‘The Wild Child’ Ken Cinema Jan. 30 $10
Peeling off his meteoric success with French new wave in the ’60s, Francois Truffaut continued to deliver hits like a hired hand well into the next decade. ‘The Wild Child’ stars the director himself as benign Dr. Jean Itard, in the true story of a child found living alone in the 18th-century woods of France, unable to speak and savagely independent. Lacquered in a tame black-and-white cinematography, the trope of youth finds an apex in the famed director’s newly restored coming-of-age chronicle. The classic runs for one week only at Ken Cinemas. (EG)
Katy Perry ‘amp; the Daylights House of Blues Feb. 5 $15
Rumor has it that Katy Perry’s going acoustic for ’09. The momentary princess of bi-curious radiopop released the admittedly less lipsticky ‘Thinking of You,’ a leaf-turning ballad that’s winning brownie points from her numerous critics. Though it might sound more at home on an angsty alt-rock record, who’s to say a girl can’t reinvent herself? Along for the ride are the Daylights, the lucky junior stadium-rockers touring with the biggest pop-tart since Britney. Reminiscent of U2 deities (minus the price of sterling production quality) the band delivers Coldplay-worthy tunes that could herald a couple sold-out gigs. (AC)
Mark Dean Veca University Art Gallery Jan. 30 – March 15 FREE
Slamming graffiti textures into patterned sprawls, Mark Dean Veca’s psychopop paintings will be displayed on campus this week. Though currently based in L.A., Veca has shipped a truckload of work ‘mdash; ranging from past company collaborations to interior experiments ‘mdash; down the I-5 in hopes of drawing college-student fanfare. And while many installations look to be no more than designs flayed from the walls at Urban Outfitters, his penchant for cartoonish abstractions that pulse through rooms like capillaries will certainly shed an eye-catching glow, much needed on the UCSD art scene. (EG)