Friday
January 24
Pizza party
Former child megastar Macaulay Culkin has a band that plays pizza-themed covers of Velvet Underground songs. No, really. Go see the Pizza Underground, which went viral online for about five minutes last year, when the band plays the Brooklyn Bazaar — if only so you can say you did.
7 pm at Brooklyn Night Bazaar (165 Banker St. at Norman Avenue in Greenpoint, www.bkbazaar.com). Free.
Saturday
January 25
Out of Israel
The Brooklyn Israel Film Festival turns 10 this year, and it is heading into its teen years appropriately, with the addition of some edgy programing. “Out in the Dark,” which screens at Cobble Hill’s Kane Street Synagogue, chronicles the star-crossed story of a closeted gay Palestinian who falls in love with an Israeli lawyer.
8 pm at Kane Street Synagogue [236 Kane St. between Tompkins Place and Court Street in Cobble Hill, (718) 875–1550, www.kanestreet.org]. $12.
Sunday
January 26
Dancing horses
Get a head-start on your lunar New Year’s festivities. Celebrated New Jersey-based choreographer Nai-Ni Chen and her company will cross a couple of rivers to bring us “A Lunar New Year Celebration,” a tribute to the upcoming Year of the Horse that blends traditional Chinese and modern American dance into one colorful, high-energy performance.
3 pm at Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts at Brooklyn College [2900 Campus Rd. between Amersfort Place and Kenilworth Place in Flatbush, (718) 951–4500, www.brooklyncenter.com]. $30.
Monday
January 27
Diva reader
Music and literature combine when Grammy Award–winning singer-songwriter and activist Angelique Kidjo releases her new memoir as part of the Brooklyn Academy of Music and Greenlight Bookstore’s literary series. “Spirit Rising: My Life, My Music” chronicles Kidjo’s journey from growing up in the West African country of Benin to world music superstardom.
7:30 pm at Brooklyn Academy of Music, Fishman Space [321 Ashland Pl. between Lafayette Avenue and Hanson Place in Fort Greene, (718) 636-4100, www.bam.org]. $20.
Wednesday
January 29
Riddles in the dark
There will be one trivia to rule them all at the Trash Bar on Jan, 29, when the Williamsburg watering hole hosts “The World of JRR Tolkien Trivia.” Start studying up on “The Silmarillion” now, so you can identify your Kine of Araw from your Kirinki.
7:30 pm at Trash Bar [256 Grand St. between Roebling Street and Driggs Avenue in Williamsburg, (718) 599–1000, www.thetrashbar.com]. Free.