Night+Day

wednesday
january 3
Toru Toru Toru A sound design pioneer in the '50s and '60s, Japanese composer Toru Takemitsu has scored more than 90 films, including Woman of the Dunes and Akira Kurosawa's Ran. "My music is composed as if fragments were thrown together unstructured, as in dreams," wrote Takemitsu, whose work mixes orchestral sounds with folk instruments like the Indonesian gamelan, Turkish flute, and Japanese taiko drums. Editors/translators Yoshiko Kakudo and Glenn Glasow sign Confronting Silence: Selected Writings of Toru Takemitsu at 5 p.m., then Charlotte Zwerin's documentary Music for the Movies: Toru Takemitsu screens at 7 p.m. at the Asian Art Museum, Golden Gate Park, S.F. Free; call 668-6404.

Very Scary Comic book artist Daniel Brereton is inspired by the imaginary monsters that lurked in the shadows of his bedroom as a child; in contrast, Tim Vigil's Gothic imagery comes from sources like Faust. Their exhibits, Brereton's "The Nocturnals" and Vigil's "Love of the Damned," offer recent works; see them from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Cartoon Art Museum, 814 Mission, S.F. Both shows continue through April 14. Admission is $1.50-2.50; call CAR-TOON.

Sacred Cow Slaughter Care to join in the public trashing of a revered figure? You have two choices: 1) The Missionary Position: Mother Teresa in Theory and Practice, in which journalist Christopher Hitchens claims the wizened old saint is actually an evil powermonger with corporate allies (Hitchens' book recently spawned a British TV documentary on Mother Teresa called Hell's Angel). 2) The Memory Wars: Freud's Legacy in Dispute, in which Berkeley Professor Frederick Crews launches an assault on Sigmund Freud and the "repressed memory" therapy he feels the psychoanalyst spawned. Hear Hitchens at 7:30 p.m. at Modern Times Bookstore, 888 Valencia, S.F. Free; call 282-9246. Hear Crews at 7:30 p.m. at A Clean Well-Lighted Place for Books, 601 Van Ness, S.F. Free; call 441-6670.

thursday
january 4
Hairdresser on Fire A sort of punk gay remake of That Cold Day in the Park by Robert Altman, No Skin Off My Ass charts the lonely life of a Sandy Dennis-obsessed hairdresser (Bruce La Bruce) with a crush on a stoic skinhead. Made in the early '90s, when La Bruce and fellow J.D.'s zine creator G.B. Jones were still together, No Skin fuses the former's movie mania with the latter's radical chic (meant as a compliment); as far as "underground" cinema goes, it's funnier, smarter, and prettier than anything by jaded NY art hags like Richard Kern and Lydia Lunch. See it at 7:30 and 9:15 p.m. at the Red Vic, 1727 Haight, S.F. Tickets are $3-5.50; call 668-3994.

Body Parts An artist/filmmaker, Jerry Ross Barrish is also one of the Bay Area's best-known bail bondsmen: In the '60s, he helped bail out many civil rights activists. "Constructions of Found Objects" is Barrish's first solo show after more than 70 group exhibits; it features life-size human figures created from castoffs. The figures are on view through Jan. 27 at Ebert Gallery, 49 Geary, S.F. Free; call 296-8405 for hours.

Jackie and the Jet Nineteen seventy-eight's Snake in Eagle's Shadow casts action idol Jackie Chan as a menial gym employee who learns the art of "snake boxing" from a man he saves from death. Nineteen ninety-five's High Risk casts Jet Li as a stuntman for an action idol modeled after none other than Jackie Chan. A new 35mm print of Snake in Eagle's Shadow screens at 3 and 7 p.m., and High Risk screens at 5 and 9 p.m. (through Saturday) at UC Theatre, 2036 University, Berkeley. Tickets are $6.50; call (510) 843-6267.

Eye Spy Collaborative artists Eric Saks and Patrick Tierney once commandeered a city dump truck and loaded it with several tons of cardboard donated by a Boise paper company. Five years later, artwork made from the gray pulp is on display in "Neglectosphere," a show that includes 100 fake surveillance devices and 100 small collages. In artspeak, Saks and Tierney turn nostalgia (in particular, nostalgia for the '50s) into the tool of a "police state." But is their stuff fun to look at? Find out at a 5 p.m. reception at Refusalon, 20 Hawthorne, S.F. "Neglectosphere" continues through Feb. 1. Free; call 546-0158.

Double Vision "I hadn't seen Oh ... Rosalinda! in 32 years when Bill Everson ran it for me and Thelma and Martin Scorsese and his class at New York University," the film's director, Michael Powell, writes in his autobiography, Million Dollar Movie. Since 1973, author/historian Everson has shared films from his collection with Pacific Film Archive; PFA returns the favor with "A Tribute to William K. Everson," a series that begins -- appropriately enough -- with Powell's 1949 wartime drama The Small Back Room. Excoriated when the now-classic Peeping Tom was released in 1960, Powell owes much of his reputation to Everson's public enthusiasm; The Small Back Room features some of Powell's splendid trademarks, including flame-haired leading lady Kathleen Byron (best-known as the hysterical nun in 1947's wonderfully gaudy Black Narcissus) and a scene where leading man David Farrar fights off a 15-foot whiskey bottle. It screens at 7 p.m. at 2625 Durant, Berkeley. Tickets are $3.50-5.50; call (510) 642-1124.

friday
january 5
Vespa Velocity "Scooter Rage X" is a weekend-long event presented by the Secret Society Scooter Club. A scooter show, a rock show (with performances by the Swingin' Utters and Hi-Fives), and a "Donut Fest" are on the agenda; the fun starts with a group ride at 7:30 p.m., beginning at the Orbit Room, 1900 Market, S.F. Prices range from free to $10, depending on the event; call 552-1479 for more information.