Pencil This In

MOVIE: The 10th Annual New York International Children's Film Festival commences tonight, starting with the US premiere of the French animated film U (which includes unicorns!). A kid-friendly catered reception will take place after the film.

More weekend movies here.

Friday (festival through March 11th) // 6pm // Director's Guild of America Theater [110 W 57th St] // $20

EVENT: It's the first Friday of the month, that means it's time to head up to the Guggenheim for their art/music extravaganza. Deejaying tonight are Tim Sweeney and LCD Soundsystem's Tim Goldsworthy.

Friday // 9pm // Guggenheim Museum [1071 Fifth Ave] // $25

OPERA: En Guard, paisan! There’s a one-of-a-kind “Evening of Fencing and Music” happening tonight at the Italian Academy. Internationally renowned fencing stars will face off during the New York City premiere of the contemporary opera Selenal. The opera, by Daniela Puzzo and Pasquale Amirante, fuses elements from the western Kabbalah, eastern Advaita Vedanta philosophy, and ancient mythology “to explore modern conflicts in a renewal of the Greek theatrical tradition.” Proceeds from tonight’s event will be donated to “Progetto Aita,” an association for children with psychiatric disorders. - John Del Signore

Friday // 8 pm // The Italian Academy [1161 Amsterdam Avenue] // $15.00 suggested donation

MUSIC: The Subjects are releasing their cd onto the world this Saturday. Joining them in the celebratory show are Luke Temple, The End of the World and Flying. Come check them out, and it will give you one more chance to enjoy Sin-e before it shuts down.

Listen: The Hounds of War.mp3 - The Subjects

Saturday // 8pm // Sin-e [150 Attorney St] // $10

Saturday night head to Union Hall for some French rock. La Laque, Mancino, Die Romantik, Clint and Mike Higbee will all be there to to sonically seduce you in their own special ways. More info at Ear Farm, who's organized the whole thing.

Listen: Narcissists Waltz.mp3 - Die Romantick

Saturday // 7pm // Union Hall [702 Union St, Park Slope]

THEATER: Spalding Gray, the trailblazing monologist and actor, committed suicide in 2004, leaving behind a room packed full of notebooks and other raw, unrealized work. His widow, Kathleen Russo, has devoted herself to keeping Gray’s work “out in the world”, and to that end she has gathered a talented ensemble together for Spalding Gray: Stories Left to Tell. The evening, which includes Kathleen Chalfant (Wit) and, through March 8th, Fisher Stevens (Short Circuit), unfolds chronologically, from recollections of childhood swimming trips with Gray’s mother — who also committed suicide — and tales of awkward adolescent sexual encounters, to the joy Gray took in being a father himself. In addition to diary extracts and other unpublished writing, Stories Left to Tell includes excerpts from Sex and Death to Age 14, Terrors of Pleasure, Swimming to Cambodia, Impossible Vacation, Gray's Anatomy, Monster in a Box, It's a Slippery Slope, Morning Noon and Night, and Life Interrupted. The show is still in previews, but a previous version at P.S. 122 was reviewed by the Times and deemed to be "almost what Mr. Gray was always searching for: 'a perfect moment.’” - John Del Signore

Saturday // 3pm & 8pm // Minetta Lane Theatre [18 Minetta Lane] // Tickets cost $35-$65

SCIENCE: The UnCoolKids have won us over by finding out all the great science events in the city. This Sunday (and EVERY Sunday) is Entertaining Science at the Cornelia Street Cafe. This week, they tell us, "Herb Meltzer will describe his own journey from the chemistry lab to treating and studying schizophrenia, ground-breaking studies which revolutionized the treatment of this disorder. He’ll give us his views of the current critique of antipsychotic drugs, where schizophrenia research is headed, and also what listening to music and schizophrenia have in common, at least with regard to brain chemistry."

In addition, The Amygdaloids, will be performing - perhaps as a little experiment?

Sunday // 6pm // Cornelia Street Cafe [29 Cornelia St] // $10