{The New Italian Film Festival runs at SIFF Cinema from Tuesday, 11/15 through Saturday 11/20. You can buy tickets online here.}

It’s no secret that I love all things Italian, so I of course jumped at the chance to preview some films from SIFF Cinema’s upcoming film fest. Single tickets are $10 a piece per film, or SIFF members can pick up a pass to all 11 films for only $35 (!!!) – non-members can get a pass for $50, which is still quite a bargain.

Opening the festival on Tuesday, 11/16 at 7pm is The Double Hour (La doppia ora), a slick thriller that will keep you guessing until the very last minute. Guido (scruffy, brooding Filippo Timi) and Sophia (bright-eyed Kseniya Rappoport) meet by chance at a speed dating night and quickly began to fall in love, but things get complicated when a band of armed men attack them and rob the house that ex-cop Guido is now head of security for. Shots are fired, Sophia is injured, and Guido is killed…or is he? Director Giuseppe Captondi yields the camera masterfully, and Rappoport draws us right in to all her suffering. This is one of the best films I’ve seen all year, and I highly recommend it.

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Now that summer's officially 86'd, it's time for the inaugural (hereafter annual?) City Arts Fest, which takes over our fair city this upcoming Wednesday - Saturday {Oct. 20th - 23rd}. Laden with an impressive lineup at venues far and wide, CAF is catering to more of the mini-SXSW feel that makes these 'festivals' enjoyable -- think along the lines of MusicFest NW's style -- and for this, we applaud and squee! with joy. There's something about cramming too many people into too small of a space, even with a homerun lineup, that can make a gathering of the proverbial vibes inherently less fun.

And so -- with sneakers laced up and schedules in hand -- away we go with the music! Click the links below for more info on each particular show, including the where & what on how to get yourself some tickets:

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There's so much amazing show options swirling around, many of us are on overload with our red warning lights blinking.  One reason this month is so packed with some of our favorite bands is thanks to the folks at City Arts who have put together a three day schedule that makes even SXSW and CMJ festers weep.

To push things a little bit closer over the overloaded-with-giddiness edge, we've got TWO chances for you to see an amazing show for free!

Cat Power at the the 5th Avenue Theater on Thursday, October 21
Enter to win tickets by emailing tig @ threeimaginarygirls . com with the subject "Lived In Bars" by Tuesday 10/19 at noon.

She & Him at the 5th Avenue Theater on Saturday, October 23
Enter to win tickets by emailing tig @ threeimaginarygirls . com with the subject "I'd LikeYou For My Own" by Tuesday 10/19 at noon.

Want a sampler for what your evening at one of these shows could include?

Cat Power covering Oasis's's's Wonderwall


She & Him with the coy cutie anthem "Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?"

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Missing on summer? We feel you. So do our friends over at Sound on the Sound, who have been posting a series of exclusive videos of their trip out to Doe Bay this past August of some stellar local bands. Gorgeous content from some of our favorite songsterers and songstresses are yours for the viewing, over at their website. You can watch and hear tracks from...

* The Head and the Heart
* Drew Grow and the Pastor's Wives
* Grand Hallway

and a whole slew of great bands. Keep an eye out on their site for updates throughout the month of October -- thanks, SotS! We can almost feel the sunshine.

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Once again, the Northwest Film Forum is bringing us the Local Sightings Film Festival. Now in its 13th year, 2010's program includes the Northwest premiere of six feature films, and the world premiere of the documentary Citizen Mayor. Seventy-five short films (!!!) will be screened, as well as the historic film Darkness Rising.

It's all kicking off this Friday (October 1st) with the opening night film, Bummer Summer at 7pm, followed by the opening night party at 9pm, entitled "Party like it's 1995" - which is also celebrating the 15th Anniversary of the NWFF itself. There will be cupcakes! And waffles! And drinks! And a DJ spinning 90s tunes!

The opening night film Bummer Summer will follow the party. Closing night (Wednesday, October 6) features a new documentary about poet Jesse Bernstein, I am Secretly an Important Man, at the Moore Theatre. And in-between: tons of great NW Indie Film goodness in the form of features and shorts, including (listen up TIG readers!) LOTS of music videos, including stuff by Grand Hallway, The Vaselines, and Fleet Foxes.

You can view the full schedule and purchase tickets online here.

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Another landslide of gorgeous photos from our imaginary weekend at Musicfest Northwest!

The Builders and the Butchers

The Decemberists

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The goodness just keeps on coming! Check out these Musicfest Northwest photos from our most excellent imaginary photographers:

The Tallest Man on Earth

The Thermals

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{This is part three in a series of recaps about Musicfest Northwest 2010 -- make sure you check out Thursday's and Friday's coverage too!}

The Builders and the Butchers:

Saturday at MFNW was chock full o' rad, with bands around every corner and all kinds of PDX-style awesomeness abounding. The day started off with an excellent lineup at funeral home-turned-venue the Woods, courtesy of KEXP: The Mynabirds, The Builders and the Butchers, Typhoon, and several other bands took the stage from 1pm on for our listening and viewing pleasure. The station crew did a massive amount of taping and shooting, so keep an eye out for words, video, and stills over at their website -- the BatB set was beyond epic and set up living-room style, almost microphone-free on a rug in the middle of the crowd -- and we're quite sure the fine folks of KEXP captured the performance with excellent result.

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Day two at MFNW: also known as Friday, September 10th. With tons of shows all over the city to choose from, we chose to spend our imaginary day with the folks over at KEXP for a series of kick-ass in-studios, and to focus on the highly anticipated Okkervil River / Bobby Bare Jr. and Tallest Man On Earth / Cave Singers sets that night.

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{Her Majesty herself, Rachel Flotard, by Steve Louie}

We may be almost a week out from the crazy weekend known as Bumbershoot, but that doesn't mean we can't gush about our favorites and relive the magic as we head into a dreary fall weekend. All photos by Steve Louie.

1. A double shot of Visqueen with a hint of Neko Case

What a lucky day to get to see one of Seattle's best bands twice! For those lucky enough to get tickets, Visqueen played a KEXP lounge set early Saturday afternoon, and ended with an almost a capella version of "So Long", all harmonies and cello which had me in tears. Here's a video of "Summer Snow" (complete with typical jokes cracked at drummer Ben Hooker's expense) from the same set, which will give you an idea as to how emotional and amazing Visqueen can be turned down. KEXP is still streaming the whole set on their two week streaming archive, so I highly recommend taking a listen.

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