Regional arts and entertainment events
Sunday Rise of the machines Back in the day (i.e., the 1970s), it was a lot easier to keep an eye on computers to make sure they weren't plotting to take over everything. For one thing, they were really big, taking up whole rooms or even hollowed-out mountains,
Sunday
Rise of the machines Back in the day (i.e., the 1970s), it was a lot easier to keep an eye on computers to make sure they weren't plotting to take over everything. For one thing, they were really big, taking up whole rooms or even hollowed-out mountains, and had lots of flashing lights, like the title character of Joseph Sargent's compelling 1970 techno-thriller Colossus: The Forbin Project. In this dystopian classic, a scientist creates a supercomputer to control the American nuclear arsenal, only to see it link up with its Soviet counterpart and use the combined might to slowly take over the world. Of course, we of the future (i.e., 2011) know that nothing of the sort occurred, and computers are so small they can fit in our pockets and help us plan our day, communicate with one another via texts, and even provide plug-in entertainment. (Wait . . . perhaps the predicted future is actually here, and the digital world is actually in charge? Nah, can't be.) The film screens at 2 p.m. at the Colonial Theatre, 227 Bridge St., Phoenixville. Tickets are $8. Call 610-9117-1228.
Monday
Twists on twang A fine country music triple bill: The local traditional bluegrass quartet Keystone Mountain Boys, Los Angeles punk-folkies Rose's Pawn Shop, and Philly lo-fi outfit Grand Wagoneer. They play at 8 p.m. at the North Star Bar, 2639 Poplar St. Tickets are $8. Call 215-787-0488.
Tuesday
Man on the run Alfred Hitchcock's most perfect film, the 1959 thriller North by Northwest, in which an ad exec is mistaken for a spy and pursued across the country by a mysterious cabal, screens at 7 p.m. at the Bryn Mawr Film Institute, 824 W. Lancaster Avenue, Bryn Mawr. Tickets are $10; $7 for seniors and students. Call 610-527-9898.
Talking baseball For those of us who have never come close to catching a foul ball or home run, the achievement of Zack Hample - grabbing more than 4,600 baseballs from the stands at major league parks - is kind of awesome (and, yeah, a bit outside the lines). In his book The Baseball: Stunts, Scandals, and Secrets Beneath the Stitches, Hample shares both the secrets of his success and the stories behind some of his treasured souvenirs. He discusses his work on a double bill with Neil Lanctot, author of Campy: The Two Lives of Roy Campanella, a biography of the Nicetown native and Dodger great, at 7:30 p.m. at the Free Library, 1901 Vine St. Admission is free. Call 215-567-4341.
Wednesday
Sound and vision Conductor Lucas Richman leads the Russian National Orchestra as they perform George Fenton's score live to accompany selections from the BBC documentary series The Blue Planet, with Jane Pauley as narrator. The event begins at 8:30 p.m. at the Mann Center for the Performing Arts, 5201 Parkside Ave. Tickets are $10 to $49.50. Call 215-893-1999.
From the roots Singer and bassist Amy LaVere performs her heartfelt alt-country songs of love and loss - and throws in a Captain Beefheart cover just to make it absolutely true Americana - on her dynamite new CD Stranger Me. She plays at 8 p.m. at World Cafe Live, 3025 Walnut St. Tickets are $15. Call 215-222-1400.
Thursday
Chamber music plus sand An 11-piece string orchestra, the Carnegie Ensemble, plays works by Tchaikovsky, Handel, Franck, Grieg, and Massenet at 7:30 p.m. at the Great Auditorium, Pilgrim and Ocean Pathways, Ocean Grove, N.J. Tickets are $13. Call 1-800-590-4064.
Next role Oscar-winner Tim Robbins may have played a folkie-turned- politician in his 1992 film Bob Roberts, but his musical background goes deeper than that. His father was a member of the 1960s group the Highwaymen and managed the landmark Gaslight Cafe in Greenwich Village, so he grew up in that business before getting into the movies. The actor reaches back to his personal roots for his pop-folk tunes, which he performs with a crack backing band, the Rogues Gallery, at 8 p.m. at the Sellersville Theater, 24 West Temple Ave., Sellersville. Tickets are $40 and $55. Call 215-257-5808.
Friday & Saturday
Live and up close You've seen the movie, now check out the band. Veteran Canadian heavy-metal trio
Anvil
, stars of the 2008 documentary
Anvil! The Story of Anvil
, which salvaged them from obscurity, play at 9 p.m. Friday at
the Note
, 142 E. Market St., West Chester. Tickets are $17. Call 484-947-5713.
Country girl Big-voiced Nashville-via-Manhattan singer-songwriter Amy Speace performs her pop-country gems at PSALM, 5841 Overbrook Ave., at 8 p.m. Friday. Tickets are $25. Call 215-477-7578.
The lower depths Best known for his TV series Insomniac, in which he traveled the country taking in late-night attractions, Dave Attell is an incisive expert on the funnier aspects of the dark nights of the soul. He performs at Helium Comedy Club, 2031 Sansom St., at 8 and 10:30 p.m. Friday, and 7 p.m. Saturday. Tickets are $30. Call 215-496-9001.