For Your Consideration: Closing Weekend at SIFF
The end is in sight. 22 days down, and just 3 remain for SIFF this year, so it's time to take look at films showing this final festival weekend. 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 of course cost more.
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:
· Everyone Else The second film from German director Maren Ade is a "delicious, acutely observed dissection of the mercurial emotional and psychological ties between two young lovers" (The Hollywood Reporter) after they meet another couple who challenges their status quo. (tonight, 6:30 p.m. @ Harvard Exit; tomorrow, 5 p.m. @ Harvard Exit)
· Kimjongilia In this documentary, thirteen defectors from North Korea have a thing or two to say about the Dear Leader. (tonight, 6:30 p.m. @ Pacific Place; tomorrow, 1:30 p.m. @ Pacific Place)
· American Primitive In this coming-of-age drama, two girls move to 1973 Cape Cod with their widowed father, only to find out that now daddy's gay. Based on true life experiences, writer-director Gwen Wynne's film is both funny and heartbreaking. (tonight, 7 p.m. @ the Egyptian; tomorrow, 4:30 p.m. @ the Egyptian)
· The Bear As part of the Face the Music series, Sub Pop art-punk band No Age performs a live, original soundtrack to the French animal film. (tonight, 7 p.m., 9:30 p.m. @ the Triple Door)
· Adam We caught this love story at Sundance: "Writer-director Max Meyer has crafted a tender and wistful film about a cute, wide-eyed, outer-space-obsessed twenty-nine-year-old man who happens to have Asperger's. It's delicate in its treatment of the syndrome, as well as the romance that develops between Adam (Hugh Dancy) and his new neighbor, Beth (Rose Byrne). Adam is a charming, unexpectedly moving film, and Meyer pulls no punches." (tonight, 7 p.m. @ the Uptown; tomorrow, 1:15 p.m. @ the Uptown)
· Swimsuit Issue It's a charmingly oddball Swedish comedy about an all-male synchronized swimming team. Think The Fully Monty meets Ikea. (tonight, 9:30 p.m. @ the Egyptian)
· talhotblond As always, truth is stranger than fiction, in this documentary about an internet "love triangle in which the lovers never meet face to face, but one person ends up dead, another goes to prison, and the families of all three are changed forever." (tonight, 9:15 p.m. @ Pacific Place; tomorrow, 4 p.m. @ Pacific Place)
The rest of the weekend after the jump.
· Involuntary If you're a fan of long shots, somewhat improvised dialogue, and quirky humor about semi-serious subjects, check out this foreign film. Says Variety: "The nature of group dynamics is explored in amusing if stinging fashion in Swedish ensembler Involuntary. Structured like a set of interspersed, but not interconnected, short films, sophomore outing for helmer Ruben Ostlund features characters ranging from teens to the late-middle-age, often facing moral dilemmas about when to speak up or stay silent." (tonight, 9:30 p.m. @ SIFF Cinema; Sunday, 3:30 p.m. @ SIFF Cinema)
· What's On Your Plate? Two eleven-year-old African-American girls want you to consider what you're having for dinner and where it comes from, in this family-friendly food documentary. (tonight, 4 p.m. @ Pacific Place; tomorrow, 11 a.m. @ Pacific Place)
· The One-Handed Trick The winner of three Goya Awards (the Spanish equivalent of the Oscar), this drama about two friends and musicians, one of which has cerebral palsy and one of which is a heroin addict, is, despite the subject matter, a real crowd-pleaser. (tomorrow, 1:30 p.m. @ SIFF Cinema)
· Amreeka A big hit at Sundance, Amreeka is a dry culture-clash comedy about a Palestinian family that moves to the Chicago suburbs. Fish out of water wackiness ensues! (tomorrow, 6:30 p.m. @ Pacific Place; Sunday, 4 p.m. @ Pacific Place)
· Hachi: A Dog's Story Lasse Hallstrom's latest film, based on a true story about a dog who stayed loyal, even after his master's (Richard Gere) death. Don't wear mascara and bring an entire box of kleenex. (tomorrow, 6:30 p.m. @ Cinerama; Sunday, noon @ Cinerama)
· El General We saw this doc at Sundance: "Director Natalia Almada's great-grandfather was Plutarco Elias Calles, a general during the Mexican Revolution and then President from 1924 to 1928. Almada examines his life via the audio recordings her grandmother, Calles' daughter, made when she was planning on writing his biography. In a sense, Almada is finishing the work her grandmother began, and she uses her tapes and archival footage of Mexico in the '20s, along with scenes from Mexico City today to illustrate two not-so-contradictory things: 1) The dreams of the revolutionaries for the future of Mexico have definitely not been realized, because 2) the more things change, the more they stay the same." (Sunday, 11 a.m. @ SIFF Cinema)
· OSS 117: Lost in Rio This year's closing night film is the sequel to the French spy spoof OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies, an audience favorite at SIFF 06. Come for the film, stay for the party; the closing night gala is at the Pan Pacific Hotel. (Sunday, 6:30 p.m. @ Cinerama)
