Local Film
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007: Six Classic James Bond Films SEE THE WIRE, PAGE 17.
The ABCs of Death This alphabetical new horror anthology boasts no less than 26 directors (!), with short segments helmed by Ti West (The House of the Devil) and others. Note: the film moves to SIFF Cinema Uptown on Monday. (NR) SIFF Film Center, $6-$11, March 8-14.
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The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover Helen Mirren enjoys sweet bloody revenge in Peter Greenaway highly aesthetic shocker from 1989. Sex, violence, and gastronomy has seldom been so closely linked on screen. (NC-17) Central Cinema, March 8-11, 9:30 p.m.
Don’t Stop Believin’: Everyman’s Journey This new music documentary follows Filipino singer Arnel Pineda and his unlikely quest to replace Steve Perry as lead singer of Journey. Which actually happened. Call for showtimes. (NR) SIFF Cinema Uptown, $6-$11, March 8-14.
Eco Warriors Producer Jennifer Pickford will introduce this hour-long doc about Portland’s Tre Arrow, who sought refuge in Canada after being pursued by the FBI. (NR) Northwest Film Forum, $6-$10, Tue., March 12, 7 p.m.
Future Weather Jenny Deller’s new drama carries a backdrop of concerns about global warming. In the foreground are a young teen (newcomer Perla Haney-Jardine), her wayward mother (Lili Taylor), and alcoholic grandmother (Amy Madigan). Discussion about climate change precedes the movie. (NR) SIFF Cinema Uptown, Free, Mon., March 11, 7 p.m.
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Girl Rising Paul Allen, owner of the Cinerama, is among the producers of this new doc about education and empowerment of girls around the world. Lending their voice talent to the nine vignettes—from Cambodia to Haiti and beyond—are Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Salma Hayek, and others. Director Richard E. Robbins and special guests will conduct a Q&A following the screening. The film will be made available via on-demand today as well. (PG-13) Cinerama, $25, Thu., March 7, 7 p.m.
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Groundhog Day The 20/20 Awards is honoring this wonderful karmic comedy from 1993, starring Bill Murray as the peevish weatherman sentenced to relive the same day over and over again. Is Groundhog Day a cult film? “They say it’s a cult film, and I correct them,” says Stephen Tobolowsky, who plays the overly friendly Ned Ryerson (the guy whom Murray punches but later befriends). “It’s not a cult film anymore. Now it is a classic film. On television here in L.A., it’s on every February 2nd. It’s the new Wizard of Oz.” Of seeing himself in that film, he says, “It’s a strange experience. You get transported back to when you were in that space when you were working on it. But I’m always happy to see it. First and foremost, what a phenomenal script. Kudos to Danny Rubin. I think it’s one of the most underrated jobs of comedic direction by Harold Ramis.” Then there’s Murray—“one of the great comic performances of all time.” We couldn’t agree more. Andie MacDowell and Chris Elliott costar along with Murray and Tobolowsky. (PG-13) BRIAN MILLER. Grand Illusion, $5-$8, Thu., March 7, 9 p.m.
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Joel Hodgson: Riffing Myself Famed former host of Mystery Science Theater 3000, he appears in a live stage show about the origins of that beloved nerd favorite (which ran from 1988-99). Following is a new, one-off rep screening featuring his and voices from Seattle talent made the day before. (NR) SIFF Cinema Uptown, $10-$45, Fri., March 8, 8 p.m.
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L.A. Rebellion SEE THE WIRE, PAGE 17.
Midnight Horror Call the tavern, or just drop by, to see what random gore flicks are playing in this ongoing series. Plus drink specials! (NR) Comet Tavern, 922 E. Pike St., 322-9272, comettavern.com, Free, Thurs.-Sun.
Murder, My Sweet Based on a Raymond Chandler novel, this 1944 noir stars Dick Powell as detective Philip Marlowe, here hired by a mobster to find his ex (Claire Trevor). (NR) Central Cinema, $6-$8, Wed., March 6, 7 & 9:30 p.m.
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Seattle Jewish Film Festival The Seattle Jewish Film Festival is not, strictly speaking, just about film. Among its various venues (including SIFF Cinema Uptown) and events are a a Sunday brunch screening with pre-show klezmer music (tomorrow), a senior lunch and screening (Weds., March 6 at the Stroum Jewish Community Center), and a panel discussion on “What is Jewish Art?” (Sun., March 10, venue pending). Still, movies are the main draw, and 21 titles will be screened through March 10. See seattlejewishfilmfestival.org for schedule. (NR) $9-$12 (passes $72 and up),
Shift Change Filmmakers Melissa Young and Mark Dworkin will be on hand to discuss their new labor documentary. (NR) Keystone Congregational Church, 5019 Keystone Place N., 632-6021, keystoneseattle.org, Free, Fri., March 8, 7 p.m.
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Silent Movie Mondays Lillian Gish gets knocked up in Victor Sjostrom’s 1926 adaptation of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlett Letter. Organist Jim Riggs provides live accompaniment. (NR) The Paramount, 911 Pine St., 877-784-4849, stgpresents.org, $10, Mondays, 7 p.m.; Sun., March 10, 2 p.m. Through March 25.
The Sprocket Society’s Saturday Secret Matinees “Alien Encounters” is the March theme for various short films being screened. Ongoing is the 1939 adventure serial Zorro’s Fighting Legion. Total program length is about two hours. (NR) Grand Illusion, $5-$8, Saturdays, 2 p.m. Through March 23.
Triple Fisher: The Lethal Lolitas of Long Island Inspired by early-’90s tabloid staple Amy Fisher, a teen who shot the wife of her much older lover (Joey Buttafuoco), three TV movies were subsequently produced. The best known starred Drew Barrymore. Now, filmmaker Dan Kapelovitz has edited together a mashup of all three. (NR) Grand Illusion, $5-$8, Wed., March 6, 9 p.m.
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The Triplets of Belleville Who needs modern CGI animation? This charming 2003 French throwback takes its cues from the past. Sylvain Chomet’s warm, wiggy first feature boasts great line drawings with offbeat, collectable sounds and music: part Django Reinhardt, part scat-singing, part Stomp. Blissfully, there’s no dialogue. Set in ’50s France, Triplets centers around a cyclist’s kidnapping by Mafioso, who transport him across the ocean to Belleville, tracked by his grandmother and faithful dog in a rescue mission rather like Finding Nemo. Belleville looks suspiciously like a Frenchman’s view of Manhattan. It has a Botero-sized Statue of Liberty clutching a hamburger, an entirely overweight populace, and the Triplets—three old crones who were once music-hall stars of the ’30s. There’s never quite time enough to absorb Triplets’ decor, allusions, and sumptuous drawing, which Chomet is too cool to underline. The result is a fabulous melange that makes even splendid Nemo seem overlit, simplistic, and a touch preachy. (PG-13) SHEILA BENSON Central Cinema, $6-$8, March 8-11, 7 p.m.
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Viva l’Italia Concluding the series is Vittorio De Sica’s very enjoyable 1964 comedy Marriage, Italian Style, in which Sophia Loren gets the best of Marcello Mastroianni. (NR) Seattle Art Museum, 1300 First Ave., 654-3100, seattleartmuseum.org, $63-$68 series, $8 individual, 7:30 p.m. Thurs., March 7.
Willow From 1988, Ron Howard’s fantasy picture stars Val Kilmer, Joanne Whalley, and Warwick Davis. (PG) Egyptian, $8.25, Fri., March 8, 11:59 p.m.; Sat., March 9, 11:59 p.m.
Ongoing
Amour Hollywood generally treats aging as an ennobling process, a time of gauzy reflection or an opportunity to transmit sage wisdom to tow-headed grandkids. This is not a view shared by Austrian director Michael Haneke (Funny Games, Cache), who has specialized in an impeccably crafted cinema of cruelty, repressed passion, and dread. So it’s something of a shock for Amour to begin as a loving portrait of a marriage between retired music teachers Georges and Anne (Jean-Louis Trintignant and Emmanuelle Riva), who remain independent in their 80s. Amour’s story is nothing if not logical and familiar: the medical crisis, doctors, the daughter’s visit, nurses, rehab, moments of resiliency and love, the “never take me back to the hospital” demand, setbacks, adult diapers, despair. Haneke renders Georges and Anne’s dilemma with dispassionate, clinical observation. Amour often plays like a Frederick Wiseman documentary. For Haneke, life itself is cruel. There is no consolation, only an end. (PG-13) Brian Miller Kirkland Parkplace, Vashon
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Argo Ben Affleck’s Oscar winner begins with the November 4, 1979, attack on the U.S. embassy in Tehran. While 52 Americans are held hostage, six embassy workers manage to escape, ultimately hiding out at the home of Canadian ambassador (Victor Garber). Determined to smuggle the houseguests out of Iran by disguising them as a film crew on a location scout, CIA exfiltration expert Tony Mendez (Affleck) enlists the help of John Chambers (John Goodman), a movie makeup artist, and Lester Siegel (Alan Arkin), an old-school producer. Between hokey wisecracks ribbing industry idiocy, the trio seizes on a dusty script for a Star Wars rip-off called Argo. Affleck’s movie doesn’t reflect who we are now so much as it argues for what Hollywood can be. It’s a love letter from Affleck to the industry that made him, shunned him, and loves nothing more than to be loved. (R) Karina Longworth Varsity, Oak Tree, Lincoln Square, Meridian, others
56 Up In Michael Apted’s ongoing documentary series, well-off barrister Andrew declares, “There is still a class system, but it’s based on financial success. It’s been ever thus, and I don’t think it’s ever going to change.” Echoing him is Lynn, a working-class East Ender who’s been made redundant. The Labor Party has failed, she says, and others from her circle share that view, criticizing Thatcher and David Cameron for weakening the welfare state. 56 Up’s subjects seem rather pessimistic, if not quite bitter, about the UK’s enduring inequalities. Apted is a sympathetic, off-camera presence, yet he resists any overview or analysis. Each individual story subsumes the issue of class. Apted is more interested in coping than social advancement, how his subjects—rich and poor—adapt to their circumstances. He and his subjects are all on a friendly first-name basis by now. In a real sense, they’re our friends, too. And what do we do when reuniting with old friends—fill out questionnaires and filter the results in a computer? No, we trade stories. (NR) Brian Miller Guild 45th
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Lincoln Our 16th president becomes an almost 4-D character made flesh by Daniel Day-Lewis, arguably the best actor of his generation. The challenge for director Steven Spielberg is to square the Georgia white marble of the Lincoln Memorial with the flesh-and-blood reality we can never really know—evoking the man without diminishing the leader. His other challenges include relating the complications and subtleties of political maneuvering, and the inherent suckiness of the biopic form. Spielberg solves that by lensing the portrait through a single event: the fight to pass the 13th Amendment. The film is studied and often somber, but it is also hugely entertaining, a bitchingly fun story of political gamesmanship, influence trading, patronage, cronyism, and outright bribery. This Lincoln is quietly ironic, an indulgent storyteller, a hugely charismatic leader. Day-Lewis deservedly won an Oscar for the role. (PG-13) Chris Packham Pacific Place, Thornton Place, others
A Place at the Table This well-intentioned doc by Kristi Jacobson and Lori Silverbush is really best suited for the children of Seattle’s overeducated foodies, something that ought to be screened in middle school. With subjects including food deserts, corn-syrup subsidies, and the obesity/poverty paradox, A Place at the Table attempts to enliven the talking heads (Marion Nestle, etc.) with real-life vignettes featuring sympathetic poor folk from Philadelphia to rural Colorado to the Mississippi Delta. As you’d expect, there are no Whole Foods from which to purchase fruits and veggies; more to the point, they couldn’t afford such healthy fare even if it were convenient. Among other non-surprises here are the thwarted efforts in Washington, D.C., to increase the purchasing power of food stamps and decrease the lobbying power of big agribusiness. For a little stardust, concerned citizen Jeff Bridges adds his comments—and they’re entirely intelligent. (“It’s a problem people are ashamed of acknowledging,” says the Dude of poverty and malnutrition.) Like others in the doc, he wants to see increased federal spending to fight hunger. Where might such funding come from? “We’re spending $20 billion a year in agricultural subsidies for the wrong foods,” says Nestle. Well, tell that to the congressional representatives from red-voting farm states. That’s where Place needs to be screened. (PG) Brian Miller Varsity
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Side Effects Steven Soderbergh is a total filmmaker who handles his own camera, but is only as good as his script. And this big pharma/crime tale by Scott Z. Burns is not a great script. Yet it starts out smartly enough, as Emily (Rooney Mara) waits for her husband Martin (Channing Tatum) to be released from jail after a four-year term for insider trading. Understandably, Emily is depressed, and she’s on a lot of pills. Her new shrink, Dr. Banks (Jude Law), provides suicidal Emily with modest meds and a sympathetic ear. Then he enrolls her in a clinical trial that will, conveniently, provide him some much-needed extra income. Disaster follows. As Side Effects becomes a medical-legal procedural, with lawyers, courtroom testimony, and flashbacks, you could imagine a different set of actors—perhaps Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck—in an older, black-and-white version of the same script, with the same enjoyable plot twists. Side Effects ultimately feels like a remake. And if that’s the way Soderbergh chooses to end his career, fine. Side Effects embodies the pleasures of the familiar, if not the discoveries of his past. (R) Brian Miller Lincoln Square, Majestic Bay, Cinebarre, others
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Silver Linings Playbook If you took the fighting out of The Fighter, David O. Russell’s previous movie, you’d be left with a close, fractious family like the Solitanos of his hugely appealing new Silver Linings Playbook. Instead of Boston Irish and boxing, we have Philadelphia Italian and the Eagles. The family patriarch (a fine, restrained Robert De Niro) is an OCD bookie bound by strange rituals to the team; his wide-eyed wife (Jacki Weaver) is the nervous family conciliator/enabler; and their volatile son Pat (Bradley Cooper, wired) is fresh out of the nuthouse with a restraining order from his ex. But Pat is looking for those silver linings through self-improvement: reading, running, losing weight, scheming to win back his wife. Russell’s pell-mell approach perfectly suits the story of Pat’s mania and wrong-footed romance with young widow Tiffany (the Oscar-winning Jennifer Lawrence), who’s even more titanic in her instability than Pat. (R) Brian Miller Seven Gables, Oak Tree, Kirkland Parkplace, Lincoln Square, Majestic Bay, Cinebarre, Pacific Place, Bainbridge, others
Snitch This solid little B-movie has an actual issue involved. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson plays Matthews, whose 18-year-old son accepts FedEx delivery of ecstasy pills from a pal. Then comes the bust. Because of mandatory minimum sentencing guidelines, Matthews is told, his kid is going away for 10 years. Matthews then pitches an unlikely deal to the stern, childless, politically ambitious federal prosecutor (Susan Sarandon!). Let me do a drug deal for you in place of my son, he says, then he can get off on probation and go to college. Because this is a movie, the prosecutor agrees, meaning that upright family man Matthews has to penetrate the criminal underworld he knows nothing about. By the time he hooks up with a scary dealer (Michael K. Williams), Matthews realizes he’s in way over his head. The dealer leads to an even more frightening Mexican drug cartel, whose leader (Benjamin Bratt) is a whole different magnitude of scary. There’s much less action than you expect in Snitch (the script was inspired by a Frontline report), and the car crashes and gunshots feel plausibly weighted by gravity. (PG-13) Brian Miller Lincoln Square, Meridian, Thornton Place, others
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Zero Dark Thirty Director Kathryn Bigelow and screenwriter Mark Boal dramatize the manhunt for Osama bin Laden. From the major details to the smallest ones, the reporting is so good you scarcely question a beat. Jessica Chastain gives a sensational performances as Maya, a young CIA officer obsessed with bin Laden. Waterboarding and starvation are depicted, without any of the moral outrage some might expect from a Hollywood treatment of this subject. Rather, Bigelow and Boal come not to judge but to show, leaving the rest up to us. This is superb journalism and even better filmmaking, culminating in an electrifying re-enactment of the raid on bin Laden’s Pakistan hideout. But what impresses most about Zero Dark Thirty is the long time it spends in the middle distance, immersing us in the workaday lives of agents and analysts who sacrifice much in the name of something bigger than themselves. (R) Scott Foundas Oak Tree, Lincoln Square, Meridian, others
Theaters:
Admiral, 2343 California Ave. SW, 938-3456; Ark Lodge Cinemas, 4816 Rainier Ave. S, 721-3156; Big Picture, 2505 First Ave., 256-0566; Big
Picture
Redmond, 7411 166th Ave. NE, 425-556-0566; Central
Cinema, 1411 21st Ave., 686-6684; Cinebarre, 6009 SW 244th St. (Mountlake Terrace)., 425-672-7501; Cinerama, 2100 Fourth Ave., 448-6680; Crest, 16505 Fifth Ave. NE, 781-5755; Egyptian, 801 E. Pine St., 781-5755; Grand Illusion, 1403 NE 50th St., 523-3935; Guild 45, 2115 N. 45th St., 781-5755; Harvard Exit, 807 E. Roy St., 781-5755; iPic Theaters, 16451 N.E. 74th St. (Redmond), 425-636-5601; Kirkland Parkplace, 404 Park Place, 425-827-9000; Lincoln Square, 700 Bellevue Way N, 425-454-7400; Majestic Bay, 2044 NW Market St., 781-2229; Meridian, 1501 Seventh Ave., 223-9600; Metro, 4500 Ninth Ave. NE, 781-5755; Northwest Film Forum, 1515 12th Ave., 267-5380; Oak Tree, 10006 Aurora Ave. N, 527-1748; Pacific Place, 600 Pine St., 888-262-4386; Seven Gables, 911 NE 50th St., 781-5755; SIFF Cinema Uptown, 511 Queen Anne Ave. N., 324-9996; SIFF Film Center, 305 Harrison St. (Seattle Center), 324-9996; Sundance Cinemas, 4500 Ninth Ave NE, 633-0059; Thornton Place, 301 NE 103rd St., 517-9953; Varsity, 4329 University Way NE, 781-5755.
