 1926 smother-love expose with effective sincerity. by Dan Callahan The Silver Cord Peccadillo Theater Company Sidney Howard's name may not ring many bells today, but in 1925 he won the Pulitzer Prize for his play They Knew What They Wanted.…

How Do You Keep Cool in the Summer?

Ryan Vlastelica — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 04:00:00 -0400

"Sometimes I put all the ice cubes in my freezer in a big bag and then rub that all over myself." by Ryan Vlastelica Mohammad Hailed in: The Lower East Side Hails from: Pakistan You know what you Americans always get wrong about heat? You drink cold things when you should drink hot things.…

Don't Be Yourself: Bert and Arnie's Guide to Friendship

Henry Stewart — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 04:00:00 -0400

The titular frenemies in this trifling indie comedy don't learn from each other so much as switch places. by Henry Stewart Bert and Arnie's Guide to FriendshipDirected by Jeff Kaplan This trifling indie comedy's opening credits, with an old-fashioned piano song and their white text on a black background, feel like they're meant to evoke a Woody Allen movie—it's even set in New York, though you could hardly tell.…

Theater On A Park Slope Stoop

Henry Stewart — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 04:00:00 -0400

Brave New World will perform Street Scene on the street. by Henry Stewart The Brooklyn troupe Brave New World Repertory Theater will perform Elmer Rice's 1929 Pulitzer Prize-winning Street Scene on the streets of Park Slope—in front of a former tenement on Fifth Street west of Prospect Park West. (There are two shows on June 22, at 1pm and 5pm.)…

Tropfest: Short Films Move to Brooklyn

Henry Stewart — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 04:00:00 -0400

Talking to the founder of the world's biggest short-film festival, which is in Prospect Park this year. by Henry Stewart Tropfest, which calls itself "the world's largest short-film festival," started in Australia 21 years ago; it's since expanded to several continents. This year, for the first time, its New York iteration will be in Brooklyn—in Prospect Park, on the Nethermead, on June 22.…

McCann’s Troubles: TransAtlantic

Elina Mishuris — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 04:00:00 -0400

Colum's problematic new novel looks at Ireland's tragedies through myriad eyes. by Elina Mishuris TransAtlantic By Colum McCann (Random House) This book’s flights of fantasy arc over a world that author McCann never tires of spinning, his ear out for echoes to take up and turn into song.…

Reasons to Wine: Falansai

Kara Zuaro — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 04:00:00 -0400

The food at this Bushwick Vietnamese place was great. But the food pairings were divine. by Kara Zuaro Falansai 112 Harrison Place, Bushwick 5 L's Your first instinct might be to order a beer, but that’d be a mistake.…

I'm So Excited!: Almodóvar's Airplane

Ryan Vlastelica — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 04:00:00 -0400

The Spanish director returns to his roots with this sex farce. by Ryan Vlastelica I'm So Excited!Directed by Pedro Almodóvar The Spanish director goes back to his roots with this sexual farce that plays like Airplane!…

Bogus Journeys

Paddy Johnson — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 04:00:00 -0400

Traveling for work in the art world isn't as glamorous as it might sound. by Paddy Johnson If you work in the art world, your life probably looks pretty good from the outside. You spend a lot of time traveling around the world for art events, and a lot of your job is simply thinking about art and talking about it with celebrities and museum directors.…

Piece of Cake: Dynaco

Virginia K. Smith — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 04:00:00 -0400

This Bed-Stuy spot serves a frosted slice of chocolate that goes surprisingly well with whiskey. by Virginia K. Smith Dynaco 1112 Bedford Avenue, Bed-Stuy 3.5 L's When you think about bar foods that go well with whiskey, “a dense, generously frosted slice of chocolate cake” isn’t usually one of them.…

Northside Film Day 2: Picks from The L Mag Staff

admin — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 10:38:00 -0400

Northside Film continues today with nine (count 'em!) screenings happening across Williamsburg and Greenpoint.…

Brooklyn's Best Young Filmmakers

Henry Stewart — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 09:00:00 -0400

Now in its fifth year, BAMcinemaFest (June 19-28) may not have the cultural cachet of the New York or Tribeca film festivals, but it's quickly becoming a local favorite for those in-the-know. Two years ago, the New Yorker's Richard Brody called it "the city’s best independent-film showcase."…

Photos: Solange Asks 5,000 People to Grind Like They're at a Middle School Dance

Mike Conklin — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 11:05:00 -0400

We'll have lots more photos from this past weekend coming at you over the next day or two, but we wanted to start with one of the final shows of the festival, Solange at McCarren Park as part of Converse Rubber Tracks Live at Northside?. It was everything we hoped it would be: there was dancing, there was singing along, then there was more dancing.…

Northside Film Day 1: Picks from The L Mag Staff

admin — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 10:54:00 -0400

Take it slow today, get re-hydrated and ease your Heineken-induced hangover; Northside Music may be over, but Northside Film kicks off today. Tonight alone, you'll find eight screenings going on across Williamsburg and Greenpoint, but in case you're having trouble deciding how and where you should spend the first night of Northside Film, allow us to make some suggestions.…

Sex, Love, and Brooklyn: Best Friends and Boyfriends

Lacy Warner — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 10:51:00 -0400

We were so bohemian and so wise. She was my best friend, and we lived together during my first year in Brooklyn.…

Northside Festival: Highlights from The Weekend

admin — Sat, 15 Jun 2013 11:41:00 -0400

The weekend is now upon us, and we are confident that even these past two wonderful days are going to pale in comparison to what you will experience for the next two. The rain is behind us, we're told, and their are good vibes as far as the eye can see.…

We Need Backup!: 20 Feet From Stardom

David Goldman — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 13:15:00 -0400

This music doc uncovers more neglected greats: backup singers! by David Goldman 20 Feet from Stardom Directed by Morgan Neville This aptly named film is another documentary that shines a light on a neglected piece of music history.…

This is the End. But Is it Funny?

Jesse Hassenger — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 13:05:00 -0400

This is the End: This apocalypse comedy from Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg represents an apex for what started unexpectedly with Judd Apatow and Paul Feig's Freaks and Geeks. For years, the profane-yet-sweet, improvisation-heavy comic stylings of Rogen, Jonah Hill, Jason Segel and others were shepherded by distinctive directors like Apatow and David Gordon Green or more experienced occasional sponsors and benefactors like Will Ferrell and Ben Stiller.…

Photos: Body/Head, Swans, Chelsea Wolfe and More at Northside, Day 1

admin — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 13:02:00 -0400

Now that day one of the 2013 Northside Festival is officially behind us, our shoes finally starting to dry out and our Jameson/Heineken-induced hangovers slowly easing up, we can say without hesitation that it was a success. Here as proof, we offer photos from some of last night's most noteworthy shows.…