TOP PICKS FOR THE WEEK
Not hunting for candy this year? Maybe this Halloween, you should watch Sigourney Weaver hunt an alien instead. At 7 p.m. on Halloween night — Tuesday — the Lensic Performing Arts Center, 211 W. San Francisco, will screen the 1979 horror-thriller “Alien.” For those who haven’t seen the film classic, starring Weaver and Tom Skerritt, and directed by Ridley Scott, it follows a spaceship crew that realizes its vessel has been invaded by a deadly extraterrestrial. $5 tickets are available for all ages, though the R rating means anyone under 17 cannot be admitted without a parent or guardian, and it may not be suitable for young audiences.
WAR STORIES: Three authors with three different takes on war and those affected by it will be at Collected Works Bookstore tonight to discuss their latest novels. The event, “War Stories,” includes writers Lt. Col. John Mangan, Jerry L. Rogers and Ronald J. Drez. Mangan, a decorated Air Force veteran who also attended New Mexico Military Academy, will introduce his novel, “Into a Dark Frontier,” which follows an ex-Navy SEAL trying to track down a dangerous cult in the Sahara. Rogers’ “So Long for Now: A Sailor’s Letters from the USS Franklin” pays tribute to his brother who died on the WWII ship. Drez, a Vietnam veteran and historian, wrote “Predicting Pearl Harbor,” which unpacks reports from a general who predicted a deadly attack between Japan and the U.S. decades earlier. The discussion/signings will start at 6 p.m. at Collected Works, 202 Galisteo St.
CAPTURING THE WEEKEND: The Review Santa Fe photo festival’s events continue today through Sunday, with a schedule that includes some free public events and a tribute to famous photographer Sam Abell, who worked with National Geographic for decades and later co-founded the Santa Fe Center of Photography, the nonprofit that hosts Review. Check out http://visitcenter.org/ schedule/ for the full schedule.
The annual festival attracts more than 100 international photographers who come to have their work judged by a group of renowned reviewers. Free artist talks are today 12:30-4 p.m. and Saturday 11 a.m.-4:30 p.m. at the Drury Plaza Hotel, 828 Paseo De Peralta. Tonight’s portfolio viewing at the Farmers Market Pavilion in the Railyard, from 6-8 p.m., is also free to the public
The Photographic Life: A Celebration of Sam Abell dinner and presentation is at 8 p.m. Saturday. Tickets start at $135, with discounts for members and festival pass holders. Festival passes, which start at $75, also allow buyers to enter tonight’s portfolio viewing at 5 p.m. instead of 6 p.m., an opportunity to purchase oneon-one portfolio review time with one of this year’s reviewers and a 1-4 p.m. Sunday tour of local exhibitions at places like Santa Fe University of Art and Design’s Marion Center for Photographic Arts and photo-eye Gallery near the Railyard. With tickets to the celebration, passholders also receive access to the cocktail reception before the Sam Abell dinner and an after-party.
MORE BALLOONS: Those who didn’t want to brave the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta crowds may want to try the more low-key Taos Mountain Balloon Rally instead. The 35th annual festivities, which include food and art vendors, run today through Sunday. Dawn patrols starts at 7 a.m. and mini mass ascensions will also be held each day at 8:15 a.m. A parade will start today at 1 p.m. from the Balloon Rally Field, on Albright Street behind the Taos County Courthouse, to Kit Carson Park. The Balloomenshine, in which the hot air balloons glow with colors from their burners, will be Saturday at dusk. Events are free and open to the public.