49th Parallel
SAM's Michael Powell series continues with this 1941 film about the crew of a stranded Nazi U-Boat trying to make their way across Canada to the still-neutral U.S. Seattle Art Museum, Thurs Jan 13 at 7:30 pm.
The 7th Hi/Lo Film Festival
Hi/Lo stands for "high concept, low budget," and these 14 short films fit the bill. 911 Media Arts, Thurs Jan 13 at 7 pm.
Amélie
A beautifully kinetic testament to human sweetness that had audiences lining up around the block and contrarians carping about its artificiality. I'm not saying you have to be an asshole not to like Amélie, but it would probably help. (SEAN NELSON) Egyptian, Fri-Sat midnight.
Argentina: Hope in Hard Times
A documentary about the collapse of the Argentine economy and the struggle of the people to contend with skyrocketing unemployment and financial devastation. Seattle Art Museum, Sun Jan 16 at 7:30 pm.
Fat of the Land
This documentary follows five women who travel across the country in a van powered by restaurant grease that they collect along the way. HUB Auditorium, Sat Jan 15 at 7 pm.
Global Lens
The excellent and understated film Whisky (the title refers to the Uruguayan idiom for "saying cheese" before a snapshot portrait) has its final screening in the Global Lens series this Thursday. Jacobo, the gloomy owner of a rundown sock factory in Montevideo, is struggling to keep his business afloat while he prepares for the Jewish stone-setting ceremony on the one-year anniversary of his mother's death. When his brother Herman (who owns a bigger and more profitable sock factory in Brazil) makes plans to come into town for the ceremony, Jacobo asks the manager of his factory to pose as his wife for the duration of the visit. The gray tedium of factory work is perhaps too abundantly demonstrated at the beginning of the film, but the repetitions give the weekend's small-scale drama a charge it wouldn't otherwise possess. Uniform, which plays on Friday only, is another strong movie--shot in murky, digital greens--about a Chinese tailor who begins posing as a police officer so he can collect bribes and attract girls. Less successful are the endless parades of water buffalo jostling and humping one another in the Vietnamese film Buffalo Boy, which is set during the French colonial era. It's a coming-of-age tale about a naïve rural boy who turns to the disreputable occupation of buffalo-herding to make easy money for his family--typical of the genre, except for a bonus side story about the boy's apparently genetic predisposition toward raping pretty girls. (ANNIE WAGNER) All films screen at the Northwest Film Forum. Whisky, Thurs Jan 13 at 7 pm. Hollow City, Thurs at 9 pm, Sat at 5 pm. Uniform, Fri Jan 14 at 3 pm. Lili's Apron, Fri at 5 pm, Sun at 9 pm. Buffalo Boy, Fri at 7 pm, Sat at 3 and 7 pm, Sun-Thurs at 7 pm. Today and Tomorrow, Fri at 9 pm, Sun at 3 pm. Fuse, Sat at 9 pm, Sun at 5 pm.
Hey, Good Lookin'
Ralph Bakshi's animated movie about growing up in the Eisenhower era. Grand Illusion, Fri-Sat 11 pm.
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp
A British war veteran fixated on honorable conduct must come to terms with the altered terrain of World War II. Seattle Art Museum, Thurs Jan 20 at 7:30 pm.
The Longest Yard
See Stranger Suggests. Grand Illusion, Weekdays 6:30, 8:45 pm, Sat-Sun 4:15, 6:30, 8:45 pm.
Over the Edge
The cult classic about a kiddie revolt in the planned community of New Granada launched Matt Dillon's career. Northwest Film Forum, Fri-Sat 11:30 pm.
A Peck on the Cheek
This Bollywood blockbuster focuses on a young Indian girl who, upon discovering that her real parents were Sri Lankan refugees, begs to be taken to her mother, now a leader of the Tamil guerillas. Fun musical highlights break the morose monotony of family drama, and the captivating song-and-dance numbers make rebellious insurgency fun again. This screening is a benefit for the Red Cross and the Tamil Relief Organization. Tractor Tavern (21+ w/ ID only), Sun Jan 16 at 3 pm.
The Rural Route Film Festival
A selection of short films shot in the back roads of Indiana, Montana, Missouri, Illinois, West Virginia, and upstate New York. 911 Media Arts, Thurs Jan 20 at 7 pm.
The Servant
A 1963 film about the British class system adapted by Harold Pinter and directed by Joseph Losey. Movie Legends, Sun Jun 16 at 1 pm.
Sneak
The Sneak series of film previews continues its fourth season. For more information, see www.sneakfilms.com. Pacific Place, Sun Jan 16 at 10 am.
White Zombie
White Zombie is a defining, hilariously schlocky stab at the zombie genre. Bela Lugosi stars as a sugar baron on Voodoo Isle, Haiti, using the walking dead as laborers in his plant. From the opening shots of Bela Lugosi's eyes to the close-up of the black cab driver's face as he looks in the camera and yells "Zombies!," the entire film is wonderfully laughable. Madge Bellamy co-stars as the virginal bride, zombified by a jealous lover. Be sure to watch for the great scene in the sugar factory where a zombie falls into the threshing machine! (JAMIE HOOK) Rendezvous (21+ w/ ID only), Wed Jan 19 at 7:30 pm.
Who Killed Bambi?
See review this issue. Northwest Film Forum, Fri-Wed 6:30, 9:15 pm.
NOW PLAYING
The Aviator
It may be impossible to fully know Howard Hughes, but DiCaprio and Scorsese can only offer the broadest of paint strokes here. Scorsese attempts to cover up the lack of depth in The Aviator by focusing heavily on both Hughes' love life as well as his daring in the skies, but no matter how many romantic entanglements and spectacular crashes we see, the film itself remains superficial. (BRADLEY STEINBACHER)
Bad Education
Bad Education announces itself with a rich melodramatic subject--Catholic clergy sex abuse--only to reject all predictable conflict for an emotional and thematic territory all its own. It's a brilliant maneuver, sending audiences traipsing down an initially recognizable path that soon splinters in directions they never could've dreamed. (DAVID SCHMADER)
Beyond the Sea
Some of you might be thinking about going to see Beyond the Sea, Kevin Spacey's tribute to nightclub entertainer/old-time rock 'n' roller/folk song dabbler/sometime actor Bobby Darin. I'm going to do you a favor and urge you, unequivocally, not to bother, unless, of course, you like bullshit. (SEAN NELSON)
Blade: Trinity
What makes Blade: Trinity inferior is this: It's really two films instead of one--two films that are not at all complementary. (CHARLES MUDEDE)
Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason
Desperate single women can be cute and funny. Moony, jealous women who obsess over their fancy boyfriends are neither cute nor funny. And that's all you need to know about this exceedingly lame movie. (ANNIE WAGNER)
Closer
Viewed scene by scene, the unfettered, constant venom on display in this film is bracing, thrilling, and almost as much fun to watch as it must have been to perform. Taken as a whole, however, it proves to be a bit too much of a bad thing. (ANDREW WRIGHT)
Coach Carter
See review this issue.
Elektra
A sequel of sorts to Daredevil, in which Jennifer Garner returns as a marginally hot superheroine, and Ben Affleck does not return at all. Good riddance.
Fat Albert
Fabbuh Albuhbuh isbuh abuh fubuhnny, sweebuht stobuhry forbuh kibuhds whobuh likebuh carbuhtoons. Thankbuh youbuh andbuh Ibuh abuhpologize forbuh mybuh speebuhch inbuhpedbuhment. Buhbye-buhbye. (MUSHMOUTH)
Finding Neverland
Marc Forster's third film, Monster's Ball, was complete and utter nonsense. His fourth film, Finding Neverland, is ordinary and dry nonsense. Clearly, Forster is a director of the middling order. (CHARLES MUDEDE)
The Flight of the Phoenix
An update of the 1965 film about plane-crash survivors who attempt to reconstruct a new plane from the wreckage.
The Grudge
The problem with the American remake of The Grudge is that the ghost never rests. You want a moment to look at Tokyo, to observe its traffic, its bright shops and busy bars--but before the setting cools into the normal rhythms of urban life, yet another victim is being pursued and devoured. (CHARLES MUDEDE)
Hotel Rwanda
The crux of Hotel Rwanda is Europe's cowardly abandonment of defenseless Africans, and how, despite this great betrayal, Paul Rusesabagina did not surrender to the chaos, to the evil that had consumed his fellow tribesmen. He was Africa's Oskar Schindler. Unlike Spielberg's Schindler's List, however, Hotel Rwanda doesn't have a huge budget, which is the primary reason why it's not a great film in terms of both photography and casting (many of the extras do not look like Hutus or Tutsis). It's a film held up entirely by Don Cheadle, whose portrayal of an African is, for a black American, second only to Canada Lee's in the 1951 adaptation of Cry, the Beloved Country. (CHARLES MUDEDE)
House of Flying Daggers
House of Flying Daggers, director Yimou Zhang's much-anticipated follow-up to Hero, is an exceptional period martial arts movie, filled to the brim with equal doses of kicks to the head and pathos, which suffers by comparison only to its older, more ambitious, brother. (ANDREW WRIGHT)
In Good Company
See review this issue.
The Incredibles
The Incredibles is done in true and beautiful Pixar style, but the action sequences are far more exhilarating than anything seen in Finding Nemo or Toy Story. Plus, the humans aren't annoyingly unattractive, and it's pretty damn funny to boot. (MEGAN SELING)
Kinsey
The first half of Kinsey is exciting on a micro scale the way Kinsey's work was exciting on a grand one: It demonstrates that reason can prevail over mythology. Unfortunately, because it's a movie, the second half allows mythology--the mythology of narrative--to re-intrude, and the picture grows musty. (SEAN NELSON)
Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events
The movie is faithful to the books, mining the first three for settings, characters, and unfortunate events. Jim Carrey is perfectly cast as the evil Count Olaf, and the pair of roundups cast as the elder orphans, Jennifer Coolidge and Liam Aiken, more than hold their own against Carrey. (DAN SAVAGE)
The Life Aquatic
Unlike Wes Anderson's harshest critics, I've always been more than willing to accept both his otherworldly concoctions and his heavy lifting from Hal Ashby; this time, however, he delivers little else. Long stretches of The Life Aquatic feel malnourished, as if Anderson spent so much energy creating the film's distinct reality that he forgot to provide reasons for that reality to exist. (BRADLEY STEINBACHER)
The Machinist
I know you've probably read by now that Christian Bale lost a bunch of weight for this film, but I kid you not--NOTHING YOU'VE EVER SEEN BEFORE CAN PREPARE YOU FOR THE SHOCK OF HIS APPEARANCE IN THE MACHINIST. His body literally resembles that of a concentration camp survivor or advanced anorexia sufferer. (SEAN NELSON)
Meet the Fockers
Watching Meet the Fockers started out grating and ended up grinding my flesh off the bone. (JENNIFER MAERZ)
Million Dollar Baby
As sappy and Lifetime-y as the plot sounds, Clint Eastwood's skill with the performers keeps Million Dollar Baby afloat. Both Hilary Swank and Morgan Freeman deliver graceful turns that mesh perfectly with Eastwood's grave brooding, and by the time the film takes a brutally tragic turn you can't help but find yourself yanked along emotionally. Eastwood still keeps his films criminally under-lit, and his editing still plods, but his actors help to keep Million Dollar Baby burning bright. (BRADLEY STEINBACHER)
The Motorcycle Diaries
This is a film that should be taken for what it is: a beautifully constructed road movie with a dash of conscience on the side. (BRADLEY STEINBACHER)
Napoleon Dynamite
In this charming film, 24-year-old writer/ director Jared Hess mines the nebulous area between popular chic and weirdo freak, where outcast attributes are both quality, subtle comedy, and a charmingly dark part of our collective high-school unconscious. (JENNIFER MAERZ)
National Treasure
At the end of the movie the main mystery remains unsolved: Why was so much money, energy, and talent spent realizing what is evidently a dull and dumb script? (CHARLES MUDEDE)
Ocean's Twelve
The story is a mess, the scam is a fraud, and the performances are lazy and smug, but Ocean's 12 has one major plus: the return of Steven Soderbergh's creative pulse. (BRADLEY STEINBACHER)
The Phantom of the Opera
Even putting aside the unspeakably horrendous set design, this movie does everything wrong. Instead of exploiting the cheesy, populist songcraft of the 1986 musical, Joel Schumacher casts actors who wouldn't know melodrama if it smacked them in the face. (ANNIE WAGNER)
The Polar Express
Here and there, Polar Express hits on an image or mood worthy of the season, particularly during the early scenes of the magical title vehicle, but the thundering need to make a state-of-the-art prefab classic steamrolls over most of the cheer. (ANDREW WRIGHT)
Racing Stripes
See review this issue.
Ray
Despite a tendency to bathe in the molasses of sentimentality, Ray is a rich exponent of the biopic genre. Imposing a narrative on a life, especially one filled with so many contradictions (i.e. beloved entertainer/abusive junkie cheapskate) may be a fool's errand, but this film is satisfying nonetheless. (SEAN NELSON)
Sideways
While Sideways is a road movie, it's a lazy one; the distance traveled, both physically and emotionally, is short. Blessed with pitch-perfect performances, especially by Paul Giamatti and Thomas Haden Church, Sideways is a slight film, to be sure, but it's also one of Alexander Payne's least snide efforts. (BRADLEY STEINBACHER)
Spanglish
Spanglish is absolutely the worst film of the year, and much of the blame for the film's failure falls on the shoulders of poor Téa Leoni, whose performance is so grating, so irritating, that you cringe whenever she's on screen. (BRADLEY STEINBACHER)
The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie
The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie appeals to both the easily entertained and those who appreciate the power of double meaning--i.e., an ice cream bender that cause SpongeBob and Patrick to pass out, and wake up crimson eyed and quick tempered. (JENNIFER MAERZ)
A Tale of Two Sisters
This latest Korean horror import has everything: creepy sisters, an evil stepmother, demonic girls hiding beneath the kitchen sink, a mysterious sack that may or may not be leaking blood. The end result is a genuinely unsettling film, one that refuses the easy shock and instead relies on the audience to creep itself out. (BRADLEY STEINBACHER)
Testosterone
Antonio Sabato Jr.'s face has shriveled into something sharp and terrible, and he can't act. In this movie he plays Pablo, the stock boyfriend of a stock character named Dean (David Sutcliffe). When Pablo ditches Dean without explanation, Dean is saddened and confused, and he expresses his feelings to a friend by saying, "My heart feels like it's in my chest." (Um...?) Dean goes to Argentina in search of Pablo, "closure," and something scenic for the filmmaker to work with. In Argentina we find one-dimensional ethnic characters, more phoned-in acting, a couple pretty gay plot twists, some dialogue about "intimacy issues," and an implausible strain of homicidal rage. Somewhere along the way there's a brief shot of Sabato Jr.'s dick, but like every other vague enticement in the movie, it's brief and blurry. (CHRISTOPHER FRIZZELLE)
Vera Drake
A bruising, classical tragedy about a woman whose passionate altruism brings pain and suffering upon herself and the people whom she loves. (ANNIE WAGNER)
A Very Long Engagement
I'm not saying it isn't corny. What I'm saying is that it's a fantastic movie, and unless you're the stated enemy of life and all that makes it worth living, you'll probably fall for it. (SEAN NELSON)
What the #$*! Do We Know?!
This ungainly, inane film purports to be about quantum physics but is really about the power of positive thinking. (EMILY HALL)
White Noise
A man's murdered wife speaks to him from beyond the grave.
The Woodsman
See review this issue.
