Weekend Film Agenda: December 5
By Zee Grega
December 5th, 2008 @ 11:05 AM
film
- Milk, the Gus Van Sant-directed, Sean Penn-starring biopic of the life and assassination of Harvey Milk, the San Francisco city supervisor who was the nation’s first openly gay public officeholder was on my “must see” list from the moment I first heard about it. Having finally had the chance to see it, I strongly urge everyone to add it to their own. Penn’s brilliant performance in the title role may be the best of his career, resisting the easy path of presenting his character as stereotype of Tragically Doomed Hero and instead bringing him to vibrant and fully human life. Harvey Milk’s no saint–he’s a flawed and fully developed man whose yearning for a more purposeful life drive him to choose political activism and a series of runs for public office as his venue for expressing his ambitions for full civil rights for gays and for everyone else discarded by “the machine” of traditional politics. Van Sant skillfully blends period archival material with new footage to create a rich portrait of the time and place that adds immeasurably to the quality of the film. Other standout performances include Josh Brolin as Dan White, the killer of Milk and Mayor George Moscone, and Emile Hirsch as Milk’s young protege Cleve Jones. (At the Egyptian, Lincoln Square Cinemas and AMC Loews Alderwood Mall
- The Wild Child, Francois Truffaut’s lyrical 1970 film tells the story of Victor, a child raised by wolves who is adopted by a doctor at a school for the deaf in Paris. Dr. Itard is fascinated by his young charge and tries to fan the spark of humanity he sees in Victor into full flame. At SIFF Cinema.
- The Grand Illusion continues the happy march toward their annual screenings of It’s a Wonderful Life with another great Frank Capra film: this time James Stewart appears in You Can’t Take It with You as the heir to a fortune who proposes marriage to a charming stenographer (winningly played by adorable Jean Arthur), the only “normal” member of a family of eccentrics. Alice insists he bring his snobbish and materialistic parents to dinner at her family’s home whereupon mayhem ensues.
- Also at Grand Illusion: The 2008 Spike and Mike’s Sick and Twisted Animation Festival, late nights Friday and Saturday.
- Edward Scissorhands, the sweet, odd, and beautiful Tim Burton fairytale starring Johnny Depp screens at Central Cinema.
- Midnight at the Egyptian: 300 Spartans take on the mighty Persian army back in the days of ancient Greece.
