In Tune With June! Tennis, anyone?

It was the next best thing to being at the U.S. Open! For eight days the tennis extravaganza was on a live jumbotron broadcast at the World Financial Center in Lower Manhattan. There was stadium seating, concessions, tennis interactives – and I even got my photo taken with Venus (well, a replica thereof!).

With a spectacular backdrop featuring a view of Ellis Island, the Statue of Liberty and gorgeous yachts, the World Financial Center is a unique urban oasis. It features an ongoing series of performing and visual arts in its public spaces. The U.S. Open was just one such happening. Inside, there’s the dazzling Winter Garden with its monumental grand staircase of tricolor Italian marble, 16 4-foot tall, elegant palm trees under a 45,000 square foot glass dome. Wow! If people-watching entrances you as it does me there’s pure theater to observe here.

From Bayonne, the World Financial Center is a short ride on the PATH train in Jersey City. The best part is that once you get there, there is a there there (with apologies to Gertrude Stein!).

* * * * If your prime purpose in going to the movies is to relax, forget your problems, stop thinking too much, sit back and enjoy the popcorn, then go to see “March of the Penguins.” Frequently that’s all I require of a film. On the other hand, if you prefer a movie that grabs your attention and emotions, that raises disquieting questions, and gives its audience some credit for intelligence then “The Constant Gardener” should be your choice.

The wonderful film adaptation of John le Carré’s novel tells a powerful story. It actually says something about global politics, shining a very bold light on the thuggery of modern day medicine in a continent like Africa that knows no public healthcare system. Visually breathtaking, the plot of “The Constant Gardener” is thick and convoluted. Cutting between past and present makes it difficult to follow at times. Not a typical movie, it is exciting, passionate and memorable. It lingers on. If you have a brain that you like to stimulate once in a while go see “The Constant Gardener.”

* * * * Usually I’m not much of a complainer – or so I’m told. I don’t kvetch unless something keeps repeatedly annoying me. OK! That said, a major irritant has become the cell phone. It seems to be epidemic. Wherever I go there appears to be endless, witless yakking. Take the 99S bus. The ride is at least one full hour to get to New York City – and for one full hour it drives me crazy to hear the most inane high-decibel conversations ever conceived by man or woman.

Of course, I realize that cell phones are essential in a crisis, but, hey, in a major crisis so many people reach for a cell phone that the system gets overloaded and renders it useless. Plus my phone bills have become equivalent to deciphering hieroglyphics. The fees baffle me. I don’t understand the add-ons that keep growing and growing. The carriers might promote a flat-rate plan, but then many indecipherable fees are larded into a bill. The proliferation of surcharges compounds my confusion (besides, math was never my strong suit!). Oh well, I need to breathe deeply and not let it get to me. Cell phones are an integral part of life today and, although upsetting, rebellion seems futile.

* * * * There are times when I am forced to question my sense of humor. Recently I saw a film where my companion and most of the audience laughed out loud. I didn’t understand why. In my eyes, “El Crimen Perfecto” (“The Perfect Crime”) was mostly slapstick and, if a comedy, a very black comedy. There are no heroes. Instead there is a pulp-noir couple that is callous and self-serving. The suave, womanizing man is shallow and cowardly. The cartoonish female of the pair is an ugly duckling who becomes a monster – not a swan as you might expect.

“El Crimen Perfecto” did keep my attention. I didn’t yawn and my eyes stayed open because I kept wondering why everyone was laughing. The only lesson I could grasp was that you need to be careful who sees you kill: It could lead to a very unhappy marriage (now that’s kinda funny!).

As you can tell from its title, “El Crimen Perfecto” is in Spanish with English subtitles. My darlin’ daughter, Jolie, who majored in Spanish, might appreciate this film more than I did.

* * * * Have you ever been to the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts? That’s at Amsterdam Avenue at 65th Street, Lincoln Center. Currently there are two exhibitions worth going to see. One is “A Community of Artists: 50 Years of the Public Theater.” It pays homage to the artists, craftsmen and theatrical productions that helped shape the cultural institution. Through posters, photographs and ephemera of theatrical production it documents the Public Theater’s achievements. As an example, it enables folks – regardless of cultural or economic background – to have access to Shakespearean theater by starlight. New plays are the core mission of the Public Theater along with revivals of Shakespeare, Chekhov, Moliere and other classics.

The second current treat is a salute to George Bernard Shaw. The library is presenting a series of talks, readings and performances. “Man or Superman?: The Art of George Bernard Shaw” runs through Oct. 25. And, again, all events at the library are free. It’s well worth your time – that is, if you have any to spare.