By Zee Grega
July 25th, 2008 @ 12:46 AM
film
- Northwest Film Forum gets you revved up with their 1960s Nikkatsu Action Cinema series this weekend featuring The Warped Ones, Glass Johnny Velvet Hustler, and A Colt Is My Passport, all action packed thrillers from 1960s Japan. Also at NWFF: Operation Filmmaker, Nina Davenport’s documentary about Muthana Mohmed, an aspriring young filmmaker from Baghdad brought to Prague by actor and director Liev Schreiber. Mohmed is frustrated with the low-level work he is given on the film Everything Is Illuminated. The culture clash between the young Iraqi and his hosts is huge and hard to overcome. Mohmed’s visa is about to expire. On top of that, Davenport has become entangled in the would be director’s story and there seems to be no resolution in sight. A group of Seattle-area documentary filmmakers provide a panel discussion after the 4:30 Saturday showing.
- After the weekend passes, head back to NWFF on Tuesday or Wednesday for a screening of Hal Ashby’s Shampoo, one of the great films of the mid-1970s whose sharp comedy still stings today.
- Back in 1978, director Roman Polanski (Rosemary’s Baby, Chinatown) fled the US after plea bargaining his indictment for rape and other sexual charges into “unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor” to avoid being sentenced for his crime. Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired examines this time in the notorious director’s life, focuing on allegations that the case’s judge was more interested in fame than the law. Despite expressions of sympathy from a variety of people, including his victim, who insist that Polanski has suffered enough, I remain unconvinced that he has suffered at all, but the film does present an interesting view of the issues surrounding the case. Opens at SIFF Friday.
- Worth getting up early on Saturday morning is SIFF’s second film in their Films4Families series, the excellent 1971 Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory. Gene Wilder is slyly subversive as the reclusive candy maker who opens his factory for a special tour for six lucky Golden Ticket winners. His disposition isn’t nearly as sweet as the sugary treats the surround him, but Wilder’s brilliant performance in the title role makes him appealing even when he’s mean. After all, the kids who run afoul of his temper only bring on their various ends by their own misbehavior. A couple scenes might be a little intense for very young kids but this is a great film for the whole family. (Screens at 10:00 am.)
- If you like creepy, make sure you get to the Grand Illusion for the late night showings of the 1971 horror/sci-fi classic The Omega Man, another film that was remade in recent years. This original stars Charleton Heston in a film adapated from classic vampire novel I Am Legend into a world where biological war has decimated most of the population, leaving behind a handful of survivors struggling to escape the scary post-plague neohumans known as The Family. Did I mention that it’s creepy? Believe me, it is. I had nightmares for days after I saw this as a kid and I’m pretty sure I’d have them again if I watched it now.
- Speaking of creepy, Midnight at the Egyptian this weekend is The Shining starring creepy Jack Nicholson as the creepy caretaker of a creepy hotel whose creepy spirits are trying to convince him to kill his wife and child.
- If you like your movies al fresco, you have several outdoor cinema choices this weekend: Edmonds Outdoor Cinema is presenting Charlotte’s Web and SLU’s Cinema on the Lawn shows Bring It On, both Friday night. Saturday head over to West Seattle’s Movies on the Wall for The Goonies or to Fremont’s Outdoor Cinema for An Inconvenient Truth. Go ahead and mark your calendar early for Thursday, July 31 when Rainier Square’s Movies on the Pedestal presents Rear Window,. one of the best suspense films ever.
Thanks for the heads-up on The Shining! That’s cool :)
I’ll probably be at the Fremont Outdoor movies on Saturday, depending on how jazzed I feel about watching a movie on a Powerpoint presentation tomorrow :)
I thought "The Inconvenient Truth" was an odd choice for an outdoor movie; if you do go, tell me how the experience goes.