The Stranger

The subject of anti-gay politicians' secret gay lives is so complex and distasteful that mainstream media won't touch it unless forced to—by Mark Foley's e-mails or Larry Craig's "wide stance" or Jim McGreevey's irrepressible hunger for cock. So thank God for Kirby Dick, the Academy Award–nominated documentarian who does the dirty work of exposing some of America's most notorious closet cases. His film is fearless, methodical, and, in a promising sign of the times, inspires more pity than rancor. UPDATE FROM DAVID SCHMADER: As commenters have noted, Outrage's Seattle run has ended. My apologies for the snafu (sometimes the folks at Landmark are poor communicators), and Outrage should be on cable and/or video soon. by David Schmader

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You'd think watching an ex-con and a transgender prostitute fall in sweet, sweet love would be weird. But it's not. In A Woman's Way, directed by Panos Koutras, everyone smokes constantly and drinks lots of coffee and booze in Athens, Greece, and our lovers both have a knack for fixing lamps. Then they make graphic love in a whirlpool of rainbow light. Campy friends share the best of advice before keeling over. Funerals are had; babies are fed. It's so wholesome, right? But this modern-day revival of Greek mythology pulls a midpoint mind-fuck that will leave you reeling. (Uptown, 511 Queen Anne Ave N, thestranger.com/siff. 3:45 pm, $11.) by Dominic Holden

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This collection of films about alternative-transportational lifestyles is "dedicated to highlighting the history and culture of the American train tramp" (i.e., HOBOS), plus their highway-bound and slightly more frightening cousins, hitchhikers. The itinerant festival is currently on a national tour (see, like a hobo! Meta!), screening such intriguing titles as The Great American Hobo, Fruitloop and Arweigian Rick, and Crow Dog, presumably on such intriguing topics as why grain cars are better than coal cars, having a dog who is also a best friend, hobo stew, and freedom. (Central Cinema, 1411 21st Ave, 686-6684. 7 pm, $8.) by Lindy West

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Passing Strange is a musical in name only. Really it's an autobiographical concert by the soulful, rotund, endlessly charming Stew. Imagine Reggie Watts crossed with Mike Daisey, hooked up with a backing band. And actors. The results, filmed by Spike Lee (here atoning for Bamboozled), are soul-shaking. An African American growing up in 1970s L.A., Stew liked punk rock and Camus—he and a select crew of misfits felt like they were "passing for black folks." Stew flees for Amsterdam and Berlin where sex, drugs, and performance art crack his American head wide open. Just watching Passing Strange will make you a better person. (Kirkland Performance Center, 350 Kirkland Ave, thestranger.com/siff. 6:30 pm, $11.) by Brendan Kiley

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Gabriel von Max had a thing for dead and almost-dead women. The centerpiece of this dark-walled, tomblike solo show is The Christian Martyr from 1867, a sexually charged portrait of a crucified woman in the Frye's collection. Here it's accompanied by a pair of headphones, in which Seattle writer Lesley Hazleton, with her majestically gravelly voice, speaks as the martyr herself, as if she's standing right behind you. One minute her tale is sexy, and the next she's describing what it's like to be crucified, how her hair was torn out, how her lungs collapsed. You'll never see this painting again without feeling this salty woman next to you. (Frye Art Museum, 704 Terry Ave, 622-9250. 10 am–5 pm, free.) by Jen Graves

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