WED WED. 5/28 It Kinda Scares Me The Israeli documentary It ...
It Kinda Scares Me
The Israeli documentary It Kinda Scares Me focuses on how director Tomer Heymann relates to a group of delinquent adolescent boys as he motivates them to write and perform a play. After coming out to them as gay, Tomer analyzes how they struggle with their own masculinity and sexuality. Makor, 35 W. 67th St. (betw. Columbus Ave. & Central Park W.), 212-601-1000, 7:30 & 9, $9 [repeats Thurs.].
Thur. 5/29
Keri Kelsey
It's a time-honored cabaret tradition for a singer to croon about his or her past exploits. Keri Kelsey does the same in her New York debut, but her former lives have been rather more exciting than the typical lounge lizard's. Tamed lions and tigers in the circus? Check. Swung from the mouth of a dinosaur on a float in the Rose Bowl Parade? Check. Sign language interpreter and literary agent? Yep. Kelsey's interesting experiences make her robust voice that much fuller as she sings the standards tonight in this charismatic performance. Danny's Skylight Room, 346 W. 46th St. (betw. 8th & 9th Aves.), 212-265-8133, 9:15, $12.
Rebirth of a Nation
DJ Spooky expands our sensory appreciation once more with his new work-in-progress Rebirth of a Nation. Spooky's raw material is D.W. Griffith's historical drama, The Birth of a Nation, which portrays the Ku Klux Klan as noble protectors. Using sound and images from the 1915 film, Spooky spins an ethereal sonic web around the notorious epic, churning it into a meditation on how "myths migrate through the culture's operating system." The screening is followed by a discussion with Spooky in which he'll, uh, "elaborate" on the rapid cuts in this sad start for American cinema. That Subliminal Kid can get annoying when he starts theorizing art, so consider leaving right after the show so as to avoid being rude and walking out in the middle of his lecture. American Museum of the Moving Image, 35 Ave. (36 St.), Astoria, 718-784-4520, 7:30, $15.
Fri. 5/30
Cannibal Holocaust
Not to be confused with the following year's Cannibal Apocalypse, Ruggero Deodato's savage 1979 Cannibal Holocaust remains one of the most interesting?even clever and intelligent?entries into the unusually crowded genre of Italian gut-munchers. A documentary film crew sets off to the Amazon, hoping to film real cannibals. When they disappear, a search team lead by an NYU professor goes looking for them. As expected, there's not much left. Maybe some toenails and a shoe. They do, however, find the raw footage the team shot before they were, you know, eaten alive, and bring it back to New York. There they, and we, get to see what happened. It ain't pretty, but it is unexpected. Part of the Sunshine@Midnight series at Sunshine Cinema, 143 E. Houston St. (betw. 1st & 2nd Aves.), 800-555-TELL, 12 a.m., $10, $6.50 s.c. [repeats Sat.].
Glitch Night
Expect to see a bunch of kids who hear static instead of silence milling about Southpaw tonight, with several of glitch's greatest innovators on stage. These artists mix organic sounds into their clicks and giggles, from Manitoba's vocal-swallowing psychedelic washes to Prefuse 73's lush hiphop cuts, to the pulsing heartbeat that opens Four Tet's new album, Rounds. They also manage to confuse us, what with their many side acts and sneaky pseudonyms. Scott Herren, Dan Snaith and Kieran Hebden are promoting new work, and John Herndon's warming up for his Field Day appearance with Tortoise by playing as A Grape Dope. If only they could each settle on a single moniker. 125 5th Ave. (betw. St. John's & Sterling Pls.), Park Slope, 718-230-0236, 9, $12.
Sat. 5/31
The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
There are few film titles that are as indelibly etched across the pop-cult landscape as The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. The three sequenced adjectives have been employed as metaphors by legions of hacks. Returning to the source material rekindles the elemental yet juvenile power of the comic book-deep concept. Set in the waning days of the Civil War, filmed in Spain and Italy, and practically sweating testosterone, Buono, il Brutto, il Cattivo, is an overinflated, giddy headtrip worth checking out again. For the record, Eli Wallach's face has a lot of character?ugly is really too strong a word. Film Forum, 209 W. Houston St. (betw. Varick St. & 6th Ave.), 212-727-8110, 1:20, 4:40 & 8, $9.75 [through 6/12].
SUN. 6/1
Francesca Galliani
The latest photographs from Francesca Galliani were recently shot in small villages in Laos, Vietnam, Burma, and Thailand. The 20x20 and larger images are hand-manipulated with sepia and selenium toners, making them look like photos from a 1920s National Geographic stored too long in a leaky old barn. The combined effect of the technique and the images used lends the show a wistful air of an era passed. Jim Kempner Fine Art, 501 W. 23rd St. (10th Ave.), 212-206-6872, 10-6 [through 6/21].
The Spunks
Not at all like that Japanese noise music you heard on your college radio station, NYC's St. Marks streetkids the Spunks are full-throttle punk rock. Never a band to slow down and always on their best rock behavior, they could fill arenas if only they gave a fuck. But?and, oh my, isn't this just so punk rock?they don't. Recently returned from a tour of Japan, they bring back countrymates Das Boot and Peelander-Z for this self-styled "Godzilla Eats in Hell's Kitchen" show. Siberia, 356 W. 40th St. (betw. 8th & 9th Aves.), 212-333-4141, 8:30. $5.
Mon. 6/2
Murray Hill
The hardest-working middle-aged man in show business is Murray Hill, and now he's finally hitting the big time. You, his "liquored-up, loyal public," are invited to A Comedic Variety Show for the Reality TV Generation. Attend, and you, too, could hit the big time?footage from these shows will appear on televised episodes of The Murray Hill Show, expected to air on cable this fall. Come for the music, comedians and the just-plain weird, in the form of the Wau Wau Sisters, the World Famous *BOB*, the Trachtenberg Family Slideshow Players and more?with Murray as MC, of course. Fez, 380 Lafayette St. (Great Jones St.), 212-333-7000, 7 & 10, $15.
Tues. 6/3
Ashanti Alston