This week, Sean Nelson wrote, “Seeing a film in a darkened theater with strangers is a secular sacrament. The fact that you can’t pause, talk, text, or tweet until it’s over is a measure of its value. Please enjoy it while it’s still available.” The quote is in reference to Cinerama’s ambitious and exciting 70 mm Film Festival, but it’s true for any of the picks on this list—you just can’t get the same experience while streaming films on Netflix. So hide some snacks in your bag and get moving, whether it’s to watch the new release about pilot Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger or to celebrate Star Trek‘s 50th anniversary with Star Trek Beyond. As always, check out our complete movie times calendar for even more options.
NEW RELEASES
1. Sully
The story of US Airways Flight 1549—which, in 2009, pilot Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger famously landed on the Hudson River—was 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
LIMITED RUNS
Thursday Only
2. The 9th Life of Louis Drax
This supernatural thriller explores the story of a young boy who has survived nine near-fatal experiences.
Regal Meridian
3. Anthropoid
Spy movies come preloaded with expectations, promising many scenes of shadowy people doing shadowy things. The historical thriller Anthropoid thankfully knows the trappings of its genre well, telling a compelling, unexpectedly moving story that’s rife with secret knocks, signal mirrors, and hastily decoded messages. ANDREW WRIGHT
Regal Meridian
4. Elevator to the Gallows
Anyone who enjoys this movie (Louis Malle’s first) for its crime plot (which twists and twists) has the brain of a bird and the heart of a horse. Elevator to the Gallows is remarkable for one reason alone: the scene that finds Jeanne Moreau walking around Paris at night looking everywhere for her man, who is stuck in an elevator. As she walks and whispers her lover’s name, jazz master Miles Davis blows a trumpet solo that translates precisely the sorrows of Moreau’s soul. CHARLES MUDEDE
Sundance Cinemas
Starting Friday
5. Cosmos
Earlier this year, Polish director Andrzej Zulawski passed to the other side after a long battle with cancer. He became a shade at age 75. And his last film, Cosmos, happened to be about the very thing cancer took away from him, life. The movie asks the questions humans are condemned to ask forever: Does life have a purpose? Does it have a designer? Or is it all just an accident? CHARLES MUDEDE
Northwest Film Forum
6. For the Love of Spock
Directed by Leonard’s once-estranged son, Adam, For the Love of Spock is split into chunks: One segment deals with Leonard Nimoy’s early career, another charts his creation of Spock, others deal with his life after Star Trek (including his sincere, if dubious, forays into poetry, music, and photography) and frank discussions of conflict and addiction. For better and worse, Spock goes broad—for each sequence about Nimoy’s directorial efforts or work ethic, there are weird trips examining the Nimoy family’s personal fashions or inexplicable attention paid to reflections from the cast of The Big Bang Theory. ERIK HENRIKSEN
SIFF Cinema Uptown
Saturday Only
7. Suddenly, Last Summer
Based on Tennessee Williams’s play of the same title, this mystery film directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz offers murder, a mental institution, truth serum, and cannibalism.
Northwest Film Forum
Sunday Only
8. Lonesome Cowboys
Andy Warhol’s satirical take on Hollywood westerns is loosely based on Romeo and Juliet, and was filmed over the course of just five days with a $3,000 budget.
Northwest Film Forum
All Weekend
9. 70 mm Film Festival
Put down your phone, close your laptop, and surrender to the splendor of 70 mm cinema in the retrofuturist movie cathedral that is the Cinerama. Not much unites the films in this 10-day festival (a couple of Kubricks, a pair of PT Andersons) other than their commitment to MAGNITUDE, but several are essential viewing. I know it’s an old saw, but I will say it again: Seeing a film in a darkened theater with strangers is a secular sacrament. The fact that you can’t pause, talk, text, or tweet until it’s over is a measure of its value. Please enjoy it while it’s still available. (And if you must pick one, the answer is always Lawrence of Arabia.) SEAN NELSON
Cinerama
10. Complete Unknown
This film (directed by Joshua Marston, creator of the heart-wrenching Maria Full of Grace) is distastefully quirky and takes itself far too seriously, but it’s fun to watch because liars are fascinating. The best moments are when a liar, deeply invested in their imagined reality, fucks up their story and is forced to admit to their deception. Alice is often pitiable, but she’s also a reminder of the open-endedness of things…and it’s empowering to realize that most of us put in the hard work of (mostly) telling the truth, following through, and keeping in touch. JULIA RABAN
Guild 45th
11. Don’t Think Twice
The premise for Mike Birbiglia’s new film—a follow-up to his 2012 debut, Sleepwalk with Me—probably sounds insufferable. Basically, he’s 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 that’s exactly what happens. If the film isn’t especially funny—the curse of most comedies about comedy—I’m not sure that was Birbiglia’s intention. Mostly, it’s like a lo-fi cover of Morrissey’s “We Hate It When Our Friends Become Successful.” Kind of whiny, kind of mean, and kind of true. KATHY FENNESSY
SIFF Cinema Uptown and Sundance Cinemas
12. Hunt for the Wilderpeople
Sure, Hunt for the Wilderpeople’s scope is small, but it gives you everything you could want from a movie: It’s smart, emotional, and even a bit action-packed once Ricky and Hec embark on an unplanned adventure in the forest. But most of all, it’s funny. So, so funny. Wilderpeople is a hugely loveable movie that’s suitable for date night or the whole family, and I know that sounds like a hacky movie poster blurb. But when a movie’s this good, it’s tough to avoid clichés, so I’ll leave you with another: Don’t miss it. NED LANNAMANN
Varsity Theatre
13. Lo and Behold, Reveries of the Connected World
The French philosopher Quentin Meillassoux once suggested that god does not exist but might exist in the future. This future god is the one legendary German director Werner Herzog looks for in his new documentary, Lo and Behold, Reveries of the Connected World—the god whose mind seems to be emerging, flicker by flicker, in the global communication network we call the internet. What will this god do? How will we worship it? Will it make demands? And if so, will these demands harm or improve the lives of the god’s creators? CHARLES MUDEDE
SIFF Film Center
14. Miss Sharon Jones!
Want another documentary about a musician overcoming great adversity to achieve glittering critical and modest commercial success? Possibly not, but you should make room in your callous heart for director Barbara Kopple’s Miss Sharon Jones! The titular subject is a powerful vocalist who merits your respect and attention, regardless if you’re a fan of her band the Dap-Kings’ tried-and-true R&B, soul, and funk. Born in South Carolina to a mother acquainted with the godfather of soul, James Brown, Sharon Jones took a long time to get her music career going, not releasing her first record until she was 40. But she made up for lost time by cutting several high-quality, pitch-perfect releases and proving herself to be a galvanizing live performer, inspiring James Brown comparisons. Once you see her onstage, you realize this is not hyperbole. DAVE SEGAL
Northwest Film Forum and Grand Illusion
CONTINUING RUNS
15. 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 jokes—but liberal, thoughtful Seattleites will get an extra kick when they recognize themselves in the characters. The mood shifts constantly, so that at any given moment the family’s lifestyle seems either ideal or like a mild form of child abuse. JULIA RABAN
16. Equity
You will not find a film that gets closer to the truth about Wall Street than Equity. It makes The Wolf of Wall Street look like a cartoon. Indeed, Equity’s ending is so radical, it will stun you into silence. You will not see it coming. You will think that its story, which is about a Bay Area tech company going public, and this transition being managed by a powerful money-loving female investment banker, is heading in a completely different direction. You will think you know who will win and who will lose in this high-stakes game. And you will be surprised by how much you got it all wrong—because this film is after a much deeper truth about finance and American greed. CHARLES MUDEDE
17. Finding Dory
I never thought a movie about animated fish would make me cry so much. But then again, not all fish are Dory, the charming protagonist of Finding Dory, Pixar’s sequel to 2003’s Finding Nemo. Although the movie is intended to be a follow-up, Finding Dory holds its own 13 years after its predecessor debuted and anchored itself in the hearts of then-10-year-olds like me. As an adult, I discovered a new appreciation for the characters of my favorite Pixar film. ANA SOFIA KNAUF
18. Ghostbusters
Because I’m 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. It’s not just that it works and is hilarious and has great special effects and all the candy—It’s also a perfect commentary on gender inequality in movies. Leading by example. SEAN NELSON
19. Hell or High Water
Leave it to a Scot to deliver the next great American western. It’s possible director David Mackenzie (Starred Up) had the distance and perspective to depict Hell or High Water’s 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 father’s 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 Sheridan’s (Sicario) superb script to navigate a path around the obvious men-with-guns clichés that make up Hell or High Water’s western-noir milieu. Whatever the case may be, it’s resulted in a great film. NED LANNAMANN
20. Jason Bourne
Director Paul Greengrass and his co-scriptwriter Christopher Rouse (also the movie’s editor, interestingly) focus on a coterie of supporting characters, including Alicia Vikander as a smooth-skinned computer surveillance whiz, Vincent Cassel as a deadly “asset” (translation: assassin), and Tommy Lee Jones as a melted jack-o’-lantern who’s also head of the CIA. They’re all tracking Bourne, who discovered his real identity in 2007’s The Bourne Ultimatum and feels bad about all the people he killed, so he’s taken on the life of a wandering bare-knuckle boxer, punching large men for cash throughout Eastern Europe. NED LANNAMANN
21. 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) doesn’t just open on a note of despair, it lingers there. The early scenes—in which Kubo, the protagonist, takes care of his injured, confused mother, feeding her and putting her to bed—don’t 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 film’s frankness and emotional honesty. Even more than that, they will be entranced with Kubo’s 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
22. 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. It’s helpful, when embarking into the sheer sadness of Derek Cianfrance’s 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
23. Morgan
Set in the not too distant future, the story follows a no-nonsense corporate troubleshooter (Kate Mara) sent to a secluded forest compound to assess the status of a rapidly developing artificial humanoid (The Witch’s terrifically spooky Anya Taylor-Joy). As she and the swiftly dwindling team of scientists—including Toby Jones, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and a perfectly assholish Paul Giamatti—soon discover, the experiment has some significant gray areas. ANDREW WRIGHT
24. Pete’s Dragon
It’s a cold slap in the face when you realize your entire childhood was built on a nuclear garbage dump. So it was the day I saw the original Pete’s Dragon (1977), which ran through my young consciousness like a DNA strand (shall I sing a few bars of “Candle on the Water” for you? No? “Every Little Piece,” perhaps? Hello?), but which was, alas, as poor as Passamaquoddy. Fortunately for all, someone had the good idea to give the job of reimagining the film to the hugely imaginative indie filmmaker David Lowery (Ain’t Them Bodies Saints). The result of this seemingly unlikely collision is a really magical, surprisingly resonant work built on the essential foundation of all great stories about being a kid: Life is sadness, but sadness can be conquered. SEAN NELSON
25. Southside With You
In service of the Obama story—and the bigger story outside all of that—Southside 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 years—an eight years that may look a paradise if Trump wins—is one worth holding onto and retelling for future generations. SYDNEY BROWNSTONE
26. 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 preposterous—like 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 more—like 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
27. War Dogs
Like black licorice or the PT Cruiser, Jonah Hill is divisive. I have friends who can’t 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 isn’t going to change your mind either way, but it’s a damn good time if you’re picking up what Hill’s putting down. BEN COLEMAN
