Local & Repertory •  American Comedy Classics Judy Holliday stars in the

Local & Repertory

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American Comedy Classics Judy Holliday stars in the 1956 comedy The Solid Gold Cadillac, adapted from the hit Broadway show, about a small investor (Holiday) who discovers Wall Street and Washington, DC are hopelessly corrupt. Time for a remake? (NR)

Seattle Art Museum, 1300 First Ave., 654-3100, seattleartmuseum.org, $42–$45 series, $8 individual, Thursdays, 7:30 p.m. Through Aug. 15.

Anaconda Don’t get out of the boat! The same adage applies to the snake-tastic 1997 jungle adventure flick starring Ice Cube, J-Lo, Eric Stoltz, and Owen Wilson. (PG-13)

SIFF Cinema Uptown, 511 Queen Anne Ave. N., 324-9996, siff.net, $6-$11, Thu., Aug. 15, 7 p.m.

Back to the Beach Well past their teenage years, a very game Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello appear in this affectionate 1987 tribute to their string of hit beach comedies of the early ‘60s. (PG)

Central Cinema, 1411 21st Ave., 686-6684, central-cinema.com, $6-$8, Thu., Aug. 15, 8 p.m.

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Breakfast at Tiffany’s A certain kind of classic for a certain kind of viewer. Audrey Hepburn stars in the 1961 adaptation of the Truman Capote novel. And, boy, does she star in Breakfast at Tiffany’s. George Peppard barely registers more than the wallpaper as the kept man/aspiring writer—actually gay in the novel—who hopes to win Holly Golightly’s hand. Mickey Rooney stoops to racist caricature as her Japanese neighbor upstairs, but at least Patricia Neal keeps dignity intact as Peppard’s lusty employer. An Oscar went to the Henry Mancini-Johnny Mercer standard-to-be, “Moon River,” famously written to suit Hepburn’s one-octave singing voice. (PG) BRIAN MILLER Harvard Exit, 807 E. Roy St., 323-0587, landmarktheatres.com, $8.25, Sat., Aug. 17, midnight.

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Fremont Outdoor Movies “I love scotch. Scotchy, scotch, scotch. Here it goes down, down into my belly… ” Oh! Is the camera rolling? Well, then, let the broadcaster finish his drink before delivering the news. Which he does, on camera, without shame—and that’s the way Will Ferrell tears up the rest of Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy. The stupidity of Burgundy and his posse (including Steve Carell, Paul Rudd, David Koechner, and Fred Willard) is undiminished. In 1970s San Diego, the arrival of a hot, blonde, and actually capable woman (the very game Christina Applegate) is more than a threat to this cologne-addled crew—it’s downright emasculating. First the women take our jobs, then they make us give up our free-loving, jazz-fluting freedom! The sequel arrives Dec. 20. Outdoor movie screens at dusk. (PG-13) BRIAN MILLER. 3501 Phinney Ave. N., 781-4230, fremontoutdoormovies.com, $5, Sat., Aug. 17, 7:30 p.m.

Glacial Balance Local filmmaker Ethan Steinman travels from Colombia to Argentina to document the effect of global warming upon the planet’s glaciers, the decline of which will profoundly impact water supplies in vulnerable parts of South America. Steinman will attend and introduce the screening. (NR)

Northwest Film Forum, 1515 12th Ave., 829-7863, nwfilmforum.org, $10, Sat., Aug. 17, 2 p.m.

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MOHAI Movies in the Park John Cusack as romantic lead? It didn’t seem likely, but that’s exactly what happened with the alchemy of Cameron Crowe’s lovely 1989 rom-com Say Anything, his directorial debut. Ione Skye is the girl, and John Mahoney her disapproving father. Cusack was just graduating from teen fodder when Crowe gifted him with the role of a decade. Set in Seattle, the film has Cusack’s kid from the wrong side of the tracks fall hard for a college-bound high achiever. Though something of a shambling oaf, whose only goal in life is to become a pro kick-boxer, he somehow locates his own inner Cary Grant to woo her. Two decades later, there are plenty of women in their 30s and 40s who are, perhaps after a divorce or two, still looking for their Lloyd Dobler. Outdoor screening begins at dusk. (R) BRIAN MILLER Lake Union Park, 860 Terry Ave. N., mohai.org, Free, Saturdays. Through Aug. 24.

Moonlight Cinema In 2008’s Pineapple Express, process server Dale Denton (Seth Rogen) scores some primo dope off his lonely dealer Saul (James Franco), then Dale witnesses a murder committed by a dealer (Gary Cole, in league with Rosie Perez. In short order, the dopes are on the run, dodging bullets, wrecking cars, and falling in love with each other. But the film’s greatest achievements lie in the details likely to be lost in a torrent of delighted audience squeals. Much credit must be given to director David Gordon Green, a heretofore beloved arthouse craftsman who transforms PE from the inevitable into the unexpected. 21 and over Outdoor screening begins at dusk. (R) ROBERT WILONSKY Redhook Ale Brewery, 14300 N.E. 145th St. (Woodinville), 425-483-3232, redhook.com, $5, Thursdays, 6 p.m. Through Aug. 29.

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Movies at Magnuson Park In the 1981 Raiders of the Lost Ark, Harrison Ford is more like the embodiment of the boyish dreams of producer George Lucas and director Steven Spielberg. Sure, he makes manly eyes at Karen Allen, but the lust—like the violence, in which movie-Nazis can be killed like flies—is only as real as in the movie serials that inspired the Indy franchise. In a thoroughly satisfying, always kinetic way, this first Jones flick lives inside its own archetypes, and Ford is too disciplined an actor to wink at the artifice. He always seems sincerely, physically invested in this iconic role, whether he’s outrunning boulders, being dragged under trucks, or recoiling from snakes. He’s a moonlighting, grave-robbing, rogue scholar, nobody’s hero. He’s a man you want to be—not the same thing as being a role model. Outdoor movie screens at dusk. (PG) BRIAN MILLER Magnuson Park, 7400 Sand Point Way N.E., moviesatmagnuson.com, $5, Thursdays, 7 p.m. Through Aug. 29.

A Place at the Table This well-intentioned doc by Kristi Jacobson and Lori Silverbush is really best suited for the children of Seattle’s overeducated foodies, something that ought to be screened in middle school. With subjects including food deserts, corn-syrup subsidies, and the obesity/poverty paradox, Table attempts to enliven the talking heads (Marion Nestle, etc.) with real-life vignettes featuring sympathetic poor folk from Philadelphia to rural Colorado to the Mississippi Delta. As you’d expect, there are no Whole Foods from which to purchase fruits and veggies; more to the point, they couldn’t afford such healthy fare even if it were convenient. Among other non-surprises here are the thwarted efforts in Washington, D.C., to increase the purchasing power of food stamps and decrease the lobbying power of big agribusiness. (PG) BRIAN MILLER Seattle First Baptist Church, 1111 Harvard St., 325-6051, Free, Sat., Aug. 17, 4 p.m.

Three Dollar Bill Outdoor Cinema

Conan the Destroyer (1984) is the tamer of two Conan movies made by Arnold Schwarzenegger. Besides his glorious body, look for some funny supporting work by Tracey Walter, Wilt Chamberlain, and Grace Jones. Outdoor movie screens at dusk. (PG)

Cal Anderson Park, 1635 11th Ave., threedollarbillcinema.org, Free, Fri., Aug. 16.

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Tremors The Irish director of the recent creature-com Grabbers freely admitted to the influence of another movie about yokels battling voracious monsters, Ron Underwood’s very enjoyable 1990 Tremors. The plot couldn’t be more B-movie: In a small, isolated Nevada desert town, the locals are menaced by giant worm-like beasts (which prowl like sharks, only underground). A plucky few survivors are terrorized by the man-eating slugs, and they have only themselves to rely upon. Kevin Bacon and Fred Ward play the uncouth local handymen who first discern the subterranean danger. Reba McEntire and Michael Gross are well cast as a couple of gun-loving survivalists who help lead the resistance to unseen threat. (PG-13) BRIAN MILLER Central Cinema, $6-$8, Aug. 16-21, 7 p.m.

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Un Flic SEE THE WIRE, PAGE 21.

VHS Month Friday brings Tales of the Quadead Zone (1987), followed by Saturday’s tribute to Don Johnson and Mr. T. On Sunday there’s a matinee of the classic 1940 screwball comedy The Philadelphia Story, starring Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn; that same evening follows the Viva VHS! compendium program. Remember that beer and wine are now served, but screening open to all ages. (NR)

Scarecrow Video, 5030 Roosevelt Way N.E., 524-8554, scarecrow.com, Free, Fri., Aug. 16, 6 & 8 p.m.; Sat., Aug. 17, 8 p.m.; Sun., Aug. 18, 1 p.m.

Wild at Heart Not David Lynch’s best film, but by no means his worst, this twisted 1990 road-trip romance made a star out of Chris Isaak, whose haunting “Wicked Game” appears on the soundtrack. Co-stars Laura Dern and Nicolas Cage march grimly but gamely through the thicket of Wizard of Oz references, but it’s more fun just to count the number of loopy supporting turns, including Diane Ladd, Crispin Glover, Willem Dafoe, Isabella Rossellini, Sherilyn Fenn (she of the loose brain matter), Harry Dean Stanton, and an uncredited Val Kilmer (as Elvis). (R) BRIAN MILLER Central Cinema, $6-$8, Aug. 16-21, 9:30 p.m.

Ongoing

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Blackfish

Blackfish should be the final word on the subject of keeping orcas in places like SeaWorld, even if it probably won’t be. This relentless documentary circles around the 2010 death of Dawn Brancheau, a supremely experienced SeaWorld trainer who was killed in a performing tank by Tilikum, a 12,000-pound whale. But that death is the starting point for a film that makes a couple of general thrusts: Killer whales should not be kept in captivity, and the sea parks that own them have done a suspiciously incomplete job of informing their trainers and the public about how they operate their businesses. Interviews with former SeaWorld trainers paint a sad picture of a happy-face culture that sugar-coated the containment of giant wild animals; because of the industry’s expert PR spin, the trainers themselves would hear only vague rumors about injuries in marine parks. If Blackfish outrages people, so much the better. (PG-13) ROBERT HORTON Seven Gables

Blue Jasmine There’s nothing comic about the downfall of Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire, the inspiration for Woody Allen’s miscalculated seriocom. Blue Jasmine is an awkward mismatch of pathos and ridicule, less fusion than simple borrowing. Grafted onto the story of delusional trophy wife Jasmine (Cate Blanchett) is a Madoff-like fable of the recent financial crisis. In flashback, we see her husband (Alec Baldwin) buying her consent with luxury while he swindles the Montauk set. In the present timeframe, Jasmine is broke and living with her sister Ginger (Sally Hawkins) in a shabby San Francisco apartment. Jasmine is a snob who needs to be brought low, a task relished by Ginger, her boyfriend (Bobby Cannavale), and her ex (a surprisingly sympathetic Andrew Dice Clay). As with Baz Luhrmann’s recent The Great Gatsby, you sense that Allen wants to say something about our present culture of inequality and fraud, but he only dabbles, never probes. (PG-13) BRIAN MILLER Harvard Exit, Lincoln Square, Sundance Cinemas

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Drug War Action master Johnny To trades the overcrowding and overheated capitalism of Hong Kong for the open plains and lonely highways of Tianjin, yet Drug War is still a classic cop procedural. His trademark police squad is lead by the tough, serious, unflinching Inspector Zhang (Chinese star Sun Honglei, all humorless efficiency), whose team executes his every order without hesitation. A police stakeout yields a once-in-a-lifetime shot at the crime kingpins thanks to a remarkably accommodating informant named Choi (To regular Louis Koo, sweaty with mercenary self-interest). Zhang proves a crack mimic as he goes undercover on a minute’s notice, and his team fights exhaustion as the mission stretches through long days and sleepless nights. To keeps track of all the moving parts with remarkable clarity, even when Zhang’s plan spins violently out of control. (NR) SEAN AXMAKER SIFF Cinema Uptown

Elysium Elysium hangs in orbit, a giant spinning space station of deluxe McMansions and WASPy country clubs; it’s a brief supersonic ride from the filthy, overpopulated Earth of 2154. Down below, Max (Matt Damon) is a worker-drone who must find a way to get to Elysium and fix his decaying body after radiation accident at the factory. Already you can see the outlines of Neill Blomkamp’s allegory, a world divided between the haves and the have-nots (such a remarkably consistent vision in futuristic fiction). The orbital Elysium is so brilliantly visualized, Blomkamp might’ve benefited from exploiting it more—at least for satirical points. Most of the time we’re on Earth, in a Los Angeles that resembles Mexico City. Damon knows exactly how to lock Max into focus; Jodie Foster (leading with clenched jaw) is on point as the Elysium security chief; and William Fichtner is scrupulous as a corporate jerk. If this movie lacks the startling originality of Blomkamp’s 2009 District 9, it’s still workable enough to qualify as satisfying old-school science fiction. (R) ROBERT HORTON Alderwood 16, Southcenter, Cinerama, Kirkland Parkplace, Lincoln Square, Majestic Bay, Bainbridge, Meridian, Thornton Place, Sundance, others

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Fruitvale Station By an accident of timing, if not craft, Ryan Coogler has made one of the most important movies of the year. His docudrama chronicles the last 24 hours in the life of Oscar Grant (Michael B. Jordan), a 22-year-old black man shot to death by overzealous Oakland transit cops in 2009. Fruitvale Station leads up to that incident with a day-in-the-life format. After showing us the actual cellphone video of Grant’s shooting, Coogler spends an hour humanizing Grant; then loops back to the fateful railway platform. (R) BRIAN MILLER Ark Lodge, Oak Tree, Meridian