Thursday, May 7, 2009
SIFF 2009 SIFF Lineup
Posted by Lindy West on Thu, May 7, 2009 at 7:02 PM
...is online. They've created this nifty little thing, which lets you browse films by genre, country, and venue in a tidy visual way (also available as an iPhone app, of course).
The opening night film is In the Loop, an alternately dry and goofy British satire about government bureaucracy, which I quite liked. (Here is a review from the Guardian.)
The centerpiece gala screening is Lynn Shelton's Humpday, which I'm sure you have heard about. (Fancy Magnolia Pictures trailer here.)
And the closing night film is French spy spoof thingy OSS 117: Lost in Rio. (Variety review here.)
There are approximately a billion other films playing at SIFF this year, some great, some not so great, and you can browse them all at the SIFF website.
Our big, beautiful SIFF guide will be coming out on May 21st, with tons of original reviews from the Stranger's finest, all of whom are currently drowning in DVDs. For YOU. Get excited!
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3
1) I hate how the "list all films" link on the siff site takes you to a page that lists all films across nine separate pages. Why don't they offer the ability to list all films on a single page?
2) The SIFFter is nice, but a bit slow on older computers. I don't understand why they've never offered the ability to search on multiple criteria via simple text-based pull-down menu (so someone could view all french comedies, for example).
3) I went to the press screening on Humpday and really enjoyed it. The gala/fest screenings of it should be pretty wild and fun.
(The Immaculate Conception of Little Dizzle was pretty amusing as well, if a bit long, but Humpday is in an entirely different league. If anyone was put off by locally made films after seeing Cthulhu in 2007, please don't let that stop you from seeing these two.)
2) The SIFFter is nice, but a bit slow on older computers. I don't understand why they've never offered the ability to search on multiple criteria via simple text-based pull-down menu (so someone could view all french comedies, for example).
3) I went to the press screening on Humpday and really enjoyed it. The gala/fest screenings of it should be pretty wild and fun.
(The Immaculate Conception of Little Dizzle was pretty amusing as well, if a bit long, but Humpday is in an entirely different league. If anyone was put off by locally made films after seeing Cthulhu in 2007, please don't let that stop you from seeing these two.)
4
Did you see that Novell and Intel have allied on a Moblin build that will put Android and W7 off the netbook!
This is cool stuff...my favorite distro maker will run on my Dell mini 9...not that I don't like Ubuntu as well!
This is cool stuff...my favorite distro maker will run on my Dell mini 9...not that I don't like Ubuntu as well!
5
From the Platinum party before the Members' Preview, and the Preview itself, the following is a short list of films that are probably going to be amazing:
Dead Snow - Scandinavian snow bunnies meet Nazi Zombies.
I SellThe Dead
Nak - animated thai ghost flic that the whole audience was going WOW at.
Departures - from Japan
The Clone Returns Home - from Japan
there are a lot of other films that looked good, it's going to be a good year!
You can rent Cthulhu at rain city video in Fremont ... but Humpday is getting raves.
Dead Snow - Scandinavian snow bunnies meet Nazi Zombies.
I SellThe Dead
Nak - animated thai ghost flic that the whole audience was going WOW at.
Departures - from Japan
The Clone Returns Home - from Japan
there are a lot of other films that looked good, it's going to be a good year!
You can rent Cthulhu at rain city video in Fremont ... but Humpday is getting raves.
7
Just saw "The Cove" last night at Hot Docs in Toronto, on the annual dolphin slaughter in Japan. It was flabbergasting stuff; fantastically pulled together, with wrenching footage. See it. It deserves support.
9
Will, would you marry me? Or at least domestic partner me?
On the first look through SIFF, those were the main standouts. Well, except for The Clone Returns Home.
I'm also excited about the majority of the midnight adrenaline hit or misses.
On the first look through SIFF, those were the main standouts. Well, except for The Clone Returns Home.
I'm also excited about the majority of the midnight adrenaline hit or misses.
10
Films that most major film festivals in the US screened this year that seem conspicuously missing fromSIFF include: 35 Shots of Rum (Claire Denis), La Belle Personne (Christophe Honore) France
Frontier of Dawn (Phillipe Garrel), The Girl on the Train (Andre Techine), Villa Amalia (Benoit Jacquot), Red Cliff, Part One & Two ( John Woo), Tony Manero, Unmade Beds (Alexis Dos Santos), Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea (Hayao Miyazaki), Paradise (Michael Almereyda), The Girlfriend Experience (Steven Soderbergh), Jerichow, The Chaser, Liverpool(Lisandro Alonso), RR ( James Benning),
Night and Day (Hong Sang-soo), When It Was Blue
I ask this same question every year I've been going (15 years!) why does SIFF miss the top 10-15 films released every year and more importantly why doesn't a single person in the media here ask this question?
Frontier of Dawn (Phillipe Garrel), The Girl on the Train (Andre Techine), Villa Amalia (Benoit Jacquot), Red Cliff, Part One & Two ( John Woo), Tony Manero, Unmade Beds (Alexis Dos Santos), Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea (Hayao Miyazaki), Paradise (Michael Almereyda), The Girlfriend Experience (Steven Soderbergh), Jerichow, The Chaser, Liverpool(Lisandro Alonso), RR ( James Benning),
Night and Day (Hong Sang-soo), When It Was Blue
I ask this same question every year I've been going (15 years!) why does SIFF miss the top 10-15 films released every year and more importantly why doesn't a single person in the media here ask this question?
11
Good midnight films, but those are acquired tastes, so I didn't want to recommend them to everyone.
12
@10 - some of those are at Cannes and couldn't finish in time to show at SIFF - the prob with overlapping Cannes.
13
Will, the real problem is that not a single one of these is in Cannes. They've all played somewhere in the US this year, and SIFF's approach seems to leave behind the cream of the crop every year. I still go to the festival, but I just wish they'd be a little more thoughtful.
14
@11 The only real losers from last year's midnight adrenaline were that French sci-fi sleeper and Donkey Punch. Yay for hit and miss.
15
@12 I do tend to agree with Old Man, somewhat. There were a lot of HIGH Profile foreign films at Cannes this year that aren't at SIFF. But, I attributed it to the whole being at Cannes thing. I mean, Vengence, Thirst, The White Band, Broken Embraces, and Enter the Void...just to name a few. And, Drag me to Hell...*twitch*
16
The titles I listed weren't in Cannes this year. They were however in San Francisco, Tribecca, Miami, Washington DC, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Portland, and many other US festivals this year. For some unknown reason, SIFF just didn't play them. I see absolutely no excuse for it. Just plain lack of focus, direction, and discretion. In other words a loosely curated program that passes for something of substance. I see no direction, no focus, and absolutely no interest in even trying to do so. It is what it is. A huge, bloated festival with a lot of mediocre films in it. Again I still go.
17
B-Side has an unofficial scheduler that will automatically optimize your SIFF schedule. http://seattle.bside.com/2009
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