Agenda Newsletter - August 14, 2007

Meet the original gangsters
The Musketeers of Pig Alley

Untitled Document

Watch it
Film Forum’s five-week “NYC Noir” series kicked off yesterday, and you missed this D.W. Griffith classic, the first gangster movie ever made. But don’t beat yourself up over it: Shot on location in 1912 New York City, reportedly using real-life gang members as extras, the film is an underworld epic in miniature—and you can see it here! (Confidential to geeks: Check out the thirteen-minute mark for one of cinema’s first uses of follow-focus and an early example of the close-up’s intensifying effect.)

Reality catches up with author
William Gibson Gibson may not have invented the Internet, but he did coin the word cyberspace, and his 1984 novel Neuromancer has inspired everything from Wired magazine to The Matrix. Reality has since caught up with his imagination, where military-industrial conspiracies, surveillance, and near-invisible marketing are everywhere. His new Spook Country takes place amid the orange alerts of 2006, during the hunt for a missing and highly valued shipping container. Barnes & Noble, 33 East 17th Street
7 p.m.
Gibson interview » More info »

Art emerges from sneakers
Federico Uribe: Human Nature Call us suckers for a gimmick, but we can’t stop talking about this soon-to-close show: Uribe has constructed a life-size jungle, complete with zebras and gorillas, entirely from Puma shoes and laces. The cuteness factor subsides, and what was ostensibly a design exercise turns into a reflection on artificial environments, human impact on the earth, and other things that keep Al Gore up nights (besides midnight snacks). These disturbing creations are something to marvel at. Chelsea Art Museum
Closes
August 18
Slideshow »
More info »

Seductive monsters give last gasp
Frost/Nixon You’ve no doubt heard about this play, which is based on David Frost venturing to California to land the first post-resignation interview with Richard Nixon. But that’s no excuse for not actually seeing it between now and Sunday, when it closes. Jeremy McCarter explains its allure this way: “Whether from bitter experience or a leap of the imagination, writer Peter Morgan has an uncanny knack for making crowned heads and assorted monsters seductive.” Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre
Closes
August 19
Tickets »

David Lynch gets even weirder
Inland Empire This David Lynch work was his first shot on digital video—and the most incomprehensible film in his dark cabinet of cinematic curiosities. Yet his reckless experimentation is utterly beguiling, and even beautiful. One might have hoped that the hours of extras—deleted scenes, monologue-style interviews, shorts, and even a cooking lesson—would clarify things. Instead, they send you deeper down the rabbit hole. Happily, as it turns out. Absurda/Rhino
$29.98
Buy it »

Go wild, Hawaiian style
Tropical Luau Party Perhaps it would never occur to you to throw your kid a luau party. But that’s why we have the Parks Department, which tomorrow and Thursday will boldly appropriate this not exactly venerable—and therefore, probably very fun—cultural artifact. The outdoor activities include limbo dancing and hula-hoop contests—and yes, there will be leis and a faux-tropical juice hut. Riverside Park
August 15 (Dinosaur Playground) and August 16 (Elephant Playground)
11 a.m.
More info »