The Stranger

Eight years ago, Glen David Gold published Carter Beats the Devil, a swashbuckling adventure novel about a famous real-life magician named Carter the Great who gets wrapped up in a conspiracy to assassinate President Harding and hypnotize the American people into complacency. It's one of the most thrilling, likable books to be published in the last 10 years. Now Gold finally returns with Sunnyside, a new novel that opens with a scene in which "Charlie Chaplin is spotted simultaneously in 800 places across the country, causing mass hysteria and panic." (Elliott Bay Book Company, 101 S Main St, 624-6600. 7:30 pm, free.) by Paul Constant

Link  |  Post Comment (0)

A tanking economy might have forced Damion Hayes to close his Belltown gallery, BLVD, but it can't keep him down. He and fellow curator Jose Tapia, with artist Julio Guerrero, formed Desmadre Arte, a collective devoted to uniting emerging Latino artists from all over the country. Their aesthetic? "The strong revolutionary traditions of [Mexican engraver José Guadalupe] Posada with DIY ideals and a good dose of Taco Truck aesthetics." Their first show, featuring video animation, sculpture, drawing, photography, and painting by 19 artists, is a major production. The opening party, on May 14 from 6–10 pm, will feature corridos, carnitas, and more. (Vermillion, 1508 11th Ave, 709-9797. 4 pm–midnight, free.) by Jen Graves

Link  |  Post Comment (0)

It's here! It's that time again! Time to watch eleventeen-bagrillion (take that, MATH!) movies about French people doing things very slowly on a farm, German people who are old but still have sex, Chinese people who are very sad, American people who are really ventriloquist dummies, and people who are dead around the world and the people who loved them. That's right, it's SIFF! This year's opening-night gala film, In the Loop, is actually good for a change (fuck you, Battle in Seattle), and it's followed by a SIFFy bacchanalia in the streets outside the Paramount Theatre. Fun! (Paramount Theatre, 911 Pine St, thestranger.com/siff. 7 pm, $50.) by Lindy West

Link  |  Post Comment (1)

It's true SIFF launched yesterday, but before you begin exploring film as an international language, perhaps you should enjoy this double feature exploring film as an international ass-kicker. Dragon vs. Needles of Death is a 1976 film about a man trained in the art of throwing deadly needles who winds up as a salt smuggler in a town ruled by an evil overlord. Challenge the Dragon is a little-seen-in-America epic that promises "martial arts brutality." SIFF can wait for one more day—it's time for some kung fu! (Grand Illusion, 1403 NE 50th St, 523-3935. 11 pm, $8.) by Paul Constant

Link  |  Post Comment (1)

This new comedy by Jason Grote about comic books, ghosts, and incest is all kinds of good: Its humor is brutal, its characters are lively and bizarre, and its plot is surprising. Instead of wanting to leave during intermission, I found myself impatient for act two to begin. Brandon Ryan plays the lead as a whirlwind of anxious tics and squeaks—and if you were an aspiring comic-book artist who lived with your neurotic mother, had a massive crush on your cousin, and saw shape-shifters who shouted in German, you'd be a whirlwind of tics, too. (Theater Schmeater, 1500 Summit Ave, 324-5801. 8 pm, $18 adv/$21 DOS. Through June 6.) by Brendan Kiley

Link  |  Post Comment (0)

Following her award-winning indie-rock chronicle Dig!, documentarian Ondi Timoner turns to another world-class freak show: Josh Harris, the internet artist/entrepreneur who from the mid-'90s to the early-aughts created several visionary web projects that effectively predicted our surveillance-soaked world. Along the way, he went all kinds of crazy, and Timoner's film sums up the man and his work brilliantly, in a documentary that's part thriller, part art-history lesson, and totally amazing. (Egyptian, 801 E Pine St, thestranger.com/siff. 11 am, $8.) by David Schmader

Link  |  Post Comment (2)