This week, The New York Sun takes a look at Manoel de Oliveira’s “Magic Mirror,” currently being shown at the Anthology Film Archives. The Archives serve as a screening center, museum, and library, and have been a long-serving arts institution in the East Village for 35 years. The Archives have a number of other series taking place this weekend: D&M checks out other screenings, while the Sun’s restaurant critic, Paul Adams, gives us a taste of one local eatery in the neighborhood.

DINNER

The E.U.’s initials stand for European Union, and the concept is pan-European, a friendly greatest-hits tour of Italy, France, Spain, Germany, and England, conveniently all shoehorned into a single menu and filtered through an American comfort-food lens. That makes the menu sound complicated, which it isn’t, though it is macaronic and composed of many parts. Simple treats such as fried smelts ($10), 3 inches long and whole except for their heads and tails, or a little dish of fresh, mustardy steak tartare ($7) are sheer pleasure, uncomplicated and delicious. If badly done, the all-over-the-place character of the food could be awfully haphazard, but the chef is skillful, and within the studiously stylish lines of AvroKo’s pubby interior design, every piece fits together. (235 E. 4th St., between avenues A and B, 212-254-2900) — Paul Adams (Reviewed April 4)

The Sun also selects: Sea Thai — Tasty, inventive, and inexpensive Thai cuisine in a lounge setting. (75 Second Ave., between 4th and 5th streets, 212-228-5505)

Caracas Arepa Bar — A tiny Venezuelan restaurant offering its take on arepa, small corncakes smothered in traditional toppings, including roasted pork shoulder, chicken and avocado salad, and cheese and plaintains. (93 E. 7th St., between First Avenue and Avenue A, 212-529-2314)

MOVIES

Avant Garde Features is a monthly series at the Anthology Film Archives, spotlighting films housed in the Archives’ collection that are of a rare ilk: full-length feature avant-garde, art house movies. This month’s installment is Franco Brocani’s “Necropolis” (1970). In this film, the director created a mishmash of European cultural and mythological references to address his fear that cities and their inhabitants in the modern world were being “sublimated.” Featured characters include Attila the Hun, Frankenstein’s monster, and Bloody Countess Bathory. (Friday, 8 p.m., AFA, 32 Second Ave. at 2nd Street, 212-505-5181, $8 general, $6 students and seniors, $5 members)

The Essential Cinema series features a program of short films by four directors. Ian Hugo’s “Bells of Atlantis” (1952) begins the installment, based on Anaïs Nin’s work “House of Incest.” Four short animated films by Larry Jordan follow: The director used old steel engravings and memorabilia to create his fantastical animations. Helen Levitt’s “In The Street” (1952), a documentary about Spanish Harlem, features camera work by James Agee. Finally, Willard Maas’s “Geography of the Body” (1943), a 7-minute short, documents exactly what the title relates. The director described the movie as showing “the terrors and splendors of the human body as the undiscovered, mysterious continent.” (Saturday, 5:30 p.m., AFA, 32 Second Ave. at 2nd Street, 212-505-5181, $8 general, $6 students and seniors, $5 members)