This upcoming weekend, if you can make it to only one cinematic affair, it should definitely be the Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space (MoRUS) Film Festival, happening at venues all over East Village. The fest starts tomorrow and runs until the following Saturday, and this year’s films feature encounters with women of the Lower East Side.
What About Me
Our pick for the MoRUS fest is What About Me. If you cringe whenever you walk by that awful new gym on Bowery and shed a tear each time some graffiti-stained steel door disappears from Second Avenue, this is the one for you. Rachel Amodeo’s film, set mostly in and around Tompkins Square Park, is a look back at the Lower East Side’s gnarlier days. Though it was shot in 1993, the movie features a cast of punk legends including Richard Hell, Dee Dee Ramone, Jerry Nolan of the Dolls, and Johnny Thunders (who also wrote the soundtrack.) This one is a rare lil’ gem, so don’t miss it, jerks. Be warned though, this Dee Dee scene made me weep silently at my desk. Friday, August 1, 8pm at Anthology Film Archives, 32 Second Avenue; tickets, $10
Three Amigos
If you plan on spending all day at the Brooklyn Flea bennywayz, then you might as well stay for Nitehawk’s last outdoor movie of the season. Ughhh is it August already? Seasonal depression is only one month away, so get your giggles on and feel closer to the womb with this classic dad comedy starring Steve Martin, Chevy Chase, and Martin Short. And hey, there’s also going to be a real life mariachi act! Sunday August 3rd, doors 5pm, screening at sunset at Nitehawk Outdoors, 50 Kent Avenue between North 11th and 12th Streets, Williamsburg; tickets, Free or VIP for $12
Finding Fela
Finding Fela tells the story of the late Fela Kuti, one of the founding fathers of Afro-beat, and an outspoken critic of the Nigerian military dictatorship. Through interviews, archival concert footage, and clips of Kuti’s interviews from the ’70s and ’80s, director Alex Gibney has created a documentary that captures Kuti beyond the musical icon. Thursday July 31 thru Thursday August 7, various showtimes at IFC Center, 323 Sixth Avenue; tickets, $14
Child of God
Whoa, whoa, whoa hold the phone. Cormac McCarthy, the same guy who still writes on a typewriter and declared quotation marks to be “weird little marks” that “blot up the page,” agreed to let Franco direct this screen adaptation of Child of God, a novel which, mind you, centers around a character named Ballard whose a necrophiliac?! Excuse me, what? Well, the reviews for this one have been (predictably?) not so kind. I mean, hating on Franco seems to be the cool thing to do right now, but it’s always best to challenge the chorus and see for yourself. However, don’t say we didn’t warn you with our review of Franco’s play, which by the way also starred Scott Haze, though as a character who’s less into cold bodies, but ones that are equally as non-consenting. Friday August 1st and Saturday August 2nd the 7 pm and 3:20 pm screenings (respectively) will be followed by a live Skype Q+A with James Franco at Village Cinema East, 181-189 2nd Avenue, East Village; tickets, $14