Recommendations for the second week of the Seattle International Film Festival:
“Monster Road.” An absolutely fascinating documentary about Bruce Bickford, a claymation animator who worked with Frank Zappa in the 1970s and has since made mind-blowing movies, in near obscurity, in his house outside Seattle. Director Brett Ingram does more than just show Bickford’s working methods, although that would be enough: the childlike animator has assembled a huge collection of tiny figures and landscapes in his home, which come to unsettling life via painstaking stop-motion animation. But Ingram has also explored Bickford’s sad childhood, and his father, who drifts in and out of a memory fog. This movie is a find.
4:30 p.m. today, Egyptian theater.
“In Your Hands.” Annette Olesen’s devastating Danish film about a female priest who goes to work in a women’s prison and discovers a mysterious patient with a Christ-like manner. The film, beautifully acted, has a naturalistic style but hints at supernatural traces beneath ordinary life. Olesen will appear with the film.
5 p.m. today, Pacific Place.
“Open Water.” A riveting, low-budget nail-biter about a married couple accidentally left in the open sea during a diving trip in the Caribbean. An ingenious film, made even more mind-blowing if you know that there are no special effects – including the sharks. Gulp.
9 tonight, Egyptian; 1:30 p.m. Saturday, Egyptian.
“The Girl on the Bridge.” Part of the festival’s tribute to director Patrice Leconte, this 1999 film takes a rapturous black-and-white look at a circus knife-thrower and his lovely assistant-target. The performances of Daniel Auteuil and pop star Vanessa Paradis (real-life companion to Johnny Depp) really make it work, on a fairy tale level.
2 p.m. Saturday, Harvard Exit.
“The Goddess.” This year’s silent presentation is a rarely seen 1934 film from China, a tale of a woman’s tribulations in the low life. A legendary and ill-fated actress, Ruan Ling-Yu, is the star. Live musical accompaniment provided.
3:45 p.m. Saturday, Egyptian.
“The Corporation.” A documentary look at the ominous presence of corporations in everyday life. The hook here is that, since corporations were legally granted status as individuals (status that has led to much business hanky-panky), the film will “diagnose” modern corporations – which turn out to have psychopathic personalities, clinically speaking. This is a diverting diatribe, with an especially good section on how Fox News killed a public-health story about the milk industry.
6 p.m. Saturday, Egyptian.
“Screenwriters Salon.” The terrific writing duo of local guy Jim Taylor and director Alexander Payne will sit for an in-depth discussion of the craft of screenwriting. Considering that their films “Election” and “About Schmidt” are among the best American movies of recent years, this should be a good session.
6:15 p.m. Saturday, Broadway Performance Hall.
“Donnie Darko: Director’s Cut.” The world premiere of an extended version of Richard Kelly’s 2001 puzzle film, which has become a hit on video. It was pretty good the first time around, and the director and some cast members (including Drew Barrymore, Jena Malone and Mary McDonell) will be on hand to explain.
6:30 p.m. Saturday, Pacific Place.
“Buffalo Bill’s Defunct-Stories from the New West.” Crafted by local director Matt Wilkins and produced by Seattle’s Northwest Film Forum, this drama zigzags back and forth in time as it takes a fragmented look at a family. Its central image, the pulling down of a stubborn garage, seems not at all accidental. By the time it reaches its conclusion it has gained power, although it can’t sidestep the bugaboos of movies with improvised dialogue.
4 p.m. Saturday, Broadway Performance Hall (replacing a previously announced acting class); 4 p.m. Monday, Broadway Performance Hall.
“Anatomy of Hell.” French provocateur Catherine Breillat (“Fat Girl”) returns with another battle in the war between the sexes. This one isn’t as rich as some of Breillat’s previous films, but it has a few wild and crazy moments; its sexually explicit (and we do mean explicit) material tends to make an audience grow very, very quiet.
4:15 p.m. Sunday, Harvard Exit.
“Dandelion.” Shot in Eastern Washington and Idaho, this static character piece is well acted by teens (Vincent Kartheiser, Taryn Manning) and old pros (Arliss Howard, Mare Winningham) alike. Kartheiser plays a misfit out of tune with his small-town life, but he keeps a dark family secret when he needs to. The throttled rural existence comes to life mainly in the lush photography.
9 p.m. Sunday, Egyptian.
“Drive-In Party.” I haven’t seen any of the three movies on tap for this evening, but I like the idea of putting horror movies back in the drive-in theater, where they belong. First up is “Undead,” an Australian zombie picture, then “Haute Tension,” a rural slasher flick from France, and finally “The Locals,” a ghost story from New Zealand.
9:30 p.m. Sunday, Valley 6 Drive-In (in Auburn).
“Doppelganger.” A bizarre offering from the prolific Japanese director Kiyoshi Kurosawa, whose horror films have brought him a cult reputation. This isn’t one of his better efforts; it’s about an obsessed inventor who freaks out when he spots his exact double. The double then begins making life unpleasant.
2 p.m. Monday, Pacific Place.
“Cavedweller.” The talented Lisa Cholodenko (“Laurel Canyon”) directs this tale of a flighty single mom (Kyra Sedgwick) who takes her resentful daughter back to her Georgia hometown after the death of the girl’s rock-star father (played in flashbacks by Kevin Bacon). A TV-movie vibe prevails, but the picture has its share of honest moments to drape around Sedgwick’s strong performance.
7 p.m. Thursday, Egyptian.
Film fest facts
For a complete schedule of the Seattle International Film Festival, go to www.seattlefilm.com.
Tickets are on sale by phone at 206-324-9996 and in person at the main box office in downtown Seattle at Pacific Place, Sixth and Pine, and at the Broadway Performance Hall, 1625 Broadway, on Capitol Hill.
Film fest facts
For a complete schedule of the Seattle International Film Festival, go to www.seattlefilm.com.
Tickets are on sale by phone at 206-324-9996 and in person at the main box office in downtown Seattle at Pacific Place, Sixth and Pine, and at the Broadway Performance Hall, 1625 Broadway, on Capitol Hill.
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