With his prestige television background, including an Emmy for Succession, director Mark Mylod has a keen eye for the foibles of the ridiculously rich and powerful. In his feature film debut that crackles with humor and wild surprises, he applies that perspective to concoct a wild and biting commentary on the dark undercurrents of and frivolities of the high-end food world and those who patronize it.
Ana Dumitrascu is outstanding in Romania’s Academy Award submission Immaculate
No one will ever call Immaculate the “feel good movie of the year,” and that’s a good thing. This is a movie full of empathy and anchored by a remarkable performance by a great, young actress.
Black Panthers come and go, but is Wakanda Forever?
Ryan Coogler’s first Black Panther film was the first (and only) Marvel to crack the Oscar ceiling for a best picture nomination. The much-anticipated return to Wakanda reconciles with the sad reality of the real world: the 2020 death of Chadwick Boseman and Wakanda’s loss of its beloved king and protector.
Aftersun is a quietly dazzling dive into memory
A pervasive sadness lingers around the corners of Aftersun, Charlotte Wells’s deeply accomplished recollection of a father-daughter summer holiday in Turkey.
The Banshees of Inisherin finds comedy in a troubled friendship
Martin McDonagh revisits 1920s Ireland with a stirring dark comedy of an abruptly severed friendship on a tiny island of sad boring men.
TSAFF celebrates 17 years of presenting South Asian film and filmmakers to Seattle
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.
Cate Blanchett conducts a monumental performance in TÁR
Saturday brought another tribute, this time to the legendary Cate Blanchett to coincide with the US premiere of Todd Field’s TÁR. We spend two hours and forty masterfully controlled minutes with the prodigious, highly-lauded, multiply-degreed conductor Lydia Tár.
Halloween Ends on a strange (and strangely hilarious) note
Since seeing Halloween Ends, purportedly the final chapter in director David Gordon Green’s reboot of the iconic slasher franchise, I’ve oscillated between dismissing it as entertainingly lousy, and viewing it as a work of operatically-pitched satiric genius. Truth be told, it kinda feels like both at once, and therein lies much of its cockeyed charm. Whether you succumb to that charm, however, is another story.
Triangle of Sadness churns the queasy social order of wealth inequality on the high seas
The follies of the wealthy are on full display in two comedy premieres in Toronto. Rian Johnson returns to the Knives Out saga with Glass Onion’s debut and Ruben Östlund’s Palme d’Or winner Triangle of Sadness made landfall on North American shores during TIFF 2022.
Seattle Queer Film Festival is upon us… and it’s bigger than ever!
October is proving to show an embarrassment of riches in terms of film festivals. SIFF’s DocFest is wrapping up tonight just as we usher in the Seattle Queer Film Festival. Always bringing the finest LGBTQ+ films to the Pacific Northwest, this year’s festival looks different than in years past. This year, it’s enormous with some 150 films playing, as well as live podcast tapings, parties, meetups, and even an art show. It runs from tonight, October 13 to October 23.