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Thursday, May 10, 2007

SIFF Schedule Out Now

posted by on May 10 at 14:04 PM

Click here for the schedule and upbeat film synopses (our guide, with at least 150 original reviews, will be published in two weeks). Members can buy tickets now; nonmembers have to wait until Sunday at noon.

The opening night film, Sundance favorite Son of Rambow (here’s the Variety review), is an unusual but solid choice.

Son of Rambow

SIFF openers tend to be somewhat frumpy and aimed at the oldsters; last year’s The Illusionist is a good example, though Miranda July’s Me and You and Everyone We Know in 2005 was another exception. Son of Rambow is about a couple of mismatched kids who try to produce a homemade sequel to Rambo: First Blood. It won’t open in theaters until 2008, so this is a really early glimpse.

There are some odd choices in the lineup. What’s with Peter Boal choosing to introduce the “classic film” Ballets Russes, which opened theatrically two years ago? Or the mediocre La Vie Promise, which screened at SIFF 2004 and came out on DVD relatively recently? (Yes, La Vie en Rose, aka La Môme, is new and by the same director, but….)

There are a few notable omissions: No Chicago 10 from Sundance? Unless Bruno Dumont’s Flandres is indeed going to get a theatrical run here—starting August 3 at Northwest Film Forum—but that would have been a nice preview. And, of course, Guy Maddin’s filmed-in-Seattle Brand Upon the Brain, about which more later.

But there’s plenty of good stuff to chose from. A few highlights: For the Bible Tells Me So and The Devil Came on Horseback and Manufactured Landscapes and Protagonist, four excellent docs from Sundance and/or Toronto. Arthouse favorites Apichatpong Weerasethakul and Tsai Ming-Liang have Syndromes and a Century and I Don’t Want to Sleep Alone (ps SIFF: Tsai is his last name). SXSW fave The Signal. Plus some delightful surprises: so far we’ve especially liked The Cloud, a nuclear teen romance; Running on Empty, about a German insurance salesman; Sweet Mud, an unusual Israeli coming-of-age story; Ghosts of Cité Soleil, a doc about pro-Aristide gangsters in Haiti’s largest slum; and Life in Loops, a remixed doc about the lives and aspirations of the working and underclasses around the world.

RSS icon Comments

1

Three cheers for "a nuclear teen romance" ... !!!
and "pro-Aristide gangsters."

Posted by Josh Feit | May 10, 2007 2:12 PM
2

The Illustionist was for "oldsters"? Apparently, 32 is old; I loved that film. The star, Jessica "7th Heaven" Beil, is only 25. C'mon!

Posted by wait | May 10, 2007 2:53 PM
3

Don't worry, I love lots of movies for oldsters. I do think The Illusionist was aimed at a slightly older audience--and young romantics.

Posted by annie | May 10, 2007 3:25 PM
4

The Illusionist was a delight. I enjoyed The Prestige up until the ending, but most people enjoyed the ending so I am forced to give it more credit than my subjective opinion calls for. They really aren't comparable, so I'm wondering why I just made somewhat of a correlation.

Son of Rambow hit me rough. I hate kids. The same thing happened with Mean Creek. I'm uber picky about my characters, and movies usually fail to bring realism to how kids actually behave. That's also subjective, but personal preference aside, SOR is an exceptional choice.

I have yet to ever attend SIFF. I'm relatively new to Seattle.

I love how Seattle Weekly placed Miller's Zoo review on the cover. Bestiality's dreamy apologists: Brian Miller on Zoo. Is this back-and-forth hatred a regular occurence? It seems childish. I like that.

Wow. I totally forgot where I was going with this.

Oh yes. Movies. Yay for movies!

Posted by Mr. Poe | May 10, 2007 3:56 PM
5

Another film attraction is out as well. NWFF's summer calendar. Check it out!

Posted by Tierney Gearon | May 10, 2007 5:22 PM
6

And, in the spirit of fairness, the Grand Illusion's calendar is out too. Their schedule is not online in full, so here's what's on through SIFF season:

PLAGUES & PLEASURES OF THE SALTON SEA (narrated by John Waters), May 18-24

PING PONG (dir. Fumihiko Sori), May 25-31

Early Haneke films in brand new prints:
THE SEVENTH CONTINENT, June 1-7
BENNY'S VIDEO, June 1-7
FUNNY GAMES, June 8-14
71 FRAGMENTS OF A CHRONOLOGY OF CHANCE, June 8-14


And let us not forget the Seattle True Independent Film Festival, which runs alongside SIFF. Full schedule will be available soon here.

Posted by annie | May 10, 2007 5:46 PM
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11

Alec Baldwin asks for his voice to be removed from an "unfair" documentary about Arnold Schwarzenegger...

Posted by Keith Champagne | May 21, 2007 5:10 AM
12

Alec Baldwin asks for his voice to be removed from an "unfair" documentary about Arnold Schwarzenegger...

Posted by Keith Champagne | May 21, 2007 5:12 AM
13

Alec Baldwin asks for his voice to be removed from an "unfair" documentary about Arnold Schwarzenegger...

Posted by Keith Champagne | May 21, 2007 5:14 AM
14

The Red Hot Chili Peppers are leading the way at this years MTV Europe music awards with four nominations.

Posted by Kelly Toro | May 22, 2007 10:26 AM
15

The first stage of a £150m investment in regional museums is praised for boosting visitor numbers.

Posted by Jarrod Partridge | May 22, 2007 11:25 AM
16

The first stage of a £150m investment in regional museums is praised for boosting visitor numbers.

Posted by Jarrod Partridge | May 22, 2007 11:27 AM
17

The first stage of a £150m investment in regional museums is praised for boosting visitor numbers.

Posted by Jarrod Partridge | May 22, 2007 11:27 AM

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