MUSIC
What: Punish with Run Like Hell
When: Saturday, 7: 30 p.m. (doors at 7)
Where: V-Lounge at the Red Lion Inn (3366 Douglas St.)
Tickets: $7 at the door
Why: The roots of Victoria metal legends Punish date back to the early '90s, when longtime Malevolence members Kirk Mercer, Adel Braga and Donnie Black joined forces under the new banner Purge. Purge quickly morphed into Punish, a group that created metal madness until its split at the turn of the millennium. The four core members of the group (Terry James and Black have shared drum duties at various points) will play their first show in more than 12 years Saturday, a benefit concert for the Victoria Women's Transition House Society. Let the madness resume at full roar.
- Mike Devlin
ART
What: Virtuous Vendetta: The Story of the 47 Ronin in Prints
When: Dec. 7 to March 31
Where: Art Gallery of Greater Victoria's Drury Gallery
Tickets: Regular gallery admission
Why: Samurai = just plain cool. This exhibit tells the true story of the most celebrated example of warrior ethics in Japanese history, according to curator Barry Till. When one lord cut another lord's face back in 1700, he was forced to commit ritual suicide for drawing his sword on castle ground - a grave offence. As a result, his team of samurai became ronin, or masterless samurai. The ronin eventually returned to avenge their master, even though the assault meant they would also be forced to commit suicide, in atonement. The story is told through more than 60 woodblock prints from the AGGV's collection.
- Amy Smart
FILM
What: Samsara
Where: Cinecenta
When: Dec. 9 and 10, 7 and 9 p.m.
Why: Any new film from Ron Fricke is cause for celebration, and not just because the director best known for his stunning time-lapse photography on Godfrey Reggio's Koyaanisqatsi and the visual and musical poetry of his non-verbal portrait of our planet in Baraka delights in pushing the envelope. Shot on 70-millimetre film over five years in 25 countries, Fricke's exhilarating new sensory meditation again subverts traditional documentary techniques to revisit the cycle of life through a wordless fusion of images that mesmerize and provoke thought despite obvious contrivances.
- Michael D. Reid
