HAPPENING - Jan. 10 to Jan. 17

theater

The Children of Herakles. See cover story. Through Jan. 25. Tickets $34-$68. American Repertory Theater, Loeb Drama Center, 64 Brattle St., (617) 547-8300.

Fiddler on the Roof. See story. Friday, Jan. 10 at 1 p.m. and Saturday, Jan. 11 at 7:30 p.m.. Tickets $9, $7 students/seniors, available at the Harvard Box Office or by phone (617) 496-2222. At the Agassiz Theater, Radcliffe Yard.

The Two-Character Play. See story. 7:30 p.m. nightly through Sunday, Jan 12. Tickets free at the Loeb Box Office. Loeb Experimental Theater, Loeb Drama Center, 64 Brattle St., (617) 547-8300.

readings

Randall Kennedy, reading from his new book Interracial Intimacies. Kennedy, a Harvard Law School Professor, stirred controversy last year with his bestseller Nigger: The Strange Career of a Troublesome Word. His newest work is a lengthy examination of the shifts in relationships between blacks and whites throughout American history. Thursday, Jan. 16 at 6 p.m. Sponsored by Harvard Bookstore, Sackler Museum, 485 Broadway. (BJS)

New England Poetry Club reading. The NEPC, founded in 1913 by Amy Lowell, Robert Frost, and Conrad Aiken, sponsors the oldest poetry reading series in the country. Tuesday, Jan. 14 at 7 p.m. Cambridge Public Library, 449 Broadway at Trowbridge St., (781) 643-0029. (TIH)

art

Duo: Oliver Jackson/Marty Ehrlich. This exhibition, entering the final stretch of its four-and-a-half month stay at the Sert, consists of six enormous paintings and an hour of recorded music. Artist Jackson and composer Ehrlich collaborated on the project when they were both in residence at Harvard two years ago. Through Jan. 19. Hours: Mondays through Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sundays, 1 to 5 p.m. Free. At the Sert Gallery, Carpenter Center, 24 Quincy St, (617) 495-9400. (BJS)

Portrait Photographs by George Platt Lynes. See feature on facing page. Through Jan. 28. Hours: Mondays through Fridays, 9 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. Copeland Gallery and the Edward Sheldon Exhibition Rooms, Pusey Library, (617) 495-2445. (BJS)

Yary Livan. Livan is the sole living master of Cambodia’s traditional ceramics and kiln building techniques, having miraculously avoided a death in Pol Pot’s Killing Fields. He has produced paintings, sculpture and pottery over his long career. Saturday at 9 a.m. Ceramics Program of Harvard’s Office for the Arts, 219 Western Ave., Allston. (BJS)

music

The Moe Jones Monday Night Revue. Host Moe Jones and his seven-piece band are keeping the House of Blues awash in soul and R&B stylings on Monday nights throughout the month. This week, they share the stage with The Matthew Stubbs Band and Racky Thomas. Monday, Jan. 13 at 9 p.m. Tickets $7. The Original House of Blues, 96 Winthrop St., (617) 491-2100. (BJS)

Swiss violinist Helena Winkelman with guest pianist Anton Kernjak. The performance, sponsored by the Pro Musicis Foundation, includes pieces by Schubert, Lutoslawski, Kurtag, and Beethoven. Saturday, Jan. 11 at 8 p.m. Tickets $15 for students. Pickman Concert Hall at Longy School of Music, 27 Garden St., (617) 566-5218. (TIH)

The Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra. Music by Beethoven, Mozart and Copland, followed by a wine and cheese singles reception courtesy of Pro Amore. Sunday, Jan. 12 at 3 p.m. Tickets $9-$42, available at the Harvard Box Office or call (617) 496-2222. Sanders Theatre. (TIH)

JOHN DIGWEED. Superstar DJ and all around nice guy John Digweed hits the Avalon Ballroom with his well-known blend of progressive house. Friday, Jan. 10 at 10 p.m. Tickets: $20. Avalon, 15 Landsdowne St., (617) 262-2424. (RJK)

dance

Choreographers Group. Four world premiere works performed by Lillian Carter, Kelley Donovan, Nicola Hawkins, Margaux Skalecki and Artistic Director Perla Joy Furr, in a program that includes more than twenty outstanding dancers and features diverse, innovative styles and impressive work. Friday, Jan. 10 and Saturday, Jan. 11 at 8 p.m.; Sunday, Jan. 12 at 3 p.m. Tickets $15. Cambridge Multicultural Arts Center, 41 Second St., (617) 577-1400. (TIH)

Les Percussions de Guinee. This 16-member company of drummers, dancers, and musicians presents magnificent performances of authentic West African music and dance. Wednesday, Jan. 15 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets $20-$30, available at the Harvard Box Office or by phone (617) 496-2222. Sanders Theater. (TIH)

film

Fleurs de Sang, with actor/writer/director Myriam Mézières in person. The film features Mézières as a bohemian cabaret performer attempting to elevate herself and her daughter from the dregs of society. French with English subtitles. Friday, Jan. 17 at 7 p.m. Tickets $7, $5 students and seniors. Harvard Film Archive, Carpenter Center, 24 Quincy St., (617) 495-4700. (TIH)

HARVARD SQUARE LOEWS

10 CHURCH ST., (617) 864-4580

ABOUT SCHMIDT. About Schmidt, in a bizarrely somber, comedic fashion, is possibly the most depressing film of Jack Nicholson’s long career. His performance as a retired insurance executive is a deeply complex and hilariously tragic portrayal of the most banal aspects of one man’s post-mid-life crisis. Director Alexander Payne, famous for his digressions on suburban angst in films such as Election and Citizen Ruth, keeps the tone light and the characters archetypally and delicously bizarre. About Schmidt screens at 12:15, 3:15, 7 and 10 p.m. (CJF)

ADAPTATION. At its core, Adaptation is an analysis of the intellectual diseases that plague every writer, from editorial pressure to sibling rivalry to unrequited love. But its narrative edges make it a unique experience. Nicolas Cage plays writer Charlie Kaufman (the real-life writer of the film), who becomes consumed by his assignment to adapt Susan Orlean’s meditative nonfiction novel The Orchid Thief and his own personal eccentricities. Like Kaufman and director Spike Jonze’s previous film Being John Malkovich, several plots overlap and intertwine with surprising dramatic twists, creating a frustrating, complex film that is infinitely insightful and weirdly moving. Adaptation screens at 12:45, 3:30, 6:30 and 9:15 p.m. (CJF)

CATCH ME IF YOU CAN. Steven Spielberg takes a breather from sci-fi/adventure romps and historical morality plays to dust off his moribund ‘lost boy’ conceit, reigniting it to power this breezy, rambling 1960s-set caper. Leonardo DiCaprio spends the movie perpetrating a richly entertaining string of identity cons and check fraud that Spielberg tempers with rather obvious meditations on the state of the nuclear family. Amidst the mischief and philosophizing, Tom Hanks, as the dry, wry FBI man tailing DiCaprio, ends up stealing the movie by internalizing his ‘decent everyman’ persona. Hanks begins the film with a lid on his personality, but gradually relaxes enough to reveal a remarkable warmth. Catch Me If You Can screens at 12:00, 3:00, 4:00, 6:15, 9:30 and 10:15 p.m. (BJS)

CHICAGO. The potential revival of the Hollywood musical is upon us with Chicago—for better or worse. Ignoring its politicized ramifications as a genre revival, Chicago on its own is a pretty wild ride, showcasing once and for all that the new school of glitzy film stars can sing better than Jennifer Lopez. Catherine Zeta-Jones, Renee Zellweger, and especially John C. Reilly are surprisingly watchable in this furiously edited, expensive adaptation of the murderous Broadway classic. Die-hard Bob Fosse fans may leave screaming in disgust, but fortunately for the rest of us director Rob Marshall knows the difference between film and theater, and milks it with remarkable excess. Chicago screens at 12:30, 1:15, 3:45, 6:45, 7:30 and 9:45 p.m. (CJF)

KENDALL SQUARE CINEMA

ONE KENDALL SQ., (617) 494-9800

25TH HOUR. Spike Lee’s latest film isn’t much of a narrative departure from his previous efforts. Money and shattered dreams rule this story of drug dealer Monty Brogan’s (Edward Norton) last day of freedom before his seven-year jail sentence begins. The final act packs a phenomonal punch, but its dealer-with-a-heart-of-gold premise is predictable and derivative, typical of Lee’s long-time filmic obsession with the soft side of seemingly reprehensible humanity. 25th Hour screens at 2:55, 6:35 and 9:30 p.m. (CJF)

ANTWONE FISHER. Denzel Washington’s directorial debut recounts the life of its screenwriter and title character. Abused verbally by his foster mother and sexually by his foster father, Fisher later avoids dismissal from the military by agreeing to psychiatric counseling with Dr. Jerome Davenport (Washington), who helps him overcome his difficult past. If a side-plot involving a patient potential love interest (Joy Bryant) makes Antwone Fisher Good sound like Good Will Hunting, Washington’s film similarly benefits from strong acting and its hopeful depiction of a tormented youth on the verge of adulthood. Antwone Fisher screens at 1:40, 2:35, 4:20, 6:30, 7:05, 9:10 and 9:45 p.m. (NKB)

BOWLING FOR COLUMBINE. Michael Moore’s quintessential documentary on red-neck Americana and its political basis has turned more heads in curiosity than a gun show in Harvard Square would. Criticized for its self-indulgence and questionable objectivity, Bowling for Columbine is nonetheless a dazzling example of the power of politically charged cinema. Probably the most talked-about film of the year, Columbine effectively condenses nearly a decade of American history into a digestible, moving meditation on the sources of American gun violence. That’s no small feat. Bowling for Columbine screens at 1:20, 4:05, 7:10 and 9:50 p.m. (CJF)

FAR FROM HEAVEN. The most versatile actress currently making movies, Julianne Moore’s performance in Far from Heaven ranks among her very best. Her poised, compassionate 50s housewife, Cathy Whitaker, makes Donna Reed look like Medea—until she finds her husband making out with another man and herself falling in love with the African American gardener. As her reputation and family life shatter, Moore’s prim mother strains admirably and pathetically to keep herself going. Her character’s pristine married life behind her, the concluding expression on Moore’s face is as poignant and devastating as that of Meryl Streep’s suicide victim in Sophie’s Choice. Far from Heaven screens at 1:50, 4:15, 6:45 and 9:35 p.m. (NKB)

GANGS OF NEW YORK. In Gangs of New York, Leonardo Dicaprio solidifies his reputation as the savior of super-long historical epics that go tens of millions of dollars over-budget. In his first decent film since Titanic, Dicaprio plays Amsterdam Vallon, another troubled but determined young man struggling against deep social divisions. Last time he was trying to give Kate Winslet a reason to live; this time he wants to kill a guy nicknamed Bill the Butcher. Gangs of New York is as loaded with scenes of bloodshed as Titanic’s had cliches. Like his last memorable effort, and more than with most movies, Dicaprio’s new film is one whose extreme style is subject to personal taste. Gangs of New York screens at 1, 4:30 and 8 p.m. (NKB)

NICHOLAS NICKLEBY. Adapted from the Dickens novel, Nicholas Nickleby features a diverse cast that includes The Birdcage’s Nathan Lane and The Princess Diaries’ Anne Hathaway. In transferring to the screen the story of a fatherless young man seeking to reunite with his remaining family members, director Douglas McGrath trims subplots and peripheral characters. The result is a briskly paced film with a contagious enthusiasm for its subject. Nicholas Nickleby screens at 1:10, 4, 6:55 and 9:10 p.m. (NKB)

THE PIANIST. Adrien Brody’s magnetic, largely silent performance in Roman Polanski’s Holocaust drama almost compensates for The Pianist’s inconsistent tone and distasteful political sensibilities. Brody’s Wladek Szpilman, who could hardly have picked a worse time and place to be Jewish, transforms from cocky concert pianist to starving phantom hunted by Nazis after escaping death in the bombed-out ghetto. The film soars briefly as it reflects on the redemptive power of music and the Szpilman’s commitment to survival; it stumbles badly in its misleading depiction of universally heroic Poles and in its sympathy for an officer of Hitler’s vicious army to the east. The Pianist screens at 2:45, 6:10 and 9:20 p.m. (NKB)

RABBIT-PROOF FENCE. Those expecting an idyllic romp through the countryside had best look elswehere. This heart-jerker is based on the true story of three Australian aboriginal girls abducted from their homes in 1931 due to a government policy aiming to educate native children in white Australian culture. Portraying their escape from the training camp, the film follows the girls as they avoid professional trackers and attempt to find their way home using the country’s long rabbit fence. Director Phillip Noyce avoids painting the bureaucrat in charge of the program (Kenneth Branagh) as a one-dimensional villain, opting for a more sophisticated view of the racial superiority that is still found in Australia. Rabbit-Proof Fence screens at 2:05, 4:35, 6:50 and 9:05 p.m. (RJK)

TALK TO HER. With Golden Globes and the Oscars just around the corner, the only recognition that Pedro Almodovar’s pretentious Talk to Her deserves is as the year’s most overrated film. Though beautifully shot and populated with a set of unusually complicated characters, Talk to Her shamelessly and outrageously asks its audience to sympathize with a rapist. The film manages, paradoxically, to be both sloppily edited and deadeningly self-conscious. As it progresses, the audience is slowly but surely ushered into a stupor very closely resembling that of the coma victim at the story’s inane center. Talk to Her screens at 2:15, 4:45, 7:20 and 9:55 p.m. (NKB)

—Compiled by Nathan K. Burstein ’04, Clint J. Froehlich ’05, Tiffany I. Hsieh ’04, Ryan J. Kuo ’04, and Benjamin J. Soskin ’04.

—To submit an event to Happening, e-mail listings@thecrimson.com