This Texas A&M professor, author of seventeen books and innumerable articles, reads from his newest novel, a story about the people who searched for gold and the political and social consequences of this era in United States History. The acclaimed Brands was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and his books frequent the New York Times bestseller list. WordsWorth Books, 7 p.m. (JW)

tues, nov 4

MUSIC | Kid Koala

Join the funny Canadian turntablist and his merry band of DJs, P-Love (thugged out Koala) and Jester (nice guy Koala). The Kid is touring for his recently released sophomore album on Ninja Tune, so expect more inimitable record play and stage humor. Also featuring vocalist Lederhosen Lucil and projected animations by Monkmus, who was responsible for Koala’s “Basin Street Blues” video. The Middle East, 8 p.m. (RJK)

films

Kill Bill: Volume I

Quentin Tarantino’s new film centers on a woman known only as The Bride (Uma Thurman), who awakens from a coma four years after she is nearly assassinated at her wedding party by the elite fighting force to which she once belonged. Once she’s up and about again, The Bride sets out on a mission of revenge against her former compatriots. On paper, Kill Bill: Volume I sounds dangerously close to Charlie’s Angels: there are many martial arts action sequences, all of the main characters are women and one of them is played by Lucy Liu. However, whereas Angels was mindless fun, Kill Bill is a thoughtful and beautiful homage to classic themes and styles while remaining the most fun and exciting film of the year. Within the film, one can see hints of all of Tarantino’s influences and tastes—blaxploitation, spaghetti westerns, Hong Kong kung fu, Japanese samurai, anime—but all are wonderfully adapted to fit into the unique Tarantino vision. (SNJ)

Lost in Translation

Fulfilling the boundless promise exhibited in her debut effort, The Virgin Suicides, director Sofia Coppola crafts a sublime love letter to both Tokyo and transitory friendship with her newest film, Lost in Translation. Hollywood star Bob Harris (Bill Murray) has been shipped off to Japan to hawk Suntory whiskey to the natives. There he encounters Charlotte (Scarlett Johansson), the beautiful wife of a photographer who spends much of her day staring out her window in hopes of somehow finding herself within the city’s skyline. The pair are soon discovering Tokyo culture and a profundity in their friendship that is lacking in their respective marriages. Johansson perfects the prolonged sulk, while Murray delivers his best performance yet, donning the hats of weary voyager, droll companion and cynical mentor with equal comfort. There are plenty of belly laughs to be had along the way, but what remains with the viewer is the significance of the fleeting connection that these two people share. Coppola dreamily lingers on every scene, adorning each of them with the sensation of the aftermath of a first kiss. (BYC)

Mambo Italiano

Mambo Italiano opens with promise: warm coloring, fluid camerawork and appealing Italian-themed scenes, with the family eating gelato. We are introduced to in-the-closet Angelo (Luke Kirby), a young Italian man from Montreal finally moving out after 27 years of what he calls “the trap,” living at home with his parents, who just want him to meet and fall in love with a nice Italian girl. After Angelo’s new apartment is robbed, he moves in with Nino, a childhood friend who, like Angelo, is gay. But tell their parents? Fugghedaboutit. Mambo Italiano is a mess. Where sexual orientation, ethnic and family issues should be addressed seriously, another joke is made to relieve the tension. The idea of a gay Italian-French-Canadian has a lot of comic potential; in the end, unfortunately, the director is too overwhelmed to stop making jokes and tell what could have been a winning story. (MRR)

Pieces of April

This low-budget family dramedy, imagines whatever happened to that high school loner who was always up to no good in chemistry class. 21-year-old April Burns (played with unassuming grace by Katie Holmes), armed with the emotional support of her affectionate boyfriend (Derek Luke), embarks on a mishap-filled day of cooking and decoration to prepare her humble New York apartment for a Thanksgiving dinner with her estranged family (headed by Oliver Platt and Patricia Clarkson). Pieces of April showcases homegrown storytelling at its best and marks a strong directorial debut by Peter Hedges (the screenwriter behind About a Boy). (VA)

School of Rock

Jack Black is not a particularly funny man. He can pull off a one-liner, and he brightly sustains the Chris Farley torch of manic physical clowning, but it’s clear that his comedic range is inversely related to his girth. Fortunately, the producers of School of Rock have forged an ideal vehicle for Black’s brand of mischief, and with a sturdy cast and script behind him, he manages to whip up some of the biggest laughs of the year. Black plays Dewey Finn, a guitarist thrown out of his band, rendering him even less capable of paying the rent that he owes his substitute teacher roommate. Posing as his roommate, he assumes the responsibility of educating a classroom of unusually well-behaved fifth graders, who he discovers to be, rather conveniently, excellent musicians. School of Rock echoes with comic and emotional resonance without getting mired in sentimentality, allowing Black to revel in a role in which he manages to hit all of his notes perfectly. (SAW)