Zeitgeist Films

Stop-motion animation auteurs the Quay Brothers will be at the Modern Museum of Art on August 9th, 2012 (a Thursday) to introduce their film Institute Benjamenta as part of MoMA’s retrospective on the twin brothers (On Deciphering the Pharmacist’s Prescription for Lip-Reading Puppets). They still look mostly like they do in the above photo, but you should see for yourself in person - the Brothers aren’t known for making a lot of public appearances. Click through for more info!

Not far from us (until September 26) is this beautiful piece by NYC-based sculptor Carole Feuerman - a slightly modified version of a sculpture she showed at the Venice Bienniale in 2007. 

From the artist’s website:

“Originally, I was going to name the sculpture Serena, after La Serenissima, an island of the city of Venice.  However, I decided to title it Survival of Serena,due to my concerns about the serious flood problem this beautiful city has.”

We were shocked and impressed to find that those water droplets are part of the sculpture!

The sculpture has been captivating passersby since its installation on May 20th. Zeitgeist’s Adrian Curry saw Guy Pearce admiring it just last week (no word on whether Pearce was on his way to steal more roles from genuinely old men… [cough] Prometheus [cough]). Stop by and see it in person at Petrosino Square before someone buys it and takes Serena away!

(all photos taken by the author)

One of our nearest and dearest neighbors, Posteritati is always on our minds (because we’re lusting after their latest acquisitions). And we’re not the only ones - The Village Voice, NYT Style Magazine, and Vanity Fair (among others) have covered this amazing SoHo treasure.

Full disclosure: Posteritati is the exclusive carrier of Zeitgeist Films posters, including that Sam Smith Elena screenprint we can’t stop talking about. 

At the time of this writing, the store is doing a spotlight on sci-fi posters. We’re in love with an Argentinian Empire Strikes Back poster they have up, and one of us couldn’t stop herself from picking up this trippy Japanese Alien poster a little while back.

You can see some of the posters on display in our pics here, but the Posteritati catalog is WAY more expansive than what’s on the walls. 

We also like that they have a candy bowl, seen above on the coffee table.

The staff are really cool about pulling out posters for you to get a closer look!

You can search through the entire Posteritati collection on their site or in store (by genre, director, star, or keyword) on one of those computers you see above… or you can ask owner Sam Sarowitz - a veritable scholar of movie poster history/art, with several BEAUTIFUL books to his name. 

If you’re in the neighborhood, stop by - you won’t want to leave. 

We stumbled upon this blog post about the 1909 NYPD Headquarters recently, and it reminded us how often we take New York for granted. We’ve lived across the street from this historic (and beautiful) building for quite some time, and never gave it more than a passing thought until we read Daytonian in Manhattan’s blog post about the history of 240 Centre St, now known as the Police Building Apartments. 

Built over the course of four years (1905-1909), 240 Centre St. housed the New York Police Department from the time of its completion until 1973, when the headquarters moved to One Police Plaza.

Named a New York City landmark in 1978, the entire building was converted into luxury apartments in 1988. We hear Leonardo DiCaprio lived there for a time (though he never invited us over).

Money to burn? Wanna be our neighbor? At least two of the apartments are for sale - 4A and 6N - at only $2,495,000 and $2,385,000, respectively. Wary of commitment? There’s a rental on the top floor - if you’re willing to plop down $6,750 a month. 

Make sure you click all the way through to the other blog - there’s some fascinating New York history over there!

Photos from maps.google.com - street view and user submissions - and http://timestraveler.blogs.nytimes.com/tag/shirtwaist-makers-strikes/. 

Look at this. No, look at it. 

This is the kind of thing that’s been staring us in the face for the past few weeks, due to the thoughtful inundation of holiday sweets our many friends have sent our way. Thank you friends, thank you. We may now be in dire need of a metabolic miracle, but we regret not a single calorie. 

Similarly touching (but infinitely more forgiving re: our collective waistline) are these pieces of artwork inspired by Bill Cunningham, subject of the documentary YOU REALLY OUGHT TO (and probably already) HAVE SEEN BY NOW, Bill Cunningham New York. Our resident art and poster guru, Adrian Curry, has been compiling these charming tributes to Bill over the past few months… and now, we share them with you. You’ll be able to click through the photos to each artist’s website where available.

AleXsandro Palombo

Alli Arnold

Vanessa Marie Robinson

Jashar Awan for the New Yorker

Jashar Awan for the New Yorker

Linlee Allen

Samantha Hahn

Steve Brodner

Suzy Parker for USA Today

Deer Dana (You can get this as a shirt!!)

You can pick up our favorite tribute to Bill Cunningham at our website.

Happy Holidays!!!

Have a drink (but just one, please - be safe) for us at midnight on New Year’s… and we’ll see you January 2, 2012!

Put those not-long-for-this-world holiday discounts to good use and pick up a copy of Josh and Benny Safdie’s semi-autobiographical Daddy Longlegs, out TODAY for the first time EVER on DVD.

The film follows Lenny during a rare two weeks with his young sons, who spend most of their time with their mother - the evidently polar opposite to Lenny, who takes his sons on chaotic adventures around New York (even upstate!) and in his apartment.

Viewers are unlikely to recognize much of New York in the film - though there is a trip to the Natural History Museum, which troubles Lenny and the boys for days. The film’s take on New York, the way it handles the mood of the city, actually reminds us a little of Downtown 81, shot in 1980/1981 and starring Jean-Michel Basquiat. 

Did we mention there’s a DVD release party on December 15? You’re invited!