Our new Summer Friday feature narrows down a plethora of options—including film- and non-film related activities—for you as you plan your weekend. NYC is full of endless possibilities over the next few days. You can choose among tributes to primates in pop culture, midnight movies from directors like Wes Craven and Matthew Vaughn, and Father’s Day celebrations of all ilks in nearly every borough. Plus, our intern Freddie is back with more suggestions on activities that won’t strain your budget. 

Friday June 14th

You Can’t Keep Me Quiet! Films by Sarah Jacobson
Spectacle at 8:00 PM
Special Guest: Sam Green
Ticket: $5

Sarah Jacobson was an independent filmmaker who led a DIY filmmaking movement in the 90s with films like Mary Jane’s Not A Virgin Anymore and I Was a Teenage Serial Killer.  During her life, she formed Station Wagon Productions with her producer (and mom) Ruth Jacobson, and with her help, Sarah self-promoted and distributed her films all over the country. After her death in 2004, her mother and filmmaker Sam Green established the Sarah Jacobson Film Grant to support young female filmmakers with similar ideals. Come help celebrate this extraordinary filmmaker.

Kevin Geeks Out About … Monkeys!
92YTribeca at 8:00PM
Ticket: $12

The doors are soon closing forever at 92YTribeca so enjoy the stellar programming offered by this remarkable institution while you still can! Hosted by comedian Kevin Maher, this 2-hour show will feature dozens of clips from classic movies and TV shows, in addition to pop songs and comedy shorts, all featuring  apes, chimps, gorillas, orangutans, baboons and more. Complete with a panel of experts, the evening will include trivia, snacks, prizes and rare footage you won’t find online.

Wes Craven’s Deadly Blessing
Film Society at Lincoln Center at 11:59AM
Ticket: $13

The beloved Midnight Movie series is back at Film Society with Wes Craven’s Deadly Blessing leading the charge. The horror auteur’s underrated third feature follows a psycho on the loose in an Amish-like setting, with Ernest Borgnine as a loopy religious leader and an early appearance by Sharon Stone.

Saturday June 15th

Benefiting The Sean Kimerling Testicular Cancer Foundation
Roosevelt Island at 10AM
Cost: $50 (It's charity!)

You’ve heard of the Running of the Bulls? Well, how about The Running of the Balls? Celebrate Father’s Day early and help fight the most common cancer in young men. Join the Sean Kimerling Testicular Cancer Foundation on Roosevelt Island for the first annual The Running of the Balls 5K.

Ran with Tatsuya Nakadi (live in person)
MoMI at 2:00PM
Cost: Free (with purchase of museum admission)

See Akira Kurosawa’s masterwork the way it was meant to be seen—on the big screen! The legendary auetur’s adaptation of King Lear, set in the epic days of the samurai, is among cinema’s most enthralling Shakespeare adaptations and its great epics. The legendary Japanese actor Tastuya Nakadai (who  plays the Lear-like tragic hero in the 1985 film) will be present for the screening.

Kick-Ass
Landmark Cinema at 12:00AM
Cost: $10

“Tool up, honey bunny. It's time to get bad guys.” Directed by Matthew Vaughn, Kiss-Ass follows the journey of Dave Lizewski, an ordinary teen (and rabid comic book fan) who longs to be a super hero. Adopting the persona of a vigilante, Kick-Ass, Dave takes to fighting crime and soon gets involved with Big Daddy (a brilliant Nic Cage) and his hit girl daughter (the breakout role for Chloe Grace Mortez) and their fight against a ruthless mob boss.

Sunday June16th

SPOONS TOONS AND BOOZE: Father’s Day Special
Nitehawk Cinema at 11:45 AM
Cost: $15

Celebrate Father’s Day in Brooklyn with the STB crew!  In honor of holiday, STB is putting together an extra special menu (in addition to their already sprawling brunch ) of cartoon episodes all about dads and the things they love like golf, fixing things, and reciting the moral at the end of an episode. Make sure to treat  yourself (or your Dad) to a Cereal Shot, and the lovely Nitehawk staff will drop a shot of Baileys or Kahlua into your Wheaties.

Double Feature: Record of a Tenement Gentleman and There Was A Father
Film Forum (All Day)
Ticket: $12.50

Part of the Ozu series, this special Father’s day at the Forum highlights two touching Japanese films about single-parenthood. Record of a Tenement Gentleman follows a widowed shopkeeper who finds herself in charge of a reserved, but filthy homeless boy whom she grows to love. There Was a Father chronicles the journey of a father who must labor for his estranged son’s education after a traumatic incident at his job causes him to quit.

My Afghanistan: Life in the Forbidden Zone
Film Society of Lincoln Center at 8:30 PM
Ticket: $13

Part of the Human Rights Watch Festival, My Afghanistan: Life in the Forbidden Zone follows Nagieb Khaja, a Danish journalist of Afghan origin, on his quest to document the plight of the Afghan people. Since journalists are not able to move safely outside of the capital, contact with the civilian population in rural areas is almost impossible. Nagieb Khaja will appear in person to discuss his daring and ingenious decision to equip people in the outlying communities with mobile phones so that they could provide a rare glimpse into the war-torn existence of regular Afghans.

Freddie’s Free Pick 3

First, I wanted to highlight a cool source to find free outdoor screenings happening around NYC this summer. It lists by day of the week all outdoor screenings planned in the city and let’s me off the hook as far as trying to pick one for you each week. That said, check out the following:

Father’s Day Brunch at Habana Outpost
Sunday from 11AM to 1PM

Who doesn’t love free games, pictures, and temporary tattoos? I know I like to pretend I am too mature for such things, but hey, it’s Father’s Day. If anyone knows just how immature you really are, it’s your parents, so why not bask in your childhood for the day. This event promises to be fun for the whole family, complete with good food, nice weather, good drinks, and distractions aplenty.

However, the real fun part is the free outdoor screening of National Lampoon’s: Vacation at 8 PM. So if brunch isn’t for you, perhaps drinks, a nice breeze, and a family classic will do the trick as you unwind with or without the parents (depending on how your day went).

Student Driver: Indie Improv at the PIT Underground
Sunday at 7PM

Alright, so you caught me.  It’s actually $5 to go see this show. However, considering the cost of a subway there and back, nothing is really “free,” is it? Every Sunday, two unattached improv teams duke it out on stage followed by Student Driver (one of PIT’s house improv teams). The setting is fun and lively, plus you  get the chance of saying “I saw them when…” 20 years from now. "Game of Thrones" is over so why not have a chuckle before Monday punches you in the face again.

Drawing in the Park at South Cove
Saturday at 10AM 

On the opposite end of Habana’s Father’s Day Brunch spectrum comes this random little Saturday morning “experience.” I know that 10 AM on a Saturday sounds miserable. I am asking a lot of you with this one, but if by any chance you get to bed early on Friday and wake up wanting to feel cultured, then this is event is just the ticket. Every Saturday (with a couple exceptions), Battery Park offers free painting lessons in the park.

You go, sit there painting the trees, river, and Manhattan coastline under the guidance of a professional, and leave with a painting. Not saying I have done this, but I am pretty sure whipping out a painting will impress during the Saturday afternoon what have you done lately repartee. Or my friends and I have no lives.

Either way, please feel free to email me with any questions, comments, or recommendations at freddietheintern@gmail.com. Till next week.

On-Going Series and Festivals

Northside Festival
Brooklyn, New York

Running from June 13-20, the Northside Festival is New York City’s largest and most accessible discovery festival. The week-long event celebrates film, music, entrepreneurship and innovation.

Films screening this weekend include: Five Windows

L.E.S. Film Festival
Lower East Side, Manhattan 

The 3rd annual L.E.S Film Festival features the innovative works (both shorts and feature-length) of exciting up and coming filmmakers and it occurs in the heart of the Lower East Side of Manhattan. You can’t lose.

Films screening this weekend include: The Caretaker, Bewilderbeast, Showstopper, and Kill The Calories.

Human Rights Watch Film Festival

The 24th annual Human Rights Watch Film Festival is back in New York with 20 hard-hitting international films that all have the power to inspire social change.

Films screening this weekend include: In the Shadow of the Sun, Salma