Results tagged “linasphillips”

Lasagna or: How I learned to stop slipping towards the prison of permanent darkness. At first glance you might think, "What on earth does pasta have to do with suicide?" Actually, nothing. However, you walk away thinking Linas Phillips's mixed-media performance art piece, which had its one-week-only premiere at On the Boards last weekend, spent most of its 90 minutes exploring the latter.

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Local filmaker Linas Phillips got close to the homeless people he portrayed in this documentary of life on and off the streets of Seattle. His film, Great Speeches From a Dying World, ending its run tonight at the Northwest Film Forum on Capitol Hill, is intimate but never feels invasive. It's also 90 minutes of pure heartbreak, so if you're feeling vulnerable, be warned. The story of a kind-hearted homeless man named Tomy stands out among vignettes from a dozen local homeless people. You keep waiting for Tomy to come back on screen. Phillips has his subjects recite famous speeches from history, a curious device that is never explained. Sometimes, like when when a wheelchair-bound, crack-addicted homeless woman delivers Sojourner Truth's "Ain't I A Woman?" no explanation is needed.

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.

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 to point out some notable films playing this weekend:

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 next year, SIFF!

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).

Werner Herzog and David Cronenberg---the names alone are enough to make a crowd of film fanatics gasp. That's exactly why local den of cinema-geekery Seattle International Film Festival Group is spotlighting each filmmaker's work with screenings next week at the Seattle Art Museum; first Herzog and then Cronenberg.