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: New Edition Day in Boston
It’s been a minute since we celebrated a designated day for pop culture in the city, but Saturday brings perhaps the most notable of all as New Edition Day is declared in the City of Boston. A street-naming ceremony for the iconic R&B group will kick things off at 10 a.m. in Roxbury on the corner of Ambrose and Albany streets, followed by a community block party at the Orchard Gardens Boys & Girls Club on Dearborn Street. It’s all to honor the contributions and legacies of Ronnie DeVoe, Bobby Brown, Ricky Bell, Michael Bivins, Ralph Tresvant and Johnny Gill.
“It is an honor to welcome home Roxbury natives New Edition to celebrate their global impact, from our communities here in Boston to the music industry worldwide,” says Mayor Michelle Wu. “Thank you to all of our City teams for their work in putting on this vibrant series of events that will bring community members together in recognition of our local, homegrown group. This is a unique opportunity to bring Boston’s neighborhoods together in a celebration of culture, pride and community and I encourage every community member to join us to celebrate New Edition’s tremendous impact.”
Bobby Brown sums it up best, adding: “Boston is where it all began for us. This honor means the world to me.” #NE4Lifers
NEW EDITION DAY :: Saturday, August 30 in Roxbury, MA :: Street-naming ceremony at the corner of Ambrose and Albany streets at 10 a.m. and community block party at Orchard Gardens Boys & Girls Club on 2 Dearborn St. at 11 a.m. :: free, all-ages :: Event info
Music: ‘Prince: Sign O’ The Times’ in IMAX
From the desk of senior writer Michael Christopher: Decades before Prince left us hanging at the afterparty for his 2013 Mohegan Sun performance – though he did supply copious amounts of apple juice – he was trying to figure out how to turn American audiences onto his then-new album Sign o’ the Times. The 1987 LP wasn’t resonating close to the same way Purple Rain did in 1984 or even Parade the year prior. Instead of simply going back to the drawing board and trying again like another musician might, the always innovative and ahead of his time superstar tried another approach: A concert film.
If the masses couldn’t understand what he was trying to get across sonically, then perhaps a video accompaniment would help open their eyes. The result was Sign o’ the Times, or Sign “☮︎” the Times – because Prince – which begins a weeklong run in IMAX tonight. Originally released in the fall of 1987, the movie was a flop, dead on arrival at the box office, but retrospectively has been praised across the board as a masterpiece, as it captures the Purple One at the peak of his creativity and showmanship prowess.
Simply put, the 85 minutes of Sign o’ the Times is all someone needs to see if they want to know just what made Prince so special. Earlier that year, he had filmed the final handful of European concerts but was unhappy with the outcome and reshot the entire show at his Paisley Park compound outside of Minneapolis in front of several hundred lucky extras. Backed by arguably his most talented band ever, including drummer/singer Sheila E., keyboardist Dr. Fink, dancer/singer Cat Glover, and singer/keyboardist Boni Boyer, the energy is off the charts.
Meant to replicate the experience of seeing Prince live, as the film also served as a stand-in for a U.S. tour to support the record, it’s like being at the best show by the most talented performer on the planet. This marks the first time Sign o’ the Times has been seen widely since its initial release almost four decades ago, and seeing it in IMAX is like watching lightning in a bottle caught by the late icon in real time.
PRINCE: SIGN O’ THE TIMES :: Now playing in select IMAX theaters :: Listings and showtimes
Film: ‘The Night of a Thousand Cats’ at The Brattle
This summer’s doomscrolling may be dominated by dramatic AI cat-dad videos starring a baby in a strawberry diaper (cut the Bongo version of Sia’s “Unstoppable”), but The Brattle is bringing the kitties back to the big screen where they belong with the weeklong Cat Fancy: A Feline Film Fest. Selections range from An American Tail: Fievel Goes West to Alien, with inspired picks like Amélie, Inside Llewyn Davis, and Kedi along the way until Thursday, but catching our attention is tonight’s screening of The Night of a Thousand Cats, a 1972 Mexican horror film written and directed by René Cardona Jr. and released stateside as Blood Fest. Here’s the word via the Cambridge cinema: “This sleazy Mexican exploitation film follows a privileged serial killer as he stalks his victims around posh Acapulco. His human remains disposal system consists of a giant cage filled with hundreds of feral cats — all ready to turn on their master at the drop of a hat. Kitty Content Warning: Moderate stuntwork by actual felines.”
‘THE NIGHT OF A THOUSAND CATS’ :: Friday, August 29 at The Brattle, 40 Brattle St. in Cambridge, MA :: 10 p.m., $15 :: Event info and tickets