quarter of a century. He often travels across America on poetic tours. For this reading he will share poems and stories from the tens of thousands of road miles he has traveled as a poet.
Art Beat the Winter Blues with Art | 1:00 PM-4:00 PM, 2/25 Saturday | Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell, Ithaca | Warm up your body and mind with art, activities, music, and refreshments designed to help you beat the winter blues. Free and fun for all ages. ongoing Breathe | 171 E State St., Ithaca | Kodi Molyneaux & Kayla Darling. These two artists find expression through painting using watercolor and acrylic paint. All of the pieces are done collaboratively when both girls have spare time. They find painting a colorful way to de-stress their lives. CAP Art Space | 171 The Commons, Ithaca | Pam Drix: Red and Black Series. Featuring color woodcuts, with additional inclusions of sewn elements, sculptural constructions, and original wood matrices. Cellar d’Or | 136 E State St, Ithaca | Michael Sampson: Paintings on Paper. This series of paintings on paper use multiple mediums ranging from oils, acrylic, ink, watercolor and gouache. Creekside Cafe | 4 West Main St, Trumansburg | Domenica Brockman: Paintings (Through March). creeksidetburg.com CSMA | 330 E State St, Ithaca | Annual Open Show | Chronicling Brief Lives: Botanical Portraits in Watercolor by Milly Acharya. A retrospective exhibition of early to most recent works by American Society of Botanical Artists award-winning illustrator, Milly Acharya. A master class taught by Acharya at CSMA on March 18-19 will accompany the show. Collegetown Bagels | 203 N Aurora St, Ithaca | Marika Chew. Marika is an artist based in the Ithaca area. She received a BFA in Illustration from the Maryland Institute College of Art in 2010. Elevator Music and Art Gallery | at New Roots Charter School, 116 N. Cayuga St., Ithaca | Craig Mains | Snake | Alligator | Elevator | www. newrootsschool.org
HeadsUp The lavish and the creepy by Bryan VanCampen A Cure for Wellness, directed by Gore Verbinski; The Great Wall, directed by Zhang Yimou, both playing at Regal Stadium 14.
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wo radically nutzoid movies tanked at the box office this past weekend. And I thoroughly enjoyed both of them. Well, maybe “enjoyed” is the wrong word to describe my reaction to Gore Verbinski’s A Cure for Wellness. But it is sadly ironic that the week Fangoria magazine finally went bust that a movie like this should appear. It’s a gothic horror film as new as the 2008 financial crisis and as old as Bram Stoker’s Dracula. It surely would have graced Fango’s cover. Dane DeHaan (Chronicle) stars as Mr. Lockhart, a sort of modern-day Jonathan Harker, an ambitious and duplicitous all-work-and-no-play young executive. He has been sent to retrieve his company’s CEO, Mr. Pembroke (Harry Groener), from an idyllic but mysterious “wellness center” at a remote location in the Swiss Alps. Aside from the vaguely malicious nurses, orderlies and a pale young waif named Hannah (Mia Goth – could her name be any more apropos?), all the patients are in their twilight years. Following a nasty car accident, Lockhart finds himself taken prisoner, and he realizes soon enough that something is seriously amiss; the institute’s director, Dr. Volmer (Jason Isaacs) is not to be trusted. I don’t have the taste for horror that I used to have, but Verbinski has crafted
Decorum-Too | 215 N Cayuga Street, The DeWitt Mall, Ithaca | Elizabeth McMahon: Magic Potions. McMahon is a painter of bright and bold paintings but in this show she is delving into the ”painterly print” the monotype, a one of a kind form of printmaking. The spontaneity of the process sets the stage for surprises. The Ink Shop | 330 E.State / MLK Street, Ithaca | I See You (IC/CU). The Ink Shop is pleased to host the 2nd joint show of prints by students of two strong printmaking programs at Ithaca College and Cornell University. The Kitchen Theatre | 417 W State St | SURFACE TENSION: An art exhibition by Barbara Mink. Lot 10 | 106 S Cayuga St, Ithaca | Brook
quite the existential scary tale here, and it boasts some very beautiful and effective cinematography courtesy of the film’s DP, Bojan Bazelli (Deep Cover, The Ring). As Lockhart reluctantly submits to the spa’s signature treatment — the film could also be titled Don’t Drink the Water – Verbinski, working from a story he concocted with scripter Justin Haythe, rolls out a virtual compendium of disturbing, queasy psychic pressure points — and bears down. The film boasts more creepy catacombs and corridors than you’ll find in all of Roger Corman’s Poe pictures, not to mention the most disturbing and upsetting dental sequence since Marathon Man (heavily influenced by another iconic horror film, A Clockwork Orange). DeHaan may not be particularly likeable, but as his cure leads him deeper and deeper into the mystery of the spa, he is compelling to watch as he tumbles down the rabbit hole. Like the spa’s recommended therapy, this movie gets under your skin. *** Zhang Yimou’s The Great Wall stars Matt Damon and Pedro Pascal as mercenary warriors who literally stumble across an epic battle against nasty creatures reminiscent of Aliens and Starship Troopers. If you’re expecting a detailed history of Chinese architecture and culture – my pal Jamie Lewis, working as a teacher in China, deemed it “utter bollocks” in historical terms — think again. But if you’re up for a robust sci-fi war film that moves at a ferocious clip and doesn’t take itself seriously, you’ll have a great time. Zhang Yimou has been making films going back to 1987, and his filmography spans more realistic Chinese epics like Ju Dou, Shanghai Triad and Raise the Red Lantern, character studies like The Story of Qui Ju, screwball comedies like A Woman, a Gun and a Noodle Shop, and wuxia films like Hero. He’s never made a film like this,
Long. Brook uses simple methods to fragment, arrange, construct, and abstract architectural space. The use of transitional shifts evoke ambiguity within the spaces. She creates the illusion of continuously changing environments using lines, geometric forms, and a quirky color palette. Moosewood Restauratant | The Dewitt Mall, 215 N. Cayuga St. | Trina Bartimer Bruno. “Nature:Framed”/ Mixed media paintings exploring texture & light of the natural world. Feb 27 thru end of March Padma Center for Natural Therapies | 114 W Buffalo St, Ithaca | Sarah Oros, From Within the Stone: Photography on Paper, Canvas and White Aluminum.
a celebration of movement, battle choreography and action all wrapped up in a bizarre fantasy story. 3D is expensive, but Yimou and his cinematographers Stuart Dryburgh and Zhao Xiaoding have achieved sumptuous imagery, like the sight of the Great Wall shrouded in mist, and a ceremony where hundreds of cloth balloons are launched
The Rook | 404 W State St, Ithaca | Annie Eller: Stillness and Flight. Local artist, Annie Eller pursued her education in the Fine Arts, receiving her B.F.A. in Painting from Boston University, 2008. The natural world, being the artist’s chief source of inspiration, lays the foundation for the works on exhibit that study the beauty and solitude of trees and wings engaging in flight. Show runs through March. Sacred Root Kava Lounge | 139 W State St, Ithaca | Damaris Vazquez Photography: Sensuality of Image. An image is a gateway of self. A seed in this exploration of fine-art nude portraiture. As a professional photographer, Damaris Vazquez communicates in many visual languages.
(Top) A scene from “A Cure for Wellness” (Above) Matt Damon and Pedro Pascal in “The Great Wall” (Photos provided) into the sky, looking like a milky galaxy overhead. Not too many monster-hunt pictures look this lavish. •
State of the Art Gallery | 120 W State St Ste 2, Ithaca | Art in Tompkins County: Then and Now. Gallery artists continue to exhibit art that represents Ithaca’s past and present to celebrate Tompkins County’s Bicentennial. Show dates are February 1 through 26, 2017. www.soagithaca.org Sunny Days of Ithaca | 123 S Cayuga St, Ithaca | Erik Lehmann: rePURPOSE your ARTdrive. Erik lives a life of passion, purpose, and possibility wherever he is called to serve! He has spent the most recent 3.5 years launching a global initiative known as the Game Changer Movement. West End Gallery | 12 W Market St, Corning | Little Gems. A group exhibit featuring a beautiful collection of miniature paintings, sculptures and
vessels by more than 30 regional artists. Music performed by William Groome. Exhibit runs through March 10th. TCPL | 101 E Green St, Ithaca | On Being Human: A complimentary, multi-media exhibit, to TCPL’s Exploring Human Origins: What Does It Mean To Be Human, traveling exhibit of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History and the American Library Association. “On Being Human” is curated by Terry Plater.
Got Submissions? Send your events items – band gigs, benefits, meet-ups, whatever – to arts@ithacatimes.com.
Anabel Taylor Chapel, Monday, February 27, 8:00 p.m.
Cornell Cinema, Sunday, February 26, 1:00 p.m.
The progressive and dynamic LeStange Viols explore the musical experimentation of the late 16 th century, stuff that includes minimalism, vast complexity and oddness. Pieces by William Byrd, Thomas Tallis and Christopher Tye, highlight this impressive evening. LeStrange Viols formed in 2014 to record the modern premiere of William Cranford’s consort music. Their debut record came out it 2015 to rave reviews. Don’t miss this!
The greatest mafia film series of all time: The Godfather and the subsequent Godfather II and III, are epics on a dazzling scale. Featuring career-defining performances by Al Pacino, Marlon Brando and Robert De Niro, the series is based on Mario Puzo’s best-selling novel. Cornell Cinema is running a a sort of mini-Godfather marathon this weekend, with shows of The Godfather running Thursday and Sunday, and Godfather II running Friday and Sunday.
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