The Stranger

Down East Marginal Way, in the middle of the warehouse district, is the best place to recover from your Friday night. The menu at Hudson is pleasantly surly (the stern mug of an ancestral horse thief stares out from the cover), but the staff and clientele are all charm. It's the kind of place where young bucks show off their new back tattoos and half-deaf old men shout at each other about diodes. Their cheesy grits are the thick, yellow kind with sautéed shrimp on top. They taste like roux and herbs, a little smoky and a lot savory. It's a steaming plate of hangover manna. (Hudson, 5000 E Marginal Way S, 767-4777. 8 am–midnight, brunch until 3 pm.) by Brendan Kiley

Link  |  Post Comment (0)

All this week at the Grand Illusion, it's Burning Fuse, a touring film festival composed of six documentaries, including Pussycat Preacher (a stripper turns evangelical), Sliding Liberia (Liberian surfers, brah!), Soldiers of Conscience (how we condition our children to bypass their morals and turn other children into wet piles of stuff), and Faubourg Tremé (a look at black New Orleans). Your brains are hungry. Go feed them. (Grand Illusion, 1403 NE 50th St, www.grandillusioncinema .org. Nov 20–26, $8–$20.) by Lindy West

Link  |  Post Comment (0)

Over the next few months, you'll be reading a lot about Precious, Lee Daniels's stylish, shocking drama about a New York teen making her way through a life of violent abuse and oppression. Don't let the "Oprah-endorsed Oscar bait" hype stop you from experiencing a tremendous new movie. Precious is far from perfect, but this is a world that's never seen the screen before, brought to life by an extraordinary cast, including Gabourey Sibide, Mariah Carey, Xosha Roquemore, and Mo'Nique. (See Movie Times: thestranger.com/film.) by David Schmader

Link  |  Post Comment (5)

NYC duo the Books write the kind of songs that give McSweeney's readers mindgasms; who else sings words like "therein" and "capitulate"? Beyond clever lyrics and track titles, the Books generate a distinctly arch yet oddly moving strain of folktronica. Their gently ruptured, collagist songs come adorned with digital glitches, acoustic-guitar plangencies, and cryptic dialogue. The Books' forthcoming album reportedly samples self-help cassettes and deals with new-age concepts. Expect visuals just as stimulating as the audio. (Triple Door, 216 Union St, 838-4333. 7 [all ages] and 9:30 pm [21+], $15.) by Dave Segal

Link  |  Post Comment (2)

Seattle artist Akio Takamori made small porcelain figures from images by Danish photographer Rigmor Mydtskov, then made large photographs of the figures that hang behind them on the wall. Each face, each outfit, goes through multiple translations. Another strategy of capture-and-release takes place in famed shooter Danny Lyon's photographs of the civil rights movement, of the Texas prison system, of a motorcycle gang he joined and rode with. Those images have become part of how we see backward toward the 1960s; how do they look now? (James Harris Gallery, 312 Second Ave S, 903-6220. 11 am–5 pm, free.) by Jen Graves

Link  |  Post Comment (0)

You can't choose your family, but you can choose to leave your family shortly after the last scraps of dessert go down. They'll be belching and patting their guts, and you'll need a sanity-restoring drink. Some of our favorite bars keep the not-at-home fires burning for Fat Thursday: the Baranof in Greenwood, karaoke at Bush Garden in the ID (have dinner at China Gate beforehand), and Liberty, Moe Bar, and the newly de-cobwebbed Canterbury on Capitol Hill. (There are more. Search for open bars in your neighborhood, and join the other merry holiday refugees, at thestranger.com/chow.) by Brendan Kiley

Link  |  Post Comment (1)