Recent Stories with tag valentines day

We're only a few days into SIFF, and some of you might be feeling film festivaled out already.  In that case, take a look at last week's new DVD releases, care of our good friends at Scarecrow Video.

Extraordinary Measures is the drama about Brendan Fraser and Harrison Ford going rogue to work on cancer treatments for The Children.  If only they could be saved from Jackie Chan in The Spy Next Door.  What's even worse? Valentine's Day, starring nearly every actor in Hollywood, and yet entirely devoid of wit and charm.  Only slightly better than The New Daughter, an almost straight-to-DVD flick with Kevin Costner as a dad who moved into a haunted house built on an ancient burial site.  Yes, really.

I already gave my two cents on Invictus, but here it is again:  Sure, Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon win over post-apartheid South Africa with the power of rugby, but we never get a good look at who exactly these men are, nor exactly what are the rules of rugby.  Even worse, much of the film's bloated running time is devoted to faux-drama around Nelson Mandela's personal safety.  Spoiler alert:  Nelson Mandela is not assassinated....

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Last night at Chop Suey my friend was nervous about Toronto's Still Life Still, fearing that they wouldn't be as good live as on their debut album Girls Come Too.  But that anxiety was for naught.  Still Life Still nailed it at their first Seattle show, playing most of their album, as well as a new song with a disco bassline.  The Broken Social Scene comparisons are apt; even the time signatures are pure BSS. My friend described them as a Broken Social Scene with more blatant sexual anxieties, as evidenced in the song "T-Shirts," which features the recurring line "I don't mind your blood on my dick."  But by the time you get to the end of the song, and that line is followed by "it's love, it's love, it's love, it's love," you get the message, and it's almost sweet.  Not caring about the little things is love after all....

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Considering that Valentine's Day falls on a Sunday this year, it feels as if it's been V-Day since, oh, Thursday or so.  (And the movie--which took in a surprising $52M this weekend--ain't helping matters.)  Well now that the holiday has finally arrived, everyone who normally doesn't like Valentine's Day is downright sick of it.  And Chop Suey is here to to help.

Head over to the club tonight for an utter lack of schmoopy-woopiness.  Still Life Still is completely at home in the Toronto scene. They've got the Arts & Crafts taut-yet-jammy sound down, even though they're still babies (the band formed in 1999 when four of the members were in junior high).  If you've grown tired waiting for the new official Broken Social Scene album, check them out.  Meanwhile, Wild Beasts is a band not afraid of the falsetto.  Singer Hayden Thorpe breaks it out often, and with much gusto.  It's both of these bands' first times in Seattle, so give 'em some Valentine's Day love.

 

• Still Life Still, Wild Beasts, and "guests" play an all-ages show at Chop Suey tonight.  Doors are at 7pm, $12.

The YouTube title says it all: Otter Cuteness for Valentine's Day!

As with most holidays, the Woodland Park Zoo will be giving the animals special treats to celebrate, but the otters got theirs early this year.  What they're snackin' on above is a "heart-shaped ice pop made with a splash of fruit juice, a handful of smelt, a sprinkling of carrots, and a whole lotta love."  Uh, yum?  Other critters will get honey, strawberries and cranberries, herbal bouquets, and heart-shaped steaks for the carnivores.

The zoo claims this break in routine, like Confuse-A-Cat (or Bewild-A-Beast, for that matter), keeps the animals alert and stimulated.

Full zoo Valentine's Day treat schedule after the jump.

• Golden lion tamarins 10:00 a.m.
• Snow leopards 10:30
• Otters 10:30
• Orangutans 11:00
• Goats 11:00
• Pigs 11:00
• Willawong Station 11:30
• Sloth bear 11:30
• Jaguar 1:00 p.m.
• Gorillas 1:20
• Penguins 1:30
• Lemurs 1:30
• Keas 1:30
• Tiger 2:00
• Elephants 2:00
• Red pandas 3:00

Here in the lead up to Valentine's Day, it's time to check in on this week's DVD releases, care of our good friends at Scarecrow Video. Your best bet this week is A Serious Man, the latest from the Coen Brothers, which has garnered two nominations for next month's Oscars, Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay. The Coens don't have a prayer for the Best Picture statue (say thanks to the Academy for opening the field up to ten noms), but they've got a shot at that screenplay award. 

That's the good news for this week.  The rest of the pickens are slim.  The only thing worse than the apostrophe missing from Couples Retreat is the actual film. Meanwhile, despite the presence of Rachel McAdams and Eric Bana, The Time Traveler's Wife is a best-selling book FAIL.  And The Stepfather stars one of the guys from Gossip Girl who has one of the guys from Nip/Tuck as a killer step-daddy.  Believe me, the movie was better when Bad Dad was played by Locke from Lost.

But you've got a couple worthwhile options on the indie front.  There's Bronson, from Danish auteur Nicholas Winding Refn (The Pusher Trilogy), about "Britain's most violent prisoner" Michael Peterson.  And there's Peter and Vandy, which is an out-of-order romance between Josh Ritter and Jess Weixler that feels real enough to hurt....

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It goes without saying that if you liked it, then you should've put a ring on it.  With Valentine's Day right around the corner, those wise words are double-plus true.

With that in mind, the good people at Baronella have offered up some gift certificates for SunBreak readers to use on their jewelry. (Fellas, if you are thinking about giving your lady a cellphone for V-Day, please think again.) The SunBreak has three gift certificates, each worth $50 to give away.  Enter below for your chance to win.  We'll be drawing three winners' names Friday at noon....

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Here we are in February, and wouldn't you know it, Valentine's Day is right around the corner.  The holiday means many things to many people: a chance to celebrate lurve, a chance to have a blotto hookup, a chance to make a lot of money, or a chance to make a terrible movie. 

With that in mind, the good people at Baronella have offered up some gift certificates for SunBreak readers to use on their jewelry. (Fellas, if you are thinking about giving your lady a cellphone for V-Day, please think again.) The SunBreak has three gift certificates, each worth $50 to give away.  Enter below for your chance to win.  We'll be drawing three winners' names Friday at noon....

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