The Stranger

(FILM) This movie is not perfect. I will even go as far as to say it is far from perfect. But the material of its story is incredibly rich: A small unit of Israeli soldiers commandeer the large, concrete home of a well-to-do Palestinian family and use its top floors as a watch-post while the family is forced to live on the ground floor. Private is certainly the most direct representation in film of the tension that has always existed between the institution of the family (which is based on love) and the oppressive apparatus of the state (which is based on violence). (See Movie Times for details.) by Charles Mudede

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(WORLDWIDE SPACE PARTY) Forty-five years ago, Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first person to survive a trip into orbit. (Rumor has it he murmured: "I don't see any god up here.") Tonight, revelers in scores of cities, on every continent, and even on the International Space Station will celebrate Yuri's Night. Seattle will party with NASA astronauts and UW professors, mission films, and music by Optimus Rhyme, Plan B, and others. (Museum of Flight, 9404 E Marginal Way S, 764-5720. 7 pm, $25–$30, all ages.) by Brendan Kiley

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(DANCE YOU WILL ACTUALLY LIKE) Some people like modern dance. Some people like headbanger rock. But everybody likes them as a pair. Sometimes Diana Cardiff and her crüe take the dance and the music seriously, sometimes they're just goofing, but either way, you'll be sitting in a crowd of strangers, drinking cheap beer, and shouting along to Bon Jovi, the Scorpions, and Guns N' Roses. (Velocity Dance Center, 915 E Pine St, 722-0963. 8 pm, $12 adv/$15 DOS. Through April 23.) by Brendan Kiley

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(TRIBUTE) During his short lifetime, Garrett Scott, a local filmmaker who died in early March of cardiac arrest at the age of 37, made two impressive documentaries: Occupation: Dreamland, which won a prize at this year's Independent Spirit Awards, and Cul de Sac: A Suburban War Story, which is about a man who stole a National Guard tank and went on a car-crushing rampage. Occupation: Dreamland screens on Thursday, April 13 at 7:30 pm; and Cul de Sac screens tonight, April 14. The poet Anthony McCann hosts both screenings. (Rendezvous, 2322 Second Ave, 441-5823. 7:30 pm, donations suggested.) by Charles Mudede

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(PRO-SEMITIC MUSICAL COMEDY) Hitting the stage with acoustic guitars and postmodern Borscht Belt shtick, What I Like About Jew—AKA Sean Altman and Rob Tannenbaum—is the bastard love child Tenacious D and Fiddler on the Roof never had. Tonight the duo's national tour (sponsored by Heeb magazine) lands at the Triple Door for a night of wry and dirty chosen-folk hilarity. (Triple Door, 216 Union St, 838-4333. Doors at 7 pm, show at 8 pm, $18 adv/$20 DOS.) by David Schmader

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(LIBIDINOUS RAWK) Sadly, this is the second time Diamond Nights have rolled through town on a Sunday, a notoriously difficult night to draw a crowd in this sleepy city. It's time for Seattle's genuine rock fans to wake up and give these guys the packed house they deserve. I don't care if it's a school night; if you have any appreciation for Thin Lizzy, early Cars, or just plain ol' libidinous showmanship, you have a moral obligation to attend. (Crocodile, 2200 Second Ave, 441-5611. 7 pm, $10, 21+) by Hannah Levin

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(FILM) This film about a dystopian boarding school, based on a turn-of-the-last-century novella called The Corporal Education of Young Girls, is directed by Lucile Hadzihalilovic, who's the collaborator and off-screen partner of Gaspar Noé (Irreversible). Her movie is everything his over-the-top brutality fantasias are not: subtle, menacing, and rigidly contained. Best of all is her nearly wordless personality portraiture. This little girl is a sly sensualist; that little girl has the otherworldly fury of Antigone. (Northwest Film Forum, 1515 12th Ave, 267-5380. 7 pm and 9:30 pm, $5-$8.) by Annie Wagner

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