Guy Maddin films are not for everyone. With his love of silent film flourishes and his often bizarre sense of humor, Maddin can easily confound viewers. To wit: we have a good friend who lives and breathes cinema. He likes his films weird and dark and avant garde. But even he says of Maddin, "I just can't handle the guy." Well, think again Nick, because Guy Maddin's latest critically-acclaimed film, "docu-fantasia" My Winnipeg has......

TODAY IS WORLD REFUGEE DAY! The International Rescue Committee is hosting a benefit night of poetry, music, dance and crafts from our local refugee community at the Seattle Center, and John Hilde's Made In China (a documentary about his father's childhood in pre-WWII China) is screening at the NWFF with proceeds going to Mercy Corps' work in the devastated Sichuan province of China. Be a good neighbor and enjoy these artsy celebrations of diversity and......

The end is near. Come Sunday night, this year's SIFF will come to a close. There are still plenty of great films showing, so if you haven't hit the fest yet, you've still got time to catch a flick or two before the movie fun is done. Saturday's closing night film selection is Bottle Shock, based on the true story of how the Napa Valley wine industry made a name for themselves: by beating......

Here we are at Day 16 of the Festival. If by now you're long tired of SIFF, you're in luck: STIFF starts tonight. And if you're tired of our takes on this year's festival films, check out reviews by Blue Scholars' MC Geologic. In addition to everything below, this weekend also offers the last chance to hit up two great documentaries, both of which we've previously mentioned, and both of which deserve another shout-out.......

ART & TRAUMA: The Center on Contemporary Art in Ballard is kicking off its series of "After Dark" events with Slow Healing—a documentary/multi-media presentation about veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan who have returned from the field with Traumatic Brian Injuri (TBI). There'll be a slideshow at 9 p.m., followed by Butoh dancing and SEA SHOW. 9 p.m. // CoCA Ballard // $10-15 suggested donation ROOTS NIGHT: When this Seattlest talks about "roots,"......

It's week something-or-other of SIFF, and the hits just keep on coming! So, here are this week's picks. 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. · Alexandra is "a film of startling originality and beauty" (NYT) about a widowed Russian woman who decides to visit her soldier son at the Chechen front. (tonight, 4:30 p.m. @ SIFF......

Another weekend, another opportunity to check out the films at SIFF. If you're into the short film genre, SIFF Cinema hosts ShortsFest all weekend long, with short films packaged by theme in approximately ninety-minute blocks. 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. Seattlest applies our well-honed knowledge of all things cinema to the SIFF catalogue in order......

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......

MUSIC: If you're not taking the ferry Friday night to Bremerton's Admiral Theatre to catch Death Cab for Cutie (we understand if you're not, it's a real schlep) and if you don't have tickets to Blitzen Trapper/Fleet Foxes at Neumo's (it's sold out), then my god, what the hell were you planning on doing? How about a trip up to Everett for the Everett Symphony's Tribute to Burt Bacharach. (We agree, Mrs. Hendy, he......

It took filmmaker Jennifer Fox four years, seventeen countries, and 1,600 hours of footage (which she whittled down to 6 hours of film) to fully cover the cross-cultural confusion of modern womanhood. The project didn't start out that high-minded; Jennifer was dating two men and not entirely happy with either, which led to an identity crisis that inspired her travels exploring what it means to be a woman today. The result is her sweeping,......

MUSIC: The question of the day is whether to hear Jens Lekman at Neumos or a re-formed The Cult. It's six of one, half-dozen of the other, isn't it? But since The Cult show is sold out, you're better off dropping by Neumos for Swedish indie pop. His new album, says Pitchfork, spans "the baroque pop of Scott Walker, the upbeat rhythms and bright harmonies of Northern soul, and the beach-party disco of fellow......

MUSIC: Saul Williams--actor, poet, musician--comes to Neumos with his album, The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of Niggy Tardust. In our interview, he said: "I characterize Niggy Tardust as an angel of mercy. You know, I think that in the face of America and our changing times there’s a lot to be said, a lot that could be said, and a lot of ways that it could be said. And if, you know, your revolutionary......

Depending on how excruciating your teenage years were, the documentary Billy the Kid [blog] will have a different effect on you. Certainly if you have or know someone who has Asperger's syndrome, it'll make you squirm a bit. But it's also about being an outsider in a small town. About wanting to share interests. About negotiating the changes life throws at you. About falling in love for the first time and emotional insecurity. Except for......

Tonight and tomorrow, it's your last chance to see one of the year's best-reviewed documentaries at the Grand Illusion. King Corn follows two friends who move from the East Coast to the Iowa heartland to raise an acre of the highly-subsidized titular crop and follow it through the "corn industrial complex." It ain't pretty, but the film helpfully points out the extent to which corn is a part of the average American (and the......

Courtesy of Boing Boing (it's this little blog you should check out sometime), we discovered that Radar Online -- a.k.a. the magazine that refuses to die -- has an interview with Winter, a 34-year-old freelance computer programmer who has made it his life's mission to visit every Starbucks in the world. That's 12,000 and counting. An excerpt: The primary rule is I have to drink at least one four-ounce sample of caffeinated coffee from each......