With the Seattle International Film Festival entering its second half, there are still lots of great movies to see (and a few to avoid). SIFF being a marathon, not a sprint, remains ever so true. Here are reviews of a handful of movies I have seen that are playing in the next week. Once again, please consult the SIFF website for current ticket and showtime information.
Burn, Burn, Burn (2016, UK, dir. Chanya Button, 105 minutes, US Premiere)
Dan just died. He was young and it was cancer. It’s all very unfortunate. He left behind a video will and what he really wants are his friends Alex and Persephone to scatter his ashes at a small handful of selected places across the United Kingdom. Laura Carmichael (of “Downton Abby” fame) and Chloe Pirri play Seph and Alex. Hijinks ensue, and, along the way, we realize that while Dan was always funny and charming, he was also something of an asshole. Seph and Alex also don’t always act perfectly so there’s some tension from that. The movie was pretty good, though, and responsible for several quips and great lines I’ll be quoting for some time.
- June 3, SIFF Cinema Egyptian, 6:30pm
- June 4, SIFF Cinema Uptown, 2pm
Cameraperson (2016, USA, dir. Kirsten Johnson, 100 minutes)
Kirsten Johnson, one of the best cinematographers working today, combines footage from her past movies (like Citizenfour, Fahrenheit 9/11, Darfur Now, and dozens of other memorable films), her home videos, and some stuff that didn’t make it into the films to craft an autobiographical documentary. There are some remarkable clips here (the prosecutor in the James Byrd case talking about the clothes Byrd was wearing when he was brutally murdered got to me early in the movie). It’s a moving and memorable chronicle of a truly remarkable career.
- June 1, SIFF Cinema Uptown, 9:30pm
- June 2, SIFF Cinema Uptown, 4pm
Deconstructing Dani Garcia (2015, Spain, dir. Iñigo Ruiz and Alfonso Cortés-Cavanillas, 72 minutes)
It seems like every chef of note either has a regular gig on the Food Network, or has a documentary about their life. That’s not to say they’re not deserving, just that the form is achieving some kind of ubiquity. This one, about Spanish chef Dani Garcia, who was the chef at a two-star Michelin restaurant in Spain that was forced to close for reasons beyond his control. He’s a likeable enough dude (the doc shows him as genuinely worrying about his time away from family, he repeatedly says he wants his haute cuisine to be accessible) and he seems to be doing well for himself. He doesn’t have an outsized personality, which I was kind of hoping for, for something to make Garcia seem more unique than a nice guy chef whose acclaimed restaurant closes and he has to make some difficult life choices. This documentary is perfectly fine and there’s not really anything wrong with it, so if you dig docs about chefs, you’ll like this one.
- June 7, Kirkland Performance Center, 6pm
- June 8, Pacific Place, 7pm
- June 10, Pacific Place, 1:30pm
ForEveryone.net (2016, USA/UK, dir. Jessica Yu, 35 minutes)
Sir Tim Berners-Lee is a name that nerds like me memorize in the off-chance that it is useful during bar trivia. While his name is not entirely well known, even in circles of computer programmers, it’s difficult to imagine life today without him. He’s widely credited for being the creator of the world wide web, and this new, short documentary, ForEveryone.net, attempts to make his name known to a wider audience. Jessica Yu, and Oscar winning documentary filmmaker, has created a fascinating movie that first gives some biographical information on Berners-Lee and how he created the web as we know it. The second half is about the importance of maintaining net neutrality, a cause that’s important to Sir Berners-Lee.
- June 5, SIFF Film Center 1pm (tickets on standby)
Ovarian Psycos (2016, USA, dir. Joanna Sokolowski and Kate Trumbull-LaValle, 72 minutes)
Ovarian Psycos is a bicycle brigade of Latina women (and female-identified) activists in East Los Angeles. They provide a sense of community and belonging to women of color, and they’re unapologetically visible and feminist. I liked this documentary a lot because it invited the Ovarian Psycos (like founder Xela) to tell their stories in this format. A brief section focuses on the inevitable and predictable backlash from assholes and concern trolls, like the men who just think it could so much more inclusive if dudes were invited to join. It’s not as though there is a dearth of places for men to ride bicycles. I believe, though, that documentaries like this are best when they provide something of a blueprint for starting activist groups or becoming a more politically active person, and assuaging the concerns of people who don’t think they have the time for activism. Ovarian Psycos does all that very well.
- June 3, Pacific Place, 9:30pm
- June 4, Ark Lodge Cinemas (Columbia City), 8pm
Paralytic (2016, USA, dir. Joey Johnson, 87 minutes, World Premiere)
This locally-made film makes for one tense thriller. It’s about an expensive hit man who enacts an elaborate plan to exact revenge on a drug cartel that betrayed him. He knows too much, and leaves a cryptic letter for a small town sheriff from BFE, WA to find. It is all convoluted but it draws you into the complex plan. There are some plot twists along the way, and the chronology isn’t exactly linear. I found, though, that the acting from David S. Hogan and Darlene Sellers are what most drew me into the story and convinced me to go along for the ride.
- June 3, SIFF Cinema Uptown, 9:30pm
- June 7, SIFF Cinema Uptown, 9pm
The Pretty Ones / Las Lindas (2016, Argentina, dir. Melisa Liebenthal, 77 minutes)
Melisa Liebenthal is young filmmaker from Argentina whose debut feature film plays like an extended conversation with her friends. They ruminate on dating, beauty, who they’re viewed by men, and why they do and don’t think that’s important. It’s told through interviews Liebenthal conducts, though she also reveals her insecurities. There are also some embarrassing home videos of the young women when they were younger. I can’t imagine it’s easy for the interview subjects to discuss their anxieties on camera, for an audience of film festival-goers across the world, but they deserve a bit of praise for being candid and revealing.
- June 3, SIFF Cinema Uptown, 6pm
- June 4, Ark Lodge Cinemas (Columbia City), 3pm
The Queen of Ireland (2015, Ireland, dir. Conor Horgan, 82 minutes)
Drag queen Panti Bliss (Rory O’Neill on government documents) caused something of a stir by calling out homophobes on Irish TV. I thought the comments were fairly benign as I’ve believed what Panti Bliss said since I was a teenager, buth whatever. It made international headlines and the press called it “Pantigate.” I’m glad, though, it brought attention to Panti Bliss and helped lead to Ireland’s referendum on marriage equality. It was successful and the first nation in the world to do so by popular vote. Much of that is tracked in The Queen of England, plus there is some great footage of Panti Bliss’ early days (including working in Japanese fetish clubs). This is a case where I loved the documentary because it made me fall in love with the subject.
- June 2, Pacific Place, 7pm
- June 4, SIFF Cinema Uptown, 12:30pm
A Song for You: The Austin City Limits Story (2016, USA, dir. Keith Maitland, 91 minutes)
A Song for You is one of two Keith Maitland documentaries to play at SIFF this year. It’s a fine music documentary that traces 40+ years of the legendary PBS series. The long-running show is unique in that it is a TV show seen nationally that is an entire set of live music tailored to performers’ desire, rather than one song at the end of a talk show. Naturally there is some amazing footage and some great stories (like a Kris Kristofferson’s 1982 set being interrupted by a power outage because a rat chewed on a cable). I’m not sure I buy the creative renaissance the show found by discovering indie rock the same time as everyone else, but I liked watching (and hearing) the great music. Also cool: the new-sh ACL studio (opened in 2012) has a Willie Nelson statue outside of it.
- June 2, SIFF Cinema Uptown, 9pm
- June 4, SIFF Cinema Uptown, 3pm
Vintage Tomorrows (2015, USA/Canada/Czech Republic, dir. Byrd Johnson, 67 minutes)
This engaging documentary provides an overview for Steampunk culture. One person in the movie described the genre as being like science fiction from the 1900s. It includes interviews with most of the big names in Steampunk, or who are associated with, like William Gibson, (former Seattleite) Cherie Priest, Cory Doctorow, and China Mieville. There are interviews with lots of costume designers, writers, builders, and members of the band Abney Park. I was impressed by how seriously the people interviewed take Steampunk, but still seem to be having so much fun with it. Inclusivity is preached from nearly everyone, so that’s good. This movie probably can serve as a Steampunk 101 for n00bs like myself. I didn’t even know Justin Bieber made a Steampunk music video until watching Vintage Tomorrows. Previously, all I knew about Steampunk was this:
Sleep tight, li'l steampunk-er! Dream of tweed vests and shiny rivets! http://t.co/SrtnzK71
— Patton Oswalt (@pattonoswalt) October 16, 2011
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May 29, Renton IKEA Performing Arts Center, 3pm - June 3, SIFF Cinema Uptown, 8:30pm (Tickets on standby)
- June 5, Kirkland Performance Center, 1pm
Zoom (2015, Canada, dir. Pedro Morelli, 96 minutes)
This cool mindfuck of a movie is like an invitation into Charlie Kaufman’s brain. It’s about a third animation (resembling the a color version of a-ha’s “Take On Me” video) and has three interlocking plots: a young artist who works in a sex toy factory (the brilliant Alison Pill), the dream man she creates on page (played by Gael Garcia Bernal) who is a filmmaker making a movie about a Brazilian model who wants to become a novelist, and that novelist is writing about the artist in a sex toy factory. It’s all very meta, and quite cool, with plenty of style. It’s also hilarious when Emma (the artist) finds herself underwhelmed by her breast augmentation so she exacts revenge by shrinking the penis of her dream character. Jason Priestley is in it; he plays an asshole. You just have to see it. This Canadian gem is one of my favorite discoveries of SIFF.
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May 31, SIFF Cinema Uptown, 9:15pm - June 1, SIFF Cinema Egyptian, 9:30pm