Cultural Calendar: December
A Dangerous Method is in theaters now. This film explores the men who paved the deepest and darkest highways into man’s psyche. The film tells the story of Karl Jung, the pscyhoanalyst who broke away from his mentor Sigmund Freud over his dalliance with a former patient, now an aspiring psychoanalyst herself. Featuring Michael Fassbender as Karl Jung, Viggo Mortensen as Sigmund Freud, and Keira Knightley as Sabrina Shpielheim, the patient. Playing at Landmark Sunshine Cinema and Lincoln Plaza Cinemas.
The alternative country, hairmetal, psych, prog rock of My Morning Jacket meets the lush country rock of Band of Horses at Madison Square Garden. My Morning Jacket is on tour promoting their latest album Circuital, their most recent since their Evil Urges of 2008, regarded by Rolling Stone as one of the top 50 albums of the year. December 14, 7:30. Madison Square Garden, $35-$55.50.
The oldest, best-preserved, parchment scroll of The Ten Commandments is on view as part of Dead Sea Scrolls: Life and Faith in Biblical Times. The Ten Commandments are only on display for two weeks so hurry over before January 2. See The Dead Sea Scrolls, a stone from the Western Wall, and 50 other artifacts from the ancient near east as part of the ongoing exhibit. Through April 15, Discovery Times Square, $25
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, a sequel to the Sherlock Holmes movie of 2009, hits theaters this coming Friday. Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law return for round two, starring as Holmes and Watson, respectively. An intellectual mystery and adventure, pitting the duo against their famed nemesis, Professor Moriarty. December 16, area theaters.
Eyebeam in Chelsea will hold their Winter 2011 open studios. Eyebeam is a center for artistic research that overlaps with technology and science. Come to watch their fellows and residents at work. Explore the studios, or take part in an hourly guided tour. December 16 and 17 from 3:00-6PM, Eyebeam Art and Technology Center, Free.
Catch Standing on Ceremony: The Gay Marriage Plays in its final week. The performance is a series of short plays by award winning authors exploring the ideas of same sex marriage, equality, and the all consuming power of love. A portion of sales goes to organizations promoting gay marriage. Closing December 18, Minetta Lane Theater, $25-125.
Close Up Space opens next week, starring David Hyde Pierce as a struggling book editor. With a cast of assistants and interns who exacerbate his problems, Pierce must confront family issues and relationships on and off the page. A witty and funny play about communication. December 19, Manhattan Theater Club, $80.
Old and the New: Mark Podwal's Textiles for the Altneuschul is an exhibition of textiles created by Mark Podwal for Prague’s Altneuschul, built in 1270 and still in use. Along with the textiles the exhibit showcases the artist’s earlier graphic works. A celebration of the exhibit will take place at the YU Museum. The exhibit remains open through January 15. December 19, 6:30, YU Museum, free.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, the film adaptation of Stieg Laarson’s bestselling novel, chronicles one reporter’s investigation of a girl’s disappearance some 30 years earlier, aided by the hacker-goth Lisbeth Salander. Expect dark things. December 21, Area theaters.
This Channukah, The Shondes, a political punk-rock klezmer Brooklyn-based band play as part of Hanuka Rock, a concert celebrating the radical voices of Jewish punk. Yiddish Princess and Schmeckel join The Shondes in concert. Co-presented by JFREJ (Jews for Racial and Economic Justice). December 21, 8:00, Southpaw, $10.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo soundtrack CD is set to be released later this month. The CD is a collaboration between Trent Raznor of the Nine Inch Nails and Atticus Ross. The dark and brooding score is led by the lead single “Immigrant Song,” a cover featuring Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. The duo previously worked together on the Academy Award-winning soundtrack for The Social Network. December 27, Amazon.com, $17.11
Catch Real/Surreal at the Whitney Museum before it closes. The exhibit highlights the tension between the real and the surreal in twentieth-century art, drawing on the museum’s permanent collection of fine art. Through a wide range of media, the exhibit explores the difference between the concrete and the imaginative. Closes February 12, The Whitney Museum of American Art, $12-$18.
Catch Gogol Bordello live at Terminal 5 this New Year’s Eve. Coming off 2010’s Latin-inflected Trans-Continental Hustle, this ragtag group of Roma, Russian, American and Israeli musicians brings down the house with their punk rock world music, each time, every time. December 31, Terminal 5, $35.
For all you history and political science buffs, go see Meryl Streep take on the role of Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady. Adopting the received English accent and iron disposition, Streep seems well on her way to another Oscar with this one. December 30, area theaters.
