WEDNESDAY 8/31
Film: Hearts Aloft
Pixar’s 2009 Up packs a profound emotional punch in its first few minutes, when it presents the most heartfelt—the most sincere—love story in recent memory: the love between a boy and a girl, who become a man and a woman, who become a husband and a wife, who become a widower and a memory that haunts the rest of what follows. Rest assured, it gets funny. And thrilling, too, as the third act takes place almost entirely in the sky, atop a mammoth zeppelin piloted by a hero-turned-villain. But despite its title, Up is decidedly earthbound: The elderly Carl (voiced by Ed Asner) spends almost the entire movie schlepping his house across the South American landscape his wife had always hoped to visit. Joined by a young boy also in need of company, Carl’s literally tethered to a memory, an anchor with a garden hose wrapped around his torso to keep his home from floating away. (Outdoor movie screens at dusk, rated G, 90 min.) Movies at Marymoor, 6046 W. Lake Sammamish Pkwy. N.E. (Redmond), 205-3661, kingcounty.gov. $5. Seating begins at 7 p.m. ROBERT WILONSKY
THURSDAY 9/1
Music: From Screen to Stage
When David Simon, creator of The Wire, began filming his new Treme, few knew it would be such a gift to music enthusiasts. Each episode of the HBO series, which loosely concerns residents of New Orleans rebuilding their lives following Hurricane Katrina, contains countless guest appearances by top-notch musicians most Americans have never heard of. It’s not uncommon for trumpeter Terence Blanchard or vocalist Cassandra Wilson to show up at a party, or for one of the show’s cast to make a phone call to swamp-pop great Dr. John. As it is to New Orleans itself, music is central to Treme, so it’s only natural that a tour be launched in its name. A Night in Treme (The Musical Majesty of New Orleans) features performances by The Rebirth Brass Band, alto saxophonist Donald Harrison Jr., trumpeter Kermit Ruffins, and the charismatic trombonist Glen David Andrews. Like the neighborhood of Treme, the music should be nothing short of heroic, exuberant, and tireless. (Through Sun.) Dimitriou’s Jazz Alley, 2033 Sixth Ave., 441-9729, jazzalley.com. $26.50. 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. BRIAN J. BARR
First Thursday: Changing Faces
If you’ve been out of town this summer, then wander into the Catherine Person Gallery tonight during the First Thursday art walk; you’re in for a surprise. Grover/Thurston Gallery has left its old space on Occidental Park and relocated here. Its first show of the new season features local painter Francesca Sundsten, who bends traditional portraiture into a kind of fantastical sci-fi revisionism. The motifs and and gestures are familiar—the sort of renaissance poses you might see in any old European cathedral or museum. Only a transmogrification has occurred. Sundsten places sheep and deer heads on female bodies, sets women’s faces on the bodies of dogs and monkeys. There’s a touch of surrealism, a trace of the album cover (as she’s done for KMFDM, in which her husband played drums). Her subjects are distorted, yet serene. (Through Oct. 1.) Grover/Thurston Gallery, 319 Third Ave. S., 223-0816, groverthurston.com. Free. Opening reception 6–8 p.m. BRIAN MILLER
FRIDAY 9/2
Film: The Home Front
Forty years before Red Dawn—due for a remake later this year, btw—there was the World War II thriller Went the Day Well?, based on a story by Graham Greene. The Nazi invasion, when it comes to the sleepy village of Bramley End, isn’t a blitzkrieg but a routine billeting of familiar British troops—or so they appear to be. They’re polite, speak English, and even help with the dishes. But wait, the vicar’s daughter notices, one soldier crosses his 7s in the continental style. And how could another have chocolate from Vienna? Produced by Ealing Studios, so famous for its postwar comedies, Went the Day Well? is full of types, from the plummy manor matron down to the rascally poacher. It’s propaganda, made mid-war in 1942, but the message is conveyed more by nudge than megaphone. There’s bumbling and bloodshed both as the astonished villagers gradually recognize the infiltrators, then form a ragtag resistance. And, significantly, women are at the vanguard: One dispatches a Nazi with a kitchen hatchet; another, mindful of rationing, scolds the children: “Eat up your porridge! You mustn’t waste food during wartime!” (Through Thurs.) Northwest Film Forum, 1515 12th Ave., 267-5380, nwfilmforum.org. $6–$9. 7 and 9 p.m. BRIAN MILLER
SUNDAY 9/4
Cycling: Car-Free LWB
So long as Lake Washington Boulevard is closed to cars for Bicycle Sunday (from Mount Baker Beach to Seward Park), we can still say it’s summer. The gentle bends of the shoreline drive, three miles point-to-point, are perfect for kids being liberated from training wheels. Parents can often be seen jogging alongside the wobbling tires and pink-tasseled handlebars, offering encouragement and—biker down!—blowing on skinned knees. The Freds on their carbon-fiber time-trial bikes tend to speed through early, surrendering the boulevard to meandering recreationalists who wear their helmets backward, stop for no reason, trail dogs on leashes, ride with their seats too low, and abruptly veer toward ripened blackberry bushes. The STP or BGT this is not; and that’s why LWB on a Sunday is so refreshing. Instead of arguing about road diets, debating the bikes/cars war, or mocking Mayor McSchwinn, Bicycle Sundays are a reminder that biking doesn’t have to be political (or even exercise, for that matter), but just fun. (Sundays through Sept. 18.) seattle.gov/parks/bicyclesunday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m. BRIAN MILLER
MONDAY 9/5
Happy Hours: Don’t Crowd Me In
Bimbo’s screams excess. The folks behind the beloved Mexican bar on Capitol Hill serve burritos the size of babies and the stiffest drinks in the hood. (Fun fact: Drew Barrymore is a big fan.) They even swap out tortilla chips for Doritos to create the aptly named “Stoner Nachos.” On weekends, it’s nearly impossible to find a table at this hipster-approved spot, let alone room to breathe. But on Mondays, a considerably less busy Bimbo’s offers a happy hour featuring $5-and-under burritos, nachos, tacos, and $3.25 wells and $4.25 margaritas. Your bill is bound to be cheaper and the service better. Who knows—you just might rub elbows with one of Charlie’s Angels. Bimbo’s Cantina, 1013 E. Pine St., 322-9950, bimboscantina.com. (21 and over.) Noon to close. ERIKA HOBART
