SIFF Is Coming: Earlier today, Seattle's film-reviewing media attended the SIFF Press Preview to get the skinny on everything the festival is presenting this year. Highlights include events with Laura Dern (she'll be attending screenings of Wild at Heart and the upcoming The Fault in Our Stars) and Chiwetel Ejiofor (he'll be at screenings of Half of a Yellow Sun and Serenity.) The festival will also include a special African film program, a screening of Rocky Horror Picture Show (which plays into SIFF's 40th anniversary celebration), and the usual blend of midnight movies, documentaries, and international cinema. The crowd responded most eagerly to trailers for A Brony Tale, They Came Together, and Boyhood. Read more about the festival at SIFF.net. Tickets will go on sale tomorrow.
Your Must-Attend Film Event for the Evening: Tonight at Scarecrow, the Chris Marker Group meets to watch films by Chris Marker, one of the oddest directors in the history of cinema, and also the director of the film that inspired 12 Monkeys, La Jetée. The films to be watched and discussed tonight will be Sans Soleil, The Trains Roll On, and Agnès Varda's Visit to Chris Marker's Studio. Mudede rates La Jetée (which you can watch on the web) as the greatest film ever made.
New VAG Gets Architects: Vancouver Art Gallery has chosen the architect for its new building: the Swiss firm Herzog & de Meuron, designers of the Tate Modern, the De Young Museum in San Francisco, and the Bird’s Nest Olympic Stadium in Beijing, among many other projects. They’ve been working all over the world for decades, but this would be their first building in Canada if realized. The VAG is a terrific institution, Herzog & de Meuron is a terrific firm, and the new building will be 300,000 square feet, doubling the current gallery space at the VAG; this is exciting news for Seattle, too. The other architects on the shortlist were SANAA, KPMB, Diller Scofidio + Renfro, and Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects. There aren’t designs to look at yet, but the firm plans to create a building that’s responsive to Vancouver.
Vote for Local Musician Kids! There are ten finalists, ages 6 to 20, in the running for the 2014 Young Artist Awards Competition organized by Classical KING FM and Seattle Chamber Music Society. On KING’s web site, you can vote once a day through May 16 for the young musician you want to win in two age categories.
Stolen Moments: John Jeremiah Sullivan has been accused of stealing notes and incorporating that stolen information into his recent New York Times Magazine story. Sullivan defends his actions.
Make More Superhero Movies Starring Women, Dammit: If you order a Happy Meal and you're a girl, you get Spider-Man toys that are all pink and covered in hearts.
EEE TOM HIDDLESTON EEE: Here's a way to celebrate the end of National Poetry Month: Galleycat discovered this video of Tom Hiddleston reading Shakespeare's "Sonnet 18," which is sure to inspire puddles in the underpants of more than a few Slog readers.
