Recent Stories in Film & TV

Neighborhood blog Queen Anne View posted this animated "fly-through" video of Owen Richards Architects designs for SIFF's new Film Center.  Formerly the Alki Room--a.k.a. one of those spots on the Seattle Center campus you never go--ORA clearly plans to turn the Northwest Room into a big open cinema-friendly environment where the sun is always shining.

SIFF Group Film Center - Seattle, WA

The new year-round home for the Seattle International Film Festival at Seattle Center will include a 100-seat multi-use screening room and lecture hall, library and flex spaces, multi-media classroom, exhibition spaces, archives, and offices for SIFF and the Film School. The project transforms an existing 1962 World's Fair pavilion overlooking Seattle Center's central fountain plaza and reflects the Center's commitment to introducing new media arts programming at the heart of the campus. In addition to serving as a year-round media arts education space, the theater is designed to be utilized as a presentation venue for Seattle Center cultural festivals, and will serve as the focus for SIFF's screenwriters' salon and education outreach programs. Sustainable design features include energy efficiency upgrades, natural ventilation and daylighting, adaptive reuse of an aging facility, and reuse of historic Cinerama theater seating.... (more)

Of course the biggest release this Tuesday is The Social Network, blah blah blah Best Film of the Year. Also surely to be picking up awards at the Oscars, Piranha 3D is out on DVD this week, and Machete was out last week. Speaking of Robert Rodriguez, El Mariachi and Desperado are on Blu-ray for the first time, as is his Once Upon a Time in Mexico. (Robert Rodriguez fun fact: his children are named Rocket, Racer, Rebel, Rogue, and Rhiannon.)

There's really no reason to watch Dinner for Schmucks. If you're on a plane it might be halfway tolerable. I can't even say that much for supernatural thrillers The Last Exorcism and Case 39. Meanwhille, I will watch multi-talent pretty boy James Franco in anything. That includes him kissing himself in a mirror, or new release Howl starring Franco as a young Allen Ginsberg. You probably don't remember wolf cartoon feature Alpha and Omega--that's because it's terrible. I don't remember Colin Firth in a 1984 made-for-tv version of Dumas romance Camille, but it's now out on DVD.

Mayan father-and-son fishing journey Alamar and Romain Duris and Vanessa Paradis looking pretty in Heartbreaker (L'Arnacoeur). Legendary Jean Pierre Melville morals-in-war film Army of Shadows is out in a Criterion edition this week.  In other special editions, there's the 20th anniversary edition of Dances with Wolves and Backdraft, and Raging Bull celebrates its 30th anniversary with a new edition. You'd think that a Rocky and Bullwinkle complete series would be awesome, but it got mixed reviews on Amazon.

Only a few new documentaries in recent release, the biggest being "controversial" doc Catfish, "controversial" because there is some question of its truthiness. But even if it's hoaxy, that doesn't necessarily make a film less affecting (see Exit Through the Gift Shop).  Also out now is Beyond Belief, in which two 9/11 widows travel to Afghanistan to help empower women there. Only slightly less heavy is Louis CK: Hilarious, because at some point, yes, everybody accidentally tells their child that one day the sun will engulf the earth and all will be darkness and death.... (more)

That's a command. It's time to watch some movies in theaters, people. And I don't mean Season of the Witch. So here's a few new releases worth your time, as well as the films you've gotta see before awards season shifts into high gear. (I still need to find time for The King's Speech and Mike Leigh's latest, Another Year.)

Guy and Madeline on the Park Bench just opened at the Northwest Film Forum (or reopened, if you count the 2009 film's couple screenings during that year's Earshot Jazz Fest).  Warning: it is musical-ish, but if you can handle the occasional breaking into song and/or tap dance-off, Damien Chazelle's debut is supercute. It's pegged as "Godard meets Cassavetes meets jazz," which just means boys loving and losing girls in shaky handheld black and white. Charming.

I recommend Somewhere, but I know Sofia Coppola's latest hotel flick is not for everyone. But as much as I was frustrated with Black Swan, that's how much I enjoyed the experience of Somewhere. You call it slow, I call it patient--potayto, potahto. Somewhere goes nowhere, but there are some lovely moments along the way.

I saw Blue Valentine a year ago (yaaaawwwwwwnnn), so enough time's passed that I could see it again. It's not a pleasant or by any means easy film to watch, but the raw, true performances by Michelle Williams and Ryan Gosling make it so worthwhile. <3 you guys. 

... (more)

Rory Kinnear in National Theatre's "Hamlet"

Normally, in Seattle, when you read the Guardian review of a Hamlet at the Olivier, you can only sigh slightly, and make a few notes about the production: modern dress, police state, stars Rory Kinnear ("What I admire about Kinnear is that he pays scrupulous attention to language"). Yes, tickets are just ten to thirty pounds, but London is a bit of a stretch for an evening at the theatre. (Let's just check British Air to be sure.)

This Monday night, though, you can make a much shorter trip, to SIFF Cinema at McCaw Hall, and watch the play as part of their National Theatre Live series (a cousin to the popular The Met: Live in HD digital screenings). Here the ticket price is $20 ($15 for SIFF members) for the 180-minute play, with intermission. 

The series is remarkable in itself. After Hamlet comes Fela!, the Bill T. Jones musical production; King Lear, Frankenstein, and The Cherry Orchard. A series pass is $80 ($60 for SIFF members). 

The New Year dawns with--what else?--a bevy of press releases geared toward the New Year. Case in point: Monday afternoon an email showed up with the subject line "Father of Cinemaparenting recommends 11 films to watch with your daughter in 2011." What followed was a pitch for Dr. Gary Solomon, aka The Movie Doctor®, who suggests movies as therapy, aka Cinematherapy®. He's written a few books on the topic, the latest aimed at parents.

With that in mind, here are 11 films Dr. Solomon is recommending you watch with your daughters in 2011 that offer healing themes, life lessons, and empowering role models:

11. The Boy with Green Hair (1948)
10. My Girl (1991)
9.   Brokedown Palace (1997)
8.   What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1994)
7.   Steel Magnolias (1989)
6.   Terms of Endearment (1983)
5.   Drop Dead Fred (1991)
4.   Benny and Joon (1993)
3.   Welcome to the Doll House (1996)
2.   Norma Rae (1979)
1.   Pretty in Pink (1986)

Given that stellar crop of femme-centric films, we at The SunBreak decided to brainstorm a list of our own best movies for girls.

Josh: BROKEDOWN PALACE?

Audrey: If you've got a better way to keep your daughter out of a Thai prison, let me know.

Roger: These are not just 10 bad films (Grape is actually pretty good), they are potentially damaging films to watch with a young daughter. This selection features no less than three films WHERE THE DAUGHTER DIES A PROLONGED, PAINFUL DEATH (My Girl, Terms, Steel). There are at least three films where young students are completely ostracized by their peers. Dysfunctional families, lecherous old men, mental illness, and Sally Field. What selection could be worse to watch with your daughter? Our Halloween picks would be better.

Josh: Does the new True Grit count?

MvB: YES JOSH IT DOES!

Clint: Where's Heathers? ("The impact of peer pressure cannot be underestimated," Dr. Solomon said. "Parents must remind young women that they need not bow to the whims of their friends and peers. In fact, the opposite is true. Your daughter should be dictating style and defining what's 'cool'—with extreme prejudice. Also," he added, "homicide always beats suicide.")

Constance: How 'bout A League of Their Own, Little Darlings, Terminator 1 & 2, Serenity, Tank Girl, But I'm a Cheerleader.... Heathers is a great choice, although I rewatched it recently, and it has aged poorly. But so has Terms of Endearment, for fuck's sake. How about Ready, OK!? And do you think The Breakfast Club might be slightly more feminist than Pretty in Pink? Who has time to apply the Bechdel Test?... (more)

With the addition of Antenna TV, I may now never have to leave Channel 22. Thanks to the ability to divide a digital channel into subchannels, I can now watch Joe TV, Q13 FOX, and the Antenna Network (on 22.1, 22.2, and 22.3, respectively--though I understand the last two may switch positions). The new network, featuring syndicated shows from TV's vault, is the brainchild of the Tribune Co., and offers you such blasts from the past as:

"Three's Company," "Good Times," "All in the Family," "Sanford and Son," "Benny Hill," "Maude," "The Nanny,""Too Close for Comfort," "The Monkees," "Married with Children," "NewsRadio," "Dennis the Menace," "The Donna Reed Show" and Three Stooges shorts.

Add to that the fact that on over-the-air Channel 22, I can swap between Glee (Ugh, why can't I quit this show?), House, Lie to Me, Family Guy, and South Park, and there's clearly no need to roam. (Don't worry Retro TV 7.2, you're still in our hearts, but please work on getting Barney Miller. It's the least you can do to memorialize Steve Landesberg.) 

Last night, after rescanning the "dial" to pick up the new subchannel, I watched an hour of Three's Company and was plunged into a reverie of the America that was. Is this trend toward ransacking long-ago syndication just a corny nostalgia-fest, our Branson-at-home?... (more)

The last week of new releases of last year went out not with a bang, but a whimper. Here's to hoping that 2011 brings better movies, because 2010 was downright weak. And lucky for us, all those weak 2010 releases will be released on DVD over the next few months, for you to enjoy their poor quality in the comfort of your home. With that in mind, let's take a look at the latest releases on DVD, care of our good friends at Scarecrow Video.

The biggest release last week was The American, starring George Clooney as George Clooney, an assassin working one last job, until the tables are turned and he becomes the target. In other words, George Clooney has a bad day. Speaking of bad days, Milla Jovovich has yet another one in the latest (fourth!) edition of the post-apocalyptic Resident Evil enterprise, Resident Evil: Afterlife. Gossip Girl's Chace Crawford has a bad day with drugs in Joel Schumacher's Twelve, and Idris Elba (that's Stringer Bell to you) has a bad day in a yet another bad movie choice, Legacy.

With the big releases out of the way, we can take a look at a few of the smaller ones. Legendary is Patricia Clarkson's stab at The Blind Side, with WWE star John Cena hoping to coach his little brother to a high school wrestling championship, and just maybe bring his family back together. In And Soon the Darkness, a vacation becomes trouble when a girl goes missing in Argentina, leaving her friend to find her. Handsome Harry is Jamey Sheridan as a Vietnam vet forced to face his past when his dying brother in arms Steve Buscemi seeks forgiveness. And documentary Sickert vs. Sargent covers the art world rivalry between late 1800s/early 1900s painters Walter Sickert and John Singer Sargent.... (more)

Now that Christmas is in the rear-view, there's time to catch up on the latest DVD releases, care of our good friends at Scarecrow Video. The past few weeks have brought a bunch of the big summer (and early fall) releases, from the good-enough Salt to the don't-bother A-Team to the the why-now Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps. I didn't care for Ben Affleck's directorial debut Gone Baby Gone, but that doesn't mean The Town isn't worth a rental. Same goes for The Other Guys; I'm down for Mark Wahlberg and Will Ferrell as mismatched buddy cops.

There's several new flicks for the children. Despicable Me got decent reviews, as did the Emma Thompson-written and -starring Nanny McPhee Returns. Not so for the dark Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole. And when it comes to Step Up 3D...oh, why the hell not? The Scarlet Letter-lite Easy A is ostensibly for teens, but with a cast including Patricia Clarkson, Malcolm McDowell, and Stanley Tucci, it works for adults as well. And no one of any age should see Devil, the trapped-in-an-elevator thriller "from the mind of M. Night Shyamalan."

There's three foreign films new to DVD that played SIFF earlier this year: Fatih Akin's multi-culti restaurant crowd-pleaser Soul Kitchen, the latest spot whimsy from Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Micmacs, and Peruvian plague drama Altiplano. And catch up with a glam bombshell via the five-disc Rita Hayworth collection.... (more)

Here we are, on Christmas Eve Eve. With family in town, the last thing you want to do is talk to each other and share your hopes and fears, thereby growing evermore intimate as emotionally mature adults.  Instead, might The SunBreak suggest a movie?  In considering cinema of the season, we decided to take a broad view of the holiday film genre, opening it up to guilty pleasures and non-holiday films that are just as fun to watch in December. The only rule? Don't pick any of the films from last year's roundtable. So head over to Scarecrow Video, gather the children around the fireplace and/or flatscreen, and pop in a movie.

Jay: The Nightmare Before Christmas, simply because it’s Tim Burton and it's ghoulishly good.

Tony: Night of the Hunter!! Christ wrapped in corn batter and deep-fried, I adore that movie.

Well, since it's the season for cinematic guilty pleasures, I thought I'd throw a couple of mine onto the mix right about now. Both films are readily available in the public domain, so you can literally find these odd cinematic ducks in the bargain bin at your local discount retailer or dollar store. Talk about cheap thrills.

Santa Claus Conquers the Martians has long lived on its title alone, but viewed today it stands as an archetypal example of the sixties notion of a standard kid's flick--in which the most warped content was hurtled at the small fry in an attempt to put pre-adolescent butts into theater seats back in 1964. Santa Claus is kidnapped by Martians in an attempt by said aliens to bring some Christmas cheer to their dour, ravaged planet. Its odd pacing rhythms suggest your standard Santa-spreading-good-cheer scenario, but filtered through pulp sci-fi sensibilities. It's completely bent (and unintentionally funny as hell), and features '80's icon Pia Zadora in all her pre-adolescent glory as a Martian kid thawed out by the cheery influence of the most artificially-cheery St. Nick you'll ever meet (Leonard Call). "All this trouble over a fat little man in a red suit!"

I thought that Black Christmas pretty much initiated the holiday-slasher genre in 1974, but one year previous Silent Night Bloody Night played in theaters and drive-ins throughout the US. It's an odd and stylish thriller in which a troubled young man attempts to sell the house of his youth back to the strange residents of his small town of origin. A shadowy killer then begins picking off those eccentric community members and the folks attempting to sell the house off. Its templates turn out to be Psycho, and (to a lesser extent) the giallo of the 1960's. Pivotal events take place during the holidays, but it's essentially a MacGuffin to launch off a series of warped flashback scenarios that tie in asylum lunatics and some pretty seedy skeletons in the closet. It's a haven of entertaining character actors (Patrick O'Neal, John Carradine) and several members of Andy Warhol's Factory ensemble (Ondine and Candy Darling play small roles, while Warhol dancer Mary Woronov plays a lead just two years before becoming Calamity Jane in the Roger Corman classic Death Race 2000).

It's also really creepy, with a whole gaggle of scary/seedy characters and a chilly atmosphere of dread. The ending sports seams that could only come from elements of structural desperation, but it's also genuinely creepy and disorienting; and it propagates the Psycho notion of snuffing out its star-billed actor fairly early on into the movie. Given the cult cache held by the '74 Black Christmas, it's a little surprising this overlooked gem hasn't found  a wider audience. Fortunately, experiencing it doesn't require a lot of disposable income.

Josh: I am just glad that Videogum affirmed the truth that  Love Actually is among the Worst Movies of All Time.

Though it's not holiday-themed, I liked nothing in the last two years more than Fantastic Mr. Fox, Wes Anderson's wonderful take on the Roald Dahl story about a family of foxes caught in a war with England's three meanest farmers. In the title role, George Clooney dapperly voices the father whose inability to set aside his instincts for thievery for the quiet life of a newspaperman puts his neighborhood in peril. Because the animation is stop-motion instead of glossy CGI, the look of the movie is both meticulous and rough around the edges, such that the characters are believable as the sort of animals that are teeth-baringly wild, yet wear impeccably fitted corduroy suits or goofy handmade superhero costumes. The family is both loving and dysfunctional, the capers are hilarious and harrowing, and the action is both comedic and consequential. Every frame is its own kind of delight.

I can't think of anything I'd rather have in the DVD rotation and am somewhat suspicious of anyone who doesn't recognize this movie's heartbursting and humorous charm.

Roger: Dr. Zhivago. Let's face it. The holiday season is often miserable: too many family gatherings, lousy weather, crowded stores and long travel delays. One way to take the sting out of your misery is to watch a movie with people suffering worse than you. In David Lean's Dr. Zhivago (1965), people do suffer, only they do it sumptuously.... (more)

Sundance 2011 is still over a month away, but a couple days ago, the fest announced that Seattle was added to the list of cities taking part in Sundance Film Festival USA, in which festival films screen across the country during the fest itself. So if you're not in Park City on Thursday, January 27th, you can catch Cedar Rapids at the Egyptian Theatre. Here's the synopsis:

Director: Miguel Arteta; Screenwriter: Phil Johnston — A wholesome and naive small-town Wisconsin man travels to big city Cedar Rapids, Iowa to represent his company at a regional insurance conference. Cast: Ed Helms, John C Reilly, Anne Heche, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Alia Shawkat, Sigourney Weaver.

But there's plenty of time in between now and then, so let's fill it by watching some new releases, care of our good friends at Scarecrow Video. The biggest film out on DVD this week was Inception, which will assuredly end up as one of the ten Best Picture nominees come next year. It includes extras with Christopher Nolan talking about the film, but as to the ending, he's still not telling. The other big release was the fourth (and hopefully final) Shrek film, Shrek Forever After, which also means you can purchase the Shrek: The Whole Story box set (just in time for the holidays!). Speaking of special editions, there's also a big ol' Alice in Wonderland four-disc set too.... (more)

Director Darren Aronfosky's hyperstylized films are always about intense people driven to commit crazed acts—and they always makes me overwhelmingly uninterested in giving those passions a try. See his unbalanced mathematician in Pi, heroin users in Requiem for a Dream, the wrestler in The Wrestler (<3 u, Mickey!), and now the perfect, crazy, and perfectly crazy ballerinas in Black Swan. So yes, all those jobs are officially crossed off my When I Grow Up list. (What's Aronofsky's next film about? Wolverine. Don't want to be that either.)

If you haven't heard the descriptor a million times by now, Black Swan is the heavily buzzed-about "psychosexual thriller" with Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis as bicurious Swan Lake doppelganger frenemies. Sure, there's some hot lezzie action, but besides that It's All About Eve meets The Red Shoes meets Carrie meets The Grand Guignol, which ends up being a whole lot of nothing.

If anything, there's striking similarities between Black Swan and The Wrestler, in terms of documenting the elaborate rituals and the physical sacrifices required of both types of performers.  Each film literally follows its protagonist, with the camera often right behind their heads. (Black Swan's camerawork is actually quite lovely, as cinematographer Matthew Libatque seemingly dances right along with the ballet. Also, the Rodarte costumes are to die for, obvs.)... (more)

Finally, it is the best time of the movie year, in which all the Oscar bait hits the cinemas at the same time.  In just a few weeks, Black Swan, The Fighter, and True Grit will all be out in Seattle theaters, with Blue Valentine and Somewhere soon to follow. But that's to come; in the interim you'll have to make do with with the latest DVD releases, care of our good friends at Scarecrow Video.

And what a lousy week for new releases. Not sure which is worse: Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz's action-romance Knight and Day, yet another Nicholas Cage in a wig adventure The Sorcerer's Apprentice, or the latest low-brow Movie Movie "satire" Vampires Suck. Probably the least offensive film in major release is Going the Distance, the Justin Long-Drew Barrymore long-distance rom-com. At least it's got Charlie Day.

And then there was Twilight. Because the Mormon Vampire-Werewolf saga is special, Eclipse didn't deign to come out on Tuesday, like most DVDs. Instead it waited for a Saturday night release. Not to be outdone, Destination Forks: The Real World of Twilight also came out on Saturday, to give all the superfans a look at Bella's hometown.... (more)

Photo: Chris Blakeley of The SunBreak Flickr pool

First it was Queen Anne's venerable Uptown theater, owned by AMC Theaters, who are closing "uncompetitive" theaters across the country. Their doors are already shut, as of November 28. Then lease negotiations fell apart for Landmark Theatres' Neptune Theatre in the University District. They'll cease screening films in February of 2011.

In this case, the Seattle Times reports, the building's owners opted not to renew Landmark's year-to-year lease in favor of a ten-year agreement with Seattle Theatre Group, who currently operate the Paramount and the Moore theaters. STG plans to remodel the Neptune, then use it primarily for live performances with "local and touring artists." However, they'll keep the ability to show films there.

Both of these arthouse-friendly venues saw heavy use annually as part of the Seattle International Film Festival, and gave the festival a strong presence in Queen Anne and the University District. Down two venues, it's about time for SIFF to be breaking ground on their new Seattle Center office complex, which will include a small screening theater, in addition to the 390-seat SIFF Cinema in McCaw Hall.

Finally, the getting-by-on-getting-byColumbia City Cinema (not the Columbia City Theater) is also facing closure, if the owners can't raise the money needed for the sprinklers required by the fire code. They're trying to raise $50,000 by selling $100-minimum bundles of stock, and "We're not to the halfway point yet on the required 50,000 shares by January 1 but we're getting close," says the blog. The three-screen theater is an anomaly among independents in that they show first-run fare like (at the moment) Tangled, Unstoppable, and Megamind. 

Over the next few cold and wintry days, it is definitely time to stay in and watch some of the latest new releases, care of our good friends at Scarecrow Video. But first, some sad movie news from this week: Queen Anne's Uptown Theater will soon be no more. After eighty-four years of showing films, the three-screen is set to close a week from today, November 28. Frowny face. Apparently, the theater "no longer competes effectively in the marketplace." In other words, MOAR 3D PLS.

Exhibit A of why more 3D is not always the answer is one of last week's new releases, the three-disc Blu-ray edition of Clash of the Titans, whose rejiggered post-production 3D ain't worth the money. Truly, the only good thing to come from that flick is the oft-used phrase "Release the Kraken."  That's more than Bow Wow's Lottery Ticket can claim. Instead, your best bet this week is Lisa Cholodenko's mature family dramedy The Kids are All Right, which will assuredly garner an Oscar nom or two.

Plenty of new films for the kids that came out last week, including creepy animated Jim Carrey in Disney's A Christmas Carol. There's also the very punny Cats and Dogs 2: The Revenge of Kitty Galore and the film that did just well enough to keep M. Night Shyamalan making movies, The Last Airbender.... (more)

Regina Spektor's Live in London concert movie gets screened in just 15 U.S. cities this weekend, and the Northwest Film Forum is the Seattle venue, with just one showing on Sunday at 8 p.m. It's just $5, so if you missed her Paramount show--All night, between songs, it had been "Regina, I love you!", "Regina, I love you more than that first girl!", and a baritone howl of "Regina, I want to have your babies!" Spektor, in contrast, traveled imperturbably from song to song, though the "babies" brought her up short. "All tour," she said, "it's been babies. I guess...thanks?"--you can make up for lost time. The live album hits on November 22. Consequence of Sound has the track lists.

This weekend you've got one more chance to check out Destroy All Movies!!!, an encyclopedic guide to the punk movement in film. Editors Zack Carlson and Bryan Connolly will be on hand at the Fantagraphics store in Georgetown to sign copies of the book, and they'll also show clips from the thousand-plus films included in the guide. With that in mind, let's take a look at the latest films on DVD, care of our good friends at Scarecrow Video.

The biggest release for the last week was Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World, which was a totally satisfying love story-comic book-videogame Michael Cera nerdfest. (I dare not mention the other big release this week, Grown Ups--what little I saw of it on an airplane last month was more than enough.)

From manchildren to kids, there's Ramona and Beezus, the feature film version of the beloved Beverly Cleary book. Also based on a book is Charlie St. Cloud, in which Kurt Cobain-to be Zac Efron spends a lot of time hanging out with his dead ghost brother.

There's a new HBO film out on DVD this week: I Knew It Was You, a tribute to gone-too-soon '70s legend, John Cazale. There's also the PBS series Circus, which takes a behind-the-scenes-look at the world under the big top. In more TV on DVD, check out The Boondocks: Season 3, as well as season 3 of Metalocalypse. For the nerds, there's season 5 of the latest incarnation of Doctor Who, and for your dad, season 1 of TNT's middle-aged dude dramedy Men of a Certain Age. And the BBC's first season of Sherlock, which just wrapped up last weekend, is now out on DVD. ... (more)

About two years ago, I had a housemate move out. He's a good guy, but he left behind about two truckloads of stuff including a green Piaggio Ciao moped. That moped has sat in the garage, waiting for a day like this past Sunday.

Sunday was particularly special because of the Couch Fest Film Festival. I attended last year's and loved it, but found myself doing a lot of walking between houses. This year, the plan was for my lovely girlfriend and I to ride mopeds to the festival and recreate our second date. The only drawback to that plan was that I had never ridden a moped or motorcycle before in my life.

After cramming my giant head into the helmet in the garage and finding suitably ironic riding mittens, I set about learning the craft of moped travel. It turns out that riding mopeds is a lot like riding bicycles. A moped just goes faster and requires less pedaling. The most difficult part is getting the moped started, but a little downhill slope helps to alleviate much of that difficulty.

I rode the four miles from my Greenwood house to the U-District without any incident. A guy on a scooter even afforded me one of those knowing waves that I see all the motorcycle guys sharing with each other. With the sun warming my mostly black helmet and the crisp breeze reddening my cheeks, I met with my lady and we rode up the hill towards the "experimental house."

After awkwardly knocking at the door, we paid our $5, sat on a fake fur-covered piano bench and joined in the experimental program with two other gentlemen. A smallish flat screen TV in the corner was already in the middle of the program as we sat down, but the host was nice enough to immediately start it again for us once it ended. My personal favorite film at this house was Six Hours, a three-minute shot of a woman walking up stairs, set to a marimba soundtrack, with the shot rotated and clipped up in disorienting ways. My date and the house's host preferred TAK, which featured images of children's picture books set to a disjointed electronic soundtrack.... (more)

Just to the right of the tumult that is the autograph line for George Romero at ZomBcon, a man stands casually in front of a dealer's table, smiling unassumingly at passersby. Bright eyes twinkle from behind his glasses, and his tousled salt-and-pepper hair and aware-but-genial expression suggest a good-natured academic who's wandered into this den of undead mayhem by mistake.

But I know better. He's Martin the Vampire.

John Amplas began acting at age ten, honing his craft in various community theater ventures in Pennsylvania before studying at Pittsburgh's prestigious Playhouse School as a teenager. He's appeared in several films, and currently serves as associate professor of the Theater and Arts department at Point Park University, putting his four decades of experience in theater and film to work educating a new generation of actors and filmmakers. Impressive as these accomplishments are, however, Amplas is in Seattle thanks to his long association with director George Romero. He's appeared in a half-dozen Romero pictures, playing everything from a dyspeptic vengeful ghoul in Creepshow to an earnest scientist in 1985's Day of the Dead, but his most memorable portrayal remains his first for the director: the title character in the director's 1977 movie, Martin.

Released just a year before Romero blew the horror genre wide-open with Dawn of the Dead, Martin tells the story of a young man who may or may not be a vampire, satisfying his bloodlust amidst the dessicated husk of a small Pennsylvania industrial town. It's one of the director's most subtle pieces--less a horror flick than a haunting character study for most of its running time--and Amplas' incredible work in the movie gives it much of its quiet power. Few screen sociopaths this side of Norman Bates manage to engender such a beguiling combination of sympathy, pity, humor, and revulsion.

The SunBreak caught up with Amplas in between ZomBcon panels and screenings, and true to form, he offered choice insights on his finest film role, his years as part of George Romero's repertory company, and his career as an educator...all without sucking a drop of anyone's blood.

Martin's one of the great overlooked horror movies of the 1970's, in large part because of your work in it. How did you become involved with the production?

Thank you! I was acting in a play in my senior year [of college], and George Romero happened to see it. He contacted me, and two or three months later--fall of 1976--we started filming.

I heard that George re-wrote the script to accommodate you. Is that true?

Well, George told me that when he first wrote Martin, he'd written the character [as] much older. Then when he saw me, he went and revised the script to make Martin a younger man.... (more)

Happy end of Daylight Savings Time! Today the sun rose in Seattle at a blessed 7:03 a.m. Who cares that it'll be down before 5 p.m.? I'm just glad it's not dark till after 8 in the morning, at least for another month. Now the nights are longer, that only serves to allow more time for movie-watching. Let's take a look at the latest set of releases, care of our good friends at Scarecrow Video.

Last week's biggest release by far was Toy Story 3, which will probably be nominated for Best Picture at this year's Oscars, and has already won the award for Most Likely to Make Grown Men Cry. That's two things it doesn't have in common with Centurion, in which the Romans clash with the English in a bloody fashion.

In TV on DVD, HBO's latest WWII docuseries The Pacific is now available, as is the full series of the genre-redefining Larry Sanders Show. Also from Shout Factory is their latest Roger Corman releases Not of This Earth, and the double feature Terror Within/Dead Space. Special editions out last week include the Blu-ray debuts of The Goonies 25th anniversary edition, The Bridge on the River Kwai, White Christmas, and The Sound of Music 45th anniversary edition.

There's a few new docs: Winnebago Man, about a ranting RV salesman whose found notoriety thanks to the power of YouTube, and Please Remove Your Shoes, about that great national joke, airport security. Fresh off their work with Vincent Moon, R.E.M.'s latest concert documentary is an epic Austin City Limits performance, Live from Austin, TX.  And get ready for Warren Miller's Wintervention later this month with the release of his ski film from last year, Warren Miller's Dynasty.... (more)

The best short film festival in the city is happening tomorrow. I went last year and it was awesome.

Here's how it goes: You show up at a stranger's house and watch an hour or so of short films with a bunch of strangers sitting a bit too close to you on couches in various states of disrepair. Then, you go to another house and do the same thing. At the end, you vote for your favorites. That simple process is Seattle's own Couch Fest.

The final details for the 2010 Couch Fest short film festival have just been released. This year, the festival is centered in the Capitol Hill area and sure to draw a crowd at a low admission price of $5. The films start at noon and you switch houses every hour until 6 p.m. Bring snacks, bring a date, bring a smile, and bring wheeled transportation to get you from house to house.

Saturday, October 30: Celebrity Guests and Horror Screenings Galore

I won't lie. All of the scientific panels holding sway at ZomBcon make for interesting and lively brain food. But the big draw for yours truly (as well as the lion's share of attendees, undead or otherwise) is the galaxy of cult movie fixtures at hand.

Bruce Campbell, a battle-hardened veteran of everything from standard-issue horror cons to Xena conventions (he was a recurring guest star on that Lucy Lawless TV show in the 1990s), delivers advice on "How to Kill a Zombie" at one of ZomBcon's best-attended Undead Labs. Before and after that session, he signs autographs for fans and engages in an amusing Q&A at the Phelps. Sadly, I miss Campbell officiating over a renewal of wedding vows for a horde of the Married Dead. The actor's a total wiseacre, alternately cajoling and kidding attendees with the amusing candor of your smart-alecky older brother. Typical fan-to-actor exchange:

Fan: Are there any movies you regret having done?

Campbell: Not if I get paid [laughs]. If you pay me, your movie's my favorite damned movie ever!

Fan: Will there ever be an Alien Apocalypse 2?

Campbell: There shouldn't have been an Alien Apocalypse 1...... (more)

When there's no more room in Hell, the dead will walk the earth; or the Seattle Center grounds, at least.

The first ZomBcon took place in the Emerald City over Halloween weekend, and for a good-sized crowd of horror fans, obsessives, and curiosity seekers it was manna from heaven.

ZomBcon shared the same basic make-up as your typical fan con--celebrity guests; panels of authors, actors, and directors; and merchandise booths stocked to the max with apropos tchotchkes. And Seattle's already played host to some well-attended horror conventions in the last couple of years, thanks to local organizers at Crypticon. But the singularity of focus--and the quality of guests--made this one pretty unique.

Undead flesheaters have hit honest-to-God pop-culture zeitgeist status over the last few years, what with the popularity of recent reimaginings of the zombie sub-genre on film (the not-quite-a-zombie-flick 28 Days Later, Shaun of the Dead), in video games (the Resident Evil series and Left 4 Dead), and in various print incarnations (Max Brooks' World War Z and the timely spoof Pride and Prejudice and Zombies).

It turns out zombie fans in general (and ZomBcon's organizers in particular) take their walking dead seriously. In addition to seminars with the architects of fictional zombie lore, ZomBcon's crew brought along several medical experts to disseminate potential zombie outbreaks and zombie physiology in hard-line scientific fashion. Yeah, on one level it's pretty silly to hear Harvard psychiatrist Dr. Steven Schlozman wax intellectual on the mechanics of the zombie brain, but on another level, it's pretty damned cool (check out Schlozman's thoughtful thesis on said topic if you don't believe me).... (more)

Proud zombie papa George Romero (left) meets and greets at ZomBcon.

Yes, that's film director George Romero hanging out with a genuine Seattle zombie. Romero, Evil Dead actor Bruce Campbell, character-acting god Malcolm McDowell, and many other cult film luminaries were in town over Halloween weekend for ZomBcon, Seattle's first "Zombie Culture" convention. Fun and viscera were had by all.

The SunBreak's resident Horror/B-Movie Evangelist (that'd be, um, me) was there for (almost) every rotting corpse, scary movie screening, and zombie attack. Stay tuned to the SunBreak for detailed reports and interviews over the next few days.

Another Halloween here and gone, and now November is upon us. If you missed The SunBreak's roundtable of our picks for favorite scary movies, check out the discussion here. And now let's take a look at the most recent new releases on DVD, care of our good friends at Scarecrow.

There's a Halloween tie-in, as the biggest release last week was one of the scariest films of all time: Sex and City 2. Welcome to your post-post-post feminist hellscape. The other big release is neither scary, nor a new film, but the 25th anniversary edition of Back to the Future, the release of which led to the news that Eric Stoltz was set to play Marty McFly, before being replaced by Michael J. Fox five weeks into the film's production. Imagine how different the world would be now, had that less-traveled Stoltz road been taken. Truly, it would have made all the difference. I'm sure we'd all be time travelling by now with our hoverboards. 

Until we turn a car with winged doors into a time machine so that we can correct the mistakes of the past (and then post them on a blog), bide your time checking out the indie picks. There's Wild Grass, a romantic thriller from director Alain Resnais.  Going starker, it's Winter's Bone about a poor Ozarks teen trying to track down her deadbeat dad so that her family doesn't get evicted off their land. The situation is rough, and it's to director Debra Granik's credit, as well as the natural performance by lead Jennifer Lawrence, that the drama is so real, and won the film the Grand Jury Award at Sundance this year, as well as couple SIFF Space Needle awards.... (more)

Halloween is almost upon us, which means time to trick or treat, consider our own mortality and/or revel in it, or just take the convenient excuse and dress slutty.  It's also a good time to watch scary movies, which have been airing pretty much nonstop lately on AMC and IFC (if you've got the cable).  If not, you can always head over and visit our good friends at Scarecrow Video.  Here, we've got a few recommendations for you:

Constance: Pretty much anything by Tim Burton--because he's TIM BURTON--is good for Halloween. But for true horror, I like The Craft. Neve Campbell whines, Fairuza Balk scowls, Skeet Ulrich smirks...the only thing wrong with this movie is that there is no teen-witch-orgy scene. Otherwise, it's utter perfection, right down to Robin Tunney's weave, which is arguably the scariest part of the film. It's HORRIFYING!

And The Witches of Eastwick, in which a great cast does their very best to make a terrible film and succeeds. It's a trainwreck: Nicholson drunkenly shreds scenery, while the four main actresses spin in place. The script is so uneven that it requires a backhoe, and director George Miller was so busy fighting with the producers that he let the production spiral out of control. By the end, I just can't look, which is fine because the ending makes no sense, and in fact has no relation to the rest of the movie at all, it was just a way to use up the rest of the FX budget. Oh, the HORROR!

Jeremy: Okay, there's lots of great horror movies out there, but these days, the best of them are usually cross-genre works, a la Shaun of the Dead (horor-rom-com?), or ironic comments on horror movies, because apparently we're all too knowing to actually ever enjoy a scary movie. For my money, I've only seen one outright horror movie--no irony, no meta--made in the last decade or so, which actually managed to be scary: the Spanish zombie flick [REC]. Sadly, this movie was awfully remade as Quarantine in the US a couple years ago, but the remake pales in comparison (in [REC] you don't actually want the main characters to die). The ending actually induced nerve-wracking tension and at least one scream. So, um, yeah. Seriously. Check it out.

Seth: I do not like scary movies, they make me whimper like a girl. I saw The Shining when I was 16 and I couldn't sleep well for a week. It features Jack Nicholson playing himself. I suggest the Halloween classic It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, with music by Vince Guaraldi. Lovable Charlie Brown awaits the appearance of the legendary Great Pumpkin. Existentialist hijinks ensue. Airs at 8 p.m. Thursday and Friday nights on KOMO-4.

Constance:  I'm with Seth, I don't like actual scary movies. They *scare* me, and I'm high strung. If I had to be serious or something, three movies that kept me from sleeping are:

1. Hound of the Baskervilles, 1939, starring Basil Rathbone & Nigel Bruce.
2. Cat People, 1942 (the 1982 remake with Natasha Kinski is more sexy than scary)
3. Invasion of the Body Snatchers, 1956 (not the 1979 remake with Donald Sutherland, never seen that one)

RvO:  Constance, you named a couple of great ones. Hound is fantastic, and at the end, Rathbone actually says "Quick, Watson, the needle!" referencing Holmes' lamentable cocaine addiction. As for the 1979 Body Snatchers, it's actually very, very good. It has a great final scene and Kevin McCarthy, the star of the '56 version, shows running down the highway yelling, "They're here! They're here!," a nice riff on what should have been the finale of the earlier film.

Clint: Cue the hollowly-screeching Donald Sutherland pod-clone: I watched that Snatchers a couple of weekends ago to see if it was as horrifying as my still-bruised inner child's psyche believed.

It is.... (more)