This Week In Seattle Cinema: Hope You Like Horror Films
October has begun and most every Seattle theater worth its salt is getting into the holiday spirit with increasingly horror or suspense-focussed programming leading up to the 31st. While it's hard to imagine a Halloween without another godawful, rushed-out Saw sequel leading the way, film in 2011 promises plenty of other irreverent crap to waste your time. This week, we cut through the filler, featuring a couple of intriguing standouts within the rollout of Seattle theaters' spookier autumn offerings, as well as your chance to see a screen classic in glorious 70mm.
Tucker & Dale Vs. Evil
Varsity Theatre (10/1-10/5)
Horror spoofs are really easy to screw up. Now more than ever, the lingering cinematic stains of Vampires Suck and most of the Scary Movies remind us all how quickly satire can turn into trite self-indulgence. The nominal duo play two lovable, beer-swilling country boys who are mistaken for homicidal hillbillies by a handful of preposterously disaster-prone college students on vacation. Here, Tucker & Dale show us that you can take the piss out of a genre and deliver a perfectly solid story with a few well-rounded, likable characters at the same time. Finally gaining a well-earned wide(r) release after a January 2010 premiere at Sundance, Tucker & Dale Vs. Evil draws together Firefly/Suburgatory star Alan Tudyk, Reaper's Tyler Labine and 30 Rock's Katrina Bowden together for a horror comedy that just feels thoroughly fun, especially when placed side-by-side against this year's laboriously self-referential Scream 4.
Alien / Aliens
Grand Illusion Cinema (10/1-10/6; 6:15 and 8:30 daily)
More than just Sigourney Weaver's propensity for ass-kicking and grisly monster design that holds up to this day, the Alien franchise is probably best known for positively nailing both ends of the popular horror film spectrum in its first two installments. Explore both the claustrophobic terror of Alien and exhilarating action of Aliens as part of Grand Illusion's annual Bride of All Monsters Attack festival, which has intelligently eschewed whatever the hell Alien 3 and Resurrection were supposed to represent (probably disappointment, gross alien genitalia). As an added bonus, Geek Girl Con will be hosting tonight's showing as they rev up for their big show next weekend. Support increased opportunities for young women and the systematic extermination of alien life forms in one fell swoop!
Lawrence of Arabia
Cinerama (10/4, 8PM)
While it might not be as bloodcurdling as the other selections, this breathtaking epic presented in king-sized 70mm is all but guaranteed to send shivers down your spine with a sense of seemingly endless scope that modern 3D films can only manage to scratch at. Take in the awe-inspiring legend of British World War I legend T.E. Lawrence the way it was meant to be seen: with the daunting Sinai Desert and the grizzled acrimony that is Anthony Quinn's face shown across a 70-foot curved screen in all their inhospitable glory. Lawrence of Arabia will actually play several other times throughout Cinerama's month-long 70MM film festival, but its best to get it out of the way now so you can start planning how many return trips you're going to take.
