Film •  Slither A pitch-perfect work of B-grade zombie-flick schlock, the 2006

April 28, 2015 12:33 am

Film

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Slither A pitch-perfect work of B-grade zombie-flick schlock, the 2006 Slither is way more enjoyable than it should be, thanks to a slew of gut-busting one-liners and a devilishly entertaining performance by veteran tough-guy character actor Michael Rooker. Playing a small-town South Carolina tycoon who morphs into a carcass-eating, Fat Bastard-sequel squid-man after having his chest penetrated in the woods by alien ringworms, Rooker comes off as a hilarious cross between Jeff Bridges’ character in Starman and Phil Hartman’s Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer. It also doesn’t hurt that Elizabeth Banks, playing Rooker’s much younger gold-digging trophy wife, is hotter than Georgia asphalt. But beneath Slither’s gory sheen lies a cautionary tale: Marry for love, and things will break your way; marry for money, and your husband will turn into a jealous, bloodthirsty, cattle-devouring murderer. MIKE SEELY Central Cinema, 1411 21st Ave., Seattle, WA 98122 $7-$9 Monday, April 27, 2015, 9:30pm

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Slither A pitch-perfect work of B-grade zombie-flick schlock, the 2006 Slither is way more enjoyable than it should be, thanks to a slew of gut-busting one-liners and a devilishly entertaining performance by veteran tough-guy character actor Michael Rooker. Playing a small-town South Carolina tycoon who morphs into a carcass-eating, Fat Bastard-sequel squid-man after having his chest penetrated in the woods by alien ringworms, Rooker comes off as a hilarious cross between Jeff Bridges’ character in Starman and Phil Hartman’s Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer. It also doesn’t hurt that Elizabeth Banks, playing Rooker’s much younger gold-digging trophy wife, is hotter than Georgia asphalt. But beneath Slither’s gory sheen lies a cautionary tale: Marry for love, and things will break your way; marry for money, and your husband will turn into a jealous, bloodthirsty, cattle-devouring murderer. MIKE SEELY Central Cinema, 1411 21st Ave., Seattle, WA 98122 $7-$9 Tuesday, April 28, 2015, 9:30pm

In Country The premise sounds like Christopher Guest: Portland filmmakers Meghan O’Hara and Mike Attie follow a “platoon” of Vietnam War re-enactors into the woods. Your first thought, as mine was, is likely to be “Jesus Christ, you fucking losers, get a life and stop pretending you’re at war. American troops are still dying abroad. This is in really bad taste!” O’Hara and Attie confess to just the same qualms, but their sympathetic doc is anything but a simple takedown. To begin with, several re-enactors are actual veterans of recent wars. Their mentor is a Vietnam War vet. And one of them, a teen, is set to enlist in the Marines. So your snickers end quite soon. Then the directors interlace scenes of this Oregon “war” with actual Vietnam War footage to show what these guys are after. The old newsreels and stills have an enduring power to startle, in large part because Vietnam was the last time photojournalists were allowed such intimate access; all wars since have been strictly stage-managed by the Pentagon. An amusing footnote: For the sake of veracity in this amateur-theatrical-in-the-woods, O’Hara and Attie agreed to “play” reporters following the platoon with their camera. And the two directors will attend tonight’s screening. BRIAN MILLER SIFF Cinema Uptown, 511 Queen Anne Ave. N., Seattle, WA 98109 $7-$12 Thursday, April 30, 2015, 7pm

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STIFF The acronym for the newly renamed and broadened Seattle Transmedia and Independent Film Festival was always a cheeky bit of misdirection, since SIFF proper begins on May 14. The motley, spunky STIFF programs differently-like Slamdance punching upward at Sundance. This year’s lineup has a typically impudent feel, with highlights including Jen Marlowe’s Arab Spring doc Witness Bahrain; an interactive web game called Pirate Fishing (intended to raise awareness about overfishing off West Africa); the Chilean Assent (about the ‘70s military coup, designed for Oculus Rift); Coney Island: Dreams for Sale (about gentrification in New York); and Lost Conquest (about a Minnesotan’s quest for his supposed Viking heritage). Tonight’s screening of the romantic thriller Bristel Goodman (6 p.m., Grand Illusion) is followed by a gallery event and opening-gala afterparty. Grand Illusion, Lucid Lounge, Wing-It Productions, and other venues.  BRIAN MILLER Various locations, Mostly $12 Friday, May 1, 2015

In Country The premise sounds like Christopher Guest: Portland filmmakers Meghan O’Hara and Mike Attie follow a “platoon” of Vietnam War re-enactors into the woods. Your first thought, as mine was, is likely to be “Jesus Christ, you fucking losers, get a life and stop pretending you’re at war. American troops are still dying abroad. This is in really bad taste!” O’Hara and Attie confess to just the same qualms, but their sympathetic doc is anything but a simple takedown. To begin with, several re-enactors are actual veterans of recent wars. Their mentor is a Vietnam War vet. And one of them, a teen, is set to enlist in the Marines. So your snickers end quite soon. Then the directors interlace scenes of this Oregon “war” with actual Vietnam War footage to show what these guys are after. The old newsreels and stills have an enduring power to startle, in large part because Vietnam was the last time photojournalists were allowed such intimate access; all wars since have been strictly stage-managed by the Pentagon. An amusing footnote: For the sake of veracity in this amateur-theatrical-in-the-woods, O’Hara and Attie agreed to “play” reporters following the platoon with their camera. And the two directors will attend tonight’s screening. BRIAN MILLER SIFF Cinema Uptown, 511 Queen Anne Ave. N., Seattle, WA 98109 $7-$12 Friday, May 1, 2015, 7pm

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STIFF The acronym for the newly renamed and broadened Seattle Transmedia and Independent Film Festival was always a cheeky bit of misdirection, since SIFF proper begins on May 14. The motley, spunky STIFF programs differently-like Slamdance punching upward at Sundance. This year’s lineup has a typically impudent feel, with highlights including Jen Marlowe’s Arab Spring doc Witness Bahrain; an interactive web game called Pirate Fishing (intended to raise awareness about overfishing off West Africa); the Chilean Assent (about the ‘70s military coup, designed for Oculus Rift); Coney Island: Dreams for Sale (about gentrification in New York); and Lost Conquest (about a Minnesotan’s quest for his supposed Viking heritage). Tonight’s screening of the romantic thriller Bristel Goodman (6 p.m., Grand Illusion) is followed by a gallery event and opening-gala afterparty. Grand Illusion, Lucid Lounge, Wing-It Productions, and other venues.  BRIAN MILLER Various locations, Mostly $12 Saturday, May 2, 2015

In Country The premise sounds like Christopher Guest: Portland filmmakers Meghan O’Hara and Mike Attie follow a “platoon” of Vietnam War re-enactors into the woods. Your first thought, as mine was, is likely to be “Jesus Christ, you fucking losers, get a life and stop pretending you’re at war. American troops are still dying abroad. This is in really bad taste!” O’Hara and Attie confess to just the same qualms, but their sympathetic doc is anything but a simple takedown. To begin with, several re-enactors are actual veterans of recent wars. Their mentor is a Vietnam War vet. And one of them, a teen, is set to enlist in the Marines. So your snickers end quite soon. Then the directors interlace scenes of this Oregon “war” with actual Vietnam War footage to show what these guys are after. The old newsreels and stills have an enduring power to startle, in large part because Vietnam was the last time photojournalists were allowed such intimate access; all wars since have been strictly stage-managed by the Pentagon. An amusing footnote: For the sake of veracity in this amateur-theatrical-in-the-woods, O’Hara and Attie agreed to “play” reporters following the platoon with their camera. And the two directors will attend tonight’s screening. BRIAN MILLER SIFF Cinema Uptown, 511 Queen Anne Ave. N., Seattle, WA 98109 $7-$12 Saturday, May 2, 2015, 7pm

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STIFF The acronym for the newly renamed and broadened Seattle Transmedia and Independent Film Festival was always a cheeky bit of misdirection, since SIFF proper begins on May 14. The motley, spunky STIFF programs differently-like Slamdance punching upward at Sundance. This year’s lineup has a typically impudent feel, with highlights including Jen Marlowe’s Arab Spring doc Witness Bahrain; an interactive web game called Pirate Fishing (intended to raise awareness about overfishing off West Africa); the Chilean Assent (about the ‘70s military coup, designed for Oculus Rift); Coney Island: Dreams for Sale (about gentrification in New York); and Lost Conquest (about a Minnesotan’s quest for his supposed Viking heritage). Tonight’s screening of the romantic thriller Bristel Goodman (6 p.m., Grand Illusion) is followed by a gallery event and opening-gala afterparty. Grand Illusion, Lucid Lounge, Wing-It Productions, and other venues.  BRIAN MILLER Various locations, Mostly $12 Sunday, May 3, 2015

In Country The premise sounds like Christopher Guest: Portland filmmakers Meghan O’Hara and Mike Attie follow a “platoon” of Vietnam War re-enactors into the woods. Your first thought, as mine was, is likely to be “Jesus Christ, you fucking losers, get a life and stop pretending you’re at war. American troops are still dying abroad. This is in really bad taste!” O’Hara and Attie confess to just the same qualms, but their sympathetic doc is anything but a simple takedown. To begin with, several re-enactors are actual veterans of recent wars. Their mentor is a Vietnam War vet. And one of them, a teen, is set to enlist in the Marines. So your snickers end quite soon. Then the directors interlace scenes of this Oregon “war” with actual Vietnam War footage to show what these guys are after. The old newsreels and stills have an enduring power to startle, in large part because Vietnam was the last time photojournalists were allowed such intimate access; all wars since have been strictly stage-managed by the Pentagon. An amusing footnote: For the sake of veracity in this amateur-theatrical-in-the-woods, O’Hara and Attie agreed to “play” reporters following the platoon with their camera. And the two directors will attend tonight’s screening. BRIAN MILLER SIFF Cinema Uptown, 511 Queen Anne Ave. N., Seattle, WA 98109 $7-$12 Sunday, May 3, 2015, 7pm

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STIFF The acronym for the newly renamed and broadened Seattle Transmedia and Independent Film Festival was always a cheeky bit of misdirection, since SIFF proper begins on May 14. The motley, spunky STIFF programs differently-like Slamdance punching upward at Sundance. This year’s lineup has a typically impudent feel, with highlights including Jen Marlowe’s Arab Spring doc Witness Bahrain; an interactive web game called Pirate Fishing (intended to raise awareness about overfishing off West Africa); the Chilean Assent (about the ‘70s military coup, designed for Oculus Rift); Coney Island: Dreams for Sale (about gentrification in New York); and Lost Conquest (about a Minnesotan’s quest for his supposed Viking heritage). Tonight’s screening of the romantic thriller Bristel Goodman (6 p.m., Grand Illusion) is followed by a gallery event and opening-gala afterparty. Grand Illusion, Lucid Lounge, Wing-It Productions, and other venues.  BRIAN MILLER Various locations, Mostly $12 Monday, May 4, 2015

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STIFF The acronym for the newly renamed and broadened Seattle Transmedia and Independent Film Festival was always a cheeky bit of misdirection, since SIFF proper begins on May 14. The motley, spunky STIFF programs differently-like Slamdance punching upward at Sundance. This year’s lineup has a typically impudent feel, with highlights including Jen Marlowe’s Arab Spring doc Witness Bahrain; an interactive web game called Pirate Fishing (intended to raise awareness about overfishing off West Africa); the Chilean Assent (about the ‘70s military coup, designed for Oculus Rift); Coney Island: Dreams for Sale (about gentrification in New York); and Lost Conquest (about a Minnesotan’s quest for his supposed Viking heritage). Tonight’s screening of the romantic thriller Bristel Goodman (6 p.m., Grand Illusion) is followed by a gallery event and opening-gala afterparty. Grand Illusion, Lucid Lounge, Wing-It Productions, and other venues.  BRIAN MILLER Various locations, Mostly $12 Tuesday, May 5, 2015

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STIFF The acronym for the newly renamed and broadened Seattle Transmedia and Independent Film Festival was always a cheeky bit of misdirection, since SIFF proper begins on May 14. The motley, spunky STIFF programs differently-like Slamdance punching upward at Sundance. This year’s lineup has a typically impudent feel, with highlights including Jen Marlowe’s Arab Spring doc Witness Bahrain; an interactive web game called Pirate Fishing (intended to raise awareness about overfishing off West Africa); the Chilean Assent (about the ‘70s military coup, designed for Oculus Rift); Coney Island: Dreams for Sale (about gentrification in New York); and Lost Conquest (about a Minnesotan’s quest for his supposed Viking heritage). Tonight’s screening of the romantic thriller Bristel Goodman (6 p.m., Grand Illusion) is followed by a gallery event and opening-gala afterparty. Grand Illusion, Lucid Lounge, Wing-It Productions, and other venues.  BRIAN MILLER Various locations, Mostly $12 Wednesday, May 6, 2015

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STIFF The acronym for the newly renamed and broadened Seattle Transmedia and Independent Film Festival was always a cheeky bit of misdirection, since SIFF proper begins on May 14. The motley, spunky STIFF programs differently-like Slamdance punching upward at Sundance. This year’s lineup has a typically impudent feel, with highlights including Jen Marlowe’s Arab Spring doc Witness Bahrain; an interactive web game called Pirate Fishing (intended to raise awareness about overfishing off West Africa); the Chilean Assent (about the ‘70s military coup, designed for Oculus Rift); Coney Island: Dreams for Sale (about gentrification in New York); and Lost Conquest (about a Minnesotan’s quest for his supposed Viking heritage). Tonight’s screening of the romantic thriller Bristel Goodman (6 p.m., Grand Illusion) is followed by a gallery event and opening-gala afterparty. Grand Illusion, Lucid Lounge, Wing-It Productions, and other venues.  BRIAN MILLER Various locations, Mostly $12 Thursday, May 7, 2015

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STIFF The acronym for the newly renamed and broadened Seattle Transmedia and Independent Film Festival was always a cheeky bit of misdirection, since SIFF proper begins on May 14. The motley, spunky STIFF programs differently-like Slamdance punching upward at Sundance. This year’s lineup has a typically impudent feel, with highlights including Jen Marlowe’s Arab Spring doc Witness Bahrain; an interactive web game called Pirate Fishing (intended to raise awareness about overfishing off West Africa); the Chilean Assent (about the ‘70s military coup, designed for Oculus Rift); Coney Island: Dreams for Sale (about gentrification in New York); and Lost Conquest (about a Minnesotan’s quest for his supposed Viking heritage). Tonight’s screening of the romantic thriller Bristel Goodman (6 p.m., Grand Illusion) is followed by a gallery event and opening-gala afterparty. Grand Illusion, Lucid Lounge, Wing-It Productions, and other venues.  BRIAN MILLER Various locations, Mostly $12 Friday, May 8, 2015

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STIFF The acronym for the newly renamed and broadened Seattle Transmedia and Independent Film Festival was always a cheeky bit of misdirection, since SIFF proper begins on May 14. The motley, spunky STIFF programs differently-like Slamdance punching upward at Sundance. This year’s lineup has a typically impudent feel, with highlights including Jen Marlowe’s Arab Spring doc Witness Bahrain; an interactive web game called Pirate Fishing (intended to raise awareness about overfishing off West Africa); the Chilean Assent (about the ‘70s military coup, designed for Oculus Rift); Coney Island: Dreams for Sale (about gentrification in New York); and Lost Conquest (about a Minnesotan’s quest for his supposed Viking heritage). Tonight’s screening of the romantic thriller Bristel Goodman (6 p.m., Grand Illusion) is followed by a gallery event and opening-gala afterparty. Grand Illusion, Lucid Lounge, Wing-It Productions, and other venues.  BRIAN MILLER Various locations, Mostly $12 Saturday, May 9, 2015