Events

FILM—The always-great, fourth annual Portland Black Film Festival—curated by local writer and filmmaker David Walker—kicks off at the Hollywood tonight with a can’t-miss title: 1972’s Buck and the Preacher, a trailblazing western directed by star Sidney Poitier, who has Harry Belafonte and Ruby Dee in tow! It’s well worth seeing on the big screen—and in […]

COMEDY—Maria Bamford is funny. Rolling Stone named her one of their 50 funniest people, she’s had two Comedy Central specials, made a guest appearance on Louie, and now she’s coming back to Portland to entertain us. She’ll be at Helium tonight and tomorrow, and you’ll want to get your tickets quick, because they’re gonna sell […]

FILM—A new Coen brothers movie is better than Christmas. A new Coen brothers movie is better than your wedding. A new Coen brothers movie is better than that one time your parents weren’t ashamed of you. This new Coen brothers movie is Hail, Caesar!, and it stars everyone you like (Channing Tatum! George Clooney! Scarlett […]

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 5 DANCE—In a town that has really good queer dance nights, Yes, Please! at Holocene is a standout. Armed with room-shaking DJs such as Vera Rubin, Laura Lynn, and DJ Sappho spinning the hottest garage, disco, and house, tonight will also feature the wondrous drag fabulousness of DieAna Dae. As the title clearly […]

FILMS—The past few weeks have sucked: First we lost David Bowie, and then we lost Alan Rickman. Tonight, the Hollywood remembers both: First with a screening of Bowie’s bizarre 1983 vampire flick The Hunger, followed by Rickman’s career-making turn in 1988’s action classic Die Hard. Both are always worth seeing on the big screen—this time, […]

MUSIC—Tonight’s proof positive of the depth and richness of Portland’s music scene, with four incredible local bands sharing the stage, including percussionists 1939 Ensemble, post-punk detonators Months, and eruptive bliss-rockers the Fourth Wall. It’s a fundraiser for the Bernie Sanders campaign, but even if you’re not feeling the Bern, we heartily endorse these bands. NED […]

MUSIC—Music critics rarely reach a consensus on anything, but Julia Holter’s Have You in My Wilderness might be the exception, making its way onto countless best-of-2015 lists for its exploratory, uplifting pop. Hear Holter’s symphonic, sweet, surreal sounds for yourself tonight. NED LANNAMANNw/Circuit des Yeux; Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison, 8:30 pm, $12-15 BLAZERS—Any excuse to […]

MUSIC—Are you ready to feel like the only living human being in a vast stretch of apocalyptic wasteland, hunted but alone, vulnerable yet jaded? To feel awash in an endless stretch of sonic textures that ebb and flow like a sandy ocean? Hope you bought tickets to the immersive aural experience that’s a Godspeed You! […]

FRIDAY, JANUARY 29 COMEDY—If you’re a lover of comedy that’s smart, culturally and politically aware, AND gut-bustingly funny, then murder whomever you have to in order to get tickets to either tonight or tomorrow’s sold-out Hari Kondabolu shows. His calm, logical delivery takes the air out of idiotic conservative viewpoints like a surgeon’s blade, and […]

MARIO KART—Some would say games like Call of Duty and Halo indoctrinate children into a warlike mindset. Maybe that’s true (probably not). But nothing has consistently whipped as many people into murderous, rage-filled frenzies as that fucking blue shell, introduced in Mario Kart 64. Ground Kontrol, Hollywood Theatre, and the Ace are hosting a tournament […]

BOOKS—Brazilian novelist Clarice Lispector, reigning head bitch in charge of experimental fiction, was so intimidatingly rad as to draw comparisons to Marlene Dietrich and Virginia Woolf. In the US, her brilliance is just now catching on, thanks in part to new translations from Katrina Dodson. Tonight, Dodson’s joined by Portland’s own Lidia Yuknavitch to discuss […]