OK, maybe I'm just not keeping up with the times effectively.  It was with significant glee that I learned earlier this week about a new event at the Northwest Film Forum that I promptly (and believe accurately) labelled "brilliant."

They've decided to take their not so new beer/wine license out for a spin – hosting a monthly Happy Hour Saloon.  Meaning that every third Thursday of the month from 5-6:30pm you can stop by for a drink and some film-related conversation.  Everyone's invited: Film Forum staff members, filmmakers, and film fans. Sounds more like a salon than a saloon – but they can call it whatever they like far as I'm concerned. As it turns out, this Thursday 11/17 is the third thursday of the month. So before you head out to see the midnight screening of Breaking Dawn (with or without a bridesmaids dress) it's a chance to offset that guilty pleasure with some conversation about arguably more significant cinema…I'm sure non-Twilight fans are welcome too.

There are a lot of reasons to think this is a good idea. If you haven't been to the Film Forum before, here's a great opportunity to meet the friendly, knowledgeable staff that run it. You can checkout their upcoming schedule, learn about their great classes or just ogle their fine lobby area. Word on the street is that their new Winter calendar will be available for perusing. And if you're a strictly mercenary sort there will be drink discounts to be had ($1 off hand-selected wines and beers – resulting in $3 beer, $4 house win, and $6 wine specials). All good reasons to participate even if the Northwest Film Forum wasn't an important part of the Seattle film family.  Though of course they are.

As an added bonus, this week's happy hour host is Janna Wachter – the next commissioned artist for their Live at the Film Forum Series.  Giving everyone a chance to meet her performers and learn more about the upcoming event, aka Don't Assume I Cook.

As long as you're there you might want to consider sticking around or the 7pm screening of Curling on its last day in Seattle.  I saw the Canadian film in Vancouver a year ago.  Not necessarily for everyone and a bit uncomfortable at times – but I thought it well worth watching.  The director Denis Côté is an interesting character.  He'd been visiting the Film Forum earlier in the week for a retrospective of his work.  If you want to try and pretend you saw him earlier in the week (or just recreate the experience post Curling) here's a way too dimly lit Q&A he did at the Vancouver Film Festival. The audio is fine, but the camera work does not do his tattoos proper justice.

Most importantly – everything ends early enough to get your way up to see Bella and Edward's nuptials at a midnight screening — which for me is likely the most important constraint of the night. I'm hoping to stop by myself – so feel free to ask me if I'm kidding. Though don't be surprised if you get an earful bemoaning her co-dependent relationship with that sparkly bastard.