Alex has got his photoblog up and running and right now it is packed to the gills with great shots like these two from last month’s amazing Sasquatch Festival. Check out the awesome power of the fisheye!
For a lot more from Sasquatch check out Danz’s flickrset and Alex’s flickrset. Nice work guys.
It is time once again for the massive Seattle International Film Fest, and once again I find myself in Seattle as it kicks off. However, with 395 films (!!) over three weeks I will only be able to catch a flick or two towards the beginning. Still I have poured through the catalog in order to give NWers a few recommendations of films that might be worth checking out. The fest website is great this year with trailers for many of the films on their own slick embedded player. Click the film title for the SIFF page and Enjoy!
(500) Days of Summer
Quite possibly the film I am most looking forward to this summer is music video director Marc Webb’s feature debut. This Sundance hit stars Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt in an offbeat romance. Fox Searchlight is set to release the film in mid-July but if you can’t wait (why would you?) then catch it at SIFF during the fest’s last week.
We Live in Public
Ondi Timoner, director of one of my favorite documentaries ever, DiG!, finally has a new film out and it looks incredibly interesting. The film goes inside a social experiment that put 100 people underground New York to live and party together – all in front of a ton of cameras. Anyone who saw DiG! knows Timoner is one of the best at letting his subjects tell the story and this is sure to be a first rate doc.
Il Divo
This award winning Italian film is the dramatization of the true story of a highly influential Italian politician with deep mafia roots. The film won a Jury prize at Cannes last year. SIFF says: “Sorrentino’s stylized portrait of Andreotti manages to be seriously political but wraps its message in an entertaining package featuring wicked wit and brilliant cinematography.”
Maradona by Kusturica
What film festival would be complete without a soccer documentary? This is award winning filmmaker Emir Kusturica’s examination of the life and career of one of the best footballers of all time, Argentine Diego Maradona.
Seattle sports fans finally have a reason to get excited – and it is for the beautiful game no less! MLS kicked off the ‘09 season last night in Qwest field with the expansion team Seattle Sounders FC dismantling the NY Red Bulls – a team that played in the MLS final last year! Seattle has a great squad, led up front by 21 year-old Colombian phenom Fredy Montero (two goals and one assist) and in the net by 39 year-old captain Kasey Keller, one of USA Soccer’s best goal keepers ever. Former Arsenal star Freddie Ljungberg, certainly one of the best in MLS, is also on the squad but not quite in match form as he recovers from hip surgery.
What was really incredible was the support given the team by the fans. Qwest was roaring like the 4th quarter of a Seahawks game – the crowd a sea of rave green and sounder blue scarves. Everyone from the MLS Commish to the commentators was impressed.
“Having spent my whole career in Europe, I was worried about being let down — why come home for this?” said a beaming Kasey Keller. “But there’s probably not a better atmosphere for soccer in America.
“This team is raising the bar for what our teams could achieve,” Don Garber, MLS commissioner, gushed at halftime.
“This is the most successful launch in MLS history,” Joe Roth, the Hollywood movie producer and part-owner of the team told the crowd. “We proved Seattle is the capital of soccer in this country.”
MLS gets a lot of flack for the play not being up to the level of the Euro leagues. There is a lot of truth in that. But I for one am extremely excited to finally have a team I can fully support. Now just don’t move to Oklahoma.
The Sounders next take on Real Salt Lake a week from Sat. at Qwest. Here are some links:
Art Thiel reports (P-I) — Sounders Home — Sounders $5 T-shirt QFC Promo (someone in NW wanna grab one of these for me – size M pls?)
Def winning this week’s award for best blog name, sboogie and dbot have got their new NW based blog up and running. Check it out and congrats yo.
The SASQUATCH! 2009 lineup is out and I am very, very impressed. Not the Seattle-centric lineup of last year but still a fantastic and actually stronger lineup. Once again the fest takes place Memorial Day weekend at the Gorge, about two hours east of Seattle. Here’s the lineup:
Saturday, May 23th
Kings of Leon / Yeah Yeah Yeahs / The Decemberists / Animal Collective / Bon Iver / M. Ward / Doves / Sun Kil Moon / The Gaslight Anthem / King Khan & The Shrines / Ra Ra Riot / Shearwater / Passion Pit / Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band / Vince Mira / Blind Pilot / Owl City / Arthur & Yu / Dent May & His Magnificent Ukulele / Death Vessel / Hockey / James Pants / Todd Barry / Tim & Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! / People’s Republic of Komedy
Sunday, May 24th
Jane’s Addiction / Nine Inch Nails / TV On The Radio / Peter Bjorn and John / of Montreal / The Avett Brothers / Calexico / M83 / The Airborne Toxic Event / The Walkmen / The Wrens / St. Vincent / The Dodos / John Vanderslice / The Submarines / Viva Voce / The Builders And The Butchers / AA Bondy / Fences / Point Juncture, WA / The Red Wine Boys / Jon Benjamin / Zach Galifianakis / Deadmau5 / Natalie Portman’s Shaved Head / People’s Republic of Komedy / Devotchka
Monday, May 25th
Ben Harper and Relentless7 / Erykah Badu / Silversun Pickups / Fleet Foxes / Gogol Bordello / Santogold / Grizzly Bear / Explosions In The Sky / Girl Talk / Blitzen Trapper / The Knux / Monotonix / Bishop Allen / Black Moth Super Rainbow / Beach House / Mugison / The Dutchess And The Duke / School Of Seven Bells / Horse Feathers / The Pica Beats / Loch Lomond / BLK JKS / Demetri Martin / God’s Pottery / Chromeo / Tobacco / People’s Republic of Komedy
I’ve tried to bold the acts I am most excited about but it seems that is most of the main acts. Organizers have done a great job to get stronger closers as it seemed like the main attractions last year were the second to last bands. Still, NIN going on before Jane’s is a bit baffling – but I guess they are touring that way.
We had a helluva fun time camping at the nearby Wild Horse Campground and taking in the show last year and with a lineup this strong, I think I gotta go back. Tix go on sale weekend after next and if you buy them then, you get all 3 days for $155 – way cheaper than Coachella. Anyone else interested? Who are you most excited about? Anyone into any of the smaller acts?
New photos from my recent time in the N-dub are up on flickr. There are shots from my momma’s (like this shot of the Dancing Ballerina), shots from the Sasquatch Festival (also see Danz’s shots), shots from the city, and shots from the Rangerville party (and Abby has shots up on facebook – tho you probably gotta log in).
Lemme know what you think and thanks to everyone who made it such a great trip.
Hello from Seattle!!
Close on the heels of my arrival in the NW is this years Seattle Int’l Film Festival. Welcome SIFF. The following are the highlights, according to me. I’m planning to check out a few flicks during the time I am in and out of the city (see below in bold). Lemme know if you wanna join or if you catch anything cool.
The Wackness
My favorite film at Sundance – this fantastic coming of age story follows a high schooler (Josh Peck) as he slangs dope to his shrink (Ben Kingsley) and gets his heart broken by the shrink’s daughter (Olivia Thirlby). All of this is set to a bumpin early 90s hip hop soundtrack. Check this flick out for sure! (It’ll be out in theaters this summer).
Man on Wire
This docu is definitely one of the year’s best. Unfolding like a crime thriller, it tells the story of a high wire walker as he plans and carries out his famous World Trade Center feat of 1974. I highly recommend this.
Ploy
I’m going to give Thai auteur Pen-ek Ratanaruang another shot after his disappointing Hidden Waves. Seeing this Weds. 5/28 at 9:30P.
Love and Honor (Bushi no Ichibun)
I was so excited when I saw that Yoji Yamada’s final chapter of his samurai trilogy would be at SIFF (I was lucky enough to catch the other two on the big screen) until I discovered both screenings are Memorial Day Weekend and I can’t make it!
Battle in Seattle
After premiering at SXSW, this dramatization of the 1999 Seattle WTO protests makes its hometown debut in a Gala screening. Will local audiences find it authentic? I am curious.
Continue to plenty more of my highlights of this year’s SIFF
Two of the men above are the artists behind one of the most progressive alt.noise rock and roll bands playing music today – the other two are the goofy duo leading the Kiwi comedy.folk revolution happening across America (can you tell who is who?). What do they both have in common? They are both on the bill for this year’s Sasquatch Music Festival taking place at the Gorge Amphitheater this Memorial Day weekend.
Full Lineup:
Saturday, May 24th
R.E.M. / Modest Mouse / M.I.A. / The New Pornographers / The National / Ozomatli / Beirut / Dengue Fever / Fleet Foxes / The Breeders / Okkervil River / Crudo (featuring Mike Patton & Dan The Automator) / Destroyer / Dead Confederate / Grand Archives / David Bazan / Joshua Morrison / Vince Mira with the Roy Kay Trio / Throw Me The Statue / The Shaky Hands
Sunday, May 25th
The Cure / Death Cab For Cutie / Michael Franti & Spearhead / Blue Scholars / Cold War Kids / Tegan & Sara / Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks / The Kooks / Mates of State / Rogue Wave / White Rabbits / The Heavenly States / 65daysofstatic / Sera Cahoone / The Blakes / The Cops / J. Tillman / "Awesome"
Monday, May 26th
The Flaming Lips U.F.O. Show / The Mars Volta / Flight Of The Conchords / Rodrigo Y Gabriela / Built To Spill / The Hives / Matt Costa / Ghostland Observatory / Jamie Lidell / Battles / The Cave Singers / The Little Ones / Thao Nguyen with the Get Down Stay Down / Pela / Kinski / Dyme Def / Say Hi / Siberian
Pretty freakin amazing. I bought my tickets – anyone else want to roll.
