This Week's Day-By-Day Picks

ESPN's third-greatest sports movie of all time. Entertainment Weekly's fifth-greatest movie of all time. These awards make sense for Raging Bull, Martin Scorsese's black-and-white documentary-style film featuring Robert De Niro as a boxer so unsympathetic that you want to see him take a real pounding. But how could it have been a contender for the Dallas Opera/Angelika Film Series about the influence of opera on contemporary cinema? Exactly. See, Scorsese slipped a whole buncha opera in there, and you don't even know it. And that's the point of this film series. As the Dallas Opera's Jennifer Schuder says, "You'd be surprised at how many people love opera without even realizing it." Raging Bull's score, instead of being composed scene-by-scene with original music, was taken from works by Italian composer Pietro Mascagni, according to Scorsese, to lend a real sadness to the film--like it needed any help. See, or rather hear, the film in a different way when it's shown Monday at the Angelika in Plano and Tuesday at the location in Mockingbird Station. Both screenings start at 7 p.m., are free and will be introduced by an opera expert. Call 972-444-FILM, option 012, for Plano or 214-841-4700 for Dallas, or visit www.angelikafilmcenter.com.

Wednesday, October 26

"On the first day of Halloween, my true love gave to me a story time that's creepy and crawly." There are just no good Halloween carols, so we had to make our own. We also think the holiday should get its own week; c'mon, Christmas gets a whole month (even more if you're Catholic and hold out for Epiphany). Celebrate the wicked week with Creepy-Crawl Story Time with the Dallas Museum of Natural History. In addition to stories about scary things, there will be some live scary things from the museum at the story time, which starts at 10:30 a.m. at Barnes & Noble Lincoln Park, 7700 W. Northwest Highway. The event is for children 3 and older, and visitors are encouraged to wear their costumes. Call 214-739-1124.