This year at SIFF I was struck by two films seemingly about the same thing (dictatorships disguised as Communism), but from completely different perspectives (and in different countries). While the story, the people and the outcomes varied, the toll on the peoples of both countries were felt just as palpably. I didn’t expect to be so intrigued and taken in by these stories but here we are. Below I give you the low down on each and why I think, if you can manage it, you should seek them out at a SIFF venue if they run them again outside of the festival.
SIFF 2025 Notebook: Color Book, New Jack Fury, Sanatorium Under the Sign of the Hourglass, Scarecrow in a Garden of Cucumbers
One SIFFter’s coverage of most of his SIFF 2025 views.
SIFF 2025 Roundtable: Festival Exit Survey, Golden SunBreak Awards
The in-person portion of SIFF’s 51st Seattle International Film Festival ended on Sunday with the Golden Space Needle Awards and a full day of theatrical screenings. Never fear, this year’s “Escape to the Reel World” continues through June 1st online with a substantial portion of the program available for streaming (included for most pass types, or $20 individual films).
SIFF 2025 Notebook: Boy Troubles (Rebuilding, The Things You Kill, Good Boy)
My closing weekend at SIFF inadvertently turned into a trio of films loosely themed about men figuring their stuff out, often alone, in desolate spaces.
SIFF 2025 Notebook: The Glass Web
This rainy city has always felt like a perfect Ground Zero for film noir, and Seattle’s been packing Noir Czar Eddie Muller’s touring Noir City film festival for years.
So it’s no surprise a noir did surface during the Festival. Kudos to SIFF, however, for getting their mitts on a genuine film noir curiosity (in 3D, no less) that also happens to kinda rule.
SIFF 2025 Notebook: Documentary Competition, part 1
SIFF is wrapping up this weekend and there are only a few more days before it’s all done. Eight films are in the Documentary Competition and I’ve seen them all.
Tom Cruise’s Mission Impossible franchise goes out with a bang in its Final Reckoning
Two years ago, upon the release of the first half of the finale, I asked this question: “Is there a long-running blockbuster movie franchise that is more dependably good than the Mission: Impossible films with Tom Cruise?” I answered probably not then and still believe that to be true.
SIFF 2025 Notebook: Summer’s Camera, Cloud
Surveying a couple of polar opposite selections from SIFF’s Asian Crossroads program.
SIFF 2025: Picks through Closing Weekend
The in-person portion of the 51st Seattle International Film Festival is past its halfway point and is barreling toward closing weekend. Featuring 245 films playing in theaters around town until May 25th (and several making online encores the week after), there’s still plenty of time to catch our city’s biggest film festival in the company of other cinemaniacs.
We share some film’s we’ve seen and are eager to recommend as well as a few that are still at the top of our watchlists.
Live action Lilo & Stitch breathed life into beloved characters
If you’ve seen the animated feature by Disney released in 2002, then you already know the plot for this version of Lilo & Stitch, no surprises in store. It’s another in a slate of films where they’ve attempted to rely mostly on nostalgia an curiosity to get folks into theaters or on VOD a little later. While I’m not exactly on board with the live action train, admittedly I enjoyed myself throughout the nearly two hour run time.