son of rambow, courtesy hammer & tongs

The Seattle International Film Festival opened last night at McCaw Hall, a tremendously large place to see a movie. I’d feared that arriving close to showtime — after zipping over to Seattle Center by monorail, strolling through the grounds, getting stuck behind Folklife’s white picket fences, and entering by way of the red carpet (it seems that in its audience friendly stylings, everyone gets a brief walk of fame) — would mean that we’d need opera glasses to see the film. Instead, I was surprised to find a gigantic stage-spanning screen — perfect from even the upper reaches to the second tier (the acoustics, paired with the accent heavy dialog, was another story)

Before getting to the actual movie-watching Artistic Director Carl Spence and Managing Deborah Person, whose first SIFF coincided with her 13th birthday, each made speeches to welcome us, thank the all the little people, and repeatedly celebrate the festival’s wonderful new home at Seattle Center. Two pieces of Dale Chihuly glass were handed out to longtime sponsors (his studio is also creating & donating the Golden Space Needle awards), someone from the Mac Store induced an Oprah moment with everyone scurrying under their chairs to see if they’d won an iPod. Greg Nickels skipped the proceedings, instead sending a representative to present James Longley with the Mayor’s Award. Gary Tucker refuted a letter from a member who was angry that tickets were too expensive at $10 per showing by pointing out that Telluride, Sundance, and TriBeCa charge much much more. With that, it was time for his traditional recitation of every single sponsor’s name in time with an animated slide presentation. There is no possible way to make this fun, but he makes a good effort and it’s kind of interesting to see which sponsors get the biggest cheers.

Once the lengthy administrative portion of the evening was completed, writer/director Garth Jennings and producer Nick Goldsmith gave a refreshingly brief introduction to their heartfelt new film, Son of Rambow. Will, a creative kid in a Plymouth Brethren [wiki] single mom household, draws whimsical sketches in his bible (including one about his dad’s death). Through a series of intimidation and blackmail, he happily falls in with class troublemaker Lee Carter to make a prequel to Rambo: First Blood using a home movie camera and a lot of dangerous improvised stuntwork. A glam French exchange student arrives to find disaffection even in the face of massive popularity among his English schoolmates. Alas, joining and overwhelming the intimate film production becomes his salvation and the nascent friendship’s downfall. With child actors acting like kids, gorgeous bright colors, a few whimsical animations, just the right level of sentimentality and satire, the movie steers clear of over-preciousness and too much social commentary about oppressive religion and made for a very nice opening night feature. Son of Rambow won’t see wide-release until next year, but keep it on your ones to watch list if you’re a fan of 80s nostalgia and cute (but not overly so) kids.

Following the movie, we all stepped out into the last bits of daylight for the post-screening gala on the plaza outside McCaw and inside Exhibition Hall. Outside, had the feel of a wedding reception with the VIPs comfortable stationed in their own back tent, yet in view of those mingling beneath paper lanterns and illuminated by glowing table decorations, catching up with old SIFF pals, chatting about the film, and strategizing for the must-sees of the coming 24 days.

I’d only been inside of Exhibtion Hall during Bumbershoot, then it was a dreaded gymnasiumesque setting with poor acoustics for loud bands. Last night, however, it was transformed into something resembling the stereotypical prom with red curtains lining the walls, crowds mingling among tall white columns, and glittering disco balls illuminating the large lines around the food tables. Although there seemed to be plenty of food this time, a minor complaint is that Ezell’s was among the more vegetarian-friendly of all the vendors (yes, in addition to what I’m assured is delicious chicken, they also have some tasty bread and potato salad). On either side of the hall, drinks flowed freely from open bars. There was a place for both Molly Ringwald and Sylvester Stallone in the selection of films flickering in the background on large wall projections. Even more incongruous was the scene behind the DJs, where Mr. T, Menudo, and Transformers vied for screentime over a best-of-the-80s dance mix.

As appetites were sated and drinks were consumed, the dance floor eventually filled to a respectable volume. “Kilt Guy” was decked out in angel wings and a heart-shaped arrow. A girl wearing a fuzzy halo and a guy in an orange blazer made the rounds. Tom Skerritt was spotted heading in the direction of Cupcake Royale’s table of perfectly sized mini cupcakes. People started wearing the little blue lights as necklaces. A few staffers hunted for makeout partners. Eventually, security politely asked everyone to go home.

There are galas every Saturday and one for the closing night. They’re a little bit of an extravagance ($25 for film plus party; $40 for closing), but they’re always a lot of fun and have a way of making SIFF feel more like a festival than just a place to wait in line to see tons of great movies. Plus, there are drinks, snacks, and occasional celebrity sightings!

I love this quote from the ad on Skybus‘ homepage. This discount airline, modeled after Ryanair in Europe, plans to start running $10 flights and other things previously unheard of in these parts. The catch? As of right now, all flights originate or terminate in Columbus, OH. The other catch? You’re flying out of Bellingham. With a few more destinations, you might have me willing to drive–but keep in mind with the price of gas these days, how much less are you really paying if you drive to Bellingham and back? Personally I’m going to need a few more destinations first, but I do like that someone has taken the European model and tried to bring it here.

Me, May 2006:
Friend o’ the blog and local musician Ali Marcus

Seattlest, today:
Local singer-songwriter/friend of Seattlest Ali Marcus will be playing the festival

Oh no you don’t, you conniving German-import driving bike riding bloggers who half the time don’t even post stuff that even happened in Seattle. You may outdo us in Technorati authority, roll with your posse of indie-pop addled beautiful hipsters while we can only muster Monica Guzman and a couple of LiveJournalers, and just generally crush us with your pale green user experience and your paid posts.

But you do NOT steal Ali. She is OURS. She is our Jenny. We are her Blake. Do NOT even get off on trying to be her Ben.

I demand satisfaction. The weapon shall be pub quiz. It shall be this summer, it shall be for Ali’s hand in blog-trimony, and you will stand and deliver. I suggest you get your affairs in order and brush up on your NASL trivia, because as Aaron Burr said to Alexander Hamilton on that faithful day on the Jersey shore, “IT’S ON, bitches.”

Now I’m not going sunday (I’m not envious or anything) but I’m still going to give you my reccomendations. And not just espouse my hatred for a certain band that is playing then (Polyphonic Spree).

First off I would like to say how unfair is it that y’all are getting a full on Beastie Boys show and saturday gets an instrumental show. This will be fantastic. These guys created not only a genre of music but also proved to the world that white boys CAN jump…I mean rap. Without a doubt these guys were founders of the music of our generation and getting to see them live will be something you will tell your kids about someday. And they will roll their eyes and tell you that you are old, like you do when your parents tell you they saw Elvis before he did or did not die.

Smoosh is playing, and just talking about them makes me cringe a little but the fact is what they do is pretty impressive. They started this band when they were 10 and 12. Now they are 15 and 13, but their little sister has just joined on bass, who is only 10. What were you doing at age 10? I am pretty sure I was not playing enourmous music festivals. Feel like I would remember that.

Common Market is one of the rocks of the local hip-hop scene, holding it together and representing Seattle on the national scene. Poised to make it nationally really soon, now would be a great time to see them!

Another local band, one who has been kicking around for quite a while is Minus the Bear. In my years of listening to them, though, I have to admit that their latest album, Menos el Oso (translation: Minus the Bear. Sometimes things just sound cooler in Spanish) is by far my favorite. Even if it isn’t as fun a name as “Bands like it when you yell Yar! at them” Ok, but getting back on track, these are great local seasoned veterans of the scene.

Samantha also adds that Helio Sequence is worth seeing because of, and I quote ‘enthusiastic drumming’ now I’m not sure what that is and I haven’t heard them, but it sure as hell sounds like a good time to me!

I’m going to put up a little plug for anyone quitting work early and heading to Folklife this afternoon. At 4pm on the Fischer Green, a band called The Senate will be playing. For reasons of full disclosure I will admit that I went to elementary school with two of the members and high school with all three. That said, I’ve heard them play and their great–and I’m not just saying that, because I heard other incarnations of their various bands which were less than stellar. You may recognize one member from his feats of ridiculousness on the northwest corner of the fountain lawn at Bumbershoot (you know, the guy breaking cement blocks on his chest while lying on a bed of broken glass?). These are talented kids, and they sure as hell know how to rock out.

In addition to the butcher-papered windows at the old Rainbow Grocery, the arrival of summer signals a whole list of businesses shutting their doors forever on Capitol Hill.

Clockwise, from top left: After three years of selling indie fashion on Olive Way, the Sweatshop called it quits this week even after Thursday Styles tried turning people onto fashionable boxer briefs. Major recent renovations weren’t enough to keep the giant fluorescent Wing Dome sign spinning either. POWHATters hungry for wings will have to look elsewhere in the neighborhood unless they’re willing to venture to the upper reaches of Greenwood for their fix. Finally, a shocker to end all shockers — Africa Mama’s going out of business sale actually was a going out of business sale. Their storefront has now been vacated, leaving Broadway surprisingly devoid of African import goods.

photo by jeff carlson [flickr] via our group pool [#]

oops. forgot to post this before running off to the siff gala last night; so a combination late/early edition of “in other blogs”:

• Two-piece teen pop sensation Smoosh expands into power trio mode by bringing younger sister Maia into the act on bass. [tig]
• Kurt Cobain and other dead rockers shilling for Doc Martens from heaven in the worst ad campaign of the year. Before clicking the following link, prepare to die inside a little bit. [stereogum]
• How to keep a dump out of Georgetown and T-mobile out of (oft-overlooked Olmstead-designed) Jefferson Park [midbeconhill]
• Predicting the future of the space formerly occupied by Rainbow, the people say “large chain retailer” [chs]
• Missed the ten-second window for buying Beastie Boys tickets? Show up outside the Crocodile with a gigantor 107.7 declaration of affection and you might score a spot for the show. [citizenrain]
• Rex (fimoculus) visits Zune HQ, spots an iPod amnesty bin. [flickr]

Sure, there are plenty of great films at SIFF this weekend, but the rest of the Seattle film world doesn’t shut down just because the big festival’s in town. Here are some options for your film viewing pleasure this weekend:

• The critically praised Jindabyne, based on a Raymond Carver short story expanded into feature-length, continues at the Harvard Exit [site]
• Ping Pong, an eight-time Japanese Academy Award nominated film about two young men who must balance competitiveness with friendship, starts a week-long run Friday at the Grand Illusion. [site]
• Seattle’s only pizza and beer cinema, Central Cinema [site] features the most fabulous movie ever, Wizard of Oz all weekend at 7 and 9:30 pm.
• Launching in the long shadow of SIFF (remember, the “I” is for “international”) and aiming to split your movie marathon attentions is the Seattle True Independent Film Festival, a ten-day movie-a-thon setting up shop at the Rendezvous, Central Cinema, and SAM followed by after-parties with entertainment by local bands like A Gun that Shoots Knives and Cancer Rising. [site]

A lot of you are going away this weekend, but not all of you. If you’re planning staying in the city this weekend, might I suggest that you pay a visit to Northwest Folklife?

I’m talking directly to the uncoverted here, those of you who’ve never gone before because if you’ve been to Folklife you don’t need to be sold on it. You either love it (arts! crafts! excellent people watching opportunities! food on a stick!) or you hate it and there’s nothing I can say to change your mind about the festival. For the uninitiated, here’s a brief review of why you should visit Folklife:

1. It’s free! Okay, they’ll ask you for a donation of $10 per person or $20 per family with children per day, but it really is a donation. If you can’t afford the donation you won’t be turned away. If you can afford the donation and simply don’t make it, well, you suck. Just so you know.
2. Live music from artists representing so many different styles of music that you’re almost bound to discover at least one you didn’t even know existed. From folk-punk to Paraguayan harp, bluegrass to Afro-Cuban and so, so much more. How do you know how you feel about traditional Croatian folk songs or contemporary Scottish fiddle until you’ve heard it?
3. Dancing. And more dancing. And still more dancing. See traditional folk dancing from a myriad of cultures. Do some dancing yourself.
4. Workshops: learn to clog, make a dragon, practice your singing, make sure I’m not around and join a drum circle. (I loathe them but lots of you think they’re swell.) Many, many choices.
5. Storytellers. If other festivals around here have storytellers, I don’t know about it. If you haven’t experienced the magic of hearing an experienced storyteller spin his or her tales in the presence of an attentive audience, you really should.
6. And of course there are buskers of all sorts, street performers doing what they do best, food, all kinds of fascinating crafts and artwork (a great deal of which you WON’T see at every other festival), and did I mention the excellent people watching opportunites?

The festival runs all weekend long at the Seattle Center, check the site for schedules and more information.

The first of SIFF’s midnight movies starts tomorrow at midnight [#]. (Side note, it’s not actually tomorrow at midnight. Technically it’s Saturday at midnight. Once the clock turns to 12:00 am, it’s no longer Friday. But, I suppose we get in line on Friday, so the movie is advertised on Friday. But still… minor peeve here.)

What’s not a peeve though is that either before or after the movie (or both), I get to have Frites. Mmmmm. Frites.
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