Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale

How much do we really know about this "Santa Claus" fellow anyway? Recluse, obsessed with kids, employs a massive force of diminutive slaves, annual violator of any number of international aerospace regulations; has Homeland Security checked this guy out? If they had, they might have uncovered some rather unsavory elements of the Santa mythology. (Sorry, under-10 readers, I meant Santa history.) In Finland, turns out he may have been the same character as the "Yule Goat", a horned creature that demanded offerings and was more of the tough love school when it came to getting the kiddies to behave. more ›

The best spoofs laugh with their subjects, not at them. Zucker, Abrahams, & Zucker obviously had a great love for the campy pleasures of disaster movies and the unintended humor of Zero Hour! when they made Airplane!, and Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg's adoration of zombie cinema is apparent in every frame of Shaun of the Dead. In that same vein comes Patrick Barlow's stage adaptation of Alfred Hitchcock's popular 1935 thriller, which is as reverential to the source material — and to Hitch himself — as it is completely silly. more ›

FRIDAY: >> It's raining, and you've got some serious partying to do tomorrow night, so we'd recommend taking in a movie and saving your strength. Don't miss our movie picks for the weekend here, including special Halloween screenings of Nosferatu at the AFI Silver Theater. Also of note tonight, The American City Diner screens Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho at 8:30 p.m. >> If you’re more in the mood for getting your eardrums absolutely destroyed, Japanese metal... more ›

>> The woman NPR crowned the "Queen of the Acoustic Guitar," Kaki King, takes the 9:30's stage tonight opening for the John Butler Trio. When DCist saw her play last year at Jammin Java, we were floored by "the wild, jazzy, and melodic 'voice' of her guitar." $20 will get you in the door for a great double bill. >> The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay author Michael Chabon will be at the 6th... more ›