Film: It doesn’t happen often, but a movie like Looper demonstrates that a science fiction/action picture can also be smart. Set in 2044, with a believable visual concept of the near future just before time travel is invented. Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Inception, The Dark Knight Rises) plays a looper, a paid assassin who knocks off convicts and other bad guys sent back from 30 years ahead for easy disposal. And as you probably already know from the ubiquitous promotional trailers, one day he finds himself facing his older self (Bruce Willis), assigned to kill himself, a closing of the loop of life. And that is just the beginning of a complex, involving story in a film that dares to slow down and just talk for minutes at a time. Credit director/writer Rian Johnson (Brick) for this new release, opening at area theaters this weekend and likely to hang around for quite some time.
Theater: The bond between a man and his dog becomes the jumping off point for A.R. Gurney’s audience-friendly comedy, Sylvia, opening this weekend in a Boca Raton Theatre Guild production at the Willow Theatre in Sugar Sand Park. Jacqueline Laggy takes on the title role of a mixed-breed stray that a middle-aged guy takes into his life, a decision that threatens to drive a wedge between himself and his wife. Gurney is usually preoccupied with the foibles of the privileged white Anglo-Saxon Protestant class, but he puts that on hold here for something more universal and winning. Continuing through Oct. 14. Call (561) 347-3948 for tickets and information.
Music: For seven seasons now, the pianist Lisa Leonard has hosted a New Music Festival at Lynn University that focuses on the work of a contemporary composer. This year’s guest is the longtime Boca Raton resident Donald Waxman, now 87, who first gained recognition in the late 1950s while studying at the Peabody Conservatory in his Baltimore hometown. He’s perhaps best-known today for his pedagogical music, in particulary music for young pianists, but he has written in most genres and has written a new work, Announcement for Orchestra, that will be played Thursday by the Lynn Philharmonia at the Green Center on campus. The festival begins Monday with a concert of new pieces by student composers, then is followed Tuesday by a discussion panel about issues in contemporary composition, both at the Amarnick-Goldstein Concert Hall. All the events are free and open to the public.
Art: Celebrate the moon at the Norton Museum of Art’s Seventh Annual Moon Festival. Today’s celebration of Chinese art and culture includes children’s games, family art projects, tours of the museum’s Chinese collections, live music and traditional Chinese moon cakes and tea. The festival, which runs from noon to 5 p.m., features a performance by storyteller Diane Wolkstein and a pottery demonstration by Matt Fiske, an artist in residence at the Armory Art Center. Wolkstein will be performing Monkey King: Journey to the West, a poignant and humorous Chinese adventure tale from the 16th century and Fiske will be creating a Moon Cup in honor of the festival. For more information, contact the Norton Museum of Art, www.norton.org or by calling (561) 832-5196.