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It's relatively quiet on the events front, but we'll cut everyone some slack since it's the day after a long weekend. What we found, though, makes up in quality what it lacks in quantity: The Getty opens Heaven, Hell, and Dying Well: Images of Death in the Middle Ages; there's a Re-Animator film screening and panel discussion and a book reading by essayist Mark Dery. Read on for all the details.
ART
The Getty Museum draws mostly from its permanent collection for its latest exhibition, Heaven, Hell, and Dying Well: Images of Death in the Middle Ages, on view today through Aug. 12. Death and the afterlife were popular topics for art of the Middle Ages: Depictions of cruel demons, valiant angels and gruesome deaths illuminate the ideas of heaven and hell. The collection includes imagery from illuminated manuscripts, stained glass, printed books and paintings. Free entrance, but parking at the Getty is $15.
BOOKS
Essayist Mark Dery reads from and signs his new collection, I Must Not Think Bad Thoughts tonight at 7:30 pm at Skylight Books. His drive-by critiques of an America gone mad include essays on the “pornographic fantasies of Star Trek fans; Facebook as Limbo of the Lost; George W. Bush’s fear of his inner queer; the theme-parking of the Holocaust; the homoerotic subtext of the Superbowl; the hidden agendas of I.Q. tests; Santa’s secret kinship with Satan; the sadism of dentists; Hitler’s afterlife on YouTube; the sexual identity of 2001’s HAL; the suicide note considered as a literary genre; the Surrealist poetry of robot spam; the zombie apocalypse; Lady Gaga; the Church of Euthanasia; toy guns in the dream lives of American boys; and the polymorphous perversity of Madonna’s big toe.”
FILM*
The 1985 cult classic Re-Animator is a gruesome blend of sci-fi/horror/comedy based on an H. P. Lovecraft story. Directed by Stuart Gordon, an experimental theater director, the film is a melodramatic romp through absurdity. It’s been recently recreated for the stage and Cinefamily tonight hosts Gordon and cast members from the play to discuss the issues of transplanting Re-Animator to the stage. The panel discussion ends with the screening of the 1985 film. The play, Re-Animator: The Musical, runs through Sunday, June 3rd at The Hayworth Theatre. Don’t miss it! 8 pm. Tickets: $12 / free for nonmembers.
*Pencil pick of the day
Want more events? Follow me on Twitter (@christineziemba). Or follow Lauren Lloyd—who takes care of Pencil on Wednesdays (@LadyyyLloyd).
