A Seattle moviegoing lifestyle magazine
Like the previous Naked Gun and Airplane! movies, the comedy here relies on puns, physical humor, deadpan, and visual gags. Most of the bits fall flat (the law of averages demands it), and the humor can sometimes be scatological and certainly not for everyone—but man, did I enjoy it. Director Akiva Schaffer, from the comedy trio the Lonely Island, clearly knows how to generate laughs in the compact 85 minute running time.
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’re probably aware that there’s a new Superman movie heading to theaters this summer. If you are living under a rock, the Man of Steel will cheerfully use his super-human strength to hold up said rock long enough to move yourself, your family, and your worldly possessions to much more stable housing.
On opening night, last Friday, everyone I spoke to before the show told me about how much fun they expected or how excited they were for the Fifth Avenue Theatre’s new production of Bye Bye Birdie. That included the gentleman who scanned my ticket, a bartender, and the elderly couple seated next to me. It was the first “fun” play to hit the stage this year, they all told me. They were all correct, it was a blast.
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.
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 prides itself on its selection of offbeat films and for that, I am thankful. Man cannot subsist on documentaries about indigenous water rights and unfairness in the Mexican penal system alone. I don’t know if these are going to be the weirdest movies at SIFF (Fucktoys and Spermageddon issue some promises in their respective titles I expect them to deliver on), these are some of the notable, uhh, unique offerings so far.
People who know me IRL (mostly) know that I’m a cross stitcher. I spend dozens of hours a week on my couch, usually 2-3 hours nightly and more on weekends stitching. Outside of work and sleeping, it takes up the next biggest block of my time. I’ve even made some stitching projects that combine my hobby with movies. This is all to say that I am delighted that SIFF is offering one of their theaters for crafty movie fans this Sunday at noon, promising a place to congregate while the beloved (though not by me) movie Labyrinth plays on screen.
Black Bag is a sleek, sophisticated, and sexy thriller with some exceptional filmmaking from Soderbergh. At 93 minutes, not a moment is wasted. Once the plot is established, momentum propels the film like a brisk clip. This is not an action film, though. Soderbergh and Koepp are interested in the letting the story unfold while allowing us into the minds of the exceptionally cerebral players. Why does each character do what they do? Are they being manipulated? Or are they doing the manipulating? Is remaining loyal to your country and your partner mutually exclusive?
Pity poor Mickey Barnes. Life is pretty terrible for most people in a dystopia, of course, but for Mickey, it’s particularly awful because he just cannot stay dead when he dies. As an “expendable,” he signed up to a life of many deaths and as many resurrections (reprintings).
I don’t remember much from my single-digit years, but I do remember having a fondness for Paddington Bear somewhere around first or second grade. I found him easily loveable and lacking any sense of maliciousness. When “they” started putting out live action Paddington movies a decade ago, I realized I still do.
