Instead of watching Max Rose (which offers a great performance by Jerry Lewis, but a script that's "a bunch of manipulative claptrap") try one of our critic-approved picks this weekend. Celebrate the opening of the Local Sightings Film Festival, check out new releases like The Magnificent Seven and My Blind Brother, and on Friday, don't miss an evening of film, art, and performance centered around the iconic documentary Streetwise. As always, check out our complete movie times calendar for even more options.
NEW RELEASES
1. The Magnificent Seven
To its credit, this third Magnificent Seven doesn't try to ape either Akira Kurosawa or the 1960 film. This is an all-out Antoine Fuqua production, with the director doing a solid job transporting his fast-cut action to the Old West. If one thing can be said of this Seven in comparison to previous iterations, it's that this one definitely has the most explosions. It also has the best cast: If there's a way to make a movie starring Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt, Ethan Hawke, Vincent D'Onofrio, Peter Sarsgaard, and Byung-hun Lee and not have it be super fun to watch, scientists have yet to discover it. ERIK HENRIKSEN
2. My Blind Brother
The parade of projects featuring Parks and Recreation alumni continues with British filmmaker Sophie Goodhart's directorial debut, an expansion of her 2003 New York University short. Ohio-based brothers Robbie (Adam Scott with an odd little-boy haircut) and Bill (Nick Kroll, believably down-to-earth) are fully grown adults who still live at home. Bill, a pot-smoking sugar addict who manages a print shop, has been catering to the needs of his visually impaired sibling for years, and he's just about had enough. KATHY FENNESSY
LIMITED RUNS
Thursday Only
3. Author: The JT LeRoy Story
In the documentary, Laura Albert stares at the camera and tells the gripping, name-droppy, gossipy, brutal, tangled story sheâs told before. Her analyst, Dr. Terrance Owens, suggested she try writing as a way to deal with trauma related to serial childhood abuse. She invented the suicidal, HIV-positive, genderfluid literary persona Jeremy âTerminatorâ Leroy, who would go on to write the best-selling novel Sarah and story collection The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things, pieces of purple prose about underage âlot lizardsâ and other vaguely country outcasts. RICH SMITH
SIFF Cinema Uptown and Sundance Cinemas
4. National Theatre Live: The Threepenny Opera
Watch a live broadcast of The Threepenny Opera at the National Theatre, a production that The Independent's Alice Saville called a "snarling, sexy beast of a show."
SIFF Cinema Uptown
Friday Only
5. Streetwise
This evening of film, art, and performance promises a screening of iconic documentary Streetwise (about people without homes in Seattle) as well as art-making, spoken word, and live music.
Olympic Sculpture Park
Saturday-Sunday
6. Seattle Theater Group Presents The Rocky Horror Picture Show
Everyone's favorite disturbingly sexy despotic scientist returns to the Neptune. The film starts at eight, but come early for STG's costume party, shadow-casting, and other diabolical festivities.
Neptune Theatre
All Weekend
7. The Beatles: Eight Days a WeekâThe Touring Years
The world needs a new Beatles documentary like it needs another garbage gyre in the Pacific Ocean, but The Beatles: Eight Days a Week plays it smart by selecting a single lane of the Fab Four's sprawling saga and following it from start to finish. Director Ron Howard's slick but enjoyable movie focuses on the group solely as a touring and performing entity during the Beatlemania years of the early and mid 1960s. NED LANNAMANN
SIFF Cinema Uptown
8. Captain Fantastic
In Captain Fantastic, this alternative family has to leave their little compound to attend a funeral, and in the outside world, we get to observe their smug disconnection from society alongside their admirably thoughtful, sustainable, and creative approach to life. Any audience would have a hard time not laughing out loud at the quick, complex jokesâbut liberal Seattleites will get an extra kick when they recognize themselves in the characters. The mood shifts constantly, so that at any given moment the familyâs lifestyle seems either ideal or like a mild form of child abuse. JULIA RABAN
Guild 45th
9. Ghostbusters
Because Iâm so enthralled by all four lead actors, and even more enthralled by watching the world of bitter, obstructionist dorks implode with rage over their casting, I was almost ecstatic to see how well the whole thing turned out. Itâs not just that it works and is hilarious and has great special effects and all the candyâIt's also a perfect commentary on gender inequality in movies. Leading by example. SEAN NELSON
Meridian 16
10. Hunt for the Wilderpeople
Sure, Hunt for the Wilderpeopleâs scope is small, but it gives you everything you could want from a movie: Itâs smart, emotional, and even a bit action-packed once Ricky and Hec embark on an unplanned adventure in the forest. But most of all, itâs funny. So, so funny. Wilderpeople is a hugely loveable movie thatâs suitable for date night or the whole family, and I know that sounds like a hacky movie poster blurb. But when a movieâs this good, itâs tough to avoid clichĂ©s, so Iâll leave you with another: Donât miss it. NED LANNAMANN
Ark Lodge Cinema and Varsity Theatre
11. The Light Between Oceans
In the wake of World War I, people were defined by what they had lost. A generation of young men had been scorched from the earth, leaving a corresponding generation of young women desperate to find a match and begin the work of repopulating their communities. Itâs helpful, when embarking into the sheer sadness of Derek Cianfranceâs The Light Between Oceans, to bear this pressure in mind. If women have more or less always been expected to be mothers, this job was considered all the more noble in an era when so many lives had been eradicated. Imagine the pressure on a daughter whose brothers are all dead. MARJORIE SKINNER
Meridian 16
12. Local Sightings Film Festival
Khalik Allah, the photographer and filmmaker who directed the gorgeously hypnotic Field Niggas and was one of the cinematographers for Beyonce's equally gorgeous but far more commercial Lemonade, will be one of three jurors at this year's Local Sightings. This event, which features the best films that our region has to offer, will have an astounding 21 features and 77 short films. Allah, along with Paula Bernstein and Sudeep Sharma, will select the winners and hand out prizes to the best of our best. The festival will also include an Indigenous Showcase by Tracy Rector, one of the nominees for this year's Stranger Genius Awards. All of this is very exciting, and I think we have NWFF's new executive director, Courtney Sheehan, to thank for much of this excitement. CHARLES MUDEDE
Northwest Film Forum
This weekend, don't miss The Draft and the Vietnam Generation, Northwestern Experiments, Best of Seattle Web Fest, Milk Men, and The Tree Inside (on Saturday) and The Way We Talk and Cthulhu (on Sunday).
13. Southside With You
In service of the Obama storyâand the bigger story outside all of thatâSouthside with You presents a presidential rom-com in the midst of one of the ugliest election seasons in recent memory. The film follows a young, chain-smoking Barack Obama (Parker Sawyers) and a deeply principled Michelle Robinson (Tika Sumpter) as they traverse Chicago's South Side on their first "date." Southside with You, while sweet and overly schmaltzy at times, powerfully reminds viewers that the story the Obamas gave us over the past eight yearsâan eight years that may look a paradise if Trump winsâis one worth holding onto and retelling for future generations. SYDNEY BROWNSTONE
Sundance Cinemas
14. War Dogs
Like black licorice or the PT Cruiser, Jonah Hill is divisive. I have friends who canât get enough of his potty-mouthed braggadocio, and others who only watch his movies on the off chance there might be a scene where he gets punched in the face. War Dogs, his latest odyssey of swearing, sex workers, and spreadsheets, probably isnât going to change your mind either way, but itâs a damn good time if youâre picking up what Hillâs putting down. BEN COLEMAN
Meridian 16
CONTINUING RUNS
15. Blair Witch
I wouldnât wish this exhausting nightmare on my worst enemyâand at the same time, I recommend it. The copious jump scares and sound effects are impressive and relentless; the last third of the movie reduced me to a nauseous, hyperventilating blob with my fingers splayed over my face in terrorâŠand I was far from the most frazzled person in the theater. I felt physically ill with fear, and the moment the film ended I was flooded with relief and joy. The whole endeavor made me question why I continue to watch horror movies at all. Itâs not particularly intellectual or artistic or thought-provoking, but damn, does it feel good when itâs over. JULIA RABAN
16. Bridget Jones's Baby
Bridget Jones is a figurehead for the romantic comedy genreâa genre oft-reviled for letting a plot device as simple as finding love carry a film. But come on: This is something that people, both men and women, want in our lives. Bridget Jones, as both a character and romcom juggernaut, shouldnât be faulted for celebrating this pursuit. So why should we fault the (mostly female) public who will line up for this? ELINOR JONES
17. Don't Think Twice
The premise for Mike Birbigliaâs new filmâa follow-up to his 2012 debut, Sleepwalk with Meâprobably sounds insufferable. Basically, heâs gathered sketch-comedy performers from IFC, Comedy Central, and Netflix for a film about a New York improv troupe. Watch them succeed! Watch them fail! Watch them fall in and out of love! And thatâs exactly what happens. If the film isnât especially funnyâthe curse of most comedies about comedyâIâm not sure that was Birbigliaâs intention. Mostly, itâs like a lo-fi cover of Morrisseyâs âWe Hate It When Our Friends Become Successful.â Kind of whiny, kind of mean, and kind of true. KATHY FENNESSY
18. Hell or High Water
Leave it to a Scot to deliver the next great American western. Itâs possible director David Mackenzie (Starred Up) had the distance and perspective to depict Hell or High Waterâs depressed West Texas towns and dust-dry plains with unvarnished truth. Maybe he recognized, from across the pond, a universal struggle in the specific plight of brothers Toby and Tanner Howard (Chris Pine and Ben Foster) as they try to hang on to their fatherâs ranch. Perhaps he sensed the timeliness of a story that depicts white American men running out of time, money, and land. More likely, Mackenzie had Taylor Sheridanâs (Sicario) superb script to navigate a path around the obvious men-with-guns clichĂ©s that make up Hell or High Waterâs western-noir milieu. Whatever the case may be, itâs resulted in a great film. NED LANNAMANN
19. Jason Bourne
Director Paul Greengrass and his co-scriptwriter Christopher Rouse (also the movieâs editor, interestingly) focus on a coterie of supporting characters, including Alicia Vikander as a smooth-skinned computer surveillance whiz, Vincent Cassel as a deadly âassetâ (translation: assassin), and Tommy Lee Jones as a melted jack-oâ-lantern whoâs also head of the CIA. Theyâre all tracking Bourne, who discovered his real identity in 2007âs The Bourne Ultimatum and feels bad about all the people he killed, so heâs taken on the life of a wandering bare-knuckle boxer, punching large men for cash throughout Eastern Europe. NED LANNAMANN
20. Kubo and the Two Strings
Set in ancient Japan, the fantasy film Kubo and the Two Strings (directed by Travis Knight, who was the lead animator for Coraline) doesnât just open on a note of despair, it lingers there. The early scenesâin which Kubo, the protagonist, takes care of his injured, confused mother, feeding her and putting her to bedâdonât serve as narrative contrast; instead, the melancholy convincingly follows him throughout the movie, and death is its central theme. While the gloomy, thoughtful premise will certainly appeal to adults searching for realism, kids will also appreciate the filmâs frankness and emotional honesty. Even more than that, they will be entranced with Kuboâs brand of magic. Go watch Kubo and the Two Strings now, for its expensive and gorgeous production value, and allow yourself to be pleasantly surprised by its complex emotionality. JULIA RABAN
21. Star Trek Beyond
Despite the 21st century having surpassed many of Roddenberry's wildest technological dreams, those of us living in 2016 find ourselves struggling with some of the same social and political issues as those who were alive in the 1960s. That can make Star Trek's interstellar utopia seem goofy and preposterousâlike it's merely one more fantasy world for us to gaze into as we retreat from reality. But every once in a while, the future of Star Trek can feel like something moreâlike a melding of entertainment and ideology, of adventure and potential. Every once in a while, Star Trek feels like an actual glimpse into a future. A future where, if we wanted, we could scrape the blood off our faces and do better. ERIK HENRIKSEN
22. Sully
The story of US Airways Flight 1549âwhich, in 2009, pilot Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger famously landed on the Hudson Riverâwas going to be made into a movie whether we wanted it or not. So the news that Clint Eastwood, nowadays a dimmed, decidedly disappointing figure, was going to direct was neither surprising nor exciting. I'm a bit relieved, then, to tell you that Sully is a far more successful exercise in both dramatic storytelling and patriotism than Eastwood's 2012 dialogue with a chair. NED LANNAMANN
