Film
Las Vegas Jewish Film Festival
Various locations
Nevada’s longest-running film festival, this Joshua Abbey-curated event marks its 18th year with a strong schedule of films that examine Jewish life, the cinema of Israel, and more — including Balabustas, a new documentary spotlighting Jewish women who have shaped Southern Nevada. This year, all screenings are free, on a first-come, first-seated basis. January 10-27, free, lvjff.org
Music
Las Vegas Philharmonic
The Smith Center
If anyone could be said to have soundtracked the lives of a generation or two, it’s movie-music composer John Williams. Boomers will revel in Williams’ theme from Close Encounters of the Third Kind, while the millennials can thrill to the theme music from Harry Potter. And everyone loves Star Wars. A pleasant beginning to the new year. January 12, 7:30p, $30-$109, thesmithcenter.com
Theater
Tesla Ex Machina
Windmill Library
There was a time when the name Tesla wasn’t naturally followed by the phrase “Gigafactory” — when it only referenced scientist Nikola Tesla, the Serbian émigré who powered the 1893 World’s Fair with electricity generated by Niagara Falls. This one-man show takes you into his life. January 26, 2p, free, lvccld.org
Visual Art
Use Other Door
CORE Contemporary
For its first-ever juried exhibit, CORE adopted the theme “the other door,” which “provides an opportunity for artists to use their creative skills in a way that maybe they haven’t in the past,” says CORE gallerist Nancy Good. The result is a range of interpretations from the literal to the metaphorical. Opening reception January 11, 6:30p; through March 16, 900 E. Karen Ave. #D-222, corecontemporary.com
Literature
Elizabeth McCracken
The Writer’s Block
An enigmatic foundling, a bowling alley, a scandal, a dubious heir — if you can whip those plot points into a funny, profound work of fiction, then you could only be novelist Elizabeth McCracken, and you will read from your new book Bowlaway in Downtown’s shiny new bookstore. Pleased to meet you, Elizabeth!
Jan. 31, 7p, free, blackmountaininstitute.org
Lecture
Motorsports Meets the Mob
Clark County Library
Author Randall Cannon talks about his new book, Stardust international Raceway, a look back at the 1965-1971 heyday of a race track operated in Southern Nevada by the mobbed-up bosses at the Stardust. If, like many of us, you’ve ever opined, “Auto racing was better when the mob ran it,” this is the event for you. January 15, 7p, free, lvccld.org
Axis Mundo: Queer Networks in Chicano L.A. Important 50-artist exhibit that “excavates histories of experimental art practice.” Opening reception January 11, 5-9p, UNLV’s Barrick Museum, unlv.edu/barrickmuseum