About Town

CLOSE UP

There'll be plenty of witty references alluding to oversized egos during Martin Schoeller's exhibition, Close up. His subject matter is, after all, big heads. But if there's anything absent in these intimate portraits of the powerful and famous, it's an ego. The exhibit is the German's first major American show, despite the fact he's been living in the U.S. since the early '90s, working for magazines like The New Yorker. Schoeller's work is unique because of his over-indulgence on a key feature, like the eyes. Thanks to his unique neon lighting, even the most lifeless person appears passionate. While the subjects consist entirely of mundane celebrities ranging from Angelina Jolie to Bill Clinton (who isn't sick of these two by now?), they do offer us a side of the person we've never seen before. In a world saturated by images, especially of celebrities, that's incredible. (Bret Liebendorfer)

Through August 30. Hasted Hunt Gallery, 529 W. 20th St., 3rd Fl. (betw. 10th & 11th Aves.),212-627-0006; free.

FERRY FLICKS For a long time, Staten Island has been the butt of various jokes for its minor status among the five boroughs. That might never go away, but you can't blame the local artistic community for trying to reverse the trend.

"This is a great opportunity to get the borough out of its pariah status," says former Staten Island resident and filmmaker Gregorio Smith of the First Annual Staten Island Film Festival. "The place needed some kind of booster shot, something to get it out of Manhattan's shadow."

The festival, which opens with the New York premiere of Armand Mastroianni's The Celestine Prophecy (based on the novel by James Redfield) at the St. George Theater, includes an array of films made by professional and aspiring artists who have a connection with the borough. Among this year's selections are Smith's Staten Island Catapult, a satire about the difficulties faced by commuters on the island, and Jeremy Levine's Walking The Line, which follows private citizens taking the law into their own hands along the Mexico/U.S. border.

"This is like a homecoming to me," says John Gigante, the director of the indie feature Cugini. "I was born in Brooklyn and moved to S.I. when I was 4 as part of the Italian exodus of the late '60s. I went to Wagner College. It's great to be back after such a long time." (Ernest Barteldes)

June 1-4. Staten Island, 718-447-1400; $5/free. For additional information, visit www.sifilmfestival.org.

THICK AS THE BRICK

The 22 shows included in The Brick Theater's 2006 summer festival offer up everything from the absurd to the merely ridiculous, with a few meaningless bits thrown in, too, just for good measure. There's a musical tribute to the Die Hard films performed by sock puppets, a kung fu version of The Importance of Being Ernest (pictured left), and the latest installment of their ongoing Sexadelic Cemetery. They go after Anna Nicole Smith, the Olsen Twins and William Shakespeare. Most important of all, though, there are boobs aplenty! In short, The Sellout Festival (as they've so subtly named it) gives the audience exactly what it wants, without the slightest pretense of artistic integrity. And for that, we should all be thankful. (JK)

June 2-July 2. Brick Theater, 575 Metropolitan Ave. (betw. Union & Lorimer Sts.), W'burg, B'klyn, 212-352-3101; $10, bricktheater.com.

KING OF SHLOCK

For the last 30 years, Troma Entertainment has been pumping out underground hits so disturbingly juvenile that its co-founder Lloyd Kaufman has been nicknamed "The King of Shlock." One of the earliest and most popular films in the Troma oeuvre, The Toxic Avenger, has gained enough of a cult following to spawn three sequels, toys, apparel and an animated series. And just when you thought Kaufman had run out of merchandising possibilities, he unveils The Toxic Avenger: The Novel! In celebration of the new release, you can meet the Yale-educated iconoclast as he signs books, shakes hands and shares his fascinating anti-authoritarian perspectives with his loyal fanbase. Afterwards, if you haven't had your fill of unadulterated toilet humor, swing by Fontanas (105 Eldridge St.) for "Help Teach a Chicken How to Read: Toxie's Secret Fowl Ball," where they'll be screening scenes from his latest film, Poultrygeist, which from the looks of it, will destroy any of the good feelings you still have about the fast food industry.(C. Edwards)

June 6. Barnes & Noble (Astor Place), 4 Astor Place (betw. Broadway & Lafayette), 212-420-1322; 7, free.

MIND SEX If scientists say 90 percent of sex is in your mind, then reading about it is probably the best way to get off. Having read my fair share of erotica, I have a good handle on what makes me tick as far as sexual literature goes. I approached reading Cleis Press' Best Sex Writing 2006 with trepidation. While a few of the stories bored me to tears, most were enjoyable and several were standouts.

Shalom Auslander, a former Yeshiva student, opens the book with a treatise on sin and how he longs for the days when a hint of skin could turn him on. Virginia Vitzthum's account of her on-again-off-again lust affair with an artist features some brilliant turns of phrase and showcases how even women can feel as if sex is just sex (it's true!). But it's David Amsden who gets the kudos in my book. In "Man-Hunting with the High School Dream Girls," he brilliantly captures the dissolute lives of several bored New York City teens who club hop, hook up with older, often married, men and repeat the cycle the following day. And the day after that. On June 5, several of these writers will read from the anthology. Leave the vibrator at home. (Anadnahs Inarrud)

June 5. Blue Stocking Books, 172 Allen St. (betw. Stanton & Rivington), 212-777-6028; 7, free.

PROPAGANDA THAT WORKS In 1996, Alexander Lukashenko was "elected" president of Belarus. He immediately threw out the constitution, consolidated state power for himself and began killing off or imprisoning anyone who spoke out against him. There were riots and protests, but many Belarusians worship the man known as "the last European dictator" like a god. Filmmaker Victor Dashuk documented it all from the beginning, creating two films-Long Knives Night, made in '96, and Reporting From the Rabbit Hole, made four years later. The films are rough (the copies being screened were recently smuggled out of Belarus) and short, and sometimes the subtitles are a little iffy. But there's an intensity there, a sense of rage aimed both at Lukashenko and the people who continually allow men like him to take power, that by comparison makes Fahrenheit 9/11 seem tepid and weak. Even if you don't consider yourself political, it's impossible not to draw certain parallels. Shown back to back (a total of 90 minutes), they represent a brutal and brilliant bit of filmmaking-especially considering what Dashuk risked to make them. (Jim Knipfel)

June 1-7. Two Boots Pioneer Theater, E. 3rd (at Ave. A), 212-591-0434, 9, $9.