LIMITED RUN
The Apartment
This Academy Award–winning Billy Wilder classic from 1960 stars Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, and Fred MacMurray, and is a must for any right-thinking person who claims to enjoy film. Movie Legends, Sun March 26 at 1 pm.
Awesome: I Fuckin’ Shot That!
A preview of the concert film shot by audience members at the Beastie Boys’ 2004 show at Madison Square Garden. Pacific Place, Thurs March 23 at 8 pm.
Battle in Heaven
There are some movies that deserve to have their endings ruined. You’ve been fairly warned. This beautifully photographed Mexican art film by Carlos Reygadas (Japón) has drawn attention for its graphic sex, which, as if to punish the curious viewer, is oddly static and not at all appealing. There is also a slip of a story about a kidnapped infant that dies. But the only thing about Battle in Heaven that makes any sense is the grinding, misogynistic logic of its miserable conclusion. Marcos is a driver for a poor little rich girl named Ana, who gets her rebel rocks off by prostituting herself on the weekends. Marcos wants Ana, and he gets her. (He also services his wife, who is considerably more corpulent.) Then, presumably because he hates the thought of Ana being with someone else (which is, after all, her weekend hobby), he stabs her to death. Marcos then joins a pilgrimage of Catholic penitents, dies, and goes to heaven, where Ana, with her dreadlocked hair massed upon her head and silver shadow in the corners of her eyes, gives him a blowjob. I refuse to analyze this any further. (ANNIE WAGNER) Grand Illusion, Fri 7, 9 pm, Sat-Sun 3, 5, 7, 9 pm, Mon-Thurs 7, 9 pm.
Control Room
Like the recent documentary The Revolution Will Not Be Televised, Control Room offers us a look from the inside of the other side. Al Jazeera has 40 million viewers in the Arab world, and it shows its part of the world things that the American networks don’t show their part of the world. (CHARLES MUDEDE) High Point Branch, Seattle Public Library, Sun March 26 at 1:30 pm.
The Fallen Idol
How the hell did they do it back then? Generally seen as a warm-up to their later The Third Man, director Carol Reed and scripter Graham Greene’s 1948 small-scale sweat-inducer (concerning the young son of a diplomat, his beloved butler, and a spot of possible foul play) is marvelously entertaining on all levels. Adapted from a short story by Greene, the watchspring-tight narrative allows for oodles of caustic wit (particularly in a newly restored scene with a Cockney streetwalker), moments of genuine voyeuristic panic (Reed’s knack for ambling sideways into a set piece may even trump Hitchcock), and the patience and intelligence to make the audience occasionally play catch up. Best of all, though, is the central performance by Ralph Richardson, as a devoted, winking manservant whose just-so demeanor occasionally slips a hint of something … darker. Man, I could watch him—and this—for days. (ANDREW WRIGHT) Varsity, Fri-Sun 2:30, 4:45, 7, 9:15 pm, Mon-Thurs 7, 9:15 pm.
A Fistful of Dollars
One of the more annoying components of the recent Oscar ceremony were the repeated pleas to “experience film on the big screen!” So forgive my excitement over this two-night opportunity to catch A Fistful of Dollars—Sergio Leone’s 1964 classic that spawned the spaghetti-western genre and introduced the film world to the steely charms of Clint Eastwood—at the mighty Egyptian. (DAVID SCHMADER) Egyptian, Fri-Sat midnight.
Hair High
Bill Plympton’s latest feature offers hot rods, zombies, and the upchucking of internal organs. What it doesn’t offer is a strong enough story to carry its mere 75 minutes. A spoof, of sorts, of ’50s teens-in-trouble flicks, Hair High is all frenzy with no real payoff—a crudely animated (as always) download of every stray obsession and corker Plympton has rattling around in his brain. For a while his wily pen and ink are able to hold your attention—no one, but no one, is able to take you up a nose like Plympton—but by the time things come to what could have been a second, third, and fourth climax, chances are you’ll be too worn out to muster much enthusiasm. Plympton’s genius works best in small servings; Hair High, for all its animated fireworks, is a far too heavy meal. (BRADLEY STEINBACHER) Northwest Film Forum, Thurs-Fri 7, 9 pm, Sat-Sun 5, 7, 9 pm, Mon-Wed 7, 9 pm.
Joysticks
A raunchy teen comedy from the ’80s about kids trying to prevent their precious video arcade from being shut down. Grand Illusion, Fri-Sat at 11 pm.
Mostly Martha
American audiences are hot for foreign films about food. Sandra Nettelbeck’s Mostly Martha, a German production, is compatible with this American fantasy—but the result feels much less crude than the escapist “foreign” fantasies American audiences have become accustomed to. (ANNIE WAGNER) Cinema Vino, Sun March 26 at 7 pm.
The Myth: Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
A Czech documentary about rabid Czech fans of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. 911 Media Arts, Thurs March 23 at 7 pm.
The Red, the Black, the Green, the Dream
A film, performance, and panel discussion is “designed to highlight the relationship between black and Native Americans.” Hosted by Jace of the Silent Lambs Project. Central Cinema, Thurs March 23 at 6:30 pm.
Seattle Arab and Iranian Film Festival Gala Night
A celebration in honor of the upcoming Seattle Arab and Iranian Film Festival, with cinema footage, savories, and a music performance by oud maestro Simon Shaheen. Town Hall, Sat March 25 at 8 pm. Tickets $21 in advance (www.arabcenter.net) or $25 at the door.
South Asian Women’s Film Festival
The Journey is the exact way lesbian coming-of-age films ought to be—melodramatic, atmospheric, ridiculously chaste, and frequently hysterical. (ANNIE WAGNER) All films screen at Central Cinema. The Journey (Sancharram) screens Sat March 25 at 7 pm. Festival continues through Sun, see www.tasveer.org for complete schedule.
Spirit of the Beehive
See review this issue. Northwest Film Forum, Fri 7, 9 pm, Sat-Sun 3, 7, 9 pm, Mon-Thurs 7, 9 pm.
Trudell
This boring but well-intentioned hagiography concerns the poet and Native American activist John Trudell, who has dedicated his life to being a forceful, eloquent spokesman for “the indigenous people of the western hemisphere.” Testimonials from celebrities like Robert Redford and Jackson Browne do little to counteract the white-man’s-burdensome vibe of piety in the film. (SEAN NELSON) Central Cinema, Wed March 29 at 7, 9 pm.
Vertigo
Hitchcock’s brilliant movie about fear of heights and obsessive love. Museum of History and Industry, Thurs March 23 at 7:30 pm.
Why Should the Devil Have All the Good Music
In case anyone was wondering, Christianity is here to stay. And if faith vs. reason is the central conflict of our age, it’s about time someone examined the other team with a modicum of respect—or at least respectful distance. This documentary, made on the cheap by first-time filmmakers, seeks to understand a thin slice of the “oppressed Christian majority,” specifically those believers who bring their faith to bear on the devil’s music, rock’n’roll. It’s refreshing to see an example of discourse that actually bothers to listen and question, rather than merely casting stones (as it were). (SEAN NELSON) 911 Media Arts, Fri March 24 at 7 pm.
NOW PLAYING
16 Blocks
16 Blocks, Richard Donner’s first film in three years, is an initially spiffy exercise in gritty neo-noir finally torpedoed by the director’s lingering vanilla sensibilities and an intensely annoying central performance by Mos Def. (ANDREW WRIGHT)
Aquamarine
Yes, Aquamarine is a movie about teenage mermaids with blue highlights who fall in love with salty, tan, human lifeguards. But it’s also, surprisingly, not that terrible. (LINDY WEST)
Ask the Dust
Colin Farrell plays Arturo, a blocked short-story writer, who has relocated to a flophouse in the Bunker Hill area of L.A. during the height of the Depression. Salma Hayek plays a waitress. (ANDREW WRIGHT)
Brokeback Mountain
Hot gay sex in a tent.
Capote
Philip Seymour Hoffman got an Academy Award for his performance.
Crash
The movie that robbed Brokeback Mountain of the Oscar.
Dave Chappelle’s Block Party
Chappelle suffers no fools and fears no censors, but he also stages no embargos against goofball riffs or straightforward lampoons. (HANNAH LEVIN)
Deep Sea in IMAX 3-D
An IMAX follow-up to Into the Deep, narrated by Kate Winslet and Johnny Depp. Translucent jellyfish called moon jellies open this mesmerizing documentary, and they’re the ideal subjects to show off the 3-D photography. As the film goes on, you also see frog fish, tiger sharks, crown-of-thorns sea stars, and the delicate, windmilling “unstalked crinoids” known as feather stars. There is some talk of ecosystems but no mention of evolution, and the director says this is deliberate. Warner Brothers is intimidated by intelligent design wackos. (ANNIE WAGNER)
Eight Below
The great thing about an action movie set in Antarctica is that very little happens there, and it’s pointless to try to pretend otherwise. (ANNIE WAGNER)
Failure to Launch
Tripp (Matthew McConaughey) is a babe who sells boats, fears commitment, and lives with his parents.
Find Me Guilty
Find Me Guilty, a semi-comic recounting of the longest criminal trial in U.S. history, focuses on Giacomo “Jackie Dee” DiNorscio, a mid-level coke trafficker who acted as his own lawyer during a legendarily sprawling, 20-defendant Mafia sting case. (ANDREW WRIGHT)
Firewall
Harrison Ford’s umpteenth entry into the white-collar family-values action film, smushes together two of the traditionally more wit-intensive suspense genres—the heist picture and home invasion thriller—to shockingly little effect. (ANDREW WRIGHT)
Game 6
A movie about the historic 1986 World Series, written by Don DeLillo.
The Hills Have Eyes
This reimagining of Wes Craven’s 1977 desert-mutants-vs.-dumbass-tourists saga certainly amps up the unpleasantness, but that coveted nightmare vibe remains elusive. (ANDREW WRIGHT)
Inside Man
A Spike Lee thriller starring Denzel Washington and Jodie Foster.
Larry the Cable Guy: Health Inspector
Larry the Cable Guy is Larry the Cable guy in this comedy about food poisoning.
The Libertine
Almost ridiculously dour, this oft-delayed account of one of the 17th century’s most notorious party animals trips the pretension alarm from frame one. (ANDREW WRIGHT)
Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont
Mrs. Palfrey is a not-very-good movie about old ladies: cute ones, nice ones, grumpy ones, dead ones.
The Shaggy Dog
Tim Allen lifting his leg to pee in a urinal. Tim Allen licking a pretty lady’s face. A grotesquely elongated CGI tongue lolling out of Tim Allen’s mouth. Etc. (ANNIE WAGNER)
She’s the Man
A Twelfth Night update set on the prep-school soccer field (from the screenwriters of Ten Things I Hate About You).
Stay Alive
A horror film about a video game in which the stakes are literally life and death. Yawn.
The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada
The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada is a masterpiece, flat out. (ANDREW WRIGHT)
Transamerica
Transamerica, the debut film from writer/director Duncan Tucker, features Bree Osbourne, a pre-operative transsexual woman played with abundant humanity by Desperate Housewives‘s Felicity Huffman. (KALEY DAVIS)
Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story
This movie, like Laurence Sterne’s book, is hilarious.
Tsotsi
Tsotsi, which means thug and is the name of the lead character (Presley Chweneyagae), employs professional actors to tell a story that goes all the way back to Native Son—the story of a young man whose life has been limited by, and is a product of, a festering ghetto. (CHARLES MUDEDE)
Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Family Reunion
Madea’s Family Reunion diverges from the winning formula of the previous movie. The guns are gone, and so are the reefers. But the worst thing is the way Madea is sidelined for reverent poetry and goofy romance and the kitschiest “Parisian” wedding décor I’ve ever seen. (ANNIE WAGNER)
Ultraviolet
Genetically modified Milla Jovovich and professional preteen creepazoid Cameron Bright are the future. No, really.
Unknown White Male
The documentary Unknown White Male, which follows the strange case of Doug Bruce, a former stockbroker who woke up on a New York subway with total memory loss, has been battling claims of bogusosity ever since its Sundance debut. Sadly, the ongoing debate proves to be its most engaging feature. (ANDREW WRIGHT)
V for Vendetta
V for Vendetta is set in the near future, 2020, in London. The terrifying events that beset us today have brought the American empire to its knees and transformed its once-reliable ally, the UK, into a totalitarian state. John Hurt plays Adam Sutler, a ruthless dictator who, like George Bush in his second presidential election, uses fear to attain and retain power. Sutler’s society is under constant surveillance, and its police force has long forgotten the business of protecting citizens from criminals and now only knows how to oppress them. This bleak world, however, has a beacon of hope in the form of a masked superhero—a man whose body was destroyed by an evil biological experiment, a man whose heart is filled with nothing but hate for the present dictator and his iron order, a man whose name is V. As a work of cinema, V for Vendetta is no Batman or Matrix. But its timing (it opens the day before the third anniversary of the second Iraq war) is impeccable. (CHARLES MUDEDE)