Can't Miss It: Weekend Edition

Friday Theatre: The Solo Performance Festival, SPF2: Sweatproof!, returns to the Theatre Off Jackson with a terrific lineup of uni-personned shows. In fact, tonight has a terrific lineup all on its own, thanks to the Unicycle Collective. Their MonoLodge 4 is an evening of solo shorts from Seattle veterans and up-and-coming talents: Keith Hitchcock, Jennifer Jasper, Troy Mink, K. Brian Neel, Becky Poole, Mary Purdy, Seth Rosenbloom, Mark Siano, and Jenna Bean Veatch. (Saturday is San Francisco's James Judd and his 7 SINS, a collection true stories including his early ambition to win his 5th grade book report competition with My Search for Patty Hearst.)

Saturday Film: Director Robert Altman's unheralded masterpiece--Popeye--comes to the Northwest Film Forum. This is the one when Robin Williams was still snorting coke like it might bring his sense of humor back (i.e., 1980). Sure, film snobs look askance at Popeye's rivalry with Bluto cast as a class war, but how can you pass up dialogue like this:

Poopdeck Pappy: Cut me down. Cut me down.
Popeye: [Grabbing a knife] Cut ya down, cut ya down.
Poopdeck Pappy: Cut me down.
[Popeye does. Pappy lands flat on his face and breaking the chair]
Poopdeck Pappy: Ugh, you idiot.
Popeye: You said cut you down.
Poopdeck Pappy: I didn't say *cut* me down. I said *get* me down, *get* me down. And don't you ever pick up another knife, if you do, I'll make you eat it. You'll be known as the Sword Swallowin' Sailor.

1:30pm, 4pm // Northwest Film Forum // Tickets: $8.50 general, $6 students/seniors

Sunday Film: Normally we wouldn't recommend two films in a row, but Hair? How can we not put in a Hair plug? (Okay, yes, it has been a long week.) It's a 1979 movie blast from the 1968 musical past, directed by Milos Forman. There's choreography by Twyla Tharp, a tribe of countercultural types living in Central Park, why there's even Marijuana. It's also a great way to see long-haired hippies up close without the incredible smell. Well, if you order the Central Cinema pizza, there could still be an incredible smell. Just no patchouli.

8:30-10pm // Central Cinema // Tickets $5

The listed events were chosen by the editors of Seattlest and brought to you by the 2009 Toyota Corolla.