Friday / November 3
Broken Bride, the hot UT event of the week, is a half hour–long rock opera that features dragons, zombies, demons, and a heartwarming love story. Tickets have been going fast, and if you’re looking for a rollicking good time late Friday night, the bonus 11 p.m. show should be an excellent choice. Wander Standing, the first student-written work at UT this year, also goes up this week. (First Floor Theater, Reynolds Club, Broken Bride: 10 p.m., 11 p.m., Wander Standing: 8 p.m., $6, also November 4)
Facets Cinémathèque, one of Chicago’s best art-house theaters, presents a night of short films as part of the ongoing Chicago Humanities Festival. All three of the films are meditations on the nature of war and memory. Night and Fog (Nuit et Brouillard) and A Note of Triumph: The Golden Age of Norman Corwin provide accounts of very different aspects of World War II while La Jetée, the inspiration for The Terminator and 12 Monkeys, follows a man from a post-apocalyptic epoch as he travels through time to discover the meaning of a haunting memory. (Facets Cinémathèque, 1517 West Fullerton Avenue, 6:30 p.m. $9)
Saturday / November 4
Ziggy Marley, the oldest son of Reggae’s most iconic figure, has carried his father’s torch with mixed success for the last 20 years. He comes to the Vic Theater to support his latest album, Love Is My Religion, for a night that should reward fans looking for an updated version of the classic Bob Marley sound. (Vic Theater, 3145 North Sheffield Avenue, 8 p.m., $35)
Sunday / November 5
If you’ve ever wanted to bike the South Side with a pack of U of C students, faculty, and staff that would make Lance Armstrong envious, now’s your chance. The South Side Pedal departs from campus and promises a wide-ranging tour of some of Chicago’s most treasured sites. Registration begins at 11 a.m. (Barlett Quad, departs noon, free)
Monday / November 6
Last year, the Velvet Lounge was forced out of its home, but with the help of donations and perseverance, it was able to re-open in a new location. Now, the Jazz Showcase is facing a similar plight. Velvet Lounge proprietor Fred Anderson, not one to dwell on his own good fortune, is pitching in to help save the Showcase with a benefit concert. (Jazz Showcase, 59 West Grand Avenue, 8 p.m., $15, 21+)
Tuesday / November 7
Tenacious D—that hard-rockin’ duo of Jack Black and Kyle Gass—is ready to hit the big screen. Behold, Tenacious D in ‘The Pick of Destiny,’ playing in a sneak preview at Doc. It’s true, the preview was terrible. But since when was that a good way to judge a movie? Remember the sweet previews for The Recruit and Pearl Harbor? This film bills itself as “the greatest motion picture of all time,” so you have to at least give it a chance. (Max Palevsky Cinema, 9 p.m., free)
Wednesday / November 8
The Chicago Society hosts Anwar Ibrahim, the former Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister of Malaysia, for a discussion on “The Challenges of Islam and Democratization.” Like most Chicago Society events, the talk should be lively and controversial. (Bond Chapel, 7:30 p.m., free)
An IRS auditor suddenly finds his inner thoughts subject to narration by a famous author. Now take that plot, throw Will Ferrell into the title role and you’ve got Stranger than Fiction. This movie could be Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind 2, with an A-list comic pulling out all the stops in a surrealist art film, or it could badly misfire. Given that it’s screening for free at Doc, it’ll be worth the risk. (Max Palevsky Cinema, 9:30 a.m., free)
Kevin Federline, the hip-hop poser and husband of Britney Spears, brings his impotent blend of rap and rock ’n’ roll to the House of Blues. Federline, who was called the most “universally laughed-at” figure in American pop culture by Tim Murphy in a recent column in the Maroon (“Draft K-Fed for Spring Breeze…Popozao!”, 10/24/2006), should be fascinating for anyone interested in how poorly tabloid celebrity translates into art. (House of Blues, 329 North Dearborn Avenue, 7:30 p.m., $25)
For those looking for music of a more serious sort, the incomparable German saxophonist Peter Brötzmann will be performing at the Hideout in a three-set gig with the Vandermark 5. The night should be a raucous, free jazz carnival, showcasing the very best in improvised music. Brötzmann and Vandermark are masters of careful listening and improvisatory explosions. Their work is always engaging and often mind-blowing. Add in the fact that the artists themselves will serve as DJs between the sets, and you’re looking at the can’t-miss free jazz extravaganza of the year. (Hideout, West Wabansia Avenue, 9:30 p.m., $10, 21+)
Thursday / November 9
The filmmaker Atom Egoyan, one of this year’s Presidential Fellows in the Arts, comes to Doc for a public conversation and the screening of his latest work, Citadel, a documentary travelogue that tracks Egoyan and his family on a visit to Lebanon. Egoyan, the director of The Sweet Hereafter and Ararat, makes sophisticated, very grown-up films and will likely have much to say about their texturally complex and socially aware content. (Max Palevsky Cinema, 7 p.m., $5 student, $15 general)
