Check for showtimesaEUR|
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Angels & Demons:
Before he and Amelie solved whatever Scooby mystery
they were on the trail of in
The Da Vinci Code
(look, it was a long time ago and we can't be expected to
remember everything), Tom Hanks thwarted a terrorist attack in
this prequel. He's a very busy and heroic puzzle-solver,
that Tom Hanks. If you're one that likes to read the book
before seeing the movie, hit up your local library or get it on
Amazon.com
.
-
The Brothers Bloom
: Con men Adrien Brody and Mark Ruffalo want to bilk Rachel
Weisz. Because that's what con men do. It's the next feature
from acclaimed
Brick
director Rian Johnson, and Rinko Kikuchi is also in it, and
just like in
Babel
, her character is silent. Talk about taking the easiest gigs
ever. Peruse this memorable -- and even slightly controversial
--
Advocate interview with Adrien Brody
from December.
-
Management
: Weepy dog movies aside, we like Jennifer Aniston best when
she ditches the sweetheart routine and jumps on board tiny
indie films playing deadpan characters who are annoyed and/or
disgruntled. Here she gets to be both as Steve Zahn sort of
stalks her after their one-night stand.
-
Big Man Japan
(pictured): A pathetic middle-aged Japanese slacker finds
himself having to battle his country's never-ending supply of
giant monsters. It could happen. To prepare, check out this
list of the top giant movie monsters:
Get your headphones onaEUR|
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Go! Pop! Bang!
by
Rye Rye
(N.E.E.T.): Although it seems like just yesterday that M.I.A.
burst onto the scene -- launching into the mainstream
consciousness with the help of
Pineapple Express, Slumdog Millionaire
, and a pregnant performance at the Grammys -- the
multi-disciplined Tamil had been a superstar in the indie world
for years. She's so seasoned, in fact, that she's got
herself a prodigy: Rye Rye, a baby-faced, sharp-mouthed
Baltimore rapper whose debut album is about to drop at the
tender age of 18. After scoring an infectiously danceable club
hit with 2007's Blaqstarr-produced "Shake It to the
Ground," Rye Rye's second major single,
"Bang," is an equally delicious serving of
multilayered genius featuring M.I.A.'s exhilarating vocals.
With a surplus of confidence and lyrics as sassy as they are
smart, Rye Rye might just be the best new female rapper to hit
the scene since Lil' Kim.
Follow Rye Rye on Twitter
to read her ALL CAPS updates.
-
We Be Xuxa
by Mika Miko (pictured) (Post Present Medium): Miles
away from the fleet of glossy pop-punk bands oversaturating the
airwaves to the point where the word "punk" had seemed to
collapse under the weight of its own insincerity, Mika Miko is
a (mostly) all-girl group that's helped redefine the very
notion of contemporary punk rock. Alongside critical darlings
No Age, queer-fronted group Abe Vigoda, and dozens of other
passionate kids regularly performing at the downtown Los
Angeles club the Smell, Mika Miko has embraced the ethics of
do-it-yourself culture and helped create an organic, thriving
local music scene.
Their noisy, lo-fi
sound shows off a keen appreciation for punk history,
cultivating the spirit of bands from Bad Brains to X-Ray Spex,
but there's a youthful, exciting energy present in Mika
Miko's music that's all their own. On
We Be Xuxa
, the band has reigned in their gleefully august cacophony ever
so slightly, unveiling the technical skills and songwriting
flair that's served as a formidable foundation for a punk
revolution. Watch them perform their song "Too Cute to
Puke":
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Entertainment
by Fischerspooner (FS Studios): Electroclash group
Fischerspooner is an art-pop dream duo that balances out the
ostentatiousness of gay visual/performance artist Casey Spooner
with the pragmatic brilliance of classically trained musician
Warren Fischer. After making a big splash in the early 2000s
with a pair of tap-happy albums as well suited for a workout
session as the dance floor, Fischerspooner took four years to
tour and work on various personal projects. Now the pair's
back together, as clever as ever, with a set of irresistible
songs about moon landings, economics, and revenge. The duo
kicks off their tour on May 8 in New York. Find out when they
come by a venue near you at
Fischerspooner.com
.
Get cozy on the couchaEUR|
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Of Time and the City:
Essential queer director Terence Davies (
The Long Day Closes
) returns with a personal history of his hometown of Liverpool
that weaves together popular and classical music, voices, radio
clips, and narration by the filmmaker. Critics have raved about
this one-of-a-kind documentary. Read an
Advocateinterview with Davies
shortly following the premiere of this film.
-
Unspoken Passion
(pictured)
:
This love story from the Philippines tells the story of two
teen boys in love who split apart when one of them marries.
Years later, one of them enters the Manila sex trade, and one
night gets a surprising costar for a live sex show. Now we know
what happens when you cross
Zack and Miri Make a Porno
and
Macho Dancer
. For more gay films featuring Asian actors and story
lines, check out the aptly named website
Asian
Gay Films
. It hasn't been updated in a few months, but there is a
decent backlog of films, broken down by region, that you may
find interesting.
-
Kingdom:
The ever-dry (and openly gay) Stephen Fry stars in this British
TV series as small-town solicitor Peter Kingdom, who takes on
any number of oddball clients, from nudists to adults suing
toddlers. In between eccentric court hearings, Peter tries to
track down his brother, who has mysteriously disappeared. And
for the super fans, peruse this
log of filming locations
of the show, like Wells-next-the-Sea and Swaffham.
Buy these ticketsaEUR|
- Tim Miller at
Highways
(Santa Monica, Calif.): All puns are intended in legendary
queer performance artist Tim Miller's new solo show,
Lay of the Land
. Politics, humor, sex, and storytelling collide as Miller
shares his latest tales of sleeping his way across the country,
being called for jury duty, showing up for No on Prop. 8
protests, and dealing with the feeling of being perpetually on
trial. Highways Performance Space in Santa Monica hosts the
show May 15-16 and 22-23.
- Kushner Celebration
in Minneapolis:
The
Guthrie Theater
in Minneapolis, one of the country's oldest and most
prestigious regional theaters, has mounted a lavish 10-week
celebration of Pulitzer Prize-winning gay playwright Tony
Kushner (author of
Angels in America
). While simultaneously running his musical
Caroline, or Change
and a program of five short one-acts titled
Tiny Kushner
, the Guthrie presents the world premiere of
The Intelligent Homosexual's Guide to Capitalism and
SocialismWith aKey to the Scriptures
. A retired longshoreman and philosopher, confused by life in
the 21st century, convenes a reunion in Brooklyn with his wife
and three kids (two of whom are gay) and their various spouses,
partners, and plus-ones. The cast includes Kathleen Chalfant,
Stephen Spinella, and Linda Emond, and the show is directed by
Michael Greif. Performances begin May 15, with an official
press opening on May 22, and continue through June 28. A lavish
array of classes, seminars, panel discussions, and speaking
engagements are scheduled throughout the Kushner Celebration.
Watch a preview of the 2007
PBS special,
Wrestling With Angels
.
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You, Nero
(Berkeley, Calif.): Amy Freed's
You, Nero,
a cautionary tale for the
American Idol
age, juxtaposes ancient Rome and reality TV in an exploration
of popular spectacles and what they say about a civilization.
Half burlesque, half historical epic, the show centers on the
beyond-nelly performance of Danny Scheie, who struts the title
role in leopard-skin boxer shorts. After a world premiere in
Southern California, the revamped production reopens May 15 at
the Berkeley Repertory Theatre and runs through June 28.
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Three on a Party
(pictured) (San Francisco): The trio of one-acts collectively
mounted by Theatre Rhinoceros as
Three on a Party
surveys 20th-century queerdom and the evolution of same-sex
marriage. Gertrude Stein's dadaesque tale of two lesbians
in 1910,
Miss Furr and Miss Skeene
, and Tennessee Williams's
Two on a Party
, a poetic fantasy of unbridled sex in the straitlaced 1950s,
are rarely seen works by two of the great gay writers of the
century. And Armistead Maupin brings the timeline up-to-date
with
Suddenly Home
, set in the familiar milieu of an extended gay family in San
Francisco. The production starts May 13 and plays through June
7.
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The Golden Legend
(New York): Saints, puppets, choruses galore -- Christopher
Williams's
The Golden Legend
is one of those shows that could be a fabulous extravaganzaaEUR|or
something that was more impressive as a fantasy (or grant
proposal) than a reality. Inspired by a 13th-century compendium
by Jacobus de Voragine known as the
Legenda Aurea Sanctorum
(or
Golden Legend of the Saints
), choreographer and puppeteer Williams has created a series of
17 dance portraits of obscure medieval male saints. And he's
talked a whole boatload of fellow dancers and choreographers
into performing them, including the likes of John Kelly, Nicky
Paraiso, Gus Solomons, David Neumann, and Jonah Bokaer. The
music will be performed live by select members of Lionheart,
Anonymous 4, and the New York Consort of Viols. The whole thing
takes place at
Dance Theater Workshop
, in the heart of Chelsea, for five performances only, May
12-16.
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The
Brother/Sister Plays
(Princeton, N.J.): While Minneapolis's Guthrie Theater
celebrates the already-renowned gay playwright Tony Kushner,
another prestigious regional theater -- Princeton's McCarter
Theater -- salutes up-and-coming 28-year-old gay playwright
Tarell Alvin McCraney
with a trio of his plays: In
TheRed and Brown Water
, staged by lesbian director Tina Landau, and a double bill of
The Brothers Size
(previously seen to acclaim in New York and London) and
Marcus; or the Secret of Sweet
("sweet" being Southern black slang for
"gay"), staged by gay playwright-director Robert
O'Hara. The characters in the plays are connected familially
and spiritually through the influence of Yoruban mythological
spirits (orishas). The brothers plays open May 14 and run in
repertory with the sisters play through June 21.
McCraney
was one of
The Advocate
's "Forty under 40" artists to watch in
the
June/July issue
.