The top post on Reddit this morning isn't a Rick Perry meme or a story about telepathic conjoined twins: it's a video of Keanu Reeves on the Q train, giving up his seat for another straphanger last summer. Why is this video suddenly popping today? Who are we to question the internet!
Video: Whoa, Keanu Reeves Gives Up His Seat On The Q Train
What Midtown Sorely Lacked: A Bar Named For Surfing-Bank Robber Movie
Without a doubt, Point Break is our favorite philosophically-minded bank robbing surfers movie—it's got skydiving, Gary Busey and masks of ex-presidents! There's no competition! So it was with great joy that we discovered that there is a midtown bar tailor-made for channeling your inner Johnny Utah.
Weekend Movie Forecast: Bad Cops, Illegal Immigrants
Keanu Reeves and Forest Whitaker play bad cop/badder cop in Street Kings, an adaptation of James Ellroy's (L.A. Confidential) novel about a brutal gang of LAPD cops. Though directed by David Ayer, who wrote the solid Training Day, the Washington Post says the “big-name casting brings no honor, or even fun, to the hackneyed roles.” And the movie’s “moral relativity...seems like a flimsy pretext for hard-core shock value.”
Pencil This In
HEADS UP: Last year we had Daniel Kitson join our Laughable Hype comedy show, and we've been eagerly awaiting his return to the states since then. Good news...he's back! We strongly urge you to buy tickets right now so you can catch the special performance on Monday at Mo Pitkins. These will go fast Sold out! But this just in...Kitson will also be performing at Union Hall this Sunday at 9pm (first come first served).
Pencil This In
THEATER: Katharsis Theater Company has been developing The Polish Play for the past two years; it’s a fusion of Macbeth and Ubu Roi, the play by Alfred Jarry that was partially inspired by Macbeth. This work of Grand Guignol fusion, which mixes puppetry with live acting, swerves between broad satire, tragedy and plenty of ultra-violence. (Although puppets are decapitated and disemboweled on-stage, rest assured that no puppets are permanently harmed for this production.) Jordan Gelber, who some may recall from Avenue Q, plays Pere Ubu. Read about the rehearsal process on the company’s weblog to learn more about director Henry Wishcamper's search for shit squibs. - John Del Signore
The Cinecultist's Weekly Movie Picks: Avast Ye Mateys edition
Action adventure, animated sci-fi, iconic '80s actresses and French sexual intrigue—this weekend is a good one for movie going in New York. Draw your swords landlubbers, Gore Verbinski's sequel to his bombastic film based on an amusement park ride is out this weekend, . In this installment, shot at the same time as the forthcoming part III, Johnny Depp's brilliant Jack Sparrow searches for Davy Jones's chest to free himself from some sort of curse. There's a boat-load of twisty-turning plot in this 2 hour and a half movie but fortunately there's also tons of great action, Kiera Knightley looking adorable in pirate gear and a huge tentacled man eating beast. So basically, something for everyone.
The Cinecultist's Weekly Movie Picks: Under The Stars edition
This weekend Hollywood says what moviegoers liked once, they'll sure love twice as the sequels hit theaters. Now you may be asking yourselves, did we really need another movie about bad boys in fast cars or another flick about a fat, talking cat? Apparently, we did and they both needed to be set in an exotic international local, Japan and England, respectively.
Liveblogging the Academy Awards 2006
JC: ALL RIGHT! I just took extra Vitamin C - I'm waiting for some food delivery.
Upcoming
THEATER (sort of): Point Break LIVE! We're not kidding. The unecessary, but totally appreciated, absurdist stage adaptation of the 1992 Keanu Reeves blockbuster, hits Galapagos for a month. The show has become an instant cult classic across the nation, and start practicing your Keanu-isms, because the starring role will be selected at random from the audience each night, and will read their entire script off of cue-cards!
Theater This Week: Sextuple Threat
We’re always astounded by the number of shows out there, most of them blessedly far from the lights and crowds of Times Square, at least in spirit. This week has exactly the head-scratching mixture of classic and wacky, earnest and ironic, polished and rough, that we adore, so without further chatter, here are our picks of performances we think are worth checking out.
Anthony Bregman, Producer Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Anthony Bregman, Producer Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Theater Mood Therapy
What kind of show are you in the mood for this week? New York is probably the only city in the country where you have more options for different kinds of live theatrical productions than for movies. Whatever you’re feeling, there’s probably a show for you, something that’ll either keep you energized or give you a pleasantly confused buzz or shake you out of your pity party. When you’re deciding what to see, consider some of these options…and if your mood isn't covered here, well, Gothamist thinks you'll like them anyway. So...
Movie Stars Sweat Too
Ah, slow summer days. We leave you with this image of Jack Nicholson, sweating like a hog while filming up the street from our work. (The movie sounds interesting, Jack has a young girlfriend but falls for her more age appropriate mom, played by Diane Keaton, who is being courted by Keanu Reeves. Frances McDormand plays Diane's sister. On the minus side, it's directed by Nancy "What Women Want" Meyers.)
Oscar Commentary
Oscar Commentary
Oscar is celebrating its 75th anniversary, I'm celebrating my 25th anniversary of watching Oscar.


