vip in the city

Shotgun Stories

Tonight: Shotgun Stories, the critically–admired debut feature by writer-director Jeff Nichols. The film is a take on a classic feud story, pitting two sets of half brothers against each other over the languid backdrop of rural Arkansas. Years of resentments erupt following a confrontation at their father’s funeral, setting off an escalating series of vengeful acts that can leave no winner. (Nichols is said to have been inspired by the current political climate.)

Michael Shannon stars as Son Hayes, who along with younger brothers Boy (Douglas Ligon) and Kid (Barlow Jacobs), shares the hard memories of being abandoned as children by a violent drunk of a dad, who reforms and remarries, eventually becoming a loving father to four more sons. The older Hayes boys are formed of a certain Southern stereotype, which until the eye-opening trip last summer, I would have assumed to be some a kind of gross exaggeration: one lives in a pup tent pitched in his brother’s yard; the other, literally, in a van down by the river. The intensity of the young men’s bitterness burns deep, sharpened by their lives of constant struggle, all sparingly presented with minimal dialogue and improbably beautiful landscapes. (Credit to Adam Stone for the cinematography.)

A laid-back Shannon was tonight’s guest, fresh off a Public Theater rehearsal for Stephen Adly Guirgis’ The Little Flower of East Orange, in which he plays Ellyn Burstyn’s junkie son; The Times called Shannon’s performance “undeniably commanding, if at times exhausting.”

That seems to be a recurring theme throughout the little of Shannon’s oeuvre I’ve seen; I still recall his creepy, but memorable turn as a devout ex-marine in Oliver Stone’s World Trade Center.

The part of the seminar I most enjoy is hearing the backstory of how these independent films get made. In this case: Arkansas-native Nichols, while a student at the North Carolina School of the Arts, had watched some scenes Shannon filmed with his professor Gary Hawkins at the Sundance Labs. Nichols was so taken with the brooding actor that he wrote an entire screenplay with Shannon in mind, eventually contacting him through Hawkins about starring in his film. And in a turn of events sure to frustrate aspiring screenwriters everywhere, Shannon read Nichols’s script, was likewise impressed with the student’s work, and agreed. Just like that.

The way Shannon described it this evening, the entire shoot was a labor of love. Nichols’s whole family was involved in aspects of the film’s production: his parents and assorted family friends hosted much of the cast and crew in their homes, his mother was put on craft services duty, cooking dinner for 30 every night. Nichols’s brother wrote the film’s music while his father was a driver on set and an all-important funder. (David Gordon Green, director of All the Real Girls, the 2003 romance starring Zooey Deschanel, has official producing credit.)

Shannon was an engaging, if not particularly chatty, presence… slightly less scary in person than on screen. He did more than once say he wished that Nichols could have been at Town Hall tonight himself to explain the film better. Nichols, however, was unavailable, due to attending his own wedding the day before. Good excuse.

Tags: films, Michael Shannon, Shotgun Stories, theatre

Easter cupcakes

We lost Lenge late last year, but gained Amber, so the net number of Japanese restaurants on this strip of Columbus Avenue remains the same. And now, of course, we have Magnolia Bakery.

Yes, folks love these cupcakes like McAdams loves Gosling. (And vice versa.) In a city full of cupcakes, though, I do feel that Magnolia’s have been hyped disproportionately to their quality. (Everyone’s got an opinion on where else to find the best.) Still, when the line isn’t an hour long, a hit of bomb frosting may be just the thing.

Especially when it’s got a cute sugar Easter bunny sitting atop. Awww!

Flickr preview: play ball! Photos from Game 2 of the Mets’ home opening series against the Phillies (April 9, 2008)

Tags: bakeries, cupcakes, UWS

Amber Asian Bistro

After 46 meatless days, I indulged in a carnivore’s combination of lamb and ham at J and J’s Easter brunch. Quiche, too, a baby spinach salad, a glazed lemon cake (my contribution), and a delightful apple strudel from Andre’s Hungarian Pastry Shop. In 2005, New York director/screenwriter Nora Ephron wrote a mouth-watering valentine to the bakery’s cabbage strudel, which I’ve not forgotten to this day.

Perhaps it was a shock to the vegetarian system, but my stomach felt… well, not-so-great after eating all that meat. Maybe psychosomatic, but maybe not. (Good thing I didn’t enact my original “Easter porterhouse” plan. ) Looking then to ease into my regular diet, by evening, I was back to eating fish.

B and I ended up at Amber Asian Bistro — an offshoot of a well-liked UES Asian fusion restaurant that recently opened in the old Aegean Restaurant space on the corner of Columbus and 70th Street. The place has been swanked up a bit since its neighborhood Greek restaurant days with the addition of a lounge area, back bar, lots of dark wood and a hip lighting scheme. Judging from the crowds, Amber is off to a solidly popular start, giving Tenzan some healthy competition.

Wasabi Shumai — mushy, and a bit of a miss for me:

There were a couple of intriguing-sounding “Amber Style Ceviches” on the menu, one of which touted an “e.v.o.o lemon-lime dressing.” Yes, it actually said “e.v.o.o.”; I could not order it on principle.

I was satisfied with my rolls, but most notable was the nigiri: the pieces of fish were fresh and prettily presented, but disconcertingly big… bigger even than the oversized “American-style” slabs at Yama. I’ll be interested to hear what the sushi purists will have to say about this one.

Tags: sushi, UWS