A cinematic week involves instant classics released four decades apart; horror references about as far from Halloween as possible; and a show that may provide flashbacks to a famous concert film shot here in New Haven.
Monday, May 20
American Fiction (2023), which makes a smart, moving and hilarious case against stereotyping—especially when performed under the guise of behaving virtuously—screens at Orange’s Case Memorial Library at 6 p.m.
Wednesday, May 22
The Movies in the Plaza series continues in Pitkin Plaza with an 8 p.m. screening of a film that honors both children’s and an extraterrestrial’s point of view: E.T. (1982).
Thursday, May 23
The next Sidewalk Studio—“an outdoor program, held in front of the Yale University Art Gallery, that fosters impromptu art making on a drop-in basis” and “connects to works in the collection”—runs from 2 to 4 p.m.
Offsite in Yale’s Humanities Quadrangle, in conjunction with YUAG and its exhibition Munch and Kirchner: Anxiety and Expression, the Whitney Humanities Center co-presents The Hands of Orlac (1924), an early silent film accompanied, in this screening, by “internationally renowned silent-film musicians Donald Sosin and Joanna Seaton.” Here’s the rest of the pitch: “After a train crash, a renowned pianist wakes up in horror: his hands have been amputated and replaced with the hands of an executed murderer. Depicting an artist’s continuous descent into paranoia and madness, The Hands of Orlac is a haunting example of German Expressionism that reunites Dr. Caligari director Robert Wiene and actor Conrad Veidt in another spellbinding performance.”
A virtuosic guitar performance at Toad’s Place tonight hinges on hands, too, but a head covered with an upside-down bucket and a Michael Myers-style mask meant to overcome stage fright gets as much of the attention. The guitarist goes by Buckethead, and the show starts at 9.
Friday, May 24
At 8 (or possibly 8:30) p.m. in Milford’s Eisenhower Park, “watch a horror movie in the woods,” specifically Evil Dead II in Milford’s Eisenhower Park. “Bring your blankets, chairs, bug spray, and friends to enjoy an atmospheric screening of this camp horror movie! Walk a very short distance down a trail after dark to watch the movie projected on a large screen in the most suitable setting for this film. Portable radios with headphones will be provided for audio.”
Halen, “Connecticut’s own Van Halen tribute,” comes to Hamden’s Space Ballroom for an 8 p.m. performance of the band’s hit-filled debut from 1978.
Saturday, May 25
A food truck festival at the Connecticut Post Mall, promising “top food trucks and craft vendors from across the state” as well as “entertainment for the kids including bouncy houses, carnival games, train rides, face painting and much, much more,” starts at 11 a.m. and lasts through dinner for three days starting today.
“An alternative approach to mainstream markets and the procurement of vintage goods” is the angle for edgy MAY-HEM Market at East Rock Brewing, where 23 crafts and arts vendors will offer their wares from noon to 6.
At 1 p.m., the Disney-fied French fairy tale Beauty and the Beast is retold at the Shubert by New Haven Ballet. This telling features “all your favorite characters, including Belle, Lumiere, Cogsworth, Mrs. Potts, Gaston, and the Beast,” organizers say, clad in “beautiful costumes” amid “professional, larger-than-life sets.” It looks like the program includes two shorter pieces as well.
Celebrate World Africa Day with an Africa Night New Haven celebration promising live music, dancing, a fashion show and more at EKA Studios inside the Lab at ConnCorp in Hamden. “There will be wine and light refreshments. You are encouraged to wear your own African-themed clothing (if you have any).”
The mathy, dreamy rock of Delta Sleep comes to Hamden’s Space Ballroom for an 8 p.m. show opened by mellow but driving indie pop band Macseal and jazzy and also dreamy rock act Spilly Cave.
Sunday, May 26
“Cars and trucks up to 1990”—spanning “stock, modified, custom muscle, street rods, pro street and special interest”—start arriving at 8 a.m. for the 28th Annual Memorial Day Weekend Car Show at Quinnipiac University.
Written and photographed by Dan Mims. Image features a view of the Memorial Weekend Car Show at Quinnipiac in 2017. Readers are encouraged to verify times, locations, prices and other details before attending events.
