The Stranger

Documentaries don’t get much more lively or timely than this. We Are Legion tells the story of hacking from its earliest days (everyone tries to forget this now, but Steve Jobs started out as a hacker) through its more recent, populist formulations. Everything you need to know about 4chan, Anonymous, and LulzSec—from the internet-organized real-life protests of Scientology centers worldwide through WikiLeaks and the Arab Spring—is told in a zippy, highly visual style. Important questions of privilege, race, and sexism are never really addressed, but this is still required viewing. (SIFF Film Center, Seattle Center, www.siff.net, 6 and 8 pm, $10) by Paul Constant

Link  |  Post Comment (1)

Ben Gibbard, the lead singer of Death Cab for Cutie, has a voice like a castrated angel, and tonight, he’s donating it to a good cause: 826 Seattle, a youth writing and tutoring center located in Greenwood. Gibbard is playing an intimate show at Washington Hall to raise money for the local nonprofit, which gives you the unique opportunity to see this local-boy-made-big while patting yourself on the back for throwing money at the youths. Everybody wins! (Washington Hall, 153 14th Ave, strangertickets.com, 7 pm, $50–$100, all ages) by Cienna Madrid

Link  |  Post Comment (0)

There are two big new exhibitions at the Henry, one all fleshy (Jeffry Mitchell) and one all ephemeral (Now Here Is Also Nowhere). Between them is the perfect connector: Pipilotti Rist’s giant psychedelic video projection of landscapes and people opening their mouths wide for the camera to jump down their throats—all of which spreads across the floor under your feet and seems to climb across your body as it moves. You can experience its disorienting effects from on the floor, or you can climb the stairs and watch the movie, and the disoriented visitors, from the balcony above. Ephemeral image meets flesh. (Henry Art Gallery, 15th Ave NE and NE 41st St, www.henryart.org, 11 am–4 pm, $10 suggested) by Jen Graves

Link  |  Post Comment (1)

Ethan Stowell’s newest restaurant is where made-you-want-to-smash-things gift shop Tilden used to be on 15th, and it’s just beautiful: soaring ceilings, giant beams, worn brick. The neighborhood’s gone bananas for it, which means that if you want to stop in without a reservation and try the wood-fired Roman street pizza—which is golden-bubbled, sheened with olive oil, light and savory, and completely delicious—you should do so during weekday lunch, or else show up right at 5 p.m. or after 9ish to have a snowball’s chance in hell of getting a seat at the bar. Bonus: lots of inexpensive, interesting Italian wine by the glass. (401 15th Ave E, 838-2878, 11:30 am–2:30 pm and 5–11 pm, $14–$15) by Bethany Jean Clement

Link  |  Post Comment (0)

The face of an ostrich is a marvelous thing. So is the fur on certain deer’s behinds. Or the angles of a hyena’s legs. All these things can be fully appreciated in this talk-free documentary shot at a zoo. Some scenes are deeply sad—proud zebras desperately bumping their gorgeous patterns against the edges of a cage, for instance. But this is not a protest, it’s something harder. A taxidermist goes about his cold trade at the heart of the movie, as if to suggest that humanity as a whole has a painfully shallow approach to the rest of the animal world. (Northwest Film Forum, 1515 12th Ave, www.nwfilmforum.org, 7 and 9 pm, $10) by Jen Graves

Link  |  Post Comment (0)

Tonight, Sportn’ Life Records celebrates a decade of existence, a decade of promoting, managing, and distributing South Seattle’s hiphop talent, a decade with more ups than downs. It currently houses the locally popular rappers Nissim (formerly D.Black), Fatal Lucciauno, Spac3man, and Larry Hawkins; launched the careers of Dyme Def and J.Pinder; and is closely tied with the big three beat-builders: Jake One, Vitamin D, and Bean One. The label not only has several classics in its catalog but has also maintained high production standards in all of its releases. Ten more years! (Barboza, 925 E Pike St, www.thebarboza.com, 8 pm, $10, 21+) by Charles Mudede

Link  |  Post Comment (0)

This Thanksgiving, right after you finish gloating at Republican relatives, it’ll be time for a schmaltzy movie. But here’s a treat: Silver Linings Playbook is a brilliant schmaltzy movie. Bradley Cooper stars as a man with bipolar disorder who moves back in with his parents and tries to woo his ex-wife with the help of a young widow (Jennifer Lawrence, being incredible and making it look easy). Sure, it’s an emotionally manipulative romantic comedy. But the quality of the performances, the script, and David O. Russell’s direction make it an authentic emotionally manipulative romantic comedy. (See Movie Times: thestranger.com/film) by Paul Constant

Link  |  Post Comment (0)