What’s it like to get down and dirty at a food porn party? If you like “extreme eats, close-ups and food burlesque,” then keep reading.
This year’s NYC Food Film Festival hits hard, opening with “Kings of BBQ” Wednesday night. You’re invited to a VIP pre-party featuring food from Brooklyn’s Char No. 4, a screening of 1 Minute Meal: Blessed by Brisket, Mile High Pie (despite these films’ names, they’re not part of the food porn night) and The Kings of BBQ: Barbecue Kuwait. Plus a special cocktail from The Winslow, sweets from Max and Mina’s, Bubby’s and Leske’s, and imported beers from Warsteiner. Oh and did we forget to mention the BBQ brisket dinner from champion pitmasters Nicole Davenport, Johnny Trigg, Tuffy Stone and John Markus? This may be the only film festival where the food is as good as the films.
The festival continues Thursday with “Edible Adventure #8,” Friday with “Untitled I,” and the icing on the cake, the aforementioned “Food Porn Party NYC.” Get your hands dirty with films like Beer Braised Ox Cheek and Libby’s Old Fashioned Salted Caramels while hanging in the “fondue lounge” with food-porn star Larry Cauldwell, or having a Milk Bar treat with Christina Tosi.
Here are the other visual feasts we’re Reel Psyched about this week.
MONDAY
Night of the Living Dead + Shaun of the Dead
Huckleberry’s horror double feature brings together two styles of living dead: George Romero style and Simon Pegg style. Romero created the classic be-all/end-all of zombie films, forever defining what it means to be a zombie, how to kill a zombie and basically all things zombie. Pegg builds on that with a side of hilarity so well done that Romero asked Pegg and director Edgar Wright to appear as zombies in his latest film Land of the Dead.
Huckleberry Bar, 588 Grand St, Williamsburg; 9 p.m.; Free
TUESDAY
Nitehawk Cinema Film Feasts Presents: The Shining with Allagash Brewing Company
The Shining makes our list yet again, but this time it’s not upside-down, inside out or in 3D (which is all fun) but part of Nitehawk’s “Film Feasts” series. You know the plot — “all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy,” and all that — so sit back and enjoy a feast of several courses — plus five different Allagash beers — served at appropriate times throughout the movie. This happens to be perfectly timed with Stephen King’s latest book release, a sequel to The Shining called Dr. Sleep.
Nitehawk Cinema, 136 Metropolitan Avenue, Williamsburg; 7 p.m.; $65
TUESDAY-THURSDAY
Let the Fire Burn
On May 13, 1985, five children and six adults were killed when the Philadelphia police dropped two bombs on a row house targeting members of the radical group MOVE in Cobbs Creek. Firefighters were at the scene with water cannons but did nothing for over an hour. This documentary takes a look at what happened that day using footage that has been withheld from the public until now.
IndieScreen, 289 Kent Ave., Williamsburg; 9 p.m.; $12
THURSDAY
Sardines Out of a Can
Shonali Bhowmik likes to keep busy splitting her time between hosting the comedy show Variety Shac at UCB and fronting the indie band Tigers and Monkeys — she’s also got a solo album out called 100 Oaks Revival. Now she’s written and directed this short film featuring music from Ted Leo, Mighty Challenger, K. Michelle DuBois, The Levitations and more. We don’t know what it’s about, but we’ve got a good feeling about it.
Wythe Hotel, 80 Wythe Ave., Williamsburg; 8 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.; Free- RSVP
Dial M for Murder in 3D- part of Hitchcocktober
Things get tricky for an ex-tennis pro when he blackmails an old school pal into murdering his adulterous wife (Grace Kelly) and the murder doesn’t go as planned. After the old pal loses his life in a scuffle with the man’s wife, he puts a plan in place to make it look like she planned his murder.
Village East Cinema, 189 Second Ave., East Village; 8 p.m.; $10
FRIDAY
The Standby Program 30th Anniversary Benefit Screening followed by a wine and cheese reception + Jem Cohen, James Nares, Emily Armstrong & Pat Ivers in person.
To celebrate 30 years of media creation and preservation Standby presents a screening of films and videos by Jem Cohen and James Nares, and selections from Emily Armstrong & Pat Ivers’s Nightclubbing (some of which you can see right here!) There’ll be a silent auction and your ticket earns you one free drink. If you can’t make it but would like to support Standby, make a donation here.
Anthology Film Archives, 32 Second Ave., Lower East Side; 7:30 p.m.; $30
Toad Road
The fine line between reality and fiction is lost in this new film from Elijah Wood’s horror-film company SpectreVision. Director/producer Jason Banker cast people off of Myspace (apparently he cast people who were friending Vice) and created a fictional story based around their real lives. Incorporating actual drug use and documentary-style shooting, a group of kids pursue an urban legend in what Banker calls a “Kids meets The Blair Witch Project” type of movie.
Cinema Village, 22 E. 12th St., Greenwich Village; $11
FRIDAY-SATURDAY
Internet Cat Video Film Festival
The first ever Internet Cat Video Film Festival drew over 10,000 cat-lovers to the Walker Art Center’s Open Field in Minneapolis. For the second festival they’ve decided to take it on the road. Let’s face it, when you’re on the Internet you’re either watching cat videos, working, or paying off blackmailers to not reveal whatever ungodly thing three installments of $1,700 will keep hidden from your loved ones. The fest hits Brooklyn tonight and a second show was just added for Oct. 26th at Europa, with special guest Lil Bub. Keep up to date with the festivities here.
Warsaw, 261 Driggs Ave., Greenpoint; 7 p.m.; $20
Europa, 98 Meserole Ave., Greenpoint; 1 p.m.; $20
SATURDAY
Third Annual Spectacle Shriek Show
Get ready to be scared half to death at an all-day affair from noon to midnight. While we await the final listing of movies, past years have featured Demon Queen, Killer Workout and Psychos In Love (last year’s promo is above). Have a good shriekend.
Spectacle Theater, 124 S. 3rd St., Williamsburg; Midnight; $5