Tag Archives: northwest film forum

Arts & Entertainment, Film & TV

According to Kent Brockman, “It may not be perfect, but it’s the best government we have. For now.”

So one can only imagine what The Simpsons‘ news anchor would say about our government in the wake of Katrina. Luckily, Brockman’s alter ego Harry Shearer has done so, in his first foray into filmmaking, The Big Uneasy, still playing tonight and tomorrow at the Northwest Film Forum.

Shearer’s a part-time New Orleans resident, so he’s got a dog in this fight, and his documentary focuses the blame on the Army Corps of Engineers for going light on the engineering. To do so, Shearer speaks with residents, scientists, investigators, and whistleblowers to reveal the decades of flaws, corruption, and incompetence that led to levee failure and the not-so-natural disaster of Katrina. As a filmmaker, Shearer’s got a light touch and he mixes the comedy with the pathos, the journalism with the humanism, all of which is smoothed over by that even-keeled voice. Harry’s got nothing but love for the city, and that shines through, even amidst all the frustration.

Not enough celebrity filmmaking for you? Passione, John Turturro’s musical ode to Italy, starts its weeklong NWFF run on Friday.

Arts & Entertainment, Film & TV

Rubber is Tiresome (Get It?)

At the Northwest Film Forum for two more showings (tonight and tomorrow at 5 p.m.) thanks to an extended run, Rubber is the killer tire movie you’ve heard so much about. The conceit is simple: For no reason, a car tire gains awareness, self-mobility, and psychokinetic powers, and then proceeds to stalk and kill everything in its path. But writer-director Quentin Dupieux (aka DJ Mr. Oizo) takes it one step further by turning his horror flick into a commentary on film itself.

Out in the desert, there’s a dozen looky-loos watching the tire through binoculars, complaining that the plot is moving too slowly, cheering on the tire’s kills, shushing other viewers’ incessant comments. And the action going on–cops chasing the tire as it looks for new victims–exists for these voyeurs’ benefit. It’s a movie audience within the movie, making what would otherwise be a slasher joke into an exercise in meta.

In other words, it’s French.

While it often errs on the side of being too cute by half, Rubber certainly has its sly moments, most of which comes from the “acting” of Robert the tire. (In the sequel, he will assuredly be played by James Franco.) Dupieux’s got a natural eye and a talent for perspective, and of course he scores the film well. As the filmmaker makes clear by the end of the tire’s run, this is just the beginning–he’s got Hollywood in his sights.

Arts & Entertainment, Film & TV

At the Northwest Film Forum, Xavier Dolan Showcases the Heartbeats of Cinema

I love Xavier Dolan. He’s a (nearly) twenty-two-year-old gay Quebecois auteur, and I’m…none of those things. But he’s always my go-to guy whenever some fellow film geek wants to discuss up-and-coming directors.  Dolan’s got the wunderkind cred, as his first two films showed at Cannes, his first in 2009.  Both Josh and I enjoyed his audacious semi-autobiographical debut I Killed My Mother at SIFF last year.  I think that’s the better of his two releases, but it only ended up doing the film festival circuit, as an American distribution deal was set, but nothing ever came of it.  It ain’t even on Netflix, yo!

But now you’ve got your chance to get a dose of Dolan. His second film Heartbeats–though the directly-translated title Imaginary Lovers is much more on the nose–is running at the Northwest Film Forum twice nightly (7 p.m., 9:15 p.m.) tonight through next Thursday. Here’s what I had to say, upon seeing the film at last fall’s Toronto International Film Festival: Continue reading At the Northwest Film Forum, Xavier Dolan Showcases the Heartbeats of Cinema →