Going to Town

Thursday, September 01, 2005 | Upcoming film, visual arts and music events:

FILM

Grizzly point. That a man who aimed to live among wild Grizzly bears was eventually killed by one isn’t all that surprising – many of the bears meet their end the same way. But some of the most eyebrow-raising moments in the film “Grizzly Man” are during interviews with Alaskans outraged at how Timothy Treadwell spent his summers. No matter that he was perfectly OK with the danger himself, or that the videos he shot over 13 summers reveal the ineffable grace and brutality of nature with unflinching dedication – some of these people are pissed that a human would try, as Treadwell unquestionably did, to become as animal as possible.

We should all be thankful. Though Werner Herzog’s “Grizzly Man” dips into saccharine sentimentality at times, it is filled mostly with the jaw-droppingly real footage Treadwell shot in disregard for the oft-honored boundaries between man and nature. There’s a 3- to 5-minute uninterrupted sequence of two male grizzly bears sparring for the right to mate that’s more intense (but less bloody) than a Hollywood shoot-em-up; a tickling shot of a huge (10 feet) male Grizzly on two legs, scratching his back on the best part of a pine tree; and quiet, poetic moments like Treadwell’s companion Timmy the fox nibbling while a big grizzly grazes behind him.

Treadwell’s videotaped confessions, ruminations, tirades and triumphs are sprinkled throughout, as Herzog tries to match Treadwell’s intimacy with his subject. Combined with the animal footage, they form a well-balanced portrait of this tree-hugging loner, who increasingly thought of himself as the animals’ savior the more time he spent with them (in a national preserve). There could be a boundary between man and nature, but if it isn’t death, Timothy Treadwell didn’t find it.

Now showing at the La Jolla Village Landmark, 8879 Villa La Jolla Drive, (619) 819-0236, http://www.landmarktheatres.com.

More films:

– “Screen on the Green.” Thursday (tonight) at 8 p.m. is the last chance to experience the San Diego Museum of Art’s outdoor summer film festival. Pack a picnic and enjoy Tim Burton’s “Big Fish,” a fantastical film of tall tales projected on an inflatable screen behind the Casa del Prado building in Balboa Park. Free. Info: (619) 696-1966.

-“Fridays at the Fleet: IMAXed Out!” Every Friday night (except during the month of December) at 6 p.m., the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center hosts four IMAX films – two classics and two new hits – for $6 a pop. This Friday, you can step aboard a space shuttle (6 p.m.: “The Dream Is Alive,” 1985), explore the deep corals of Fiji and volcanic peaks of Tahiti (7 p.m.: “Coral Reef Adventure,” 2003), fly with fighter pilots (8 p.m.: “Fighter Pilot: Operation Red Flag,” 2004) and experience music and dance from around the globe (9 p.m.: “Rhythms of the World,” 2002) without ever leaving your seat. Info: (619) 238-1233 or

VISUAL ARTS

Out of sight. What happens when urban infrastructure fails to meet the needs of its residents? You could find out by flipping on the tube and watching the latest images of Hurricane Katrina’s destruction in New Orleans. Or, you could make your way to the San Diego Museum of Art and Centro Cultural Tijuana to reflect on artworks that contemplate those unexpected moments of failure or crisis in urban spaces.

For the first time ever, two major cultural institutions in two different cities – the San Diego Museum of Art and the Centro Cultural Tijuana – have joined forces to simultaneously present more than 100 works by 53 artists from the Americas, Europe and Africa in the collaborative exhibition, “Farsites: Urban Crisis and Domestic Symptoms in Recent Contemporary Art.”

Working in a wide range of media – including photography, painting, installation, video and sculpture – the artists examine specific moments of urban breakdown (both past and present) in major cities around the globe, such as the New York City blackouts of 1965, 1977 and 2003. Other featured documentary projects spotlight Sao Paolo, Mexico City, Buenos Aires and Caracas.

Explore distant cities and wax philosophical on shifting urban landscapes now through Nov. 13. Info: www.sdmart.org and www.cecut.gob.mx. (CC)

More art:

– “Thursday Night Thing’s third anniversary.” Models will strut their stuff during two fashion shows, showcasing a variety of clothing creations (all sporting an artistic twist on the TNT logo) by more than a dozen Southern Californian artists and designers. Visitors who bring a blank T-shirt can design their own unique fashions with creative assistance from local aerosol artist group Writerzblok, while DJs and break-dancers bust a move on the outdoor plaza.

TNT occurs from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. every first Thursday of the month at the museum’s downtown location at 1001 Kettner Blvd. For more information, call (619) 234-1001 or visit www.mcasd.org.

– “Journey.” The AjA Project presents photographs taken by refugee youth living in City Heights and El Cajon. The exhibit will run through the end of September at the Moctezuma Books & Gallery, 289 Third Ave., in Chula Vista. Open Monday-Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. www.ajaproject.org.

MUSIC

Beat this. There’s something captivatingly primitive about a band named simply The Beat. But in the early ’80s, when a roots-loving bunch of boisterous Birmingham lads won over American rude boys’ hearts (er, hips) with jittery, political ska-revival joints, their declaratory moniker had to be amended: someone (a Los Angeles power-pop group) had already claimed it. So the ensemble became the English Beat to U.S. audiences when MTV got around to publicizing their mushrooming genre. (Nowadays, the other guys are all but forgotten … so isn’t it time we the people make the world right and delete that “English” from our iTunes libraries?)

One could argue that the insertion isn’t entirely inappropriate. While The Beat, like all ska-revivalists, used original Jamaican ska and reggae as a starting point, their snappy tempos and urgent, punk-derived guitar lines gave even the most dubby tunes a metallic, more anglo feel (though the inclusion of black musicians in the band, quite a statement at the time, kept all afro-rhythm credentials in order.). That pan-hemisphere combination, shared by the Specials and others of the day, was an English thing. It came about as working class Brits mingled with African immigrants from the new world and stewed together their respective musical heritages in the dingy bars and dancehalls of the turbulent Thatcher era.

The (English) Beat – or at least co-founder and frontman Dave Wakeling – will light the torch once again for a show at the Belly Up Tavern in Solana Beach on Saturday. It’s yet another revival show (their last release was in ’91), which could mean anything in terms of quality. But then, they kind of started out as revivalists. And anyway, how could one miss The Beat?

. All ages.

– VOICE STAFF

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