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Hollywood to the rescue: Goodman (left) and Arkin.

Film

Argo: Ben Affleck Rescues the Hostages From Iran

Set amid the 1979–80 Iran hostage crisis, Ben Affleck’s Argo is a “gritty” historical drama overwhelmed by its…

Protective parents Wang (left) and St. John.

Film

In the Family: The Ardors of Being a Gay Single Parent

With an incisive understanding of character, believably naturalistic acting, and lengthy scenes that don’t feel so much stretched…

Far from the Creek, Van Der Beek is supplied with no paddles but plenty of oars.

Film

Backwards: James Van Der Beek in a Sculling Drama

You can’t go home again—or at least that’s the feeling of ex-jock Abi, who fails to make the…

Lindhardt as Erik.

Film

Keep the Lights On: A Favorite Queer Romance Returns From SIFF

Exhibiting great specificity about gay sexual mores (the phone-sex hookups, the fear of AIDS, the dichotomy between carefree…

A boy and his dog.

Film

Frankenweenie: Tim Burton Successfully Revives His Old Short

Ever since Mars Attacks!, Tim Burton has been mostly in the adaptation business, rendering dark and becurlicued Sleepy…

Matt Bettinelli-Olpin in the short "10/31/98."

Film

V/H/S: A Horror Anthology Prelude to Halloween

In this faux-found-footage horror anthology (containing material directed by Joe Swanberg, Adam Wingard, Ti West, and others), a…

The Oranges' two clans.

Film

The Oranges: Hugh Laurie as Stifled Suburban Dad

Yeah, all right already, we get it about suburbia: It’s a topography of middle-aged despair hidden under a…

Farahani as the haunting lost love.

Film

Chicken With Plums: Obsessive Love, From Marjane Satrapi’s Stories

Narrated by Death himself, embodied by the archangel Azraël, Chicken With Plums is the second adaptation of comic…

Cotillard at the beach.

Film

Little White Lies: Marion Cotillard Goes on Vacation

This bloated spin on The Big Chill follows a septet of grating, mostly Gen-X Parisians as they half-guiltily…

Dench is a standout among the Stars.

Film

Stars in Shorts: Judi Dench and Others in a So-So Anthology

Unlike most anthology films, Stars in Shorts is composed of pre-existing short films that weren’t originally intended to…

Hale plays against type in Not That Funny.

Film

Local Sightings Film Festival: Looking for Love

A celebration of local cinema . . . from Argentina to L.A.?

It's always a good time to see Willis in action.

Film

Looper: Bruce Willis Tries to Kill Himself

Early in Rian Johnson’s time-travel thriller, Joe (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) sits at a diner and chats with his self…

Chaiyanam as the soulful gunman.

Film

Headshot: A Soulful Thai Killer

Thailand’s Pen-ek Ratanaruang made his reputation with a series of stylish, violent, and oddly contemplative crime thrillers including…

O'Nan wears the moose suit of shame.

Film

Brooklyn Brothers Beat the Best: Indie Rockers on the Road

Everything right about this indie-rocker road movie has to do with the music. Everything wrong with it has…

Once upon a time, Angie Bowlds was just another seamstress with a day job, pulling threads in her off hours to bring in a little extra cheese.

Film

OK, so she might not be rich (yet), but ever since Twilight

OK, so she might not be rich (yet), but ever since Twilight introduced “The Bella Bag” to the…

Baghead: A frequently bracing, lo-fi revisitation of the concept behind the 1972 zombie flick Children ShouldnaE™t Play With Dead ThingsaE”ham actors isolated in the woods canaE™t decipher if the horror stalking them is real, or their own theatrical prankishness run amokaE”the Duplass brothersaE™ latest imagines four Hollywood never-beens holed up in an isolated cabin to write themselves a breakthrough. (NR) NICK PINKERTON Egyptian: 6:30 p.m., Sunday, June 8 (Also: 4:30 p.m. Mon., June 9.)

Film

For all our SIFF-related content, check out SW’s SIFF page.Published on June

For all our SIFF-related content, check out SW’s SIFF page.Published on June 5, 2008

PICK: The Dark Harbor: Dark is right. Friendless, luckless fisherman Manzo lives in a small Japanese village, not really content with his life but too lazy to do much about it. When the town arranges a social for the fishermen to meet some city girls, a clerk takes one look at lumpy, sad-sack Manzo and observes, A bit past it, aren't you? Indeed, Manzo (Shinya Kote) looks painfully uncomfortable in anything but his work overalls or favorite blue sweatpants. His idea of a good time is listening to rockabilly music and microwaving corn dogs. (Or in Japan, squid dogs?) Eventually, however, the comic melancholy is interrupted by a home invasionaE”a cute young kid and his mother take residence in Manzo's house while he's out fishing, then hide in the cupboards at night. And of course Manzo is going to fall in love with Mitsuko, and of course she's not quite what she seems. But since there's so little plot to The Dark Harbor, it's best not to mention any other particulars. The slow-moving deadpan tone recalls Aki KaurismA¤ki, and Kote's performance suggests a slightly more voluble Buster Keaton. In a rare burst of speech, he confesses, I'm suffocating here alone. If the interlopers are taking advantage of him, he reasons, it's better than corn dogs for one. SIFFgoers will agree. (NR) BRIAN MILLER Also: 9:30 p.m. Tues., June 9. 6:45 p.m., SIFF Cinema

Film

Here’s a look at all of our recommended films for SIFF’s third

Here’s a look at all of our recommended films for SIFF’s third week, June 3 through 9. Follow…

Passing Strange: I was hoping that the Tony Award-winning rock opera Passing Strange would eventually reach Seattle, but Spike LeeaE™s exhilarating concert doc is the next best thing. This coming-of-age-while-black musical by Mark Stewart (aka Stew) has been a long time brewing. It progressed from the Bay Area to Off-Broadway with much acclaim, and finally hit Broadway last year. If you loved Hedwig and the Angry Inch at SIFF aE™01, Passing Strange packs at least as much power, but with a much tighter band and more concentrated story. Unlike John Cameron Mitchell playing a transsexual East German character in Hedwig, Stew is relating a (slightly embellished) version of his own life story, one also rooted in the aE™80s, which proceeds from California to Europe and back. And the songs, co-written with Heidi Rodewald, are even better. Surgery is only one path to self-discovery. Music is another. Shooting during the show's final performances on Broadway, Lee sometimes pushes his camera too close , particularly after the intermission, but the high-def images are crisp and the sound quality excellent. Besides StewaE™s band, his ensemble of performersaE”most in multiple roles on a bare stageaE”are in equal command of the stage-tested material. Lee will attend this screening for an audience Q&A. The film is probably bound for HBO later this year. (NR) REVIEW BY BRIAN MILLER Egyptian: 7 p.m., Wed. May 27 (Also: Kirkland Performance Center, 6:30 p.m. Tues., June 2.)

Film

Here’s a look at all of our recommended films for SIFF’s second

Here’s a look at all of our recommended films for SIFF’s second week, May 27 through June 2.…

The 3 Little Pigs: aEœBig ears matter more than a big dick,aE Mathiew informs his brother, Christian, during a tutorial on wooing women. ItaE™s the first of many discussions theyaE™ll have on the subject in comedian/actor Patrick HuardaE™s charming directorial debut, the story of three brothers with three very different marriages. Pacific Place: 1:30 p.m. Sat. May 24; 9:45 p.m. Sun. May 25.

Film

Our recommendations for the Seattle International Film Festival’s first week, from Battle

Our recommendations for the Seattle International Film Festival’s first week, from Battle in Seattle to 3 Little Pigs.Published…

Frozen River: Set in deep winter in way-upstate New York, first-time writer-director Courtney Hunt's Frozen River provides a welcome throwback to the truly independent films of festivals yore, movies that offered lyrical glimpses of regional American life in parts of the country rarely visited by the dominant Hollywood cinema. (R) SCOTT FOUNDAS Pacific Place: Thursday, 7 p.m. (Also: Uptown, 4:30 p.m. Sat., June 14.)

Film

Trouble, Vice, a romantic comedy and a dysfunctional family. No, it’s not

Trouble, Vice, a romantic comedy and a dysfunctional family. No, it’s not daytime television, it’s Week 4 of…