WEDNESDAY 12/9
David Belisle
Dina is a fool for yule.
Related Content
More About
Holiday Events: Ticket to the North Pole
The kids are on holiday break and dying of boredom. Or you need a respite from the shopping madness downtown. Either way, Winterfest is only a short monorail ride away. Many of its attractions are free, and the rest are cheap—like the children's carousel (by Fisher Pavilion) at a buck a ride. Inside the pavilion, you can rent skates (free to $5) and churn the ice to froth, assisted by sliding metal balance rails if you need them. Over at the Center House, the free winter train chugs through a Christmas village. Parents can expect to shoot dozens of photos of their kids at each stop, and Seattle Center's free wi-fi means they can upload them directly to blogs and Flickr accounts. Other attractions and family activities include choral music, ice sculpting, free holiday movies, magic, comedy, rope-jumping, swing dancing, and the Microsoft Orchestra (!). Please refrain from making any Vista jokes when they perform. (Through Dec. 31) Seattle Center, 684-7200, seattlecenter.com. Free. 10 a.m.–10 p.m. T. BOND
FRIDAY 12/11
Stage: She Gives, and She Gives, and She Gives . . .
After 20 years, the alter ego of drag artiste Grady West still keeps topping herself, every show more WTF than her last. The Dina Martina Christmas Show returns with a new assault of song, dance, reminiscence, joyous fashion fails, stage banter that sounds as though it was devised by random-word-generating software, and a shopping bag full of holiday treasures (sit on the aisle if you want to be gifted!). Music director Chris Jeffries assists in Dina's repurposing of '70s and '80 hits as carols; in shows past, she's treated delirious audiences to the Pet Shop Boys' "North Pole Girls" and Rick Springfield's "(I Wish That I Was) Jesus' Girl." In just over a month, the indefatigable entertaineress is doing 26 shows (including, new this year, Sunday "mimosa matinees" at 2 p.m.), performing daily through Dec. 31 with only two days off. Which will all sell out, so don't hesitate to buy your tickets ASAP. Re-bar, 1114 Howell St., 800-838-3006, brownpapertickets.com. $20 (21 and over). 8 p.m. GAVIN BORCHERT
Film: The Banker Stumbles
Times are tough in Frank Capra's 1946 It's a Wonderful Life. Banks are failing. People are losing their homes. Veterans are returning from a bloody war abroad. Families are falling apart. And all these stresses converge during the holidays, when there may not even be enough money in the household to buy any presents. Sound familiar? In the GI's 39th annual screening of this seasonal classic, beleaguered banker James Stewart could be any small businessman struggling to remain solvent amid our current financial crisis. If Wonderful Life is arguably the best Christmas movie ever made, that's because it's certainly one of the most depressing Christmas movies ever made. Our suicidal hero is given a future vision—courtesy of an angel (Henry Travers)—of bankruptcy, death, poverty, and evil, unfettered capitalism (hello, Lionel Barrymore). Even his wife (Donna Reed) ends up a spinster in the alternative universe of Pottersville. Before the inevitable tear-swelling plot reversal, the movie is 100 percent grim. Yet amazingly, 63 years later, it preserves the power to inspire hope for better days ahead. (Through Dec. 31.) Grand Illusion, 1403 N.E. 50th St., 523-3935, grandillusioncinema.org. $5–$7. 6 and 8:30 p.m. BRIAN MILLER
SATURDAY 12/12
Sports: Touch of Gray
Before Seattle U.'s upstart Redhawks claimed KeyArena as their home this year, the Sonics' former arena remained largely hoop-starved through the winter months, sated only by Gonzaga's annual Battle in Seattle. While last year's overtime duel against UConn was an instant classic, the talent-packed Zags' failure to close out the highly touted Huskies proved ominous for their remaining season. This year, Gonzaga's personnel mix is more reminiscent of its underdog glory days, with supporting roles more clearly defined and former Bainbridge High star Steven Gray an undisputed centerpiece. Visiting for the first time will be Davidson College, a North Carolina school that, like Gonzaga, has emerged as something of a mid-major powerhouse. KeyArena, 305 Harrison St., 745-3000, battleinseattle.com. $22–$270. 4 p.m. MIKE SEELY
Film: Return of the Fat Man
Every film geek got excited with the recent announcement that Jeff Bridges will star in the Coen brothers' remake of True Grit. That 1969 Western earned John Wayne an Oscar for playing the gruff, fat, one-eyed lawman Rooster Cogburn (Bridges' role in the remake, which films next spring and is set for 2011 release). Paired with Sergio Leone's Once Upon a Time in America, True Grit concludes NWFF's "69" film series, and the picture is an artifact of its era. Wayne is a violent reactionary who rails against defense attorneys and tends to shoot fugitives before claiming the bounty. But he's also a comic reactionary, something like Falstaff, a lonely old drunk with a criminal past. He and Glen Campbell's upright, immaculately coiffed Texas Ranger pursue the man who killed the father of stubborn teen heroine Kim Darby. She pays for Wayne's drinks, and he pretends he's not taking orders. She bosses him around, and he feigns anger. But they both know he's glad for the company. ("She reminds me of me," he says.) It's one of the loosest, most enjoyable performances of Wayne's long career, like The Searchers played for laughs. The all-star villains include Robert Duvall, Dennis Hopper, and Strother Martin. (Through Sun.) Northwest Film Forum, 1515 12th Ave., 267-5380, nwfilmforum.org. $6–$9. 6 and 8:30 p.m. BRIAN MILLER
