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STREAM: Trampled by Turtles
After almost a year without concerts, more and more venues are launching livestreams. This week, the Wonder Ballroom hosts the Portland leg of Trampled by Turtles' virtual "tour." Earlier this year, the Americana rock band recorded four live sets in Minneapolis, their hometown. The band will release a new set via local venues across the country every Thursday in the month of February. A portion of ticket sales will go to the Save Our Stages campaign—though it's unclear how the pricey "meet-and-greet bundle" options work during a pandemic. Stream via Wonder Ballroom at wonderballroom.com. 6 pm Thursdays, Feb. 4-25. $15-$220.
SEE: Portland Winter Light (Non)Festival
Most organizers have pulled the plug on large-scale celebrations for the first quarter of 2021, but the Portland Winter Light Festival will go on—things are just going to look a little different. The sixth annual event is now scheduled to take place over two weekends in February to prevent crowds from mobbing the illuminated installations at the same time. Attendees can expect to find displays spread out across the city, including pop-up window pieces, video projections and architectural lighting, the hope being that by averting large clusters at installations, visitors can better physically distance. Find a map at pdxwlf.com. 6-10 pm Friday-Saturday, Feb. 5-6 and 12-13. Free.
WATCH: Old Joy
Following the three Film Independent Spirit Awards nominations Kelly Reichardt's Oregon-shot First Cow received last week, it's a reminder that the director has a deeper filmography of movies that were made locally, including Old Joy. A Sundance breakout 15 years ago, this drama sketches the uneasy friendship between two Portlanders—Kurt (Will Oldham) and Mark (Daniel London)—as they seek out Bagby Hot Springs for a hike, a soak and a hundred little talks. Old Joy showcases Reichardt's trademark attention to detail and short-story author Jon Raymond's trademark intimacy, and a decade-plus later remains a stirring but ambiguous journey. Stream on Criterion Channel.
STREAM: The Prismagic Radio Hour
The world may be in timeout, but the Fertile Ground art festival is alive as ever: Programming streams for free on YouTube and Facebook. One way of transcending the limitations of a lockdown is to blitz your audience with comedy, movement and magic tricks. That philosophy fuels The Prismagic Radio Hour, a variety show created by the circus company Prismagic Events. It's defined by the dizzying acrobatics of Alison Lockfeld and Prismagic co-founder Petra Delarocha, but the best part of the show is Kristen Schier's performance as a "Junior Star," who wants to make the wishes of mortals come true. See fertilegroundpdx.org for streaming details. 9 pm Friday, Feb. 5.
HEAR: Florian T M Zeisig’s Music for Parents
Florian T M Zeisig makes ambient music with a humanistic quality. Last year's Coatcheck reflected his experiences working behind the scenes at a massive Berlin club, and his latest, Music for Parents, is made for Mom and Dad, with deep bass rumblings and endless chords apparently designed to resonate with certain frequencies in the body. This is ambient at its most physically pleasurable. Stream on Bandcamp.
WATCH: Chungking Express
With Chinese New Year quickly approaching, it's the perfect time to binge-watch some top-tier Chinese cinema to bid farewell to the Year of the Rat and ring in the Year of the Ox. This 1994 genre-bending drama from arthouse legend Wong Kar-wai is split into two distinct stories: The first about a heartbroken Hong Kong cop who falls for a mysterious, blond-wigged drug smuggler, the second about a different heartbroken Hong Kong cop captivated by the eccentric attention of a Manic Pixie Dream snack bar worker. Stream on Criterion Channel.
STREAM: Mic Capes Live at Laundry PDX
There's been plenty of guitar-and-vocal livestreams, but far fewer hip-hop shows. Thankfully, veteran Portlander Mic Capes recently released a new live set on YouTube. Backed by his longtime collaborator Drae Slapz and performing at local vintage clothing store Laundry, Capes brings as much energy to the almost-empty room as he would to a packed club. The moments when Capes waves his hand in the air or tells his digital audience to clap along will probably make you miss being in an actual crowd, but for now it's a pretty good substitute. Stream at YouTube.
WATCH: One Night in Miami…
Academy Award-winning actress Regina King's directorial debut stages an informal 1964 summit of Muhammad Ali, Sam Cooke, Jim Brown and Malcolm X, mostly in a hotel room. Based on Kemp Powers' play, it asks the world of its actors: embody famed prodigiousness while also revealing human conflict. The result is two remember-that-name turns from Kingsley Ben-Adir (Malcolm X) and Aldis Hodge (Jim Brown). Stream on Amazon Prime.
WATCH: Super Bowl LV
Hey, did you know football was still a thing? Apparently, the NFL made it all the way to the end of its pandemic season, which means it's time for the Big Game, featuring Old Man Brady and the Pirates of West Florida taking on the Kansas City How About You Guys Change Your Name Now inside a not-empty-enough arena that's also in Florida. Of course, for some of us, getting together to watch the game is more about the "getting together" part, which renders this year moot. But if you want to replicate the experience, the venerable RingSide Steakhouse is selling a $74 meal kit to go, with smoked pork ribs, potato salad and truffle mac and cheese, so you can throw a gluttonous Super Bowl party for one. OK, your lizard can have a nibble, as a treat. 3:30 pm Sunday, Feb. 7, on CBS. Order RingSide's Super Bowl Meal Kit at ringsidesteakhouse.com.