Results tagged “premiere”

Tonight and tomorrow night, the Northwest Film Forum premieres Ashes of American Flags in advance of the film's DVD release at the end of the month. It's Wilco's first concert documentary, thereby differentiating the film from I Am Trying to Break Your Heart, the band's first near-implosion-while-making-their-most-acclaimed-album documentary. Ashes of American Flags follows the band along their 2008 tour, as they play "five quintessentially American venues: Cain’s Ballroom in Tulsa, Tipitina’s in New Orleans, The Mobile AL Civic Center, The Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, and the 9:30 Club in Washington D.C. Between performances, we see the country’s landscapes drift by and get to know the people behind the music." As long as it features Jeff Tweedy self-deprecating and be-sweatered, we're happy.

O'Neal's back it up leads off the program, assembling the dancers in street/rehearsal clothes, very "Fame! I'm gonna live forever," with music by MF Doom, X Clan, Riuchi Sakamoto, Pete Rock & CLSmooth, and Cut Chemist (featuring Edan & Mr. Lif). Costumes for all the pieces are by Jessica Markiewicz, and they add a great deal to each. They warm up, step into dance floor moves, pop and lock, and in general, front like an MTV hip hop special. But there's a current of contact improv that flows through the piece--O'Neal said later she was thinking of Peter Pan and his shadow--where the dancers grab at each other's ankles and are pulled along or pull themselves. We're not sure why, but it pleased us, this disruptive play during what felt like a set of polished pros, strutting moves.