This Week in Seattle Cinema: A Beautiful Lull in Holiday Programming
With the exception of an inexplicable 3D, Christmas-themed installment in the Harold and Kumar series, this week is a welcome break between holiday programming. Take this nice little vacation between Halloween pandering and Thanksgiving premieres and head down to your local theater before family obligations require you to go to the Cineplex.
3
SIFF Cinema at the Uptown (11/5-11/10)
A middle-aged, heterosexual German couple are both entranced by the same man, who enters each of their arts-drenched lives separately. German director Tom Tykwer returns to the chaotic narrative and split-screens that gained him notoriety with Run Lola Run after a run of whimsical, but more straightforward filmmaking (Perfume, Heaven). One of the first traditional runs to hit the Uptown under its new leadership, 3's two showings were easy to miss at this year's kickass festival lineup, so SIFF has kindly brought it back for those who missed it.
Moneyball
Guild 45th (11/5-11/10)
This ensemble is just bizarre enough to work! Aaron "Walk and Talk" Sorkin (Sports Night, The West Wing, Studio 60, The Social Network) co-wrote the screenplay for this based-on-a-true-story of Oakland A's manager Billy Beane, played by Brad Pitt, with Jonah Hill (Superbad, Get Him to the Greek) as the economist he hires to make the team profitable through computer-driven statistical analysis, Phillip Seymour Hoffman as the field manager that opposes their tactics, Robin Wright as Beane's ex-wife and even Chris Pratt (Parks and Recreation, The O.C., Everwood) as a first-baseman. Add in a moderate role played by Activision CEO Bobby Kotic, and you get an equation just crazy enough to work (ha ha, get it?). This marks important milestones in the careers of both Hill, who is normally a comedic goofball, and Pratt, for an impressive break from comedy and teen drama television roles. This has a wider release at big theaters, but see it at Guild 45th.
Attack the Block
Central Cinema (11/6, 9:30 p.m.)
The producers of Shaun of the Dead invade the US once again, this time with this sci-fi/action creature feature. When an alien spacecraft falls to Earth, a scrappy hang of teens must battle both extraterrestrials and a drug lord to save their housing development. It got a limited release this summer to positive reviews and dismal ticket sales, but it's getting a second chance tomorrow night. With beer! And pizza!
The Oregonian
Northwest Film Forum (11/5, 11:00 p.m.)
Partially filmed in Washington, this freaky-weird flick made by grindhouse-inspired filmmaker Calvin Lee Reader appears to dance in the footsteps of Jodorowsky and Arrabal as equally as old trash geniuses like Roberta and Michael Findlay. The viewer occupies the paranoid world of a young woman trying to find help after wrecking her car. Like a less political Weekend, she encounters a series of extremely non-helpful people as she wanders down a wooded road armed with a shotgun.
The Skin I Live In
The Egyptian (11/5-11/10)
AJ's taking the week off to have a birthday, which means this is Sarah's house, which means obviously anything Pedro Almodóvar does will end up here. Director favorite Antonio Banderas plays a Toledo-based surgeon who, distraught over the deaths of the women in his life, invents skin that cannot burn -- but, as he has also been driven insane on his quest, uses his medical genius for elaborate experiments and revenge scenarios. Expect elaborate gender-play and Almodóvar's brand of deranged whimsy in this addition to his increasingly prolific catalog.
