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The end is near! You're running out of chances to stand in line for a SIFF film, so if you haven't yet, get on it. Things wrap up this weekend. In the meantime, here's the rundown on our picks for today through Thursday. It's quite a week. For all SIFF screenings, the general/member ticket prices are $11/$9 (and matinees $8/$7), except for gala screenings and other special events, which cost more.
It's your last chance to see the indie mumble-horror effort Baghead. The title says it all, really: someone with a bag over his head stalks four would-be movie stars who have gone on a woodsy retreat to crank out a masterpiece screenplay. (Today, 4:30 p.m. @ the Egyptian)
Last chance also for the Stranger-praised drug-war doc Tulia, Texas, about one of the biggest drug busts in Texas history, brought about almost singlehandedly by an agent with a startling lack of evidence. (Today, 7 p.m. @ Harvard Exit)
Hop to it if you want to catch Alone in Four Walls, that alternately harrowing and heart-stirring doc about pre-teen Russian kids who'd steal the gold out of your teeth if you had gold in your teeth. "They’re animals, not children," is the quote, but of course the film wants to see for itself about that. (Today, 7 p.m. @ Pacific Place)
Or try Under the Bombs, a thriller about a woman who takes a taxi into the bombed-out area of southern Lebanon to find her missing son. It was shot ten days after Israel bombed the shit out of Lebanon in 2006, so there's a documentary flavor to what's caught on film. (Today, 7 p.m. @ SIFF Cinema; Tuesday, 4:30 p.m. @ SIFF Cinema)
In the late-night slot is a doc about an 80-year-old, childless French farmer who is facing giving up his farm, Combalimon. He is a tough old coot who leaves the sentiment to the audience as he watches his way of life disappearing--French kids today do not have the stones for what he went through. (Today, 9:15 p.m. @ Harvard Exit; Tuesday, 4:30 p.m. @ Harvard Exit)
The rest of the week brings an overwhelming cavalcade, so fasten your linkbelts and follow the jump!
Games of Love & Chance crosses Rivette's Bande des quatre with the episode of Arrested Development where George Michael tries out for the school play for the chance to kiss his cousin Maeby--only they're doing Marivaux (not Racine), and it stars the maghrebin youth of Paris's projects. (Tuesday, 3:30 p.m. @ the Egyptian)
The Secret of the Grain, winner of France's Best Picture and Best Director Césars, continues the French fascination with the after-effects of colonization: here the focus is a family of North African immigrants in a southern port town. Just be prepared for its 2-1/2 hour length. (Tuesday, 6 p.m. @ the Egyptian; Thursday, 3:30 p.m. @ the Egyptian)
Hold Me Tight, Let Me Go is almost a companion doc to Alone in Four Walls. Again, the kids are not all right: here, it's emotionally traumatized and violent British children and their caregivers at the Mulberry Bush boarding school. (Tuesday, 6:45 p.m. @ Harvard Exit)
Silvio Soldini, the director who brought you Bread and Tulips, reappears with another conjunctive title: Days and Clouds, "an absorbing, deliberate drama about choices and commitment" (Variety), that begins with Michele telling his wife Elsa that he's been out of work for months. (Tuesday, 7 p.m. @ Uptown Cinema; Saturday, 1:30 p.m. @ Uptown Cinema)
Postcards from Leningrad brings guerrilla life in 1960s Venezuela to the screen in a coming-of-age black comedy, with La Niña and her cousin Teo dealing with their parents' life underground. It's confusing at first, but gets better, and director Rondón combines a faux-doc style with animation and groovy '60s flashbacks. (Tuesday, 9:15 p.m. @ Pacific Place; Thursday, 4:30 p.m. @ Pacific Place)
The experimental one-take Still Orangutans is based on a novel; the Stranger calls it a Brazilian Slackers. That should be all the information you need to decide if it's can't-miss or stay-away. (Tuesday 9:30 p.m. @ Uptown Cinema)
Back on the doc front, the well-reviewed The Order of Myths travels to Mobile, Alabama, the home of the world’s oldest Mardi Gras celebration, to explore the town's two separate-but-equal Carnival coronations and parades. (Wednesday, 9:30 p.m. @ Harvard Exit)
Winner of the Italian "Oscar" for best picture, The Girl by the Lake has creepy Amanda-Knox-ish resonances: "An idyllic town is shocked by the murder of young and beautiful girl. Inspector Giovanni Sanzio is called in from the capital, but the victim proves as mysterious as the crime itself." (Wednesday, 9:30 p.m. @ Uptown Cinema; Saturday, 7:15 p.m. @ Uptown Cinema)
In Love and Other Crimes, Anica (Anica Dobra) decides to skip out on her miserable life and start over somewhere else. After robbing her racketeer boyfriend, she runs into a snag while making her goodbyes. People are raving about Serbian director Stefan Arsenijevic's work on this one. (Thursday, 7 p.m. @ SIFF Cinema; Saturday, 9:15 p.m. @ Harvard Exit)
Other people say the star of Leroy has Michael Cera's goofy likability and Napoleon Dynamite's insouciance. Young, German, and black, Leroy's new love interest Eva happens to have five skinhead brothers and right-wing parents--with hilarious results! (Thursday, 9:30 p.m. @ Pacific Place; Saturday, 1:30 p.m. @ Pacific Place)
We include Visioneers because it was shot in the Seattle area, although we have no idea who they're satirizing in the form of the Jeffers Corporation: "the largest business in history thanks to its philosophy of happiness through mindless productivity." (Thursday, 9:30 p.m. @ the Egyptian; Saturday, 4 p.m. @ the Egyptian)
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