Dark & quirky ‘Snail’ tale

Should your animation tastes align more with the offbeat rather than the traditional, Adam Elliot’s dark but hopeful stop-motion fable is a must, a macabre delight that will put a lump in your throat.

The quirky, engaging film centers on the wretched and lonely lives of 1970s Australian twins — Grace (Sarah Snook) and Gilbert (Kodi Smit-McPhee) — who weather rotten foster families apart after their alcoholic, paraplegic father dies. Gilbert’s new farmer“ parents” are mercilessly judgmental and devout while Grace — who relates to a snail named Sylvia — gets assigned to a kooky, unorthodox couple who enjoy going on nudie cruises.

While it all sounds terribly bleak and depressing, “Memoir of a Snail” is actually smartly funny, particularly when Grace befriends Pinky (Jacki Weaver), a living-large elderly woman whose past is filled with reckless possibilities and weird realities.

Elliot, who made the unforgettable 2009 “Mary and Max,” strikes gold again with a grim but heartfelt animated world that gives you the feels in unexpected ways. It’s one of the best films of 2024 — animated or otherwise.

Details: Rated R (nudity, sexual themes, violence), 1 hour, 34 minutes; opens Friday in Bay Area theaters.

— Randy Myers, Correspondent

Almost Dead sets Bay Area gigs

Joe Russo’s Almost Dead is alive and well — and on its way back to the Bay Area.

The acclaimed Grateful Dead tribute act — featuring bandleader Russo on drums as well as bassist Dave Dreiwitz, keyboardist and longtime Russo collaborator Marco Benevento and vocalist-guitarists Scott Metzger and Tom Hamilton — is performing a two-night stand, today and Friday, at the Fox Theater in Oakland.

And, in true Grateful Dead fashion, many of the fans who attend the first night will also show up at the second gig as well. That’s dedication (or, if you will, “Deadication”), but also a sign that these fans understand that each JRAD concert is unique. That’s in large part because the band — also following along the Dead’s “Golden Road (To Unlimited Devotion)” — drastically changes up the setlist from night to night.

Also, while some GD tribute acts strive to stay as true as possible to the Dead’s sound, JRAD goes up the opposite direction and chases the music wherever it may take them. The result is exciting, unpredictable and thoroughly fun. Bay Area Deadheads who have yet to acquaint themselves with JRAD should definitely take this opportunity to hear what the band has to offer.

Details: Showtime each night is 7:30 p.m.; $78.15; ticketmaster.com.

— Jim Harrington, Staff

30th Día de Muertos celebration

This year’s Día de Muertos Community Celebration at the Oakland Museum of California is a big one, marking the 30th anniversary of the popular cultural event.

For entertainment, there’s Aztec dancing, salsa and bachata dance lessons, and half-a-dozen musical performances on two stages with acts like Mariachi Bonitas, the Sacramento-based all-female mariachi ensemble, and Diana Gameros, a Mexican-born singer who’s performed with Joan Baez. Food offerings include sweet and savory tamales and spiced coffee from La Guerrera’s Kitchen, pan de muerto from Bakery El Sol, ice cream from De La Creamery and tacos and aguas frescas from Taca Brona.

Kids should enjoy learning how to make tortillas and decorate sugar skulls, dropping by a butterfly-crafting station or having their faces painted, spookily calavera-style. Meanwhile, adults can get some early holiday shopping done at a mercado with vendors like Frida’s Ofrenditas and Dave of the Dead Arts. And this being a museum there’s art, of course, notably the exhibit “Calli: The Art of Xicanx Peoples” that explores feminist, queer and Xicanx-Indigenous perspectives, with gallery chats led by friends and family of one of the artists.

Details: 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday; Oakland Museum of California; $10; museumca.org.

— John Metcalfe, Staff

Classical picks: Baroque classics, spooky music, Emanuel Ax

The classical music scene offers an array of riches this week, including Baroque masterworks, a holiday-themed orchestral concert, and an intimate recital with the great American pianist Emanuel Ax.

Italian splendor: Voices of Music, which performs its concerts on Baroque instruments, is looking back to 17th-century Italy with a new program titled “Seicento.” With acclaimed soprano Sherezade Panthaki as the concert’s featured guest artist, the San Francisco-based group will play a program of works by composers Isabella Leonarda, Francesca and Giulio Caccini, and Barbara Strozzi. Details: 7 p.m. Frida at First United Methodist Church, Palo Alto; 7:30 p.m. Saturday at First Congregational Church, Berkeley; 7 p.m. Sunday at Caroline Hume Concert Hall, San Francisco; $5-$63; voicesofmusic.org.

“Symphonic Spooktacular”: Get into the holiday spirit with Symphony San Jose’s Halloween-themed concert, with Peter Jaffe conducting a wide-ranging program including music from Mussorgsky’s “Night on Bald Mountain” and Grieg’s “In the Hall of the Mountain King,” along with works by Bach, Bernard Hermann, Saint-Saens, Schubert, John Williams, and others. Details: 7:30 p.m. Saturday, 2:30 p.m. Sunday; California Theatre, San Jose; $24-$121.50; symphonysanjose.org.

Ax is back: The always-sublime pianist Emanuel Ax returns to the San Francisco Symphony for a solo recital featuring Beethoven’s Piano Sonatas Nos. 13 and 14, along with works by Arnold Schoenberg and Robert Schumann. Details: 7:30 p.m. Sunday; Davies Symphony Hall, San Francisco; $59-$199; sfsymphony.org.

— Georgia Rowe, Correspondent

A happyface musical comes to San Jose

Emojis have become such a integral part of human communication that, goshdarnit, it’s only right that they have their own musical. And in 2018, they got just that, when Keith Harrison Dworkin and Laura Schein’s “Emojiland” premiered at the New York Musical Theatre Festival.

The ensemble musical comedy about a community of archetypes living in a smartphone and dealing with their assorted issues (a smiley face who’s depressed; a skull face who just wants to be deleted, already) was enough of a hit that it spawned an off-Broadway run in 2020 that was scuttled by the COVID pandemic after some 60 performances. In a 2022, a national tour of the show was canceled after its first stop; that same year, a one-off concert production of the show was staged on London’s Garrick Theatre.

Now, San Jose Playhouse is presenting what is described as a condensed new version of the musical, with some characters and numbers removed and one new character (“Angry Face”) added. The silly rom-com-meets-existential-thriller finds our emoji heroes and heroines imperiled by a software update that threatens to destroy their world. Obviously, this a show that begs for a Silicon Valley presentation.

Details: Through Nov. 24; performances at 3Below Theaters and Cafe, San Jose; 2 hours, 10 minutes; $65; 3belowtheaters.com.

— Randy McMullen, Staff