With just a week until Thanksgiving, the studios are holding off on their big releases, such as the highly acclaimed Burlesque. Instead we get the latest and arguably greatest Harry Potter, which will definitely eclipse everything else opening this weekend. This is great news for the Harry Potter fans out there. For the rest of us (the old and old at heart), it will give us plenty of time to get our Thanksgiving shopping done.
Opening this weekend
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, directed by David Yates, starring Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint. Despite reading most of the JK Rowling books, I’ve never managed to see one of the movie adaptations. Perhaps it’s because I have an aversion to movies that tell the story through music (this applies to most Disney movies too). It might be time for me to give the franchise a chance, because these films are for better or worse a defining cultural experience for an entire generation. Moreover the actors are all grown up now and kinda smokin’ hot, especially Radcliffe, definitely Watson and even Grint in a weird way. I just hope that by now the characters don’t act all surprised every time something magical happens. It’s about time they got with the program.
Also opening this weekend – The studios know they got big competition with Harry Potter, so they aren’t pushing any other big blockbusters this weekend. We get Russell Crowe and Elizabeth Banks in the breaking wifey out of prison love story The Next Three Days, Sally Hawkins and Bob Hoskins in Nigel Cole’s inspiring 1968 workers rights drama Made in Dagenheim, and Isabelle Huppert in Claire Denis’ French lady caught over her head in third world strife flick White Material.
Seattle Cinema Happenings this week
Central Cinema presents Say Anything (1989), a film that made careers for director Cameron Crowe, John and Joan Cusack, Ione Sky, and Lili Taylor, and put Seattle on the cinematic map. Remember when John Cusack was so crushable? It’s such a shame that he grew up into a bitter man. I also had a total crush on Lili Taylor’s supporting Corey Flood. She set the model for the archetypical 90s teenage girl/young woman (along side Wynona Ryder’s Veronica Sawyer, of course). Even today I don’t know who I love more. Friday – Monday 7:30 & 9pm, Wednesday at 9pm.
The Grand Illusion unearths obscure blaxploitation comedy Super Spook (1975) directed by Anthony B. Major, his only picture, and starring the well-known character actor Leonard Jackson (Car Wash, the Color Purple). The University District’s non-profit Grand Illusion deserves admiration for its commitment to screening the weirdest (and least PC) cinema offerings despite their potential for unwatchability. According to the GI website, they will be screening what is rumored to be the only existing print. One from the vaults, indeed! Friday & Saturday at 11pm.
A very special Thanksgiving presentation of Home for the Holidays, Jodie Foster’s 1995 family comedy starring Holly Hunter, Anne Bancroft, Geraldine Chaplin, Clare Danes, Robert Downey Jr., and Dylan McDermott. This movie has a crazy cult following. People just love Thanksgiving! I wouldn’t be surprised to see some Holly Hunter drag at this screening. Wednesday at 7pm at Central Cinema.
Colony, presented by Northwest Film Forum and KBCS 91.3 FM, won at the International Documentary Film Festival in Amsterdam. This gorgeously shot feature follows a family of Christian bee-keepers and looks at the consequences of colony collapse disorder on modern agriculture in California and the world’s food supply.
Friday – Wednesday 7pm & 9pm, additional screening Saturday and Sunday at 5pm.
Ryan Hicks is Sponsorship Manager for Three Dollar Bill Cinema, a film fan and contributor to Seattle Gay Scene.
I for one would love to see some good Holly Hunter drag!