{Safety Not Guaranteed opened in Seattle on Friday, June 8, and is playing at Sundance Seattle Cinemas -- aka: the old Metro -- and the Regal Meridian 16}

While SIFF isn't completely over yet, one of my favorite films of both SIFF and SXSW is opening locally. Meaning you can see something great without standing in line. Though you seriously should still catch a few more SIFF films while you can.

The film's setup is as basic as it is brilliant - a cryptic classified ad attracts the attention of a reporter at Seattle Magazine:

"Wanted: Someone to go back in time with me. This is not a joke. P.O. Box 91 Ocean View, WA 99393. You'll get paid after we get back. Must bring your own weapons. I have only done this once before. SAFETY NOT GUARANTEED."

Whether it's out of genuine interest or desire for a weekend out of town to try and hook up with an old flame, he pitches an investigation into the classified listing. Before you know it Jeff (Jake M. Johnson) along with interns Darius (Aubrey Plaza) and Arnau (Karan Soni) are down by the Washington shore staking out a post office box to identify the time traveler in question. It doesn't take long for them to identify Kenneth (Mark Duplass) as he's picking up mail.

more...

{Snow White and the Huntsman opens in Seattle area theaters today}

The intensity of fear that overtook me as a young child seeing Disney's Snow White has little competition. That witch and her devastating apple will forever be branded into my brain. At the time I'm sure neither I nor my unfortunate parents felt an appreciation for the experience. But as years go by I look back fondly on one of the first times my emotions got taken over by a film. Actually, now that I think about it maybe it was Sleeping Beauty - listen, I was maybe 7, you can't expect all the details to be correct. 

In the meantime, Snow White and the Huntsman arrives in theaters this week in what seems like a growing wave of fairy tale efforts including Grimm, Once Upon a Time, and some thing with Julia Roberts that I'm pretty sure isn't my imagination. Marketed as a dark take with some twists on the classic tale, I was cautiously optimistic. With Charlize Theron as the witch and the Twilight girl Kristen Stewart girl as Snow, it seemed there might be something great there. The visual look of the film is sumptuous and the main reason I think to see the film. Theron delivers what we would expect in an evil Queen - especially after seeing Young Adult. Stewarts' performance is pretty much on par with expectations (leaving aside the Jude Law-like "love her or hate her" discussion). But as a complete film, the simplicity of the plot and occasional ridiculousness of the dialog does not work in its favor. By the end my boredom was mostly relieved by trying to guess (with alarming accuracy) character's next lines. One could do worse, but personally I'd suggest opting for one of theSIFF films this weekend.

The story is familiar with some modest variations. A King and his Queen live happily. Born to them is a daughter of great beauty and personality. The queen dies and the the King quickly forgets his sorrow at the sight of Charlize Theron. Sadly he didn't read the credits first and he's more shocked than anyone in the audience when she turns out to be a wicked witch. Who drains the life force of young, beautiful innocent girls to stay forever young. Snow White is locked up in a castle and the evil queen's reign brings blight to the land. Yadda Yadda Yadda.

more...

{The Samaritan opens in Seattle on June 1 at The Grand Illusion Cinema; screening June 1-7 Friday, Monday-Thursday at 9pm, and on Saturday and Sunday at both 5pm and 9pm. Tickets are $8, or $5 for GI Members}

Remember when Samuel L. Jackson used to act? Wayyyy back before he became a motherf**kin’ parody of himself? I do, and I was hoping that The Samaritan would give him a chance to do it again … and it did, sort of.

Samuel’s character, Foley, is fresh out of prison from a 25-year stint for shooting his best friend (and grifting partner) in the head. He’s not out for very long (like, a day) before his dead partner’s son Ethan tries to pull him back into some bad stuff by offering him a partnership in a new Grift—the Samaritan—which will cheat a volatile mob boss (Tom Wilkinson, natch) out of 8 million dollars. Of course Foley declines, but then matters get complicated when love interest Iris enters the picture.

It’s your basic “guy trying to be a better man, but getting pulled back into the fray” story—with one really sick, dark twist that gets thrown in your face in the middle. And let me tell you, when that twist happened, I started PAYING SOME SERIOUS ATTENTION.

The movie then had a bunch of interesting directions it could have gone, but unfortunately it relies on a few lame resolutions, followed by an unsatisfying and ridiculous ending.

That said, it’s still pretty entertaining, and while Jackson's performance is more subdued than usual here, you still get to see him kick some ass (duh) while he’s emoting the hell out of his eyebrows, so if that’s worth $8 to you, I say go for it.

more...

{Tatsumi screens at the Seattle International Film Festival 5/27 and 5/29, 9pm at the SIFF Cinema Uptown}

I don't consider myself especially a fan of manga. As such this animated film described as biographical material about a famous Japanese comic artist seemed like a stretch for me. But I'm glad I decided to give it a try, as Tatsumiis a fascinating immersion into a world I didn't really know existed. And isn't that at least some of the time why we go to the movies?

Tatsumi is a cinematic adaptation of Tatsumi Hoshihiro's autobiographical book "A Drifting Life." He's a leading figure (and I gathered the originator) of a sub-category of Japanese manga called Gekiga. Which are comics/graphic-novels that are intended for adults. Not because they're full of fornicating octopuses, but because they deal with more serious, often darker subject matter and are drawn in a realistic manner. I'd imagine it's similar to the comic book Vs. "graphic novel" distinction made here. 

I've included a trailer for the film that shows the graphical motion-comic feel of the picture - usually I'm not big on trailers, but in this case the picture equaling a thousand words cliche is apt.

more...

{Bad Brains: A Band in DC screens at SIFF on May 23rd, 9pm, at the Harvard Exit}

Mixed emotions are my typical reaction to learning about a new music doc on a band I love. A fellow I was discussing this conundrum with while waiting for something at SXSW agreed, "The best ones are often the ones where you really know nothing about the band beforehand." The truthfulness of that statement knocked me back for a moment. If you already know a lot about the band, how much will you really get out of the documentary? And there's always the time documentary makers have to spend time pointing out how significant a group is - when you already know all that.

So it's with this sense of diminished expectations that I watched Bad Brains: A Band in DC, to my knowledge, the first comprehensive film solely about this seminal hardcore punk band. Thankfully, most of that worrying was for naught. In the end I thoroughly enjoyed the film. It's made up of great footage and intensive interview material tightly edited together. Producing a very watchable and informative, unvarnished look at one of the most important bands - ever. That's not just Henry Rollins and Ian MacKaye saying that - it's me saying that.

Point being, if you like punk rock, if you like music docs, or if you've never heard of the band and want to learn some true American history - see this movie when you can. There's one more SIFF opportunity left but I am hoping it'll make a return swing through Seattle at some point.

more...

{Michael is screening at SIFF Cinema Uptown through Thursday, 5/17}

I’m not really sure I can recommend this one to anybody, as I feel like it’s either going to leave you severely depressed, or trigger memories from a traumatic event. I’m still kind of struggling with it—even though I know it’s “just” a film.

Michael chronicles the life of a pedophile who keeps a 10-year-old boy locked in his basement. And while it isn’t graphic, Director Markus Schleinzer shows you just enough detail to make you severely uncomfortable. I guess the point is to make you see that even the most normal human beings can be complete monsters, but I’m not sure this is something everyone doesn’t already know.

Schleinzer does an excellent job of drawing you into the day-to-day with little sensationalism, without any kind of dramatic story arc. It’s just about a very sick man and his captive—struggling with accepting life as is, or trying to get away.

Do I think you should see it? Eeesh. I … just. I can’t really. I mean, from a filmmaking perspective, it’s pretty interesting if you can focus solely on story and acting. But uh, I don’t really know anyone who’d be able to watch this without feeling pretty icky by the end.

more...

{Death of a Superhero opens in Seattle on Friday, 5/4 and is screening at SIFF Cinema Uptown through 5/10}

This is going to be a hard one to recommend, even though I think it’s a really, really good film. Because there is no way you’re going to leave the theater without disintegrating into a sobbing mess.

Based on a book by Anthony McCarten, Death of a Superhero stars that little ginger kid from Love, Actually (Thomas Brodie-Sangster), in a role that proves that he can, you know, actually act. He sure acts the hell out of this role.  

Sangster is Donald Clarke, a 15-year-old boy with brain cancer. He’s also an incredible artist, and channels his feelings of helplessness into some pretty awesome comic book heroes and villains, which Director Ian Fitzgibbon wisely chooses to show on screen in animated form.

more...

{#ReGeneration opens in Seattle on Friday, 5/4, and is screening at the SIFF Film Center through 5/10}

I gotta give the filmmakers credit for snagging everybody’s favorite 6-pack internet meme good-looking do-gooder, Ryan Gosling, to narrate #ReGeneration. That said, he doesn’t narrate a WHOLE lot of it. And his pretty face is not seen on screen.

What we do see on screen is a whole bunch of teenagers talking about how growing up in an age with constant media bombardment makes it so hard for them to pay attention to any real issues that they end up feeling helpless and like they can’t change the world (so why should they care?)—and a whole bunch of adults agreeing that today’s youth sucks at getting involved, and that their generations were so much better at organizing protests, etc. etc.

It’s basically a lot of interviews with people saying the same thing, “Today’s youth are distracted and seemingly disaffected—they are overwhelmed by all the problems in the world and don’t know how to help.” 

more...

{We Have a Pope opened in Seattle this past Friday and is screening at the Landmark Guild 45th now}

When the Pope passes, all of the catholic churches Cardinals gather within the Vatican to choose their next spiritual leader. Vote after vote is taken until a consensus emerges. The honored recipient being a far from obvious choice - emerging as an out of nowhere compromise candidate. Which might have something to do with all the other Cardinal's fervent prayers not to be elevated to the papacy. The vote's conclusion signaled via coded smoke to the faithful massed outside awaiting this reassuring message of continuity. 

With throngs of reporters trying to get a scoop on what's going on - in a manner reminiscent of a sporting event or Kardashian sighting. Around this process lies fertile ground for comedy, both slapstick and ironic. There's a touch of that (for example the lights going out and church members insisting nothing is wrong, as well as a confused Vatican reporter). Though it's low-grade compared with the mostly sweetly handled existential crisis that the accidental Pope has to deal with. I smiled throughout the film, but never really was engaged enough to recommend the final result as must-see cinema. Though it certainly has its charms and likely will be a winner with segments of the viewing audience, who are not me.

more...

{Indie Game: The Movie opens in Seattle on Friday, 4/27 and is screening at SIFF Cinema at the Film Center through 5/3}

Confession: I don’t play that many video games. But I want to. The problem is, most of them make me motion sick, so playing them involves more misery than fun. BUT! But but but. Indie games are rad because a lot of them are kind of retro-styled platform games that don’t involve the nauseating 360-POV, so uh. I could get into that.

And thus, Indie Game: The Movie—a really interesting, in-depth look at the folks who design independent video games—was super fun for me to watch.

Focusing on four indie game designers and developers (Edmund McMillen & Tommy Refenes, who created Super Meat Boy, Phil Fish, who created Fez, and Jonathan Blow, who created Braid), this documentary shows you the frustrations and celebrations of small crews operating on even smaller budgets, a glimpse into the world of game players who both idolize them and take glee in hurling insults at them, and their fight to produce a successful product that reflects their vision and their joy.

more...