Photo by Sooz via Creative Commons

Couch Fest wants you to know that “watching short films in strangers’ houses = awkwardly awesome”. The second annual Couch Fest is a shorts film festival that takes place in people’s houses. On Saturday, November 7, all the houses taking part in the fest host 30 minute film programs that repeat all day. Fest goers go from house to house checking out the programs that interest them and each program has a built in intermission so people can talk about the movies they’re watching. It’s a fun way to see a lot of cool short films with a group of people who are every bit as dorky about this sort of thing as you are. There are two animation programs, two comedy programs, two experimental programs, a documentary program, a horror program, a mixed program and an “inappropriately awesome” program. It’s a mere $10 for the complete festival, which allows you to see any or all of the programs running throughout the day. The first show starts at 11 am and the final show starts at 7 pm and all programs repeat every hour on the hour. Go to the Couch Fest website for locations and other details.

If you’re looking for a more traditional film festival this weekend, head down south as the 26th annual Olympia Film Festival kicks off Friday, November 6 with an opening night gala, and a program of short films and a feature by American director Tom Schiller who will be in attendance for a post screening Q&A. The festival continues through November 14 with a eclectic collection of films that includes everything from 1920 German Expressionist classic The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari to Seattle filmmaker David Russo’s The Immaculate Conception of Little Dizzle, a hit at this year’s SIFF. Films on the festival calendar include well-loved classics of a variety of genres (The Muppet Movie, The Third Man, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, part 2) and rarely-screened features and documentaries both old and new well worth seeing.

Speaking of both SIFF and rarely-screened features worth seeing, Le Combat Dans L’île opens Friday, November 6, at SIFF Cinema. Romy Schneider plays Anne, a woman in a difficult marriage who discovers a carefully wrapped anti-tank bazooka in the hall closet. What’s a woman to do? After the bazooka is used in the attempted assassination of a left-wing member of Parliament, Anne ends up turning to her husband’s college friend as a confidante and a lover. Torn between the past and the present, Anne’s complicated path neatly stands in for the political struggles of France in the early 1960s when this film was made.

Austrian director Ulrich Seidl guides two untrained actors into powerful performances in Import Export, a look at “the horror and the beauty of existence” (Keith Uhlich, Time Out New York) that tells the parallel stories of Olga, a Ukrainian nurse who moves to Austria to try and make ends meet and Austrian Pauli, who travels to Ukraine to deliver video game consoles as they struggle with unemployment and existence. Opens at NWFF on Friday.

Also at NWFF: the Seattle premiere of 35 Shots of Rum, a beautifully shot study of human relationships by director Clair Denis that is centered around the complex relationship between Jo, a Parisian university student, and her father, Lionel, a train engineer.

The Grand Illusion hosts the Seattle premiere of a new 35mm print of 1947’s Odd Man Out, a film noir that tells the story of an IRA operative named Johnny McQueen. On the lam after breaking out of jail, Johnny (James Mason) decides to rob a bank to raise funds for the IRA but the robbery goes bad and he is seriously wounded by the police. Johnny meets a series of people who either want to help him or turn him over to the police as he makes his way through Dublin until finally he ends up heading for the waterfront and freedom–but can he make it there before the police?

Central Cinema pays tribute to the recently deceased John Hughes with a special screening of The Breakfast Club, perhaps his most popular work. The pre-show tribute includes a selection of Hughes trailers, classic movie moments, John Hughes trivia, and a sing along to a selection of soundtrack favorites.

Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s sweet and utterly charming comedy of romance, self-discovery and transformation Amelie is this week’s Midnight at the Egyptian film. Audrey Tatou is radiant as the quirky, kind-hearted title character who masterfully manipulates the people around her for both good and bad, depending on what they deserve, but may not have the courage to change her own life.

Ewan McGregor is a reporter in search of his next story when he encounters Geroge Clooney as a man who claims to be part of an experimental US military unit focused on using the paranormal as a new form of combat in The Men Who Stare at Goats, a based on a true story comedy screening at the The Guild 45th.

Japanese film director Kenji Mizoguchi was admired by the likes of Orson Welles, Jean-Luc Godard and Akira Kurosawa for his work. He began his career with remakes of German Expressionistic films and adaptations of O’Neill and Tolstoy. Later he moved towards realism, spending much time documenting Japan’s change from feudalism into modernism and he would spend much of his film career exploring social and political issues of the day.

One of his older films, The Downfall of Osen focuses on one of the issues that intrigued Mizoguchi for all of his career, the struggles of a “fallen woman” to cope with the world that imprisons and debases them. Isuzo Yamada portrays the abused mistress of a den of thieves who seeks redemption through her love of a young man who dreams of becoming a doctor.

The silent film is accompanied by a live music and sound score featuring an English language translation of the benshi – the live soundtrack given to Japanese silent films. Seattle’s Aono Jikken Ensemble return from touring with quirky Canadian director Guy Maddin’s film Brand Upon the Brain to lend their talents to The Downfall of Osen.

This special event is one night only, so don’t delay in getting your tickets. It plays SIFF Cinema on Sunday, November 15, 7:00 pm.

Four friends head to the beach to party and have a good time in director Ryan Gielen’s feature directorial debut, The Graduates and from the start of their journey it seems like that’s just what they’re going to do. Ben, Andy, Nickie and Mattie make their way to Ocean City, Maryland for Senior Week in this smart, funny coming-of-age comedy that took the Best Comedy prize at this year’s STIFF festival.

Bolstered by an excellent indie rock soundtrack, The Graduates flavors its humor with a welcome dose of thoughtfulness, well written and acted by a cast who give depth to the sort of roles that are all too often reduced to one dimensional stereotypes.

The Graduates makes its post-festival debut in Seattle on Monday night at Central Cinema. A film maker discussion panel follows the Monday screening; the movie continues through November 5.

Image from Prince Achmed

The popular Silent Movie Monday series returns to the Paramount Theater for three Mondays in November, starting November 2 with 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, released in 1916 and directed by Stuart Paton.

Like the other two films in the series, (German director Lotte Reiniger’s 1926 release, The Adventures of Prince Achmed on November 9, and classic American sci-fi adventure The Lost World, directed by Harry O’Hoyt and released in 1925, screening November 13), 20,000 Leagues is a marvel of its time, a science fiction film created long before even the most primitive of digital F/X were anywhere near development. These filmmakers used cardboard cut outs, clay, cedars and anything they could get their hands on to create their fantastic landscapes, creatures and other imaginative details. To the modern eye much of this looks a bit primitive but all these years later, they’re still entertaining and impressive for the creativity their creators imbued into them.

Based on the classic Jules Verne novel, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea is notable for its groundbreaking underwater photography; since there weren’t underwater cameras available at the time, camera operators George M. Williamson and J. Ernest Williamson created a system of watertight tubes and mirrors rigged to allow the camera to shoot the reflections of scenes set underwater. (November 2)

The Adventures of Prince Achmed is the oldest surviving animated feature film. The film features a silhouette animation technique invented by director Lotte Reiniger using cardboard cutouts and thin sheets of lead. (November 9)

Arthur Conan Doyle’s 1912 novel The Lost World was adapted into a film in 1925. Willis O’Brien created pioneering stop motion effects to tell the story of a group of adventurers head to Venezuela where they encounter a group of prehistoric beasts surviving into the modern world.

Jim Riggs will be playing the Wurlitzer Organ to accompany all three films. Doors open on all three nights at 6pm; films start at 7 promptly.

The 2009 Seattle Lesbian and Gay Film Festival continues at various venues around town. Featured this weekend: Handsome Harry stars Jamey Sheridan in the title role as a man whose life is thrown into turmoil when a former Navy buddy, played by Steve Buscemi, calls him from his deathbed and begs him to seek forgiveness on his behalf for the harm they caused a former friend. Hannah Free stars Sharon Gless in the title role. A lesbian woman barred from seeing her true love just a few floors away in the nursing home where they’re both confined, Hannah reflects back on their many long years of friendship and love.

SIFF Cinema presents the Nordic Lights Film Festival, sponsored by the Nordic Heritage Museum. Featuring contemporary and award-winning films from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden, the festival includes such films as Nazi zombie gorefest Dead Snow, a movie about three Sami women for whom reindeer herding isn’t just a job, it’s an integral part of their life and culture, and festival opener Everlasting Moments which tells a story of how a young Swedish woman’s life is permanently changed when she wins a camera in a lottery.

NWFF presents a look at the disparity between the upper and working classes in The Headless Woman, an eerie film in which a dentist strikes something with her car–an object? a dog? one of the street kids playing as she drives by?–but doesn’t stop. Even after driving away she can’t shake her feelings of guilt and unease.

Also at NWFF: This Is Not a Show, a documentary film of REM’s “working rehearsal” at Dublin’s Olympia Theater back in July 2007.

Bob Hope and Paulette Goddard star in 1939’s The Cat and the Canary, a spooky and suspenseful tale of the six potential heirs to the fortune of a millionaire trapped in his mansion on a night when the spirit world warns that one of them will die and a guard from the local prison lets them know a homicidal maniac has escaped and is on the loose. The Grand Illusion screens a brand new print of this classic thriller. It’s paired with another spooky Bob Hope movie: 1940’s The Ghost Breakers stars Hope as a radio broadcaster who accompanies Mary Carter (Paulette Goddard again) as she attempts to take possession of her family’s ancestral home–an allegedly haunted castle–on an island off of Cuba. Are death threats and zombies enough to keep her from succeeding?

Midnight at The Egyptian: Catherine Deneuve, David Bowie and Susan Sarandon in one of the sexiest vampire films ever: The Hunger.

Hilary Swank plays the title role in Amelia, a look back at legendary aviation pioneer Amelia Earhardt, who thrilled the world as the first woman to pilot a plane across the Atlantic and became a celebrity and inspirational figure before mysteriously disappearing in the midst of a solo flight around the world. At the Guild 45th.

It’s only October and it’s already getting gloomy, what’s November going to be like? Odds are good it’s not going to be sunny and clear.

You’ll want an escape to somewhere warm and bright but we’re not all lucky enough to be able to shuffle off to the tropics whenever we want. That’s why you’re going to save airfare and do good by attending “Sip for SIFF: A Night in the Caribbean”.

Marvel as Pravda Studios becomes a tropical paradise right here in the dreary winter Northwest on lucky Friday, November 13 at 8:00 pm. Enjoy tasty Caribbean themed food and specialty rum cocktails all night long, a live steel drum band and even a late night DJ spinning Caribbean and Island dance music.

As if all that weren’t enough, the night features a raffle with prizes like an Ipod, a luxury shopping spree, tickets and passes to the 2010 Seattle International Film Festival, wine, and, oh, a trip to Cancun. (Okay, not QUITE the islands, but, really, are you going to complain? If you are going to complain just go ahead and give me your tickets because I’m not going to complain one bit.)

The best part about this fun filled festivity is that you’ll be having a good time while you are simultaneously helping SIFF raise funds for their many fine programs. (They’re not just a film festival.) Tickets are a mere $50 each, a bargain for what you’re getting. SIFF supporters get a discount and so do groups: get together a bunch of vos amis and get a ten percent discount for 10 – 24 of you, a fifteen percent discount for a group of 25 – 49 and an amazing 20 percent discount for groups of 50 or more.

For more information or to buy your tickets, check out the event page on the SIFF website

NWFF offers up an excellent evening of movie and music magic with a screening of The Saga of Gosta Berling, starring a dewy young Greta Garbo, introduced by Paul Norien and accompanied by a live soundtrack performed by Murl Allen Sanders. Friday night only.

The 2009 Seattle Lesbian and Gay Film Festival kicks off this weekend at NWFF, Cinerama, Central Cinema, The Egyptian, Central Library, and The Admiral. As always, films run the gamut from beloved classics like1975’s The Naked Civil Servant about pioneering British activist Quentin Crisp, for example to the hot and new, like An Englishman in New York in which John Hurt reprises his role as Crisp, older and wiser than ever. There are a variety of excellent documentaries, features and shorts, as well as great programs like the opening, centerpiece and closing galas, not to mention the not to be missed Night with Mink Stole, hosted by Peaches Christ. Mink has appeared in over 25 films, including every one by John Waters, and is a vivacious, charming entertainer. Following a screening of Waters’ brutal Desperate Living with Stole as a middle-class murderer finding refuge from the law in a lawless village ruled by a mad queen, Ms. Stole will discuss her films, answer questions and do a post-show meet and greet.

The festival runs through October 25.

Speaking of festivals, the Festival of New Spanish Cinema plays SIFF through the 21st. Most of the films are US premieres and all of them represent the best of contemporary Spanish filmmaking. Amongst the offerings: The Sound of the Sea, an animated work about freedom, passion, and loss, and The Shame, an emotionally gripping tale of a couple who can’t handle their adopted son and contemplate “sending him back”.

Grand Illusion takes a break from all the graphic horror they’ve screened lately with 1964’s The Seven Faces of Dr. Lao. Starring Tony Randall in seven distinct roles, include the titular character, Dr. Lao is a gem of film with a surprising emotional intensity as an extremely unusual circus gives the inhabitants of a small town a unique view of their own selves. Plays nightly at 7; stick around for the 9 pm screening of Jason and the Argonauts, the 1963 telling of the well-known myth that tells an interesting story and features some of classic F/X creator Ray Harryhausen’s best work including a skeleton army that is creepy to this day.

Successful crafter, photographer, blogger and writer Faythe Levine, co-founder of Flying Fish Gallery, adds filmmaker to her already extensive resume with Handmade Nation, her interesting and well-made documentary about the DIY indie craft movement. Crafting encompasses a wide variety of art forms with infinite potential for self-expression and Handmade Nation takes a loving look at many different people involved in various aspects of producing and distributing handmade works with a particular focus on what crafting means to them and what it can mean to others. Artisans of every stripe talk about how they got into making their works of art – subjects include Whitney Lee, who creates latch hook pin-ups and Jenny Hart, whose Sublime Stitching embroidery kits and patterns include pirates and zombies and tattoo style designs – and offer up their ideas on why the indie craft movement keeps growing in popularity. (One reason: people are burned out on the same old mass produced merchandise. Other reasons include sustainability and sticking it to the man.) Store and gallery owners, members of collectives and other key figures add additional insight. Levine’s film has the freewheeling do-it-yourself look and feel of the movement she portrays, effectively capturing its spirit and fun. Handmade Nation makes its Seattle premiere at NWFF on Saturday and Sunday at 1:00 and 4:00; Levine will join a group of local indie crafters for post-film discussions at both 1:00 showings.

Also at NWFF, the spirit of 69 continues with Salesman, a fascinating documentary by the Maysles brothers of four hyper-aggressive door-to-door salesmen who harass poor Catholic families into buying ornate bibles. The directors took a hands off approach to filming, allowing the events to unfold the natural way they would if they weren’t being observed. Critic Vincent Canby suggested that Salesman is so “fine” and “pure” that he couldn’t ever imagine it becoming irrelevant; although much has changed in the world of sales in the 40 years since its original release, many of the issues it raises are as immediately significant as ever.

Regular readers can’t have missed my great fondness for the films of Alfred Hitchcock since I promote them every time there’s an opportunity. With good reason – the master of suspense made films that are equally great upon repeated viewings as they are for the first time. SIFF Cinema pays homage to the legendary director with a series of Hitchcock double features screened to coincide with Seattle Rep’s presentation of a stage version of Hitchcock’s The 39 Steps. Saturday’s features are the excellent Rear Window and Vertigo. Sunday thrill to Dial M for Murder and Strangers on a Train. Monday it’s The 39 Steps and Hitchcock’s own favorite, Shadow of a Doubt.

Sure, it’s been a while since the Supersonics left town, but you don’t just wipe away 41 years of history overnight, particularly when that history includes a pitched battle in the courts of both law and public opinion. Even if you don’t care about the Sonics or even pro basketball in general, the Sonics saga was an interesting one. Sonicsgate is a new documentary film that tells the story of how Seattle lost the Sonics and it makes its world premier at SIFF Cinema Friday night, with an exclusive attendee afterparty at Spitfire. The screening is unsurprisingly sold out but in the spirit of the subject, you could always try hanging outside with a “need extra ticket” sign. Or you could try catching it at Pacific Place on Saturday at 8pm. (Tickets through Brown Paper Tickets.

Grand Illusion gives you a double dose of Deadites with Evil Dead II: Dead by Dawn and Army of Darkness, starring Bruce Campbell and a chainsaw. If these two films aren’t enough blood and guts for you, get your zombie fix on with Zombie, the 1979 Italian horrorfest late night Friday and Saturday.

Central Cinema screens a new indie film, Teenage Dirtbag, an “inspired by true events” drama about a popular high school cheerleader who develops a fragile bond with a delinquent “dirtbag” after they share a creative writing class.

Midnight at the Egyptian: Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.

You can scroll down for my post on the Local Sightings film festival or you could just show up at NWFF and see whatever’s playing at the time you show up. Odds of randomly seeing something great are very highly in your favor. (Feel free to check the schedule in advance, too, of course.)

Can’t get enough of local filmmaking? Week 3 of Washington Grown happens at the Grand Illusion with horror short films by Calvin Reeder, Catalyst Studios, and Tyson Theroux plus late night feature The Customer, by Everett filmmaker Jonathan Holbrook who gives you the story of a man who discovers a mysterious black card that frees him from his financial worries but comes at a higher cost than even Chase or Citibank could assign.

Also at Grand Illusion: The City of Seattle Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs co-sponsors screenings of Rebuilding Hope on Friday and Saturday evenings as well as Saturday afternoon. Director Jen Marlow follows three young men, former refugees from Sudan, as they had back to their original homeland in hopes of learning if their families survived the brutal civil war and what they can do to help rebuild Sudan’s devastated communities. The movie also takes a look at what Sudan’s future might look like; Jen Marlowe and her three primary subjects, Gabriel Bol Deng, Koor Garang and Garang Mayoul, will be on hand for post-screening discussions. All the proceeds from this event go to health care and education projects in South Sudan.

SIFF Cinema is giving you fresh new prints of both Alien and Aliens on Friday night. You know you want to go see Sigourney Weaver kick some alien butt but can’t decide if you like the Ridley Scott original or the James Cameron sequel? Go to both.

Midnight at the Egyptian: The Graduate. A bit dated in parts, but still funny.

Midnight at the Neptune: They tell me that Paranormal Activity manages to be very, very scary with gore, an idea of which I approve, but I’m a little anxious about going to see it anyway. Because it’s very, very scary.

Central Cinema is screening one of the funniest films ever, The Pink Panther. No offense to Steve Martin, whom I like just fine,, but the original Pink Panther is so vastly superior to the later remake that they’re only just barely in the same league. Later episodes in what turned into a long-running franchise even before the remakes would prove to be less and less funny but this first entry is a non-stop laugh riot. Be careful not to choke on your pizza.

Local Sightings is the annual festival of local film now in its 12th year at NWFF.

This NW film showcase features prizes, parties, and all sorts of cool special events, plus, of course, films from Northwest filmmakers. This year’s festival includes a great variety of short and feature length fiction and documentary films and a special presentation of a historical Seattle film.

The complete schedule is online at NWFF’s Local Sightings site but here are a few of your available choices: Opening night film The Mountain, The River, and the Road by Seattle’s Michael Harring tells the story of Jeff whose journey to Austin begins with his parents kicking him out of the house. His friend Tom, who has his own issues, goes along. The trip doesn’t work out quite the way they planned it and next thing you know Jeff’s in Kernville, California, idly hanging out at a motel where he meets a woman with a chainsaw.

On Saturday, Seattle’s Jennifer Maas presents a work in progress – Wheedles Grove. Contrary to what far too many seem to believe, Seattle’s music scene didn’t start in the 1980s–it’s much older than that, dating back to long before even our oldest living citizen was even born. Along the way there have been some interesting developments of ’scene’, like back in the late 1960s when Seattle’s thriving soul scene was just inches away from bursting on the national scene with groups like Black on White Affair, The Soul Swingers and Cold, Bold & Together. Timing is everything, though, and it wasn’t great for these bands which fell back into obscurity until the early 2000s when local collector DJ Mr. Supreme approached the label Light in the Attic about releasing a compilation album.

American Collectors plays on Monday, a documentary that examines the relationships between people and the objects they collect. I have friends who are collectors–you may know some, or you may be one–and even so I’ve never entirely figured out what makes a person want to own a whole bunch of, say, KISS memorabilia or salt shakers or stuffed tarantulas or whatever it is that people collect (matchbooks, old stereo equipment, etc.) American Collectors can’t hope to provide the full answer, probably because there really isn’t a simple cut-and-dried explanation. It does, however, quite effectively tell a fascinating tale of some of the people who like to collect, what they like to collect, and even a bit of why they like to collect. It’s not just about having the things, it turns out.

Sabrina Lee from Montana considers rural American hip hop in Where You From? a movie about the hip hop scene miles and miles from its urban roots. What’s hip hop sound like when it comes from Bozeman or Livington, Montana, or Fortuna, California, instead of big cities like NYC, Chicago, LA, or even Seattle? Lee answers that question by presenting three young men for whom music is a salvation and a driving force in small towns that offer just as many mean streets as the big city.

Other events include the lively opening night party on Friday, a free program of animated works by the students of Lukas Allenbaugh’s Clay Animation Network classes on Saturday, a conversation on Sunday with Seattle historian Paul Dorpat about Seattle in 1969, a Sunday evening program (also free) of locally produced music videos, a variety of shorts programs and much more.

Check the schedule for full details.