Apart Together
  • Apart Together
Well, ARE YOU FREAKING THE FUCK OUT!? SIFF is officially upon us! I got SIFF all over me last night at the opening night gala (sticky!). You can check out everything that's playing today by clicking here. Tons of excellent options.


Gillian Anderson says DO NOT MISS How to Die in Oregon:

This fascinating documentary focuses on the people who are using Oregon’s Death with Dignity Act. The filmmakers follow a woman with terminal liver cancer as she faces her illness and decides whether to end her life before her suffering becomes excruciating—interviewing her, her doctor, her husband, and her children. It sounds depressing, but it actually demonstrates how people who have been sucked into the medical-industrial complex are relieved to finally have control over their bodies and their choices. The movie also looks at the woman who fought to get Initiative 1000 passed in Washington State. How to Die in Oregon shows people who make the decision to live a little less in order to go out on their own terms. Warning: Not for the squeamish.

Andrew Wright endorses Trollhunter:

This Norwegian entry in the found footage horror genre follows a college documentary crew who stumble upon a covert government plot to rid the countryside of its mythological creatures. (Did you know that trolls are attracted to both charcoal and the blood of Christians? Now you do.) Unlike most movies in the Blair Witch vein, this isn’t exactly stingy about showing off its monsters, which pays off hugely by the final, Godzilla-esque reel. A real corker of a midnight movie, featuring gigantic hairy beasties that resemble a cross between the works of Maurice Sendak and early Peter Jackson.

Charles Mudede adores 3:

With this film, the German director Tom Tykwer (he is known for his ‘90s hit Run Lola Run—a film that also launched Franka Potente’s career) has finally made a masterpiece. It’s about three professionals who become entangled. One of the professionals makes art, the second critiques it, and the third is a molecular geneticist. The first two are married; the third, the scientist, is a sexy, wonderfully slutty, confident bisexual. He seduces the married the couple. But he does not know the two are married. And the husband has no idea that his wife is having an affair with the same man he is having an affair with. The city of Berlin also stars in this lovely comedy.

And Apart Together:

This film, which opened the 2010 Berlin Film Festival, is simply superb. All of its main components (acting, cinematography, direction, art direction, editing) are strong and its plot manages to compress China’s great economic, social, and historical transformation into the intimate space of a working-class family. The movie is also about the city of Shanghai—its growth, its new and old buildings, its futuristic public transportation system, its unrestrained pride in its rise as an international financial center—and the daily rhythms of an urban Chinese family—cooking, eating, shopping, sleeping. The scene in the new and towering condo complex will break your heart.

And I just finished watching High Road, a feature directed Matt Walsh of Upright Citizens Brigade. It was funny and smart and sweet. I'll write more about it later.

We have plenty more recommendations for today—browse all of them here. And keep an eye on all of our SIFF coverage here! Happy weekend!