Two Get-Togethers for Filmmakers; Father of Go-Go Comes to Village Underground, and Yes, You Will Learn What Go-Go Is; Some Guy Dresses like Joni Mitchell

Wednesday brings the second NY Film Gang meeting to the West Village. The NY Film Gang is a nascent collection of young indie professionals who gather every week to showcase short films and drink in a Russian restaurant/club called Neva (28 7th Ave. S. at Leroy St., 243-3166). Funny that indie nerds would use Neva; its Russian-ness generally guarantees that patrons who don't groove to techno are shamed into the downstairs lounge. But a social comeuppance is good every once in a while, and after the Film Gang meeting from 7-9 p.m., there will be a night of 80s/new-wave music called "Tainted Love," featuring at least some indie guys dancing.

When the first Film Gang meeting went down last week, organizer (and "Tainted Love" DJ) Lee Sobel was showered with support. "We got some press written up in Hollywood Reporter, and I really just put this thing together a week ago," he says. "We had about 35 people."

This week, the Film Gang is showing the trailer for Ross Byron's Fender Saves the World. "I couldn't tell you what that is about," says Lee. "I mean, the first month, I just took in anybody who wanted to show their film. We don't show anything longer than 30 minutes, though." Also screening is Twelve Twisted Tricks, a contemporary film noir looking to raise funding. The NY Film Gang night is free at Neva; it runs every Wednesday at 7 p.m., and Lee Sobel wants you to know that his e-mail address is leesobel@aol.com.

...Regarding the more venerable institutions of indie film, the Film-Maker's Cooperative turns 40 this weekend, and celebrates with a four-night festival and party at the Pioneer Theater. The Cooperative has a long history (40 years, remember?) of breaking avant-garde artists like John Waters and Andy Warhol, and they intend to continue in this tradition, but with offices nine blocks from the WTC they need your help, financial and otherwise.

Fortunately, the lineup for the 40th birthday party is pretty enticing. On Friday George and Mike Kuchar present; they were responsible for Eclipse of the Sun Virgin (1967), I Was a Teenage Rumpot (1960) and Sins of the Fleshapoids (1965; it shows a cyborg-slave giving birth to a baby robot). These underheralded kings of underground moviemaking hail from the Bronx; they are a lot less annoying and self-involved than John Waters and Lloyd Kaufman (The Toxic Avenger), and their movies are shorter?Fleshapoids is only 43 minutes long.

"We have new work from Mike Kuchar premiering Friday night," says Film Coop Director M.M. Serra. "It includes I Face the Night, a brand-new 20-minute teleplay, in which, let's see here: 'The sun sets on the sprawling metropolis, while the deep velvet curtain of life rises on the populace, now stranded on a dark stage littered with guilt and regret.' How appropriate is that, huh?"

The Friday night festivities kick off at 8:30 p.m., and after the Kuchar movies are shown there will be a reception. Evenings of film continue through Monday, with John Zorn curating a program of works featuring his music on Saturday at 9 p.m. Expect receptions after every event. All this takes place at the Pioneer Theater (155 E. 3rd St., betw. Aves. A & B, 254-3300); tickets are $8.50 per night.

...Also this weekend, a living legend comes to New York, but he needs a little background. In the mid-1980s, when urban black music was starting the bull run that would ultimately land it in Japan and Russia, a lot of people (especially those in Washington, DC) weren't digging the hornless, lyrically heavy hiphop that was coming out of New York. They preferred the no less ridiculously named Go Go.

Go Go originated in DC, and it sounded like James Brown with more percussion?the closest it came to mainstream success was EU's 1988 offering "Da Butt," which is now available on a various artists compilation called Monster Booty. The closest it came to a superstar was Chuck Brown, who has not slowed one bit since his flirtation with the big time (1978's "Bustin' Loose" went to R&B #1) and who rolls into Village Underground this Saturday. Brown comes equipped with second-generation Go Go act 911 and a slew of devoted fans.

The main selling point here is that, as with a George Clinton show, you get your money's worth. Older people love to get onstage and prove that they're still on top, and Chuck Brown is no exception?the last time he was here he played for almost six hours. This Saturday he has one show at 8:30 p.m. and one at midnight; tickets are $15, all ages. Basically, you're never going to see James Brown because he's too dusted, so you might as well see Chuck and wonder where music might be if Go Go, not hiphop, had won the crossover wars. At Village Underground (130 W. 3rd St., betw. 6th Ave. & MacDougal St., 777-7745).

...Also on Saturday, as often happens in this world, a gifted man comes to New York with a shtick that doesn't really live up to his far-reaching and varied talents. The man is John Kelly. His shtick is dressing up like Joni Mitchell and singing her songs.

"The two major artistic figures in my life were Maria Callas and Egon Schiele, the Viennese expressionist painter who died in 1918," says Kelly, who has opened for Natalie Merchant and staged works at Carnegie Hall. "I always thought [Joni Mitchell] would be an interesting thing to do because I knew I could sing her music and I definitely had a heart connection."

John becomes Joni by simply by putting on a wig and dress, sitting with an acoustic guitar plugged into his VG-8 synthesizer, and hitting her soprano notes in his own countertenor. This Saturday, he's going to do about 16 Mitchell songs, a career-spanning retrospective lasting 90 minutes. He's had plenty of experience?his first Mitchell gig was at the Pyramid Club (101 Ave. A., betw. 6th & 7th Sts., 473-7184) in 1985 during the inaugural Wigstock?so don't expect any mistakes, out-of-character moments or originals.

"No, no, never. I put banter between songs?some of it is her actual words, some of it is stuff that I have come up with. But basically I stay in character."

In addition to his five dates as Joni, beginning this Saturday at 8 p.m. and running every weekend until Nov. 17, John has just released his autobiography, John Kelly, which covers his life as a choreographer, director, performer, Guggenheim fellow and Broadway actor. You can find it on Amazon.com and in Barnes & Noble. His show is called "Shiny Hot Nights: More Songs of Joni Mitchell" and it will cost you $20 at Fez (380 Lafayette St. at Great Jones St., aka E. 3rd St., 533-7000).

Oh, and if the onstage entertainment isn't enough for you, keep an eye out for the Joni Mitchell nuts who attend John's show. "I'm not the biggest fan in the world," he says. "There are other people who are ridiculously fanatical. They're like Trekkies, you know?"