Ella Taylor

SIFF Week 1: Picks and Pans

The Weekly Wire: This Week's Recommended Events

Your Arts & Space Weekend Planner

​The last weekend of August begins on the moon! That's where much of the LP record cover art is set in a new show at EMP: It's refreshing to seen a museum exhibit that doesn't pretend to offer great music or great art. Culled from the collection of an L.A. music industry executive, Spaced Out ... More >>

Tarantino Explains Basterds

​SW contributing writer and critic Ella Taylor sat down with the director of Inglourious Basterds (review) in Los Angeles, where she and Quentin Tarantino both live. Here's her long-form interview: Seventeen years ago, when Reservoir Dogs was setting American cinema on fire, Quentin Tarantino ... More >>

Kung Fu Panda

​SW contributing writer and critic Ella Taylor sat down with the director of Inglourious Basterds (review) in Los Angeles, where she and Quentin Tarantino both live. Here's her long-form interview: Seventeen years ago, when Reservoir Dogs was setting American cinema on fire, Quentin Tarantino ... More >>

Movies at the Mural

​SW contributing writer and critic Ella Taylor sat down with the director of Inglourious Basterds (review) in Los Angeles, where she and Quentin Tarantino both live. Here's her long-form interview: Seventeen years ago, when Reservoir Dogs was setting American cinema on fire, Quentin Tarantino ... More >>

SIFF Review: Laila's Birthday

The sound of glass shattering in the early morning hours is the first hint that all is not well outside the tranquil domestic incubator Abu Laila (Mohammed Bakri) has erected for his wife and young daughter. And soon, after Abu drops his beloved Laila off at school in his taxi and promises to return ... More >>

SIFF Week 3: Picks & Pans

By Brian Miller and SW Staff

SIFF Week 2: Picks & Pans

By Brian Miller and SW staff

Opening Today, But Not in Theaters

By tacit agreement, the major studios tend not to open any big movies on the Oscar telecast weekend. (Here are the weekend offerings, actually quite good.) They don't want to compete with what is, essentially, a three-hour unpaid commercial for their wares, though ratings for the show have been dec ... More >>

Still More Top 10 Lists

You can read our critics' alphabetical list of the 12 best films of 2008 here. Me, I'm a traditionalist, a 10 best man who prefers numbers and rankings. Happily, several of our top-line writers have complied (after the jump). First, however, is the Village Voice Media critics' poll (with my votes a ... More >>

The 12 Best Films of 2008: Now in Alphabetical Order!

You can read our critics' alphabetical list of the 12 best films of 2008 here. Me, I'm a traditionalist, a 10 best man who prefers numbers and rankings. Happily, several of our top-line writers have complied (after the jump). First, however, is the Village Voice Media critics' poll (with my votes a ... More >>

Beautiful People Fight Beautiful Narnians in Beautiful Blu-ray

  Thanks to the giant leaps and strides in computer animation over the last two decades, nerds can see their greatest lit loves come to life--Peter Jackson made Middle Earth a reality and we were willing to wear flowly elf robes at midnight in December to watch it. Robert Rodriguez, with help f ... More >>

The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep

  Thanks to the giant leaps and strides in computer animation over the last two decades, nerds can see their greatest lit loves come to life--Peter Jackson made Middle Earth a reality and we were willing to wear flowly elf robes at midnight in December to watch it. Robert Rodriguez, with help f ... More >>

The 10 Best Films of 2007

  Thanks to the giant leaps and strides in computer animation over the last two decades, nerds can see their greatest lit loves come to life--Peter Jackson made Middle Earth a reality and we were willing to wear flowly elf robes at midnight in December to watch it. Robert Rodriguez, with help f ... More >>

Buy This Coffee, or the Polar Bears Die!

  Thanks to the giant leaps and strides in computer animation over the last two decades, nerds can see their greatest lit loves come to life--Peter Jackson made Middle Earth a reality and we were willing to wear flowly elf robes at midnight in December to watch it. Robert Rodriguez, with help f ... More >>

This Week's Attractions

Amazing Grace and four other new releases.

This Week's Attractions

Oscar nominated shorts, East German spies, and more.

Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple

Runs at Varsity, Fri., Feb. 2–Thurs., Feb. 8. Not rated. 86 minutes.

Passing the Butt

"Business owners might invest in a used coffee can on the sidewalk, filled with sand, and a sign that says 'Park Your Butts Here.'"

The Italian

Opens at Metro, Fri., Feb. 2. Rated PG-13. 99 minutes.

Family Law

Runs at Varsity, Fri., Jan. 26–Thurs., Feb. 1. Not rated. 102 minutes.

51 Birch Street

Runs at Northwest Film Forum, Fri., Jan. 12–Thurs., Jan. 18. Not rated. 88 minutes.

Miss Potter

Opens at Metro and other theaters, Fri., Jan. 5. Rated PG. 93 minutes.

Happily N'Ever After

Opens at Bellevue Galleria and other theaters, Fri., Jan. 5. Rated PG. 87 minutes.

News for the Uptight Seattleite

"Real Change is not just for nervous liberals. We are also enjoyed by overeducated profes­sionals, despair-ridden environmentalists...and long-suffering suburban commuters."

The Painted Veil

Opens at Seven Gables, Fri., Dec. 29. Rated PG-13. 125 minutes.

Six More Tens

Other critics from Seattle Weekly sister publications weigh in with their Top 10 lists.

The Architect

Opens at Metro, Fri., Dec. 8. Rated R. 82 minutes.

Deck the Halls

Opens at Meridian and other theaters, Wed., Nov. 22. Rated PG. 95 minutes.

Nov. 15-23, 2006

The best movie George Lucas ever made, Gina Lollobrigida in her prime, and a Bogie-Bacall retro begins.

Little Children

Opens at Seven Gables, Fri., Nov. 17. Rated R. 130 minutes.

Deliver Us From Evil

Opens at Varsity, Fri., Nov. 10. Not Rated. 101 minutes.

Flushed Away

Opens at Metro and other theaters, Fri., Nov. 3. Rated PG. 82 minutes.

Oct. 13-19, 2006

Hedwig, depressed Swedes, and a wandering Dutch architect in Africa.

The Last King of Scotland

Opens at Guild 45 and other theaters, Fri., Oct. 6. Rated R. 123 minutes.

Confetti

Opens at Metro, Fri., Sept. 22. Rated R. 94 minutes.

Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles

Opens at Metro, Fri., Sept. 15. Rated PG. 108 minutes.

The Last Kiss

Opens at Metro and other theaters, Fri., Sept. 15. Rated R. 104 minutes.

Everyone's Hero

Opens at Bellevue Galleria and other theaters, Fri., Sept. 15. Rated G. 87 minutes.

The Quiet

Opens at Metro and Uptown, Fri., Sept. 1. Rated R. 92 minutes.

Conversations With Other Women

Opens at Harvard Exit, Fri., Aug. 25. Rated R. 84 minutes.

Boynton Beach Club

Opens at Seven Gables, Fri., Aug. 25. Not Rated. 104 minutes.

Lemming

Showing at Varsity, Fri., Aug. 4–Thurs., Aug. 10. Not rated. 129 minutes.

Feathers and Fur

Everybody loves penguins, but there's another animal star lurking at the box office—if you can see the elusive beast.

Birth

Also: End of the Century, Lightning in a Bottle, Saw, and Undertow.

Incident at Loch Ness

Also: Head in the Clouds, Ladder 49, Last Life in the Universe, Monumental: David Brower's Fight for Wild America, The Motorcycle Diaries, and Shark Tale.

Short takes

Also: Head in the Clouds, Ladder 49, Last Life in the Universe, Monumental: David Brower's Fight for Wild America, The Motorcycle Diaries, and Shark Tale.

Lessons from England's racy 'Virgin Queen.'

The regina monologues

Death and the maiden

Brad Pitt plays a cute, lovable Grim Reaper.