A Seattle moviegoing lifestyle magazine
Planted firmly in the middle of Main Street, the Empire movie theater could be in any small town from North Britain to Southern California and it would look the same. Hilary (Olivia Coleman) is a White middle-aged woman that works day in and day out in the thankless job of movie theater manager. Taken advantage of by her boss and ignored by everyone else, she lives a life of simple solitude.
Leonor had a rich and lustrous career creating films that everyone loved; she brought joy to the masses and herself. Now as an older woman, her career long behind her, she is directionless, forgetful and desperate to be back in that limelight. Reigniting her passions, she begins reworking an old script and while taking a break is hit in the head by a rogue television set from above sending her tumbling into her own mind where her script becomes reality. This is no joyful reunion of cast and creator, most of her work involved gritty backdrops, guns and deadly scuffles. As she tries to navigate this unexpected journey and find safety in a familiar but dangerous world, back on Earth her son Rudy attempts to revive her from her “conscious sleep” as the doctor puts it.
A complete departure from the first film in storyline, yet the familiar feel of silliness, tension, and quizzical murder mystery, Glass Onion has no trouble keeping you captivated from beginning to end. A cast of characters, witty, untamed and ridiculous, open the film amidst the pandemic lockdown, all on a group call attempting to open identical mysterious puzzle boxes each received from a mutual friend: the brash and unapologetic billionaire Miles Bron (Edward Norton). After a snappy discourse and several failed attempts, the boxes finally open to reveal invitations to Bron’s luxe private island for a murder mystery party.
Tasveer South Asian Film Festival kicks off another year of fantastic works by and about the South Asian community both in Seattle and beyond. Tasveer is a non-profit organization in its 20th year of uplifting marginalized groups and encouraging social change through the arts. Having such diverse viewpoints in the arts and the city as a whole is what makes Seattle such an interesting place and TSAFF is an important voice in that eclectic group.
Twins with such a tight relationship from birth they spoke their own language… that is, when they spoke at all. After making a pact at around age 6, June (Letitia Wright) and Jennifer (Tamara Lawrence) Gibbons remained silent for years. Much later they admitted it was meant as a fun prank in the beginning but after a while, it just became a part of life. They forgot how to socialize with anyone outside of each other so in their silence they created an entire world where the two of them could experience reality on their own terms.
A play within a film within a story within a farce, this whodunnit is a maze of silliness and murder. Set in London’s West End in the 50’s, Agatha Christie’s Mousetrap has just hit its 100th stage performance and a film deal is solidly in the works. It’s these actors, writers, directors and film folks that attend the post-performance party in appreciation for the milestone. Narrated in the words of the future film director Leo Köpernick (Adrien Brody) who is most hated by all guests in attendance and who also happens to be the victim, the scene is set for a murder most foul. Soon Inspector Stoppard (Sam Rockwell) and rookie Constable Stalker (Saoirse Ronan) are on the case and their investigation goes sideways, upside down, and backwards with bouts of insanity, slapstick, and confusing murder mystery shenanigans. In the end, we find ourselves at the Christie residence a la Clue as all are gathered to reveal the identity of the murderer.
Rönkkö and Mimmi are best friends, the kind of buddies that tell each other everything, wear each others’ clothes, and support each other through thick and thin. Throw in more than a few hormones, discovering what your body wants, and how to even talk to someone you’re interested in and you’ve got the jumbled pile we call puberty; that’s exactly where we find these two women.
As baby Superman is quickly pushed into a spaceship by his parents to save him from their crumbling world, we find out that he wasn’t alone on his trip to Earth. His best bud, a pup named Krypto, stows away and offers company in the strange new land. Jump forward a few years and we see Superman as we know him. As per usual, he has the major hots for Lois Lane and as he readies himself to pop the question, Krypto freaks out thinking he’s being replaced…
The people of Zol, after years of civil war, have the neighboring Aquafa securely under their thumb. Val, a war-weary former soldier from the now dispersed Broken Antlers (an elite fighting squad of the Aquafa people), is reduced to working in a mining camp alongside fellow Aquafa’s just to earn a meager living. Val still mourns his family who were lost to a disease brought on by a mysterious pack of wolves killing anyone they attack and bite, but whom oddly tend to steer clear of the Aquafa people. Assumed long since gone, the fear of these wolf packs has waned but after attacking several groups of people throughout the kingdom including the Emperor and everyone in Val’s mining town, many are dying from the disease they carry called Black Wolf Fever or mittsual. Both Val and a young girl, Yuna, are bitten but somehow survive the attack and escape their servitude finding a small village to settle in.
A boy, a young man, and a middle aged tech guru all have one thing in common: their spirits. With each life lived, the challenges, missteps and bad choices follow our protagonist like a shadow and he seems to learn very little until we meet the young Leng Heng (portrayed by Leng Heng Prak). His family and community is facing forced removal to make way for a high speed train and while his mother fights for their home, Leng fights growing anxiety and sleeplessness as visions plague his dreams. Realizing that he may be seeing his past selves, he and his friends go on a journey for treasure, but what they find instead is far more enthralling and insidious than he could have imagined.
