Willamette Weekend

[MUSIC] Now under new leadership after financial shakiness led to questions whether the 32-year-old Cathedral Park Jazz Festival would survive, the annual event boasts a strong lineup of 26 performers, including such well-known local improvisers as Pink Martini’s Martin Zarzar (who has a new solo album out), his fellow Martini horn man Gavin Bondy’s Shanghai Woolies, PSU prof and former New York jazz pianist George Colligan, Andrew Oliver and Dan Duval’s trio the Ocular Concern, Rich Halley, Tim Willcox Quartet, Dan Balmer’s Go by Train, Trio Subtonic, Quadrophonnes sax quartet, singer-pianist Halie Loren, Krebsic Orkestar, Eugene’s sax man Joe Manis' trio, former Bill Evans sideman Chuck Israels’ jazz orchestra, and much more. Food and other vendors will be there, and it’s a great picnic opportunity. Cathedral Park, North Edison Street and Pittsburg Avenue. Friday 5 pm, Saturday-Sunday noon-11ish pm. Free. All ages.

[FILM] Anal-retentive neatniks, rejoice: Somebody finally made a Tetris movie! A documentary about the grand masters of a game that rewards a hyperactive impulse toward tidiness would be expected to play as a portrait of extreme obsessive-compulsive disorder, but the film, by Portland’s Adam Cornelius, gets by on sheer congeniality. Tracking local enthusiast Robin Mihara’s quest to gather together the world’s highest scorers and crown an undisputed champ, The Ecstasy of Order is no King of Kong, but that’s only because its subjects are too damn nice. (Of course, they’re also exceptionally geeky: One player wears retro videogame shirts exclusively and claims he learned to conquer the Rubik’s cube in order to impress women.) Although it lacks a strong anchoring personality, the movie gets a dollop of pathos from a former Nintendo World Champion named—no shit—Thor Aackerlund. A shy, tortured soul among affable nerds, he started entering gaming competitions as a kid after a fire consumed his childhood home and his mother was diagnosed with a heart ailment; for a time, his family lived solely off his winnings. The gulf of tragedy separating him from the rest of the players brings out the social autism of his gaming peers: After learning of an accident in 1996 that crushed Aackerlund’s skull and left him in a coma, Mihara’s reaction is to ask, “Did that affect your game at all?” Hollywood Theatre. Multiple showtimes.

[BEER] It’s that time of year again: 150 beers from all over the world (though it must be said a disproportionate number of those beers are from the U.S., and specifically the West coast) will be available during three days, alongside food from Koi Fusion, Potato Champion and others. The catch? You’ll have to pack into the North Park Blocks with some truly obnoxious people to drink it. If you can handle the bro factor, the ticket price gives you re-entry all weekend and the event helps raise money for animal charities. So that’s nice. North Park Blocks, Northwest 8th Avenue between Burnside and Glisan streets, portland-beerfest.com. 4-10 pm Friday, noon-10 pm Saturday and noon-7 pm Sunday, July 20-22. $25-$40.


Saturday, July 21

[DANCE, MUSIC] Igor Stravinsky’s music is well known in the dance world, although his opera “A Soldier’s Tale” might be less known than, say, “The Rite of Spring” or The Firebird. As the opening act to its 15th season, local contemporary dance company BodyVox has taken up that score in its second collaboration with Chamber Music Northwest. Company co-founders Jamey Hampton and Ashley Roland will debut the work, which is set to live music performed by CMNW festival and Protégé artists and based on a Russian folk tale about a traveling soldier who makes a deal with the devil. The program will also include the repertory works Moto Perpetuo and Falling For Grace and Roland’s suite Two for One…Three for All…Four for Nothing!, set to Chopin. Lincoln Hall, Portland State University, 1620 SW Park Ave. 8 pm Friday-Saturday, July 20-21; 3 pm Sunday, July 22. $25-$50.