Tag: SIFF Cinema

Posted in: by Sean Axmaker, Contributors, Seattle Screens

Seattle Screens: French Cinema Now, a Sundance workshop, and Multiple Maniacs

Written by Sean Axmaker

French Cinema Now kicks off a series of French language films from France and Canada at SIFF Cinema Uptown with on Thursday, September 29 with opening night feature Lost in Paris from filmmaking team Dominique Abel and Fiona Gordon. Among the highlights: the romantic comedy Two Friends from actor/director Louis Garrel, Don’t Tell Me the Boy was Mad from Robert Guediguian and set in 1970s Paris, the documentary Reset which takes viewers behind the scenes at the Opéra National de Paris, and the drama After Love with Be?re?nice Bejo and Ce?dric Kahn as a married couple sticking through a failing marriage for their kids. The series plays through Thursday, October 6. The complete schedule and ticket and festival pass information is here.

The 19th Local Sightings Film Festival screens its final films at NWFF on Friday, September 30, including a new restoration of Kelly Reichardt’s River of Grass (1994), and on Saturday it presents the first-ever Sundance Institute Artist Services workshop in Seattle. The day-long event for filmmakers begins at 10am at NWFF and features panel discussions and presentations. Details here.

Mink Stole presents a midnight screening of the new restoration of John Waters’ trash classic Multiple Maniacs (1970) at SIFF Egyptian on Friday, September 30. The event is hosted by Peaches Christ and features a special performance by RainbowGore Cake.

A new restoration of Geoff Murphy’s apocalyptic The Quiet Earth (1985), the first science fiction movie from New Zealand, plays through the week at Grand Illusion.

On Wednesday, October 5, NWFF celebrates American Archives Month with a selection of rarely-seen shorts from archives around the city of Seattle. Also at NWFF this week: the short films program Memory Presents: Program No. 2 from award-winning and emerging filmmakers and Desert Cathedral, a mix of found footage and dramatic thriller, both on Thursday, October 6.

Young Frankenstein (1971) returns to cinemas across the country for a special one-night-only screening on Wednesday, October 5 from Fathom Events. This screening features a live introduction by director Mel Brooks, who co-wrote the film with his star and good friend Gene Wilder. You can find participating theaters in your area here.

This week, Central Cinema goes classic with Singin’ in the Rain (1952) and crowd-pleasing with The Shawshank Redemption (1994). Showtimes here.

Back for another go: The Art of the Story: The Hero’s Journey is a workshop that looks at the power of myth and the hero’s journey in storytelling through Star Wars (1977) and its relationship to Joseph Campbell’s book The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Conducted by media educator Malory Graham. Sunday, October 2 at SIFF Film Center.

More openings: Cameraperson, a personal documentary from filmmaker Kirsten Johnson and A Man Called Ove (winner of the Golden Space Needle for Best Actor) at SIFF Cinema Uptown

Visit the film review pages at The Seattle Times, Seattle Weekly, and The Stranger for more releases.

View complete screening schedules through IMDb, MSN, Yahoo, or Fandango, pick the interface of your choice.

Posted in: by Sean Axmaker, Contributors, Seattle Screens

Seattle Screens: Cinerama 70, Spock, Ted Neely, and revivals of Mankiewicz and Warhol

Written by Sean Axmaker
Lawrence of Arabia
Lawrence of Arabia

Framing Pictures convenes in the screening room of Scarecrow Video on Friday, September 9. More details at the official Facebook page.

Cinerama’s 70mm Film Festival opens on Friday, September 9 with screenings of 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) and Tron (1982) and continues through Monday, September 19. The offerings are wide ranging, from such large-gauge standbys as Lawrence of Arabia (1962) and Spartacus (1960) to modern 70mm event releases The Master (2012) and Interstellar (2014) to unconventional choices like Tobe Hooper’s Lifeforce (1985), John Carpenter’s Starman (1984), and Michael Cimino’s Year of the Dragon (1985). You’ll want to get your tickets in advance; it’s all reserved seating and the first two shows of 2001, the Saturday show of Lawrence, and both screenings of Aliens (1986) are already sold out. Embrace the old school standard for high-definition cinema and remind yourself what it looks like to see film projected on the big screen. Showtimes and tickets here.

Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s Suddenly, Last Summer (1959) starring Elizabeth Taylor, Katharine Hepburn and Montgomery Clift plays on 35mm at NWFF on Saturday, September 10.

Andy Warhol’s Lonesome Cowboys (1968) plays one show at NWFF on Sunday, September 11. It screens from a 16mm print, just like it did in its original release.

Actor Ted Neeley will appear at the screening of Jesus Christ Superstar (1973) at SIFF Cinema Uptown on Tuesday, September 13.

The American indie comedy Chatty Catties plays three shows over the next few weeks at NWFF. The first is screening is on Friday, September 9, and it plays again on Saturday, September 17 and Saturday, October 8.

WRETCHED WOMAN // Pig or Poet? showcases the video works by Chicago-based artist Emily Esperanza in a two-part program at NWFF on Sunday, September 11. All screened from VHS tapes with the artist in attendance.

Cosmos, the final film from Polish-born filmmaker Andrzej Zulawski, continues at NWFF through Sunday, September 11.

More screenings of the 3-D music documentary Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds: One More Time, directed by Andrew Dominick, have been added this weekend at SIFF Cinema Uptown.

For the Love of Spock, a documentary from Adam Nimoy, plays for a week at SIFF Film Center with a special Saturday screening at SIFF Cinema Uptown featuring a live Skype intro by the director.

The French Truly Salon, presented by SIFF and French Truly, reconvenes for an evening of French food, wine, culture, and cinema, with a screening of L’Amour Fou on Wednesday, September 14 at SIFF Cinema Uptown.

The documentary Lee Scratch Perry’s Vision of Paradise screens one night only on Wednesday, September 14 at SIFF Film Center.

Ways of Something, a contemporary remake of John Berger’s BBC documentary Ways of Seeing (1972), presents one-minute videos by over 114 network-based artists. Screens Wednesday, September 14 at NWFF.

The People Garden, from Canadian filmmaker Nadia Litz, screens Wednesday, September 14 at NWFF.

Take Three 2016 is a showcase of experimental film and animation curated by Barbara Robertson, Joseph Pentheroudakis, and Janet Galore. It screens on Thursday, September 15 at NWFF. Some of the artists represented in the showcase will be at a pre-screening reception at 7pm.

Don’t Blink: Robert Frank, a documentary on the legendary photographer and filmmaker by Laura Israel, opens on Thursday, September 15 and plays through the weekend at NWFF.

More openings: Nanni Moretti’s Mia Madre from Italy at Guild 45, the American indie comedy Brother Nature at Sundance Cinemas, the documentary Hooligan Sparrow from China at Grand Illusion.

Visit the film review pages at The Seattle Times, Seattle Weekly, and The Stranger for more releases.

View complete screening schedules through IMDb, MSN, Yahoo, or Fandango, pick the interface of your choice.

Posted in: by Sean Axmaker, Contributors, Seattle Screens

Seattle Screens: Elio Petri in the ‘Country,’ a ‘Southside’ first date, a ‘Tunnel’ in Korea

Written by Sean Axmaker

Elio Petri’s A Quiet Place in the Country (1968), starring Franco Nero and Vanessa Redgrave, plays on 35mm at NWFF for two shows only on Saturday and Sunday this weekend.

Two films that played at SIFF open this weekend: Southside with You, a Before Sunrise with actors playing young Barack and Michelle on a first date in Chicago, opens at The Egyptian and The Intervention, the directorial debut of actress Clea DuVall, opens at Sundance Cinemas.

The Land, a drama set in Cleveland’s hip-hop underground, opens at Grand Illusion.

Breaking a Monster, a documentary about rock trio of 13-year-old boys whose mix of heavy metal and speed punk makes the jump for Times Square to major recording contract with the help of a 70-year-old manager, plays through Sunday at NWFF.

Also at NWFF is Holy Hell, a documentary about the sociopathic leader of Los Angeles cult, playing two shows only on Friday, August 26 and Wednesday, August 31.

From South Korea comes Tunnel, a survival drama about a man trapped in a collapsed tunnel and the shifting public support as the rescue drags on and the media get distracted. Directed by Kim Seong-hun (A Hard Day). Opens at the AMC Alderwood and the Cinemark Century at Federal Way.

This week’s free outdoor movie at Cal Anderson Park is The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (2005). The screening begins at sunset on Friday, August 26, around 8:30pm, but viewers are encouraged to arrive early for a good seat, concessions, and entertainment by a DJ playing from 7pm.

Seattle Center Movies at the Mural continues with a free outdoor screening of Life of Pi at the Seattle Center Mural Amphitheatre on Saturday, August 27. The film begins a dusk, around 8:30 or 9pm, and seating is first come, first served.

The Rogers & Hammerstein musical The King and I (1956), starring Deborah Kerr, Yul Brynner, Rita Moreno, and the singing voice of Marni Nixon, plays on big screen in select theaters across the country for two nights this week through Fathom Events: Sunday, August 28 and Wednesday, August 31. You can find participating theaters in your area here.

Visit the film review pages at The Seattle Times and The Stranger for more releases.

View complete screening schedules through IMDb, MSN, Yahoo, or Fandango, pick the interface of your choice.

Posted in: by Sean Axmaker, Contributors, Seattle Screens

Seattle Screens: Free movies, Godard and Fassbinder restorations, and Mike Birbiglia

Written by Sean Axmaker
Kamikaze ’89

Filmmaker Mike Birbiglia will appear at the Uptown for the opening night screenings of his new film Don’t Think Twice on Friday, August 5.

A new restoration of Jean-Luc Godard’s Band of Outsiders (1964) plays for three days only this weekend at SIFF Film Center. So does the restoration of a true rarity: almost forgotten sci-fi noir oddity Kamikaze ’89 (1982), which stars legendary New German Cinema director Rainer Werner Fassbinder in his final screen appearance as a cop in a leopard skin jumpsuit.

Three Dollar Bill Cinema is back with a program of free outdoor movies at Cal Anderson Park on Friday nights through August. This week: Codependent Lesbian Space Alien Seeks Same (2011). The screening begins at sunset, around 8:30pm at the southeast corner of Cal Anderson Park, but viewers are encouraged to arrive early for a good seat, concessions, and entertainment by a DJ playing from 7pm.

Seattle Center Movies at the Mural continues with a free outdoor screening of Mad Max: Fury Road at the Seattle Center Mural Amphitheatre on Saturday, August 6. The film begins a dusk, around 8:30 or 9pm, and seating is first come, first served.

SIFF joins French Truly for a monthly event they call French Truly Salon, which celebrates French language, culture, history and cinema with a keynote speech, a reception featuring wine, cheese, and hors d’oeuvres, and a movie. It kicks off with Francis Veber’s La Chèvre (1981) starring Gérard Depardieu and Pierre Richard. The event is on Wednesday, August 10 at SIFF Film Centre and begins at 6:30.

The Seattle Art Museum summer film series Cary Grant for President concludes with Stanley Donen’s Charade (1963), co-starring Audrey Hepburn and Walter Matthau. It screens on Thursday, August 11 at 7:30pm at Plestcheeff Auditorium and is shown on 35mm. Individual tickets are available on the day of show on a first come, first served basis.

NWFF is temporarily closed for renovations.

Visit the film review pages at The Seattle Times, Seattle Weekly, and The Stranger for more releases.

View complete screening schedules through IMDb, MSN, Yahoo, or Fandango, pick the interface of your choice.

Posted in: by Sean Axmaker, Contributors, Seattle Screens

Seattle Screens: NWFF brings the filmmakers

Written by Sean Axmaker
Lewis Klahr’s ‘Sixty-Six’

NWFF is bringing the filmmakers this week. On Friday, July 15, Lewis Klahr presents his feature-length stop motion anthology Sixty-Six (2002-2015), on Saturday, July 16, filmmaker and musicians Rob Beloved & Eleni Binge present their theater/film/comedy/music hybrid #comments along with performances by local bands Black Giraffe and Ichi Bichi, and on Thursday, July 21, Robert Greene accompanies his 2014 fiction/documentary hybrid Actress.

Hong Sang-soo’s Right Now, Wrong Then, winner of the Golden Leopard at Locarno, plays through Sunday at NWFF.

Life, Animated, a documentary about a father using Disney movies to communicate with his autistic son, opens at Uptown and at Seven Gables.

Also at the Uptown is the Israeli comedy The Kind Words, and the documentary NUTS! from filmmaker Penny Lane opens at SIFF Film Center.

The documentary Vita Activa: The Spirit of Hannah Arendt opens for a week at Sundance Cinemas, and the Mexican wresting documentary Lucha Mexico opens for a week at Grand Illusion.

A new restoration of Lucio Fulci’s Lizard in a Woman’s Skin plays at Grand Illusion on Friday and Saturday. Projected from the new Mondo Macabro Blu-ray, and Mondo Macabro will be there on Saturday night.

Also at Grand Illusion this week is Industrial Musicals, a collection of rare musical promotion films produced for corporate retreats and events, curated and presented by Steve Young. One night only on Thursday, July 21.

David Lynch’s Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (1992) plays at the Seattle Art Museum in a 35mm print, along with some Lynch shorts, on Wednesday, July 20.

The Seattle Art Museum summer film series Cary Grant for President continues with The Philadelphia Story (1940), co-starring Katharine Hepburn and James Stewart. It screens on Thursday, July 21 at 7:30pm at Plestcheeff Auditorium and is shown on 35mm. Individual tickets are available on the day of show on a first come, first served basis. Details here.

Visit the film review pages at The Seattle Times, Seattle Weekly, and The Stranger for more releases.

View complete screening schedules through IMDb, MSN, Yahoo, or Fandango, pick the interface of your choice.

Posted in: by Sean Axmaker, Contributors, Film Reviews, Seattle Screens

Seattle Screens: ‘I Knew Her Well’ and ‘Ran’ restorations

Written by Sean Axmaker
Stefania Sandrelli in ‘I Knew Her Well’

Antonio Pietrangeli is the greatest Italian filmmaker of the sixties you’ve never heard of and his bittersweet I Knew Her Well (1965), starring Stefania Sandrelli as a country girl in Rome trying to break into show business, is his masterpiece. Young and beautiful, Adriana (Sandrelli) is able to get by on her looks, taking temporary jobs between modeling gigs and screen tests, and she’s savvy enough to understand that sex is a commodity to be traded for favors from press agents, managers, and minor celebrities. But she’s far from cynical, at least at first, as she plays the game and enjoys the nightlife, and she’s even a bit naïve, constantly hooking up with charming, good-looking cads who have a habit of abandoning her. It’s episodic by nature, a series of snapshots from her life, and directed with the light touch of a frothy Italian comedy that belies the mercenary society and cruel behavior of the rich and successful.

Pietrangeli co-wrote the film with Ettore Scola (among others) and they offer a satirical portrait of the shallow celebrity culture and Roman nightlife of La Dolce Vita with both a more vicious edge—the callous treatment of a washed up actor (played by Ugo Tognazzi) is truly painful—and a breezy, easy style. The simple irony of the title isn’t hard to fathom. None of the men ever bothers to get to know Adriana at all, dismissing her as a silly beauty good for a one night stand, and Sandrelli plays her as a seemingly frivolous, capricious young woman with nothing on her mind, kind of Italian Holly Golightly without the cynical calculation. Yet she’s more perceptive than anyone realizes as she navigates the mercenary world with energetic optimism before she grows disillusioned in the final act of the film. Sandrelli has a kind of blank, oblivious beauty that makes her great casting for simple, silly, not-too-bright characters (see The Conformist) in her youth, and Pietrangeli uses that surface frivolity beautifully. She’s simply heartbreaking.

I Knew Her Well plays for four days at NWFF in a newly restored edition. Showtimes and tickets here.

The new 4K restoration of Ran (1985), Akira Kurosawa’s epic re-imagining of Shakespeare’s King Lear in sixteenth-century Japan, runs for a week at SIFF Cinema Uptown. Tatsuya Nakadai plays the aging warlord who divides his empire among his three sons and slips into madness as he is neglected, betrayed, and stripped of his dignity. Kurosawa is not merely true to Shakespeare’s story, he brings scenes alive with a cultural twist and a visual mastery, from the pageantry of warriors filling vast fields of green with red and white flags and uniforms to the howling storm that strikes during the warlord’s spiral into madness. The spectacle is brought home with delicately observed performances and beautifully sculpted relationships, an intimacy that gives the epic its soul. I haven’t seen the restoration but I imagine those colors are more vivid than ever. Chris Marker’s documentary A.K.: The Making of Akira Kurosawa’s Ran (1985), a profile of Kurosawa on the set of the film, also plays at SIFF Film Center.

Richard T. Jameson’s 1985 review is on Parallax View here.

Akira Kurosawa on the set of ‘Ran’

Jacques Becker’s Antoine and Antoinette (1947), the first film in SAM’s “Cinema de Paris” series, plays on Thursday, March 31 at Plestcheeff Auditorium. Individual tickets are available on the day of show on a first come, first served basis. Details here.

The Wim Wenders retrospective “Wim Wenders: Portraits Along the Road” this week presents Buena Vista Social Club (1999) at SIFF Film Center and Pina 3D (2011) at SIFF Uptown (both Wednesday, March 30) and Until the End of the World: Director’s Cut (1991) at NWFF (Thursday, March 31).

If you missed Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s Cemetery of Splendor during its weeklong run at NWFF, it will be back for one night at SIFF Film Center on Monday, March 28.

The Cinerama is one of the only ten theaters in the country to show Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice in a 70mm film print. It will run for a week on film, and then revert to DCP on Friday, April 1, so celluloid junkies should make a plan for that first week. And remember: the Cinerama sells reserved seating so you may want to purchase in advance. The Cinerama webpage is here.

Visit the film review pages at The Seattle Times, Seattle Weekly, and The Stranger for more releases.

View complete screening schedules through IMDb, MSN, Yahoo, or Fandango, pick the interface of your choice.