Want more? Here’s everything we recommend this month: Music, Visual Art, Literature, Performance, Film, Food, and This & That.
Bleak Week
June 5–11
At the heart of Bleak Week, a weeklong film fest that, the Beacon says, “spotlights some of the greatest films from around the world that explore the darkest sides of humanity, as well as some of the bleakest points in human history,” is Dancer in the Dark, a movie by Lars von Trier, the modern master of melancholy cinema. Starring Iceland’s pop icon Björk, and featuring a Bernard Hermann-esque score by the star, Dancer in the Dark is something like the point at which Douglas Sirk meets Edvard Munch. Trier’s film is unremittingly dark. Things go from worse to worse. And its ending enters a world that can only be described as hell, which is not a place but, instead, the total absence of hope or, put another way, despair. The Bleak Week series, which also includes Gus Van Sant’s Elephant, might mark the stage when our society transitions from sadness to depression. (The Beacon, times vary) CHARLES MUDEDE
Onda Nova
June 12–14
In 1941, Brazilian president Getúlio Vargas signed a stupid and sexist law that banned women and girls from playing sports such as soccer and rugby because they were “incompatible with the conditions of their nature.” That ban was lifted in 1979, but women weren’t allowed to form official teams until 1983, two years before the collapse of the country’s conservative military dictatorship. This is the setting for Ícaro (Francisco C) Martins’s and José Antonio García’s “erotic” and “anarchic” comedy about a group of young women in São Paulo forming the Gaivotas Football Club amid a media circus. Naturally, it’s gay, and until now, it has never been released outside of Brazil. (Northwest Film Forum, times vary) VIVIAN McCALL
Seattle Is Burning
June 16
Jennie Livingston’s landmark 1990 documentary shone a light on New York City’s African American and Latinx Harlem drag ball scene, creating a rarely seen portrait of fashion “houses,” warlike contests, and valiant house mothers. It should be noted, though, that some participants felt exploited by the film, and feminist scholar bell hooks wondered about its voyeuristic aspects. Amid times of intense homophobia, transphobia, racism, poverty, and HIV/AIDS, there were voguers, drag queens, and trans women who forged community despite near-insurmountable odds—and despite valid criticisms of Paris Is Burning, it does celebrate these pioneering figures. Three Dollar Bill Cinema & the Seattle Film Society will screen the film, followed by a community Q&A with SWACE Health exploring the history, impact, and current state of ballroom culture, and ending with a late-night dance party. (Hidden Hall, 6 pm) LINDSAY COSTELLO
Mad Max: Fury Road
June 18 and 21
I think that the greatest statement about the top movie in the Mad Max series, Mad Max: Fury Road, was provided by the talented and yet hit-and-miss director Steven Soderbergh. His words: “I don’t understand how [George Miller] does that, I really don’t, and it’s my job to understand it. I don’t understand two things: I don’t understand how they’re not still shooting that film, and I don’t understand how hundreds of people aren’t dead.” There you have it. I watched that movie in a Memphis hotel room in 2017 and was equally flabbergasted. How did it get done? How is it not another Apocalypse Now? The other films in the Mad Max universe are not, however, as impressive Fury Road. But the series is relevant due to climbing gas prices and the US’s endless wars over fossil fuels. We don’t need another hero. (The Beacon, times vary) CHARLES MUDEDE
Ask Any Buddy
June 20–24
I am once again asking you to watch porn to learn something about gay people in the years after Stonewall. Before gay sex was Oscar-bait and the stuff of sitcom plotlines, the local porno theater was one of the few reliable places to see gay life on screen in the liberatory, hedonistic era before AIDS. Elizabeth Purchell’s cut-up of 126 classic-era gay porn films includes rare shots from dozens of “real bathhouses, bars, movie theaters, Pride parades, and legendary gay hotspots that no longer exist,” writes Northwest Film Forum. Live a little. Learn a little. Watch some porn. (Northwest Film Forum, times vary) VIVIAN McCALL
Bottom
June 24
Bottom is about bottoming, as in, one anonymous man’s grail quest to get rawed by as many men as he possibly can in a year. Come for the “load count,” stay for all the ways this documentary will make you feel. (Northwest Film Forum, 7 pm) VIVAN McCALL
More
The Princess Bride Through June 4, Central Cinema, times vary
Flow June 5, SIFF Film Center, 7 pm
Take One (Theatrical Cut) Through June 7, Northwest Film Forum, times vary
She Don’t Fade: The Short Films of Cheryl Dunye Through June 7, Northwest Film Forum, times vary
Truth To Fiction: MASC June 4, Northwest Film Forum, 7 pm
Cross Faded Cinema: No Country for Old Men with DJ NicFit June 5, Rabbit Box Theatre, 8 pm, all ages
How to Not Have Sex June 5, Tasveer Film Center, 7:30 pm
Jennifer’s Body June 5–10, Central Cinema, times vary
Northwest Noir: NWFF Annual Gala June 6, Washington Hall, 5 pm
Critical What?! June 7, Northwest Film Forum, 4 pm
Collide-O-Scope Pride Edition June 8, Clock-Out Lounge, 8 pm, 21+
Retro Night: Gladiator June 10, Majestic Bay, 7 pm
RRR June 11, Central Cinema, 8 pm
Kamikaze Hearts June 11–14, Northwest Film Forum, times vary
VHS Über Alles June 12, Beacon Cinema, 10 pm
Amores Perros (4K Restoration) Opens June 12, SIFF Cinema Uptown
She’s the He Opens June 12, SIFF Film Center, times vary
The Friends of Eddie Coyle June 12–14, Beacon Cinema, times vary
Buffet Infinity June 12–16, Central Cinema, times vary
Spirited Away June 12–17, Central Cinema, times vary
Paths of Glory June 14–15, Beacon Cinema, times vary
Love Letter June 15–17, Beacon Cinema, times vary
Bound June 16, Northwest Film Forum, 7 pm
Chopper June 16–17, Beacon Cinema, times vary
Retro Night: Inception June 17, Majestic Bay, 7 pm
Gangsterism June 17–18, Northwest Film Forum, 7:30 pm
Unstreamable: By Hook or By Crook June 18–21, Northwest Film Forum, times vary
Magic Theater: Do the Right Thing June 19, Seattle Public Theater, 7 pm
Everybody to Kenmure Street Opens June 19, SIFF Film Center, times vary
Best of SECS Fest June 19, Beacon Cinema, 10 pm
The Devil Queen June 19–22, Beacon Cinema, times vary
The Beastmaster June 20, Beacon Cinema, 10 pm
Kaleidoscope June 20–24, Northwest Film Forum, times vary
Community Screening: The Wizard of Oz June 21, SIFF Cinema Downtown, 11 am
Witness for the Prosecution June 21–22, Beacon Cinema, times vary
Sleepaway Camp: The Midnight Mass Experience June 24, SIFF Cinema Downtown, 7 pm
Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark with the Seattle Symphony June 26–27, times vary, all ages
An Elephant Sitting Still June 28, Beacon Cinema, 5 pm
Anatomy of a Murder June 28–29, Beacon Cinema, times vary
Find all these listings and more on our sister site, EverOut Seattle! EverOut.com/Seattle
