MON 3/1: Film & Music

Sometimes there are littel connections that I find in the listings. Two screenings at colleges... Two music gigs... Two Japan-related items...

--------------------------------------------------------------

MON 3/1

6:30pm
"Comfort and Joy": Screening & Ice Cream
at Adams House Pool Theatre, 29 Bow St, Cambridge (Harvard Sq)
FREE

Without appreciation for the film, I like the idea of some free ice cream.

A feud between between two ice cream companies in Glasgow ostensibly provides the action in the film, but it's the dry humor found in the British Isles that is the treat. It's not close to slapstick, but the laughs come steadily if you're paying attention.

Gus Rancatore of Toscanini's Ice Cream will introduce the film, and maybe he'll dish on the dark side of Boston's frozen dessert biz.

Screening begins at 6:30pm; doors close at 6:45pm.

MON 3/1

7pm to 9:30pm
"Summer Wars": Screening & Discussion
at Room 100, Bldg 26, 60 Vassar St, Cambridge (MIT Campus)
FREE

The Cool Japan Project doesn't lie. One may not be interested in the events they present, but they're almost always cool exports from the Land of the Rising Sun. Tonight's audience members will be the first in New England to see director Mamoru Hosoda's latest anime. From the reviews I've read, it's considered even better than his previous "The Girl Who Leapt Through Time" which was one of the few in the genre to get US theatrical attention.

Mamoru Hosoda will participate the post-film discussion. (I wouldn't be surprised if the room will be full.)

MON 3/1

9:30pm
Peelander-Z, Math The Band, Anamanaguchi, Starscream
at Middle East - Upstairs, 472 Mass Ave, Cambridge (Central Sq)
$10 / 18+

Oh, I bet I know where the Cool Japan people are going after "Summer Wars"... The Peelander-Z tunes sound good, however the real attraction is the spectacle of the "Japanese Action Comic Punk" performance. When three guys dress in wacky outfits and go crazy while dancing, wrestling, and human bowling...

The warm-up party includes fun-loving, cheap-keyboard rock from Math the Band and couple 8-bit videogame synth bands from NYC. Not my thing, but...

MON 3/1

10pm
Gibby & the Buzzkills, Cutthroat Society, Kermits Finger, Tex Railers Doomtown
at Charlies Kitchen, 10 Eliot St, Cambridge (Harvard Sq)
$5 / 21+

Charlies is rocking again like most Monday nights. Cutthroat Society and Kermits Finger are a couple Boston punk trios that deliver the goods. With a name like Tex Railers Doomtown, these psychobilly guys must be fans of a certain Boston TV cowboy. Gibby & The Buzzkills make some tough, garagey powerpop with a female singer and guitars that clang more than jangle. Good stuff all the way through.