Now that SIFF is officially kicked off, it's time to look ahead at the films coming up in the next month. For all film screenings, the general/member ticket prices are $11/$9 (and matinees $8/$7), except for gala screenings and other special events, which cost more. The opening weekend's lineup is really solid--kinda a shame, considering everyone's out of town for Memorial Day (including us).

Seattlest applies our well-honed knowledge of all things cinema to the SIFF catalogue in order to point out some notable films playing this weekend:

· The Fall With stunning visuals and one great child actress, Tarsem Singh's latest film took four years and six continents to make. Think City of Lost Children, Pan's Labyrinth, and The Adventures of Baron Munchausen. Imagery trumps plot, but it's so pretty you just might not care. (tonight, 4:30pm @ the Uptown; Sunday, 6:30pm @ the Uptown)

· The Edge of Heaven Another emotional movie about the German Turk experience from Fatih Akin, whose incendiary Head-On also shows at the fest. (tonight, 6:30pm @ the Egyptian; Sunday, 1:30pm @ Pacific Place)

· Ballast Winner of Best Director and Cinematography awards at Sundance this year, Ballast takes a hard look at life on the Mississippi Delta. (tonight, 7pm @ Pacific Place; tomorrow, 4:30pm @ Pacific Place)

· Continental, a Film Without Guns If the title alone doesn't convey a certain tongue-in-cheekiness, how about the fact that it's a Québécois black comedy? (tonight, 9:30pm @ Pacific Place; tomorrow, 11am @ Pacific Place)

· Elite Squad Blame it on Rio! And by "it," we mean the high body count. Rio's slums are policed by a crack paramilitary squad called BOPE. The story here is that a burnt-out captain wants to retire, but needs to find a replacement first (and one who'll live 'til graduation day second). There's a little Dirty Harry, a little Delta Force, and a little Dragnet, and the mixture is potent with adrenaline. (tonight, 9:30pm @ the Uptown; tomorrow, 1:30pm @ the Uptown)

· The Mother of Tears Italian goremaster Dario Argento returns with the final film in his Three Mothers trilogy (the soon-to-be remade Suspiria and Inferno), and he's still torturing his hot, demented daughter Asia. This time she's being terrorized by a witch back from the dead and out for blood. (tonight, 11:55pm @ the Egyptian)

The rest of the weekend after the jump.

· Mermaid Another Sundance winner (World Cinema Directing award), Mermaid is an "urban fairytale" often dubbed "the Russian Amelie." We wouldn't go that far, but it is sufficiently charming and dreamlike. This is a foreign film even those intimidated by foreign films can attend. But yes, you will still have to read subtitles. (tomorrow, 1:15pm @ the Egyptian; Monday, 9pm @ Pacific Place)

· Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson Documentary on the father of gonzo journalism directed by Alex Gibney (Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, Taxi to the Dark Side) and narrated by Johnny Depp as em-effing Hunter S. Thompson himself. (tomorrow, 3:45pm @ the Egyptian; Monday, 9pm @ the Egyptian)

· My Effortless Brilliance Lynn Shelton's locally-made buddy comedy starring Sean Nelson and "Awesome"'s Basil Harris. (tomorrow, 9:30pm @ the Egyptian; Monday, 4pm @ the Egyptian)

· Heavy Metal in Baghdad The first film made by Vice Magazine, this documentary covers the hard-rocking Iraqi band Acrassicauda (Latin for "Black Scorpions") making music and banging their heads in their war-torn homeland. (tomorrow, 9:30pm @ SIFF Cinema; Sunday, 11am @ SIFF Cinema)

· Tribute to Sir Ben Kingsley SIFF honors Ben Kingsley with this year's Golden Space Needle for Outstanding Achievement in Acting. Kingsley will be on hand to accept his award, show clips from his filmography, and present his latest movie Elegy. (Sunday, 2pm @ the Egyptian)

· Sita Sings the Blues With various computer animation styles, first-time director Nina Paley combines the autobiographical story of one bad breakup with the Indian epic "Ramayana." Sita's love songs are super-cute and some of the animation is near-hypnotic. (Sunday, 1:30pm @ the Uptown; Monday, 6:45pm @ the Uptown)

· King of Ping Pong Swedish coming-of-age comedy about a chubby sixteen-year-old ping-pong player. (Sunday, 6:45pm @ SIFF Cinema; Monday, 1:15pm @ SIFF Cinema)

· Up the Yangtze Well-received at Sundance this year, this documentary focuses on some of the people currently living in the areas that will soon be flooded for China's Three Gorges Dam project. This is what the genre is made for: to capture moments in time for a stunning part of the world that will soon be gone. Too bad it's not showing at Cinerama. (Sunday, 7:15pm @ Pacific Place; Monday, 4pm @ Pacific Place)