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.......

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......

After talking about it for what seems like forever, it's finally time to buy your SIFF tickets. The SIFF 2008 schedule of films, programs, and special events is now available at both the SIFF website and in the annual Seattle Times pullout guide. SIFF supporters can head over to the box office on the second level of Pacific Place to purchase passes and tickets (or if you prepaid for a block of tickets, select......

Just announced: The 34th Seattle International Film Festival kicks off on Thursday, May 22 with the premiere of Battle in Seattle, a gripping dramatization of events that rocked the world when Seattle was host to the World Trade Organization. The evening unfolds at Seattle Center's Marion Oliver McCaw Hall with a red carpet welcome for expected guests Charlize Theron and Martin Henderson, stars of the film, and director Stuart Townsend. A gala party will......

Ah, those crazy Frenchies, at it again. This time, they're going to pull off a robbery. The gang that couldn't shoot straight, but with accents, The Band of Outsiders. The cute gal is Anna Karina, her boyfriends are Claude Brasseur and Sami Frey, and the director is the embodiment of French cinema's nouvelle vague, Jean-Luc Godard. Ah, callow youth! Squandering your time in darkened cinemas, what good will ever come of it? Invest that time......

The triple play kicks off at 7pm tonight at the Paramount Theatre: Chaplin's One A.M., The Count, and The Pawnshop, all from 1916. There are no little tramps in these shorts, just a very drunk guy who's attacked by his house as he tries to sneak in late, a tailor's assistant ensnared in high society hi-jinks, and an assistant in a pawnshop who turns out to be a one-man wrecking machine. Just so you know,......

For the first time ever, we ventured to the sophisticated urban wilds of Toronto for their 32nd annual International Film Festival. TIFF is a big 'un, and, along with Venice, its perpetually strong line-up of award-bait always mark the official beginning of Oscar season. We hit the Canadian cinema circuit in an attempt to catch as many of the year's best films as possible. One film you won't find on 2007's best-of lists is the......

In anticipation of French house DJs Daft Punk's show at WaMu Theatre this Sunday, head to Lower Level at the Capitol Hill Arts Center tonight for a screening of the first film directed by the electro duo: Electroma, a film made by Daft Punk, is an odyssey of two robots who journey across a mythic American landscape of haunting, surreal beauty on a quest to become human. Their symbolic quest, which takes them from......

LAist was comped front row seats by the Dodgers due to Malingering being struck by a foul ball last week, and she came back with some great photos, and earlier made fun of 4th of July on Venice Beach. But the biggest stories of the week was that the Mayor's Hot Tamale was revealed, and that a Kwik-E-Mart was erected in Burbank. Phillyist was busy doing the Fourth of July up right, exercising their......

N.P. Thompson went to SIFF, and we all benefit now that he's written about the best and worst films of the festival -- and launched a few broadsides at SIFF and select members of its audience: The 33rd Seattle International Film Festival ended two weeks ago; it’s taken me this long to gain enough distance to sort and sift through all I might conceivably have to say on the subject. Even so, the movies under......

Seattlest has a talk with the photographer from last week's "Segway Mom" and then experiences some dissension in the ranks over the question of wine vs. beer. It's not West Side Story, but about as close as they'll get. They're also still waiting on some inbox relief after a spammer is arrested. As Chicagoist counts down the days to its third anniversary party, they found all-organic pizza to be underwhelming amidst the hoopla, tried......

This weekend the National Weather service is calling for mid-70s to 80 degrees. You may want to recover from heatstroke by rehydrating in an air-conditioned theater with other bepinkenned Seattleites, and their melanin-endowed friends savoring their little moment of schadenfreude. (Here's the Seattle Times cheat sheet on the various venues.) · We caught the press screening for the not entirely laugh-free Death at a Funeral with a friend who said, summing up Frank Oz's......

At long last, after months and months of announcements and press releases, it's finally time to kick off the 33rd annual Seattle International Film Festival. Tonight's the opening gala event (7pm), held for the first time at SIFF's swanky new digs at McCaw Hall. This year's opening night film--Son of Rambow--much like last year's, falls somewhere in between previous year's selections, including the mawkish abomination that is The Notebook and the precious artsy genius......

National film festival correspondent Kyle Anderson on Seattle's other one While May 24th is the debut of the Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF), the lesser known, 3rd annual Seattle True Independent Film Festival (STIFF) also kicks off its performance schedule on the same date. The latter appears to be the yin to the former’s yang – one is slang for Syphilis and the other is a rock-hard…whatever. Although it has been documented that Seattleites don’t......

The Seattle International Film Festival starts May 24. All 405 films. Tickets are on sale to members right now; hoi polloi, this Sunday. New this year is that if you buy a multi-ticket package, you can then order tickets online to the specific films you want to see. That is thanks to POP, who do SIFF's website. We learned this at the SIFF press launch yesterday, in their new digs in McCaw Hall. We went......

BOOKS: Like mysteries? The 17th Annual Western Mystery Fan convention continues through the 4th. For a group focused on clues and figuring things out, they spell things out incredibly well on their website. Where's the fun in that? 9am-5pm // Renaissance Seattle Hotel, 515 Madison St // $60 (day pass) YO-YO: It's the annual Pacific Northwest Yo-Yo Championship. It sounds a little odd, and it is, but it's definitely a sight to behold, with people......

It looks like the Seattle International Film Festival is going to pull back a bit from its traditional venues around town and get its very own digs at the Seattle Center. McCaw Hall is being turned into "the best screening facility in the Northwest and one of the top facilities on the West Coast." SIFF is going to spend $350,000 to turn the Nesholm Family Lecture Hall into a theater that will operate all year......

"I sent it to one organization, the Seattle True Independent Film Festival...and they declined by sending me an email form-letter," said Alex Mayer. We're sitting with Mayer in a coffeeshop down at Union Station--ironically in the same business park as Vulcan's glittering corporate office--talking about the delayed (by a year) Seattle debut of Mayer's new film, Paul Alien. The name of the movie gives you a good idea of the subject: "Seattle billionaire is......

We're pleased as punch to report that noted local filmmaker (and friend of ours) Brian McDonald was just down at the Austin Film Festival becoming an "award-winning screenwriter." Saturday, October 21, he won the Science Fiction category of the AFF 2006 Screenplay Competition with his screenplay "Graverobbers." (Technically, since his short film Whiteface won audience favorite at the 2001 Slamdance, he's already award-winning. But this is newer.) Known in the industry as a "story"......

Let's take a look back at a week that raised this Zen koan: if Kevin Federline got into a wrestling ring with a wrestler, who would you root for? Austinist was in an entertainment state of mind as they covered the dickens out of the Austin Film Festival, depicted all the Big 12 football coaches as South Park characters, and interviewed Jose Gonzalez. Chicagoist talked about the passion as they bid adieu to Bell......

As fall settles in and another calendar page gets turned, thoughts turn from bbq's and vacations to holidays and the realization that '06 is coming to an end. With all that going on, with change in the air, we wonder what is it that made that makes the -ists ponder? Phillyist is concerned that the war on Trans fats could affect it's beloved cheese steak sandwiches, something for which we should all be concerned.......

Even though we are way way past school age, we still get a little melancholy at the close of summer. Fortunately, our friends across the -ist network know that the shenanigans don't need to end just because the big yellow buses are back on the roads. So, grab your sunscreen and your favorite hangover cure, as we take a tour of end of summer fun from -ist cities all over the damn place. SFist......

If it weren't for our life as an -ist, we're not sure we'd ever leave our apartment. Fortunately, to fully -ist, one must seek out the new, the fresh, and the unknown. Brand new, or just new to us, that's what we're all about this week. Phillyist keeps it fresh by getting a new motto, learning to prioritize, and taking in an experimental indie rock show. Torontoist does their first post in franglais, gets ready......

25 days, over 160,000 attendees, 198 narrative films, 60 documentaries, 15 archival films, 4 mystery screenings, and 141 shorts later, the 2006 Seattle International Film Festival is finally over. Seattlest, for one, is relieved. Don't get us wrong: we love the festival life. But after nearly a month of showing up early to films, saving seats for friends, and contending with irascible movie-goers, we are ready for a break from the cinema. See you......

Wednesday was the second and final showing of SIFF's 2006 Fly Film Festival, this year based on scripts submitted to the Screenwriters Salon. We kinda wish they hadn't done that. The challenge is that the filmmakers are given 5 days to shoot, 5 days to edit, and 2 days post-production, to come up with a finished 10-minute film. This year's crop of auteurs were Virginia Berta Bogert, Douglas Horn, Kris Kristensen, and Brad Wilke. Weirdly,......

The final full week of SIFF is upon us. It's time to get some last few films before the sun sets on this year's fest. This week's got a couple great music events as well: Friday night, Portastatic will be on hand to perform a specially-commissioned live score accompanying circus freakshow-themed silent film The Unknown (more about that in a few days). Meanwhile, Thursday night's the Face the Music Rock Party at Neumo's, featuring......

The 32nd annual Seattle International Film Festival kicks things off this evening with their opening night film at the Paramount and associated party at the new MOHAI space (the erstwhile interim Central Library at 8th & Pike). Wanna go as a VIP? Sorry, that's sold out. Already have a ticket and just want a VIP upgrade so you can get valet parking and reserved seating? You're SOL, 'cause that's sold out too. However, tickets......

About three hours before the quiz started at the Old Pequliar last night, we realized we'd written a really difficult slate of questions. Congrats to the winners, who earned their cash. We'll let you know next time we're hosting -- Charley, the regular quiz guy, should be fully operational again by next week. If you didn't make it, here are the ten questions from round 5, Seattle trivia. The average team got 5 correct. Answers......

There's a whole wide world out there, and here's the proof: DCist revels in The University of Maryland's basketball triumphs, marvels at Metro's security strategy, and applauds DC local Katie Couric's new gig. Phillyist is all about the Philadelphia Film Festival. OK, not all about -- they still have time for loitering, underage sex, and random wacky news. LAist would have to send a camera around the world to get shots as bizarre as Katie's......