Up to 75% off at the Proenza Schouler sample sale
120 Walker [Baxter] 6th flr.
212.343.1360
this Thursday and Friday, 10-7
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Friday, July 13, 2007
Café Tacuba performs at Summerstage MAÑANA
Date: Saturday, July 14th
Time: 3:00pm - 7:00pm
Location: Summerstage (directions)
Tomorrow, a special treat as Café Tacuba hits up Summerstage. "Arguably the most successful groups to emerge from the “rock en español” movement, Café Tacuba formed in the late ‘80s in Mexico City. The band’s core has always been the guitars, bass and drums set-up of your typical rock ‘n roll outfit: it’s what Café Tabuca does with this set up that matters. Heavily influenced by the punk and alternative rock of The Clash, The Cure and The Smiths, the group also incorporates Mexican styles like norteño and ranchero, as well as hip-hop, electronica and even musique concret." They are joined this afternoon by Pacha Massive and La Sista.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Live-in Maid
Cinema Tropical has just given up the heads up on this new Argentine release:
Two WeeksShowtimes: 1:00, 2:45, 4:30, 6:20, 8:10, 10:00
A film by Jorge Gaggero
Starring Norma Aleandro
Starring Norma Aleandro
FILMMAKER JORGE GAGGERO IN PERSON! Wed/Thurs/Fri, July 18-20 at the 8:10 shows
“Large in spirit and ambition, and very nearly perfect in execution.” – A. O. Scott, The New York Times“
“Large in spirit and ambition, and very nearly perfect in execution.” – A. O. Scott, The New York Times“
Powered by two first-rate performances, Jorge Gaggero's debut featureis full of psychological nuance and keen social observation. Visually striking... has the feel of Italian neo-realist cinema and the naturalness of the French new wave.” – James Greenberg, The Hollywood Reporter
Norma Aleandro, the grande dame of Argentine cinema (think Meryl Streep crossed with Penelope Cruz), plays Beba, a still-elegant haute-bourgeois divorcee, living in a fashionable Buenos Aires apartment, surrounded by a lifetime of consumer goods, but with too little cash to stay afloat. Dora, Beba’s maid for 30 years, massages her feet, freshen her drinks and listens to her complain. When Dora makes moves to abandon this sinking ship, the two begin “their tango of class resentment and unacknowledged dependency with consummate subtlety and grace. Those words also apply to Mr. Gaggero’s direction, which is breathtakingly understated...The rooms and hallways of Beba’s apartment...seem to resonate with unspoken emotions – love, loyalty, regret, spite – that achieve a poignant, comical clarity precisely because they are never expressed... (The movie is) modest in scope but large in spirit and ambition, and very nearly perfect in execution.” – A. O. Scott, The New York Times
Argentina/Spain • 2005 • 83 minutes • In Spanish with English subtitles • The Film Sales Company
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Friday, July 6, 2007
Now Playing... THE METHOD (El Método) -
THE METHOD (El Método) - (unrated)
2006 - Spain - Spanish (with English subtitles) - 115 minutes - Palm Pictures
Directed by Marcelo Piñeyro
Featuring: Eduardo Noriega, Najwa Nimri, Pablo Echarri, Adriana Ozores, Eduard Fernández
22 East 12th Street
New york, NY 10003
212-924-3363
A group of job applicants submit to a battery of tests to win top management position with a shadowy corporation. Winner of two Goya Awards including Best Screenplay for acclaimed writer Mateo Gil (Open Your Eyes, Vanilla Sky, The Sea Inside).
This movie is playing between: 7/6/2007 and 7/19/2007
Conversations About Books - In Her Absence
Tuesday, July 10th 7:00 p.m.
Instituto Cervantes Garden
Instituto Cervantes at Amster Yard
211-215 East 49th
Subway E,V to Lexington Ave-53rd St; 6 to 51st St.
Tel: 1 212 308 7720
Conversations about Books: In Her Absence, by Antonio Muñoz Molina
The celebrated Spanish author, Antonio Muñoz Molina contemplates identity and desire in this smartly amusing novella
The author will discuss his novel with Michael Greenberg (Times Literary Supplement, London).
In English. Free admission.
Thursday, July 5, 2007
Shake Your Hips in Cartagena
New York Magazine just published this very inviting and throughly researched piece on Cartagena. Que viva Colombia! Que viva!
Indulge in late-night rumba in this up-and-coming Colombian city.
By Grace Bastidas
1. Where To Stay
The Hotel Santa Clara (from $250) in Cartagena’s old town was visited last year by Liev Schreiber, Javier Bardem, and the rest of the cast of Love in the Time of Cholera, the long-awaited film adaptation of the Gabriel García Márquez novel, opening this November. Just steps away from some of the city's best restaurants, this former convent has a vibe that's both spiritual (check out the saint statues, confessionals, and crypt) and tropical, with an inner courtyard that receives morning visits from wild toucans. Ask for suite 501 on the top floor—it’s the only room out of 119 with ocean views.
The year-old Casa El Carretero (from $150), a restored colonial two blocks from the nightlife strip of Calle del Arsenal, is great for groups—the entire hotel can be rented for as little as $550. To really feel like you own the place, ask the housemaid to prepare a breakfast of arepa de huevo, a griddlecake stuffed with a fried egg, and dig in while relaxing at the rooftop pool.
Situated near the massive fortress that helped Cartagena fend off pirates in the sixteenth-century, the four-month-old Casa Boutique Veranera (from $150) has a spa, yoga studio, and just five suites. The most popular, the Yoga Room, has transparent glass doors covered by billowy white curtains, and a hideaway bed that leaves plenty of space for downward-facing dogs.
2. Where to Eat
The fashionably rustic, immensely popular La Casa de Socorro (Calle Larga No. 8 B-112; 57-5-664-4658), known for its steaming seafood casseroles, recently added photos of Cholera stars Benjamin Bratt and John Leguizamo to its sizable wall of fame (already loaded with head shots of Colombian presidents, beauty queens, and baseball players like the Atlanta Braves’ Edgar Renteria). Get there right at noon or after 2 p.m. to avoid the midday rush and snag a table inside, preferably in the sunlit upstairs dining room.
Native son and retired boxer Bonifacio Avila opened the beachside shack Kiosco El Bony (Bocagrande; 57-5-665-3198) in 1976. Today, it’s a local institution, serving tangy octopus and shrimp cocktails to fishermen, hotel workers, and backpackers. Order a whole red snapper, and don’t be afraid to use your hands.
Reservations are a must at La Vitrola (Calle Baloco No. 2-01; 57-5-664-8243), the upscale Cuban-themed restaurant around the corner from a seaside mansion owned by García Márquez. The dining room feels like prerevolutionary Cuban chic, with palm trees, whirring fans, black-and-white photos of Old Havana, and a live band playing the music of Beny Moré and other soneros. Try the deliciously meaty ropa vieja habanera with shredded beef, plantains, beans, and avocado.
Homemade sweets can be found at El Portal de los Dulces (located inside Plaza de Los Coches), an archway in front of Cartagena’s iconic clock tower. The sidewalk is lined with older ladies selling tamarind balls, coconut shavings, and other sticky fruit-based treats. If it’s Friday evening, take your sugar high over to Donde Fidel (32-09 Plaza de los Coches; no phone) at the end of the archway—the tiny salsa club opens its doors early for the after-work crowd.
3. What to Do
Cartageneros don’t need an excuse to shake it. In the daytime, roving musicians play vallenato, a folkloric accordion music popular in Colombia’s Atlantic coast, at impromptu dance sessions on Bocagrande beach. Tip them a few dollars and request anything by vallenato master Carlos Vives. Nightly carousing begins around 10 p.m., when dressed-up locals (no shorts allowed) start passing around communal shot glasses of aguardiente, the national liquor.
Start your night at Paco’s (Calle 35 No. 3-02; no phone) in Plaza Santo Domingo, where you can sit by one of Medellin artist Fernando Botero’s corpulent statues while sipping an after-dinner coffee. Next, make your way to Quiebra Canto, a dimly lit salsa bar where a D.J.-cum-bartender plays songs by Mongo Santamaria, Celia Cruz, and other legendary Latin singers.
A younger crowd favors Calle del Arsenal, a strip crammed with bars and lounges like La Carbonera Cantina (Calle 24 No. 9A-47; 57-5-664-3720), which plays a crossover mix of pop, electro, and Caribbean sing-alongs. Tourists from Ecuador, Panama, and other neighboring countries come in droves to Mister Babilla (Calle 24 No. 8B-137; 57-5-664-7005), a big kitschy club where female waitresses and bartenders hop on the bar to get the crowd riled up.
4. Insider's Tip
Most guidebooks and big hotels recommend a night trip aboard a chiva en rumba (a typical Colombian party bus), but avoid the temptation at all cost. Though admission includes all the rum you can drink and a live band, the last stop is usually a cheesy club that will most likely be empty except for a few sunburned tourists.
And a word on nightlife etiquette: Male clubgoers should think twice before chatting up single ladies. Most Cartageneros go clubbing in groups or as couples, so even if you see a bevy of pretty girls shimmying on the dance floor, don’t assume their boyfriends aren’t downing Aquila beers nearby.
After a dizzying night of partying, regain your balance by inhaling some salty sea air in Islas del Rosario, a coralline archipelago of 27 islands—some so tiny they only have space for a single hotel or house. Locals often head to Playa Blanca in state-owned Isla Barú, where white sands, turquoise waters, and a few food stalls enliven the sleepy scene. Divers and snorkelers looking for something less sedate can book an all-day excursion with Caribe Dive Shop (57-5-665-3517). Most trips include transportation, a midday sandwich, and access to the accommodations at Hotel San Pedro de Majagua, a high-end property owned by the same folks as the Hotel Santa Clara in Cartagena. If you stay overnight, make sure to book a boat trip to Isla Grande, where at night, microscopic plankton light up like tiny stars in the mangrove lagoons.
6. Related Links
In addition to hotel, restaurant, and nightlife listings, CaribeNet hosts a fascinating collection of folk stories about Cartagena.
To get a sneak peek at city attractions, check out Cartagena Fotos’ wide selection of shots of street scenes, historical monuments, and even some nocturnal action.
Travel blogger Jack Alexander Jowett writes about security concerns and the drug situation in Cartagena at Jack’s World.
Learn more about Colombia’s Nobel laureate Gabriel García Márquez, celebrating his 80th birthday this year, at The Modern Word.
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