Manhattan Users Guide

today's MUG 01.7.09

intersection
Mediterranean Dossier

Greece/Dance-Theater
Keep an eye on Company XIV, an emerging media/dance/theater Brooklyn-based company with a Baroque/burlesque sensibility. Their show, The Judgement of Paris, based on the Greek myth, was a Pick of the Fringe at Edinburgh's Fringe Fest 2008. It will be performed at the Duo Theater, 62 E. 4th [2nd/Bowery] from January 8th to February 1st. Details. [Photo: Steven Schreiber]

Spain/Sculpture
Hear a gallery talk at the Hispanic Society of America on January 17th, 11am, about the unknown Spanish artist who created the memorable, large sculpture of Saint Rita of Cascia, now restored.

France/Movie

Using more closeups than any movie in recent memory, a camera that bobs and weaves through family gatherings, and scenes that feel improvised and documented rather than acted and filmed, The Secret of the Grain is an untidily resonant family saga. It's the story of Tunisian immigrants living in a French port city, in which the Sunday meal of fish couscous connects their hopes, jealousies, and disappointments. No American director would allow some of the scenes to go on as long as Abdel Kechiche does; if you give into it, though, the total effect is a burrowing into lives you won't soon forget.

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