Lots of truly great events this week, starting with The Stranger's Night of Genius Film awards and continuing through the opening night of KEXP’s Concerts at the Mural series. There are also outdoor movies to catch along with one chilling indoor movie. But I am most excited by Saturday's Olympic Sculpture Park lineup, which includes live mural painting. As I, alas, work on Saturdays, please enjoy that event for me.
Night of Genius: Film
Frye Art Museum, Wed. 7/31 from 5:30- 8 p.m., $10
Continuing the showcasing of this year’s Stranger Genius Award nominees, tonight honors three talents from the Seattle film scene. Feature filmmaker Zach Weintraub, short filmmaker Scott Blake and cinematographer Benjamin Kasulke (known for his recognition at SIFF 2012 and his epic hair) will all be on hand to present their work (in shorts and clips) and answer audience questions. As usual, drink specials and socializing (at Vito's) will follow.
Jamison Green
Capitol Hill Public Library, Thurs. 8/1 at 6:30 p.m., FREE
Jamison Green has been a longtime advocate for trans rights, and his 2004 memoir Becoming a Visible Man (which chronicles his transition from lesbian to heterosexual male) elevated him to a place of even greater esteem in the LGBTQ community. Green, who continues to advocate for the trans community with his recently earned law degree, will be in Capitol Hill discussing his book.
KEXP Concert at the Mural
Seattle Center Mural, Fri. 8/2 at 5:30 p.m., FREE
KEXP’s Concerts at the Mural have finally begun! Expect the crowds of happy people and positive energy that always surround KEXP. Each Friday features a different musical genre. Tonight's bill: Oklahoma singer-songwriter JD McPherson (above) brings a bit of 50s rockabilly flare (complete with upright bass), GravelRoad adds a taste of blues rock, and Rose Windows (a longtime KEXP fav) brings a bit of everything – surreal folk, Native American flute, guitar. In short, music KEXP calls “perfect for frolicking outdoors.”
Summer at SAM (Including Yoga & Live Painting)
Olympic Sculpture Park, Sat. 8/3, FREE
Summer events at SAM’s Olympic Sculpture Park continue. While Thursday nights remain hopping, this Saturday is a great time to visit this beautiful spot. In addition to the regular free public tours, SAM has also enlisted instructors from 8 Limbs for free yoga from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m.). And catch local muralists Xavier Lopez Jr. and Ryan “Henry” Ward (yeah, that Henry) doing live painting and mural instruction at 1 p.m.
Movies at the Mural: Hugo
Seattle Center, Sat. 8/3 at dusk, FREE
If, like me, you have yet to see the 3D film adaptation of Brian Selznick’s magical children’s book Hugo, this would be the perfect time. Directed by Martin Scorcese and winner of five Oscars, the film intertwines the path of Hugo, a 12-year-old boy tending clocks in a Paris train station, and Isabelle, who's being raised by her grandfather, filmmaking great George Méliès. With a 94 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes, it seems this film will not disappoint.
Alamo Drafthouse Presents Trapped in the Closet: Sing-A-Long
Fremont, Sat. 8/3 at 9:30 p.m., $12 in advance
SIFF hosts an R. Kelly sing-along from time to time but as far as I know, this is the first time it’s been done outside, and definitely the first time the Ezell’s Express food truck has been there. Is that what R. Kelly would want for his 33 chapter masterpiece?!? You decide, belting out the lyrics, as fried chicken and biscuit crumbs dust your collar.
TheeSatisfaction
Nectar Lounge, Sat. 8/3 at 8 p.m. $12
Seattle hip-hop duo TheeSatisfaction has been receiving a lot of attention in the last year (following the release its album awE NaturalE) but sometimes we’re still lucky enough for a live, hometown show. Tonight’s concert at the Nectar should be a great one with Stasia Irons and Catherine Harris-White performing inventive songs from whatever they feel like — old material, their January Erykah Badu tribute album and doubtlessly some new work.
The Act of Killing
Varsity Theatre, 8/2-8/8, $10.50
I promised myself that the next movie I’d see would be a happy family film (maybe I’ll make it to Hugo) but this documentary just looks so all-around awesome. In The Act of Killing, produced by Errol Morris and Werner Herzog (isn’t that reason enough to go?), filmmaker Joshua Oppenheimer finds perpetrators of the 1960s Indonesian genocide — more than a million Chinese, intellectuals and alleged communists in Indonesia were killed. Oppenheimer challenges these death squad leaders to reenact their mass killings in whatever cinematic style they choose, which happens to include gangster films and musicals. Raw, terrifying and devastating, this documentation of evil is also sure to be thought-provoking.
What are you doing this weekend? Let us know in the comments area below. And if you hear of any interesting – under $15 - events in or around our grand city, please email editor@crosscut.com.
