From the Apr 28 – May 4, 2005 issue

Film

Film Shorts

LIMITED RUN


Amnesty International Film Festival
A series of documentaries about human rights, both here and abroad. All films screen at Wyckoff Auditorium on the Seattle University campus. Darfur: Peace Under Fire, Fri April 29 at 5:30 pm. An Independent Media Center video from Palestine, Fri April 29 at 6:30 pm. The Other Side of War: The Expulsion of Ethnic Eritreans from Ethiopia, Sat April 30 at 1 pm. Policing the Police: Northern Ireland's Marching Season, Sat April 30 at 3 pm. A Great Wonder: The Lost Children of Sudan, Sat April 30 at 4 pm.

Big City Dick
It would have been far too easy for the creators of Big City Dick: Richard Peterson's First Movie to do a disservice to their subject. Street musician and Johnny Mathis/Sea Hunt obsessor Richard Peterson is, like all obsessives, readily mockable. But Big City Dick isn't interested in mocking, and the end result is one of the most endearing documentaries you'll ever encounter. (BRADLEY STEINBACHER) Rendezvous, Thurs-Sun 7 pm.

Children of Nature
A 1991 film about budding romance in a Reykjavik old folks' home. Nordic Heritage Museum, Thurs April 28 at 7 pm.

Class of 1984
The cult favorite about a new teacher and a thug student who face off in an '80s high school. Northwest Film Forum, Fri-Sat 11 pm.

The Fearless Freaks
For those who only know the Flaming Lips for their most recent recording, Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, this documentary will come as a shock. Chronicling the bands 22-year existence--from their early days as a self-described "hillbillies gone punk version of the Who," to their current heavily digital incarnation--Bradley Beesley's film is as intimate and exhaustive as only a work 15 years in the making can be. For fans of the Lips, this is something not to be missed. (BRADLEY STEINBACHER) Northwest Film Forum, Fri-Wed 7, 9 pm.

The Girl From Monday
In Hal Hartley's newest digital venture, Brazilian model Tatiana Abracos plays a incorporeal alien who's occupying the body of a human while she's on Earth. She spends a lot of time lounging around this guy's apartment, opening her pretty eyes wide as she tries out her elegant, attenuated limbs and gradually learns about liquor and sex. Meanwhile, the owner of the apartment (Hartley regular Bill Sage) is busy fighting a cool counterrevolution against a "dictatorship of the consumer" that has branded everyone's wrists with bar codes and linked sexual promiscuity with "buying power." The plot is propelled by a ponderous, semi-mystical voice-over that keeps repeating, "It's such a long way down, and strange. The word becomes flesh. No, the body becomes... what?" The digital photography serves its disorienting purpose--electric-blue ocean, lurid orange city--and the flat, serious acting style makes silly lines like "You are sentenced to two years hard labor... teaching high school" seem mildly amusing. But ultimately, even the arch tone of the film can't compensate for the hollow, oversexed plot. (ANNIE WAGNER) Director in attendance Fri April 29 only. Northwest Film Forum, Fri April 29 at 8 pm, Sat-Thurs 7, 9 pm.

Himalayan Art & Film Festival
Part of the Northwest Yoga and Meditation Festival, this showcase features a number of recent films about Tibet, Buddhism, and more. All screenings take place in the Northwest Rooms at Seattle Center. Tibet: Cry of the Snow Lion, Thurs 4 pm, Sat 7:30 pm, Sun 6:30 pm. The Yogis of Tibet, Thurs 7 pm, Sat 6 pm. Bhutan: The Last Shangri-La, Fri 7 pm, Sun 4 pm. Into Thunder Dragon, Sun May 1 at 5:15 pm. Nima Temba Sherpa, Sat April 30 at 5 pm. Farther Than the Eye Can See, Fri April 29 at 4, 8:30 pm.

No Regrets for Our Youth
Akira Kurosawa's 1946 film about a professor who is forced out of his position because of his political views. Gowen Hall Room 201, UW campus, Mon May 2 at 6 pm.

Purple Rain
The artist who will forever be known as Prince stars as a Minneapolis rocker fond of driving his motorcycle out of alleys without checking for traffic, probably because he knows the film crew has blocked the traffic for him. A sing-along screening at Egyptian, Sat April 30 at midnight.

Rashomon
Akira Kurosawa's groundbreaking film in which a heinous crime is fractured by multiple, conflicting narrators. Gowen Hall Room 201, UW campus, Mon May 2 at 8:30 pm.

Rififi
Telling the story of Tony le Stephanois, a newly sprung bank robber who engineers the perfect caper, Rififi is a delirious fantasia of gangster ethics and underworld locales, artfully framed in a baroque, twisting plot and hung lovingly against the gorgeous backdrop of Parisian streets. The performances are excellent, the cinematography is stunning, the music is dead-on, the plot is an economic wonder, and the virtually silent, gleefully long heist scene is a tingling, ecstatic, sustained act of brilliance--a sacrament of the cinema. Dazzling, ornate, and artfully crafted, Rififi is, it cannot be disputed, a work of perfection. (JAMIE HOOK) Seattle Art Museum, Thurs May 5 at 7:30 pm.

Seattle Polish Film Festival
The 13th local festival of Polish films, all screening at the Seattle Art Museum. Highlighs include the Academy Award-nominated The Children of Leningradsky, about homeless children in post-Soviet Russia. Never Ever, Fri April 29 at 7 pm. Third, Fri April 29 at 9 pm. Dry Summer in Dry Valley, Sat April 30 at 2 pm. Children of Leningradsky plays with Yellow Scarf, Sat April 30 at 4 pm. SPAM, Sat April 30 at 6 pm. Saved by a Miracle, Sat April 30 at 8 pm. The Land of Poland plays with To the Offspring, Sun May 1 at 2 pm. Ubu King, Sun May 1 at 4 pm. Rh+, Sun May 1 at 6 pm. Garden of Earthly Delights, Sun May 1 at 8 pm. See www.polishfilms.org for details.

Short Cut to Nirvana: Kumbh Mela
See review this issue. Varsity, Daily 2, 4, 7:15, 9:45 pm.

Tasveer: Traveling Film South Asia
A festival of South Asian documentaries. All screenings take place at 911 Media Arts. In Search of a Song, about a journalist who tracks down a Nepalese folk song in the highlands north of Katmandu, screens Fri April 29 at 7 pm. History for Winners, about a Nepalese singer trying to make a comeback, follows, Fri April 29 at 9 pm.

Touchez Pas Au Grisbi
The aging-gangster story is not extraordinary, true, but it's the style of the film that make it so wonderful. For example, there is a scene in which Jean Gabin--who has just figured out that a young usurper is after his loot--is preparing to talk with his dumb partner about the difficulties they now face as a result of his imprudence. But before he gets down to business, Gabin lays out on the coffee table a spread of hard bread, pâté, and a bottle of wine. Only after serving the food and eating does he address the matter at hand. The scene's only purpose is to enhance the style of the film and the cool of its leading actor, the great Jean Gabin. (CHARLES MUDEDE) Seattle Art Museum, Thurs April 28 at 7:30 pm.

The Trial
Orson Welles' stunningly great adaptation of Kafka's stunningly great novel stars Anthony Perkins, Jeanne Moreau, Romy Schneider, and Welles himself. Movie Legends, Sun May 1 at 1 pm.

Twisted Flicks: The Terror from Beyond Space
The 1958 science fiction film gets the Mystery Science Theater treatment from Jet City Improv. Historic University Theater, Thurs-Sat 8 pm.

Vertical Ray of the Sun
The Sex and Food in the Films of Asia series kicks off with this Vietnamese film. The director of The Scent of Green Papaya tells this story of a tightly knit family, offering candid observations of everyday rituals, potentially destructive secrets, and the closeness of two siblings that borders upon the incestuous. Ethnic Cultural Theater, Sun May 1 at 6 pm.

Vice Squad
A 1982 film by Gary Sherman about a murderous pimp named Ramrod. Grand Illusion, Fri-Sat 11 pm.

Watermarks
A documentary about the women swimmers who trained at the Jewish sports club Hakoah Vienna in the 1930s. Grand Illusion, Weekdays 7, 9 pm, Sat-Sun 3, 5, 7, 9 pm.

Wild Zero
Japanese punk rockers save the world! This movie has it all--alien zombies, a superhero band, a drug-gulping club owner, a leggy gun runner, and transvestite love. The film's message is captured when Guitar Wolf (YAY! GUITAR WOLF!) jumps off the top of a building screaming "rock 'n' roll!" only to land on two feet, re-tune his guitar, and stroke a chord. (AARON ZUEGE) Savery Hall Room 239, UW campus, Thurs April 28 at 7:30 pm.

Woman in the Dunes
Hiroshi Teshigahara's 1964 film about an entomologist trapped in the desert with a widow (a woman, not a spider). Savery Hall Room 239, UW campus, Tues May 5 at 7:30 pm.

NOW PLAYING


The Amityville Horror
Based on a true story: house for a song, dark past, black gunk on the walls, something in the cellar, flies on the priest, yadda yadda yadda, "Get Out!" and so on. The screaming demon from the original may have toned it down decibel-wise, but that's really the only subtle thing about this Michael Bay-produced remake of one of the least fondly remembered '70s horror flicks, which tries to justify its existence by swapping out the old tired horror clichés for weary new ones (stringy-haired she-ghosts, rapid-fire CGI). Not a complete waste--there's one genuinely tense bit on the roof, Ryan Reynolds has some cool facial hair, and a sequence involving a sexpot babysitter trapped in the closet favorably recalls the grisly grindhouse days--but nothing worth justifying anything above matinee price. I just pray they leave The Entity alone. (ANDREW WRIGHT)

Beauty Shop
I had no idea Kevin Bacon was in this movie and then--POOF!--there he was, acting all pompous and French and sporting the worst hairdo he's ever had in the history of all Kevin Bacon hairdos. It was quite exciting. The rest of the movie, though, was a lot like Barbershop except all the roles are reversed. (MEGAN SELING)

Born Into Brothels
Rare is the documentary that feels too short, but this wrenching, multiple award-winning look at kids growing up within the squalid red-light sector of India begs for a more detailed exploration. As it stands, the glimpses we see of them and their all-too-knowing interactions with their hellish surroundings are somehow both too much, and not nearly enough. (ANDREW WRIGHT)

Bride & Prejudice
I'm happy to report that adapter Paul Mayeda Berges and co-adapter/director Gurinder Chadha, best known for her adorable girl-power anthem Bend It Like Beckham, lose no sleep over fitting the plot of Pride and Prejudice into a Bollywood mold. The end result doesn't bear the faintest resemblance to Jane Austen, and truth be told, it doesn't cleave too closely to Bollywood conventions either. Bride & Prejudice--even the title makes me simultaneously cringe and cackle--is shorter than you'd expect, some of the colors in that big party scene look a bit washed out, and a certain character bears an unmistakable resemblance to Ali G. But who cares? (ANNIE WAGNER)

Constantine
As crackpot Catholicism goes, Constantine ain't half bad--in fact, I enjoyed it far more than I expected. Keanu Reeves may struggle mightily during some of the quiet moments (if Latin wasn't already a dead language, he'd surely kill it), but his stumbles are more than made up for by the always welcome presence of Rachel Weisz. (BRADLEY STEINBACHER)

Dear Frankie
The premise of Dear Frankie, the latest lightly accented and life-affirming import from the good folks at Miramax, is enough to make the wary reach for the insulin: a stalled-in-neutral woman with a mysterious past (Emily Mortimer) hires a strong and silent sailor (Gerard Butler) to impersonate her deaf son's long-absent father for a weekend. Romance blossoms, life lessons are learned, shaky family ties are strengthened, etc. While it certainly sounds precious enough, it is to the film's credit that things never quite develop in the way expected, and with a mildly bittersweet resolution unusual to the genre. (ANDREW WRIGHT)

Downfall
There are a lot of sentimental war moments in Downfall, and the conceit that we are watching through the eyes of Hitler's sheltered and therefore ignorant (and therefore blameless) secretary, is flimsy on many levels. Because the characters are Nazis, their panic and its subsequent rash of suicides and murders are deeply satisfying. Because it's a movie, however, you're left with the unpleasant prospect of watching a bunch of rats slowly drowning for two and a half hours. There are better ways to go. (SEAN NELSON)

Fever Pitch
Fever Pitch isn't as funny as other Farrelly classics. It still has that "cute as fuck" spin to it that is utterly unhateable (even if you usually don't like the whole romantic comedy thing), but no nuts will be busted this time around. (MEGAN SELING)

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
The nerdy Douglas Adams book gets a flashy makeover, care of director Garth Jennings and such fancy character actors as John Malkovich and Mos Def.

The Interpreter
The Interpreter turns what could have been a smart and twisty political thriller--with heavy emphasis on political--into a bogged-down and bland mulling over of wounded souls and suppressed sexual attraction. It's hard to care about the characters played by Nicole Kidman and Sean Penn, since the actors seems to care very little about the characters themselves (she hides beneath a weak accent; he is in full-blown Penn mumbling mode), and with their brooding relationship (kept chaste, thankfully) routinely burying the intricacies of the plot, interest easily wanes. (BRADLEY STEINBACHER)

King's Ransom
Anthony Anderson plays Malcom King, a businessman who arranges his own kidnapping for fun and profit.

Kung Fu Hustle
Stephen Chow's Kung Fu Hustle, in which snazzy ax-wielding mobsters find themselves thwarted by a slum in which virtually every single senior citizen possesses mad fighting skills, is a loving send-up of seemingly every martial arts convention in the book. If you're in the mood for this sort of thing, the first 40 minutes or so are close to dead-solid perfect, culminating in an extended sight gag involving snakes and misthrown butcher knives which belongs in the physical comedy Parthenon. The second half, in which Chow's sad sack gangster wannabe takes a backseat to colossal bouts of CGI combat, suffers somewhat, but only in the sense that the inspired gags slow down to one or two per frame. (ANDREW WRIGHT)

Look At Me
Amid the unceasing slew of soft-focus, easily multiplexed foreign fare, director Agnes Jaoui's 2000 debut The Taste of Others was a welcome blast of unpredictable air, a razor-sharp farce that gloried in the complex nature of its characters. Jaoui's follow-up, the occasionally plodding yet mostly wonderful Look At Me, revels in a series of similarly hard-to-guess Lockhorn pairings, the most intriguing of which involves a monstrously egotistical writer (co-writer Jean-Pierre Bachri) and his fiercely body-conscious daughter. While the potentially hoary themes of self-worth and family foibles will no doubt have the remake police licking their chops, the breezy, hyper-literate vibe, which feels like it could peel out into pathos or screwball comedy at any moment, should prove much less replicable. Jauoi is quickly proving herself as one to keep an eye on, and possibly even more; any filmmaker who can successfully quickdraw between lilting chorals and House of Pain on the soundtrack is potentially one for the vaults. (ANDREW WRIGHT)

A Lot Like Love
The worst thing about this romantic comedy is the torturous dates the two would-be lovers (Ashton Kutcher and Amanda Peet) go on whenever they meet up. Since they have awful, deadening California lives, they try to recapture their shared, spontaneous Manhattan history (which, by this point in the movie, we also remember fondly) by abandoning all semblance of adult conversation. Nostalgia for the recent past blurs with nostalgia for kindergarten, and the two overgrown babies spend all their time sticking straws up their noses and spitting mouthfuls of water at each other. And when plastic walrus tusks get old, they take long-exposure photographs of themselves embracing naked on a rock in Joshua Tree National Park. They never should have left New York. (ANNIE WAGNER)

Madison
In a town where the very name of Chip Hanauer inspires frequent genuflecting, a movie about hydroplanes hits the screen with a large amount of goodwill. The proudly retro sports saga Madison, which finally sees a release after idling on a studio shelf since 2001, derives a certain amount of hokey satisfaction from its rumbling backdrop, but buries most of its advantage in a lather of excess vanilla. (ANDREW WRIGHT)

Melinda and Melinda
Melinda and Melinda is a return to two forms: the tragic and comic strands of marital fidelity that the auteur has tirelessly (and often tiresomely) been threading over the course of his once-brilliant, ever-increasingly meaningless oeuvre. (NATE LIPPENS)

Millions
Danny Boyle has crafted a kid-friendly fable with enough sly modern-day relevance to keep adults from checking their watches. (ANDREW WRIGHT)

Oldboy
In terms of sheer virtuosic moxie, director Chan-wook Park's vision (a SIFF favorite for his earlier films Joint Security Area and Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance) is close to faultless: visually dazzling, darkly funny, and consistently, astonishingly, inventive. That said, his chosen subject matter and delivery are so relentlessly and ruthlessly vile that even the most rabid pulp enthusiasts might find the need to scrub down with steel wool afterwards. (ANDREW WRIGHT)

Sahara
Thankfully, only the barest plot and character elements are held over from Clive Cussler's virtually unreadable doorstop of a novel, which is the kind of tech-heavy, mondo-macho potboiler that stewardesses must get tired of sweeping up after every flight. What still remains: Matthew McConaughey's THC-saturated, lounge-lizardy persona , which is far from the standard Man of Action template, but adds a wobbly nonchalance to his various acts of over the top derring-do. (ANDREW WRIGHT)

Sin City
To call the film an adaptation is a massive understatement; this isn't a translation, it's a cut-and-paste job, bringing Frank Miller's twisted vision directly to the screen in all its unfiltered glory. The result is one of the most daring and beautifully made films you'll ever see--too bad, then, that it's as thin as the pages the comic was printed on. (BRADLEY STEINBACHER)

Steamboy
Steamboy, Katsuhiro Otomo's monstrously anticipated comeback, ditches his familiar Neo-Tokyo stomping grounds for an equally insanely rendered 19th century London. Unfortunately, although the copious technology built on acres of shuddering cogs and gears is unquestionably neat (dig those steam-emitting flying stormtroopers!), the sheer flabbergasting level of detail, and over-reliance on third act super-sized explosions, eventually proves exhausting. (ANDREW WRIGHT)

Turtles Can Fly
Even the most jaded CNN junkies may find their limits tested by Turtles Can Fly, a devastating new movie by Bahman Ghobadi (A Time for Drunken Horses) that focuses on children caught in the middle of Operation Enduring Freedom. A few hitches occasionally threaten to break the film's encompassing spell: Some of the nonprofessional child actors can be awfully shrill, and a serious case could be made that the director's use of children in manufactured peril eventually crosses the uneasy line between realism and overt manipulation. Still, it's impossible to deny the sheer shivery force of the film, and the overriding feeling that Ghobadi has somehow ripped the veil off of reality. When the bulk of the village gathers on a hill waiting for the war to start, it truly feels like the end of the world. (ANDREW WRIGHT)

The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill
On paper, this documentary about the five-year relationship between a gentle, sporadically homeless hippie with no visible means of support and an unruly flock of birds sounds like a recipe for instant tooth decay. Darned if it doesn't work, though. Despite a few unfortunately syrupy music cues and an occasional drift into the land of the overly cutes, director/photographer Judy Irving's film is a refreshingly nonjudgmental, beautifully shot look at a genuine original, and the San Franciscan community that affectionately supports his decidedly unusual drumbeat. Mild tonal sputtering aside, this word-of-mouth art house phenom is the rare movie that honestly earns its sentimentality, with a Zapruderish photographic reveal in the final act that's seriously the most affecting thing I've seen all year. Stock up on Kleenex and take the folks. (Note: Star Mark Bittner is scheduled to make appearances at the Friday evening screenings.) (ANDREW WRIGHT)

XXX: State of the Union
Ice Cube takes over for Vin Diesel as a special agent, blah, blah, blah, nation's capital, blah, blah, blah, BOOM.