Twenty-four years ago today, the great American writer and beloved Pacific Northwesterner Raymond Carver died in Port Angeles. Tonight, Central Cinema pays tribute to the man with a screening of the best-ever movie based on his work: Robert Altman’s Short Cuts, the humongous ensemble piece of 1993 that weaves together nine Carver stories and offers up a cavalcade of indelible moments, including but not limited to Lily Tomlin and Lili Taylor as mother and daughter, Tom Waits and Lily Tomlin as lovers, Tim Robbins slutting around in a cop suit, and Julianne Moore making it clear she’s a natural redhead. (Central Cinema, 1411 21st Ave, www.central-cinema.com, 8 pm, $6 adv/$8 DOS, all ages)

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...