The Stranger

Thankfully, The Sweetest Swing doesn't have a goddamned thing to do with baseball. Instead, it's about an artist who desperately wants to stay in a mental institution because she's doing the best work of her life. Rebecca Gilman's script is impeccable, from its first artsy complaint to its final, triumphant cussword. And Heather Hawkins, onstage for the entire show, is incredible as the aforementioned scam-artist artist pretending to be baseball's baddest bad boy, Darryl Strawberry. (Seattle Public Theater, 7312 W Green Lake Drive N, 524-1300. 2 pm, $15–$24.) by Paul Constant

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David Gordon Green's first movie to take place north of the Mason-Dixon is split right down the middle: One story, familiar from All the Real Girls, is about the unbearable sweetness of post-puppy love. The other is about what happens when your high-school beau grows up, starts drinking, finds Jesus, and can't hold down a job. What the two stories have in common is Green's uncommon dialogue, aching with cross-purposes and shimmering with flirty jokes. (See Movie Times for details.) by Annie Wagner

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This is one of the most important movies you will see this year. Paranoid Park's importance lies not in its story (a murder mystery) or its location (Portland), but in its commitment to the beautiful. As Plato tells us, the beautiful, only found in the most unexpected places, gives us a glimpse of the eternal. There is more eternity in the sudden wrinkle of a dress or pair of jeans than in all the Renaissance paintings of the saints. Gus Van Sant has returned to the peak. (See Movie Times for details.) by Charles Mudede

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Amy Bloom was already one of the best short-story writers alive. Then she had to go and release Away, one of the most emotionally powerful novels of last year. Unfortunately, she came to town in the early fall of 2007, before many people had the chance to read Away and be awed. Consider this a lucky second chance to go and witness Bloom, a master of heartbreaking mood, do her thing. (Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center, 104 17th Ave S, 684-4757. 7:30 pm, $8/$6 students.) by Paul Constant

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The last time Kelly Mark was in Seattle—at the Henry Art Gallery in 2006—she performed a protest to accompany her exhibition, shouting: "What do we want?" "Nothing!" "When do we want it?" "Whenever!" If it wasn't meaningful, it wasn't meaningless. The Toronto artist has returned for a solo show of sculptures, photographs, and the installation REM, featuring a video mashup of 170 TV clips. If her past work is any indication, the occasion should be a contemplative riot. (Platform Gallery, 114 Third Ave S, 323-2808. 11 am–7 pm, free.) by Jen Graves

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You'd think I could tell you what's going to happen at tonight's Hugo Literary Series event, considering that Sherman Alexie, Michelle Tea, and David Schmader all have close ties to The Stranger (Alexie and Schmader have weekly columns, Tea is a sometime contributor), but Alexie's being very quiet about what he's going to read and Tea and Schmader refused to answer the question on Hugo House's website. Mysterious. There will also be a reading by Hugo House New Works Competition winner Ben Blum and music by Stranger Associate Editor Emeritus Sean Nelson. (Town Hall Seattle, 1119 Eighth Ave, 322-7030, www.brownpapertickets.com. 7:30 pm, $15 students/seniors, $25 general.) by Christopher Frizzelle

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