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The Inner Tour.

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• Tupac Shakur
• Darryl Macdonald
• Steve Wiecking
• Hollywood
• Hip-Hop and Rap

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Sign up for the Events Newsletter: What's happening in town? From underground club nights to the biggest outdoor festivals, our top picks for the week's best events will always keep you in on the action.

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WHERE WERE THE stars at SIFF's opening-night gala last Thursday? If you have to ask, you've never been to such events—where eager Seattelites dress up with touchingly eager enthusiasm as if for the bad prom-night experience they've always wanted to correct. Here's a chance to be your own star, since the flashbulbs are popping for no one else.

Among a few token celebs, Burr Steers (Igby Goes Down's writer-director) was a charmer, enough so that when his handler briefly lost the Igby entourage in Two Union Square's chilly courtyard, the PR rep seemed genuinely concerned—instead of using the chance to beeline for the bar.

Introducing Igby, festival director Darryl Macdonald decried how three out of four American filmgoers had gone to see Spider-Man on its opening weekend, a complaint that will be addressed at this Sunday's panel discussion: "Why America Can't See (or Doesn't Want to See) Movies for Grown-Ups" (11:30 a.m. June 2, Broadway Performance Hall). But are things really so grim? Unfaithful's doing well, while Am鬩e and Y Tu Mam᠔ambi鮠have become long-running local favorites.

Isn't the real issue that so many adult-oriented movies—e.g., Hollywood Ending—are bad, while kid flicks are simply made better? As our own Steve Wiecking sniped after viewing Igby, "I wished I'd seen Spider-Man instead."

OUR SIFF PICKS

This week's recommendations:

Cinemania. Film geeks, look in the mirror of this funny/sad documentary. 4:30 p.m. Thurs., May 30 and 7 p.m. Fri., May 31, Broadway Performance Hall.

Days of Heaven. Terrence Malick's gorgeous 1978 Texas panhandle drama is part of SIFF's '70s sidebar. 4:30 p.m. Fri., May 31, Egyptian.

The Inner Tour. Displaced Palestinians visit Israel; only verbal bombshells are thrown. 4 p.m. Sun., June 2 and 9:30 p.m. Tues., June 4, Broadway Performance Hall.

Biggie and Tupac. Whodunit? Find out in this gangsta rap documentary. 4 p.m. Sun., June 2, Pacific Place; 9:30 p.m. Tues., June 4, Egyptian.

Afghan Alphabet. Kandahar director Mohsen Makhmalbaf documents refugee kids. 6:30 p.m. Sun., June 2 and 4:30 p.m. Wed., June 5, Broadway Performance Hall.

And go to www.seattleweeky.com all during the fest for other picks and new reviews.

bmiller@seattleweekly.com