For Your Consideration: Selections for SIFF's Last Weekend

Well friends, this is it. The final weekend of SIFF! The festival closes on Sunday night with Get Low, a showcase for some of Hollywood's finest actors of a Certain Seniority. Robert Duvall is fantastic as the mysterious and feared hermit who comes into town from his woodsy cell to ask Bill Murray to plan his funeral party. The mostly comedic enterprise sets in motion a series of emotional encounters, revealed secrets, and gestures toward catharsis. While opening and closing selections often fall into the territory of inoffensive blandness, this one oozes with charm and benefits from its cast of stately older actors at the top of their game.

Of course, a good part of the appeal is that whole thing is followed by a blowout gala at the Pan Pacific featuring lots of drinks, food, dancing, and a chance to debrief with fellow filmgoers about the fest (Screening is at 6:30 p.m. at Cinerama; party follows).

Many slots in the festival schedule originally listed as TBA have been announced. Along with additional screenings for festival favorites, three new films have been added. There's Thunder Soul, the story of a reunion of a high school band turned funk sensation (June 13, 1:30 p.m. @ the Egyptian); Vengeance finds a French chef in Hong Kong returning to his former killing ways (June 12, 9 p.m. @ Harvard Exit; June 13, 11 a.m. @ Harvard Exit); and Michael Douglas and an all-star cast in Ebert-approved Solitary Man (June 12, 8:30 p.m. @ Pacific Place). And, those interested in a mass singalong to Grease, probably already bought their tickets weeks in advance (June 12, 3:45 p.m. @ SIFF Cinema).

Before you send the festival off into the good night, consider some of these selections for your weekend and use the comments section to let us know if we've missed any highly recommendable films. For all film screenings, the general/member ticket prices are $11/$9 (and matinees $8/$7), except for special presentations, which cost more.

Protektor a love story between a radio operator and his glamorous Jewish actress wife during the Nazi occupation of Prague during the 1930s. He cooperates to survive; she takes up with a subversive projectionist to fight depression. (June 11, 6 p.m. @ Pacific Place; June 13, 4 p.m. @ Egyptian)

The Wildest Dream Chronicles two journeys to the summit of Mount Everest: Mallory's original fatal quest and  Conrad Anker's attempts to follow in his footsteps to vindicate the early explorer's achievement. Did we mention that it's all in IMAX? (June 11, 7 p.m.; June 12, 1:30 p.m. @ Pacific Science Center)

Cargo: Swiss in Spaaaace! Suspenseful science fiction on a shoestring aboard long haul space flight. (June 11, 9:15 p.m. @ Egyptian; June 12, 1:30 p.m. @ Egyptian)

Rocksteady: the Roots of Reggae: Genre pioneers reunite forty years later for a tribute concert in Kingston. (June 11, 9:30 p.m. @ Uptown; June 13, 11 a.m. @ SIFF Cinema)

Howl James Franco plays Alan Ginsburg in this celebration of the Beat poet laureate, complete with simulated interviews, recreated readings, and hallucinogenic animations. Rush tickets only. (June 12, 7 p.m. @ Egyptian)

Micmacs Jean-Pierre Jeunet's affection for quirky characters, coincidence, and contraptions combine in a comedic conspiracy to pit a pair of warmongers against each other as payback for inadvertent offenses against a protagonist with a bullet lodged in his brain. This has been on rush forever and opens in wider release later this month. (June 11, 7 p.m. @ Uptown)

Leaving: Kristin Scott Thomas faces mid-life French ennui. (June 12, 9 p.m. @ Uptown)

Last Train Home China's rural past confronts its industrial present during a holiday week in which factory workers swarm to available trains to spend precious time with their physically distant family members. (June 12, 6 p.m. @ Pacific Place; June 13, 1:30 p.m. @ Pacific Place) 

Au Revoir Taipei A night in the life of disaffected lovesick youth, in which Parisian plots are reconsidered, friends are kidnapped, and new crushes develop. (June 13, 9:15 p.m. @ Pacific Place; June 12, 6:00 p.m. @ Kirkland)

Ticked-Off Trannies with Knives The title says it all, really. (June 12, Midnight @ Egyptian; June 13, 9:30 p.m. @ Egyptian)

Many previously-recommended films get final screenings. In the foreign section, Cold War drama Farewell finds an unlikely spy working with a high-level comrade to smuggle secrets out of Moscow (June 12, 6:30 p.m. @ Uptown); The Dancer and the Thief seeks payback against Pinochet in the form of a spectacular heist (June 13, 9:30 p.m. @ Pacific Place);  Patagonia dwells on the Welsh history in Argentina (June 12, 3:45 p.m. @ Uptown); and Crossing Hennessy involves an unwanted blind date that turns intriguing in Hong Kong (June 11, 1:30 p.m. @ Pacific Place).

Documentaries cover William S. Burroughs: A Man Within about the legendary author's life starring the famous people whose work his writing and activism influenced. (June 12, 6:30 p.m. @ Harvard Exit); American: The Bill Hicks Story examines the comedian's life and artifacts (June 12, 11:00 a.m. @ Egyptian); and Garbo the Spy has proven one of the more fascinating characters of the festival (June 13, 8:30 p.m. @ SIFF Cinema)

Musical fiends left wanting more than a Grease singalong, might enjoy I Kissed a Vampire with its song and dance numbers in service of bloodthirsty teen love (June 12, 4:30 p.m. @ Egyptian) and Hipsters, an excessively delightful musical tribute to happiness by way of wardrobe and music in opposition to Soviet conformity (June 12, 2:30 p.m. @ Pacific Place).

There are also comedies of various shades of black and red including the homicidal corporate ladder climbing with Miss Nobody (June 12, 1:15 p.m. @ SIFF Cinema); or one last blood bath from RoboGeisha (June 13, 8:30 p.m. @ Harvard Exit).

For a kid-friendlier end to SIFF, consider breakdancers of the world doing battle in Turn It Loose (June 11, 9:30 p.m. @ Kirkland) or the cute overload from adorable kitty, The White Lion (June 12, 11 a.m. @ SIFF Cinema).