Festival opens on Thursday, May 20 at Benaroya Hall with the Gala Premiere of “The Extra Man” and regular screenings begin the next day! And, tons of LGBT films are on offer!
Hunky Michael Fassbender bit the dust in Inglorious Basterds and he’s on the lam in Centurion which screens June 1st and 4th at the Neptune
You can tell it’s May in Seattle when all your film loving friends are walking around with big goofy smiles on their pale, pasty faces and have a dazed look in their eyes. They’re probably also carrying around a heavily highlighted SIFF film schedule and the Uber-Nerds probably already have their Festival badges lanyered around their necks and looking a bit cooler than thou. Even if you’re only a lowercase film fan though, it’s still cause to be excited as the 36th Annual Seattle International Film Festival gets under way. The box office opened to the general public last Friday, and tickets are already flying out the window. And, Seattle Gay Scene will be here to report it on a DAILY basis once the Festival begins screening films on May 21st and ONLY SGS readers will get the REAL INSIDE SCOOP on What’s Hot and What’s Not because YOURS TRULY, Mr Strangeways is a man of many, many hats and one of them just so happens to be a SIFF hat which means I can give you the latest up to date news on which films are selling out, what stars and directors will be in town, and where the best SIFF parties are (and which ones to avoid…) Let’s get started!
Paul Dano and Kevin Kline in the Opening Gala film, The Extra Man
I’ve already posted about the opening film, The Extra Man, starring Kevin Kline, Paul Dano and Mrs Cruise and it’s definitely of interest to LGBT film fans since it’s based on the best-selling book by Jonathan Ames about a young man with an obsession for ladies of the transgendered variety. The directors, Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini are scheduled to attend but no word on if any of the actors will be at the premiere. This year the Gala and the after party are at Benaroya Hall; tickets ARE still available including some fancy packages that include an open bar and valet parking. I had an opportunity to see this film at the press launch but I was on a time crunch and had to leave. (The scuttlebutt I’m hearing is that it’s a nice enough film; entertaining but slight and not an Oscar contending type film but one that will appeal to a large audience.)
Aaron Tveit as poet Peter Orlovsky and James Franco as Allen Ginsberg in Howl which screens June 12 at the Egyptian (This is a HOT ticket movie), and it’s easy to see why these glasses are back in style…zexy!
Other films with lots of buzz include the Closing Gala film, Get Low with Robert Duvall as a grumpy mountain man who wants to attend his own funeral; Howl, the autobiography of gay poet Allen Ginsberg that stars James Franco; Agora, Alejandro Amenabar’s lavishly made fourth century historical romance with Rachel Weisz caught in a love triangle with her student and a slave; I Am Love stars the beautifully androgynous Tilda Swinton as a trophy wife to an Italian mogul who cheats on him with a younger man; 
Alicja Bachleda as the “Ondine” and Colin Farrell as the ridiculously handsome Irishman known as Colin Farrell in Ondine which screens on June 4, 6, and 13
Ondine is the latest film from acclaimed filmmaker Neil Jordan and it’s a comedy/fantasy/romance with Colin Farrell as a fisherman who finds something mighty purty in his fishing net; Micmacs is the oddly titled and oddly plotted new film from beloved French director, Jean-Pierre Jeunet (Amelie) that’s described as “a wild and whimsical David-and-Goliath tale by way of Buster Keaton”; and we can’t forget to mention the 3D screening of Cane Toads: The Conquest-in 3D a sequel to the cult classic documentary about those horny toads and their lusty, lusty lives.
As for LGBT-centric films, we have a bounty of riches to dive into including several hot documentaries. 8:The Mormon Proposition (which is selling LOTS of tickets) about the efforts of the Mormon church to defeat Proposition 8 in the 2008 election; Beautiful Darling: The Life and Times of Candy Darling, Andy Warhol Superstar, whose title pretty much explains it all; and, if you guessed that William S Burroughs: A Man Within might be an examination of the noted writer of Naked Lunch, you would be absolutely CORRECT! But, my hands down favorite look at queer lives would have to be, The Topp Twins: Untouchable Girls a funny and touching story of twin, lesbian, yodelers living in New Zealand…no, this is NOT a follow up show to Flight of the Conchords!
As for narrative queer film, there’s also a lot to look at, including the new film by Ferzan Ozpetek, Loose Cannons about a wealthy family coming to terms that their son and heir 
(the badabingy Italian actor, Riccardo Scamarcio, pictured) is gay; the provocatively titled, I Killed My Mother, is a French-Canadian film directed by 21 year old Xavier Dolan about an out gay teen and the acrimonious relationship he has with his mum; Leo’s Room is an Uruguayan coming of age film that features lots of cute Uruguayan actors snuggling, bonding and playing hide the chorizo…and, did you notice I refrained from making any silly “U-R-Gay” gays in this post? Undertow is being described as a Peruvian Brokeback Mountain set in seaside fishing village where Miguel is caught in a triangle between his pregnant wife and a visiting hunky painter who’s new to the village…naturally, tragedy ensues but there’s a hint of magic in the air as well. Undertow won the World Cinema dramatic competition at Sundance this year and the film is receiving rave reviews. AND, there will be a happening AfterParty following the screening at Pony to help cheer you up from all the magical Peruvian realism…
And, I have to devote a paragraph to this year’s big Gay-La, Violet Tendencies, the charming comedy about a woman who is always there for her multitude of gay male friends but starts to feel it’s about time she had a little “Me” time and find herself a man to cuddle up to. Casper Andreas’s film stars America’s favorite full-figured, Jewish American Princess and Mrs Garrett’s favorite comic sidekick, Natalie Green from 80’s sitcom The Facts of Life, the incomparable Mindy Cohn in an exciting comeback screen performance. The Gay-La is Wednesday, June 9 at the Egyptian at 7pm with an afterparty to follow at Re-bar. We’ll have more details on this event as we get closer to the date.
Wow! That’s a lot of movies…but, it’s only about two dozen of the 400 films in the festival and I haven’t even mentioned the Edward Norton tribute, or the Stephin Merrit music event, or the Grease sing-a-long, or the controversial Ticked Off Trannies with Knives, or…well, there’s a lot more posting to go before June 13th. Stay Tuned!
-Michael Strangeways
About the Author: Michael Strangeways
