Durham
The Sociologist, The Architect and the Twisting Tower
Nasher Museum of ArtBefore he conjured the soaring, 150-story Chicago Spire, now under construction and set to rise on the shore of Lake Michigan in 2011, or the 1,000-foot, stacked-cube condo that was poised to transform the Lower Manhattan skyline (before it was cancelled last month), Santiago Calatrava, international superstar architect, hadn’t a single skyscraper to his name. In 1999, a dogged, art-loving Swede set out to change that.
The Sociologist, the Architect and the Twisting Tower tells the story of Johnny Örbäch, former chairman of a large housing concern, who wanted a world-class building for his home city of Malmö, Sweden. In the film, he tirelessly shepherds Calatrava’s 54-story “Turning Torso” design through mishaps, cost overruns and many layers of bureaucracy, only to be caught in the middle when the architect’s budget-busting extravagance collides with the Scandinavian form-follows-function practicality of his Swedish hosts. As the project lurches along, it’s hard to tell whether his efforts will be Promethean or Sisyphean.
The screening, part of the Full Frame Documentary Festival Matinee Series, is the third in a quarterly series on architecture. The 2 p.m. screening is $6 (free to Full Frame and Nasher members). Marc Maximov
Carrboro
Zombie Party: Ormon Grisby & Bands
The CaveIt can be a nebulous place sometimes, the nexus of artful horror and schlock. On Raleigh TV station RTN 10, Craig Vance, in the guise of the ghoulish Ormon Grimsby, celebrates this dead zone on his show Monster Creature Feature, where Nosferatu meets Ray Dennis Steckler. Here, he hosts a rock ‘n’ roll monster mash with a solid lineup of bandsThe Tremors, Dexter Romweber, Killer Filler and special guests Billy Sugarfix and Melissa Swingle of The Moaners and formerly of the spooky Trailer Bride. If you’re hoping to catch a full band set of Dex with the New Romans, swing by the Reservoir Saturday night, instead. Gush $5 at 8 p.m. Chris Toenes
Raleigh
Hark the Sound Benefit
Lincoln TheatreFresh faces in the Raleigh pop-punk scene like Left on Cates, the Jealousy Game and Hey Euphony unite to remember the life and legacy of Eve Carson, the UNC-student and much-loved friend. The show starts at 4 p.m., and $10 will get you in the door. All proceeds go to benefit the Eve Carson Memorial Fund. Kathy Justice
Raleigh
Jim White
Berkeley CafeJim White had me from the beginning, that being his 1997 debut Wrong-Eyed Jesus!. Equal parts Flannery O’Connor, Howard Finster, Salvation on Sand Mountain and batter-fried David Bryne, it was outsider art disguised as exotic folk rock. And near that record’s end, bursting out of the spookiness and Deep South humidity, was “Heaven of My Heart,” one of the loveliest, most transcendent songs of that or any other year. White has continued to travel similar bypasses, with the weight of intrigue and lost hope carried in his songs lessened by the gift of surprise. It’s a 6 p.m. show, with tickets costing $12-$15. Rick Cornell
