The Perfido-Humbert Duo plays Best Video Film & Cultural Center on Wed., Oct. 28. The show starts at 7 PM and the cover is $15.

The Perfido-Humbert Duo, features Dominique Humbert on alto and soprano saxophones and Peter Perfido on drums, gongs, and small percussion instruments.

Their repertoire covers a fairly expansive musical palette that is multi-directional in concept. Their influences range from tunes by some of the great modern jazz composers such as : Thelonious Monk, Wayne Shorter, Ornette Coleman and Paul Motian. They also like to experiment with wide open improvised pieces, exploring areas as diverse as meditative/minimal atmospheres to African-inspired folk sounds. There are also more energetic, charged up excursions that come into play in their « terra incognito » explorations. They have a number of original pieces and a few compositions written by friends who are excellent composers. All this to say: The Perfido-Humbert Duo can cover a wide range of sounds in an exchange that is quite intimate between two instrumentalists who enjoy the challenge and sense of spaciousness in performing as a duo.

The improvisational collective Light Upon Blight, led by Jeff Cedrone and frequent collaborator Peter Riccio, will be performing their 11th annual Halloween live score on Thurs., Oct. 29, at Best Video Film & Cultural Center. The show starts at 8 PM and the cover is $10. This year's film is the 1989 "found footage" sci-fi cult film "The McPherson Tape."

Always led by musician Jeff Cedrone (guitar and analog synthesizer), this iteration of Light Upon Blight also features Peter Riccio (drums), and Ben Hecht (bass).

Written, produced, and directed by Dean Alioto, "The McPherson Tape," also known as "UFO Abduction," is a 1989 "found footage science-fiction horror film. The movie purports to present found footage of a 1983 birthday celebration for a young child shot by her brother that, through happenstance, documents an alien invasion. The movie was one of the first to use the "found footage" concept, preceding "The Blair Witch Project" by about a decade.

Costume wearing is welcomed, even encouraged.

Robert Messore brings his Toddler Tunes kids’ music show to Best Video Film & Cultural Center Sat., Oct. 31, for a special Halloween sing-along edition. The event starts at 10:30 AM.

Suggested donation is $5-10 per family but nobody will be turned away for lack of funds.

Robert Messore puts on a high-energy sing-and-dance-along program for young children and their parents.

Voted “Best Entertainer for Toddlers” in the 2011 Kidhaven.com readers poll, Messore’s public “Toddler Tunes” program at St. John’s Episcopal Church in New Haven is the place to be every week! The songs are a mix of the classics and some newer songs that folks love. He recognizes that these programs are a place for parents to get together as much as anything, so he encourages folks with newborns through 6-yr-old children to attend.

Please join us for Movie Trivia Night, hosted by Best Video Board member Michael Domangue, on Wednesday, Nov 4th at 7 pm. Entry is $5/person. Teams of up to 4 members will enjoy 5 rounds of movie-themed trivia questions. The winning team will receive a $25 Best Video Gift Card!

A word to the wise…this event has become very popular (yay!). RSVP’s are strongly encouraged!

The Anne Marie Menta Trio and Inner Groove share a singer-songwriter bill at Best Video Film & Cultural Center on Sat., Nov. 7. The show starts at 7 PM and the cover is $15.

Anne Marie Menta hails from New Haven, CT., where she has been a long time favorite singer/songwriter. She comes from a family of three brothers, where playing and listening to music was their great passion. Her musical credits include fronting various rock & roll, folk, and country bands as a singer/guitarist, including The Wanderers, Sugar Moon, Sky Riders, and Rodeo Radio. In the mid 90s, she decided to concentrate on her own original music, and those tunes of hers that she “snuck” into her cover band repertoire now became her main focus. But, the country, folk, and pop music that she loved continued to be an influence in her writing.

Anne Marie will be joined by Armand Morgan on guitar and Dan Martin on bass.

Denise Jones and Tom Sekscenski founded Inner Groove in 2010. Initially, the band started as a bar/cover band, but they soon began to add original songs to their setlist. Their songs are emotional portraits of people, love and faith, drawing inspiration from various genres such as folk, pop, rock and country. Since their inception, Inner Groove has created three albums (available on CD and streaming platforms) and is currently working on their fourth. They have played at coffee houses, clubs, bars, festivals and concerts and their distinctive style is guaranteed to leave a lasting impression.

Best Video Film & Cultural Center hosts a matinee twin-bill featuring Wednesday Week (from Los Angeles) and The Brian Larney Band on Sun., Nov. 8, at 4 PM. The cover is $10.

Los Angeles band Wednesday Week (named after an Undertones song) debuted alongside the flowering, droning and buzzing neo-psych Paisley Underground on the early '80s compilations "The Radio Tokyo Tapes" and "WarfRat Tales." Linked to their SoCal contemporaries by a DIY garage sensibility, Wednesday Week was led by sisters Kristi and Kelly Callan on vocals, guitar, and drums, and included Heidi Rodewald on bass, who went on to be nominated for a Tony for Passing Strange, and David Nolte on lead guitar, who went on to play with David Gray and Dave Davies among many others. The band released the acclaimed “Betsy’s House” EP on WarfRat Records in 1983 produced by Vitus Mataré, “What We Had", a full length album produced by Don Dixon (REM, The Smithereens) in 1987 on Engima Records, and the Earle Mankey produced “No Going Back” on Sweden Spins Records in 1990, after which the band broke up.

In the 1980s, the band toured the United States and Canada, and had tracks featured in such films as Slumber Party Massacre Part 2, Undercover, as well as Doing Time on Planet Earth, appeared on the Arsenio Hall Show, Much Music in Canada, and were regularly seen on MTV’s 120 Minutes.

The original foursome reunited with their “What We Had” producer, Don Dixon to record a four-song EP single finishing just days before the pandemic shutdown in March 2020. The EP was put on the backburner until a conversation with Label 51’s Bill Hein (formerly of Enigma Records) revived the project. Featuring cover songs the band used to play back in the 1980s by Sandie Shaw, The Zeros, Dolly Mixture and Cover Me Gone, the EP is a souvenir, or memento of days gone by.

Wednesday Week will be touring to promote the EP single toward the end of 2026 with UK dates planned in spring 2027 to support the 40th Anniversary reissue of their 1987 album, a double LP/CD including their Enigma release “What We Had” and previously unreleased tracks from the band’s archives, bringing back the golden heyday of alternative music before it was branded and commercialized by the major labels.

The Brian Larney Band is a hook-driven rock/pop outfit built around the songs of songwriter Brian Larney. Haunted by hooks and good old-fashioned songcraft, the band channels the melodic punch and heart of 70s and 80s guitar pop—big choruses, ringing guitars and the kind of songs that stay with you long after the last note fades. Larney (vocals, guitar) is joined by Dean Falcone (lead guitar, vocals), Mitchell Sigmun (keys) Bob Hibson (bass), and Scott Logan (drums), a lineup that brings both muscle and nuance to the material.

Larney’s songs have earned placements in film and television and he has shared stages with artists like Cheap Trick, Big Head Todd & the Monsters and Ellis Paul. In this full band setting, those melodic instincts expand into a full-throttle live show-tight, energetic and built around the simple idea that great songs and players still matter. Equal parts power-pop shimmer and Brill Building–inspired songcraft, The Brian Larney Band delivers timeless, melody-first rock made for anyone who still believes in the power of a great chorus.

Join us on Monday Nov 9th at 7pm for a special surprise screening of a Slow Cinema classic that is near and dear to many at Best Video. Tickets are $10/ for non members and $5/for members.

Call the store for information on the screening.

Join us for our Nov. Installment of Cult Nite for a screening of Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 on Nov. 12th at 7pm! The second installment of the Texas Chainsaw series leans heavily into dark comedy, while still delivering all the gruesome gore that has become synonymous with the series. Tickets are $10.

Join us on Friday Nov 13th at 7pm for a screening of the new 4k restoration of the 1983 classic tragic comedy film, “ My Brother’s Wedding”, directed by Charles Burnett.

Doors open at 6:30pm and the film will start at 7pm. Tickets are $12.

Watch the Trailer Here!

New Haven bands Skin Jump and Happy Ending share the bill at Best Video Film & Cultural Center on Sat., Nov. 14. The show starts at 7 PM and the cover is $10.

Skin Jump refers to the feeling when you become so immersed in a story you jump into the skin of the character. Connor Rog, Reena Yu, Owen Bigler, and Billy Scovill have discovered the power to become rock n roll alchemists, transporting themselves into stories from different universes and translating them through song. Their first story is set in days of old about a warrior who fights evil, named Ironheart. Enjoy a full play through of Skin Jump’s first psych-rock concept album.

Happy Ending has released three albums. The most recent, “Electricity for the Youth of Today,” was recorded live at Best Video Performance Space in December of 2013. The vinyl LP and 45 “Have A Nice Day” came out in 1984 and the compact disc “Smile for the Camera” in 1996. John Foster, editor of Op Magazine, described “Have A Nice Day” in 1984 as a “future cult item for the collectors.” Happy Ending is currently recording new material at InnerSpaceSoundLabs in Durham with engineer Scott Amore.

In the music magazine The Big Takeover, editor Jack Rabid wrote of the remastered (by audio engineer Greg DiCrosta) reissue of Happy Ending's first record:

“40 years ago underground Connecticut rock thrived, with punk ’n’ roll (Reducers), hardcore (C.I.A.), indie rock, neo-psych, etc., while this New Haven outfit led by guitarist/singers Hank Hoffman and Jay Mundy sidestepped tags on their 1983 long, strange trip of a protest album. Reissued, HaND!—like that acronym?—provides stylistic abundance, beginning with the still-regrettably-relevant ‘Armageddon Dread’’s combination of Chuck Berry/pub rock with the similar moves and sociopolitical consciousness of Back in the USA MC5 (lyrics such as ‘Government and capital are locked in death embrace’). ‘So Blind’ is a hippy-indie refresh of The Band, ‘Sleepwaltzing’ is first album Buffalo Springfield-esque (only Clancy can sing), ‘World of Hate’ joins garage rock with banged folk acoustics plus Richard Brown’s avant garde sax, ‘Planned Community’ is Beau Brummels meet The Leaves (they cover ‘Hey Joe’), and ‘Since Then’ guitar lead references The Byrds’ 1966 #14 ‘Eight Miles High!’ ‘Uncle!’ It’s all fierce engagement, still!”

Commenting on Happy Ending’s 2014 live CD release, “Electricity For the youth of Today,” Rabid wrote, “It’s clear that this era’s HE still possesses the ability to blend their many terrific influences into one smart stew.”

Hank Hoffman sings and plays guitar; Richard Brown plays guitar and alto saxophone, Tom Smith is on drums, Randy Stone plays bass, and Scott Amore plays keyboards. Happy Ending’s music is influenced by 1960s pop, garage rock and psychedelia as well as punk and free jazz.

Writing about a Happy Ending show at Lyric Hall in June, 2017, New Haven Independent arts editor Brian Slattery observed, “With kaleidoscopic projections of faces, hands, drawings, and landscapes swirling behind the band, Happy Ending was at its best during its guitar freakouts, when [guest keyboardist Scott] Amore, Stone, and Smith created tossing waves of rhythm and Hoffman and Brown traded off solos and rhythm work seamlessly, giving the music a chance to fly.”

Join us on Sunday, Nov. 15th for a Family Yoga class taught by Lani Rosen- Gallagher.

Recognizing that children need balance and focus in their lives, Lani Rosen-Gallagher (M.Ed., RYT 200, RCYT) first incorporated yoga into her daily schedule while teaching first grade in Coney Island in Brooklyn, NY over 25 years ago!   In 2004, Lani founded/created Full of Joy Yoga in San Francisco.  Over the next four years, she taught yoga to children in preschools, yoga studios, homes, homeless shelters, and after-school programs all over the Bay Area.  In 2007, she relocated to Connecticut, bringing her expertise to the East Coast.  She has taught thousands of children all over CT and especially here in the New Haven/Hamden area where she is located.  Family yoga has always been her favorite to teach.  Lani is always striving to improve the lives and futures of children, helping them laugh, love, and grow. 

Pricing is $16 for a parent/child and $25 for a family of 3 or more.

On Tuesday Nov 17th , we will be screening the 1973 Fantasy/Drama film from acclaimed director , Victor Erice, “Spirit of the Beehive” at Lyric Hall Theater in New Haven, CT. Doors open at 6:30pm and the film will start at 7pm.

We are excited to announce that the film will be introduced by Riccardo Hernandez, Co-chair of Design at David Geffen School of Drama. Head of Set Design and Set Design Advisor at Yale Repertory Theatre.

Tickets are $10/ticket only and $20/including popcorn and drink.

David Coller with Diane Chodkowski play a concert at Best Video Film & Cultural Center on Sat., Nov. 21. The show starts at 7 PM and the cover is $10.

David Coller has been writing and performing in the folk/Americana genre since his teens, which, simply put, means a VERY long time. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in music from the University of Southern California before moving on to the east coast and a career in the medical world but continued to play in bands, duos and as a solo performer in southern California and after that, Connecticut, until being waylaid by a wooden boat (if you’ve ever owned one you understand) and then, on the cusp of a re-emergence, by COVID purgatory (remember THAT?)

He is now playing out again, mainly in New England and the tri-state area, but with the odd foray to the west coast. He brings with him a variety of new songs: straight-up folk, jazzy tunes with the feel of standards, a bit of bluegrass, some sea-songs (he and Diane Chodkowski will be appearing at the 2026 Connecticut Sea Music Festival) and a cowboy tune or two, performed on the guitar, banjo, and the odd bit of button accordion.

He now resides in what he refers to as “the last rural smidgeon of Hamden, Connecticut.”

Diane Chodkowski has been singing harmony in various configurations since the 80’s, when she lived in NYC during the Fast Folk singer-songwriter era. She has had the privilege of singing or recording with wonderful musicians, including Hugh Blumenfeld, Richard Shindell, and Peter Yarrow and was a founding member of the acclaimed vocal trio Mad Woman In The Attic. Diane has also been known to sing a chantey or two on an old wooden schooner.

Join us at Best Video on Wednesday Nov 25th for a screening of Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai at 7pm. This Jim Jarmusch directed crime drama film, stars Forest Whitaker and boasts a soundtrack from The RZA of Wu Tang Clan. The film will be introduced by BVFCC Board Member Will Oxford. Tickets are $5/ for members and $10/ for non-members.

The Sean O'Reilly Band plays Best Video Film & Cultural Center on Fri., Dec. 11. The show starts at 7 PM with fingerstyle guitarist Christian Aja opening. The cover is $10.

Sean O’Reilly is a singer songwriter, harpist, pianist, producer, and mixer from Connecticut. His latest release, the One Thread EP, was entirely produced, mixed and mastered in O’Reilly’s home studio where he crafted a sound that pairs earthy folk-style storytelling with baroque instrumentation and dramatic vocal delivery. Having cut his teeth in pianobars entertaining crowds for grueling multiple hour gigs with nothing more than a piano and a microphone, O’Reilly is a seasoned performer both on his own or working with other musicians and has played many of the most prestigious venues in CT. O’Reilly is a self taught musician and known in particular for being perhaps the only performer to play a harp with one hand, the piano with the other while singing complex lead vocal lines.

Sean will be accompanied by a six piece band of musicians, each with a voices both unique and unexpected: Vocalist Helena Clark, Guitarist and Vocalist Patrick O'Reilly, Drummer Justin Ottaviano, Fingerstyle Guitarist Christian Aja, and Electric Bassoonist Rusty Koenig. Together the band brings forth a sound that fuses virtuosity and raw emotion, and performances that are lush, evocative, and cinematic, with a heart beating to the rhythms of classical rock and roll.

Christian Aja is a fingerstyle guitarist whose playing combines melody, rhythm, and harmony, simultaneously on one instrument. He has been performing music since the age of eight, and holds a music degree from Roger Williams University. He plays intricate arrangements of familiar songs while introducing audiences to the mind bending, yet obscure and esoteric works of fingerstyle masters. His playing incorporates a variety unconventional techniques including but not limited to percussion on the instrument, independent basslines, multiple melodies at once, cascading harmonics, slap harmonics, altered tunings, banjo capos, partial capos and moving capos. All this not to show off, not to be flashy, not even to play the guitar. To play music.