Hong Kong Action, Comic Book Luminaries, and Better Living Through Theoretical Physics

Monday, March 17

• Hard Boiled vs. Hard Boiled
• 8:30@ Monkeytown, 58 N 3rd Street, Brooklyn

I'm not going to lie. I saw Hard Boiled in high school, and I thought it was kind of boring. But I'm not an action connoisseur, and I do appreciate the status this film holds among many film geeks, in particular fans of Hong Kong ultraviolence. And even if you don't have a particular affinity for Hard Boiled, this screening has a pretty awesome gimmick - the film will run on three screens simultaneously, one showing the new, remastered DVD edition and the other two running the rickety old version. This is like porn for spec nerds. Plus it's totally free, oh except for a $10 drink minimum, but dude, it's St. Patrick's Day.

Real life teleporters, and Greg Pak, after the jump ...

Tuesday, March 18,

• Lecture: Physics of the Impossible
  
• 6pm @ The New York Academy of Sciences, 7 World Trade Center, 250 Greenwich St. at Barclay St., 40th fl, Manhattan
  

For all our advances in this modern world, iPhones and DSes just don't make up for the glaring lack of teleporters, time travel, and invisible planes. Theoretical Physics expert Michio Kaku will lecture on issues discussed in his book, Physics of the Impossible, and will hopefully give us all reason to believe that the stuff seen on Star Trek may someday make it into real life. Also I want a Portal Gun. RSVP is required on the website, tickets are $25 for nonmembers, $15 for students, and $10 for members.

Wednesday, March 19

• Greg Pak, Fred Van Lente, Khoi Pham & Reilly Brown
  
• 6pm @ Jim Hanley's Universe, 4 West 33rd St., Manhattan
  

Got some Hulk-related fanboy questions for Greg Pak? Want to strike up a Socratic dialogue about Action Philosophers with author Fred Van Lente? Too bad, cause this discussion and signing is all about their work on Incredible Hercules, and how the book comes together from script to finished art. But you can probably sneak in some geeky questions about their other stuff too. Just make sure you bring a copy of Incredible Hercules #115 to get signed, so you don't look like a dick!

Weekanerd NYC: Comics Sell, Hulk Smashes, Lou Reed Waffles, and So It Goes

Monday, January 28

• 30% Off Everything in the Universe
  
• Jim Hanley's Universe, 4 W 33rd St, Manhattan
  

Usually comic shop sales stall out at 20-25%, so take notice of this 30% off sale for "customer appreciation month." It's a better deal than you may ever get again, so get to JHU and stock up on all those sexy hardcovers you can't afford. The sale runs through Tuesday, and it also applies to their Staten Island location, if you are so... inclined.

Hit the jump for a sitdown with Greg Pak, a meditation with Lou Reed, and a stage adaptation of some book you read in high school...

Tuesday, January 29

• Comic Book Club w/ Greg Pak and Fred Van Lente
  
• $5, 8pm @ The People's Improv Theater, 154 W 29th St, Manhattan
  

The boys that host this show are getting more press attention everyday, so go see 'em while their still in a cramped room for five bucks. This week's show features Greg Pak, mastermind of the recent World War Hulk saga, which was brilliant in concept but fell apart in execution. Ask him about that. Also on the extremely saggy couch is Fred Van Lente, founder of Evil Twin Comics.

Wednesday, January 30

• Lou Reed Discusses Hudson River Wind Meditations
  
• $25, 7pm @ Rubin Museum of Art, 150 W 17th St, Manhattan
  

"Lou Reed introduces his latest meditation compositions and discusses them with mind science scholar Rob Hogendoorn." I think that if you attended this talk and thought of Lou Reed as a Jedi Master coaching you in the ways of the Force (transcending the body and all that), you will come away with a greater understanding of yourself and the energy that surrounds us, penetrates us, and binds the galaxy together.

Thursday, January 31

• Slaughterhouse-Five or: The Children's Crusade
  
• $25, 8:30pm @ 59E59, 59 E 59th St, Manhattan
  

Kurt Vonnegut's time traveling anti-war opus has been brought to the stage by Godlight Theater Company, the same folks that brought you stage adaptations of Fahrenheit 451 and A Clockwork Orange. Get some tickets and prepare yourself for what The New York Times calls "a pressure-cooker production, an intense, kaleidoscopic 90-minute tour without intermission through Vonnegut’s nonlinear narrative." Runs through February 17.