Willamette Weekend

Friday, Jan. 13

Big Ass Boombox Festival
[MUSIC] Twenty bands, four venues, $0: That’s the rather persuasive by-the-numbers pitch for Big Ass Boombox, a new all-local and (mostly) all-ages festival that will invite fans of Portland bands—particularly under-21ers—to mingle with the crackheads in Old Town. There, like the SAD-afflicted huddled under Vitamin D lamps, they’ll get their wintertime dose of under-age-friendly local music until summer, and the PDX Pop Now! festival, rolls around again. The varied lineup of under-the-radar acts features punk outfit Sons of Huns, country- and soul-influenced rockers My Autumn’s Done Come and orchestral-pop quintet Pigeons. Backspace, 115 NW 5th Ave. Someday Lounge, 125 NW 5th Ave. SoHiTek Records, 625 NW Everett St. Floating World Comics, 20 NW 5th Ave. 

Craig Robinson
[COMEDY] The real star of The Office. Helium Comedy Club, 1510 SE 9th Ave., 888-643-8669. 7:30 and 10 pm. $30-$35. 21+.


Saturday, Jan. 14

ScratchPDX
[THEATER] The monthly showcase of new performances returns. Hipbone Studio, 1847 E Burnside St., scratchpdx.com. 9 pm Saturday, Jan. 14. $10.

The Godfather on 35 mm
[FILM] Every possible aspect of The Godfather has been thoroughly assayed and diagramed—in some college library, there is surely a term paper titled Woltz Up, Doc?: Khartoum the Horse and the Art of Non-Verbal Communication—but I’ll still point out my personal-fave performance. It’s Sterling Hayden, who gets about six minutes of screen time as corrupt Capt. McCluskey, and makes him the most repugnant policeman before the pepper-spray era. Hayden made a magnificent career out of self-loathing tough guys, but for two scenes he makes us loathe him, until we can’t wait for Michael Corleone to send his soul to damnation on a plate of veal Parmesan. The Academy Theater, 7818 SE Stark St.

Keith Murray, Love Loungers, DJ Zimmie
[MUSIC] Keith Murray isn't a name that rolls off the tongue, which perhaps begins to explain the Long Island MC's low profile alongside some of his more famous contemporaries (EPMD and Big Daddy Kane among them). Murray is also a bit too stylistically slippery to pin down: His rhyme schemes bob and weave like a featherweight in the first round, but his voice is smoky and deep; he's an exceedingly clever battle-bred MC, but he sticks to bread-and-butter subject matter like weed and street violence. His latest disc, 2008 effort Puff Puff Pass, retains the MC's boom-bap sensibilities while developing a self-aware sense of humor and a refreshed sense of hustle. The Crown Room, 205 NW 4th Ave. 9:30 pm. $5.


Sunday, Jan. 15

Buckman-Kerns Brewfest
[BEER] EastBurn hosts the now-annual gathering of breweries from the Buckman and Kerns neighborhoods. Getting sudsy this year are Lucky Labrador Brewing Company, Coalition Brewing Co., Natian Brewery, Migration Brewing Co., Buckman Brewery, Cascade Brewing Barrel House and Burnside Brewing Company. East Burn, 1800 E Burnside St. Noon-8 pm. $10 (includes pint glass). Drinks tickets $1. 21+.

The Isley Brothers
[MUSIC] Careers don't get much more epic than that of the Isley Brothers. From their success with "Shout" in 1959—the song is still bringing in royalties for the Isleys thanks to sporting arenas—to funkier mid-career hits like "It's Your Thing" and "That Lady," right down to smooth latter-era sex jams ("Between the Sheets" has aged better than most tunes from the ’80s, and, like much of the Isleys' work, remains heavily sampled in the hip-hop world), these guys won't stop. On tour, the Isleys are still a family affair: 70-year-old Ronald's young wife and her sisters sing back-up, and their 5-year-old son waits in the wings. Hell, Ronald's outfits have been picked out by the same guy for 40 years. If you'll only drive to one casino show this year—and what a shame that would be for you—this is our pick. Spirit Mountain Casino, 27100 SW Salmon River Highway. 8 pm. $15. 16-and-up minors are allowed in with parent.

Treasures From the UCLA Film and Video Archive
[FILM] The NW Film Center plundered some heavy material from the UCLA Film and Television Archive for this week’s screenings—This is Your Life: Holocaust Survivors (yup) and Native Land (“paean to the labor movement”)—but it scored some perfectly aged Cecil B. DeMille Cheez Whiz as well. The Crusades (7 pm Sunday, Jan. 15), DeMille’s 1935 follow-up to Cleopatra, saddles up with King Richard the Lionheart as he throws in with the holy warriors of the Third Crusade in order to dodge an arranged marriage. It’s not giving too much away to say that he eventually falls in love with the comely spawn of a cattle farmer, because it’s fairly common knowledge at this point that the Crusades were all about scoring strange. The film is a crosshatched mess of silly romance, macho pageantry and throne-room intrigue. In other words, it’s precisely what you want from a lavish historical epic that blows its load on double entendres before hurriedly tacking spiritual redemption to the tail end. I suggest taking notes during the screening, as The Crusades is chock full of great pickup lines. I call dibs on this one: “This sword will enter Jerusalem and rest on the tomb.” Hot. CHRIS STAMM. NW Film Center’s Whitsell Auditorium, 934 SW Salmon St. Saturday-Sunday, Jan. 14-15.

Video Game Quiz Show
[TRIVIA] Do you have what it takes to beat the geekiest gamers in Portland in Ground Kontrol's monthly quiz show? Take our test here to find out. Ground Kontrol, 511 NW Couch St. 7-9 pm. Free. 21+.