FILM

FORD REMEMBERED The Museum of the Moving Image presents “John Ford at Fox,” a retrospective featuring a selection of the 50 films the director made for the studio during the first half of the 20th century. Unspooling this weekend, are the three Ford films starring Will Rogers: In “Doctor Bull” (1933) (Saturday, 2 p.m.), Rogers plays a small-town doctor whose honesty leads him to attack a local construction tycoon. “Judge Priest” (1934) (Sunday, 2:30 p.m.) portrays Rogers as a sympathetic judge who tries to correct the social prejudices of rural Southerners by attempting to forgive the father of an orphaned girl. “Steamboat ‘Round the Bend” (1935) (Sunday, 5 p.m.), the last of the three films that Ford and Rogers made, features the actor as a medicine peddler and the owner of a floating wax museum on a Mississippi riverboat. Saturday and Sunday, Museum of the Moving Image, 3601 35th Ave. at 36th Street, Astoria, Queens, 718-784-0077, $10 general, $7.50 students and seniors, $5 children.

ART

SCRATCH THE SURFACE The new works featured in Elliott Puckette’s exhibit at the Paul Kasmin Gallery are the products of a laborious artistic process: Ms. Puckette covers her canvases in a gesso primer, then either covers the canvas in black ink and etches through the ink to expose the white gesso underneath or etches straight into the gesso, filling the canals with black ink to create a work with a white background. From afar, her etchings seem like spontaneous paintings covered in whimsical doodles; in fact, each line has been painstakingly carved in. Through Saturday, February 23, Tuesday–Saturday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m., Paul Kasmin Gallery, 293 Tenth Ave. at 27th Street, 212-563-4474, free.

MELVILLE IN MINIATURE Art 101 presents the opening of an exhibit of paintings and essays by Jane Freeman, inspired by Herman Melville’s “Moby Dick.” Ms. Freeman is best known for her intricate miniatures, some of which are also on view. Highlights of “Melville, Miniatures, and More” include two 19th-century theme pieces that were created exclusively for this show: “The Spouter Inn; The Creaking Sign” and “The Spouter Inn; The Patchwork Quilt.” A free reception for the artist is on Sunday at 4 p.m. Opens Friday, through Sunday, February 17, Friday–Sunday, 1–6 p.m., or by appointment, 101 Grand St. at Bedford Avenue, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, 718-302-2242, free.

YOUNG AT HEART Khalif Kelly makes his New York debut with his first solo exhibit, “Recess.” Mr. Kelly counts Jacob Lawrence and George Pal among his influences, and his brightly colored figures bear that out. The images on view recall the artist’s early childhood interactions with youngsters his own age, and the rituals that make those experiences memorable, if a bit awkward. Through Sunday, February 10, Wednesday–Sunday, 11 a.m.–6 p.m., Thierry Goldberg Projects, 5 Rivington St., between Chrystie Street and the Bowery, 212-967-2260, free.

IN THE ABSTRACT Born in 1930, Robert Natkin is considered to be one of a pioneering group of abstract painters who flourished in Chicago during the 1950s and ’60s. In recent years, he has increasingly focused on painting portraits. Still, he has not abandoned entirely his signature abstract works, which feature oblong shapes painted with soft lines. A selection that reflects both genres is currently on view.

Through Saturday, 10 a.m.–5:30 p.m., David Findlay Jr. Fine Art, 41 E. 57th St. at Madison Avenue, 212-486-7660, free.

ANTIQUES ENTHUSIASTS “An Eye Toward Perfection: The Shaker Museum and Library,” an on-loan exhibit that highlights Shaker furniture design during the last quarter of the 19th century, is the centerpiece of the 54th Winter Antiques Show at the Park Avenue Armory. The antiques show features American, English, European, and Asian fine and decorative arts. All net proceeds from the show benefit the nonprofit East Side House Settlement. Friday–Saturday, noon–8 p.m., and Sunday, noon–6 p.m., Park Avenue Armory, 67th Street at Park Avenue, 718-292-7392, $20 (includes show catalog). For complete information, go to winterantiquesshow.com.

FAMILY

MAGIC EVERYWHERE Top-flight magicians perform during the seventh annual “Night of Magic” at Brooklyn’s Good Coffeehouse Music Parlor series. This year’s featured performers count a sorcerer, wizard, conjurer, and comedian among them: magician Eric DeCamps; Brooklyn comedic magician Jeff Moche; vaudeville-style magician Cardone, and magician Michael Chaut of off-Broadway fame. Richard Steven Cohn and his wife, Alexandra Baltarzuk — also known as the Magical Melodions — host the event. Advance tickets are available at Park Slope Copy Center, 123 Seventh Ave. at Carroll Street. Friday, 8 p.m., Brooklyn Society for Ethical Culture Meeting House, 53 Prospect Park West, between 1st and 2nd streets, Park Slope, Brooklyn, 718-499-6223, $15.

FILM

HARD DAY’S WORK “Chop Shop,” director Ramin Bahrani’s second feature film, about and filmed in Queens, screens at the Museum of the Moving Image. Mr. Bahrani leads a discussion of the movie after the screening. “Chop Shop” follows a 12-year-old orphan who, with his sister, is struggling to survive in the industrial district of Willets Point — also known as the “Iron Triangle” — which is home to numerous auto repair shops and scrap yards. The French newspaper Le Monde called the film’s premiere at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival the “major revelation of the Director’s Fortnight.” Mr. Bahrani, who also co-wrote the film, studied filmmaking at Columbia University and first attracted the notice of critics in 2005 with “Man Push Cart,” the story of a man pushing a cart through the streets of New York. Saturday, 5 p.m., Museum of the Moving Image, 3601 35th Ave. at 36th Street, Astoria, Queens, 718-784-0077, $10 general, $7.50 students and seniors, $5 children, free for children under 5 and members.

MUSIC

LEMONY LIVES! Someone has murdered the composer — but fortunately, the murderer is still on the premises and Lemony Snicket personally accompanies the Little Orchestra Society in sniffing him out at the New York premiere of “The Composer Is Dead.” The piece is Snicket’s musical collaboration with a high school friend, Nathaniel Stookey. The man behind the fictional Snicket, Daniel Handler, narrates the performance, which reprises familiar themes from some classical music masterpieces. The composition is designed to engage young concert-goers with a comical “whodunit” and Snicket’s trademark morbidity, a signature of his “A Series of Unfortunate Events” books. The show also features an original introduction by composer John Corigliano, titled “Pied Piper Fantasy,” as well as performances by flutist Bonita Boyd and other surprise guests. Saturday, 11 a.m. and 1 p.m., Lincoln Center, Avery Fisher Hall, 1941 Broadway at 65th Street, 212-875-5030, $10–$40.

READINGS

AFTERNOON DELIGHT Poets Thomas Sayers Ellis and Dorothea Lasky host an evening of readings at the Lillian Vernon Creative Writers House. The event kicks off the Matinee Readings, a series sponsored by New York University’s creative writing program that invites the public to devote an hour of the day to literature. The public is encouraged to bring lunch and take part in the informal discussion following the readings. Mr. Ellis and Ms. Lasky each enjoyed critical acclaim with their respective debut poetry collections, “The Maverick Room” (Graywolf) and “Awe” (Wave Books). For a complete schedule of authors appearing through April, go to cwp.fas.nyu.edu. Friday, 1 p.m., NYU, Lillian Vernon Creative Writers House, 58 W. 10th St., between Fifth and Sixth avenues, 212-998-8850, free.

THEATER

CELLULAR ENERGY The Guggenheim’s Works and Process series presents excerpts from playwright Sarah Ruhl’s new play, “Dead Man’s Cell Phone,” followed by a conversation with Ms. Ruhl and the play’s Obie Award-winning director, Ann Bogart. In the production, Jean is an unassuming museum employee who picks up a neglected cell phone that belongs to the now-deceased Gordon. Jean finds herself the unlikely nexus for the remnants of Gordon’s old life, stepping in with friends, family, and an array of unexpected contacts with whom Gordon has dropped the line. Ms. Ruhl, a recipient of the MacArthur Fellowship, is building a reputation for nuanced explorations of strong female characters. The play has its premiere in February. Sunday and Monday, 7:30 p.m., Guggenheim Museum, Peter B. Lewis Theater of the Sackler Center for Arts Education, 1071 Fifth Ave. at 89th Street, 212-423-3587, $30 general, $25 members, $10 students.

TEMPERS WILL FLARE The Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts at Brooklyn College presents “The Tempest,” a classic Shakespeare drama. Davis McCallum directs this multicultural staging. Sunday, 2 p.m., Brooklyn College, Whitman Theater, 2900 Campus Rd. at Hillel Place, Brooklyn, 718-951-4500, $20–$30.

PAINTINGS

BROTHER CULTURE Southern California figures heavily in the work of Alex Couwenberg. In his latest exhibit, “Bypassing Referents,” oceanic blues, sunset reds, and shapes that resemble surfboards and skateboards make their way into otherwise abstract, geometric paintings. Selections include “Tattoo” (2007), above. Through Saturday, Friday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m., Saturday, 11 a.m.–6 p.m., Kathryn Markel Fine Arts, suite 6W, 529 W. 20th St., between Tenth Avenue and the West Side Highway, 212-366-5368, free.

To submit an event for consideration for the Calendar, please wire the particulars to calendar@nysun.com, placing the date of the event in the subject line.