Volleyball, Dalí, and Feminists Rule This Week’s Recommended Events

“Salvador Dalí: Masterpieces From the Argillet Collection Archives”

Through February 2, West Chelsea Contemporary

Pierre Argillet befriended many futurists, surrealists, and Dadaists during his time as an art collector, photographer, and publisher, but Salvador Dalí remained his most famous collaborator. The French publisher and Spanish painter produced nearly 200 etchings and engravings from 1960 to 1974 – many of which have never been exhibited to the public. Now overseen by his daughter, Christine Argillet, this collection features hand-colored etchings by Dalí, plus works by avant-garde contemporaries like Hans Bellmer, Giorgio de Chirico, and Leonor Fini.   – Carys Anderson

Redline

Monday 13, We Luv Video

According to my friend, this is the only good anime. Figures that a Death Race-style bonanza featuring sci-fi shenanigans makes for the anime-hater’s exception. (Here’s where I add that I do not believe this friend’s purported anime dislike as he has too strong an opinion on Evangelion for that to be true.) But he’s right to put these wacky racers on a pedestal! First feature effort from director Takeshi Koike (known for the Animatrix short “World Record” as well as multiple Lupin the Third OVAs) the kinetic street-race story comes straight from studio Madhouse, aka the folks who brought you Perfect Blue, Death Note, and Wicked City. See you on Planet Roboworld, or eat my dust.   – James Scott

The Book Club Was Better: Stephen King’s The Shining

Monday 13, BookPeople

If you, too, are interested in years-old beef between two of America’s biggest cultural creators, then reading The Shining is a great start. After all, how else can you gain your footing in the King v. Kubrick wars? One wrote this hotel-centric horror while battling alcoholism, perhaps revealing more of his fears than he wanted to admit in paternal nightmare Jack Torrance. The other took from the page what visually appealed, crafting a story where a father’s anger consumes everything in its path – including his family. Chat with fellow literature lovers about the novel’s thematic differences to the classic film, and perhaps you, too, will shine on.   – James Scott

Sunset Boulevard

Monday 13, Alamo Mueller

I’m not lucky enough to witness erstwhile Pussycat Doll Nicole Scherzinger give her best Gloria Swanson in Broadway’s current revamp of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical version of this classic film. Fun fact: The settlement from the original 1994 musical helped certified badass Patti LuPone build her spiteful “Andrew Lloyd Webber Memorial Pool,” after she was booted in favor of Glenn Close. I live for a petty queen. But if you prefer your queens on the delusional side, Norma Desmond is right there, waiting for her close-up. Who needs Broadway when you have certified silent stars cardplaying their way through irrelevance, victimizing schmoozy young men all the while. That’s our Norma. See her as she should be seen – in theatres, darling.   – Cat McCarrey

Video Vortex: Mystery Transmission 020

Monday 13, Alamo South Lamar

I spent too long trying to puzzle out this week’s mystery pick. Here are the hints provided: It’s an Eighties horror anime in the sci-fi, tech subgenre – calls to mind Ghost in the Shell, or even the undersung Wicked City – that’s based on a video game. Wouldn’t you know it, but anime OVA (that’s original video animation to all the uncultured) originating from a video-game IP is a crowded field. Thankfully, the wet and weird proliferating most Eighties horror anime watches best when you’re caught off guard. So leave the title a secret when you grab your ticket, and enjoy the nightmares you get later.   – James Scott

The Cruise (1998)

Monday 13 & Saturday 18, AFS Cinema

Anyone who is radically themselves attracts a lotta attention. Such is the case with the singular Timothy “Speed” Levitch, who anchors this low-budget documentary about his offbeat New York City bus tours. Filmmaker Bennett Miller operated a handheld camera on Levitch’s bus, recording over 80 hours of his frantic narration about the city, which then underwent eight months of editing with no input from the film’s subject. In the end, what AFS screens is a snapshot of Nineties NYC through one man’s words – Levitch’s oddball opining a perfect match for the city that never sleeps.   – James Scott

Feminists Do Memoirs: Glynnis MacNicol's I’m Mostly Here to Enjoy Myself

Monday 13, BookWoman & virtual

James in 2012 would be amazed to have to repeat this phrase, but as 2025 begins, I feel it must be said: Being a feminist is a good thing. Sorry to shock our readers with this revelation – most of whom I think agree, although Chronicle letters to the editor often disprove this – but you know! It’s true, okay. BookWoman keeps the title in good circulation through their book club, Feminists Do, where this month they’ll dig into the memoir genre. Author Glynnis MacNicol’s Paris-set memoir in question dismisses the complete new year reinvention to instead “experience the radical enjoyment that comes with being fully ourselves and focusing our energy towards pleasing ourselves, rather than others.” Go on: I dare you to have a lovely feminist time.   – James Scott

Supernatural (1933)

Tuesday 14 & Saturday 18, AFS Cinema

A plane crash took Carole Lombard too young – only 33, she was flying back from a war bond rally – but her all too brief career was impactful enough to put her on the metaphorical Mount Rushmore of screwball comediennes. That’s what makes this Victor Halperin horror so intriguing: Carole Lombard – in a horror movie? Part of Austin Film Society’s ongoing Essential Cinema series exploring pre-Hays Code pictures, Supernatural stars Lombard as a socialite possessed by the spirit of a serial killer who is seeking revenge on the man – a fake medium – that turned on her. Spooky stuff from such a funny lady.   – Kimberley Jones

VHGuesS: Dawn of the Pub Quiz

Tuesday 14, We Luv Video

Are you one of those film buffs? It may not have the dry prestige of Civil War buff, but it’s still a highly respectable type of buff. Flex your skills and celebrate the dawn of a new era with We Luv Video movie trivia hosted by the venerated Jonpaul Guinn, a buff who knows his stuff after honing his skills as a Jeopardy! contestant, amateur critic, and writer for Geeks Who Drink and Water Cooler Trivia. This first edition will focus on the new year, beginnings, and rejuvenation, which is such a broad category you can’t really cram for this one. Good luck!   – Kat McNevins

89th Legislature Opening Day Celebration

Tuesday 14, Texas Capitol Room E2.318

As the Legislature begins its 89th session, celebrate with local state Rep. Vikki Goodwin’s office as they kick off the day with light refreshments before the swearing-in ceremony at noon. The Capitol will be abuzz with representatives and senators to rub elbows with, and of course there’ll be the exciting reveal of who will become speaker of the House. For more info about the Lege, keep an eye on our News section.   – Kat McNevins

Hot Rod Movie Party

Tuesday 14, Alamo Village, Slaughter Lane & Lakeline

No one understands my love of physical comedy, but I continue to wonder: Doesn’t my uncontrollable laughter at Andy Samberg’s 45-second fall from a cliff in Hot Rod explain itself? Hopefully the folks who come out to watch this 2007 film – the first of three flicks by the Lonely Island that Alamo Drafthouse is showing this winter in celebration of Saturday Night Live’s 50th anniversary – enjoy this scene as much as I do. Like all of these Drafthouse events, the screening comes with themed props; this one’s gotta have a motorcycle, right?   – Carys Anderson

Broadway in Austin Presents Clue: Live on Stage

Tuesday 14 – Sunday 19, Bass Concert Hall

In 1985, everyone asked, “Why would you try to turn a board game into a film?” and yet we got Clue, one of the all-time comedy greats. In 2017, everyone asked, “Why would you try to make a stage comedy of one of the all-time funniest movies?” to which the only reply should be, “Why do you keep asking stupid questions?” Sandy Rustin’s reworking of the gut-busting original script by Jonathan Lynn brings Colonel Mustard, Mrs. White, Yvette, and the whole list of suspects to the stage for a murderous night of whodunit hilarity.   – Richard Whittaker

LOVB Atlanta vs. LOVB Austin

Wednesday 15, H-E-B Center at Cedar Park

Volleyball’s popularity continues to ascend as another United States-based indoor league enters the fold. LOVB Pro, a six-team league founded by League One Volleyball (LOVB), commenced its inaugural season earlier this week. Fans of the Longhorns volleyball program in recent years will recognize some familiar faces on LOVB Austin. Recent UT graduate Madisen Skinner joins a star-studded squad alongside national championship-winning collegiate teammates Logan Eggleston, Zoe Jarvis, Asjia O’Neal, and Saige Ka’aha’aina-Torres. LOVB Austin’s home opener comes against a LOVB Atlanta team featuring new All-American signee Rachel Fairbanks.   – Derek Udensi

Bloomin Mud Shuffle

Wednesday 15, Hyperreal Film Club

Nobody said the film business was fair. If it was, then maybe more people would know Frank V. Ross as a director and storyteller than for his bit part in Joe Swanberg’s Drinking Buddies. He’s an artist seemingly most appreciated by other artists – people like Austin indie innovator Andrew Bujalski, who will host this Austin premiere of Ross’ 2015 comedy-drama. It’s arguably one of the last great works to be labeled “mumblecore” (a designation earned as much by its style as by the onscreen presence of his fellow Chicagoan Swanberg and Bujalski’s Beeswax star Alex Karpovsky). Like this being the first local screening for this movie, it’s better late than never to appreciate his understated observational genius.   – Richard Whittaker

MoonLAUF

Wednesday 15, UMLAUF Sculpture Garden + Museum

Whatever notions you have about art being an indoor thing, the UMLAUF Sculpture Garden + Museum wants you to shed those in the new year – and why not do so by the light of a (nearly) full moon? The UMLAUF keeps late hours (4-8pm) on Jan. 15 and Jan. 29 so you can roam the grounds after dark and enjoy current exhibit “Design Shine,” a collab between UMLAUF and AIA Austin that celebrates innovative design and artistic creativity via day-to-night installations. This year’s theme, “Sit With Us,” challenges artists to turn a humble chair into a work of art.   – Kimberley Jones

“Refusing Erasure”

Through February 9, Link & Pin Gallery

Carlos Barberena’s woodcut and linograph prints combine the ancient gravitas of biblical illumination with the visceral heartache of modern life. They show populations that exist, that defy attempts to be stamped out or glossed over, and elevate them to sacred scenes. His most familiar might be a print of George Floyd, the familiar portrait surrounded by decorative curls. But there’s similar defiance in all the prints – the refugee mother with a baby on her back in Exodus, nestled in leaves like a decorative seal. Or the obvious Pietà reference in Santo Pollero, sanctifying the act of sharing water in border crossings. Barbarena’s work does, indeed, refuse erasure.   – Cat McCarrey

Beth Garrabrant: Things Shouldn’t Be So Hard

Thursday 16, First Light Books

First off: Agreed! They shouldn't. Acclaimed photographer Beth Garrabrant, best known for her ethereal portraits of Taylor Swift (folklore, The Tortured Poets Department), explores youth and all its ordinary but profound moments in her debut photobook. This first collection from Garrabrant draws from over two decades of capturing such moments, and comes with an intro from award-winning director Kelly Reichardt (Meek’s Cutoff, Certain Women), who compares the artist to modern masters Robert Adams and William Eggleston. At this celebration of the book release, get a copy and hear a convo between Garrabrant and local photographer Marshall Tidrick.   – Kat McNevins

Book Exchange

Thursday 16, Blue Owl Brewing

Book ’em, boys! Ha. Just a little reader-ly humor over here from a guy with an English degree. Anyway, if you’ve had a literary New Year’s resolution on the books since 2020 that still hasn’t seen movement, sour beer sanctuary Blue Owl hosts a book swap where all are welcome to exchange gently loved tomes for one that’s new-to-you. Nothing fills out that empty bookcase in your living room like – no-duh – books!   – James Scott

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Want to see all of our listings broken down by day? Go to austinchronicle.com/calendar and see what's happening now or in the coming week.