• 71 - Into the Fire

We declare 71 - Into the Fire to be a DON'T MISS!

This toweringly accomplished new entry into the war film canon chronicles a crucial early battle of the Korean War—1950’s Pohang Middle School Battle—when a makeshift brigade of South Korean student soldiers were left as a first line of defense against North Korean forces. The youthful inexperience of the soldiers is made heartrendingly real, and battles are captured with a visceral precision made hyper-real in the editing room. But all visual trickery is in service of the message: War is hell—sometimes melodramatically so, sometimes in ways you never knew to fear—and those who partake of it will never be the same. DAVID SCHMADER

Another good idea is Sushi: The Global Catch:

A feature-length documentary about sushi! “Will the worldwide hunger for sushi continue to grow until wild fish vanish, or will new technology like aquaculture keep plates full? Can sustainable sushi restaurants satisfy consumers or will competition for declining resources drive prices so high that only a few can afford raw fish?” ONLY THIS MOVIE KNOWS!!!!

A third good idea is Third Star:

Three guys take their terminal-cancer-having friend (Benedict Cumberbatch from Sherlock) on a male-bonding hiking and camping trek to a favorite beach in Wales. The good-looking late-twentysomething men tromp through the countryside, goof around, talk, play practical jokes on each other, philosophize, and look for thrills. Facing the approaching death of one of their group, the old friends all do some soul-searching to evaluate their happiness and success in life. Third Star is a thoughtful and well-acted film with emotional resonance. GILLIAN ANDERSON

PLUS ALL OF THESE OTHER THINGS. Browse for yourself! Happy weekend!

SIFF 2011 ends this weekend. I've seen some exceptional movies this year. Seriously. It's one of my favorite times of the year. And it's even more amazing when you realize that the 35 SIFF movies I've seen to date don't even add up to 10% of all the movies that SIFF has played this year. Some have complained about the size of the festival, but I disagree with that argument; I think a buckshot approach is a valid way to get a sampling of the immensity of a year's worth of world cinema.

I make this case every year, but I think it's time to revisit: I really do wish SIFF was a month or two earlier. Every year, the most beautiful Seattle day in six months happens during SIFF, and people have to decide between staying out and enjoying the sun they haven't seen in ages or going inside a dark theater for a couple hours. What's more: The highest-grossing films of the year are traditionally being released at the same time. You could make the case that, say, X-Men: First Class audiences aren't going to go see SIFF movies, but I think you're oversimplifying Seattle theatergoers (I'd prefer to see both a SIFF movie and X-Men: First Class rather than choosing between the two, and I don't think I'm alone). You're pitting movie audiences against other movie audiences.

Add in Sasquatch and all the other outdoorsy festivals that happen during the three weeks of SIFF and the potential audience just gets smaller and smaller. If SIFF took place during three weeks in March or February, I would spend every night of the week theater-hopping because Seattle's late-winter options are so dire. I realize this presents all kinds of behind-the-scenes nightmares for programmers—right now, some of the best SIFF movies we see are a result of the fact that the festival shares at least part of the same schedule as Cannes, so lots of the prints are bouncing between Seattle and France in a tightly coordinated routine. But can't we piggyback on, say, Sundance? Living in Seattle means you have to struggle with an embarrassment of riches in the summer and sometimes starve for distractions in the late fall and winter. SIFF could be a part of the solution, not a part of the problem.

Is there anything you think SIFF could do differently? Do you think my ideas are stupid? Do you think SIFF is perfect just the way it is? Now is the time to have this conversation; with an organization this size, they probably start planning next year's festival the day after this year's festival ends.

SIFF has announced its last schedule additions, and Small Town Murder Songs has gotten another showing.

It's the story of a policeman (Peter Stormare from Fargo) working on a murder investigation in a small Ontario town with a large Mennonite population. The policeman is an ex-Mennonite who is born again but saddled with his own violent past. The whole thing is sparse and suspenseful and mesmerizing. The great cast includes Martha Plimpton and Jill Hennessy. Highly recommended!

Small Town Murder Songs plays Sun June 12, SIFF Cinema, 9:15 pm.

• The Catechism Cataclysm

But second and certainly not foreleast, there's all this other stuff!

At the Triple Door there are two screenings of Damien Jurado and the Russian Avant-Garde, which sounds neat:

Short films by French impressionist director Dimitri Kirsanoff (1899—1957) paired with a live score played by Damien Jurado. There will be an axe murder.

At the Egyptian it's The Redemption of General Butt Naked:

A rather astounding documentary about Liberia’s Joshua Milton Blahyl, a warlord whose terrifying guerilla tactics during his country’s Civil War led to the deaths of an estimated 20,000 people. Following the installation of a new regime, Blahyl reinvented himself as an evangelist, who now travels the country looking for (and in some queasy cases, demanding) forgiveness from the families of his former victims. But is his conversion legit, or just a way to escape answering for his crimes? Answer hazy, check back later. Shot over a period of five years, this fantastic film should inspire scads of post-screening discussions. ANDREW WRIGHT

We also loved Buck and Catechism Cataclysm and Princess and Heading West, but you should really just look at the whole list HERE because there's a bunch more. See you at happy hour!

Tonight at the Harvard Exit at 7 pm there's Bobby Fischer Against the World:

Chess master Bobby Fischer was a total fucking freak, and this documentary tells you all about it. He started out just a weird prodigy, but eventually became a crazed anti-Semite who was super into 9/11. Starred for total fucking freak factor!

Also, High Road, which I quite loved! (My interview with director Matt Walsh is here.) It's at the Egyptian at 9:30:

This largely improvised feature from the founder of the Upright Citizens Brigade “plays out like a stoner version of a French farce,” according to the SIFF people, “complete with misunderstandings, sexual innuendo, and even a little cross-dressing.”

If you find your body in Kirkland for some reason, the Kirkland Performance Center has Gandu for your eyeballs at 6:30 pm:

Gandu, which means “asshole” in Hindi, is about Gandu, a poor street beatboxer/asshole who makes friends with Ricksha, a Bruce Lee devotee/rickshaw driver. The story’s not really the point, though. Bandu is an anti-Bollywood manifesto. No colors, no heroes, no adventure, just rap soliloquies and a story that intentionally goes nowhere. “My life is a fucking fart,” Gandu comments. They smoke something—crack I think—out of a tinfoil dish, and get so high that the narrative begins to unravel. Poetic, brilliant, and sort of boring, Gandu feels short enough that the endless parade of confusing shit remains novel rather than exhausting. ERNIE PIPER IV

Plus all this other stuff! And more tomorrow!