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FILM

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Squatters are not a group of folks that I’d previously associated with cinema, but I’m not afraid to admit that I was wrong. “In 2019, a radical group calling itself the Cinéma La Clef Revival Collective forced their way into the derelict building which housed La Clef (The Key), a ’70s-era cinema,” The Beacon explains. The French collective revitalized the space, which had shuttered in 2015 because the owners wanted to sell the property for redevelopment. Booo! La Clef Revival has fostered a community-programmed space for “squatter’s cinema” ever since, shouting a gargantuan “fuck you” at exclusionary rental practices and vampiric landlords and developers. Show up to this screening series throughout March for a selection of squat-centric flicks like Occupied Cinema, Winstanley, and many others. One of my personal faves, Robinson’s Garden, will screen later in the month—it’s a clear-cut punk statement offering up a rare glimpse of a multicultural Tokyo sans city pop and financial prosperity. Not to gush too much, but the film draws from underground No Wave aesthetics (think Jim Jarmusch) to tell an anticapitalist story of a bohemian drug dealer who discovers an abandoned building lush with vegetation. Promise you’ll dig it. LC
(The Beacon, Columbia City)

FOOD & DRINK

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The popular local burger joint chain Li’l Woody’s has revealed the lineup for its 10th annual Burger Month series, which features four weeks of special burger collaborations dreamed up by some of the city’s brightest culinary luminaries. Today is the final day to grab The Nadia, a grilled halal beef kefta patty, tahini and lemon garlic aioli, pickled cucumbers, cabbage salad, and Yalla’s fermented hot sauce on a Ben’s Bread brioche bun from Yalla chef Taylor Cheney. JB
(All Li’l Woody’s locations)

READINGS & TALKS

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Poet and essayist Roger Reeves is one of my favorites—drop what you’re doing and read King Me if you haven’t. Reeves’s most recent work, Best Barbarian, was a finalist for the 2022 National Book Award for Poetry, so expect to hear some breathtakingly beautiful words. He’ll be joined on stage by former Seattleite, formidable poet, genre-crossing artist, TEDx speaker, and podcaster Anastacia-Reneé, whose funky, feminist collection Side Notes from the Archivist: Poems illuminates Black femme culture through coming-of-age poems set in ’80s Philly. (“The deft tonal shifts of Anastacia-Reneé’s words and delivery amuse, disarm and devastate,” said the Seattle Times.) LC
(Rainier Arts Center, Rainier Valley)

LIVE MUSIC

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Former Stranger contributor Kathy Fennessy writes: “To judge by Dan Bejar’s (aka Destroyer’s) singing style, the equivalent of a stranger whispering in your ear to be heard over a crowd, it’s easy to picture the Vancouver musician as a cross between Joel Grey and Space Oddity-era David Bowie, except he’s neither a dapper song-and-dance man nor a starry-eyed glam rocker. It’s just that he italicizes every lyric like an alien struggling to emulate the human concept of sincerity—and failing spectacularly. Even as a member of power-pop collective the New Pornographers, Bejar’s songs stand alone, sounding as if they drifted over from one of his 13 studio albums, such as the excellent, NYC-inspired Poison Season. If you don’t get it, don’t worry. Bejar is a Brechtian device disguised as a chamber-pop troubadour.” He will return to Seattle for a solo set with support from Canadian indie rockers Lightning Dust. AV
(Tractor Tavern, Ballard)

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Lætitia Sadier, the co-founder, songwriter, and lyricist of the electropop great Stereolab, released her fifth solo album Rooting for Love on Chicago label Drag City last week, and it’s a brilliant, politically subversive, and idiosyncratic synth-pop record. My favorite cut is “Don’t Forget That You’re Mine,” a bright experimental pop song about abuse and possession. It’s an exciting event, because it’d been several years since we’d heard new solo music from the singer, who last released Find Me Finding You as the Lætitia Sadier Source Ensemble in 2017. In the past seven years, she’d embarked on successful tours with a reunited Stereolab, and last year put out a collaborative record as Modern Cosmology with the Brazil-based Mombojó. STRANGER STAFF WRITER VIVIAN MCCALL
(Barboza, Capitol Hill)

COMEDY

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You do weird stuff. Admit it—as soon as you read that sentence, you thought of some covert practice you carry out in private, some unusual habit that you’re not totally certain anyone else does. Or maybe you can’t think of anything, in which case, congratulations on being the world’s most normal person, I guess. Anyway, this interactive comedy show will help you figure out whether your quirk is societally acceptable or not. Pals Alyssa Yeoman and Erin Ingle will debate your anonymous submissions (you can share your own habits, or something your partner does–it’s all fair game) while you giggle at strangers’ antics safely from the audience. LC
(Here-After at the Crocodile, Belltown)

LIVE MUSIC

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Singer-songwriter (and lover of biology) Mariah the Scientist rose to fame under the mentorship of controversial rapper Tory Lanez, who produced her debut full-length album, Master. Now on tour supporting her third album, To Be Eaten Alive, she will light up the stage with her relatable R&B slow-jams that have drawn comparisons to SZA and Frank Ocean. AV
(Neptune Theatre, University District)

READINGS & TALKS

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Self-proclaimed “internet yeller” Ijeoma Oluo is also the author of the New York Times bestseller So You Want To Talk About Race and the follow-up book Mediocre: The Dangerous Legacy of White Male America, both of which offered critical perspectives on how to navigate the issues of racism and white male supremacy embedded in American culture. But for those wondering “Okay, what now?” Oluo’s latest book might answer your question. Be A Revolution: How Everyday People Are Fighting Oppression and Changing the World — and How You Can, Too looks closely at how folks are enacting change from within the powerful, garbagey systems that be. Creating seismic shifts for intersectional racial equity is not only possible, it’s necessary, and Oluo’s got thoughts on how you can find an entry point. In this discussion with local author-activist Marcus Harrison Green, Oluo will share “how to take conversations on race and racism out of a place of pure pain and trauma, and into a place of loving action.” LC
(Elliott Bay Book Company, Capitol Hill)

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Artist-adventurer Tessa Hulls, the lead artist in the Wing Luke Museum exhibition Nobody Lives Here, has also been developing her genre-bending graphic memoir Feeding Ghosts for the last decade. The tome tells the story of three generations of women in her family—her Chinese grandmother Sun Yi, a bestselling author and journalist in Shanghai during the ’49 Communist victory; her mother, who came to the United States and eventually cared for Sun Yi; and herself. At 30, Hulls begins to reflect on her travels to Antarctica and how she might be running from her own history—Feeding Ghosts meets the reader there. Hulls will discuss the book withSeattle journalist (and local fave) Putsata Reang, whowrote about her experience as a Cambodian refugee for Politico in 2021, and has since released Ma and Me: A Memoir. The book shares Reang’s vulnerable experiences of inherited trauma, queer identity, and filial obligation, weaving together stark clarity with lyrical, profound insight. LC
(Town Hall Seattle, First Hill)

FILM

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Robert Altman might be my favorite director ever, and the fact that he was developing this feat of DIY filmmaking into a feature flick before his death will always haunt me. We may as well enjoy the original documentary, though. Hands on a Hard Body follows an endurance test at a Texas car dealership—to win a car, all the contestants have to do is keep their hand on it for the longest amount of time, which, as it turns out, is harder than it sounds. (I think I could pull it off if someone was feeding me RXBARs and sips of La Croix.) LC
(SIFF Cinema Uptown, Uptown)

PERFORMANCE

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The bigger the hair, the closer to the spirit world, amiright? Long Island Medium star Theresa Caputo will share the deets on her “psychic gifts” at this performance, delivering healing messages to audience members who have lost loved ones. LC
(Moore Theatre, Belltown)

LIVE MUSIC

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With inspirations ranging from Radiohead to Joni Mitchell, British singer-songwriter Arlo Parks crafts emotionally stirring indie pop songs with poetic lyrics such as “Cardamom and jade as your eyes screamed / On the night you showed your volcanic side / And I’m afraid to need validation / Waiting for the day when you finally try” (“Pegasus”). Parks will support her critically acclaimed sophomore album, My Soft Machine, which features collaborations with Phoebe Bridgers, Lous and the Yakuza, and redveil. Pop singer-songwriter Chloe George—who has penned songs for Dua Lipa and Normani—will open. AV
(Showbox SoDo, SoDo)

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I first became acquainted with Texan singer-songwriter Jess Williamson through Plains, her collaborative country-folk project with Waxahatchee’s Katie Crutchfield. My love of Crutchfield’s songwriting compelled me to pick up their debut album, I Walked with You a Ways, but I stayed for Williamson’s Emmylou Harris-esque vocal delivery and the duo’s jaw-dropping blended harmonies (evocative of legendary supergroup Trio). After overplaying Plains’ single “Abilene” to death, I moved on to Williamson’s psychedelic indie-folk album Sorceress with delight. She will stop by in support of her fifth solo album, Time Ain’t Accidental (my favorite of hers thus far!) which touches on themes of “endless prairies and ocean waves; long drives and highway expanse; dancing, smoke, sex, and physical desire.” Nashville-born folk-pop gem Erin Ray will open. AV
(Tractor Tavern, Ballard)

FOOD & DRINK

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You’ll find pop-up cocktail bars, tastings, classes, demos, and more at this “carnival of cocktails,” which serves as the main event of Seattle Cocktail Week. With a dozen tasting tokens included with your ticket, you can try several neat spirits samples from over 100 brands. Plus, grab food from trucks like Alexandra’s Macarons and Tabassum.
(Seattle Center, Uptown)

LIVE MUSIC

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We’ve all seen a lot of Bad Bunny over the last few years—he’s become ubiquitous with his Latin-trap earworms, high-fashion style, famous flings, and controversial stage antics. And, as Spotify’s most streamed artist of 2021 and 2022 (and the second most streamed in 2023), it looks like he’s here to stay! The Latin trap star is bringing his Most Wanted tour to Seattle to support his fifth album, Nadie Sabe Lo Que Va a Pasar Mañana, which, despite leaning into cowboy aesthetics, is not a country album. Rather, he explores various EDM genres like house, drill, and Jersey club. AV
(Climate Pledge Arena, Uptown)

FILM

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Tim Heidecker’s On Cinema at the Cinema Oscar Special perfectly encapsulates the comedic renaissance man’s idiosyncratic style, supplemented by “expert” film analysis from Gregg Turkington. With over ten years of commitment to the bit, the duo promises special guests, emotional catharsis, fighting, and more absurdity than anyone’s expecting. Don’t anticipate an actual broadcast of this year’s Oscars ceremony, though. Not to be annoying, but this is one of those rare events in which I can honestly say that if you don’t get it, just don’t worry about it. LC
(SIFF Cinema Egyptian, Capitol Hill)

LIVE MUSIC

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To honor Women’s History Month, MOR is joining forces with guest vocalists Vanessa Isiguen and Rachel Hauge for a program of music and dance about the current women’s rights struggle in Iran. The ensemble will perform Sahba Aminikia and Zara Houshmand’s compelling work Phoenix along with Carlos Simon’s An Elegy – A Cry from the Grave and Lori Laitman’s In Sleep The World is Yours. Spectrum Dance Theatre’s artistic director Donald Byrd will also lead the crew in a performance of The Golem, which is inspired by the medieval Jewish legend. AV
(Benaroya Hall, Downtown)

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Amid more controversies than I can personally keep up with, it is a weird time for Nicki Minaj to be on tour. When she dropped Pink Friday 2 last December, I, a critical fan, listened with an open mind. Tracks like “Barbie Dangerous” and “Pink Friday Girls” tugged on my heartstrings with glimmers of the 2010s Nicki that soundtracked my high school years. Then, just as my guard was down, she came in with “Big Foot,” a bizarre, half-baked diss track aimed at Megan Thee Stallion (if you care to get a rundown of the drama, I suggest taking to YouTube). The bottom line is that Nicki is a complicated, problematic, and divisive figure. And, while there is absolutely no excuse for her public support of sex offenders, history of anti-vax comments, or displays of internalized misogyny, I find myself wanting to root for her. Then, welp, I always end up disappointed again. In the words of Tyra Banks: “I was rooting for you! We were all rooting for you! How dare you!!” AV (Climate Pledge Arena, Uptown)

FILM

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SIFF Cinema Egyptian’s 50 Years of SIFF series has returned, offering an opportunity to catch 11 Seattle International Film Festival faves and Audience Award winners. Over the past five decades, the festival has screened over 10,000 films from all over the world, so seeing them all would be pretty much impossible. These screenings will help fill the gaps on your Letterboxd lists, though. The series continues this week with freaky fave Trollhunter and Zhang Yimou’s Hero. LC
(SIFF Cinema Egyptian, Capitol Hill)

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If the words “incisive literary satire” perk up your ears, then boy, does director Cord Jefferson have the film for you!! In his new dramedy (an adaptation of Percival Everett’s Erasure), Jeffrey Wright stars as Monk, a novelist who’s understandably aggravated by the establishment that profits from “Black” entertainment and its exhausting tropes. When Monk writes a book under a pen name, he finds himself paddling in the same phony waters he admonished in the first place. LC
(SIFF Cinema Uptown, Uptown, Monday-Thursday)

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A sweeping sci-fi film with origins right here in the Pacific Northwest, Dune: Part Two is a sequel that surpasses the first by leaps and bounds as it transports us back to the world first created by the late local author Frank Herbert. Picking up where its predecessor left off, it follows the young Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) as he aligns himself with Chani (Zendaya) and the rest of the Fremen who have found a way to survive in the harsh desert climate of Arrakis. As they battle against the forces of the galaxy looking to mine the valuable resources that the planet holds, there is soon a growing sense that the greatest dangers are only just beginning. The film also digs into fears Herbert explored about the hazards of giving power to leaders who talk a big game even as they may be the villains of their own stories. Readers of said books know how this ends, but the film offers just as much to those who are going in blissfully unaware, and its stunning visuals deserve to be seen on the big screen. In all of 2024, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a film as immense and well-crafted as Dune: Part Two. STRANGER CONTRIBUTOR CHASE HUTCHINSON
(SIFF Cinema Downtown, Belltown, Monday-Sunday)

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Teen movies really hit their stride once the youngins started hanging out in malls in the early ’80s. Suddenly, teens were more visible, and with that visibility came more complex and rebellious young roles on screen. Local filmmaker Jeremy Cropf will chat about some of the most enduring teen films of the last 40-odd years in this series, which includes screenings of Jennifer’s Body, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, and more alongside hybrid lectures on teen representation with themes corresponding to high school grades (“Freshman Year: The Invention of the Teenager,” “Sophomore Year: Dark Comedy and Social Satire,” and so on). Show up if you’re into Euphoria. LC
(Various locations, Monday/Wednesday)

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New German Cinema pioneer Wim Wenders, who directed Wings of Desire and a mysterious terrain of canyons and neon in Paris, Texas, is known for his deliciously “slow” cinema and emphasis on desolation. Interestingly, this film (which was shortlisted for Best International Feature at this year’s Oscars) feels a little more lighthearted, but I suspect that I will still come away feeling somehow devastated. Perfect Days follows a Tokyo toilet scrubber, Hirayama, whose days are filled with contentment, cassette tapes, books, and photos of trees. May we all be so blessed. LC
(SIFF Cinema Uptown, Uptown, Monday-Sunday)

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The Seattle Jewish Film Festival is one of the longest-running in the Pacific Northwest and one of the largest Jewish film festivals in the country. This year’s “cinemanna” includes an opening night screening of the Anthony Hopkins-fronted flick One Life and The Catskills, a “humorous and nostalgic tribute to the rise and fall of what was affectionately known as the Borscht Belt or Jewish Alps.” Viewers have the option to attend events in person or watch virtually from home. LC
(Various locations and Virtual, Monday-Sunday)

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Early on in The Taste of Things, a renowned chef asks a young culinary prodigy to taste a consommé and note how the flavor has changed. The prodigy concludes that it’s become less strong, and the chef agrees. “What you lose in taste you gain in color,” he says, explaining that the clarification process has alchemized the broth into something smoother, subtler, gentler, more delicate and pure. It’s a fitting analogy for the film itself, which forgoes embellishments and is all the more powerful for it. Director Trần Anh Hùng allows long, uninterrupted cooking sequences to speak for themselves: Instead of relying on music to evoke emotion, he scores the movie with a symphony of sounds: the clink of cutlery against china, the sizzle of short ribs in a pan, and the crackle of a hearth, all set against a near-constant backdrop of birdsong and buzzing bees. Read the full review on The Stranger. JB
(SIFF Cinema Uptown, Uptown, Monday-Thursday)

FOOD & DRINK

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This spirited weeklong event puts a spotlight on the movers and (cocktail) shakers of the Seattle bar scene with special libations available at participating venues, plus events, tours, a “Bartender’s Circle Summit,” and more. Saturday’s Carnival of Cocktails event at Seattle Center will feature pop-up cocktail bars, classes, tastings, experiences, food, take-home spirits, and other festivities. JB
(Various locations, Monday-Sunday)

PERFORMANCE

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The newest production by Polish-born playwright Martyna Majok, whose play Cost of Living received the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, was a New York Times Critic’s Pick. Sanctuary City is staged in post-9/11 Newark, where two pre-DACA “Dreamers” meet up on a fire escape to share their worries and hopes as undocumented teens. They plan to marry, but time shifts their relationship and brings up questions about sacrifice, love, and belonging. LC
(Leo K. Theater, Uptown, Thursday–Sunday)

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Agatha Christie rules, and as one of the literary canon’s most twisted storytellers, her style is a perfect fit for a musical spoof on the whodunit genre. Enter Something’s Afoot, in which 10 stranded strangers on a sprawling estate are plucked off one by one. You know the drill, so just show up and enjoy the mystery! Fifth Avenue Theatre also compares the production to the farcical antics of Arrested Development, The Office, and Schitt’s Creek, so even if you’re not “into” murder, you’ll find something to laugh about. LC
(The 5th Avenue Theatre, Downtown, Wednesday–Sunday)

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This series of biographical vignettes traces the life of the American Muslim minister and radical Black human rights activist El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, aka Malcolm X, from his early experiences with white supremacy to his conversion to Islam, ground-shaking activist work, and eventual murder. Pulitzer Prize-winning American composer Anthony Davis (Central Park Five) created an intriguing minimalist and jazz-fused score for the operatic work, which is a co-production with Detroit Opera, Opera Omaha, and the Metropolitan Opera. LC
(McCaw Hall, Uptown, Wednesday/Saturday)

VISUAL ART

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Frye Art Museum’s robust collection of 19th- and 20th-century European and American oil paintings is well-known, but less frequently seen is the museum’s collection of 800 light-sensitive works on paper. Bringing a selection of these works out of storage and “into the light,” this exhibition will feature a rotating sample of pieces installed for six-month stretches. Arranged within stylistic and geographic themes, Into the Light will aim to create new conversations and connections between unexpected artists.
(Frye Art Museum, First Hill, Wednesday–Sunday; closing)

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Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, a citizen of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Nation, is one of the 20th century’s most innovative artists—she blends references to pop art and abstraction with Native perspectives on Americana and mass media in brilliant, layered compositions. This solo exhibition curates from across five decades of the artist’s paintings, drawings, and sculptures; I’m especially drawn to the Bush administration critique of War is Heck and Indian Map, Smith’s “first recognizable map of the country in which brushstrokes and drips blur states’ borders and collaged texts and photographs tell stories of the land’s vast Indigenous presence.” LC
(Seattle Art Museum, Downtown, Wednesday–Sunday)

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Happy Women’s History Month! Tacoma-based photographer Roxann Murray will celebrate with this solo exhibition. Head to the museum to be among the first to see the show—you can also check out the current exhibition Solidarity Now! 1968 Poor People’s Campaign while you’re there. LC
(Washington State History Museum, Tacoma, Tuesday–Sunday)

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Focusing on female artists whose works “employ a strategy of fragmentation,” Positive Fragmentation: From the Collections of the Jordan D. Schnitzer and His Family Foundation compiles a whopping 200 prints that dismantle, reconstitute, and blend new ideas. The exhibition’s works include meditations on the body, explorations of urban landscapes, and a focus on women of color artists. Although these artists are often underrepresented in museum spaces, you’re bound to spot a few names you recognize, like art icons Betye Saar, Kara Walker, and Wendy Red Star. Judy Pfaff, Jenny Holzer, Judy Chicago, Louise Bourgeois, and Polly Apfelbaum are also standouts. LC
(Bellevue Arts Museum, Bellevue, Wednesday–Sunday; closing)

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Danish photographer Søren Solkær cut his teeth photographing musical legends like Björk, Metallica, Paul McCartney, the White Stripes, and Amy Winehouse, but in this solo exhibition, he studies “music makers of another sort”: starlings, those passerine birds with wings that resemble the night sky. This series of photographs studies their “murmurations,” or forms made by flocks in flight. (“Occurring before dusk in the spring and fall months, the mysterious act may function as an open call to join the evening roost and provide protection against predators,” explains the show’s promotional materials.) Sort Sol features over 50 photographs, video art, and homages to European paintings and Japanese woodblock prints, too. LC
(National Nordic Museum, Ballard, Tuesday–Sunday; closing)

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For his series Stranger Fruits, New York-based photographer Jon Henry composed powerful portraits of Black mothers holding their sons. The mothers and children range in age, and the settings are both indistinguishable and recognizable—among them public parks, backyards, a Target parking lot, and Montgomery Alabama’s capitol building where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his “How Long, Not Long” speech in March 1965. In his statement about the series, Henry writes, “The mothers in the photographs have not lost their sons, but understand the reality that this could happen to their family.” It could happen any minute, anywhere. According to gun violence nonprofit Everytown, “Black, Indigenous, and Latinx people experience higher rates of gun homicides overall and fatal shootings by police than white peers” and Black people are 12 times more likely to die by gun homicide than white people. Stranger Fruits will make you feel those statistics in your bones. STRANGER ARTS EDITOR MEGAN SELING
(Photographic Center Northwest, Capitol Hill, Monday-Sunday; closing)