TRASH TALKING: Not totally through with film after SIFF? Tonight, trash cinema provocateur John Waters appears at Seattle Arts & Lectures. From groundbreaking indie work like Pink Flamingos to cult classics like Hairspray to contemporary satire like Pecker and Cecil B. Demented, Waters has been pushing the boundaries of the cinema for about 40 years, and has moved from the indie fringes to the mainstream with popular stage musicals of his classic films. 7:30 p.m.......

It's week something-or-other of SIFF, and the hits just keep on coming! So, here are this week's picks. For all SIFF screenings, the general/member ticket prices are $11/$9 (and matinees $8/$7), except for gala screenings and other special events, which cost more. · Alexandra is "a film of startling originality and beauty" (NYT) about a widowed Russian woman who decides to visit her soldier son at the Chechen front. (tonight, 4:30 p.m. @ SIFF......

Once again, SIFF is upon us. Even though there are still three weeks until opening night, with today's press launch, things are gearing up for the 34th Seattle International Film Festival. Running a full 25 days, SIFF will present 191 narrative features, 57 documentary features, and 170 short films from 69 countries, including 43 World Premieres (16 features, 27 shorts), 38 North American Premieres (19 features, 19 shorts) and 19 US Premieres (10 features,......

Tartuffe, Ghostlight Theatricals at Odd Fellows Hall Through April 21, tickets $12/$10 students/seniors "Ghost Light Theatricals’ mission is to make theatrical theatre by creating bold and imaginative worlds; to tell timeless stories so that they resonate with a modern audience." Last weekend we went to see Tartuffe, this play by an old French dude named Moliere. And for reals man, we dug it. We forgot that old French dudes used to write their stuff......

Valentine's Day is only a few days away, and we here across the Gothamist network wanted to express would like to tell you, in the spirit of the holiday, just how much we love you, our readers. Don't let it get to your heads, though. There are plenty of things we love, you included. Just be glad you're not amongst the things we hate. SFist saw their beloved mayor enter rehab, and they loved the......

ART: Think you were Toulouse-Lautrec in a previous life? Swing by the Bedroom Club tonight and sketch the Burning Hearts Burlesque performers along with the Seattle Figure Drawing Meetup Group. 9pm for the show, 10:30pm for the sketching // Last Supper Club (124 S. Washington) // free to artists if you RSVP; $10 if you want to see the show sans sketchbook JAZZ: "It's fun, swing-y, gypsy-ish," says our jazz-loving friend of Pearl Django's music.......

At a time when we're all asking ourselves what makes a terrorist be a terrorist--especially lately, with reports that the first set of London bombers may not have known they were on a suicide mission--comes along a novel that reimagines the 1974 Patty Hearst hoohah to address such issues. Trance, by Christopher Sorrentino, is based on the kidnapping of media heiress Patty Hearst by the "Symbionese Liberation Army." Hearst--having changed her name to Tania......

In preparation for tomorrow's roundup of the weeklies, Seattlest would like to welcome Tablet magazine to our Seattle media links list. Their February edition is out and the cover of "The Smut Issue" is arguably not work safe (which is a good thing). The articles follow suit with titles like "Cambodian Hustler Lures Foreign Tourist to Sex Hotel," "Co-Ed Does the Hockey Team," and "Why Portland's Oldest Strip Bar is Still the Best." All articles......