Am I the only one who prefers 1999’s Drop Dead Gorgeous to
any of the faux-documentary works of Christopher Guest? Sure, Michael
Patrick Jann’s fake beauty-pageant doc falls apart toward the end, but
not before it scores several movies’ worth of major and thoroughly
malevolent laughs. The cast is the key, from a pitch-perfect
Kirsten Dunst to a ridiculously hilarious (pre–Hollywood
makeover) Brittany Murphy to the faultless Allison
Janney. (Central Cinema, 1411 21st Ave, 686-6684. 7 [all ages]
and 9:30 pm [21+], $5, Feb 20–23.)

David Schmader—former weed columnist and Stranger associate editor—is the author of the solo plays Straight and Letter to Axl, which he’s performed in Seattle and across the US. His latest...