Featured Film:

Resident Evil: The Final Chapter in Wide Release

Sure there are a ton of Oscar contenders I haven’t caught up with yet, like 20th Century Women or Hidden Figures or Jackie or even Hacksaw Ridge, playing around town. And sure, one of the all-time greatest films in the history of the medium is playing one night only at the Seattle Art Museum, with Roberto Rossellini’s Voyage in Italy. But the movie I’m going out of my way to see this week is the sixth and final film in Paul WS Anderson’s video game-adaptation saga. Milla Jovovich and her army of clones and clone-friends make their last stand against a never-ending glut of zombies, mutants, clone-friends turned clone-enemies, homicidal computers taking the form of little girls, and shockingly athletic blond scientists and capitalists. An endlessly fascinating dive through our fungible reality, told in Anderson’s unique blend of crisp imagery and stale dialogue, the Resident Evil films are the better collectively than any series to come out of Hollywood since the Matrix movies. Be the Alice Clone you want to see in the world right now.

Playing This Week:

AMC Alderwood:

The King (Han Jae-Rim) Fri-Thurs
Raees (Rahul Dholakia) Fri-Thurs
Kaabil (Sanjay Gupta) Fri-Thurs
Un Padre No Tan Padre (Raúl Martínez) Fri-Thurs

Ark Lodge Cinemas:

The Eagle Huntress (Otto Bell) Fri-Thurs

Central Cinema:

Groundhog Day (Harold Ramis, 1993) Fri-Tues, Thurs
Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure (Stephen Herek, 1989) Fri-Tues Our Podcast
Peace for the Streets Benefit featuring Breakin’ (Joel Silberg, 1984) and Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo (Sam Firstenberg, 1984) Weds Only

SIFF Egyptian:

20th Century Women (Mike Mills) Fri-Thurs

Century Federal Way:

Raees (Rahul Dholakia) Fri-Thurs
Kaabil (Sanjay Gupta) Fri-Thurs
Dirty Dancing (Emile Ardolino, 1987) Sun & Weds Only

Grand Cinema:

Elle (Paul Verhoeven) Fri-Thurs Our Review
20th Century Women (Mike Mills) Fri-Thurs
The Autopsy of Jane Doe (Andre Ovredal) Fri & Sat Only
The Brand New Testament (Jaco Van Dormael) Tues Only

Grand Illusion Cinema:

Elle (Paul Verhoeven) Sat-Weds Our Review
All Governments Lie (Fred Peabody) Fri-Thurs
American Angels: Baptist of Blood (Anthony Spinelli, 1989) Fri Only VHS
Saturday Secret Matinees: Presented by the Sprocket Society (Various directors & years) Sat Only 16mm

Landmark Guild 45th:

Julieta (Pedro Almodóvar) Fri-Thurs
20th Century Women (Mike Mills) Fri-Thurs

Cinemark Lincoln Square:

20th Century Women (Mike Mills) Fri-Thurs
Raees (Rahul Dholakia) Fri-Thurs
Kaabil (Sanjay Gupta) Fri-Thurs
Dirty Dancing (Emile Ardolino, 1987) Sun & Weds Only

Regal Meridian:

Paterson (Jim Jarmusch) Fri-Thurs Our Review Our Other Review 
20th Century Women (Mike Mills) Fri-Thurs
Silence (Martin Scorsese) Fri-Thurs Our Review

Northwest Film Forum:

Children’s Film Festival Seattle Fri-Thurs Full Program

AMC Oak Tree:

Get the Girl (Eric England) Fri-Thurs
Jackie (Pablo Larraín) Fri-Thurs

AMC Pacific Place:

Kung Fu Yoga (Stanley Tong) Fri-Thurs
Buddies in India (Wang Baoqiang) Fri-Thurs

Regal Parkway Plaza:

20th Century Women (Mike Mills) Fri-Thurs
Raees (Rahul Dholakia) Fri-Thurs
Kaabil (Sanjay Gupta) Fri-Thurs
Dangal (Nitesh Tiwari) Fri-Thurs

Seattle Art Museum:

Voyage in Italy (Roberto Rossellini, 1954) Thurs Only

SIFF Film Center:

Deconstructing the Beatles’ White Album (Scott Freiman) Fri-Sun

AMC Southcenter:

Hacksaw Ridge (Mel Gibson) Fri-Thurs
Un Padre No Tan Padre (Raúl Martínez) Fri-Thurs

Sundance Cinemas:

Jackie (Pablo Larraín) Fri-Thurs
They Call Us Monsters (Ben Lear) Fri-Thurs

In Wide Release:

Split (M. Night Shyamalan) Our Review
Hidden Figures (Theodore Melfi) Our Review
Fences (Denzel Washington) Our Review
La La Land (Damien Chazelle) Our Review
Moonlight (Barry Jenkins)  Our Review
Arrival (Denis Villeneuve) Our Review

Featured Film:

Kurosawa on 35mm at the Grand Illusion

The first movies I ever watched after I moved to Seattle were a series of Akira Kurosawa films at the Varsity. Throne of Blood and The Bad Sleep Well were among them, and it was a revelation seeing them on the big screen. Of course it was on 35mm then, digital video wasn’t a thing yet. Kurosawa remains one of the most reliable figures on the repertory film scene, but prints are becoming harder and harder to find. The Grand Illusion is one of the very few venues in town to reliably seek out and exhibit films on actual film, so take this opportunity to see a couple of great films from a great director while you can. We talked about The Bad Sleep Well on The George Sanders Show, and I wrote a little bit about Throne of Blood a long time ago.

Playing This Week:

AMC Alderwood:

Sailor Moon R: The Movie (Kunihiko Ikuhara, 1993) Fri-Thurs Re-edited in English

Central Cinema:

Howl’s Moving Castle (Hayao Miyazaki, 2004) Fri-Weds Subtitled Tues & Weds Only
Death Becomes Her (Robert Zemeckis, 1992) Fri-Weds

Century Federal Way:

Rebel Without a Cause (Nicholas Ray, 1955) Sun & Weds Only

Grand Cinema:

Jackie (Pablo Larraín) Fri-Thurs
Spirited Away (Hayao Miyazaki, 2001) Sat Only English Dub, Free
Haida Gwaii: On the Edge of the World (Charles Wilkinson) Tues Only

Grand Illusion Cinema:

Elle (Paul Verhoeven) Fri-Sun, Tues & Thurs Our Review
Throne of Blood (Akira Kurosaw, 1957) Fri & Tues Only An Old Review 35mm
Sailor Moon R: The Movie (Kunihiko Ikuhara, 1993) Sat & Sun Only Re-edited in English
Saturday Secret Matinees: Presented by the Sprocket Society (Various directors & years) Sat Only 16mm
Dixie Ray, Hollywood Star (Anthony Spinelli, 1983) Sat Only
The Bad Sleep Well (Akira Kurosaw, 1960) Sun & Weds Only Our Podcast 35mm

Cinemark Lincoln Square:

XXX: The Return of Xander Cage (DJ Caruso) Fri-Thurs Dubbed in Hindi
Khaidi No. 150 (V. V. Vinayak) Fri-Thurs
Gautamiputra Satakarni (Krish) Fri-Thurs
Shatamanam Bhavati (Satish Vegesna) Fri-Thurs
Pushpaka Vimana (S. Ravindranath) Sat & Sun Only
Rebel Without a Cause (Nicholas Ray, 1955) Sun & Weds Only

Regal Meridian:

Paterson (Jim Jarmusch) Fri-Thurs Our Review Our Other Review

Northwest Film Forum:

Goodnight Brooklyn – The Story of Death by Audio (Matthew Conboy) Fri-Weds
Deluge (Felix Feist, 1933) Fri-Sun Only
The Ardennes (Robin Pront) Fri-Sun Only
Loa (Georg Koszulinski) Weds Only Filmmaker in Attendance
Children’s Film Festival Seattle Starts Thurs Full Program

AMC Oak Tree:

Bakery in Brooklyn (Gustavo Ron) Fri-Thurs

Pacific Science Center:

Voyage of Time (IMAX) (Terrence Malick) Fri-Thurs Our Review

Regal Parkway Plaza:

Sarvann (Karaan Guliani) Fri-Thurs
Dangal (Nitesh Tiwari) Fri-Thurs

Seven Gables:

Jackie (Pablo Larraín) Fri-Thurs

SIFF Film Center:

Jackie (Pablo Larraín) Fri-Thurs

Sundance Cinemas:

Nocturnal Animals (Tom Ford) Fri-Thurs

SIFF Uptown:

Tampopo (Jûzô Itami, 1985) Fri-Sun Only

In Wide Release:

Split (M. Night Shyamalan) Our Review
Silence (Martin Scorsese) Our Review
Live by Night (Ben Affleck) Our Review
Hidden Figures (Theodore Melfi) Our Review
Fences (Denzel Washington) Our Review
La La Land (Damien Chazelle) Our Review
Moonlight (Barry Jenkins)  Our Review
Arrival (Denis Villeneuve) Our Review

Featured Film:

Paterson at the Regal Meridian

Jim Jarmsuch’s best movie in more than twenty years, and probably the best movie of 2016 (at least, that’s what I’ll say right now), stars Adam Driver as a poet named Paterson, who lives and drives a bus in the city of Paterson, New Jersey, which was itself the subject of an epic poem by William Carlos Williams called Paterson. Jarmusch deftly tracks a week in Paterson’s life: the habitual necessities and routines, and the small spaces within them that he carves out for writing (think Frank O’Hara’s Lunch Poems). Small details accrete: the job, the dog, the regulars at the neighborhood bar, and an infinite, livable world is created. Rarely has a film so elegantly captured creative work as process, as an integral part of everyday life. When Driver reads Paterson’s poems, he doesn’t recite them, the words in voiceover come with the halting, tentative speed of composition. Neil reviewed the film for us last fall at VIFF, and Ryan wrote about it this week.

Playing This Week:

AMC Alderwood:

Ok Jaanu (Shaad Ali) Fri-Thurs

Central Cinema:

The Maltese Falcon (John Huston, 1941) Fri-Tues
The Thing (John Carpenter, 1982) Fri-Tues

Century Federal Way:

Khaidi No. 150 (V. V. Vinayak) Fri-Thurs
Sarvann (Karaan Guliani) Fri-Thurs
Master (Cho Uiseok) Fri-Thurs
Singin’ in the Rain (Stanley Donen & Gene Kelly, 1952) Sun & Weds Only
One Piece Film: Gold (Hiroaki Miyamoto) Tues Only

Grand Cinema:

Jackie (Pablo Larraín) Fri-Thurs
Olympic Pride, American Prejudice (Deborah Riley Draper) Tues Only
Casablanca (Michael Curtiz, 1942) Weds Only

Grand Illusion Cinema:

Elle (Paul Verhoeven) Fri-Thurs Our Review
Mifune: The Last Samurai (Steven Okazaki) Sat & Sun Only
Saturday Secret Matinees: Presented by the Sprocket Society (Various directors & years) Sat Only 16mm
Up, Up and Away (Andy Liotta) Thurs Only

Landmark Guild 45th:

One Piece Film: Gold (Hiroaki Miyamoto) Sat & Tues Only

Cinemark Lincoln Square:

Khaidi No. 150 (V. V. Vinayak) Fri-Thurs
Dangal (Nitesh Tiwari) Fri-Thurs
Bairavaa (Bharathan) Fri-Thurs
Gautamiputra Satakarni (Krish) Fri-Thurs
Ok Jaanu (Shaad Ali) Fri-Thurs
Shatamanam Bhavati (Satish Vegesna) Fri-Thurs
Singin’ in the Rain (Stanley Donen & Gene Kelly, 1952) Sun & Weds Only
One Piece Film: Gold (Hiroaki Miyamoto) Tues Only

Regal Meridian:

Paterson (Jim Jarmusch) Fri-Thurs Our Review Our Other Review
Singin’ in the Rain (Stanley Donen & Gene Kelly, 1952) Sun & Weds Only

Northwest Film Forum:

Il Solengo (Alessio Rigo de Righi & Matteo Zoppis) Fri & Sat Only
Notes on Blindness (Peter Middleton & James Spinney) Fri-Sun Only
The Road to Nickelsville (Derek McNeill) Sun Only Filmmaker in Attendance
Goodnight Brooklyn – The Story of Death by Audio (Matthew Conboy) Starts Weds

AMC Pacific Place:

Some Like it Hot (Song Xiaofei and Dong Xu) Fri-Thurs
Singin’ in the Rain (Stanley Donen & Gene Kelly, 1952) Sun & Weds Only
One Piece Film: Gold (Hiroaki Miyamoto) Tues Only

Pacific Science Center:

Voyage of Time (IMAX) (Terrence Malick) Fri-Thurs Our Review

Regal Parkway Plaza:

Elle (Paul Verhoeven) Fri-Thurs
Sarvann (Karaan Guliani) Fri-Thurs
Ok Jaanu (Shaad Ali) Fri-Thurs
Shatamanam Bhavati (Satish Vegesna) Fri-Thurs
Jackie (Pablo Larraín) Fri-Thurs
Dangal (Nitesh Tiwari) Fri-Thurs

Seattle Art Museum:

Europa ’51 (Roberto Rossellini, 1952) Thurs Only

Seven Gables:

Jackie (Pablo Larraín) Fri-Thurs

SIFF Film Center:

Nordic Lights Film Festival Fri-Mon Full Program
You Will Be My Son (Gilles LeGrand) Weds Only Pastries and Wine

Sundance Cinemas:

Nocturnal Animals (Tom Ford) Fri-Thurs

SIFF Uptown:

Jackie (Pablo Larraín) Fri-Thurs

Varsity Theatre:

Singin’ in the Rain (Stanley Donen & Gene Kelly, 1952) Weds Only

In Wide Release:

Silence (Martin Scorsese) Our Review
Live by Night (Ben Affleck) Our Review
Hidden Figures (Theodore Melfi) Our Review
Fences (Denzel Washington) Our Review
La La Land (Damien Chazelle) Our Review
Assassin’s Creed (Justin Kurzel) Our Review
Moonlight (Barry Jenkins)  Our Review
Arrival (Denis Villeneuve) Our Review

Featured Film:

Silence at the Meridian and the Lincoln Square

Every year it seems there’s one movie that doesn’t screen in time to make it onto end of the year lists, but that if it had, would have done quite well. This year, it’s Martin Scorsese’s Silence, which would surely have placed high in our end-of-the-year poll had it played here in time. As it is, it’s eligible for our 2017 poll, but will probably be forgotten by then. But regardless, it’s one of the best films of 2016, the story of Portuguese Jesuits attempting to evade persecution in 17th Century Japan, it’s at once remarkably nuanced in its exploration of faith and colonialism while remaining resolutely materialist and physical. The worthy final piece of Scorsese’s great trilogy of explicitly religious films, alongside The Last Temptation of Christ and Kundun.

Playing This Week:

AMC Alderwood:

Jackie (Pablo Larraín) Fri-Thurs
Master (Cho Uiseok) Fri-Thurs
Lost & Found (Joseph Itaya) Fri-Thurs

Central Cinema:

Blade Runner (Ridley Scott, 1982) Fri-Tues The Final Cut
The Last Starfighter (Nick Castle, 1984) Fri-Mon

SIFF Egyptian:

Jackie (Pablo Larraín) Fri-Thurs

Century Federal Way:

Master (Cho Uiseok) Fri-Thurs
Carousel (Henry King, 1956) Sun & Weds Only
One Piece Film: Gold (Hiroaki Miyamoto) Tues Only

Grand Cinema:

Jackie (Pablo Larraín) Fri-Thurs

Grand Illusion Cinema:

Mifune: The Last Samurai (Steven Okazaki) Fri-Thurs
Saturday Secret Matinees: Presented by the Sprocket Society (Various directors & years) Sat Only 16mm

Landmark Guild 45th:

One Piece Film: Gold (Hiroaki Miyamoto) Tues Only

Cinemark Lincoln Square:

Silence (Martin Scorsese) Fri-Thurs Our Review
Dangal (Nitesh Tiwari) Fri-Thurs
Jackie (Pablo Larraín) Fri-Thurs
Carousel (Henry King, 1956) Sun & Weds Only
One Piece Film: Gold (Hiroaki Miyamoto) Tues Only

Regal Meridian:

Silence (Martin Scorsese) Fri-Thurs Our Review
Dangal (Nitesh Tiwari) Fri-Thurs

Northwest Film Forum:

Harry Benson: Shoot First (Justin Bare & Matthew Miele) Fri-Thurs
2016 Sundance Film Festival Short Film Tour Weds Only
Il Solengo (Alessio Rigo de Righi & Matteo Zoppis) Starts Thurs

AMC Pacific Place:

Railroad Tigers (Ding Sheng) Fri-Thurs Our Review
One Piece Film: Gold (Hiroaki Miyamoto) Tues Only

Regal Parkway Plaza:

Jackie (Pablo Larraín) Fri-Thurs
Dangal (Nitesh Tiwari) Fri-Thurs

Seven Gables:

Jackie (Pablo Larraín) Fri-Thurs

SIFF Film Center:

The Uncondemned (Michele Mitchell & Nick Louvel) Weds Only Director Q&A
Nordic Lights Film Festival Starts Thurs Full Program

Sundance Cinemas:

Nocturnal Animals (Tom Ford) Fri-Thurs

SIFF Uptown:

Labyrinth (Jim Henson, 1986) Sun Only Quote-along

In Wide Release:

Hidden Figures (Theodore Melfi) Our Review
Fences (Denzel Washington) Our Review
La La Land (Damien Chazelle) Our Review
Assassin’s Creed (Justin Kurzel) Our Review
Moonlight (Barry Jenkins)  Our Review
Arrival (Denis Villeneuve) Our Review

Featured Film:

Elle at the Seven Gables

I can’t think of any better way to say farewell to 2016 than with Isabelle Huppert and Paul Verhoeven’s Elle, a singular film and the narrow winner in this year’s Seattle Film Poll, a good riddance to this disaster of a year if ever there was one. It’s not exactly a dark comedy, but neither is it a brutish nightmare of a rape-revenge film. I think it’s about the struggle to maintain control over one’s life, about not letting anything that happens to you define you. It leaves open the question of whether that striving for independence is ultimately dehumanizing or, paradoxically, what makes us human in the first place. No more challenging or upsetting film has been released this year.

Playing This Week:

AMC Alderwood:

Jackie (Pablo Larraín) Fri-Thurs

Central Cinema:

Mary Poppins (Robert Stevenson, 1964) Fri Only Sing-along
Titanic (James Cameron, 1991) Mon & Tues Only

SIFF Egyptian:

Jackie (Pablo Larraín) Fri-Thurs

Grand Cinema:

Jackie (Pablo Larraín) Fri-Thurs
The Eyes of My Mother (Nicolas Pesce) Fri-Sat Only
Best Worst Thing That Ever Could Have Happened (Lonny Price) Tues Only

Grand Illusion Cinema:

By Sidney Lumet (Nancy Buirski) Fri-Thurs
Dog Day Afternoon (Sidney Lumet, 1975) Sun & Thurs Only 35mm

Landmark Guild 45th:

Jackie (Pablo Larraín) Fri-Thurs

Cinemark Lincoln Square:

Intlo Deyyam Nakem Bhayam (G. Nageswara Reddy) Fri-Thurs
Dangal (Nitesh Tiwari) Fri-Thurs
Jackie (Pablo Larraín) Fri-Thurs

Regal Meridian:

Dangal (Nitesh Tiwari) Fri-Thurs
The Eagle Huntress (Otto Bell) Fri-Thurs

Regal Parkway Plaza:

Jackie (Pablo Larraín) Fri-Thurs
Dangal (Nitesh Tiwari) Fri-Thurs

Seven Gables:

Elle (Paul Verhoeven) Fri-Thurs

SIFF Film Center:

The Princess Bride (Rob Reiner, 1987) Fri, Sun, Mon Quote-along
Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (Mel Stuart, 1971) Fri-Mon In Smell-O-Vision

Sundance Cinemas:

Nocturnal Animals (Tom Ford) Fri-Thurs

SIFF Uptown:

Moulin Rouge! (Baz Luhrmann, 2001) Sat Only New Year’s Eve Party

In Wide Release:

Fences (Denzel Washington) Our Review
La La Land (Damien Chazelle) Our Review
Assassin’s Creed (Justin Kurzel) Our Review
Moonlight (Barry Jenkins)  Our Review
Arrival (Denis Villeneuve) Our Review

Featured Film:

Elle at the Seven Gables

It’s Isabelle Huppert’s year and I can’t think of any better way to spend this holiday weekend than with her and Paul Verhoeven’s Elle, a singular film and the narrow winner in this year’s Seattle Film Poll, it’s sure to give you and the family something to talk about over Christmas dinner. It’s not exactly a dark comedy, but neither is it a brutish nightmare of a rape-revenge film. I think it’s about the struggle to maintain control over one’s life, about not letting anything that happens to you define you. It leaves open the question of whether that striving for independence is ultimately dehumanizing or, paradoxically, what makes us human in the first place. No more challenging or upsetting film has been released this year. Go ahead and pair it with Huppert’s more elegantly sublime performance in Mia Hansen-Løve’s Things to Come, which plays for two more days this week, on Friday and Saturday at the Sundance Cinemas.

Playing This Week:

AMC Alderwood:

Jackie (Pablo Larraín) Fri-Thurs

Central Cinema:

Mary Poppins (Robert Stevenson, 1964) Mon-Fri Sing-along

SIFF Egyptian:

Jackie (Pablo Larraín) Fri-Thurs

Grand Cinema:

Jackie (Pablo Larraín) Fri-Thurs
The Eagle Huntress (Otto Bell) Fri-Sat Only
Life of Brian (Terry Jones, 1979) Mon Only

Grand Illusion Cinema:

It’s a Wonderful Life (Frank Capra, 1946) Fri-Thurs 35mm

Landmark Guild 45th:

Jackie (Pablo Larraín) Fri-Thurs

Cinemark Lincoln Square:

Dangal (Nitesh Tiwari) Fri-Thurs
Jackie (Pablo Larraín) Fri-Thurs

Regal Meridian:

Dangal (Nitesh Tiwari) Fri-Thurs
The Eagle Huntress (Otto Bell) Fri-Thurs

AMC Pacific Place:

The Wasted Times (Cheng Er) Fri-Thurs Our Review

Regal Parkway Plaza:

Jackie (Pablo Larraín) Fri-Thurs
Dangal (Nitesh Tiwari) Fri-Thurs
Befikre (Aditya Chopra) Fri-Thurs
The Super Parental Guardians (Joyce E. Bernal) Fri-Thurs

Seven Gables:

Elle (Paul Verhoeven) Fri-Thurs

SIFF Film Center:

The Princess Bride (Rob Reiner, 1987) Mon-Thurs Quote-along
Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (Mel Stuart, 1971) Fri, Sat, Mon-Thurs In Smell-O-Vision
White Christmas (Michael Curtiz, 1954) Fri-Sat Only Sing-along

Sundance Cinemas:

Things to Come (Mia Hansen-Løve) Fri-Sat Only Our Review Our Other Review
Nocturnal Animals (Tom Ford) Fri-Thurs

SIFF Uptown:

Nocturnal Animals (Tom Ford) Fri-Sat Only
Fiddler On the Roof (Norman Jewison, 1971) Sun Only With Chinese Takeout and Live Klezmer Music

In Wide Release:

La La Land (Damien Chazelle) Our Review
Assassin’s Creed (Justin Kurzel) Our Review
Moonlight (Barry Jenkins)  Our Review
Arrival (Denis Villeneuve) Our Review

Featured Film:

La La Land at the Pacific Place and the Lincoln Square

Damien Chazelle’s follow-up to his award-winning Whiplash is a musical starring Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling, and as of right now it looks like it’s probably going to win the Best Picture Oscar. It’s not the best picture of the year, of course, but it’s good enough. Stone plays a struggling actress and Gosling a struggling pianist and they fall in love and then part because of career difficulties, like someone took the plot of New York, New York, but drained it of all the darkness and passion. The film has drawn comparisons to Jacques Demy’s Umbrellas of Cherbourg, but the broken hearts here are more signified than felt (and anyway, the Demy it most resembles is Young Girls of Rochefort, at least in that the opening number is a pale imitation of that film’s glorious intro). Still, as Hollywood recreations of New Wave recreations of Classic Hollywood go, this isn’t bad, though I’m baffled why Stone and Gosling whisper-sing through the whole movie. Stone starred in Cabaret on Broadway, shouldn’t she be able to sing out every once in awhile? It opens this week at the AMC Pacific Place and the Cinemark Lincoln Square, and you can read our full review here.

Playing This Week:

Central Cinema:

Elf (Jon Favreau, 2003) Fri-Tues

SIFF Egyptian:

Jackie (Pablo Larraín) Fri-Thurs

Century Federal Way:

It’s a Wonderful Life (Frank Capra, 1946) Sun & Weds Only

Grand Cinema:

The Eagle Huntress (Otto Bell) Fri-Thurs
Ali and Nino (Asif Kapadia) Fri-Tues
Elf (Jon Favreau, 2003) Sat Only
Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale (Jalmari Helander, 2010) Sat Only
Deconstructing the Beatles: The White Album Tues Only
Jackie (Pablo Larraín) Starts Weds
Miracle on 34th Street (Les Mayfield, 1947) Weds Only
White Christmas (Michael Curtiz, 1954) Thurs Only Sing-along

Grand Illusion Cinema:

It’s a Wonderful Life (Frank Capra, 1946) Fri-Thurs 35mm
The Brain (Ed Hunt, 1988) Fri Only VHS

Landmark Guild 45th:

Jackie (Pablo Larraín) Fri-Thurs

Cinemark Lincoln Square:

La La Land (Damien Chazelle) Fri-Thurs Our Review
Jackie (Pablo Larraín) Fri-Thurs
Nanna Nenu Naa Boyfriends (Bhaskar Bandi) Fri-Thurs
Dhruva (Surender Reddy) Fri-Thurs
It’s a Wonderful Life (Frank Capra, 1946) Sun & Weds Only

Northwest Film Forum:

Oyster Factory (Kazuhiro Soda) Fri & Sat Only
The Eyes of My Mother (Nicolas Pesce) Fri-Sun Only
Sin Alas (Ben Chace) Fri-Sun Only
The Eyes of the Totem (WS Van Dyke, 1927) Sun Only

AMC Pacific Place:

La La Land (Damien Chazelle) Fri-Thurs Our Review
The Wasted Times (Cheng Er) Fri-Thurs Our Review

Regal Parkway Plaza:

Befikre (Aditya Chopra) Fri-Thurs
The Super Parental Guardians (Joyce E. Bernal) Fri-Thurs
Dear Zindagi (Gauri Shinde) Fri-Thurs

Seven Gables:

The Eagle Huntress (Otto Bell) Fri-Thurs

SIFF Film Center:

The Princess Bride (Rob Reiner, 1987) Fri-Sun Quote-along
Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (Mel Stuart, 1971) Fri-Thurs In Smell-O-Vision
White Christmas (Michael Curtiz, 1954) Weds & Thurs Only Sing-along

Sundance Cinemas:

Things to Come (Mia Hansen-Løve) Fri-Thurs Our Review Our Other Review
The Hollow Point (Gonzalo López-Gallego) Fri-Thurs

Varsity Theatre:

Solace (Afonso Poyart) Fri-Thurs

In Wide Release:

Moonlight (Barry Jenkins)  Our Review
Arrival (Denis Villeneuve) Our Review

Featured Film:

It’s a Wonderful Life at the Grand Illusion

This Christmas a venerable Seattle tradition continues as the Grand Illusion plays, on 35 millimeter film and for the next three weeks, Frank Capra’s greatest film, the grim, bleak, heart-warming holiday classic from 1946. James Stewart plays a suicidal banker reliving the agonies of his small town, small-time life of thwarted dreams with the help of a bumbling guardian angel. Donna Reed plays the gorgeous girl next door for whom he lassos not the moon but a mortgage and a passel of toothless moochers. As densely-packed with post-war anxiety and shadowy fears as any film noir, it’s desperately cheerful.

Playing This Week:

AMC Alderwood:

Manchester By The Sea (Kenneth Lonergan) Fri-Thurs
Befikre (Aditya Chopra) Fri-Thurs

Central Cinema:

Christmas Vacation (Jeremiah S. Chechik, 1989) Fri-Tues
Muppet Christmas Carol (Brian Henson, 1992) Fri-Tues

Century Federal Way:

Dhruva (Surender Reddy) Fri-Thurs
The Bounce Back (Youssef Delara) Fri-Thurs
Man Down (Dito Montiel) Fri-Thurs
From Here to Eternity (Fred Zinneman, 1953) Sun & Weds Only

Grand Cinema:

The Eagle Huntress (Otto Bell) Fri-Thurs
Manchester By The Sea (Kenneth Lonergan) Fri-Thurs
White Christmas (Michael Curtiz, 1954) Sun, Mon, Weds & Thurs Only Sing-along
Seed: The Untold Story (Jon Betz, Taggart Siegel) Tues Only

Grand Illusion Cinema:

It’s a Wonderful Life (Frank Capra, 1946) Fri-Thurs Tues Show is Free
The Passions of Carol (Shaun Costello, 1975) Sat Only
Dead West (Jeff Ferrell)  Sun Only Director Q & A

Landmark Guild 45th:

Manchester By The Sea (Kenneth Lonergan) Fri-Thurs

Cinemark Lincoln Square:

Manchester By The Sea (Kenneth Lonergan) Fri-Thurs
Befikre (Aditya Chopra) Fri-Thurs
The Polar Express (Robert Zemeckis, 2004) Fri-Thurs
Kahaani 2 (Sujoy Ghosh) Fri-Thurs
Dear Zindagi (Gauri Shinde) Fri-Thurs
Dhruva (Surender Reddy) Fri-Thurs
From Here to Eternity (Fred Zinneman, 1953) Sun & Weds Only

Regal Meridian:

Manchester By The Sea (Kenneth Lonergan) Fri-Thurs
Befikre (Aditya Chopra) Fri-Thurs

Northwest Film Forum:

Fire at Sea (Gianfranco Rosi) Fri-Sun
Movement Material (Jeremy Moss & Pamela Vail) Sun Only Artists in Attendance
Peter and the Farm (Tony Stone) Tues & Weds Only
The Eyes of My Mother (Nicolas Pesce) Weds-Sun
Oyster Factory (Kazuhiro Soda) Thurs-Sat

AMC Pacific Place:

Sword Master (Derek Yee) Fri-Thurs Our Review
I am Not Madame Bovary (Feng Xiaogang) Fri-Thurs Our Review

Pacific Science Center:

Voyage of Time (IMAX) (Terrence Malick) Fri-Thurs Our Review

Regal Parkway Plaza:

Befikre (Aditya Chopra) Fri-Thurs
The Bounce Back (Youssef Delara) Fri-Thurs
The Super Parental Guardians (Joyce E. Bernal) Fri-Thurs
Chaar Sahibzaade: Rise of Banda Singh Bahadur  (Harry Baweja) Fri-Tues
Dear Zindagi (Gauri Shinde) Fri-Thurs

Seven Gables:

The Eagle Huntress (Otto Bell) Fri-Thurs

SIFF Film Center:

The Princess Bride (Rob Reiner, 1987) Fri-Sun Quote-along
Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (Mel Stuart, 1971) Fri-Sun In Smell-O-Vision

AMC Southcenter:

The Polar Express (Robert Zemeckis, 2004) Fri-Thurs

SIFF Cinema Uptown:

Manchester By The Sea (Kenneth Lonergan) Fri-Thurs

Varsity Theatre:

A Man Called Ove (Hannes Holm) Fri-Thurs
Burn Country (Ian Olds) Fri-Thurs
From Here to Eternity (Fred Zinneman, 1953) Weds Only

In Wide Release:

Moonlight (Barry Jenkins)  Our Review
Arrival (Denis Villeneuve) Our Review

Coming Soon:

La La Land (Damien Chazelle)  Our Review

Featured Film:

Michael Snow at the Northwest Film Forum

With seemingly every theatre in town inundated with awards-hopefuls and/or Christmas movies, I for one am thankful the Northwest Film Forum is presenting, on one night only, 16mm prints of two films from Canadian experimental filmmaker Michael Snow. Wavelength is his best known work, one of the most famous avant garde films ever made. From 1967, it consists essentially of one 45 minute zoom across a room (albeit with some slight edits and angle changes), while people come and go and one man, filmmaker Hollis Frampton, drops dead. We talked about it on The George Sanders Show back in 2014. Paired with that is Snow’s 1991 film To Lavoisier, Who Died in the Reign of Terror which I haven’t seen, but Fred Camper called it a masterpiece, and that’s good enough for me.

Playing This Week:

AMC Alderwood:

Manchester By The Sea (Kenneth Lonergan) Fri-Thurs

Ark Lodge Cinemas:

Christmas Evil (aka You Better Watch Out) (Lewis Jackson, 1980) Thurs Only

Central Cinema:

Die Hard (John McTiernan, 1988) Fri-Tues
Home Alone (Chris Columbus, 199o) Fri-Tues

SIFF Egyptian:

Nocturnal Animals (Tom Ford) Fri-Thurs

Century Federal Way:

Man Down (Dito Montiel) Fri-Thurs
Spirited Away (Hayao Miyazaki, 2001) Sun  Only English Language Version
Scrooged (Richard Donner, 1988) Sun & Weds Only

Grand Cinema:

The Eagle Huntress (Otto Bell) Fri-Thurs
Before the Sun Explodes (Debra Eisenstadt) Sat Only
Gimme Danger (Jim Jarmusch) Tues Only

Grand Illusion Cinema:

Old Stone (Johnny Ma) Fri-Thurs Our Review
The Smart Studios Story (Wendy Schneider) Fri & Sat Only
EXcinema: Group Show Tues Only

Landmark Guild 45th:

Manchester By The Sea (Kenneth Lonergan) Fri-Thurs

Cinemark Lincoln Square:

Manchester By The Sea (Kenneth Lonergan) Fri-Thurs
Nocturnal Animals (Tom Ford) Fri-Thurs
Kahaani 2 (Sujoy Ghosh) Fri-Thurs
Dear Zindagi (Gauri Shinde) Fri-Thurs
Bethaludu/Saithan (Prathi Krishnamurthy) Fri-Thurs Telugu/Tamil
Spirited Away (Hayao Miyazaki, 2001) Sun  Only English Language Version
Scrooged (Richard Donner, 1988) Sun & Weds Only

Regal Meridian:

Manchester By The Sea (Kenneth Lonergan) Fri-Thurs
Sky on Fire (Ringo Lam) Fri-Thurs Our Review

Northwest Film Forum:

Brothers (Aslaug Holm) Fri & Sat Only
Miss Sharon Jones (Barbara Kopple) Fri Only
Wavelength (Michael Snow, 1967) Thurs Only 16mm Our Podcast
To Lavoisier, Who Died in the Reign of Terror (Michael Snow, 1991) Thurs Only 16mm
Fire at Sea (Gianfranco Rosi) Thurs-Sun

AMC Pacific Place:

I am Not Madame Bovary (Feng Xiaogang) Fri-Thurs Our Review

Pacific Science Center:

Voyage of Time (IMAX) (Terrence Malick) Fri-Thurs Our Review

Regal Parkway Plaza:

Chaar Sahibzaade: Rise of Banda Singh Bahadur  (Harry Baweja) Fri-Tues
Dear Zindagi (Gauri Shinde) Fri-Thurs
The Unmarried Wife (Maryo J. de los Reyes) Fri-Thurs

Seattle Art Museum:

Nightcrawler (Dan Gilroy, 2014) Thurs Only

Seven Gables:

The Eagle Huntress (Otto Bell) Fri-Thurs

SIFF Film Center:

The Princess Bride (Rob Reiner, 1987) Fri-Sun Quote-along

SIFF Cinema Uptown:

Manchester By The Sea (Kenneth Lonergan) Fri-Thurs
Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds (Fisher Stevens & Alexis Bloom) Weds Only Free Screening, RSVP

Varsity Theatre:

The Handmaiden (Park Chanwook) Fri-Thurs
A Man Called Ove (Hannes Holm) Fri-Thurs
Burn Country (Ian Olds) Weds Only

In Wide Release:

Moonlight (Barry Jenkins)  Our Review
Arrival (Denis Villeneuve) Our Review

Featured Film:

The Love Witch at the Grand Cinema and the SIFF Film Center

Samantha Robinson is just a simple, pretty young witch looking for a man to love her the right way in Anna Biller’s hilarious new film, playing this week only at Tacoma’s Grand Cinema and the SIFF Film Center. As one does, Biller has chosen a painstaking recreation of the underground cinema of the 1960s and 70s (sexploitation, Italian horror, and more) as the ideal form for her intricate, deeply subversive feminist tract, recreating the vibrant textures and colors of Technicolor and going so far as to shoot on actual 35mm film. And as she did in her last feature, 2007’s Viva, she not only directed, but also served as writer, producer, composer, costume designer and art director.

Playing This Week:

AMC Alderwood:

Vanishing Time: A Boy Who Returned (Um Tae-hwa) Fri-Thurs

Central Cinema:

Casablanca (Michael Curtiz, 1942) Fri, Sat, & Mon Our Review
Escape from New York (John Carpenter, 1981) Fri-Mon
Pulp Fiction (Quentin Tarantino, 1994) Tues & Weds Only

SIFF Egyptian:

Nocturnal Animals (Tom Ford) Fri-Thurs

Century Federal Way:

Dear Zindagi (Gauri Shinde) Fri-Thurs
Breakfast at Tiffany’s (Blake Edwards, 1961) Sun & Weds Only

Grand Cinema:

The Love Witch (Anna Biller) Fri-Thurs Our Review
The Dressmaker (Jocelyn Moorhouse) Fri-Thurs
Equal Means Equal (Kamala Lopez) Tues Only

Grand Illusion Cinema:

Ixcanul (Jayro Bustamante) Fri-Thurs Our Review

Landmark Guild 45th:

A Man Called Ove (Hannes Holm) Fri-Thurs

Cinemark Lincoln Square:

Nocturnal Animals (Tom Ford) Fri-Thurs
Dear Zindagi (Gauri Shinde) Fri-Thurs
Ekkadiki Pothavu Chinnavada (Vi Anand) Fri-Mon Telugu
Breakfast at Tiffany’s (Blake Edwards, 1961) Sun & Weds Only

Northwest Film Forum:

Boatman (Gianfranco Rosi, 1993) Fri Only
The Wanderers (Philip Kaufman, 1979) Fri-Weds
Below Sea Level (Gianfranco Rosi, 2009) Sat Only
For the Plasma (Bingham Bryant & Kyle Molzan, 2014) Sat Only
Sacro GRA (Gianfranco Rosi, 2013) Sun Only
Zona Intangible (Ann Hedreen & Rustin Thompson) Weds Only
Rainbow Time (Linas Phillips) Thurs Only Director in Attendance
Brothers (Aslaug Holm) Thurs-Sat

AMC Pacific Place:

I am Not Madame Bovary (Feng Xiaogang) Fri-Thurs Our Review

Pacific Science Center:

Voyage of Time (IMAX) (Terrence Malick) Fri-Thurs Our Review

Regal Parkway Plaza:

Chaar Sahibzaade: Rise of Banda Singh Bahadur  (Harry Baweja) Fri-Tues
Dear Zindagi (Gauri Shinde) Fri-Thurs
The Unmarried Wife (Maryo J. de los Reyes) Fri-Thurs

Seattle Art Museum:

Belle de jour (Luis Buñuel, 1967) Thurs Only Our Podcast 35mm
Sweet Smell of Success (Alexander Mackendrick, 1957) Thurs Only

Seven Gables:

The Eagle Huntress (Otto Bell) Fri-Thurs

SIFF Film Center:

The Love Witch (Anna Biller) Fri-Thurs 35mm Our Review
Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (Mel Stuart, 1971) Fri-Sun In Smell-O-Vision

SIFF Cinema Uptown:

The Handmaiden (Park Chanwook) Fri-Mon
One More Time with Feeling (Andrew Dominik) Thurs Only

Varsity Theatre:

Harry & Snowman (Ron Davis) Fri-Thurs
Hunt for the Wilderpeople (Taika Waititi) Fri-Thurs
Breakfast at Tiffany’s (Blake Edwards, 1961) Weds Only

In Wide Release:

Moonlight (Barry Jenkins)  Our Review