Skip to main contentAnimators get no respect. I mean, how many can you name off the top of your head? Walt Disney, Chuck Jones, Tom Pixar? Oh come on, Tom Pixar isn't even a real dude, I just made that up! This is what I'm talking about. So it's a good thing we've got curators like Jason Levian of the Floating World Animation Festival. The fest's third incarnation is a celebration of the strange, psychedelic, beautiful and downright creepy sides of modern animation. It features films that by and large replicate very crazy acid trips: Steve Scott and Will Sweeney's The Parachute Ending is equal parts Jim Woodring and Heavy Metal; David O'Reilly's Please Say Something is a terribly affecting cat-and-mouse sci-fi love story that's a little Thom Yorke and a little George Herriman; Return as an Animal is a meditative DayGlo nature film apparently inspired by Lite-Brite and rave culture. By the end of the festival's 100-minute run, you'll have completely rewired your brain's circuitry and learned a few new names in the process. Tom Pixar this ain't.
Headout Picks
WEDNESDAY JUNE 24
[SCREEN, PERFORMANCE]
The oldest experimental film you're likely to see—it was shot in Odessa, Russia, in 1929—with the newest score, performed by the "junk percussion" players of Boston's Alloy Orchestra.
FRIDAY JUNE 26
[STAGE]
Portland Playhouse presents a reading of Pulitzer finalist Adam Rapp's play about a desperate theater company's fundraising scheme—stealing the take of a church bingo game—that doesn't end well.
[SPORTS] RED BULL MANNY MANIA
Complicated skateboard tricks into manual (where one balances on two wheels) means gnarly spills! Fun! Afterparty at Nemo raises funds for the Burnside Skatepark and showcases art from folks like Gus friggin' Van Sant. 1 pm. Pioneer Square, redbullskateboarding.com. Reception at Nemo Design, 1875 SE Belmont St., 7 pm. Free. All ages.
SATURDAY JUNE 27
[SCREEN]
How rare is the Grindhouse Film Festival's 35 mm print of this 1978 mantis-style kung fu flick? It's the only known print in the world. It was dug out of a dumpster and kept in a basement for 30 years. Rare enough for you?
[STAGE/DANCE] RISK/REWARD
Hand2Mouth Theatre presents a double bill of short excerpts of new work, with pieces by Hot Little Hands, Angela Fair, Linda Austin, Janet Pants, Joe von Appen, Rush-N-Disco and Hooliganship. Imago Theatre, 17 SE 8th Ave., hand2mouththeatre.org. 5 and 7:30 pm. $8 per set, $15 for both.
[MUSIC] NO.FEST
Spread across seven alternative venues in St. Johns, the second annual No.Fest is an all-ages, all-day jaunt featuring some of the best experimental music and hip-hop in the city. 8600 N Lombard St. 10 am-11 pm. All ages. Full schedule available at nofest.net
SUNDAY JUNE 28
[MUSIC]
After a public breakup with singer and indie darling Joanna Newsom, Bill Callahan—the voice behind all those great Smog records—returns with what might be the finest work of his career.
WWeek 2015