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Friday, June 6, 2008

SIFF 2008: Day 16 Recommendations

posted by on June 6 at 9:16 AM

Lots of repeats in the early slot. Check out the Icelandic policier Jar City (4 pm at the Egyptian), the gorgeous Monica Ali adaptation Brick Lane (4 pm at Uptown), the somber variety show You, the Living (4 pm at Pacific Place), or the not at all mocking documentary Anvil! The Story of Anvil (4 pm at SIFF Cinema).

Next is a bunch of stuff we (reluctantly) didn’t love. Try The Wave (6:30 pm at Pacific Place), if only for too hear from a real-life participant in the infamous but ill-documented Wave experiment that turned a bunch of innocent American high school students against democracy. (Ron Jones and Phillip Neel should be in attendance.) You could also opt to see Tom Hanks’s spitting image (but for the upturned little nose), his son Colin, in attendance at the lackluster but not unenjoyable The Great Buck Howard (7 pm at the Egyptian). I would avoid Ramchand Pakistani (7 pm at SIFF Cinema). Depressing topics should never be addressed with such colorful cheer.

in the late slot, two Don’t Miss! documentaries battle it out: Stranded: I’ve Come From a Plane that Crashed on the Mountains (9:15 pm at the Egyptian) is about the survivors of the incident that inspired the narrative film Alive!.

Stranded

And Be Like Others (9:15 pm at the Harvard Exit) is the sex-change-operations-in-Iran doc I’ve been talking up since the festival began. It’s fantastic.

We also love the midnight show: Otto, or, Up With Dead People (12 am at the Egyptian). David Schamder describes it as “a compelling mishmash of zombie drama, art-house pretension, queer theory, AIDS allegory, vegetarian treatise, hardcore porn, faux documentary, and a good, old-fashioned homosexual blood feast.”

Complete guide and collected SIFF Slog posts at thestranger.com/siff.

RSS icon Comments

1

Jar City is on my top list, and Brick Lane was a great movie that grows even more after you've seen it.

Otto sounds fun, nothing like a midnite upbeat zombie movie to put life in perspective.

The Great Buck Howard looks very fun - but it should be in theaters later if you miss it.

Oh, and La France ... just barely escaped getting 1 out of 5 from five people I know - I gave it a 2 for a few scenes that kept me and others from walking out part way thru the movie.

Captain Abu Raed - is that coming back? It's a 5 out of 5 for a bunch of people I know.

Saturday has The Drummer, Half-Life (editor and co-producer at screening), Late Bloomers, Timecrimes and ... MIDNITE is Sukiyaki Western Django! way to end the day!

Posted by Will in Seattle | June 6, 2008 10:25 AM
2

Captain Abu Raed doesn't have U.S. distribution at present, but it seems like a natural for Seattle's only film distributor, Typecast Films, which specializes in films from and about the Arab world. You might try emailing them at info@typcastfilms.com and let them know you'd like to see it in theaters.

Posted by annie | June 6, 2008 2:30 PM

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