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Friday, June 8, 2007

SIFF 2007: Freaky Friday Highlights

posted by on June 8 at 11:49 AM

daywatch.jpg

If you haven’t seen the print edition of this week’s paper, there’s a sweetened and condensed “SIFF Picks” for week three of the festival on page 95. Check it out online here. Daily recommendations for the festival continue below and at www.thestranger.com/siff.

I’d say something about the films Thursday, but since I spent an hour driving around Magnuson Park with my son looking for the Pyramid practice for the Solstice Parade, I didn’t see any. Maybe I should get a cell phone… or a watch. Nah, all I need is my Platinum Pass to SIFF…

FRIDAY JUNE 8

Neptune, 4:30 pm. Rather than the Americanized version we saw recently in theaters in Geisha, you can watch the manga-inspired version of a girl’s life as a geisha in the Edo era instead, Sakuran. And this means you’ll get the extra added bonus of a sense of humor, colorful costumes, and a musical soundtrack that is not just old period music, but a mixture of jazz, electronica, and Japanese pop. Yes, the review in SIFF was by Charles Mudede, but in this case he’s right—go see it!

SIFF Cinema, 7 pm. All good films come from Canada, at least those about the sea. Especially documentaries, of which good ones with great photography are hard to find. Luckily for us, we have Sharkwater, an amazing film done by someone unafraid to show us the true tale of the wholesale worldwide slaughter of sharks, including graphic footage of their fins being ripped off and then having their shuddering finless bodies tossed back to sink to the bottom in agony. Not only that, but we have Canadian Rob Stewart hugging sharks underwater, being chased by Central American shark poachers in a gunboat, narrow escapes from the law, and nearly losing his leg. Good thing Charles Mudede didn’t review this, but the SIFF buzz says it’s a great film, and Jen Graves agreed.

Harvard Exit, 9:30 pm. Sophie Fiennes may be the sister of actors Ralph and Joseph Fiennes, but she’s also the director of The Pervert’s Guide to Cinema, an innovative documentary/travelogue/academic lecture by the Slovenian philosopher de jour Slavoj Zizek, with his peculiar brand of cerebral slapstick. This has Zizek placed in 43 seminal films, discoursing on the nature of desire, death, and our addiction to fantasy, be it in Blue Velvet, The Birds, or City Lights. Peter Bowen reviewed this. Go see it so that everyone that I know can go see the other 9:30 pm movie instead!

SIFF Cinema, 9:30 pm. Trail of the Screaming Foreheads. It’s like retro schlock. Monster-wriggling foreheads invade earth and spread—what Tarantino’s codirector in Grindhouse should have been doing instead of the lame plotless farce he cranked out. Another good thing to see instead of my choice for a 9:30 pm flick!

Neptune, 9:30 pm. Whatever you do, don’t go see this film, because everyone I know (including myself and my son) will be watching Day Watch. Yes, it’s the sequel to Night Watch, which wowed the audiences of SIFF before. Yes, it has the epic quest for Magic Chalk, cars racing on the sides of buildings, the battle between good and evil, a son who has chosen the dark path while his father has chosen the path of light. Sure it has hot Russian women in black leather outfits that make your jaw drop, and men in cool suits or scruffy street wear, enough to satisfy your prurient lust no matter if you’re gay, straight, bi, or transgender. Sure, it has a rocking soundtrack that will have you bouncing for joy for the next week. But if you go see it, how will I get a row of five seats all together for my friends and I to go see it? So, if you have to see it, go see it at Lincoln Square on Sunday instead, and skip the U.S. Premiere tonight…

RSS icon Comments

1

Night Watch was horrible. Day Watch is likely to blow hard and fast. Especially if I have to watch that bumbling douchebag of a main character again.

Posted by Mr. Poe | June 8, 2007 12:06 PM
2

will is murdering the english language--and my brain cells. please slog, make it stop. let fnarf do will's posts instead.

Posted by dying | June 8, 2007 12:26 PM
3

@1 - me and my friends thank you. have fun at the other movie you chose.

Besides, Fnarf is too busy being Charles right now.

Posted by Will in Seattle | June 8, 2007 12:55 PM
4

MSN I NIIPET
MSN

Posted by Bill | June 12, 2007 3:08 PM

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