WEDNESDAY 20

 

Babe in the woods: Antichrist opens Wednesday at the Nickelodeon Theatre.

Wednesdays are for devil movies! The good about Lars von Trier’s Antichrist: The engrossing and entirely terrifying psychodrama-cum-horror film was the talk of the 2009 Cannes Film Festival, where star Charlotte Gainsbourg took home the award for Best Actress. The bad: It was also given a special “anti-award” from Cannes’ ecumenical jury, which gives prizes for movies that promote humanist values, for its alleged misogynist content. And rightfully so: Antichrist suggests that women are evil beings who’ve deserved their persecution throughout history, and that the world has to burn women in order to save humanity. The ugly: Antichrist is also notorious for its explicit sexual violence and gruesome acts of bodily destruction. Still, it’s probably the best argument against couple’s therapy ever. The film opens today at the Nickelodeon Theatre, screening at 3, 6 and 8 p.m. Call 254-3433 or visit nickelodeon.org for more information.


THURSDAY 21

Thursdays are for odd couples! Mahmut is a jaded photographer living alone in Istanbul; Yusuf is a young dreamer who leaves his small village in search of employment and adventure on the high seas. The former’s ordered life is disturbed when the latter moves in, but unlike Felix and Oscar, this odd couple barely speaks to anybody. So goes the premise of Distant, hailed by the Christian Science Monitor as an “unassuming, acutely observant drama”; the film screens at the Nickelodeon Theatre at 6 p.m Call 254-3433 or visit nickelodeon.org for more information.

Thursdays are for big bands! Guy Lombardo might have shuffled loose this mortal coil way back in 1977, but his band of Royal Canadians soldiers on, with Al Pierson leading the current batch of kingly Canucks at 8 p.m. at the Newberry Opera House. Tickets for the big-band shebang are $25; call 276-6264 or visit newberryoperahouse.com for more information.

Thursdays are for chamber music! Chamber music trio The Helix Collective performs at 4 p.m. at the University of South Carolina School of Music Recital Hall. Admission is free; call 777-4280 for more information.


FRIDAY 22
 

Truckin’!: Monster Jam returns to the Colonial Life Arena on Friday.

Fridays are for monster truck madness up in this motherf#!ker! The USHRA Monster Jam motors into the Colonial Life Arena today, bringing with it monster-truck favorites Taz, Nitro Circus — but still no Truckasaurus, much to Eight Days’ dismay — and other motorized mayhem machines. The truck-smashing begins at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $43 for V.I.P. seating and $25 for the Gold Circle, which all but ensures you’ll leave the Colonial Life Arena covered in engine grease, and $21 for the rest of the house; kids tickets are $10. To order tickets, swing by the box office, call 1-877-489-2849 or visit
coloniallifearena.com.

Fridays are for opera! Big trucks smashing the everloving crap out of other big trucks is all well and good, but sometimes you just have to get your culture on. So strap on your cummerbund and dust off your opera glasses and head to the Newberry Opera House at 8 p.m., where acclaimed European opera troupe Teatro Lirico d’Europa performs Strauss’ beloved Die Fledermaus. Tickets are $40; call 803-276-6264 or visit newberryoperahouse.com for more information.

Fridays are for Shakespeare! Not into opera? How about The Bard? The South Carolina Shakespeare Company performs A Midsummer Night’s Dream — in the middle of winter, no less — at 8 p.m. at the Hammond Academy. Tickets are $10 for adults, $8 for seniors and $6 for kids; call 787-2273 or visit scshakespeare.org.

Fridays are for new art! Bored by The Bard and oblivious to the opera? Perhaps some new art will get your cultural motor running: Gallery 80808 opens today its annual Winter Exhibition; this 10th installment features works by Stephen Chesley, Mike Williams, Edward Wimberly and David Yaghjian. The exhibition opens with a reception from 6 to 9 p.m.; admission is free. Call 252-6134 or visit gallery80808.blogspot.com for more information.


SATURDAY 23

Saturdays are for dancing for life! The Columbia Classical Ballet performs its annual LifeChance gala ballet tonight at the Koger Center; this year, the production benefits the Palmetto Health Medically Fragile Children’s Program. Turn to page 19 or click here for more information.

Saturdays are for chicks on roller skates beating the stuffing out of one another! The bone-crushingly bodacious babes of the Columbia QuadSquad take the track at the Jamil Temple at 6:30 p.m. to battle the Lowcountry High Rollers in a bout dubbed the New Year’s Knock Down. In addition to being the year’s first flat-track fracas, this bout also marks the debut of the QuadSquad’s newly minted B-team, The Miss-behavers, which takes on the sister squad of the High Rollers in an undercard match starting at 4:30 p.m. Doors to the derby demolition open at 4 p.m., and The Whig will be slinging beer on site. Tickets are $12 at the door or $10 in advance; call 348-8861 or visit columbiaquadsquad.com for more information.

Saturdays are for belly dance bonanzas! The fact that Columbia Alternacirque, one of Eight Days’ favorite arts organizations, is hosting a fundraiser at Art Bar, one of our favorite bars, is reason enough to get us all a-titter. But not only does this fundraiser feature the belly-baring babes of Delirium Tribal Bellydance, it also features some of the top dancers and belly dance companies on the East Coast, including Knoxville’s Ananda Dance Company, Atlanta’s Awalim Dance Company and Augusta’s Fierce Fusion Dance Company. Indeed, one of the solo dancers — Asharah — is moving from Alexandria, Va., to Columbia to join Delirium. Neat! Local electronic musician Deft Key provides sultry music for even sultrier dances. Admission is $5, and the show starts at 10 p.m. Call 712-3559 for more information.


SUNDAY 24

Sundays are for finders keepers! The Nickelodeon Theatre hosts the Found Footage Festival today; the arts section has more here and on page 18.

Sundays are for gospel music! Speaking on gospel music, Brian Eno recently told The Guardian, “Ultimately, the message of gospel music is that everything’s going to be all right. If you listen to millions of gospel records … and try to distill what they all have in common it’s a sense that somehow we can triumph.” The Koger Center hosts The Debut, a gigantic gospel going-on, at 5 p.m.; the featured singers include gospel chart-topper Maurette Brown Clark and up-and-comers Ms. Wilma and Regina Skeeters. Tickets are $20; call 251-2222 or visit koger.sc.edu for more information.


MONDAY 25

Mondays are for Southern writers! The Richland County Public Library and University of South Carolina Institute for Southern Studies reboot their Southern Writers Series at 6 p.m. at the Main Branch of the library. Today’s guest: Daniel Wallace, writer of Big Fish, which Tim Burton turned into a major motion picture. Admission to the book discussion and signing is free; call 929-3440 or visit myrcpl.com for more information.


TUESDAY 26

Tuesdays are for tasty treats! Today is National Peanut Brittle Day. Mmm … peanut brittle!


WEDNESDAY 27

Wednesdays are for skateboards! Like previous installments, the Skate and Create installation opening today at the Columbia Museum of Art displays decorated skateboards created by myriad local artists, skaters and skate enthusiasts in order to generate skate awareness in the Capital City. The museum is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; call 799-2810 or visit columbiamuseum.org for more information.