Happening: Listings for Feb. 14 to 20

CHINESE NEW YEAR BANQUET. Kick off the year of the Ram with the Chinese Students’ Association 2003 banquet, which includes catered dinner and fruit teas. Featuring traditional and non-traditional performances by groups from Harvard, Brown and Beijing University. Dress code is semiformal. Saturday, February 15, 8:30 PM. Leverett House Dining Hall. Tickets (which go fast): $10 in advance at the Harvard Box office, $12 at the door.

theater

LA DISPUTE. To decide which sex is least faithful, sevearl men and women are raised in total isolation from everyone but their caretakers--and then let loose in the outdoors. The human subjects eventually pair off and swear undying love to their partners. But there is soon trouble in paradise. Though the play is allegedly a comedy, the story contains plenty of sadism and bitterness. See full story in last week’s issue. Through Feb. 22. Tickets $34-$68. American Repertory Theater, Loeb Drama Center, 64 Brattle St., (617) 547-8300. (ADH)

LA CENERENTOLA. Cinderella makes an appearance in an unlikely spot—the Dunster House Dining Hall—in the Dunster Opera Society’s production of La Cenerentola. The retelling of the classic fairy tale features music by eighteenth-century Italian composer Luigi Rossini. With performances beginning at 8:30, glass slipper-wearing audience members can rest assured they’ll have plenty of time to return home before midnight, footwear and carriage still intact. Thursday, Feb. 13 through Saturday, Feb. 22 at 8:30 p.m. Tickets $8, $7 students, $6 Dunster House residents, $10 at the door, available at the Harvard Box Office or by phone (617) 496-2222. Dunster House Dining Hall. (NKB)

IT’S A WONDERFUL AFTERLIFE. Where would you like to visit after you die? The Hasty Pudding Theatricals’ 155th spoof takes you through Heaven, Hell, and Limbo in a production of Divine Comedy proportions. Meet Rabbi Noah Fense, Nun Taken, and the Roman General Curtis Interruptus. Hilarious. Thursday, Feb. 13 through Wednesday, Mar. 19. Wednesdays through Fridays at 8 p.m., Saturdays at 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. (except Saturday, Feb. 22 at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m.), Sundays at 3 p.m. Group discounts available. Hasty Pudding Theatre, 12 Holyoke St., (617) 495-5205. (TIH)

visuals

EXHIBIT BY NEW VES FACULTY. The Carpenter Center is displaying work by new VES faculty members: printmaker Gail Deery, photographers Jim Dow and Mark Steinmetz, sculptor Mel Kendrick and painter John Obuck. Through Feb. 16. Hours: Mondays through Saturdays, 9 a.m. to 11:30 p.m.; Sundays, 12 to 11:30 p.m. Free. Carpenter Center, 24 Quincy St., (617) 495-9400. (SLS)

IMAGE AND EMPIRE: PICTURING INDIA DURING THE COLONIAL ERA. The exhibit features about 50 different works of art that capture different views of colonial India. The paintings, decorative objects, figurines, photographs and sketches not only document the colonial era (17th-20th centuries) in India, but also demonstrate the cross-pollination between British and Indian artistic traditions. See full story in last week’s issue. Through May 25. Hours: Mondays through Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sundays, 1 to 5 p.m. $6.50, $5 students/seniors, free to Harvard ID holders, Cambridge Public Library card holders and to people under 18. Group rates available. Sackler Museum, 485 Broadway, (617) 495-9400. (CWP)

NETWORKS. Featuring the works of house art tutors across campus, this exhibition brings together works of various media, from film to sculpture to painting. Those interested are invited to dinner with the artists/tutors in the Adams Lower Common Room (contact Jen Mergel at jmergel@fas for more information). Open to the public Thursday, Feb 13 from 8-9:30 and Monday, Feb 17 from 7:30-8:30. Adams House Arts Space. (ZL)

music

Kroks and Pitches Valentine’s Day Concert. Love is in the air this Valentine’s Day as the Harvard Krokodiloes and the Radcliffe Pitches fill Sander’s Theatre with their signature classic a capella. Each group is the oldest of its kind at Harvard. There’s no better way to spend a romantic evening than watching these lovely ladies and charming reptilian songsters doo-wop, dance, and dazzle their audience. Friday, February 14 at 8:00 P.M. Tickets are $7 students / $10 regular and are available at the Harvard Box Office or by phone (617)-496-2222. Sanders Theatre, Memorial Hall. (KLJ)

GRANDMASTER FLASH and Saul Williams. The man with “The Message” teams up with the most outspoken and recognizable spoken word artist out there. Also performing are virtuoso turntablist Rob Swift (of the X-ecutioners crew) and gritty avant-rap enclave Dalek. Do not miss this chance to see a hip-hop legend alongside seriously leftfield innovators. Sunday, February 16 at 8:00 p.m. Tickets $24 advance, $28 door. The Middle East, 472-480 Massachusetts Ave., (617) 864-EAST. (RJK)

Beethoven and Fortunato - Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra. The acclaimed Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra performs Beethoven’s Symphony No.4; Steven Karidoyanes’s Cafe Neon, based on Greek folk themes; and Berlioz’s Summer Nights with mezzo-soprano D’Anna Fortunato. One of only four cooperative orchestra’s in the country, the players control the orchestra to an extent completely foreign to most ensembles. Unlike traditional orchestras, Pro Arte’s players, as well as the conductor, decide what music the Orchestra will perform and who the guest artists will be. Music Director Isaiah Jackson is currently the Pro Arte’s conductor. After the concert, audience members can enjoy an Ask the Artists session with refreshments for a nominal charge.  Sunday, February 13 at 3:00 p.m. Tickets available through the Harvard Box Office or by phone (617)-496-2222. $42, $29, $19, $9 with $2 off for students and seniors, $5 off WGBH members. $9 student rush tickets, available 2:30 p.m. the day of concert. Sanders Theater, Memorial Hall. (KLJ)

MR. LIF. Boston’s finest emcee returns for another blazing show. Expect tight rhymes off the dome that cut beats like a razor. Not only is Mr. Lif the dopest, he will drop knowledge on you like a Harvard professor. Also featuring good buddy Akrobatik and Harvard’s own Witness Protection Program. Don’t front. Thursday, February 20 at 8:00 p.m. Tickets $10 advance, $12 at door. The Middle East, 472-480 Massachusetts Ave., (617) 864-EAST. (RJK)

ON A WINTER’S NIGHT with Cheryl Wheeler, Lucy Kaplansky, John Gorka, Cliff Eberhardt. Join four of the country’s leading singer/songwriters in a concert to warm your heart on a cold winter’s evening. Cheryl Wheeler, Lucy Kaplansky, John Gorka, Cliff Eberhardt in concert. Saturday, February 15 at 8:00 p.m. Tickets available at the Harvard Box Office or by phone (617)-496-2222; $26 and $22. No student discounts available. Sanders Theatre, Memorial Hall. (KLJ)

DJ VADIM AND THE RUSSIAN PERCUSSION. Led by Vadim, one of Ninja Tune’s most elite sample warriors, the highly touted Russian Percussion aim to funkify body and soul with integrated scratching, beatboxing and rhyming. What’s more, world-renowned breakbeat ninja Hrvatski (from Somerville) will provide the opening DJ set at 9 p.m. Flip out. Friday, February 14 at 10:30 p.m. Tickets $10. T.T. the Bear’s Place, 10 Brookline St., (617) 492-0082. (RJK)

dance

MAINLY JAZZ DANCE COMPANY: MAINLY MOVIES II. The Mainly Jazz Dance Company performs a concert of pieces choreographed by company members in a variety of styles including traditional jazz, lyrical, hip hop, funk, and modern to movie music from James Bond to Coyote Ugly. Guest starring the Fallen Angels, TAPS, the the Gentlemen of the Sigma Chi fraternity doing the Full Monty. Friday, February 14 and Saturday, February 15 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets available at the Harvard Box Office or by phone (617)-496-2222; $7 regular, $5 students in advance; or at the door: $8 regular, $6 students. Lowell Lecture Hall, 17 Kirkland Street, (Corner of Kirkland & Oxford Streets). (KLJ)

WAR R US AUDITIONS. The Dance Complex in Central Square is auditioning movers and rhythm makers for a piece to be performed at their May 10-11 faculty concert. Rozann Kraus, teacher, choreographer and performer of modern dance, created this new and invigorating work. Rehearsals are scheduled for Mondays at 6 p.m. February 17 at 6 p.m. At the Dance Complex, 536 Mass Ave. For more info on the Dance Complex, go to www.dancecomplex.org. (PKF)

readings

MATTHEW PEARL will appear at Cambridge Wordsworth Bookstore on Monday, February 17, 2003 at 7pm for a reading and signing of The Dante Club. He will also give a lecture on “The New Florence: How Dante Came to Boston” on Saturday, March 29, 2003 at 1:30pm at the Gardner Museum in Boston, as part of the “Museum Talks” series at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. See story, page 6.

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 at dramatic twists, creating a frustrating, complex film that is infinitely insightful and weirdly moving. Adaptation screens at 12:30, 3:30, 6:15 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, 3, 6:30 and 9:30 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 1, 4, 7:30 and 10:10 p.m. (CJF)

THE HOURS. This adaptation of Michael Cunningham’s Pulitzer-winning novel is unapologetically Oscar bait, a solemn, century-spanning “what is life?” treatise backed by a triumvirate of A-list actresses (Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman, Julianne Moore) and directed by Billy Elliot vet Stephen Daldry. Yet for a film of its ostensible weight, The Hours certainly takes easy shots at its lead trio—three colossally boring straw women who rediscover their lost vitality in drearily obvious ways as the picture progresses. Perhaps The Hours’ greatest value rests in its side-by-side comparison of Moore, the greatest actress of her generation, and Streep, the most acclaimed actress of hers; when judged head-to-head, Moore ends up easily topping Streep, if for no other reason than that Streep persists in being an actress onscreen while Moore is content to be a person. The Hours screens at 12:45, 3:45, 6:45 and 9:45 p.m. (BJS)

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 4 and 9:10 p.m. (CJF)

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 1:10 and 6:45 p.m. (CJF)

CITY OF GOD. Brazilian Fernando Meirelles’ high-energy depiction of gang warfare in the titular Rio de Janeiro slum has been met with critical raves and comparisons to the mob pictures of Martin Scorsese. The protagonist, a young photographer named Rocket, succeeds in evading the gang lifestyle; his childhood friend fails to follow suit, instead succumbing to the temptations of crime and power. Dynamic, darkly funny and spitting electricity, City of God presents a strife-ridden world lurching towards destruction. City of God screens at 1, 3:50, 6:35 and 9:35 p.m. (BJS)

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 4:10 and 9:25 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 4:20 and 7:50 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 2:45, 6 and 9:15 p.m. (NKB)

LOST IN LA MANCHA. Visionary director Terry Gilliam’s ill-fated recent effort to make a Don Quixote movie is chronicled in this new documentary. After a difficult pre-production period, Gilliam’s film is slapped with a malicious case of Murphy’s Law once it begins shooting. Six days of location work, flash floods, screaming jets and an injured star force the production to shut down, leaving insurance agents to smooth over the chaos and Gilliam fans to ponder what might have been. Jeff Bridges, who starred in Gilliam’s The Fisher King, narrates. Lost in La Mancha screens at 2:35, 5, 7:30 and 10:05 p.m. (BJS)

THE QUIET AMERICAN. Michael Caine is garnering some of the best reviews of his career for his role as a hardened journalist in this adaptation of Graham Greene’s novel. The film, set in 1950s Vietnam, pits Caine against Brendan Fraser’s undercover American spy as Fraser vies for the affections of Caine’s Vietnamese mistress (Do Thi Hai Yen). Fraser’s intervention in the romance is intended to parallel the film’s other plot—a commentary on the early American efforts to eradicate communism in Vietnam. Christopher Hampton (Dangerous Liaisons) and Robert Schenkkan adapt Greene’s book, while Phillip Noyce (Rabbit-Proof Fence) directs. The Quiet American screens at 2:15, 4:40, 7 and 9:50 p.m. (BJS)

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 1:50 and 6:50 p.m. (RJK)

RIVERS AND TIDES. A documentary about erosion may sound as appetizing as a plate piled high with General Wong’s Chicken, but filmmaker Thomas Riedelsheimer has apparently met the challenge and created an erosion movie worth seeing. Rivers and Tides tracks artist Andy Goldsworthy, a Scottish sculptor of what he dubs “earthworks,” organic creations positioned in a fashion and location that leaves them vulnerable to the elements. Works of stone, ice and wood are placed on land or in the sea in such a way that they are beaten into uselessness or oblivion. Sounds like an Ingmar Bergman PBS documentary. Rivers and Tides screens at 2:25, 4:50, 7:20 and 9:40 p.m. (BJS)

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, 4:30, 7:10 and 10 p.m. (NKB)

—Happening was edited by Ryan J. Kuo ’04 and compiled by Rebecca Cantu ’04, Nathan K. Burstein ’04, Patricia K. Foo ’05, Clint J. Froehlich ’05, Alexandra D. Hoffer ’06, Tiffany I. Hsieh ’04, Kristi L. Jobson ’06, Ryan J. Kuo ’04, Sarah L. Solorzano ’05 and Zhenzhen Lu ’05.