Metroland

Movie Schedule, Monday, Feb. 28

Simulcasts/Performance

GE Theatre at Proctors, 432 State St., Schenectady. 2/28, 6:30 PM: The Philadelphia Orchestra. Concert in HD. Call for prices. 346-6204.

Spectrum 8 Theatres, 290 Delaware Ave., Albany. 2/28, 7 PM: King Lear. Starring Derek Jacobi. From the National Theatre of London. $15, $12 kids. 449-8995.

 

Film Specials

Images Cinema, 50 Spring St., Williamstown, Mass. 2/28, 7 PM: La Fille de RER. A film examining racism and intolerance in contemporary France by director AndréTéchiné. Free. (413) 458-1039.

Palace Theater, 19 Clinton Ave., Albany. 2/28, 7 PM: The Defiant Ones. Starring Sidney Poitier and Tony Curtis. Part of the Palace Theater’s 6th annual Classic Movie Series. $5, kids $3. 465-3334.

 

Movie Schedule

Showtimes effective today (Feb. 28).

BEACON CINEMA (57 North St., Pittsfield, Mass., 413-358-4781)

The King’s Speech (R) Today at 1:50, 4:30, 7:10 PM.

Unknown (PG-13) Today at 2:20, 5, 7:25 PM.

Just Go With It (PG-13) Today at 2:10, 4:35, 7:15 PM.

Justin Bieber Never Say Never 3D (G) Today at 2:10, 5, 7:30 PM.

Gnomeo & Juliet 3D (G) Today at 2:50, 5, 7 PM.

I Am Number Four (PG-13) Fri at 11:40 AM, 2:30, 4:45, 7:15, 9:50 PM.

BOW TIE CINEMAS MOVIELAND (400 State St., Schenectady, 372-7500)

The King’s Speech (R) Today at 1:50, 4:20, 6:55, 9:30 PM.

Hall Pass (R) Today at 2:20, 4:50, 7:25, 10:05 PM.

Just Go With It (PG-13) Today at 3:20, 6:40, 9:20 PM.

Justin Bieber Never Say Never 3D (PG-13) Today at 2, 4:40, 7:20, 9:55 PM.

Gnomeo & Juliet (G) Today at 2, 4:10, 6:30, 9 PM.

I Am Number Four (PG-13) Today at 3:10, 7:05, 9:40 PM.

CRANDELL THEATRE (48 Main St., Chatham, 518-392-3331)

The Roommate (PG-13) Today at 7 PM.

IMAGES CINEMA (50 Spring St., Williamstown, Mass., 413-458-1039)

The Girl on the Train (NR) Today at 7 PM.

The Illusionist (PG) Today at 9:15 PM.

MADISON THEATER (1036 Madison Ave., Albany, 438-0040)

Hall Pass (R) Today at 7:05, 9:35 PM.

Unknown (PG-13) Today at 7, 9:30 PM.

Gnomeo & Juliet 3D (G) Today at 7:15, 9:15 PM.

Justin Bieber Never Say Never 3D (G) Today at 7, 9:15 PM.

Big Mommas: Like Father Like Son (PG-13) Today at 7:05, 9:25 PM.

Just Go With It (PG-13) Today at 7, 9:30 PM.

I Am Number Four (PG-13) Today at 7:10, 9:25 PM.

REGAL AVIATION CINEMA 7 (Queensbury, 793-3332)

Drive Angry 3D (R) Today at 4:20, 7:10, 9:55 PM.

Unknown (PG-13) Today at 3:55, 6:40, 9:35 PM.

Just Go With It (PG-13) Today at 3:45, 6:30, 9:25 PM.

Justin Bieber Never Say Never 3D (G) Today at 4:10, 7, 9:45 PM.

Gnomeo & Juliet 3D (G) Today at 4:30, 7:15, 10 PM.

I Am Number Four (PG-13) Today at 4, 6:50, 9:40 PM.

Big Mommas: Like Father Like Son (PG-13) Today at 4:05, 7:05, 9:50 PM.

REGAL BERKSHIRE MALL 10 (Lanesboro, Mass., 413-499-2558)

Drive Angry 3D (R) Today at 1:55, 4:20, 7:30 PM.

Hall Pass (R) Today at 1:40, 4:10, 7:20 PM.

The King’s Speech (R) Today at 1:15, 3:50, 6:30 PM.

Unknown (PG-13) Fri-Mon at 1:45, 4:15, 7:10 PM.

Justin Bieber Never Say Never 3D (G) Today at 1:50, 4:25, 7 PM.

I Am Number Four (PG-13) Today at 1:35, 4:05, 6:50 PM.

Just Go With It (PG-13) Today at 1:20, 3:55, 6:35 PM.

Gnomeo & Juliet 3D (G) Today at 2, 4:30, 7:40 PM.

The Roommate (PG-13) Today at 3:45 PM.

Big Mommas: Like Father Like Son (PG-13) Today at 4 PM.

True Grit (PG-13) Today at 1:25, 6:45 PM.

Big Mommas: Like Father Like Son (PG-13) Open Captioned. Today at 1:30, 6:40 PM.

REGAL COLONIE CENTER STADIUM 13 (Colonie, 489-8501)

Hall Pass (R) Today at 12:30, 1:40, 3:20, 6:40, 7:40, 9:30, 10:20 PM.

Drive Angry 3D (R) Today at 1:50, 4:50, 7:50, 10:30 PM.

The King’s Speech (R) Today at 12:20, 3:10, 6:10, 9:20 PM.

The Fighter (R) Today at 3:40, 9 PM.

Unknown (PG-13) Today at 1, 3:50, 6:50, 9:40 PM.

Justin Bieber Never Say Never 3D (G) Today at 1:10, 4:10, 7:10, 10 PM.

Just Go With It (PG-13) Today at 1:30, 4:20, 7:20, 10:10 PM.

Gnomeo & Juliet 3D (G) Today at noon, 2:30, 5, 7:30, 9:55 PM.

The Roommate (PG-13) Today at 12:50, 6:30 PM.

I Am Number Four (PG-13) Today at 12:10, 1:20, 3, 4, 6:20, 7, 9:10, 9:50 PM.

Big Mommas: Like Father Like Son (PG-13) Today at 2, 5:10, 8 PM.

REGAL CROSSGATES STADIUM 18 (Guilderland, 456-0775)

Hall Pass (R) Today at 12:10, 1:30, 2:50, 4:10, 5:30, 6:50, 8:10, 9:30 PM.

Drive Angry 3D (R) Today at 2:10, 4:50, 7:30, 8:30, 10:10 PM.

The King’s Speech (R) Today at 12:20, 3:20, 6:20, 9:20 PM.

Unknown (PG-13) Today at 11:50 AM, 1:10, 2:30,  3:50, 5, 6:30, 7:50, 9:10, 10:30 PM.

The Company Men (R) Today at 1:40, 4:20, 7, 9:40 PM.

Just Go With It (PG-13) Today at 12:50, 3:50, 7:20, 10:20 PM.

IMAX: I Am Number Four (PG-13) Today at 1:50, 4:30, 7:10, 9:50 PM.

I Am Number Four (PG-13) Mon at 8:50 PM.

Justin Bieber Never Say Never 3D (G) Today at noon, 1:20, 2:40, 4, 5:40, 7, 10 PM.

Gnomeo & Juliet 3D (G) Today at 2, 4:20, 6:40, 9 PM.

Gnomeo & Juliet (G) Today at 12:40, 3, 5:10 PM.

The Roommate (PG-13) Today at 3:40, 9 PM.

Big Mommas: Like Father Like Son (PG-13) Today at 12:30, 3:10, 5:50, 7:40, 8:40, 10:20 PM.

I Am Number Four (PG-13) Open Captioned. Today at 6:10 PM.

REGAL EAST GREENBUSH CINEMA 8 (283-8990)

Drive Angry 3D (R) Today at 2:25, 5, 7:30 PM.

Hall Pass (R) Today at 2:20, 4:55, 7:25 PM.

Unknown (PG-13) Today at 2:05, 4:40, 7:10 PM.

Justin Bieber Never Say Never 3D (G) Today at 2, 4:30, 7 PM.

Just Go With It (PG-13) Today at 2, 4:35, 7:05 PM.

Gnomeo & Juliet (G) Today at 2:30, 4:30, 6:40 PM.

I Am Number Four (PG-13) Today at 2:10, 4:45; 7:15 PM.

Big Mommas: Like Father Like Son (PG-13) Today at 2:15, 4:50, 7:20 PM.

REGAL LATHAM CIRCLE MALL CINEMA 10 (786-6949)

Drive Angry 3D (R) Mon at 1:35, 2:05, 4:15, 4:40, 7:15, 7:45 PM.

Drive Angry (R) Today at 2:05, 4:40, 7:45 PM.

Hall Pass (R) Today at 1:40, 4:20, 7:30 PM.

The Fighter (R) Today at 2:10, 4:50, 7:20 PM.

The King’s Speech (R) Today at 1, 3:50, 6:40 PM.

Justin Bieber Never Say Never (G) Today at 1:30, 4, 6:50 PM.

Just Go With It (PG-13)  

Gnomeo & Juliet 3D (G) Today at 1:50, 4:30, 7 PM.

Gnomeo & Juliet (PG-13) Today at 1:50, 4:30, 7 PM.

Big Mommas: Like Father Like Son (PG-13) Today at 1:10, 3:40, 7:40 PM.

I Am Number Four (PG-13) Today at 1, 3:30, 6:30 PM.

REGAL WILTON MALL CINEMA 8 (Saratoga Springs, 587-0400)

Hall Pass (R) Today at 1, 3:50, 7:20, 10:10 PM.

The King’s Speech (R) Today at 1, 3:45, 6:30, 9:30 PM; Thu at 1, 3:45, 6:30 PM.

Unknown (PG-13) Today at 1:10, 4:10, 7, 10 PM.

Justin Bieber Never Say Never 3D (G) Today at 1:15, 4, 6:50, 9:45 PM.

Just Go With It (PG-13) Today at 1:30, 4:20, 7:10, 9:50 PM.

Gnomeo & Juliet 3D (G) Today at 1:20, 3:40, 6:40, 9:40 PM.

Big Mommas: Like Father Like Son (PG-13) Today at 1:20, 4:30, 7:40, 10:30 PM.

I Am Number Four (PG-13) Today at 1:40, 4:30, 7:30, 10:15 PM.

ROTTERDAM SQUARE CINEMA (Schenectady, 374-2403)

Hall Pass (R) Today at 2:50, 5:15, 7:40 PM.

Unknown (PG-13) Today at 2:30, 5, 7:30 PM.

Gnomeo & Juliet 3D (G) Today at 2, 4:15, 6:30 PM.

Just Go With It (PG-13) Today at 2:20, 4:45, 7:20 PM.

Justin Bieber Never Say Never 3D (G) Today at 2:10, 4:35, 7 PM.

Big Mommas: Like Father Like Son (PG-13) Today at 1:50, 4:25, 6:50 PM.

I Am Number Four (PG-13) Today at 2:15, 4:40, 7:10 PM.

SCOTIA CINEMAS (346‑5055)

True Grit (PG-13) Today at 4:45, 7:30 PM.

SPECTRUM 8 THEATRES (Albany, 449-8995)

Biutiful (R) Today at 12:15, 3:20, 6:25, 9:25 PM.

The Company Men (R) Today at 12:50, 3:35, 6:55, 9:20 PM.

Barney’s Version (R) Today at 12:20, 3:30, 6:30, 9:35 PM.

The King’s Speech (R ) Today at 1, 3:45, 6:45, 9:25 PM.

Black Swan (R) Today at 4, 6:50, 9:40 PM.

True Grit (PG-13) Today at 3:35, 6:40, 9:30 PM.

Blue Valentine (R) Today at 3:55, 6:50, 9:35 PM.

The Social Network (PG-13) Today at 12:35 PM.

The Illusionist (PG) Today at 1:05 PM.

Another Year (PG-13) Today at 12:25 PM.

2011 Oscar Nominated Live Action Shorts Today at 1:05 PM.

2011 Oscar Nominated Animated Shorts Today at 4:05 PM.

TRIPLEX CINEMA (Great Barrington, Mass., 413-528-8885)

I Am Number Four (PG-13) Today at 3:50, 6:50 PM.

Barney’s Version (R) Today at 3:40, 6:40 PM.

The King’s Speech (R) Today at 3:40, 6:50.

Somewhere (R) Today at 4, 6:40 PM.

Capitol Chamber Artists--Lisztomania Saturday Night

More famous in his lifetime for his virtuosity as a performer than his genius as a composer, Franz Liszt was widely regarded as the greatest pianist the world had yet heard. Given Liszt’s popularity, it seemed appropriate three decades ago when filmmaker Ken Russell titled a Liszt biopic Lisztomania (though casting Roger Daltry as Liszt remains a head-scratcher), and remains appropriate now, when Capitol Chamber Artists decided to dub this weekend’s Liszt bicentennial birthday concert Lisztomania, too.

Combining the music of Liszt with works by those he influenced, the program will include Liszt’s Tristia, the composer’s transcription of his La vallee d’Obermann for piano trio; Robert Volkmann’s Piano Trio in B Minor; Eugene Ysaye’s Bercuse; Cecile Chaminade’s Celebration of the Stars; Rodolphe Kreutzer’s Sonata for Violin and Cello; Joseph Joachim’s Hebrew Melody; and more, all performed on period instruments.

Pictured is pianist Aniko Szokody. Other performers will include Mary Lou Saetta, violinist; Irvin Gilman, flutist and Andre O'Neil, cellist and pianist.

Capitol Chamber Artists will perform tonight (Saturday, Feb. 26) at 8 PM at the First Congregational Church (405 Quail St., Albany). A preconcert recital begins at 7 PM. Tickets are $16 general admission, $8 students. For more info, call 458-9231.

Spring Arts Cover Illustration

By Trevor Paul

 

Tonight: The Loom, Sgt. Dunbar at Valentine's

Looks like the B3nson Family’s perpetual game of pass-the-guitar just got bigger. Brooklyn sextet the Loom (pictured) are the spitting image of hometown troubadours Sgt. Dunbar and the Hobo Banned, building sweet indie folk from a motley collection of guitars, banjo, mandolin, ukulele, trumpet, French horn and group vocals. It’s a formula that’s as old as the hills, so this duel bill with Sgt Dunbar should be something akin to a good old-fashioned potluck with Valentine’s serving as a, er, humble living room.

The Loom have been racking up plenty of superlatives lately, earning a “Best of What’s Next” from Paste Magazine while The New York Times called them “the next big thing”—not to, like, put them under any pressure. Meanwhile, Sgt. Dunbar has been quietly crafting a ton of new music, floating rumors of a new full-length record and readying for a right-proper national tour this spring. Rounding out the bill will be Wailing Wall and Life Among the Trees.

The Loom and Sgt. Dunbar and the Hobo Banned will play Valentine’s (17 New Scotland Ave., Albany) on Sunday (Feb. 20) at 7 PM. Call 432-6572 for more info, including price.

Your Opinion Counts

 

VOTE in the Metroland Readers Poll!  

PhanFood

Who's got your heady goo balls? Pete Mason does.

The devoted local Phish head has been busy between tours, editing PhanFood: From the Kitchen Pot to the Tour Lot, the follow-up to PhanArt: The Art of the Fans of Phish.

PhanFood is fundamentally a cookbook but it's also a celebration of the kind of grub you can only find in the lot outside a Phish show. Co-edited by Healthy Hippie editor Taraleigh Weathers, the book features such aptly named fare as the "Poster Nutbagel" and "Ain't No Time to Stash the Chicken and Sausage Gumbo."

The two will be signing copies of the book on Sunday (Feb. 20) at the Book House of Stuyvesant Plaza. Proceeds from sales will go to foodbanks in Albany, Burlington and towns where Phish regularly tours.

Oakley Hall III remembered

Oakley Hall III (1950-2011)

Nippertown has a very good obituary here.

John Rodat wrote a preview in 2005 for the week-long run at the Spectrum 8 Theatres of a documentary about Hall, The Loss of Nameless Things. It's a pretty good thumbnail of the story. . . .

Potential is a fearsome thing, and great promise contains the seed of great loss. Throughout the arts and literature one can find cautionary tales hinged on sudden reversals of fortune, of the eminent man brought low. But what of the man not yet fully risen?

In Bill Rose’s lauded film The Loss of Nameless Things—which will begin its weeklong run at the Spectrum 8 Theatres tomorrow (Friday)—the documentarian tells the story of Oakley Hall III, a talented actor-playwright who in the late ’70s founded an ambitious and experimental theater troupe in the Catskills, the Lexington Conservatory Theater (members of which later went on to start Capital Repertory Theatre in Albany). Hall is recalled by friends, family members and fellow actors as an overwhelmingly charismatic and prodigiously gifted young man. He is spoken of, in still-awestruck tones, as a Dionysian figure, an almost archetypal enfant terrible, brimful of drive—dramatic, creative, libidinal, hedonistic. The reverential recollections of his intimates are backed up by evidence that theater figures such as Joseph Papp, William Hurt and Mandy Patinkin all saw signs of nascent—if rough—genius in Hall. Great things were expected of him and, in 1978, hopes were pinned specifically upon the 28-year-old’s recently completed play about the final years of the explorer Meriwether Lewis, Grinder’s Stand.

Before the play could be mounted, however, Hall’s future prospects were suddenly dimmed. In the company of a “dark stranger,” Hall fell—or jumped, or was pushed—from a bridge, shattering his face and inflicting significant and permanent brain damage, which greatly affected his ability with language. The mystery surrounding the event still persists, as Hall himself has no recollection of the fall (and he possesses a very limited memory of his life before that night in 1978).

 

Here's Ann Morrow's review of a Firlefanz Puppets production of Ubu Rex, adapted and directed by Hall a year ago (Jan. 2010) at Steamer No. 10 Theatre.

C. Ryder Cooley's Animalia Animation

In 2008, Shawn Stone wrote about musician-performance artist C. Ryder Cooley, whose work explores the dubious border between the human and animal realms, often blending the two in mythologies of hybrid creatures. Her latest project is called Animalia, "an ongoing series of lyrical performances," which was first translated to hand-drawn illustrations on the pages of a found book and has now been animated by artist Bart Woodstrup. You can view the "inter-species fairytale" above or at Vimeo.

Animalia Animation, full length movie from ryder cooley on Vimeo.

WGXC Radio on Pitchfork

I know, right?

Twice in the past four days Pitchfork.com has made reference to goings-on in our neck of the woods. First a mention of Century Plants, now this.

Marc Hogan has penned a lengthy analysis of the Local Community Radio Act, a piece of legislation that will open the radiowaves to a proliferation of noncommercial FM radio stations. It's a topic I explored two weeks ago in "Community Transmissions," about WGXC: Hands-On Radio, a Hudson Valley-based station that may become a model for the kind that will spring up in the wake of this act. The article does a good job situating this development in the scheme of the contemporary radio landscape and highlights the work of the Prometheus Radio Project, an advocacy group that was critical to the bill's passage. The WGXC station at the Catskill Community Center is pictured in the piece.

Century Plants on Pitchfork

We've been celebrating the work of psychedelic drone-rockers Century Plants for some time now, going so far as to give guitarist Eric Hardiman a Local Hero nod in 2009 for the work he's done with the Albany Sonic Arts Collective. (Hardiman's also the driving force behind experimental label Tape Drift.) But conjuring alien sounds from his electric guitar is what he does best and others are starting to notice. Most notably, music press powerhouse Pitchfork.com today included Century Plants (Hardiman's project with guitarist Ray Hare) in The Out Door #10, a survey of "recent innovations in drone-based music" by Grayson Currin and Marc Masters.

I'd say "stubbornly free and devoutly musical" is a pretty nice way to describe what they do. Congrats, gents.

Also, be sure to catch Century Plants with Holland Hopson, Soundbarn, and Insect Posse at ASAC's event DEEP FREEZE: Experimental Music for Snowy Times on Feb. 19 at 8 PM at the Uptate Artists Guild (247 Lark St., Albany).