The Stranger

Okay, bear with me. This is a tough sell, and I know it's a tough sell because my coworkers made fun of me for an hour after I pitched it. O'Horten is a very slow, very Norwegian, almost imperceptibly comedic comedy about a retired train conductor. Horten smokes his pipe! Horten falls asleep in the wrong places! Horten makes friends with a dog! It sounds like just another fusty, folksy movie about the melancholic cuteness of old age (and it kind of is). But the film's meticulous reserve—it embraces oddness while absolutely refusing to goof off—makes it work. It's so sweet, you guys, I swear! (See Movie Times: thestranger.com/film.) by Lindy West

Link  |  Post Comment (0)

In Cecil B. DeMille's 1929 feature-length teenage riot, atheists and varsity-sweatered Christians battle over their immortal souls (or lack thereof). The kids in the atheist club (The Godless Society) get sworn in on the head of a capuchin monkey. The high-school crusade begins with hurled eggs and includes the godless girl's conversion after a stigmatic run-in with an electric fence at reform school. Plus a nude scene starring the godless girl cavorting by the side of a stream, all accompanied by a live organ score. How can you pass on that? You cannot. (Paramount Theatre, 911 Pine St, 467-5510. 7 pm, $12.) by Brendan Kiley

Link  |  Post Comment (1)

Away We Go is a movie about a pregnant woman (Maya Rudolph) and her boyfriend (John Krasinski) traveling from city to city to find a new home and wrestling with the eternal question: "Are we fuckups?" They visit other couples who employ varying methods of parenting, from hippie doltishness to alcoholic ignorance, all the while trying to figure out how best to treat their child and each other. If you've ever wondered how to live without doing harm to the world, this film will move you. (See Movie Times: thestranger.com/film.) by Paul Constant

Link  |  Post Comment (5)

At age 57, this Talking Heads icon exhibited phenomenal athletic grace and stamina during his February concert at Benaroya. Byrne performed much of the two albums he recorded with fellow genius Brian Eno—as well as some of the Heads' most scintillating output—as if it were 1983, not 2009. Much of Byrne's appeal now hinges on nostalgia, but rarely do old chestnuts burn (down the house) as brightly as this spry New Yorker's avant-rock compositions. (Paramount Theatre, 911 Pine St, 467-5510. 7:30 pm, $45, all ages.) by Dave Segal

Link  |  Post Comment (2)

The Brown Derby series—which has been brutally butchering movie scripts for years—may have found its perfect foil in E.T. Terror-drag superstar Jackie Hell plays the alien, Emmy-winning Kim Nyhous plays a dykey Drew Barrymore (with a fanny pack!), Elliott and his brother sniff their dad's jockstrap, and the scary forest scenes (which traumatized many a childhood) are set in Volunteer Park. Brown Derby founder Ian Bell has issued a public warning/challenge: "Gays who can laugh at the frequent (or maybe constant) ridiculousness of being gay should come. Those who can't should save their money for the beer garden this coming weekend." (Re-bar, 1114 Howell St, 233-9873. 8 pm, $14, 21+.) by Brendan Kiley

Link  |  Post Comment (2)

Too young and/or broke to hit the beer gardens this weekend? Consider Bend-It Festival, an all-ages, DIY-oriented queer party happening this weekend at Cal Anderson Park, Northwest Film Forum, and Vera Project. This afternoon's kick-off at the park includes musical performances by hiphop duo Thee Satisfaction, Feelin' Alright (members of Team Dresch, Erase Errata, and Dear Nora), the Redwood Plan, My Parade (members of Bow + Arrow and Pillow Fight Fight), and the Get Off, plus hair styling by Vain, a bike-maintenance station courtesy of the Bikery, and an after-dark screening of Stonewall. (Cal Anderson Park, 1635 11th Ave, www.myspace.com/bend_it. 3 pm, free, all ages.) by Eric Grandy

Link  |  Post Comment (1)

If tomorrow's Pride Parade is the cantankerous, glitzy, older queen of gay culture, the Dyke March is the parade's grittier, more political—and more sober—sister. Since the early 1990s, the march has snaked through the streets of Capitol Hill on the evening before the parade. Afterward, lesbian nights explode in bars around town, including Girl4GIRL at Club Motor, Hot Flash (for women 36 and over) at the War Room and Neighbours, Cherry at Re-bar, and the beer garden at Wildrose, Seattle's lesbian mecca. (Rally from 5–7 pm, Seattle Central Community College Plaza, Broadway and Pine, march at 7 pm.) by Dominic Holden

Link  |  Post Comment (32)