Friday June 23 – Thursday June 29

~ Sean Gilman

Featured Film:

After the Storm at the SIFF Uptown

Japanese director Kore-eda Hirokazu’s latest, hot off a run at SIFF, opens this week at the Uptown. It’s another of Kore-eda’s quiet examinations of family life, with a run-down father attempting to win back his ex-wife, connect with his son, cope with his mom and sister’s disapproval and avoid writing his second novel while working as a private detective to fuel his gambling addiction. Hiroshi Abe is excellent as the dad, as is Koreeda regular Kirin Kiki as the mother. We reviewed it at VIFF last fall.

Playing This Week:

AMC Alderwood:

Paris Can Wait (Eleanor Coppola) Fri-Thurs
Beatriz at Dinner (Miguel Arteta) Fri-Thurs

Central Cinema:

Jurassic Park (Steven Spielberg, 1993) Fri-Weds
Drop Dead Fred (Ate de Jong, 1991) Fri-Weds

SIFF Egyptian:

The Exception (David Leveaux) Fri-Thurs

Century Federal Way:

DJ Duvvada Jagannadham (Harish Shankar) Fri-Thurs
My Neighbor Totoro (Hayao Miyazaki, 1988) Sun & Mon Only Dubbed Sun, Subtitled Mon
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (Robert Aldrich, 1962) Sun & Weds Only

Grand Cinema:

The Exception (David Leveaux) Fri-Thurs
Paris Can Wait (Eleanor Coppola) Fri-Thurs
Beatriz at Dinner (Miguel Arteta) Fri-Thurs
Zardoz (John Boorman, 1974) Sat Only
Truman (Cesc Gay) Tues Only

Grand Illusion Cinema:

The Bad Batch (Ana Lily Amirpour) Fri-Thurs

Cinemark Lincoln Square:

Beatriz at Dinner (Miguel Arteta) Fri-Thurs
Tubelight (Kabir Khan) Fri-Thurs
DJ Duvvada Jagannadham (Harish Shankar) Fri-Thurs
My Neighbor Totoro (Hayao Miyazaki, 1988) Sun & Mon Only Dubbed Sun, Subtitled Mon
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (Robert Aldrich, 1962) Sun & Weds Only

Regal Meridian:

Tubelight (Kabir Khan) Fri-Thurs

Northwest Film Forum:

I’m Not Fascinating: The Movie! (Danny Plotnick, 1996) Fri Only Drummer in Attendance
Icaros: A Vision (Leonor Caraballo & Matteo Norzi) Fri-Sun Only
On the Banks of the Tigris: The Hidden Story of Iraqi Music (Marsha Emerman, 2015) Sat & Sun Only
YIPS Fest 2017 Sun Only

AMC Oak Tree:

Paris Can Wait (Eleanor Coppola) Fri-Thurs

AMC Pacific Place:

Beatriz at Dinner (Miguel Arteta) Fri-Thurs
Paris Can Wait (Eleanor Coppola) Fri-Thurs
The Hero (Brett Haley) Fri-Thurs

Regal Parkway Plaza:

Paris Can Wait (Eleanor Coppola) Fri-Thurs
Beatriz at Dinner (Miguel Arteta) Fri-Thurs
Tubelight (Kabir Khan) Fri-Thurs
Can We Still Be Friends? (Prime Cruz) Fri-Thurs

AMC Seattle:

Beatriz at Dinner (Miguel Arteta) Fri-Thurs
Dean (Demetri Martin) Fri-Thurs
The Hero (Brett Haley) Fri-Thurs

SIFF Film Center:

Manifesto (Julian Rosefeldt, 2015) Fri-Sun Our Review

Regal Thornton Place:

My Neighbor Totoro (Hayao Miyazaki, 1988) Sun & Mon Only Dubbed Sun, Subtitled Mon

SIFF Uptown:

After the Storm (Koreeda Hirokazu) Fri-Thurs Our Review
The Wedding Plan (Rama Burshtein) Fri-Thurs
Dean (Demetri Martin) Fri-Thurs
The Hero (Brett Haley) Fri-Thurs
Mad World (Wong Chun) Thurs Only

Varsity Theatre:

Letters from Baghdad (Sabine Krayenbühl & Zeva Oelbaum) Fri-Sun
Paris Can Wait (Eleanor Coppola) Fri-Thurs
Ripped (Brad Epstein) Fri-Thurs

In Wide Release:

Alien Covenant (Ridley Scott) Our Review
Guardians of the Galaxy 2 (James Gunn) Our Review

SIFF 2017 Index

~ Sean Gilman

Here is an index of our coverage of SIFF 2017.

Previews:

Festival Preview
Week One
Week Two
Week Three
Week Four

Reviews:

Yourself and Yours (Hong Sangsoo)
Cook Up a Storm (Raymond Yip)
Knife in the Clear Water (Wang Zuebo)
Sami Blood (Amanda Kernell)
Chronicles of Hari (Ananya Kasaravalli)
Finding Kukan (Robin Lung)
Bad Black (Nabwana IGG)
Vampire Cleanup Department (Yan Pak-wing & Chiu Sin-hang)
Mr. Long (Sabu)
Ma’ Rosa (Brillante Mendoza)
Nocturama (Bertrand Bonello)

Capsule Reviews:

Dawson City: Frozen Time (Bill Morrison)
My Journey through French Cinema (Bertrand Tavernier)
The Unknown Girl (Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne)
By the Time It Gets Dark (Anocha Suwichakornpong)
Manifesto (Julian Rosefeldt)
Beach Rats (Eliza Hittman)
God of War (Gordon Chan)
Person to Person (Dustin Guy Defa)
Landline (Gillian Robespierre)
Wind River (Taylor Sheridan)
The Little Hours (Jeff Baena)
Have a Nice Day (Liu Jian)
Columbus (Kogonada)
I, Daniel Blake (Ken Loach)
Gook (Justin Chon)
A Ghost Story (David Lowery)

Podcasts:

The Frances Farmer Show #12: SIFF 2017 Part One
The Frances Farmer Show #13: SIFF 2017 Part Two

But I’m a Cheerleader (Jamie Babbit, 1999)

~ Sue Lonac

tumblr_mz411aylbs1r8vo7wo1_12801

Equal parts love story, social satire, and broad teen sex comedy, But I’m a Cheerleader has had an enthusiastic following among the LGBTQ+ set (and others) for almost two decades. It’s easy to see why: the actors are full of sweetly winning charm, the satire (of “reparative therapy” camps) is pointed and richly earned, and the story arc is mercifully non-tragic—a rarity for the longest time in queer cinema. For those of us who came of age with mopey, lugubrious lesbian love stories like Desert Hearts (1985), Claire of the Moon (1992), and High Art (1998), it’s impossible to overstate what a blast of fresh air this film was when it first arrived in theaters. (Even today, in fact, a quick Google search of “lesbian movies” gets you hits like “Why are all lesbian movies sad?” and “17 Awesome Lesbian Movies Where No One Dies at the End.”) As we revisit But I’m a Cheerleader well into the new millennium, the film feels every bit as fresh, funny, fun, and necessary as it did when it first came out.

Continue reading “But I’m a Cheerleader (Jamie Babbit, 1999)” →

The Frances Farmer Show #13: SIFF 2017 Part Two

~ Sean Gilman ~ 2 Comments

411d294d_c189_49b6_92f3_67f3de88101f_large16x9_aghoststorystill1_32349090476_o.0

The 2017 Seattle International Film Festival has come to an end and Sean, Evan and Ryan get together to talk about what they saw, what they liked and didn’t like among the festival’s archival presentations and new releases. Film discussed include: The Dumb Girl of Portici, Taste of Cherry, Love and Duty, Brainstorm, A Ghost Story, Nocturama, Columbus, Godspeed, Gook and Mr. Long.

You can listen to the show by downloading it directly, or by subscribing on iTunes or the podcast player of your choice.

Friday June 16 – Thursday June 22

~ Sean Gilman

Featured Film:

Funeral Parade of Roses at the Northwest Film Forum

In addition to a program of eight of his short films (playing Sunday only) the Northwest Film Forum this weekend presents the restoration of the late Toshio Matsumoto’s 1969 Japanese New Wave classic Funeral Parade of Roses, which I haven’t seen, but which they describe as a “shattering, kaleidoscopic masterpiece . . . one of the most subversive and intoxicating films of the late 1960s: a headlong dive into a dazzling, unseen Tokyo night-world of drag queen bars and fabulous divas, fueled by booze, drugs, fuzz guitars, performance art and black mascara.” Sold.

Playing This Week:

AMC Alderwood:

Paris Can Wait (Eleanor Coppola) Fri-Thurs
Dean (Demetri Martin) Fri-Thurs
Warriors of the Dawn (Jeong Yoon-cheol) Fri-Thurs

Ark Lodge Cinemas:

The House on Coco Road (Damani Baker) Thurs Only

Central Cinema:

But I’m a Cheerleader (Jamie Babbit, 2000) Fri-Mon
Ma vie en rose (Alain Berliner, 1997) Fri-Mon

SIFF Egyptian:

Collide-O-Scope Best of the Worst World Tour Kick-Off Party Weds Only

Century Federal Way:

Warriors of the Dawn (Jeong Yoon-cheol) Fri-Thurs
Resident Evil: Vendetta (Takanori Tsujimoto) Thurs Only
El Dorado (Howard Hawks, 1967) Sun & Weds Only

Grand Cinema:

I, Daniel Blake (Ken Loach) Fri-Thurs
Paris Can Wait (Eleanor Coppola) Fri-Thurs
Water Horse (Jay Russell, 2007) Fri-Thurs
Logan’s Run (Michael Anderson, 1976) Sat Only Our Podcast
Semi-Iconic: The Ballad of Dick Rossetti (Isaac Olsen) Sun & Tues Only
Nise: The Heart of Madness (Roberto Berliner) Tues Only
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (William Dieterle, 1939) Weds Only
The Best Democracy Money Can Buy (Greg Palast & David Ambrose) Thurs Only Free Screening

Grand Illusion Cinema:

Stefan Zweig: Farewell to Europe (Maria Schrader) Fri-Thurs

Cinemark Lincoln Square:

Beatriz at Dinner (Miguel Arteta) Fri-Thurs
Resident Evil: Vendetta (Takanori Tsujimoto) Thurs Only
El Dorado (Howard Hawks, 1967) Sun & Weds Only

Regal Meridian:

Didi’s Dreams (Kevin Tsai) Fri-Thurs

Northwest Film Forum:

Funeral Parade of Roses (Toshio Matsumoto, 1969) Fri-Sun Only
The Short Films of Toshio Matsumoto Sun Only
Last Men in Aleppo (Feras Fayyad) Weds & Thurs Only
Awake, A Dream from Standing Rock (Josh Fox, James Spione & Myron Dewey) Sun Only
Moving History Strikes Back: Battling the Magnetic Media Crisis Thurs Only

AMC Pacific Place:

Beatriz at Dinner (Miguel Arteta) Fri-Thurs

Regal Parkway Plaza:

Paris Can Wait (Eleanor Coppola) Fri-Thurs
Hindi Medium (Saket Chaudhary) Fri-Thurs

AMC Seattle:

Dean (Demetri Martin) Fri-Thurs

SIFF Film Center:

Deconstructung the Beatles: Rubber Soul (Scott Freiman) Fri-Sun

SIFF Uptown:

Dean (Demetri Martin) Fri-Thurs
The Wedding Plan (Rama Burshtein) Fri-Thurs
Best of SIFF 2017 (Various) Fri-Thurs
Roosevelt Film Club’s Summer Screening Weds Only

Varsity Theatre:

Letters from Baghdad (Sabine Krayenbühl & Zeva Oelbaum) Fri-Sun

In Wide Release:

Alien Covenant (Ridley Scott) Our Review
Guardians of the Galaxy 2 (James Gunn) Our Review

Between Work: A Conversation on Claire’s Camera and The Day After

~ Evan Morgan ~ 1 Comment

Claires-Camera-620x327

Evan Morgan: The sun’s out, palm trees are in sight, and we’ve temporarily traded in soju for sancerre. Hong Sang-soo is en vacance again. I don’t know about you Sean, but I’m always happy to see Hong in the literally and figuratively breezy mode that he takes up in Claire’s Camera. The seasons have long played a central role in the Hong project, though it seems that the tonal vacillation between his summer and winter films grows with each passing year. Hong’s sense of humor lilts along during the warmer months, and though it never goes entirely dormant in wintertime, it cools and takes on a serrated edge, like cracked ice. Claire’s Camera, in keeping with this seasonal dichotomy, might be his most amiable movie yet, defined as it is by Isabelle Huppert’s warm naiveté and the dabs of sunflower yellow provided by her summer frock. Huppert’s flightiness bleeds into the plotting too, which moves with a nonchalance that borders on amateurishness. I mean that as a compliment. It strikes me that Hong’s acceptance into the upper echelon of the art cinema world (the film unfolds during Cannes, after all) occurred simultaneously with his loosened production methods, and though the competition gatekeepers prefer the more somber Seoul films, the animating spirit of later Hong owes much to the laidback atmosphere of friends who vacation together and decide, ‘what the hell let’s make a movie.’ It’s not for nothing that this most amateur of Hong films is set against the backdrop of the world’s premier film festival.

Continue reading “Between Work: A Conversation on Claire’s Camera and The Day After“ →

SIFF 2017: Nocturama (Bertrand Bonello, 2016)

~ Ryan Swen ~ 1 Comment

terrorizers

Like a not-so-metaphorical bomb, one of the only truly exceptional films that played at the 43rd Seattle International Film Festival landed in the final weekend. That film was Bertrand Bonello’s Nocturama, the controversial and highly touted “thriller” (for lack of a better term) about a group of young terrorists who plan and execute a highly coordinated series of bombings around the City of Light. Bonello more or less eschews a concrete and obvious stab at relevancy – the group’s ideology is almost totally ambiguous, save for a likely anti-capitalist bent – in favor of something much more oblique, frightening, and ultimately powerful.

Bonello, who came to prominence for his acclaimed films House of Tolerance (2011) and Saint Laurent (2014), continues his penchant for stylish and meticulous direction, choreographing both the actual terrorist acts and the second half, a long unraveling of both team and sanity in a massive, labyrinthine department store, with the utmost precision. His Steadicam shots have a genuine sense of motion, snaking through subways and seemingly infinite hallways and watching intently for the slightest change in expression on a character’s face. These faces are key in a way; built from a group of relatively new actors, the diverse ensemble has a freshness and uncertainty about them that fits spectacularly well with the ambiguity about their personas and motives, even being conflated with store mannequins at several points. Nocturama has, as might be expected, a certain sort of cold-blooded brutality to it, but it also has vitality, driven forward relentlessly by a pulsing soundtrack and the vividly clear vision of Bonello.

SIFF 2017: A Ghost Story (David Lowery, 2017)

~ Ryan Swen

ghost

Note: as this film is under embargo until its release in the Seattle area, here are exactly 75 words.

Kudos to David Lowery for attempting to introduce fairly mainstream audiences to Weerasethakul, Tsai, Hou, etc. Unfortunately, his coopting of the slow cinema aesthetic has some of the outlines, especially when it comes to the picturesque settings and highly muted performances, but very little of the feeling and passion behind the great works of that style. Well-mounted and occasionally rather involving, A Ghost Story nevertheless ends up with a muddled, unclear sense of purpose.

SIFF 2017: Gook (Justin Chon, 2017)

~ Ryan Swen

gook

Note: as this film is under embargo until its release in the Seattle area, here are exactly 75 words.

Centering on the first day of the Rodney King riots in LA, Gook turns its eye to an underseen perspective on that monumental event: the Korean-American shop owners. The riot is used mostly as a backdrop to a small-scale story of familial bonds, a feint which works for better and worse. Writer-director-star Chon excels in the more comedic and subdued moments, but his film seems to escape his grasp in the self-consciously “lyrical” moments.

SIFF 2017: I, Daniel Blake (Ken Loach)

~ Ryan Swen

daniel blake

Note: as this film is under embargo until its release in the Seattle area, here are exactly 75 words.

The unexpected recipient of the Palme d’Or at last year’s Cannes, I, Daniel Blake is a shotgun marriage of the social critique and character study. It is an often funny, sometimes touching, occasionally intensely preachy affair, following the eponymous character and a young single mother caught in a catch-22 relating to the government’s healthcare benefits. The film finds its footing in the little, earnest interactions, while stumbling somewhat with the larger issues at stake.