The Stranger

The battle over gay rights has escalated to a frenzy in the past year: Proposition 8 banned gay marriage in California last year, and religious fanatics have put a referendum on the ballot in Washington this November attempting to repeal the rights of domestic partners. But several states have also legalized gay marriage. This weekend, the National Equality March will stomp and scream on the Capitol lawn in Washington, D.C., to demand that Congress keep gay rights on the agenda. And the local action—part of the two-day LGBT Equality Weekend—will march from Volunteer Park today at 2:00 p.m. to the federal courthouse downtown. Other events include a symposium at Seattle University and an AIDS vigil on Saturday. (Visit www.seattleoutprotest.org for a complete schedule.) by Dominic Holden

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SIFF Cinema wraps up its mini-festival of Hitchcock with two more films you can see 20 times a year on Turner Classic Movies but that you really should see on the big screen. First is 1935's The 39 Steps, the international-espionage-and-errant-murder-accusation roller coaster currently being re-created at Seattle Repertory Theatre. Then comes 1943's Shadow of a Doubt, a slow-boiling stunner featuring a family torn apart by lies and betrayal and an impossibly handsome Joseph Cotten. (SIFF Cinema, 321 Mercer St, 633-7151. 7:30 pm [39 Steps], 9:15 pm [Shadow], $10 for both.) by David Schmader

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Ricky Gervais's directorial film debut, The Invention of Lying, is more of a science-fiction thought experiment than a romantic comedy. Gervais stars as Mark Bellison, a below-average Joe and the first dishonest man in a world without "deceit or flattery or fiction"—a power that, in a purely credulous society, amounts to mind control. Despite some jarringly mawkish moments (Gervais is, at heart, painfully sincere), the conceit makes for some brilliant details: A nursing home becomes "A SAD PLACE FOR HOPELESS OLD PEOPLE," advertising loses all meaning ("Coke: It's Very Famous"), and dating turns into balls-out eugenics. It's weird. It's funny. (See Movie Times: thestranger.com/film.) by Lindy West

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Why? frontman Yoni Wolf is one of the best lyricists in indie rock (or anywhere else) right now, a tongue-tying fast-talker who twists hiphop cadences and tightly-wound couplets to his own compellingly morbid, hyper-self-conscious ends. His band's latest, Eskimo Snow, was culled from the same recording sessions that produced 2008's Alopecia, but its songs are sentimental rather than sly, instrumentally looser and more live. Mount Eerie is the ongoing project of the Microphones' equally existentially concerned (though slightly more solaced) Phil Elverum. No Kids are a delightful chamber-pop trio from Canada. This is a flawless bill. (Vera Project, Seattle Center, 956-8372. 7:30 pm, $12/$13, all ages.) by Eric Grandy

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Howard Barlow takes base materials riddled with bullet holes (mini-kegs, say), coats them with luscious paint, then affixes to them antlers wearing knit antler sweaters. Ries Niemi cracks wise in embroidered handkerchiefs. Nathan DiPietro paints twisted idylls (one pictured at left), channeling Bruegel and Thomas Hart Benton. And those are just three of the dozen artist members of PUNCH Gallery. To raise money for the artist-run space, they've hung a group show, and every person who comes through the door can buy a chance to win the entire exhibition by these vital local artists—for only 10 bucks a pop. (PUNCH Gallery, 119 Prefontaine Pl S, 621-1945. Noon–5 pm, free to see/$10 for a chance to win.) by Jen Graves

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The blogosphere's ablaze about Kurt Vile, a Philadelphia-based singer-songwriter who makes low-fidelity nonchalance an asset. Believe the hype. Vile's 2008 collection Constant Hitmaker repurposes Lee Hazlewood's hazily touching, sung-out-the-side-of-his-mouth ballads and light rockers for late-'00s sensibilities. His new Childish Prodigy beefs up the production values and rocks harder, but it retains Vile's knack for poignantly deadpan melodies and acute, spare arrangements. Less is more, more or less. (High Dive, 513 N 36th St, 632-0212. 9:30 pm, $8 adv/$10 DOS, 21+.) by Dave Segal

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