[READING]
Mystic Lady
Julien Bourgeois
Shara Worden practices her magic.
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Like a little musical angst with your literary readings? Downtown gal Amanda Stern's always-excellent Happy Ending Music and Reading Series (which usually takes place at the Happy Ending bar) moves to Joe's Pub tonight for this special indie-rock-themed edition, which is presented in collaboration with Sufjan Stevens's record label, Asthmatic Kitty. The evening includes readings by rock writers Alec Hanley Bemis (co-founder of Brassland Records), Daphne Carr (the series editor of Best Music Writing), and Rob Sheffield (author of Love Is a Mix Tape), along with a set by My Brightest Diamond (a/k/a the super-stylish pianist-guitarist-singer Shara Worden), whose new album, A Thousand Shark's Teeth, will be out in June. At 9:30, Joe's Pub, 425 Lafayette Street, 212-967-7555, $15 ANGELA ASHMAN
[FILM]
NYUFF is enough
Film fest takes its final bow
Experimental film will always have a home in New York, but the outlet that brought together hundreds of features, docs, and shorts over the past 14 springs will be no more after the 15th and final New York Underground Film Festival. The opening night features Heavy Metal in Baghdad, which documents the plight of Iraqi heavy-metal band Acrassicauda as it keeps trying to play amid the chaos in that city. The closing-night selection, The Juche Idea, takes a South Korean video artist to North Korea, where he encounters the state's official religion and political ideology, Juche. Other highlights include Gary LeGault's East of the Tar Pits, which stars Holly Woodlawn as a housewife on a pilgrimage to Barbra Streisand's Malibu ranch (to be introduced by the Voice's own Michael Musto), and Super High Me, in which stoner and comedian Doug Benson gets baked for 30 days straight. Through April 8, Anthology Film Archives, 32 Second Avenue, 212-505-5181, nyuff.com, $9–$10 SHARYN JACKSON
[FILM]
NOT SUNDANCE
New indie films celebrated, minus the hype
While some film festivals have long since started to feel like elite networking clubs, the Gen Art Film Festival brings the focus back on cinema—and without the intimidation factor. With 14 films from across the U.S. and Canada—and some serious after-parties attached—there may be a handful of Tinseltowners about, but this time they'll be hanging with you. Tonight's feature film, Diminished Capacity, is a comedy about a down-and-out newspaper editor with a concussion, his borderline-senile homeless uncle, and a very bankable baseball card that brings them together. The film stars Matthew Broderick, Alan Alda, and Virginia Madsen. At 7:30, check for full film schedule and locations, genartfilmfestival.com, $25–$35 (includes admission to after-party) EUDIE PAK
