• Opening night of Local Sightings at NWFF kicks off Friday night with a program of short local films followed by a party. If you happen to be Carol Marquess, you get to go for free, courtesy of NWFF and Seattle Metblogs.
• SIFF begins a week of politically themed films Friday night with The Parallax View, a conspiracy-theory thriller starring Warren Beatty. The early 1970s view of the Space Needle, scene of an opening segment assassination, is almost reason enough to watch on its own, but the twisted thriller is rather exciting, too.
• Saturday the 4th is an excellent day to spend at SIFF Cinema: the day begins with a 10:00 am showing of 1982’s The Black Stallion, an optically arresting adapation of the classic children’s novel about a boy and the titular horse stranded together on a remote island after a shipwreck. Go back at 1:00 pm for The Meaning of Tea (part of the first annual Northwest Tea Festival, going on all weekend at the Seattle Center’s Northwest Rooms) and return again in the evening for a double bill of Gabriel Over the White House, a hard-charging pre-Hays Code film depicting a US President bent on shaking up the nation, and the brilliant A Face in the Crowd about a charming, cynical man’s rise to political power that remains as on target today as it was on release back in 1957.
• Midnight at the Egyptian: Hayao Miyazaki’s Princess Mononoke. If there’s anyone left who still thinks cartoons are nothing but kids’ stuff, I strongly recommend you check this film out–it’s as serious, intense, and even scary in parts as any live action film.
• Late night at the Grand Illusion is the odd but excellent Repo Man but stop in earlier to see My Father, My Lord, David Volach’s dramatic contemporary retelling of the story of Abraham and Isaac.
• Fans of Joel and Ethan Coen will want to spend some time at Central Cinema for their screening of Blood Simple, the 1985 neo-noir that marked their directorial debut.

the merce cunningham duo, last year.

We’ve already told you what to see [sat :: sun ::mon ]; so now it’s time to haul out the advice that we post every year . We like to think of it as a classic, just revised with slightly-new content and under the assumption that surely we must have picked up a few new readers and Bumbershoot must have enticed a few first-time visitors since last time. But not a lot changes about Bumbershoot from year to year; so why not re-recycle? It’s good for the environment and for preserving our fingers for typing fresh stuff later. So, in the spirit of eco-friendliness and with thanks to everyone who ever contributed, here’s the revised and updated guide for 2008.

After the jump, our hints. Any of your own to add?

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SIFF Cinema will be screening short film programs all weekend long for Bumbershoot. Not going to the festival? Check out one or more of these:

• John Ford’s masterpiece Western, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, was a four time Academy Award winner and just may be the finest Western themed film ever. Starring the legendary James Stewart, the iconic John Wayne and the gifted Lee Marvin, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance is a thoughtful, provocative film with action, romance, suspense and strong emotional heft. See it at the Grand Illusion.
• Speaking of the Grand Illusion, they’ve brought back their late night shows with the delightfully atrocious 1976 teen sex comedy Hollywood High.
• It’s non-stop action with Romeo Must Die, starring Jet Li, at Central Cinema.
• Northwest Film Forum presents on Friday Cartune Xprez: 2008 AMRCAN FALL tour, a “70 minute animation party” which includes a piece in 3-D. This Sunday marks the start of The Sprocket Society’s Secret Sunday Matinee which runs at NWFF through November. Every week you’ll get an exciting episode of Flash Gordon plus a different feature each week–since the feature is a secret, you’ll have to attend each week to find out what it is.
• Starting Saturday at NWFF is one of the most provocative films to ever enter the pop culture, Network, a film best summed up by a recent quote from Roger Ebert: “Twenty-five years ago, this movie would have seemed like a fantasy; now it’s barely ahead of the facts.”
• Midnight at the Egyptian: Raiders of the Lost Ark. Words are superfluous.

In just two days, Bumbershoot takes on Seattle for another epic showdown of endurance and sensory overload. The festival at Seattle Center is a sprawling, multi-headed beast of entertainment and memory-making fun. We fired up the Recommend-o-Tron and collected a list of suggestions from Team Metblogs to help you sort through the overstuffed lineup to make the most of the long weekend. Be sure to fill the comments letting us know what we missed, what we should skip, and what you’re most excited to see.

All Weekend:

One Reel Film Festival : No matter what time you stop in for the series of short film programs SIFF is showing all festival long, you’re bound to see some excellent filmmaking. Today’s highlights include Films4Families at 1:00pm and Cuisine Art at 7:00pm. Short films made for children have a way of appealing to everyone, regardless of age, and how could a series of films about food be anything other than tasty? [zee] SIFF Cinema, 12:00 - 9:00 pm

One Pot: This may be your best chance to get something really good to eat at Bumbershoot. Dinner is at 6pm each night; go to onepotbumbershoot.blogspot.com for details. [jameson] 6:00 pm, NW Rooms.

ON THE RADIO: KEXP’s annual broadcast from an undisclosed location deep in the heart of Seattle Center will bring you live performances from a diverse selection of the weekend’s darlingest bands. A few lucky people who signed-up ahead of time will be able to watch for themselves, but everyone can tune in to get a taste of Bumbershoot from the comfort of their own home. [kexp]

VISUAL ARTS: All exhibitions are open 11:00 am to 8:00 pm all three days. Highlights include:

the Power of One : A series of photographs that illustrate the powerful impact a single person can have on global society, featuring works by Charles and Ray Earnes, Nina Berman, Phil Borges, Katharina Mouratidi and Jackie Renin; several of the artists will be on hand during the exhbiition. [zee] NW Rooms

FLATSTOCK 18: Your walls are looking a little empty, Seattle. The country’s best rock poster artists fill the Fisher Pavillion with the artistic ephemera created to advertise shows by your favorite bands. While you’re sure to swoon over the Seattle–Tehran poster show in the NW rooms, you can both adore and buy the ones here. Set aside a healthy budget, plenty of time, and a place to stow your purchases. The show runs all weekend, but the best stuff has a way of selling out early. [josh/samantha/zee]

Saturday-specific picks after the jump.

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• Vivre sa vie is one of pioneering filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard’s best films, a 12 chapter story of Nana (played by the luminous Anna Karina) who leaves her husband and child in hopes of becoming an actor. Instead of playing roles on-screen, however, she finds herself working as a prostitute instead. Despite its often documentary-like format, Vivre sa vie is intimate and emotionally engaging and is an excellent example of the Nouvelle Vague focus on the ordinary and mundane as a springboard to thoughtful study. This is an excellent introductory film for anyone unfamiliar with Godard’s works. At SIFF Cinema.
• Also at SIFF this weekend: Get up early and bring the kids (or just go yourself) to SIFF Cinema for Saturday’s 10:00 am screening of The Neverending Story. Though some of the special effects seem very dated these days, this charming story of young Bastian, a sad and bullied boy who escapes his troubles by falling into a book that details the epic battle of the beautiful land of Fantasia versus the dark forces who seek to extinguish its light.
• The Grand Illusion presents The Church on Dauphine Street, a documentary focused on Father Joseph Benson and ex-Marine Arthine Vicks, two unlikely allies who come together in the hopes of reuniting one of New Orleans’ most unusual congregations, on a Seattle businessman who organized over 160 volunteers to fight the post-Katrina destruction and despair, and on the enduring allure of “home”.
• Also at the Grand Illusion: stop by for the Saturday and Sunday matinee showings of Kicking It, a documentary about the Homeless World Cup.
• Medium Cool is a cinema verite style drama filmed around the actual 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago–the one where protestors and cops engaged in battle on the streets. In Medium Cool, this weekend at NWFF, Robert Forster plays a cameraman contemplating the politics and ethics of his work after the FBI starts using his footage to identify militants.
• Also at NWFF: To the Limit, a look at the adrenaline junkies involved in speed rock-climbing and Summer of ‘68, a documentary about the ‘68 Democratic National Convention that serves as a great companion piece to Medium Cool.
• Midnight at the Egyptian: One of my all-time faves, Breakfast at Tiffany’s is a hot mess of a movie about a struggling novelist/gigolo in love with a daffy, high-living professional party guest. Holly Golightly may be the most famous role of Audrey Hepburn’s career; it’s definitely one of her best. In the hands of another actor, Holly might seem vapid and morally bankrupt but Hepburn’s luminous charm, vitality, and grace makes her one of the most appealing characters on film and more than makes up for the film’s rough spots.
• Outdoor films this weekend: Alvin & the Chipmunks at McCormick Park in Duvall, E.T at Lake Burien Park in Burien, both on Friday and Hairspray in Fremont, Galaxy Quest in West Seattle, Shaolin Soccer at Hing Hay Park in Seattle, Surf’s Up at Renton’s Henry Moses Aquatic Park, Back to the Future at Carillon Point in Kirkland, and The Wizard of Oz at Bainbridge Island’s Waterfront Park, all on Saturday.

• Northwest Film Forum continues its Orson Welles series with The Immortal Story. Unavailable on DVD, the film tells the story of Mr. Clay (Orson Welles), a rich old man with plenty of money and time on his hands who decides to alleviate his boredom by playing with the lives of an aging beauty and an inexperienced sailor.
• Also at NWFF: Craig Baldwin is a Bay Area artist who creates movies out of found footage, blending together stock footage in ways wholly different from the intention of the original filmmakers. His latest film Mock Up on Mu combines stock footage with his own live action scenes to present his take on major California industries like the military, entertainment and religion. The film plays Friday and Saturday; Baldwin will be on hand at the theater for a reception Friday after the film.
• SIFF continues its tribute to Jean-Luc Goddard’s great films of the 60s. Friday night see Two or Three Things I Know About Her, a scathing commentary on consumer culture presented in the form of a story about a woman who is both an actor in a film and a housewife who turns tricks in the city to make ends meet. On Saturday it’s Weekend, a dark look at the collapse of civilization that begins with a couple heading out for a weekend in the country while road rage inspires carnage on the streets of the city. Not a film for the squeamish. Sunday brings A Woman Is a Woman, Godard’s first color film, presenting a Zodiac club stripper (played by Anna Karina) whose quest for motherhood involves first her boyfriend then her boyfriend’s best friend.
• Grand Illusion presents Happily Ever After, based on a Japanese comic series about the devoted wife of an unemployed ex-gangster who adores her husband despite his trouble making ways.
• If you’re feeling the need to have a good cry, be sure to head over to Central Cinema for the humorous, dramatic, and emotionally engaging Fried Green Tomatoes.
• Go outdoors for Enchanted in Duvall on Friday, The Iron Giant in Fremont on Saturday, one of my all-time faves, Ghostbusters in West Seattle on Saturday, Hero at Hing Hay Park on Saturday, and The Gang’s All Here Friday night at Cal Anderson Park.

• Northwest Film Forum has a couple of interesting films this weekend: Chimes at Midnight is a 1966 film by Orson Welles that blends scenes from Shakespeare’s plays Richard II, Henry IV (parts 1 and 2), Henry V, and The Merry Wives of Windsor with a commentary from Elizabethan historian Holinshed to produce an original work centered around the character called Falstaff, played by Welles himself.
• Full Battle Rattle, the other film at NWFF examines the Mojave Desert facility built by the US Army for a billion dollars to give soldiers headed for deployment to Iraq the chance to train in simulated “virtual Iraq”. The film follows one Army battalion through the simulation during which time they will try to quell a staged insurgency and prevent a staqed civil war before they are transported to Iraq to put their newly-acquired skills to the test where the action is 100 percent real.
• SIFF kicks off their Jean-Luc Godard tribute series with Contempt, the brilliant director’s first big budget film. Legendary sex kitten Brigitte Bardot stars as the not-quite-loving wife of a screenwriter (played by Michel Piccoli) whose marital discord neatly mirrors the confict between art and commerce examined in the film both directly as part of its film-within-a-film storyline and indirectly as a matter of philosophical reflection.
• Also at SIFF: The Films4Families series continues Saturday morning with a showing of the best of the film adaptations of classic children’s novel The Secret Garden. This version, released originally in 1993, is beautifully shot and well-acted by excellent young actors who bring to vivid life the story of three neglected children who restore themselves as they restore an abandoned garden on an isolated English country estate. An excellent film for children, The Secret Garden is also appealing to adults. (August 9, 10 am)
• The Grand Illusion presents Monster Camp, a documentary that provides a peek into the world of live action role playing, or, LARPing, for short. At NERO Seattle, the local branch of an organization that role plays games all across America, serious gamers spend 48 hours fully immersed in their imaginary world, transforming from ordinary folks into the fantastical beings they imagine, limited only by their own creativity.
• Midnight at the Egyptian: Family adventure film turned cult classic, The Goonies.
• One of my favorite films of SIFF’s 2008 Festival was Baghead, a film that asks: “Is a guy with a bag on his head really all that scary?” Four struggling actors head to the woods with the idea of writing their own screenplay and discover that the answer to that question is a resounding “yes”. Baghead isn’t just scary, though, it’s also funny and charming and totally likeable. It’s at the Varsity.
• If you’d rather see The Goonies outside, you can catch it Friday night at the Seattle Center’s Mural Ampitheater or Lynnwood’s Lynndale Park. Also on Friday night: South Lake Union’s Cinema on the Lawn screens Juno. On Saturday head to Fremont Outdoor Cinema for “Big Giant Monster Night” featuring Cloverfield, to West Seattle’s Sidewalk Cinema for Finding Nemo, the Mural Ampitheater for Batman Begins followed by a midnight showing of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, or Hing Hay Park for Transformers.

• When I was a little kid, I thought of Orson Welles as “that guy from the wine commercials”. Discovering that he was also a brilliant writer, actor and director was one of the first steps on my path to becoming a film devotee. Northwest Film Forum is screening an Orson Welles series from August 1 to August 15 entitled The Transitional Orson Welles: Late Work and Adaptations that illustrates aptly just how brilliant he was. The first film in the series is The Trial, a 1962 noir-ish adaptation of Franz Kafka’s notable novel of the same name. Welles himself called The Trial “the finest work I have ever done”. Anthony Perkins stars as the besieged Josef K trapped in a nightmarish pursuit of justice. The Trial plays August 1 - 3.
• Also at NWFF: The Silence Before Bach, co-presented by the Henry Art Gallery, a film about importance of composer J.S. Bach whose eternal legacy is the enduring influence his work has on music and history.
• Over at SIFF Cinema, they’re showing the charming documentary A Man Called Pearl. The Pearl of the title is a black man named Pearl Fryar whose bigoted white neighbors worried that he might not keep his yard up after moving into their neighborhood. Fryar didn’t worry himself much over his neighbor’s opinions, but he did keep up his yard and then some, devoting his free time to creating beautiful, elaborate topiary so delightful that his yard has become a major tourist destination.
• The Grand Illusion screens Kenny, a film about a man whose job stinks, literally. Kenny Smyth delivers porta-loos all over Australia, facing many a septic challenge with good humor and high spirits.
• Zombie fans: It’s “Zombie Night” at Fremont Outdoor Cinema Saturday as they screen the relentlessly creepy Omega Man. Sidewalk Cinema screens Raiders of the Lost Ark in Edmonds Friday and the charming human/toon hybrid mystery Who Framed Roger Rabbit? on Saturday. Seattle Center’s Movies at the Mural has The Princess Bride Friday and Juno Saturday. Three Dollar Bill Cinema gives you creepy, campy cautionary tale Frogs Friday night at Cal Anderson Park.
• Midnight at the Egyptian: Cry Baby John Waters’ seriously fun spoof of 50’s juvenile delinquent films starring Johnny Depp, Traci Lords, Ricki Lake, Patti Heart and Iggy Pop.

• 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.

Still from Last Year at Marienbad courtesy SIFF

• If your favorite movies are those that tell an easy-to-follow story in a direct, linear fashion, you might want to avoid SIFF starting this Friday as Last Year at Marienbad is odd even by the avante garde standards of the Nouvelle Vague movement. Both revered and reviled, the 1961 film was directed by Alain Resnais whose earlier work Hiroshima Mon Amour was one of the first films of the French New Wave. As in Hiroshima Mon Amour, Resnais cuts in and out of flashbacks within a scene to suggest the sudden instantaneous recall of memory; in Last Year at Marienbad it is never entirely clear which memories are real or even memories at all. The entire film, gorgeously shot in lush black and white and featuring stunning visuals of elegant men and women at an ornate baroque-style chateau, takes place in a sort of dream state where there is no true sense of time or direction. A man called only “X” speaks to a woman, “A” about their prior meeting and their plans to run away together, but it is never clear if any of this has actually happened. Another man, “M”, may or may not be the husband of “A”. The three interact in various ways with their conversations and actions repeated in different places and with different points of view. Scenes are shown without a definite order and voiceover narration adds to the story without clarifying it.

  Last Year at Marienbad presents its riddles without answers or even clues; the film seems to tell a story but just what that story is is ultimately only answerable by the viewer. You’ll want to take a friend to the fascinating Last Year at Marienbad so you can have many happy hours afterward arguing about just what it was that you saw.

• Northwest Film Forum offers up some uniquely creative cinema of its own with A Slice of Blood and Honey, a collection of short film, video art and documentaries from Macedonia whose emerging artists create works reflecting the environment in their homeland as it grows from its roots in the sluggish past into a fresh, cosmopolitan future.
• Also at NWFF: Glass: A Portrait of Philip in 12 Parts traces a year in the life of the iconic composer. Director Scott Hicks had unparalleled access to his subject during the filming documentary, allowing him to show an intimate portrait of Glass as both an artist and a man.
• On Sunday, July 20, head to Cal Anderson Park at 4pm for Sustainable Capitol Hill’s Imagine Capitol Hill festival focused on environmentally-friendly urban living and stick around til dusk for their “Bike In Movie”
• Grand Illusion continues their “Best of the Rest: 5 Years of Late Nights at the Grand Illusion” series with Deathstalker, the sort of cheesy swords-and-sorcery epic that’s best seen with an audience so you can all enjoy the unintentional humor together.
• You’ll also want to head to the Grand Illusion for their screening of a brand new print of the 1968 classic Planet of the Apes. The first time I ever saw Planet of the Apes was in a Saturday afternoon revival back in the early 70s and despite all the sequels and remakes of varying and often dubious quality, I still recall the thrill of watching the entire film from the edge of my seat, enthralled and anxious as I watched the story unfold before me in this stunning film. If you think Planet of the Apes is simply some corny flick, think again–this is a sci-fi classic for very good reason.
• The enduring appeal of the television show Buffy the Vampire Slayer is a bit of a mystery to me; I’ve just never seen what so many people see in it, really. The movie, on the other hand, is great–I ended up seeing it as a compromise film when a friend and I both wanted very much to see other movies that the other refused to see and ended up being very much impressed by its great humor and exciting action. I know, I know, Joss Whedon himself says the TV show is a more faithful rendering of his vision, but this light-hearted satire of the horror film genre is funny and likeable, Kristy Swanson sparkles at the title character, and, really, how can you go wrong with a film featuring Rutger Hauer? Central Cinema through the 20th.
• If you feel like you’ve been getting way too many good nights of sleep lately, stop in at the Egyptian this weekend for their midnight showings of Aliens. Maybe you’re so used to the creepy alien creatures that they don’t scare you any more (oh, how I envy you for that), but the pulse-pounding action as Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley takes on a whole heaping nest of those nasty critters will definitely get your adrenaline pumped.
• The Dark Knight opens at theaters all across the Puget Sound on Friday, July 18.