Culture Fiend

This Week at SIFF: Lebowski & Leonardo

High culture meets “high” culture.

Posted by: Seth Sommerfeld on Mar 26, 2012 at 01:20PM 0 Comments

Seattle’s Jeff Dowd is “The Dude” in real life.

Seattle International Film Festival has never had a problem blurring the lines between high culture and pop culture, as evidenced by this week’s distinctly different film-related events.

SIFF’s Big Lebowski Bowling Bash is a fundraiser honoring the cult classic The Big Lebowski, an event where shades and sandals will be more the norm than a sharp suit. Expect excessive line quoting and the number of white Russians and pins downed to be roughly the same. The man that the Coen brothers based Lebowski on—Seattle’s own Jeff “The Dude” Dowd—will be in attendance and presumably he’ll really tie the room together.

For a more traditional dose of fine art, screenings of SIFF’s Leonardo Live were so popular last month that additional dates were warranted. Leonardo Live brings the works from Leonardo da Vinci: Painter at the Court of Milan, the largest exhibit of Leonardo’s art ever assembled, to the big screen in HD with commentary by art experts like Tim Marlow and Mariella Frostrup. Works on display include 7 of the 15 existent Leonardo paintings and 60 of his drawings, 10 of which relate to The Last Supper. Now that the exhibit is no longer on display at the National Gallery in London, this might be the last chance to get a guided tour of the monumental collection of this Renaissance master.

Big Lebowski Bowling Bash
Mar 28 at 5:30, Garage. Tickets ($50) on sale now at siff.net.

Leonardo Live
Mar 28 & 29 at 6:30, SIFF Cinema. Tickets ($15) on sale now at siff.net.

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Tags: Visual Art, Film, SIFF, Big Lebowski, Leonardo da Vinci

Highlights from ‘An Evening with Gary Oldman’

Acting royalty comes to Seattle for a preview screening of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.

Posted by: Laura Dannen on Dec 12, 2011 at 04:00PM 0 Comments

Gary Oldman stars as M16 agent George Smiley in Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.

Sunday night. SIFF Cinema at the Uptown was packed, sweaty, filled with puffy jackets and buttered popcorn and giddy adults waiting to see acting royalty Gary Oldman. Even Dale Chihuly was there, back row center. If Twilight fans are Twihards, we were…what, Oldhards? Old Men? Or maybe just fans of John le Carre, whose 1974 British spy novel Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is the basis of Oldman’s new film. It’s been called the greatest spy story ever told, a steely Cold War thriller about double-agents that makes Fleming’s Bond series look like chick lit. And at its center is George Smiley, a senior M16 agent tasked with finding the mole within British intelligence whose feeding intel to the Russians.

Actor Alec Guinness has been synonymous with Smiley ever since his turn in the BBC miniseries—it’s the kind of performance people call “definitive,” which is a lovely thing to hear when you’re another actor slated to play Smiley. It took Oldman a month to agree to the part in Tomas Alfredson’s feature-length adaptation. “The ghost of Guinness has loomed very large,” Oldman told the audience at SIFF. “I was really quite terrified, because of the inevitable comparisons… But then I said, Pull yourself together, Gary.”

After all, this is Gary Oldman. The chameleon. The man who’s played heroin-addled Sex Pistol Sid Vicious and a pimp in True Romance; mentored Harry Potter as Sirius Black; manned the bat signal as Commissioner Gordon in The Dark Knight. “People say I always play these big, extravagant characters, but they haven’t seen the whole career,” Oldman said. Then again… “When I’m wound up and let go, I can be very big,” he added with a smile.

But 53-year-old Oldman is nearly unrecognizable as Smiley. The natural charm is shoved down deep, hiding behind Smiley’s enormous 1970s square-frame glasses. He’s the definition of taciturn, seeming to communicate by blinking, and while the film is so subtle it’s maddening (who is Karla? What’s this “circus” they keep talking about?), Oldman’s silent stare speaks volumes. Seems Oldman got so close to director Alfredson, they didn’t need to talk, either. “By the end, we didn’t even need language,” he joked. “We communicated telepathically.”

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy opens in various Landmark Theatres on Dec 25.

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Tags: Film, SIFF, Celebrity Interview

Simpsons Writer Dana Gould Wants You to See Plan 9 from Outer Space at SIFF

“It’s incompetence aspiring to be greatness.”

Posted by: Matthew Halverson on Dec 07, 2011 at 12:30PM 0 Comments

Unspeakable horrors! Terrible special effects! It’s 1959’s Plan 9 From Outer Space.

Dana Gould, the quick-talking standup comedian and onetime writer for The Simpsons, does his funnyman thing at Laff Hole at Chop Suey tonight. But he’s sticking around to host a screening of the legendary B film Plan 9 from Outer Space, Ed Wood’s endearingly awful sci-fi “thriller,” at SIFF Cinema tomorrow. He’ll be joined by Mystery Science Theater 3000 alums Frank Conniff and Trace Beaulieu to provide a running commentary over all those aliens and zombies and…is that Béla Lugosi? Hopefully Gould will include a story or two about his friendship with Plan 9 star Maila Nurmi, aka Vampira. And, if we’re lucky, a few potshots at Waterworld.

What makes Plan 9 so fun to watch?
What’s amazing—truly amazing—about Plan 9 is that it continues to find new ways to be fucked up. Most bad movies get boring. But with Plan 9, just when you think they’ve run out of tricks, they come up with a whole new batch. And the other thing that’s great is that they really were trying to make a good movie—they just did absolutely everything wrong. It was incompetence aspiring to be greatness, which is charming. It’s not like The Postman or Waterworld, where it’s people with a lot of money and a lot of power thinking they’re geniuses and just screwing it up. It’s people aiming for the fences and coming up short.

I gotta admit, I’ve never seen Plan 9. How ashamed should I be?
Not too ashamed. I’ve never seen The Usual Suspects. It’s like when people ask you if you like Yo La Tengo. You just nod and say, “Yeah, yeah. Sure.”

How did you get to know Maila?
I interviewed her for the Sci-Fi channel in 1995, for this special I was doing about horror movie hosts. She was very reclusive, but we became friends. We’d go to lunch every couple of weeks. And then over the years, we just stayed friends. When I was on a sitcom called Working —with TV’s Fred Savage—she would always call the next day and say stuff like, “They didn’t give you much this week.”

That’s sweet.
It was. But she was no joke. She was a real sort of gum-snapping beatnik chick. She would say stuff like, “Everybody calls Orson Welles a cinematic genius. But to me he’ll always be that guy who gave my roommate the clap in 1948.”

Plan 9 from Outer Space, with live commentary by Dana Gould, Frank Conniff, and Trace Beaulieu, screens Dec 7 at 7 at SIFF Cinema at the Uptown.

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Tags: Film, Comedy, SIFF, Celebrity Interview

Win a Year’s Pass to SIFF Cinema at the Uptown

Do you have a favorite memory of the Queen Anne theater? SIFF wants to know.

Posted by: Laura Dannen on Sep 07, 2011 at 10:30AM 2 Comments

Quiz: What year was this Uptown photo taken?

Seattle rejoiced when SIFF announced its plans to take over and reopen the 85-year-old Uptown Cinema, a beloved Queen Anne haunt that shut last November because…well, it was 85 years old, had peeling purple paint, and was competing with cineplexes and movie theaters that serve booze.

To celebrate its grand reopening October 23–27, SIFF wants your help picking five days of feature films to show. All you have to do is send them an email…

From SIFF:
Do you remember the films you saw first at the Uptown? Did you experience the joy and excitement of a new discovery? Did you have a meaningful moment that took place inside the theater – not just a film, but any memory associated with the Uptown (the smell of the popcorn, a funny anecdote, maybe even a budding love story)?

Email your memories by September 26 to uptownhistory@siff.net. SIFF will announce the final selection of films in early October and one entry will be selected as a grand prize winner and receive a year-long pass to SIFF Cinema at the Uptown.

SIFF Cinema at the Uptown, formerly an AMC Loews three-screen, reopens at 511 Queen Anne Ave N on October 23, and for a special members-only celebration on October 20.

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Tags: Lower Queen Anne, Film, SIFF

Queen Anne’s Uptown Theater to Reopen in October

SIFF takes over the lease.

Posted by: Laura Dannen on Aug 08, 2011 at 11:30AM 1 Comments

Let there be (pink neon) light! The Uptown Theater reopens this fall.

Never say never for the city’s oldest cinemas: Seattle International Film Festival announced on Saturday that it had taken over the lease for the Uptown Theater in Queen Anne, which was shut in November after 84 years of first-run features and artsy indie flicks. Former renter AMC had concluded the three-screen movie house no longer competed effectively in the marketplace, but SIFF sees it as essential to its redevelopment plans this fall.

Starting October 21, SIFF Cinema—the year-round programming arm of the festival—will leave its current location at McCaw Hall and start showing films at the Uptown; the same day, SIFF will officially open its new Film Center at Seattle Center, which will house administrative offices and a single-screen theater seating about 100. That’s three new screens and a dedicated home for SIFF, which had previously been the bleary-eyed basement dweller of McCaw while glitzy opera and ballet patrons dominated the upstairs. It’s a promising move, and yet another historic cinema with a new lease on life. (The Neptune Theatre in the U-District also has its grand reopening this fall.)

For tickets to upcoming screenings, visit siff.net.

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Tags: Venues, film, SIFF

National Theatre’s The Cherry Orchard Comes to the Big Screen at SIFF

Chekhov’s classic stage play is ready for its closeup.

Posted by: Julia Scherzinger on Jul 13, 2011 at 02:00PM 0 Comments

Zoë Wanamaker stars as aging matriarch Ranevskaya in National Theatre’s The Cherry Orchard.

The National Theatre on London’s South Bank is renowned for its world-class productions, including the 2011 Tony winner War Horse and Danny Boyle’s recent adaptation of Frankenstein. Plane tickets to Heathrow aren’t cheap, but for a mere $20, theater fans across the pond can see National Theatre productions onscreen at SIFF through National Theatre Live.

Wrapping up the 2010–2011 season of National Theatre Live is The Cherry Orchard, Anton Chekhov’s final play. The early 20th-century dramedy (sure, they had ’em back then) follows a formerly wealthy Russian family’s struggle to hold on to its estate in the face of massive debt. The National Theatre’s production includes a reworked script by Andrew Upton, and the new version hasn’t won many fans—a Telegraph critic claimed Upton should be “taken out of the theatre and thrown into the Thames along with his script.” The problem? Upton’s addition of British phrases like “bollocks” and “bloody friggin” that pull the play out of prerevolutionary Russia, muting the eerie soundtrack of a collapsing social structure.

Despite the script’s weaknesses, critics have praised The Cherry Orchard as an overall success due to wonderful acting and beautiful design. Zoë Wanamaker’s portrayal of aging matriarch Ranevskaya was called “magnificent” by The Independent, with “an anticipatory touch of the self-amused drama queens of Tennessee Williams.”

Tickets are still available, but showings of the other National Theatre Live productions at SIFF sold out in advance, so get your tickets early.

The Cherry Orchard screens Monday, July 18, at 7:30 at SIFF Cinema. Tickets are $15–$20, available at siff.net.

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Tags: Theater, SIFF, National Theatre Live

SIFF Opens Tomorrow

Kicking off 25 days of bleary-eyed movie binges.

Posted by: Laura Dannen on May 18, 2011 at 11:30AM 0 Comments

Photo: Courtesy of Kim Tae-Young

Screening at SIFF Bin Hyeon (left) and Wei Tang find love in Late Autumn.

Are you ready? We are. Starting today, we’ll bring you a week’s worth of coverage of the Seattle International Film Festival: previews and reviews, gala highlights, critics’ picks, and more. If you missed our primer on how to tackle an event with 400+ films, I recommend you start there. Then, check out North by Northwest from our May issue, which highlights five films with a Seattle connection screening this year, including Sean Nelson’s directorial debut Treatment, and a documentary on Hole drummer Patty Schemel. If you live in Belltown or Fremont, keep an eye out for neighborhood shots in Late Autumn.

Another friendly suggestion: Follow SIFF on Twitter (handle: @SIFFNews). They’re running a trivia contest all day, and winners get free movie tickets.

See you indoors (who thought we’d say that now that the sun’s finally out?).

The 2011 Seattle International Film Festival runs May 19–June 12; prices, times, and venues vary. For tickets, visit siff.net.

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Tags: SIFF, Seattle In the Spotlight, SIFF 2011,

How to Tackle SIFF 2011

A quick primer on navigating one of the nation’s largest film festivals.

Posted by: Laura Dannen on Apr 29, 2011 at 03:00PM 0 Comments

Ewan McGregor (pictured) and Warren Miller will be honored at this year’s SIFF.

I know a guy (don’t we all) who went to about 25 of the 400+ films that played during last year’s Seattle International Film Festival. That’s about one a day—and my friend’s not even in media. He’s just a cine-addict. According to SIFF artistic director Carl Spence, the average festival-goer only makes it to two to four films, and this year, there are 441 to choose from. Plus, there are so many pleasant distractions: Ewan McGregor will be in town to receive a Golden Space Needle award on May 22; Al Pacino will chat about his career on June 11 (UPDATED 5/5/11. no he won’t); the newly renovated Neptune Theater will be serving booze. Where do we start?

With the basics: SIFF 2011 runs May 19–June 12, with screenings in downtown Seattle, Ballard, Capitol Hill, Queen Anne, the U District, West Seattle, Kirkland, Everett, and Renton. Individual tickets ($8–$11, $6 students) go on sale May 5, when the full lineup is announced, but gala passes are on sale now for:

Opening night, May 19 at McCaw Hall, with a screening of The First Grader (director Justin Chadwick will attend).

And Closing night, June 12 at Cinerama, with a screening of the Ridley Scott-produced Life in a Day.

Tickets to see Al Pacino at the Paramount go on sale April 30 (CANCELLED), as we noted earlier this week; you can also book to see The Importance of Being Earnest, a live-in-HD screening of the Broadway play, on June 2, 5, and 12. That’s it for now, but check back next week for more ways to plan for SIFF, including our top picks and guilty pleasures.

The 37th Seattle International Film Festival runs from May 19–June 12.

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Tags: Ticket Alerts, SIFF, Celebrities in Seattle, SIFF 2011,

Pacino. In Seattle. (UPDATED)

Be still my starstruck heart.

Posted by: Laura Dannen on Apr 26, 2011 at 03:00PM 3 Comments

Pacino in Scarface

As an arts editor, it’s not that professional to admit to being doe-eyed over a celebrity coming to town.

But Al Pacino? Um, yeah, I’m a leetle excited. He’ll be at the Paramount Theatre on June 11 to help close out this year’s Seattle International Film Festival (May 19–June 12), and tickets go on sale this weekend. It’s a one-night-only gig that involves Pacino, on stage, chatting about his life and career (The Godfather! The Godfather: Part II!), showing rarely seen film clips, and taking questions from the audience. Seriously.

Pacino turned 71 on Monday, so I’m wondering if this is his unofficial Reflections Tour. You know, time to take stock of his what he’s done, the Oscar he’s won, and where to go from King Lear. (He’s slated to star as the aging monarch in a 2012 film adaptation; it’s the role that all great actors want to play, but no great actor wants to admit he’s old enough to play.) Could Pacino be edging closer to retirement? Do we dare ask? Hooah.

Tickets ($65–$150) are on sale Saturday, April 30, at 10am at the Paramount box office, at stgpresents.org or by calling 877-784-4849.

UPDATED 5/3/11. This event has been canceled due to a scheduling conflict. Al Pacino was nominated for a Tony this week for his role in The Merchant of Venice, and the Tonys are on June 12. Good for Al, bad for us. Credit cards will be refunded, and anyone who paid in cash should return to the point of purchase for a refund.

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Tags: Paramount Theatre, Ticket Alerts, SIFF, Al Pacino

A&E News Briefs: Kate Whoriskey Says Goodbye to Intiman

And we say goodbye to Kim Ricketts.

Posted by: Laura Dannen on Apr 26, 2011 at 11:00AM 0 Comments

Photo: courtesy Chad Batka.

Kate Whoriskey heads back to NYC.

THEATER After a little over a season with Intiman, artistic director Kate Whoriskey parts ways with the struggling theater and returns to New York as a freelance director. (NYTimes Arts Beat )

FILM Seattle International Film Festival will open this year (May 19) with heartwarmer The First Grader, about an 84-year-old man who takes advantage of a new education initiative in Kenya to go back to school. Director Justin Chadwick (The Other Boleyn Girl) will be in house on opening night. (SIFF )

VISUAL ART Canadian painter Andrew Dadson wins the Henry’s second Brink Award: $12,500 and an exhibit at the gallery. That’s two for two for Canada. (Slog )

BOOKS & TALKS Richard Hugo House is looking for a few new writers-in-residence; authors and teachers have until June 6 to apply. (Hugo House )

RIP, Kim Ricketts.

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Tags: Hugo House, SIFF, Intiman Theatre, Kim Ricketts

Movies You Shouldn’t Miss This Weekend

Including: Oscar-nominated shorts, classic noir, and Johnny Cash’s film debut.

Posted by: Laura Dannen on Feb 09, 2011 at 11:30AM 0 Comments

Pixar’s “Day and Night” originally screened with Toy Story 3; now both are up for an Academy Award.

Oscar-Nominated Short Films 2011
In theaters Feb 11
Varsity Theatre

Before the Oscars air on February 27, Landmark Theatres offers the opportunity to play Academy judge and view this year’s nominated short films—animated, live action, and documentary. The animated field looks particularly tight with the inclusion of Pixar’s “Day and Night” and "Madagascar, carnet de voyage (Madagascar, a Journey Diary),” a stylized stroll through Madagascar by a French video game designer. (Note: If you’re feeling movie mad right now, Oscar-nominated documentary Inside Job, about the downfall of our economy in 2008, is at Varsity Theatre until Short Films opens.)

Noir City at SIFF
Feb 11-17
McCaw Hall

A week of classic film noir: Marilyn Monroe thrills in Don’t Bother to Knock, which bills her as “every inch a woman…the most talked about actress of 1952,” and Ronald Coleman delivers an Oscar-winning performance in A Double Life. Lots of double features all weekend.

You’re Lookin’ at Country
Feb 10, 7pm
Northwest Film Forum

KEXP’s Greg Vandy hosts an evening dedicated to the darker side of country—that’s more “Folsom Prison Blues” than “Teardrops on My Guitar.” Expect a live performance by Texas-born, steely-eyed singer Ian Moore and a rare screening of Johnny Cash’s film debut (as a sadistic bank robber), 1961 crime drama Five Minutes to Live.

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Tags: Oscars, Weekend, SIFF, Film Fest

5 Ways to Keep Busy on Valentine’s Day

There’s the obvious way, but we’re talking about going out on the town.

Posted by: Laura Dannen on Feb 08, 2011 at 01:00PM 1 Comments

Celebrate love—and all its highs and lows—with Bushwick Book Club’s performance of work inspired by High Fidelity.

Valentine’s Day on a Monday is tricky. Yes, you have the preceding weekend to fulfill celebration duties (aren’t I romantic?). But you know … you just know that when Sunday night rolls around, your lady will have flashbacks to school days and construction paper hearts full of Disney valentines that say “I’m Goofy For You!” and will start staring wistfully at the place on the table where a vase of flowers should be. Face it: You have to keep her busy through Monday, and restaurants are filling up quickly.

But we found five V-Day outings that both entertain and hint at love, lust, and romance. For your consideration:

Michael Feinstein: The Sinatra Project
Feb 14, 7:30pm
Benaroya Hall

Swoon-inducing crooner and pianist Michael Feinstein brings his 17-piece band to Benaroya to cover standards by Ol’ Blue Eyes and his contemporaries Ella Fitzgerald and Nat King Cole. Tickets ($50-$96) are on sale.

Laugh Lover’s Ball
Feb. 14, 6 and 8:30pm
Moore Theatre

Laughter is a highly underrated aphrodisiac. This year’s V-Day stand-up comedy showcase—the 17th annual—features top talent from past performances: Comedy Central regular Maria Bamford, science guy Tim Lee Ph.D, Boston Comedy Fest winner Dwight Slade and Seattle’s David Crowe. Tickets ($27.40-$48) are on sale for both shows.

The Bushwick Book Club Presents: Original Music Inspired by Nick Hornby’s High Fidelity
Feb. 14, 8pm
Century Ballroom

Top five reasons why you should go to this show: 1. The “book club” is made up of local singer-songwriters. 2. They don’t talk about the book—they sing about it. 3. You don’t have to sing; you don’t even have to read the book. You can just watch. 4. Comedy-acoustic-funk duo Bucket of Honey will be there. 5. They’re playing original work inspired by one of our favorite love-hate-love stories, Nick Hornby’s High Fidelity. Tickets ($10-$15) are on sale, and a portion of proceeds supports the Seattle Public Library.

Noir City at SIFF
Feb. 14, 7 and 9pm
McCaw Hall

SIFF continues its film noir fest on V-Day with a stellar double feature: Ronald Coleman delivers an Oscar-winning performance in A Double Life (7pm) and a psychopath stirs up trouble in the 1941 horror noir Among the Living. Plenty of lust, fear, and insanity—just like the average relationship! Tickets ($7-$12) are on sale.

Pacific Northwest Ballet’s Cinderella
Feb. 13, 6:30pm
McCaw Hall

We’re cheating a little with this one. It’s on Valentine’s Eve, but the effect should hold over till Monday with the help of PNB’s complimentary Freixenet sparkling wine toast. Plus, it’s a beautiful ballet with a Prokofiev score based on Charles Perrault’s original French fairy tale—happy ending included.

Bonus! Seattle’s Cinerama is screening three Valentine’s-friendly romances through Feb 17: Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Roman Holiday, and The African Queen. Tickets ($9) are on sale at cinerama.com.

Looking for a gift you can wrap? Find six great ideas on our Wear What When blog.

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Tags: Moore Theatre, Benaroya Hall, Holiday Events, SIFF