FILM

Angelika’s Private Screening Experiences

If you’re looking to add a little variety to how you watch films — or just get out of the house — why not gather a group of your closest friends, family, or housemates and rent out a theater for an exclusive screening? That’s the premise behind the private cinema experiences offered at various Angelika Film Centers around the country, including the Mosaic in Fairfax, Va. For $150 plus a minimum of $20 in concessions, you and your group can choose among a lineup of curated films and select a set time that works for your group, and only your group, to come out and see it. An Angelika host will be on hand for additional food and drink orders.

The initial slate of “crowd-pleasing, entertaining, and uplifting” arthouse films, all with ratings above 90 percent on Rotten Tomatoes include Lucky Grandma, Sasie Sealy’s dark comedy, set in New York, about immigrant life, aging, and friendship and described as “a love letter to Chinatown and an homage to all the badass elderly women who inhabit it,” The Booksellers, a documentary from director D.W. Young and executive producer Parker Posey touted as a “must-see for any lover [of] books — and a terrific documentary for collectors of any kind,” House of Cardin, a documentary that offers a rare glimpse into the life of Pierre Cardin and his influence on branding in the fashion world and beyond, Ella Fitzgerald: Just One of Those Things, a riveting documentary featuring never-before-seen images and unheard interviews to bring the late, great, grand dame of jazz to life, and Aviva, an impressionistic movie romance featuring choreography from a former member of Israeli’s Batsheva Dance Company and set in “a New York world of gender-fluid and frequently fully unclothed bodies.” Also available are popular seasonal and holiday titles including Beetlejuice, Ghostbusters, A Christmas Story, and Love Actually. You can also spring for one of the selections in Angelika’s annual Hitchcocktober series, including household Hitchcock names Psycho and The Birds.

The Angelika Mosaic is at 2911 District Ave. in Fairfax, Va. Cost is $150 for a group of no more than 10 people, plus either $20 for two medium popcorns and two sodas or $25 for two popcorns and two boozy beverages. Call 571-512-3301 or visit www.angelikablog.com/VIP to book.

STREAMING

Sarah Cooper: Everything’s Fine

For many, watching Sarah Cooper lipsync to Donald Trump’s ramblings is the only way they can hear the president’s voice without wanting to scream. Or smash something. Or worse. Cooper’s genius short-form interpretations, which often play into the absurd, not only highlight the nonsensical gibberish of Trump’s interviews, press briefings, and campaign rallies, but also showcase her talents as both a comedian and an actress. After parlaying her viral success into appearing at the DNC and guest-hosting Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Cooper is now taking over Netflix with a new special, Everything’s Fine.

Directed by Russian Doll‘s Natasha Lyonne and featuring an all-star cast including Fred Armisen, Maya Rudolph, Ben Stiller, Megan Thee Stallion, Jane Lynch, Jon Hamm, Aubrey PLaza, Whoopi Goldberg, Winona Ryder, and even Dame Helen Mirren, Everything’s Fine casts Cooper as the host of morning talk show “Everything’s Fine,” cutting away from the studio to sketches, mockumentaries, and, yes, Trump ad-libs — although here freed from Cooper’s home and instead taking place on golf courses, the Access Hollywood bus, and more.

Initial reviews are glowing, affirming that Cooper, who worked the stand-up circuit for years before finding viral success, has the talent to sustain her newfound fame. Whether she will spend the next four years creating more Trump videos, or instead get to give us more of her own voice, depends on what happens next week. In the meantime, Sarah Cooper: Everything’s Fine is available to stream now at www.netflix.com. —Rhuaridh Marr

MUSIC

Stevie Nicks: 24 Karat Gold Tour

The preeminent rock diva with one of the most recognizable voices in all of pop and rock — a gritty, growly alto that takes no prisoners — is offering a gift to fans with a concert documentary featuring filmed footage from two stops on her 67-date tour in 2016 and 2017. Stevie Nicks — Live in Concert: The 24 Karat Gold Tour offers a virtual front row seat as the multi-Grammy-winning artist and two-time Rock and Roll Hall of Famer performs as well as shares details about what inspired many of her biggest hits, whether as a solo artist or with her band Fleetwood Mac — a setlist that includes “Rhiannon,” “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around,” “Edge of Seventeen,” “Stand Back,” “Gypsy,” and “Landslide,” plus the first-ever live recording of “Crying In The Night.”

“The 24 Karat Gold Tour was my all-time favorite tour,” Nicks says in an official release. “I not only got to sing my songs but I was able to tell their stories for the first time. I love having the opportunity to share this concert with my fans.”

Directed and produced by Joe Thomas, the film premiered with two screenings last week at select cinemas, drive-ins, and exhibition spaces around the world. This Friday, Oct. 30, the digital version debuts on all major streaming platforms while Target becomes the exclusive seller of a 2 CD set with “Limited Edition Album Art” ($13.99). Vinyl sets will also be released and available at various merchants before the end of the year. Visit www.StevieNicksFilm.com.

Patty Griffin Livestreams

Over the course of the next month, Patty Griffin, the 56-year-old LGBTQ ally, activist, and two-time Grammy-winning folk singer-songwriter, will perform three livestream concerts from the famous Continental Club in her home base of Austin, Texas — all conceived as a way to support live music venues around the country that have been dealt a “devastating” blow as a result of the ongoing pandemic.

In an official statement, Griffin cites the “job losses on so many levels” that have resulted from putting live music on indefinite hiatus since the start of COVID-19 more than eight months ago, from those who work and run the venues, to the “many musicians like myself who have depended on them for years, to not only connect us to income in our touring work but also for the spirit they extend to us in each community [as] places where live music has been loved and nurtured…. I am hoping with these shows to raise awareness, and maybe a little funding, too, for some of these places that are struggling to stay afloat in this shutdown.”

D.C.’s 9:30 Club and Virginia’s Birchmere are among 18 such venues nationwide that will receive partial proceeds from Griffin’s livestreams, which she’s planning as three “completely unique” concerts. She’s got a rich and diverse repertoire from which to draw from, including Grammy-winning work in gospel and folk, hits on the country and pop charts, and songs providing the soundtrack to pivotal scenes in popular films and TV shows. The Saturday night concerts, starting at 8 p.m. on Nov. 7, Nov. 21, and Dec. 5, will air on the livestream platform Mandolin, touted as offering “industry-leading concert-quality audio” and full HD video. Tickets are $25 per stream or $60 for a three-stream pass, with add-ons of a limited-quantity journal, a bandana, and t-shirt also available. Visit www.pattygriffin.com.

DANCE

Jane Franklin Dance: Hidden Talents

“Have you discovered something about yourself that you didn’t already know?” That’s the question at the heart of a new piece from Jane Franklin Dance. Hidden Talents showcases some of the new skills, new habits, and rediscovered abilities that have emerged during a pandemic in which alone time, social isolation, and social distance have been prioritized over the human predilection for social interaction and engagement. Performers “on video” will face off with those in real-time in an exploration of COVID-19-inspired themes including Knit, Work-Out, Bake, and Tap.

The new work will be presented as a livestream package of performances from the Arlington-based dance troupe captured at Inner Ear Studios, the Arlington recording studio that helped put D.C.’s post-punk scene on the national map as the initial recording home for such notable bands as Fugazi, Minor Threat, and the Foo Fighters. The program will also feature 1 X 4, a work of dance solos captured on video from four perspectives simultaneously, and Inner Ear, a video tour of the studio’s physical space, including its “nifty alley adjacent to the back door.” The lineup of performers includes Philip Baraoidan, Kelsey Rohr, Amy Scaringe, Brynna Wilder with Carly Johnson, Roxann Morgan Rowley, Nicole McClam, Emily Crews, and Rachel Scaringe. A Q&A follows. Saturday, Nov. 7, at 7:30 p.m. Suggested donation of $10 to support both Jane Franklin Dance and Inner Ear Studios, with registration required to obtain the Zoom link; donations of $20 and above come with a VIP code for a Vimeo on Demand performance. Visit www.janefranklin.com.

EXHIBITION

Crystalline at ArTecHouse

Although 2020 has been anything but restful, ArTecHouse aims to inspire a sense of calm and tranquility with its final exhibition of the year. The focus is on Classic Blue, or Pantone 19-4052, designated as Pantone’s Color of the Year 2020. Crystalline explores the color’s dependable qualities and its connection with earth and crystals through a surreal, technology-powered exploration of an illusory, blue-hued castle. Guests can learn more about themselves and their surroundings as they discover “creative curiosities” and summon “the sights, sounds, and feelings of Classic Blue” in each room of the castle, designed as a place offering “refuge from the everyday.”

“Before 2020 even began, Pantone selected Classic Blue as the color of the year because they saw it as the hue to sustain us during a time of change,” says Sandro Keserelidze, ArTecHouse’s co-founder and chief creative officer. “2020 ended up bringing changes no one expected, making the hue of Classic Blue, and the qualities it represents, more relatable now than ever before. We couldn’t think of a more timeless and timely theme to end the year and launch a new chapter of experiences.”

The earth-centric examination of Classic Blue in ArTecHouse’s original D.C. location will be complemented by installations in its newer outposts in Miami and New York that offer distinct elemental expressions of the color related to water and air. On display through Jan. 3, 2021. ArTecHouse is at 1238 Maryland Ave. SW. Tickets are $17 to $24 for timed-entry, 30-minute sessions limited to 25 people, or $50 for weeknight sessions at 8 p.m. limited to only 20 visitors. Private weekday sessions for up to 12 visitors priced at $250 are also available. Masks and proper social distancing are required at all times of guests and staff. Visit www.artechouse.com.

EVENTS

Field of Screams Maryland

Billed as the largest haunted attraction in the area, Field of Screams Maryland has adapted its offerings to be “COVID compliant and scarier than ever” for its 20th season, a time when “six feet under goes six feet apart.” The action moves away from the haunted house to be solely outdoors in the woods of Olney, Md., where the event’s two outdoor trails — the Haunted Trail and the Trail of Terror — have been combined to create one terrifying 50-minute immersive experience through a ransacked campground and a serial killer’s lair. Professional actors will portray zombies and other fear-inducing creatures amidst intricately detailed haunted structures and horrific sites. Upon arrival, you and your “bubble group” of four to six mask-wearing, fright-seeking friends will be escorted to a socially distant table near a small bonfire where concessions, including popcorn and sodas, will be served to seated patrons until it’s time to hit the trail.

In addition to a mandatory wearing of masks, other pandemic-spurred changes include contact-free ticketing, timed-entry admission to limit the number of attendees, installation of cleaning stations and enactment of enhanced cleaning procedures, and requirements that all actors along the trail stay six to 13 feet from every guest and that all guests refrain from pre- and post-experience congregating and wandering. Starting at dusk weekends through Nov. 7. Field of Screams is at 4501 Olney Laytonsville Rd. in Olney, Md. Tickets must be purchased in advance and are $250 for a prearranged group of no less than four and no more than six people. Visit www.screams.org.