Off Broadway, Temporal Powers is a well acted melodrama at the Mint Theater, about an impoverished Irish couple, who discover a package of money in a wall, and are forced to make a moral decision about what to do with it. The opening night party took place at The Irish Rogue. Among the opening night guests were Geraldine Hughes, Charlotte Moore and Ciaran O'Reilly.
A cabaret star was born at the Oak Room in the Algonquin Hotel. Emily Bergl, a fine actress, made a sensational debut in a show entitled Kidding On The Square. As a founding member of the Manhattan Association of Cabaret (MAC) over 30 years ago, I have seen many marvelous performers, but I have to admit that seeing Emily on opening night took my breath away. It was one of the finest nights in cabaret that I have ever seen, and I urge everyone to see her perform. You will be rewarded with a memorable evening.
Sports lovers should have attended the dinner at the wonderful Empire Steak House. Two legends attended the 2011 World Police and Fire Games celebration. I had the pleasure of meeting former New York Yankee Andy Pettite and former New York Giant David Tyree and his charming wife Leilah. The food served was delicious. It is a great restaurant. I returned the next day for a book signing by former New York Yankee Jim Leyritz for his book Catching Heat: The Jim Leyritz Story. I read it that night and I highly recommend it. His achievements in baseball made him a hero in the sport, and his ordeal after a traffic accident, in which the other driver died, is horrific.
The Film Society of Lincoln Center will present Transitions: New Cinema from Poland September 9-15. The first press screening was Mother Teresa of Cats, by Pawel Sala, 2009, a film based on a true story about two mentally disturbed sons, who kill their cat-loving mother, told in a series of flashback scenes. It is grim and depressing. All That I Love, by Jacek Borcuch, 2009 is simply magnificent. It is one of the best films that I have seen lately. It follows the life of a young adolescent in a small town in Poland in the 1981, when the Solidarity movement is beginning and martial law is declared. He is a member of a high school rock band, and it is a brilliant description of the turmoil of a young man reaching manhood. The film is highly recommended.
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On a lighter note, Ocean Liners August 26-30 continued with a pleasant Royal Wedding, by Stanley Donen, 1951, with a delightful Jane Powell and Fred Astaire, about two American entertainers appearing in London during the wedding of Queen Elizabeth II, with music by Burton Lane and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner. Also I saw an excellent well made British film about the sinking of the Titanic, A Night to Remember, by Roy Ward Baker, 1958. Whereas the British film was a realistic, fairly accurate, almost documentary style depiction of the event, Titanic, by James Cameron, 1997, is a fanciful love story using the sinking of the ship as a background. The two lovers Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet give fine acting performances, and Gloria Stuart steals the show as she recalls the actual events that took place on that fateful voyage. The film is an audience pleasing spectacular, and is a magnificent technical production.
A fascinating film, that will be enjoyed by all art lovers, is The Mill and the Cross, by Lech Majewski, 2010, which opens Wednesday, September 14 at the Film Forum. We watch how the painting The Way to Calvary, by Pieter Bruegel, is created in 1564, as the painter observes more than 500 people in his small town in Flanders. Living under a brutal Spanish occupation, the peasants try to live normal lives, singing, dancing, lovemaking and with their young children playing games, as the foreign soldiers inflict violence on some of the inhabitants. Rutger Hauer (Bruegel), Michael York (his royal patron) and Charlotte Rampling appear in this gorgeous film. It will leaves a deep impression on the viewer.
08-31-11
(L-R)
Jeff
Sinanaj.
Jim
Leyritz.
Jack
Sinanaj.
Lawrence
Davis.
Sergio
A.
Sanchez
at a
book
signing
"Catching
Heat:
The
Jim
Leyritz
Story"
at
the
Empire
Steak
House.
36
West
52nd
St.
Wednesday
afternoon
08-31-11 |