Geekend Picks: First Friday Shows, Pig Iron, and Groundhog Day

Welcome to another First Friday edition of the Geekend! There’s plenty going on all three days of this, the first weekend in February, so let’s get right down to business!

The Colonial Theatre will be screening the Oscar Nominated Short Films starting on Friday night at 7:30pm with the Animated films. On Saturday, they’ll be showing the Animated films twice (4:30pm and 9:00pm), and the Live Action at 7pm. Sunday they’ll show Live Action again at 7pm. Tickets are $9, and, if you can’t make it over the weekend, they’ll be showing them until Thursday. Check out the full schedule and buy tickets at their website.

Chimera, a “high-tech, emotionally arresting play inspired by a real-life story,” will be playing at the Annenberg center this weekend. This science-heavy performance is “an exploration of chimerism, the phenomenon of containing two different sets of DNA within one body… which dares to ask the question – are we defined by the swirling double helixes that comprise our DNA?” Tickets range from $30-$45 for the three shows, which are Friday at 7:30pm and Saturday at 2pm and 8pm.

February is also the start of African American History Month, which you can start at the National Constitution Center with a special exhibit. The exhibit is free with museum admission, which is totally free on Sundays.

Friday, February 1

It’s First Friday here in Philadelphia tomorrow! And there are so many ways to appreciate it. There’s First Friday at Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction at the National Constitution Center, which is free, and runs from 5pm to 9pm. You can also check out First Friday at the Arden Theatre. This month, Tiny Dynamite presents A Play, A Pie, and A Pint, which is “a casual, short, and comedic theatrical piece enjoyed with a slice of pizza and a glass of beer.”

There’s more to Friday than just First Friday, though. Trixie Whitley kicks it off at the Free at Noon at World Cafe Live. 2pm is the opening of Seeing Japan: A Photo Exhibition at the Free Library’s Central Branch. This exhibit, by local artist Aaron Mannino, will run until 3/31/13.

Still not seeing something you like? Well, you can check out Comics Gone Rogue at Locust Moon, where you can rip off the cover of a comic and draw it yourself, how you imagine the cover should look like.

Not ready to start thinking about Valentine’s Day? Spend your night at the Colonial Theatre for a screening of Candyman. That’s right – the one with Tony Todd. Show starts at 9:45 and costs $9.

Saturday, February 2

Saturday is pretty mellow. You can start it off at the Saturday Family Matinee at the County Theater and see A Town Called Panic for $4 at 10:30. Interested in this year’s One Book, One Philadelphia? There’s a book discussion of Buddha in the Attic at the Greater Olney Branch of the Free Library starting at noon. Or if you’d rather build things, there are two Lego Clubs happening this Saturday – one at the Eastwick Branch and one at the Lawncrest Branch. One of these days, I’m crashing that Lego party!

Of course, the best way to spend Saturday is by going to the Colonial Theatre to see Groundhog Day! For just $9, you can see the much-loved Bill Murray movie on the big screen once again, and share in the hilarious exploits as he tries to figure out how to stop reliving the same day over and over again. The show starts at 2pm and lasts until you learn your lesson!

The International House is continuing the Flaherty on the Road: Open Wounds series on Saturday. at 5pm, there’s Program 3: Family Affairs, in which they’ll be showing Family Nightmare and Free Land. At 7pm, there’s Program 4: Experimental Visions, featuring Fokus and Perambulations. Tickets for each are $9.

Sunday, February 3

There’s not too much happening on Sunday, which, in retrospect, is probably a good thing, since you might be exhausted after all of this excitement. Take it easy with a Historic Colonial Tour of the Colonial Theatre at 12:30, after which you can take in a movie and relax and eat some popcorn. Or, you know, stay home and watch that Superbowl thing – for the commercials, of course.

That’s it for another edition of the Geekend! If there’s something I’m missing, or something you want to see in future posts, feel free to hit me up in the comments.