Editor’s Note: Welcome to V3 Weekend, Vanyaland‘s guide to help you sort out your weekend entertainment with curated selections and recommendations across our three pillars of Music, Comedy, and Film/TV. It’s what you should know about, where you need to be, and where you’ll be going, with us riding shotgun along the way.
Music: Sarah Blacker at Passim
Certain artists understand that, sometimes, less is more, and Sarah Blacker is bringing that energy into 2024. The veteran Massachusetts singer-songwriter and adult psychotherapist posts up at Club Passim tonight (January 5) for the release of her new EP Horizon Line, and each of its three songs — “Walk On,” “Life Raft,” and the title track — carry a heavy emotional folk weight with relative ease. Blacker’s new EP, which hits streams next week, is stripped-down and vulnerable, allowing her voice to glow under a tender spotlight as the trio of tunes dance with relatable lyrical themes — in finding inner strength, understanding the limitless parameters of time, and holding on to an ability of being true to one’s self in a chaotic world. Horizon Line was recorded live (“mostly,” as she puts it) and mixed at producer Sean McLaughlin’s 37’ Productions studios; what’s soon to be heard on the recordings should obviously translate very well to the Passim live stage.
SARAH BLACKER EP RELEASE :: Friday, January 5 at Club Passim, 47 Palmer St. in Cambridge, MA :: 7 p.m., $25 :: Event info
Comedy: Ian Karmel at City Winery
After a short holiday hibernation, our first article of 2024 came from Comedy Editor Jason Greenough, who delivered the year’s inaugural Mic’d Up just as everyone’s New Year’s Eve bangovers faded away. And because laughter takes no holiday, there was plenty to hype up across the live comedy circuit this week, including an appearance at City Winery on Saturday (January 6) by Emmy-award-winning, Los Angeles-based stand-up comedian, actor, and The Late Late Show with James Cordon writer Ian Karmel. Here’s the word from Mic’d Up: “Mixing a nearly jarring storytelling strength with a genuine appreciation for observational comedy and the journey of a premise, Karmel brings a multi-faceted arsenal to one of the city’s most comfortable comedy spots. There truly isn’t an avenue that Karmel will avoid, which really makes him not only a seemingly fearless artist, but an artist with his finger on the real pulse of the day.”
IAN KARMEL :: Saturday, January 6 at City Winery, 80 Beverly St. in Boston, MA :: 5 p.m., $32 to $40 :: Advance tickets
Film/TV: Refreshed, Restored, Renewed at The Brattle
To kickstart the New Year, The Brattle is throwing it back to yesterday for its Refreshed, Restored, Renewed series, featuring more than 15 films over two weeks, kicking off tonight (January 5) and running to January 16. “From arthouse hits to vintage Hollywood fare, cult classics and wild rediscoveries, this series has something for everyone!” writes the Cambridge indie theater, and proof is in the pudding: It gets rolling today with screenings of Nancy Savoca’s 1993 drama Household Saints, with Savoca and screenwriter/producer Rich Guay in attendance, and a nightcap of David Cronenberg’s 1983 sci-fi classic Videodrome. On Saturday, actor Chris Coooper will be in the house for a showing of Savoca’s early shorts, and the rest of the program welcomes films like Alfred Hitchcock’s 1956 thriller The Man Who Knew Too Much (January 8), Shinji Sōmai’s PP Rider and Typhoon Club (January 10), and John Carpenter’s 1976 action thriller Assault on Precinct 13 (on Carpenter’s 76th birthday, January 16). Hit the links for all the wonderful info.
REFRESHED, RESTORED, RENEWED :: Friday, January 5 to Tuesday, January 16 at The Brattle, 40 Brattle St. in Cambridge, MA :: Showtimes vary :: Event page and info