Hard to believe it’s already been five years since the SARS-CoV-2 landed on our shores, and the response to the novel coronavirus shredded the hearts and minds of the United States into a toxic waste dump whose halflife remains unknown. Or at least that’s the feeling that one gets from watching Eddington, the latest from the twisted mind of horror auteur Ari Aster. After a Cannes premiere approximately coinciding with the anniversary of the COVID-19 pandemic, it crashes into theaters this weekend like the Kool-Aid Man running through a brick wall, but more painfully.
SIFF Interview: Director Megan Griffiths reflects on Year of the Fox and the Seattle film scene
In 2023 Megan Griffiths debuted Year of the Fox at SIFF and Morgen had the delightful opportunity to interview our local director darling about this new venture collaborating with writer Eliza Flug (whose life the story is based on). You can now see this dark and thought-provoking drama at SIFF Film Center through 7/13.
Nerds of the world, rejoice! Superman is good.
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.
Eva Victor’s Sundance standout Sorry, Baby returns to Seattle
Everyone was right: Eva Victor’s wondrously delicate and wry Sorry Baby is definitely the film of Sundance (and later, SIFF). As producers, Barry Jenkins and Adele Romanski basically never miss. It’s now back in Seattle.
Jurassic World: Rebirth is Exasperatingly Underwhelming
Taking place in the “Jurassic” universe, a secret scientific lab set up on a remote island not only cloned, but spawned super-beasts both grotesque and lethal. Jump ahead thirteen years to Mercenary Zora Bennett (Scarlett Johansen) being offered unimaginable wealth by an overly eager big pharma rep, to lead a team that will extract dino DNA from live specimen near the now defunct lab. Bennett, her ragtag crew, the pharma rep and reluctant, recently unemployed, paleontologist Dr. Henry Loomis (Jonathan Bailey) seek out three specific species to snatch some blood then gtfo before you can say “Hold onto your butts”.
Roundtable: Our Favorite Movies of 2025 (So Far)
We’re just past the halfway point of 2025; so to commemorate the occasion a few of your friendly neighborhood SunBreakers took stock of the films we’ve seen so far.
With F1 ® The Movie Apple Studios Starts their Engines
Joseph Kosinski continues to establish himself as the cinematic poet laureate of aging men and fast metal. Like Maverick before it, F1 The Movie sees a past-his-prime speed demon called back into service for one last shot to live out his dreams and save a massive enterprise. Both might be better interpreted as death reveries, but damn if it isn’t incredibly fun to coast alongside their heroes in the perpetual golden hour of wish fulfillment.
M3GAN 2.0 trades scares for silliness, to (mostly) good effect
Kudos to recent horror franchises for changing stuff up. 28 Years Later expanded its siege-horror foundation by steering it into the realm of post-apocalyptic dark fairy tale. M3gan 2.0, by contrast, doesn’t so much radically depart from its predecessor as significantly shift the emphasis of the genres it combines.
Fifth Avenue Theatre’s Bye Bye Birdie is a hit
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.
Korea’s Hi-Five is a super-natural feel good comedy
Five strangers find them selves tangled up in each others lives after each receives organ donations from a mysterious donor. The young Wan Seo (Lee Je In) a Taekwondo champion with a failing heart and over-protective father, Gi Dong (Yoo Ah In) lost his site as a child, Ji Song (Ahn Jae Hong) got a new set of lungs, Seon Nyeo (Ra Mi Ran) was fitted for kidneys after attempting to take her life, and the overly kind and intensely devout Yak Seon (Kim Hee Won) gained a new liver. Very quickly after their operations, they were up and about, but even more surprising was their newly manifested super powers and a strange tattoo that appeared along with them.