WILLIAMSTOWN FILM FESTIVAL BOASTS ‘KNUCKLEBALL,’ RICHARD RUSSO, STEPHEN HANNOCK DOC, and TOP CHEF
(WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass.) – The 14th annual Williamstown Film Festival kicks off on Wednesday, October 17, 2012, with a medley of old and new short films. Also on tap at this year’s festival, which runs through Sunday, October 21, 2012, and includes 37 films, a half-dozen parties, and events at MASS MoCA, The Clark, Mezze Bistro and Images Cinema, is a screening of Knuckleball, a documentary film profiling those who throw the enigmatic baseball pitch, including R.A. Dickey of the New York Mets and Tim Wakefield of the Boston Red Sox; Pulitzer Prize-winning author Richard Russo talking about film adaptations; and a screeing of Dreamscapes, profiling internationally renowned Williamstown landscape painter Stephen Hannock, featuring a discussion with Top Chef’s Tom Colicchio.
GUITARIST CHARLIE HUNTER BRINGS NEW SOUNDS to CLUB HELSINKI HUDSON
Guitarist Charlie Hunter
(HUDSON, N.Y.) – From the opening bars of “Assessing the Assessors,” the first track on Not Getting Behind Is The New Getting Ahead, it’s clear that renowned guitarist Charlie Hunter and drummer Scott Amendola have gone someplace new and different. The duo, which performs at Club Helsinki Hudson on Friday, October 19, 2012, at 9pm, creates the sound of an after-hours jazz trio (with his seven-string instrument, Hunter does the work of both guitarist and bassist) jamming on the blues. Think Buddy Guy meets Miles Davis. Hunter’s first album of original material in three years, Not Getting Behind Is The New Getting Ahead is a collection of 10 songs centered around the theme of the album’s title. It was recorded with both musicians playing in the same room simultaneously, with no headphones, and there’s no mixing, editing or overdubs on the album. Hunter’s playing is never showy, always economical, and purely narrative – he’s no jam-band showboat, but truly a singer and storyteller through his instrument.
RUSSIAN PIANO DUO KICKS OFF 2012 CLOSE ENCOUNTERS CHAMBER MUSIC SERIES
Pianist Natalia Lavrova
(GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass.) — Russian piano virtuosos Natalia Lavrova and Vassily Primakov open the Close Encounters With Music season on Saturday, October 20, 2012, with “‘Dually Noted: Music for Four Hands,” a program of works for duo piano. The 6 p.m. concert, featuring works by Mozart, Chopin, Schubert, Darius Milhaud and John Corigliano, takes place at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center.
(PITTSFIELD, Mass.) – Berkshire Museum’s Little Cinema will screen The Story of Film: An Odyssey, every Thursday at 7 p.m., beginning October 18, 2012, and running through December 13 (there will be no showing on November 22 in observance of Thanksgiving). The Story of Film: An Odyssey is an unprecedented cinematic event, an epic journey through the history of world cinema that is a treat for movie lovers around the globe. Guided by film historian Mark Cousins, this bold 15-part love letter to the movies begins with the invention of motion pictures at the end of the 19th century and concludes with the multi-billion dollar globalized digital industry of the 21st. Little Cinema will show two parts of the documentary at each screening.
KEB’ MO’ BRINGING MODERN BLUES STYLINGS to MAHAIWE
Keb’ Mo’
(GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass.) – Modern blues artist Keb’ Mo’ will appear with his band at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center on Thursday, October 18, 2012, at 7:30pm. A singer, guitarist and songwriter, Keb’ Mo’ is a three-time Grammy Award winner for Best Contemporary Blues Album and a key figure in the acclaimed 2003 PBS series Martin Scorsese Presents the Blues. Keb’ Mo’ will perform selections from his new album, The Reflection, which finds Mo’ collaborating with such artists as India.Arie, Vince Gill, Marcus Miller, Dave Koz, and David T Walker, and the songs show Mo’ to be a master at blending blues, jazz, r&b and soul through melody and rhythm.
FILMCOLUMBIA SCREENS BIG-NAME FEATURE
Bill Murray portrays Franklin Delano Roosevelt in ‘Hyde Park on the Hudson,’ screening at FilmColumbia 2012
(CHATHAM, N.Y.) – Filmmakers David Chase, Alex Gibney, and James Schamus plan to attend screenings of their most recent works at the 13th annual FilmColumbia film festival, to be held Wednesday, October 17, 2012, through Sunday, October 21, 2012. The festival includes screenings of Dustin Hoffman’s first credited role as director (Quartet); Bill Murray portraying Franklin Delano Roosevelt in a movie filmed in the Hudson Valley (Hyde Park on the Hudson); David O. Russell’s Silver Linings Playbook; the eagerly-awaited first feature by The Sopranos’ David Chase (Not Fade Away); Melissa Leo’s new film, shot in the Hudson Valley (Francine); and Cloud Atlas, a three-hour collaboration between co-directors Tom Tykwer (Run Lola Run) and Andy and Lana Wachowski (The Matrix), starring Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Hugh Grant, Susan Sarandon and Jim Broadbent.
Sandra Bernhard in full diva mode at Club Helsinki Hudson (photo Seth Rogovoy)
SANDRA BERNHARD STANDS UP AT COLONIAL THEATRE
(PITTSFIELD, Mass.) – Those who missed Sandra Bernhard’s fabulous, intimate gig at Club Helsinki Hudson in August get a second chance to see the brilliant commentator and witty observer of social mores and pop culture when the comedian and singer performs at the Colonial Theatre on Saturday, October 20, 2012, at 8pm.