A Seattle moviegoing lifestyle magazine
Boots Riley’s I Love Boosters, the opening night film at this year’s Seattle International Film Festival, confirms him as one of the few American filmmakers capable of turning political rage into genuinely original spectacle. Riley has not spent the eight years since Sorry to Bother You (SIFF 2018) moderating either his politics or his imagination.
One of the most popular films to play at the Seattle International Film Festival this year was a locally produced documentary about …
Bob Odenkirk is firmly in his “Liam Neeson phase”: a middle-aged man reluctantly forced to kick a lot of ass in order to protect what really matters.
Julian Sklar has followed the familiar trajectory from enfant terrible to full-blown crank. Once a renowned artist, he now spends most of his time not painting and recording Cameo-style videos—often for mothers urging their children to pursue art (in this economy?). Dressing is optional. There was also a regrettable stint as a judge on a reality show that makes Simon Cowell look like the Easter Bunny.
After leaving the theater for the latest Super Mario Brothers movie, I thought, “This movie is cool to look at, the animation is impressive, and the story is thin but harmless but it’s still a fun time. That’s basically what I said three years ago, the last time a Mario movie hit theaters and I feel the same way with this new movie.
Wuthering Heights is both the title of Emily Brontë’s only novel, published in 1847, and a new film by Emerald Fennell, out this week, which I will refer to as “Wuthering Heights.” One bears some resemblance to the other, but not too much, hence the quotation marks. It is like when there was once a Seattle rock band called “The Rolling Stones.”
Through this weekend, the Monty Python stage musical SPAMALOT can be seen at the 5th Avenue Theatre. It was uproariously funny. It is probably the funniest play I have ever seen, which includes The Book of Mormon and The Producers (my favorite musical that is not Chicago).
As the year winds to a close, we’re sharing lists of our favorite films we’ve seen (so far).
But the concept of a thirty-something Will Ferrell playing an, uhh, elf, too large and too human for the North Pole being left alone in New York with only a sweet tooth that requires bidaily dental visits and a snow globe in search of the father who doesn’t know he exists, and that father is Sonny Corleone, is basically too irresistible to fail.
Wicked: For Good picks up where Wicked left off. Elphaba is fleeing the wrath of the Wizard (Jeff Goldblum), whom she angered by calling out his impotence, and she’s being chased by flying monkeys. She isn’t safe anywhere in Oz. Meanwhile, during her exile, the Wizard and Madame Morrible continue their malevolent schemes and promote Glinda as the “good” counterpart to the “bad” Elphaba. They literally brand her as “Glinda the Good,” plastering the slogan across banners throughout Oz.
