Welcome to December, a time when studios send out big budget family friendly fare as well as many of their Academy Award hopefuls. Many of the holiday season’s eagerly anticipated releases are opening elsewhere and won’t be in Seattle until next weekend. Never you worry, there are still plenty of great films to catch and quite a few special screenings for film lovers in Seattle this week.
New Releases
Black Swan directed by Darren Aronofsky, starring Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis, Barbara Hershey and cameo by Winona Ryder. Technically this film won’t open in Seattle until next week, but I’m too excited to not post about it now. Here are three reasons why you should be excited as I am 1.) after the disappointment of Burlesque my thirst for high camp drama has yet to be satisfied this holiday season 2.) Divas, divas, divas! Natalie Portman plays a ballerina on the point of nervous collapse, Mila Kunis is her intense rival/lover/psychosexual stalker/alter-ego, Barbara Hershey is their domineering dance instructor and Winona cameos. 3.) the reviews are all over the place, and often polarizing reviews are a good thing. Some are calling it the new Repulsion, Roman Polanski and Catherine Deneuve’s 1965 masterpiece. Here is what the New York Times says:
Much like the new version of “Swan Lake” that [the director] creates, “Black Swan” is visceral and real even while it’s one delirious, phantasmagoric freakout.
I CANNOT WAIT! Road trip to San Francisco, anyone?
Now Playing in Seattle
The Agony and the Ecstasy of Phil Spector (2009) by Vikram Jayanti at Northwest Film Forum at 7pm and 9:15pm. It’s common knowledge that if you take a wall of sound and girl with a broken heart you have a recipe for the perfect pop song. Phil Spector deserves his position as one of Rock and Roll’s most important producers, but you still can’t deny that as a person he is a monster. Therein lies the dual nature of this documentary biography. From the Film Forum website:
Partly an ode to what Spector called his “Wagnerian approach to rock & roll: little symphonies for kids,” and partly a stage for megalomania that alternates between charming and creepy, Agony is an always-riveting inquiry into a man and his music.
Also playing at Northwest Film Forum the romantic, comedic and cerebral The Portuguese Nun (2009) by Eugène Green at 6:30 and 9pm.
Christmas comes early at Central Cinema with Die Hard (1989) at 7pm and 10pm. For a film that defined the modern action genre, spawned a successful franchise and launched the extremely successful film career for Bruce Willis – there is still a huge amount of camp in this movie. You also have to admit that Bruce Willis really does make a receding hairline look sexy. This movie’s got something for everybody if you ask me.
On Monday Bad Movie Art presents Trog (1970) Joan Crawford’s final role in a theatrical release. Praised at the time for its scientific accuracy, Trog is the story of a modern day troglodyte, discovered in a cave somewhere in England. He is a wild beast that can’t be tamed, no matter how hard Dr. Brockton (Crawford) tries.
Alien the Director’s Cut (1979) by Ridley Scott at the Egyptian Theater midnight movie. The Egyptian gets it right with this choice for midnight movie, despite being almost 2 hours long, the film is expertly paced. I just love the idea of space travel in the future being a grim and exhausting experience. It was such a novel image at the time the film was released, so unlike the space age glamour of earlier films. But now that we know how cluttered and dingy flying commercial airlines can be, it’s a haunting touch of realism that can’t be denied.
Grand Illusion unearths another crazy obscure exploitation flick for their late night series with Killpoint (1984) at 11pm. From the Grand Illusion website:
Former Methodist minister turned martial arts master/cult action star Leo Fong plays L.A. cop Lt. James Long in this awesomely bad 80’s action smorgasbord. When Long’s wife is raped and murdered, the investigation leads him to psychopathic arms dealer Joe Marks (the inimitable Cameron Mitchell) and his equally psychotic army of bikers led by the evil Nighthawk. Lt. Long teams up with FBI agent Bill Bryant (Richard “Shaft” Roundtree) to stop the gang’s plan to rob the National Guard Armory and sell the weapons to the criminals of Los Angeles. It’s violent, low-budget, chopsockie action at its best, as Lt. Long and Agent Bryant seek revenge for the brutal slaying of Long’s wife.
Sounds like an unqualified masterpiece to me.
Finally, The Wizard of Oz (1939) and The Dark Side of Oz play this weekend only at SIFF Cinema. This your chance to finally watch The Wizard of Oz sync-d to Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon” album. You know you’ve been curious ever since you first heard about this in high school.
Ryan Hicks is Sponsorship Manager for Three Dollar Bill Cinema, a film fan and contributor to Seattle Gay Scene.
