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SEE: The Portland Boat Show
Whether you’ve dreamed of setting off down Oregon’s rivers and coasts on your own vessel or simply love arcana of all kinds, the Portland Boat Show should have something for anyone who’s ever felt a wistful twinge when they think of the sea and its wide-open possibilities. Now in its 65th year, the Portland Boat Show is the only boat show in Oregon and one of the largest on the West Coast. Portland Expo Center, 2060 N Marine Drive, 503-736-5200, pdxboatshow.com. 11 am–9 pm Wednesday–Friday, 10 am–8 pm Saturday–Sunday, Jan. 8–12. $8.
WATCH: The Brutalist at Hollywood Theatre
The Brutalist is like a three-and-a-half-hour middle finger to the anti-intellectual streak in American culture that sees art as disposable entertainment rather than something that deserves your attention. Shot on 70 mm film (almost unheard of in modern cinema) and presented in its true form for opening week, Brady Corbet’s drama about a European American architect’s journey through the 20th century is sure to be one of the year’s most discussed films, so see it before you absorb it by osmosis through the endless think pieces that will no doubt be written. Hollywood Theatre, 4122 NE Sandy Blvd., 503-493-1128, hollywoodtheatre.org. Various showtimes Jan. 9–16. $18–$20.
SEE: The Room Next Door
Since emerging from Spain’s post-dictatorship punk explosion in the early 1980s, Pedro Almodóvar has been acclaimed as one of world cinema’s most provocative and distinctive auteurs, and his films proceed in explosions of high camp and vivid colors. His first film in English is a more sedate affair than usual, a two-hander with Julianne Moore and Tilda Swinton, and watching these most mysterious of actresses go head-to-head should be worth the ticket price alone. Cinema 21, 616 NW 21st St., 503-223-4515, cinema21.com. Various times Thursday, Jan. 9–Jan. 16. $9-$11.
DANCE: Dance Yourself Clean: An Indie Dance Party
Anyone who was a hipster in 2010 knows exactly why Dance Yourself Clean decided to call it that: LCD Soundsystem’s same-titled song features one of the most satisfying moments in all of indie rock, a “drop” as slamming as any Skrillex ever produced. Indie rock might have a button-down reputation, but it can be as conducive to life-changing moments of euphoria as the best dance music, and Holocene’s long-running indie party celebrates all the songs that take you there. Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison St., 503-239-7639, holocene.org. 9 pm Friday, Jan. 10. $12.
HEAR: Cyrus Nabipoor at Revolution Hall
Cyrus Nabipoor’s work encompasses the entirety of jazz history. Born in Portland, the trumpeter splits his time between here, where his Puddlefoot Stompers are a perennial presence at swing events with their vintage style, and New Orleans, the birthplace of jazz. Yet his sensibilities are modern enough to include songs of Björk and the Smiths in his repertoire, and his albums (most recently 2023’s In Lieu of Tears) are trips through over a century of influences. Show Bar at Revolution Hall, 1300 SE Stark St., 503-776-5500, revolutionhall.com. 7 pm Sunday, Jan. 12. $15.
HEAR: Justin Timberlake: Forget Tomorrow World Tour
Yes, this is the world tour Timberlake drunkenly described to the cop who pulled him over, but though it’s easy to joke about the “SexyBack” singer’s declining profile, he remains arguably the only interesting white male American pop star of the 21st century. 2018’s Man of the Woods is a vastly more effective fusion of cottage-core folk pop with electronic music than its critics gave it credit for, and his risks pay off more often than not. Have you heard his seven-minute ambient ballad “Blue Ocean Floor”? He probably won’t play it, but it exists, and it’s great. Moda Center, 1 N Center Court St., 503-235-8771, rosequarter.com. 6:30 pm Monday, Jan. 13. $55+.
SEE: Kimberly Akimbo at Keller Auditorium
Kimberly Akimbo is a musical about a girl who grows old faster than everyone else, which seems like a surefire recipe for a tearjerker. But any musical whose second act opens with a song called “How to Wash a Check” has a lot more on its mind than tugging the heartstrings, and it’s the mischief and vitality of David Lindsay-Abaire’s story and Jeanine Tesori’s songs that brought it to Broadway and netted it five Tonys. See it before the inevitable movie adaptation comes out. Keller Auditorium, 222 SW Clay St., 503-248-4335, kellerauditoriumportland.com. 7:30 pm Tuesday–Friday, 2 and 7:30 pm Saturday, 1 and 6:30 pm Sunday, Jan. 14–19. $29.75+.