Weekanerd NYC: Adventures of the Space, Consumer, and Steampunk Varieties

Friday, June 13

• 2001: A Space Odyssey
  
• $12, Midnight @ Sunshine Cinema, 143 East Houston Street, Manhattan

There are few films in existence that deserve to be seen on a big screen as much as Kubrick's sci-fi masterpiece 2001: A Space Odyssey. Tonight may be the best chance you'll ever have to see it in all its 35mm glory. Now when is some brave theater going to screen it in its original 70mm?

Steampunk adventures and consumer heaven after the jump!

Saturday, June 14

• Digital Downtown
  
• FREE!, 11am-4pm @ World Financial Center, Winter Garden, Manhattan

Don't bring your wallet, 'cause "nothing's for sale" here. It's just a chance to get your grubby paws all over a bunch of sweet electronic gear from the likes of Pioneer (they're pimping some sort of 360 degree entertainment immersion dome), Sharp, Panasonic, Philips, etc. Avoid the tidal wave of Blu-Ray players and head for Best Buy 's booth, where they'll be showcasing a mind-reading device (no joke!), a gesture-based video game controller and something that sounds like the computer from Minority Report.

Sunday, June 15

• The Telectroscope
  
• FREE, All Day? @ Fulton Ferry Landing, Old Fulton Street, Brooklyn

First of all, it's Father's Day, so call your dad. What's that? Your Dad is in London and he doesn't have a phone or any other way for you to contact him? Well you're lucky that they aren't closing the Telectroscope until Monday, because the steampunk pipeline connecting New York to London is the perfect way for you to interact with Daddy on his special day. Confused? Well, the link above will probably answer your questions.

Weekanerd NYC: Halloween Edition

Monday, October 29th

• Halloween Party ft. Sleepy Hollow and Creepshow
  
• FREE, 10pm @ Rififi, 332 11th Street, Manhattan

I could take or leave Tim Burton's mediocre Sleepy Hollow, but a free screening of the Stephen King / George Romero pulp masterpiece known as Creepshow? You had me at hello.

Tuesday, October 30th

• Twelfth Night of the Living Dead
  
• $18, 8pm @ CSV Cultural Center, 107 Suffolk St, 2nd Floor
  

"When a strange meteor smashes into a ship en route to Illyria, the bodies pile up as fast as the romantic complications. Will true love prevail? Can a zombie be made to understand the affairs of the heart, without eating it?" Bwaha!

Wednesday, October 31st

• NYC Village Halloween Parade
  
• FREE, 7pm @ 6th Ave b/w Spring St. and 21st St.
  

It just wouldn't be Halloween in New York City without pushing through thousands of sweaty costumed Yorkers to catch of glimpse of some other sweaty costumed Yorkers walking up Sixth Avenue. But the night only begins here, as Geekanerd heartily recommends you skip the official afterparty and head straight to:

• Scaryville Circus
• $10, 315 3rd Ave, Brooklyn

This 2nd Annual event promises an all night open bar, burlesque performers, sword swallowers, fire eaters, graffiti writers, and musical performances by Everythus the Deadbeats, Everything Now! and the truly epic Bryan Scary.

Hit the jump for your post X-Ween recoup...

Thursday, November 1st

• Veg Out w. Some New Video Games
  
• After work @ your apartment
  

You had to wake up and go to work after last night's revelries, so you probably don't feel like doing much tonight. A quick detour by your favorite video game shop will get you Guitar Hero 3 and/or Manhunt 2, both of which were released this week. So just sit back and shred some tunes or flesh, depending on the game.

Weekanerd NYC: DC vs Marvel, DJ vs DJ, Torture Porn vs Artistry, You vs Vampires

Monday, October 15th

• Funny Games (w/ intro by Michael Haneke)
  
• 7pm @ @ The Museum of Modern Art (Titus Theater ), 11 W. 53rd St, Manhattan

Personal Confession: While I cannot actually sit through a horror movie of the torture porn variety, I am frequently obsessed with them for reasons probably best left unexplored. Unlike some TP directors, Michael Haneke fully acknowledges the pornographic/obscene aspects of his ultra-brutal 1997 film, Funny Games; he'll be introducing it at MOMA, and will probably talk a bit about the upcoming remake with Naomi Watts. Can't wait to not see it!

Tuesday, October 16th

• Comic Book Club: Steve Wacker and Mike Marts
  
• 8pm @ The P.I.T, 154 West 29th St, Manhattan
  

Uh oh - this week the CBC boys have Marvel editor Steve Wacker on the couch, and DC editor Mike Marts. EDITOR DEATH MATCH 2007! $5 at the door.

Wednesday, October 17th

• The 2007 US Gong DJ Finals
  
• 8pm (battle at 10pm) @ The Knitting Factory, 74 Leonard St, Manhattan
  

It seems like everyone I know has a friend who DJs, but when they say DJ they mean they play records at a bad club while wearing giant headphones. This is not that. This is a contest in which the country's most talented turntablists go head to head before a "jury of persnickity, battle-scarred judges". Plus the pre-show entertainment includes a set by a group of DJ supergroup called The X-Men, who I assume will be displaying some sort of rhythm based mutant power. Tickets are $12 bucks if you buy in advance, but music geeks with a CMJ Badge can get in free.

Thursday, October 18th

• 30 Days of Night Preview Screening
  
• 7pm @ TBA (FREE!)
  

Wanna see this for free a day before it opens? I know I do. Time Out NY is giving away passes on October 16th, but you have to register on their site so you can get a notification email when the tickets become available. They'll probably go fast, so stay frosty.

Weekanerd: Wolves Come Out of the Walls at a Murder Party and Kill You in Front of Yourself

Friday, October 12th

• Murder Party, w/ Director Jeremy Saulnier + Cast
  
• $10.75, Midnight @ Landmark Sunshine Cinema, 143 E. Houston, Manhattan
  

"Chris finds a mysterious invitation on the street and follows it to what he thinks will be a fun costume party. It turns out to be a lethal trap set by a gang of deranged hipster artists." Come out and support this home-grown gore fest laffer that won the Audience Award at Slamdance this year. Then hang out to ask the guys what they're trying to say about American foreign policy. Need some convincing? There's a trailer here.

Saturday, October 13th

• La Jetée + Wavelength
  
• $10 ($6 for students), 7pm @ The MoMA, 11 W 53rd St., Manhattan
  

This may be the only chance you'll ever have to see a film projection of La Jetée, the beautiful short film that inspired Terry Gilliam's 12 Monkeys. It's followed by the 45 min Wavelength, which is... uhhhhh.... "In Wavelength, a camera zoom slowly edges forward until it ends by framing a photograph of waves on the opposite wall. Throughout the course of the film, an accompanying sine-wave signal becomes higher and more piercing." Yeah, you might want to sneak out as La Jetée's credits roll.

Sunday, October 14th

• Wolves in the Walls, with post-show talk back
  
• $12.50-$35, 12pm @ New Victory Theater, 229 W 42nd St, Manhattan
  

Put some culture in ya butt! Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean's haunting children's book has been transformed into a stage musical, and judging from the trailer (follow the link above to get to it) it looks like they've kept McKean's signature visual punch intact. After there's a "talk back" that I imagine involves terrified kids asking the director if the monsters are real.

Weekanerd: Fighting Chocolate Pirates II Turbo

Frankly, if you're a real Geekanerd you should be in your house playing BioShock all weekend. But maybe you don't have an Xbox 360 or high-end PC or maybe you just feel the need to get out of the house. So for you sorry lot, here's some "cool" shit to do in New York this weekend.

Friday, August 24

• Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory
  
• Dusk @ Hudson River Park's Pier 46, Manhattan
  

This is the kind of entertainment kids don't get anymore, so it'll be well worth it (FREE!) to go see them all traumatized by the hallucinatory tunnel boatride.

Saturday, August 25

• Jollyship the Whiz-Bang
  
• 10pm @ Bowery Poetry Club, 308 Bowery, Manhattan

This "Pyrate Puppet Rock Opera Consortium" is a puppet troupe, rock band, and theater production company that has garnered praise from all over. Their salty show should get you in the spirit for International Talk Like a Pirate Day, which will be here before you know it.

Sunday, August 26

• STREET FIGHT! - The Street Fighter II Challenge
  
• 9pm @ Rope Bar, 415 Myrtle Ave, Brooklyn
  

Throw down two bucks and flex your World Warriors on the SNES version of the classic fighter. The winner of the tourney gets all the cash and a sweet trophy. The losers get to sit at the bar and feel like E. Honda's butt cheese.

Weekanerd - A comedian, a blogger, a Nobel Prize Winner, and Audrey Hepburn

Monday, July 9

• Wait Until Dark
• Sunset @ Bryant Park

Fans of Audrey Hepburn and/or classic thrillers should bring food, a blanket and make sure to show up early (the lawn opens at 5pm), cause these free outdoor film screenings have been known to get a leeeettle crazy.

Tuesday, July 10

• Heidi MacDonald on Comic Book Club
• 8pm @ The P.I.T., 154 W. 29th Street, Manhattan.

Writer Heidi MacDonald, of the awesome comic book blog The PW Beat, is this week's guest on New York's only live comic book talk show.

Wednesday, July 11

• Secret Science Club
  
• 8pm @ Union Hall, 702 Union Street, Brooklyn

This one's for you, science nerds! Union Hall, a Brooklyn bar with a library theme, is hosting a totally FREE lecture by Nobel-Prize winning neuroscientist, Eric Kandel. The subject is memory and the mind, and the title of the presentation is "You Must Remember This..." Awesome.

Thursday, July 12

• Patton Oswalt Stand-Up and Record Release Party
• 8pm @ Sound Fix Records, 110 Bedford Avenue, Brooklyn

See America's king of nerd comedy do a free set to promote his new album, Werewolves and Lollipops.