Featured Film:

Last Year at Marienbad and The ‘Burbs at the Beacon

This week the Beacon has one of the absolute classics of international cinema, and also the new restoration of Alain Resnais’s mystery film. Joe Dante’s The ‘Burbs is playing as part of their series of Suburban Nightmares, but it works just as well as a companion to Resnais’s film: both are about men who keep failing to convince the people around them of a truth only they are privy too. It’s such a great pair, I wish we’d done a George Sanders Show on them. They’re also playing John Carpenter’s Halloween, which is probably a better than either of them. Might as well see ’em all in a triple feature this weekend. Elsewhere around town, the Northwest Film Forum has a French film about infidelity, this one starring Laetitia Casta; and the Cinerama has a Summer Trip film series, featuring many movies, some of which take place in the summer and some of which involve trips and some of which are neither summer movies nor movies with trips in them. Oh and for some reason Millennium Actress is playing at a handful of Regal Cinemas on Tuesday.

Playing This Week:

Admiral Theater:

Woodstock (Michael Wadleigh, 1970) Thurs Only 

AMC Alderwood:

Exit (Lee Sang-geun) Fri-Thurs 

Ark Lodge Cinemas:

The Last Black Man in San Francisco (Joe Talbot) Fri-Thurs 

The Beacon Cinema:

Last Year at Marienbad (Alain Resnais, 1961) Fri-Thurs 
The ‘Burbs (Joe Dante, 1989) Fri-Sun, Thurs 
Halloween (John Carpenter, 1978) Fri-Sun 
Saint Jack (Peter Bogdanovich, 1979) Sun, Weds & Thurs Only 
Suburbia (Penelope Spheeris, 1980) Mon-Weds Only 
A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (Chuck Russell, 1987) Mon Only 

Central Cinema:

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (Hayao Miyazaki, 1984) Fri-Weds
Point Break (Kathryn Bigelow, 1991) Fri-Weds Our Podcast 

Cinerama:

Summer Trip Film Series Fri-Thurs 

Century Federal Way:

Exit (Lee Sang-geun) Fri-Thurs 
Singham (Navaniat Singh) Fri-Thurs 
Chal Mera Putt (Janjot Singh) Fri-Thurs 
Hello, Dolly! (Gene Kelly, 1969) Sun & Weds Only 

Grand Cinema:

Sword of Trust (Lynn Shelton) Fri-Thurs 
Maiden (Alex Holmes) Fri-Thurs 
It (Andy Muschietti) Sat Only 
Return to Mount Kennedy (Eric Becker) Tues Only 

Grand Illusion Cinema:

Piranhas (Francesco Di Napoli) Fri-Thurs 

Cinemark Lincoln Square:

Ecco (Ben Medina) Fri-Thurs 
Jabariya Jodi (Prashant Singh) Fri-Thurs 
Kurukshetra (Naganna) Fri-Thurs 
Manmadhudu 2 (Shilpi Dasgupta) Fri-Thurs 
Nerkonda Paarvai (H. Vinoth) Fri-Thurs 
The Bravest (Tony Chan) Fri-Thurs 
Judgementall Hai Kya (Prakash Kovelamudi) Fri-Thurs 
Kalki (Prashanth Varma) Sat & Sun Only 
Hello, Dolly! (Gene Kelly, 1969) Sun & Weds Only 

Regal Meridian:

Maiden (Alex Holmes) Fri-Thurs 
Ecco (Ben Medina) Fri-Thurs 
Woodstock (Michael Wadleigh, 1970) Thurs Only 

Northwest Film Forum:

A Faithful Man (Louis Garrel) Fri-Thurs 
Cassandro, the Exotico! (Marie Losier) Fri-Sun, Weds & Thurs 

Regal Parkway Plaza:

Hello, Love, Goodbye (Cathy Garcia-Molina) Fri-Thurs 

AMC Seattle:

Them that Follow (Brittany Poulton & Dan Madison Savage) Fri-Thurs 
Ecco (Ben Medina) Fri-Thurs 

Seattle Art Museum:

Mr. and Mrs. Smith (Alfred Hitchcock, 1941) Thurs Only 

SIFF Film Center:

Angels are Made of Light (James Longley) Fri-Sun 

Regal Thornton Place:

Hello, Dolly! (Gene Kelly, 1969) Sun & Weds Only 
Millennium Actress (Satoshi Kon, 2001) Tues Only Subtitled
Woodstock (Michael Wadleigh, 1970) Thurs Only 

SIFF Uptown:

The Reports on Sarah and Saleem (Muayad Alayan) Fri-Thurs 
Echo in the Canyon (Andrew Slater) Fri-Thurs 
Gilda (Charles Vidor, 1946) Sat Only 

Varsity Theatre:

Every Time I Die (Robi Michael) Fri-Thurs 
Woodstock or Bust (Leslie Bloom) Sun Only 
Hello, Dolly! (Gene Kelly, 1969) Weds Only 

In Wide Release:

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (Quentin Tarantino) Our Review 

Featured Film:

Welcome to Wakaliwood at the Beacon

Sure they’ve got a killer Gena Rowlands/John Cassavetes series, and a new August program starting full of movies about the horrors of 1980s suburbia, but you won’t find anything more fun on Seattle Screens this week than the double feature of no-budget Ugandan action films playing Friday and Saturday at the Beacon. They’ve got 2010’s Who Killed Captain Alex? (which I haven’t seen yet) and 2016’s Bad Black (which I have and it’s amazing: the purest expression of the joy of making cinema that I’ve seen this decade). Don’t miss out.

Playing This Week:

Ark Lodge Cinemas:

The Last Black Man in San Francisco (Joe Talbot) Fri-Thurs 

The Beacon Cinema:

Streetwise (Martin Bell, 1984) Fri, Tues-Thurs 
Who Killed Captain Alex?/Bad Black (Nabwana IGG, 2010/2016) Fri & Sat Only Our Review
Opening Night (John Cassavetes, 1977) Sat-Mon Only 
Love Streams (John Cassavetes, 1984) Sat, Sun & Thurs Only Our Podcast
Gloria (John Cassavetes, 1980) Tues-Thurs Only 
A Woman Under the Influence (John Cassavetes, 1974) Weds Only 
River’s Edge (Tim Hunter, 1986) Sun-Tues Only 
Demons (Lamberto Bava, 1985) Mon Only 

Central Cinema:

The Goonies (Richard Donner, 1985) Fri-Weds
Die Hard with a Vengeance (John McTiernan, 1995) Fri-Weds 

SIFF Egyptian:

Phantom Mary (Aniello De Angelis) Tues Only 

Century Federal Way:

Ardaas Karaan (Gippy Grewal) Fri-Thurs 
Chal Mera Putt (Janjot Singh) Fri-Thurs 

Grand Cinema:

Sword of Trust (Lynn Shelton) Fri-Thurs 
Maiden (Alex Holmes) Fri-Thurs 
Reservoir Dogs (Quentin Tarantino, 1992) Sat Only 
Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am (Timothy Greenfield-Sanders) Tues Only 
Agave: The Spirit of a Nation (Nick Kovacic, Matthew Riggieri) Weds Only 

Grand Illusion Cinema:

Luz (Tilman Singer) Fri-Thurs
The Fall of the American Empire (Denys Arcand) Fri-Thurs  

Cinemark Lincoln Square:

Guna 369 (Arjun Jandyala) Fri-Thurs 
Jackpot (S. Kalyaan) Fri-Thurs 
Khandaani Shafakhana (Shilpi Dasgupta) Fri-Thurs 
Oh Baby (B. V. Nandini Reddy) Fri-Thurs 
Rakshasudu (Ramesh Varma) Fri-Thurs 
Dear Comrade (Bharat Kamma) Fri-Thurs 
Judgementall Hai Kya (Prakash Kovelamudi) Fri-Thurs 
Super 30 (Vikas Bahl) Fri-Thurs 
I Love You (R. Chandru) Sat & Sun Only 
Sathyam Paranja Viswasikkuvo (Prajith Karanavar) Sat & Sun Only 

Regal Meridian:

Maiden (Alex Holmes) Fri-Thurs 

Northwest Film Forum:

Jawline (Liza Mandelup) Fri, Sat & Weds Only 
California on Fire (Jeff Frost) Fri Only Director Q&A 
Aberdeen (Colton Van Til) Weds & Thurs Only 
Partners (Henry Horenstein) Thurs Only Director Q&A

AMC Pacific Place:

Marianne & Leonard: Words of Love (Nick Broomfield) Fri-Thurs 
Friend Zone (Chayanop Boonprakob) Fri-Thurs 

Regal Parkway Plaza:

Super 30 (Vikas Bahl) Fri-Thurs 

Seattle Art Museum:

The More the Merrier (George Stevens, 1942) Thurs Only 

SIFF Film Center:

Rojo (Benjamín Naishtat) Fri-Sun 

SIFF Uptown:

Sword of Trust (Lynn Shelton) Fri-Thurs 
The Last Black Man in San Francisco (Joe Talbot) Fri-Thurs 
42nd Street (Lloyd Bacon, 1933) Sat Only 
Kedi (Ceyda Torun) Thurs Only 

Varsity Theatre:

Airplane Mode (Dylan Trussell & David Dinetz) Fri-Thurs 
Madness in the Method  (Jason Mewes) Fri-Thurs 

In Wide Release:

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (Quentin Tarantino) Our Review 

Featured Film:

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood in Wide Release

The killer programming at the Beacon continues this week (now featuring air conditioning!), with the quintessential Seattle doc Streetwise and the start of a series of films by John Cassavetes starring Gena Rowlands that will continue into next week. Plus SAM’s summer comedy series features one of the all-time greatest screwball comedies, Leo McCarey’s The Awful Truth. But it’s been a long time since I’ve been as taken with a Quentin Tarantino film as I was with his new one, opening this week in wide release. I think it’s his best film since Jackie Brown and the first great film of 2019.

Playing This Week:

Admiral Theatre:

Kiki’s Delivery Service (Hayao Miyazaki, 1989) Sun & Mon Only Our Podcast 

AMC Alderwood:

The King’s Letters (Jo Chulhyun) Fri-Thurs 
Dancing Elephant (Lin Yu-hsien) Fri-Thurs 

Ark Lodge Cinemas:

The Last Black Man in San Francisco (Joe Talbot) Fri-Thurs 

The Beacon Cinema:

Streetwise (Martin Bell, 1984) Fri-Thurs 
Return of the Living Dead (Dan O’Bannon, 1985) Fri Only Live Score by Cerebral Rot
Tiny: the Life of Erin Blackwell (Martin Bell, 2016) Sat, Sun & Weds Only Our Review 
Faces (John Cassavetes, 1968) Sat, Mon & Tues Only 
A Woman Under the Influence (John Cassavetes, 1974) Sat, Sun, Thurs & Next Weds Only 
The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (John Cassavetes, 1976) Sun, Weds & Thurs Only 
Night of the Comet (Thom Eberhardt, 1984) Mon Only 

Central Cinema:

The Neverending Story (Wolfgang Petersen, 1984) Fri-Tues
The Wicker Man (Neil LaBute, 2006) Fri-Tues 
The Prisoner of Azkaban (Alfonso Cuarón, 2004) Weds Only 

SIFF Egyptian:

The Farewell (Lulu Wang) Fri-Tues, Thurs 

Century Federal Way:

Ardaas Karaan (Gippy Grewal) Fri-Thurs 
Arjun Patiala (Rohit Jugraj Chauhan) Fri-Thurs 
Chal Mera Putt (Janjot Singh) Fri-Thurs 
Kiki’s Delivery Service (Hayao Miyazaki, 1989) Sun, Mon & Weds Only Subtitled Mon Our Podcast 

Grand Cinema:

Echo in the Canyon (Andrew Slater) Fri-Thurs 
Hampstead (Joel Hopkins) Fri-Thurs 
Rock ‘n’ Roll High School (Allen Arkush, 1979) Sat Only Our Podcast
Harry Potter Marathon Sat Only Then Spilt Up Mon-Thurs 
The Tomorrow Man (Noble Jones) Tues Only 

Grand Illusion Cinema:

Bug Wars (Timothy Hines, 2000) Fri Only VHS
In the Aisles (Thomas Stuber) Fri-Sun 

Cinemark Lincoln Square:

The Farewell (Lulu Wang) Fri-Thurs 
Arjun Patiala (Rohit Jugraj Chauhan) Fri-Thurs 
Dancing Elephant (Lin Yu-hsien) Fri-Thurs 
Dear Comrade (Bharat Kamma) Fri-Thurs 
iSmart Shankar (Puri Jagannadh) Fri-Thurs 
Judgementall Hai Kya (Prakash Kovelamudi) Fri-Thurs 
Super 30 (Vikas Bahl) Fri-Thurs 
Girlfriend (Upendra Sidhaye) Sat & Sun Only 
Kiki’s Delivery Service (Hayao Miyazaki, 1989) Sun, Mon & Weds Only Subtitled Mon Our Podcast 

Regal Meridian:

Maiden (Alex Holmes) Fri-Thurs 
Super 30 (Vikas Bahl) Fri-Thurs 
Dancing Elephant (Lin Yu-hsien) Fri-Thurs 
Kiki’s Delivery Service (Hayao Miyazaki, 1989) Sun, Mon & Weds Only Our Podcast 

Northwest Film Forum:

A Bigger Splash (Jack Hazan, 1974) Fri-Thurs 
Barbara Rubin & the Exploding NY Underground (Chuck Smith) Fri-Sun Our Podcast
Nureyev – Нуре́ев (David Morris & Jacqui Morris) Sun Only 
Amazing Grace (Sydney Pollack) Weds Only 
Jawline (Liza Mandelup) Starts Thurs 

AMC Pacific Place:

The Farewell (Lulu Wang) Fri-Thurs 
Marianne & Leonard: Words of Love (Nick Broomfield) Fri-Thurs 
Looking Up (Deng Chao & Yu Baimei) Fri-Thurs 
Dancing Elephant (Lin Yu-hsien) Fri-Thurs 

Regal Parkway Plaza:

Super 30 (Vikas Bahl) Fri-Thurs 

Seattle Art Museum:

The Awful Truth (Leo McCarey, 1937) Thurs Only 

SIFF Film Center:

The Third Wife (Ash Mayfair) Fri-Sun Our Review

Regal Thornton Place:

The Farewell (Lulu Wang) Fri-Thurs 
Kiki’s Delivery Service (Hayao Miyazaki, 1989) Sun, Mon & Weds Only Subtitled Mon Our Podcast 
Kathy Griffin: A Hell of a Story (Troy Miller) Weds Only 

SIFF Uptown:

Sword of Trust (Lynn Shelton) Fri-Thurs 
The Last Black Man in San Francisco (Joe Talbot) Fri-Thurs 
Mildred Pierce (Michael Curtiz, 1945) Sat Only 
Ghost Fleet (Shannon Service & Jeffrey Waldron) Tues Only 

Varsity Theatre:

Three Peaks (Jan Zabeil) Fri-Thurs 
Kiki’s Delivery Service (Hayao Miyazaki, 1989) Sun & Mon Only Our Podcast 
The Muppet Movie (James Frawley, 1979) Tues Only 
Kathy Griffin: A Hell of a Story (Troy Miller) Weds Only 

In Wide Release:

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (Quentin Tarantino) Our Review 

Featured Film:

The Beacon Cinema’s Grand Opening Week

I can’t recall the last time a new theatre opening in the Seattle area was as exciting as this week’s launch of the Beacon in Columbia City. Maybe when SIFF bought the Uptown? It seems like all the news over the past decade has been beloved movie houses closing. It’s a small venue (only 50 seats), but hopefully that will make it more viable in the long run. And if the programming retains the spirit of what they’ve put together for their inaugural week of shows, we have a new favorite Seattle Screen. This week all the shows are free: no tickets, first come first served, and they’ve got a wild mix of art house (Duelle, High and Low) and mainstream (Speed Racer, Magic Mike XXL), classic (City Lights, Gold Diggers of 1933, To Be or Not To Be) and cult films (Django, Buddha’s Palm, Starcrash). I’m planning on going to five of the first six shows, and I’m wondering if I can sneak out of the house to catch a couple more later in the week. 

Playing This Week:

AMC Alderwood:

Super 30 (Vikas Bahl) Fri-Thurs 
Bethany Hamilton: Unstoppable (Aaron Lieber) Fri-Thurs 

Ark Lodge Cinemas:

The Last Black Man in San Francisco (Joe Talbot) Fri-Thurs 

The Beacon Cinema:

Gold Diggers of 1933 (Mervyn LeRoy, 1933) Fri & Thurs Only Free Screening
Magic Mike XXL (Gregory Jacobs, 2015) Fri & Thurs Only Free Screening
City Lights (Charles Chaplin, 1931) Sat-Mon Only Free Screening
To Be or Not to Be (Ernst Lubitsch, 1942) Sat & Sun Only Free Screening
Speed Racer (Lana and Lilly Wachowski, 2008) Sat & Mon Only Free Screening
Buddha’s Palm (Taylor Wong, 1982) Sat Only Free Screening
Duelle (Jacques Rivette, 1976) Sun Only Free Screening
Starcrash (Luigi Cozzi, 1978) Sun Only Free Screening
High and Low (Akira Kurosawa, 1963) Tues & Weds Only Free Screening
Django (Sergio Corbucci, 1966) Tues & Weds Only Free Screening

Central Cinema:

Ghostbusters (Ivan Reitman, 1984) Fri-Weds
Mandy (Panos Cosmatos) Fri-Weds 

SIFF Egyptian:

The Farewell (Lulu Wang) Fri-Tues, Thurs 
Artifishal (Josh Murphy) Weds Only Director, etc Q&A

Century Federal Way:

Ardaas Karaan (Gippy Grewal) Fri-Thurs 

Grand Cinema:

Echo in the Canyon (Andrew Slater) Fri-Thurs 
All is True (Kenneth Branagh) Fri-Thurs 
Space Jam (Joe Pytka, 1996) Sat Only Free Screening
The Hunger (Tony Scott, 1983) Sat Only 
To Dust (Shawn Snyder) Mon Only 
Ask for Jane (Rachel Carey) Weds Only 

Grand Illusion Cinema:

Pulp Fiction (Qeuntin Tarantino, 1994) Fri-Thurs 35mm
In the Aisles (Thomas Stuber) Fri-Thurs 

Cinemark Lincoln Square:

The Farewell (Lulu Wang) Fri-Thurs 
Aadai (Rathna Kumar) Fri-Thurs 
iSmart Shankar (Puri Jagannadh) Fri-Thurs 
Kadaram Kondan (Rajesh M. Selva) Fri-Thurs 
Super 30 (Vikas Bahl) Fri-Thurs 
Oh Baby (B. V. Nandini Reddy) Fri-Thurs 
Article 15 (Anubhav Sinha) Fri-Thurs 

Regal Meridian:

Maiden (Alex Holmes) Fri-Thurs 
Super 30 (Vikas Bahl) Fri-Thurs 
Wild Rose (Tom Harper) Fri-Thurs 

Northwest Film Forum:

Blowin’ Up (Stephanie Wang-Breal) Fri-Sun 
Instant Dreams (Willem Baptist) Fri-Thurs 
Parallel Love: The Story of a Band Called Luxury (Matt Hinton) Fri-Thurs 

AMC Pacific Place:

The White Storm 2 (Herman Yau) Fri-Thurs 
Sea of Shadows (Richard Ladkani) Fri-Thurs 
Looking Up (Deng Chao & Yu Baimei) Fri-Thurs 

Regal Parkway Plaza:

Super 30 (Vikas Bahl) Fri-Thurs 

AMC Seattle:

The Last Black Man in San Francisco (Joe Talbot) Fri-Thurs 

Seattle Art Museum:

Easy Living (Mitchell Leisen, 1937) Thurs Only 

SIFF Film Center:

For All Mankind (Al Reinert, 1989) Fri-Sun 

Regal Thornton Place:

Glory (Edward Zwick, 1989) Sun & Weds Only 

SIFF Uptown:

Diamantino (Gabriel Abrantes & Daniel Schmidt) Fri-Thurs Our Review 
The Last Black Man in San Francisco (Joe Talbot) Fri-Weds
Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am (Timothy Greenfield-Sanders) Fri-Weds
Singin’ in the Rain (Stanley Donen & Gene Kelly, 1952) Sat Only 

Varsity Theatre:

Bottom of the 9th (Raymond De Felitta) Fri-Thurs 
Glory (Edward Zwick, 1989) Weds Only 
The Muppet Movie (James Frawley, 1979) Thurs Only 

Featured Film:

The White Storm 2 at the Pacific Place, the Meridian and the Lincoln Square

The first White Storm was a mediocre Hong Kong thriller starring Louis Koo, Nick Cheung and Lau Ching-wan. It was directed by Benny Chan, last seen here directing Koo in the space-cat family comedy Meow. White Storm 2 is almost assuredly unrelated to the first film, in what is a Hong Kong tradition, and is directed by Herman Yau, which means it is certain to be significantly better. Koo is back, joined by Andy Lau. The last time Yau and Lau teamed up was in Shock Wave, two years ago, one of the better action films to come out of Hong Kong in recent years. I haven’t had a chance to see it yet, but it’s my top priority for this weekend. If it ends up being bad, just pretend I recommended Rock ‘n’ Roll High School (playing Thursday at the Uptown) in this space instead. That movie is a national treasure.

Playing This Week:

AMC Alderwood:

Wild Rose (Tom Harper) Fri-Thurs 
Super 30 (Vikas Bahl) Fri-Thurs 
Bethany Hamilton: Unstoppable (Aaron Lieber) Fri-Thurs 

Ark Lodge Cinemas:

The Last Black Man in San Francisco (Joe Talbot) Fri-Thurs 

Central Cinema:

ET: The Extra-Terrestrial (Steven Spielberg, 1982) Fri-Tues
Kick-Ass (Matthew Vaughn, 2010) Fri-Mon 
Black Dynamite (Scott Sanders, 2009) Tues Only 
Face/Off (John Woo, 1997) Weds Only 

Century Federal Way:

Munda Hi Chahida (Santosh Thite & Deepak Thapar) Fri-Thurs 

Grand Cinema:

The Last Black Man in San Francisco (Joe Talbot) Fri-Thurs 
The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (Stephan Elliott, 1994) Sat Only 
Rafiki (Wanuri Kahiu) Tues Only 
The Queen (Frank Simon, 1968) Weds Only 

Grand Illusion Cinema:

The Shawshank Redemption (Frank Darabont, 1994) Fri-Thurs 35mm
Summer Night (Joseph Cross) Fri-Thurs 
Funan (Denis Do) Sat & Sun Only 

Cinemark Lincoln Square:

The White Storm 2 (Herman Yau) Fri-Thurs 
Super 30 (Vikas Bahl) Fri-Thurs 
Bethany Hamilton: Unstoppable (Aaron Lieber) Fri-Thurs 
Oh Baby (B. V. Nandini Reddy) Fri-Thurs 
Article 15 (Anubhav Sinha) Fri-Thurs 
Dorasaani (K.V.R. Mahendra) Fri-Thurs 
NVNN (Caarthick Raju) Fri & Sat Only 
Konttho (Shiboprosad Mukherjee & Nandita Roy) Sat Only 

Regal Meridian:

The White Storm 2 (Herman Yau) Fri-Thurs 
Super 30 (Vikas Bahl) Fri-Thurs 
Wild Rose (Tom Harper) Fri-Thurs 

Northwest Film Forum:

Too Late to Die Young (Dominga Sotomayor) Fri-Thurs 
Lumberjacks & Logrollers: Icons of Finnish Cinema Fri-Sun Full Program 
Stop Making Sense (Jonathan Demme, 1984) Weds & Thurs Only 

AMC Pacific Place:

The White Storm 2 (Herman Yau) Fri-Thurs 

Regal Parkway Plaza:

Super 30 (Vikas Bahl) Fri-Thurs 

AMC Seattle:

The Last Black Man in San Francisco (Joe Talbot) Fri-Thurs 

Seattle Art Museum:

Dick Dale: King of the Surf Guitar (Matt Marshall) Weds Only 
After the Thin Man (WS Van Dyke, 1936) Thurs Only 

SIFF Film Center:

The Silence of Others (Robert Bahar & Almudena Carracedo) Fri-Sun 

Regal Thornton Place:

Easy Rider (Dennis Hopper, 1969) Sun & Weds Only 

SIFF Uptown:

Halston (Frédéric Tcheng) Fri-Thurs 
The Last Black Man in San Francisco (Joe Talbot) Fri-Thurs 
Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am (Timothy Greenfield-Sanders) Fri-Thurs 
Rock ‘n’ Roll High School (Allen Arkush, 1979) Fri-Thurs Our Podcast

Varsity Theatre:

Firecrackers (Jasmin Mozaffari) Fri-Thurs 

Featured Film:

Three Colors: Red at the Grand Illusion

A couple of archival series kick off this week, led by the Grand Illusion’s annual celebration of 35mm film, their Sumer of Celluloid. First up is Krzysztof Kieślowski’s Red, the conclusion of the Three Colors Trilogy. If you haven’t seen Blue and White, I’d recommend watching them first. But also why haven’t you seen the Three Colors Trilogy yet? It’s great! Later in the week, SAM’s film program returns with a summer series devoted to American comedies, kicking off with William Powell and Myrna Loy as Dashiell Hammett’s alcohol-fueled sleuths in The Thin Man. 

Playing This Week:

Ark Lodge Cinemas:

The Last Black Man in San Francisco (Joe Talbot) Fri-Thurs 

Central Cinema:

The Rock (Michael Bay, 1996) Fri-Weds
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (Frank Oz, 1988) Fri-Tues 

Century Federal Way:

DSP Dev (Mandeep Benipal) Fri-Thurs 
Shadaa (Jagdeep Sidhu) Fri-Thurs 

Grand Cinema:

Pavarotti (Ron Howard) Fri-Thurs 
The Last Black Man in San Francisco (Joe Talbot) Fri-Thurs 
Suburbia (Penelope Spheeris, 1983) Sat Only 
Non-Fiction (Olivier Assayas) Tues Only Our Review 
The Bikes of Wrath (Cameron Ford & Charlie Turnbull) Weds Only Filmmaker in Attendance

Grand Illusion Cinema:

Three Colors; Red (Krzysztof Kieślowski, 1994) Fri-Thurs 35mm
Queen of Diamonds (Nina Menkes, 1991) Fri-Thurs 
Funan (Denis Do) Sat & Sun Only 

Cinemark Lincoln Square:

Oh Baby (B. V. Nandini Reddy) Fri-Thurs 
Kabir Singh (Sandeep Reddy Vanga) Fri-Thurs 
Article 15 (Anubhav Sinha) Fri-Thurs 
Brochevarevarura (Vivek Athreya) Fri-Thurs 

Northwest Film Forum:

Red White & Wasted (Sam Jones & Andrei Bowden Schwartz) Weds & Thurs Only 

Regal Parkway Plaza:

Article 15 (Anubhav Sinha) Fri-Thurs 

AMC Seattle:

Pavarotti (Ron Howard) Fri-Thurs 
The Last Black Man in San Francisco (Joe Talbot) Fri-Thurs 

Seattle Art Museum:

The Thin Man (WS Van Dyke, 1934) Thurs Only 

SIFF Film Center:

Czech that Film Fri-Sun Full Program 

SIFF Uptown:

Meeting Gorbachev (Werner Herzog) Fri-Thurs 
The Last Black Man in San Francisco (Joe Talbot) Fri-Thurs 
The Cure – Anniversary 1978-2018 Live in Hyde Park London (Tim Pope) Thurs Only 

Featured Film:

Do the Right Thing at the Pacific Place and Lincoln Square

If I were a responsible cinephile, I’d have seen Abel Ferrara’s Pasolini (opening this week at the Grand Illusion, but already five years old) or Jafar Panahi’s 3 Faces (which played at VIFF last fall and SIFF this spring and opens this week at the Uptown) by now. But I haven’t, and while I’m sure they’re terrific, for this 4th of July week I’m going with Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing as the Featured Film. It’s a great summer movie (taking place on the hottest day of the year) and a great American movie (being about America in all it’s glories and horrors) and a great movie to see in a theatre, which you can this week at the Pacific Place and the Cinemark in Bellevue.  

Playing This Week:

AMC Alderwood:

The White Crow (Ralph Fiennes) Fri-Thurs 

Ark Lodge Cinemas:

The Last Black Man in San Francisco (Joe Talbot) Fri-Thurs 

Central Cinema:

Mad Max Fury Road (George Miller, 2015) Fri-Tues
Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure (Tim Burton, 1985) Fri-Weds 
Independence Day (Roland Emmerich, 1996) Weds Only 

Century Federal Way:

Mindo Taseeldarni (Avtar Singh) Fri-Thurs 
Shadaa (Jagdeep Sidhu) Fri-Thurs 
Whisper of the Heart (Yoshifumi Kondō, 1995) Mon & Tues Only Subtitles Tues

Grand Cinema:

Pavarotti (Ron Howard) Fri-Thurs 
Tetsuo: The Iron Man (Shin’ya Tsukamoto, 1989) Sat Only 
Funan (Denis Do) Tues Only 

Grand Illusion Cinema:

Pasolini (Abel Ferrara, 2014) Fri-Thurs 
Panther Squad (Pierre Chevalier, 1984) Fri Only VHS

Cinemark Lincoln Square:

Agent Sai Srinivasa Athreya (Swaroop RSJ) Fri-Thurs 
Kabir Singh (Sandeep Reddy Vanga) Fri-Thurs 
Article 15 (Anubhav Sinha) Fri-Thurs 
Brochevarevarura (Vivek Athreya) Fri-Thurs 
Kalki (Prashanth Varma) Fri-Thurs 
Do the Right Thing (Spike Lee, 1989) Fri-Thurs 
DNA (Ashay Javadekar) Sat & Sun Only 
Whisper of the Heart (Yoshifumi Kondō, 1995) Mon & Tues Only Subtitles Tues

Regal Meridian:

Whisper of the Heart (Yoshifumi Kondō, 1995) Mon & Tues Only Subtitles Tues

AMC Pacific Place:

Do the Right Thing (Spike Lee, 1989) Fri-Thurs 

Regal Parkway Plaza:

Captain Ranaprathap (Harinath Policharla) Fri-Thurs 
Article 15 (Anubhav Sinha) Fri-Thurs 
The White Crow (Ralph Fiennes) Fri-Thurs 

AMC Seattle:

Pavarotti (Ron Howard) Fri-Thurs 
The Last Black Man in San Francisco (Joe Talbot) Fri-Thurs 

SIFF Film Center:

The Quiet One (Oliver Murray) Fri-Thurs 

SIFF Uptown:

Non-Fiction (Olivier Assayas) Fri-Thurs Our Review 
3 Faces (Jafar Panahi) Fri-Thurs 
The Last Black Man in San Francisco (Joe Talbot) Fri-Thurs 
Bite Me (Meredith Edwards) Sun Only Writer/Star in Attendance

Varsity Theatre:

Ophelia (Claire McCarthy) Fri-Sun, Weds & Thurs 
Whisper of the Heart (Yoshifumi Kondō, 1995) Mon & Tues Only 

Featured Film:

Yann Gonzalez at the Grand Illusion

With nothing of note on the new release front, I’m going to default Evan’s judgement and name the pair of Yann Gonzalez films at the Grand Illusion as the Featured Film of the week. I haven’t seen them, but he tells me they’re the best of the recent crop of neo-giallo movies that have been sweeping art houses over the past few years (you can hear him talk about them on the latest episode of The Frances Farmer Show). Gonzalez’s new film, Knife+Heart, recently played at SIFF, but the Grand Illusion has it in 35mm. Otherwise, there’s some movies that have played here recently (the Jackie Chan Police Story movies, Stop Making Sense) and Jim Jarmusch’s The Dead Don’t Die, which I did finally see last weekend and which is indeed very funny.

Playing This Week:

Ark Lodge Cinemas:

The Biggest Little Farm (John Chester) Fri-Thurs 

Central Cinema:

Hairspray (John Waters, 1988) Fri-Mon
The Big Lebowski (Joel & Ethan Coen, 1998) Fri-Weds 

Century Federal Way:

Shadaa (Jagdeep Sidhu) Fri-Thurs 
Forrest Gump (Robert Zemeckis, 1994) Sun & Tues Only 

Grand Cinema:

Pavarotti (Ron Howard) Fri-Thurs 
The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension (W. D. Richter, 1984) Sat Only 
Loving Vincent: The Impossible Dream (Miki Wecel) Tues Only 

Grand Illusion Cinema:

Knife+Heart (Yann Gonzalez) Fri-Thurs Our Podcast 35mm
You and the Night (Yann Gonzalez, 2013) Fri-Mon, Weds 
Equation to an Unknown (Dietrich de Velsa, 1980) Sat Only 
Made in Abyss: Wandering Twilight (Masayuki Kojima) Mon (Subtitled) & Weds (Dubbed) Only 

Cinemark Lincoln Square:

Agent Sai Srinivasa Athreya (Swaroop RSJ) Fri-Thurs 
Kabir Singh (Sandeep Reddy Vanga) Fri-Thurs 
Mallesham (Raj Rachakonda) Fri-Thurs 
Sindhubaadh (Arun Kumar) Fri-Thurs 
The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir (Ken Scott) Fri-Thurs 
Unda (Khalid Rahman) Sat & Sun Only 
Forrest Gump (Robert Zemeckis, 1994) Sun & Tues Only 

Northwest Film Forum:

Before Stonewall (Greta Schiller & Robert Rosenberg) Sun-Fri 
Police Story (Jackie Chan, 1985) Sun Only Our Review Our Other Review
Police Story 2 (Jackie Chan, 1988) Sun & Weds Only Our Review

AMC Pacific Place:

All is True (Kenneth Branagh) Fri-Thurs 
Ladies in Black (Bruce Beresford) Fri-Thurs 

Regal Parkway Plaza:

Bharat (Ali Abbas Zafar) Fri-Thurs 
All is True (Kenneth Branagh) Fri-Thurs 

AMC Seattle:

Pavarotti (Ron Howard) Fri-Thurs 

SIFF Film Center:

Nightmare Cinema (Alejandro Brugués, Ryûhei Kitamura, David Slade, Joe Dante & Mick Garris) Fri-Thurs 

SIFF Uptown:

Non-Fiction (Olivier Assayas) Fri-Thurs Our Review 
The Last Black Man in San Francisco (Joe Talbot) Fri-Thurs 
This is Spinal Tap (Marty DiBirgi, 1984) Fri-Thurs Our Review
Seattle Taiwanese American Film Festival Sat, Sun & Weds Full Program 
Stop Making Sense (Jonathan Demme, 1984) Fri-Thurs 

Varsity Theatre:

Framing John DeLorean (Don Argott & Sheena M. Joyce) Fri-Thurs 
Forrest Gump (Robert Zemeckis, 1994) Sun Only 

Featured Film:

Non-Fiction at the SIFF Uptown

I’m really tempted to name Jim Jarmusch’s new zombie comedy The Dead Don’t Die as our Featured Film this week, even though I haven’t seen it and the reviews have been ranging from mixed to downright abysmal ever sense it opened Cannes a few weeks ago. That doesn’t bother me: some of Jarmusch’s best movies were dismissed initially (check out Roger Ebert’s 1 1/2 star review of Dead Man for example), but when there’s a new Olivier Assayas movie out as well, one that not only have I seen but one I liked quite a bit, I pretty much have to give it the nod. Evan reviewed it here last fall at VIFF. It’s a lot of fun: the best Woody Allen movie of the past 30 years. SIFF’s also playing their Best of the Festival series this week. Of that bunch, I recommend House of Hummingbird (which I wrote about here). You can check out our podcast about this year’s SIFF as well.

Playing This Week:

AMC Alderwood:

American Woman (Jake Scott) Fri-Thurs 
5B (Paul Haggis & Dan Krauss) Fri-Thurs 

Ark Lodge Cinemas:

The Biggest Little Farm (John Chester) Fri-Thurs 

Central Cinema:

Raiders of the Lost Ark (Steven Spielberg, 1981) Fri-Tues
Raising Arizona (Joel & Ethan Coen, 1987) Fri-Tues 
The Matrix Revolutions (Lilly & Lana Wachowski, 2003) Weds Only 

Cinerama:

Faster than Light Film Series Full Program 

Century Federal Way:

Jind Jaan (Darshan Bagga) Fri-Thurs 
Munda Faridkotia (Mandeep Singh Chahal) Fri-Thurs 
Field of Dreams (Phil Alden Robinson, 1989) Sun Only 

Grand Cinema:

The Souvenir (Joanna Hogg) Fri-Thurs 
The Biggest Little Farm (John Chester) Fri-Thurs 
Free Willy (Simon Wincer, 1993) Sat Only Free Screening
Office Space (Mike Judge, 1999) Sat Only 
Walking on Water (Andrey Paounov) Tues Only 
Notorious (Alfred Hitchcock, 1946) Weds Only Our Review 

Grand Illusion Cinema:

Leto (Kirill Serebrennikov) Fri-Thurs 
Deep Murder (Nick Corirossi) Fri & Sat Only 

Cinemark Lincoln Square:

Pavarotti (Ron Howard) Fri-Thurs 
Game Over (Ashwin Saravanan) Fri-Thurs 
Bharat (Ali Abbas Zafar) Fri-Thurs 
Field of Dreams (Phil Alden Robinson, 1989) Sun & Tues Only 

Regal Meridian:

American Woman (Jake Scott) Fri-Thurs 

Northwest Film Forum:

Walking on Water (Andrey Paounov) Fri Only 
The Raft (Marcus Lindeen) Fri-Thurs 
Police Story (Jackie Chan, 1985) Sun, Weds & Next Sun Only Our Review Our Other Review
Police Story 2 (Jackie Chan, 1988) Sun & Next Sun & Next Weds Only Our Review

AMC Oak Tree:

The Tomorrow Man (Noble Lincoln Jones) Fri-Thurs 

AMC Pacific Place:

Pavarotti (Ron Howard) Fri-Thurs 

Regal Parkway Plaza:

Bharat (Ali Abbas Zafar) Fri-Thurs 

AMC Seattle:

American Woman (Jake Scott) Fri-Thurs 

SIFF Film Center:

Leaving Home, Coming Home: A Portrait of Robert Frank (Gerald Fox) Fri-Thurs 

SIFF Uptown:

Non-Fiction (Olivier Assayas) Fri-Thurs Our Review
Best of SIFF 2019 Full Program
Woodstock: Three Days That Defined a Generation (Barak Goodman & Jamila Ephron) Fri-Thurs 

Varsity Theatre:

Plus One (Jeff Chan & Andrew Rhymer) Fri-Thurs 
Field of Dreams (Phil Alden Robinson, 1989) Tues Only