My crazy in depth guide to this year’s Seattle International Film Fest is up now on Twitch.

LINK

Clocking in with 200-some features playing over 25 days, the Seattle International Film Festival is the king daddy of the regional exhibition fests. While they may not chase a lot of big name premieres, the nice folks at SIFF have put together an especially solid lineup of quality films for the Pacific NW audience. If you are wondering how to wade through such a vast array of titles, your task has been aided this year by a brand new feature at SIFF: pathways. An innovative experiment being pioneered in Seattle, pathways give the film viewing public a better way to navigate the torrential downpour of titles and find the films that interest them most. I’ll take a look at the pathways and few movies of interest in each one.

GANDU
Assuming the mantle of the Indian Takashi Miike, director Q (gotta guess where that comes from?) has unleashed a whole new form of cinema on his home country. Gandu (translated as “Asshole”) is a direct rejection of the boundaries of Bollywood cinema; a high voltage trip into crime, sex and rap music.

VAMPIRE
Japanese trail blazing director Shunji Iwai’s first foray into English language cinema is an often taxing but ultimately rewarding exploration of depression and criminal illness. Though not for everyone, some will certainly appreciate his incredible artistic vision. Read my full review.

TROLLHUNTER
Though it suffers from the poorly implemented reality camera narrative device (think Blair Witch Project), Norwegian André Øvredal’s giant troll action flick is a fun road trip into the absurd.

KARTE-ROBO ZABORGAR
Noboru Iguchi just keeps rolling out the hits. The wackiness of this film follows up the wackiness of Mutant Girls Squad, RoboGeisha and The Machine Girl. Keep em coming good sir.

OUTRAGE
Beat Takeshi is back with this return-to-form Yakuza actioner. Go see it. Nuff said.

OUTSIDE THE LAW
French-Algerian director Rachid Bouchareb’s 2006 film Days of Glory (Indigènes) was nominated for the Best Foreign Language Feature Oscar. His latest centering on a family in Algeria’s civil war was shortlisted for this year’s award but fell short. Nonetheless, the film is said to be incredible.

DETECTIVE DEE AND THE MYSTERY OF THE PHANTOM FLAME
Yes it sounds like a Harry Potter title, but this Tang Dynasty costumer from HK master Tsui Hark played well at Toronto and Tribeca and while not perfect, the word is that it’s a far more entertaining outing than Hark’s last few films. You certainly can’t argue with the cast that includes Andy Lau, Tony Leung Ka Fai, and Bingbing Li.

RED EAGLE
This big budget Thai superhero actioner is directed by Wisit Sasanatieng, best known for his oddly brilliant 2004 film Citizen Dog.

VIVA RIVA!
Everyone at Twitch loves Djo Tunda’s Congolese crime drama for all its sexy style. The film opens in limited release June 10th.

THE YELLOW SEA
Na Hong-jin’s awesome looking crime thriller is headed to SIFF straight from Cannes after already racking up lots of fans in South Korea.

12 PACES WITHOUT A HEAD
Part swashbuckler, part buddy story, this German high seas adventure from Sven Taddicken had its premiere in Munich almost two years ago and is slowly making its way stateside now.

BLACK BREAD
Sweeping the Goyas (Spanish Oscars) with nine awards including best pic, this coming-of-age thriller set during the Spanish civil war is said to have one hell of a graphic opening scene.

FIRE OF CONSCIENCE and THE STOOL PIGEON
HK action master Dante Lam has two films in SIFF this year. The first stars Leon Lai and the second Nick Cheung, you guessed it, both as cops out to employ their unique form of vigilante justice to solve a harrowing crime(s).

RED EYES
No way I’m gonna let a soccer docu slip through the cracks. This film’s three young co-directors followed the Chilean National team for eight years to make this incredible looking tale of what it takes to win on the world’s biggest stage.

ETERNITY
Protégé of Pen-ek Ratanaruang (Last Life in the Universe) and one time cinematographer for Apichatpong Weerasethakul (Uncle Boonmee), Sivaroj Kongsakul looks poised to be the next big time director to come out of Thailand with this gorgeous looking debut feature love story that took the top prize at Rotterdam earlier this year.

A CAT IN PARIS
The French have been killing it with their animation lately and this hand-painted feature from directing team Jean-Loup Felicioli and Alain Gagnol looks like another stylized hit. The story revolves around a house cat who moonlights with a burglar and a little girl trying to solve a murder.

LIFE IN A DAY
Kevin Macdonald has had a great career. He won an Oscar for his first widely released film, the Palestinian docu One Day In September, a BAFTA for his next wide release Touching the Void (still the highest grossing British doc), and then directed Forest Whitaker to an Oscar (and multiple BAFTAs) in his first dramatic attempt The Last King of Scotland. His latest film is a bit more experimental – a YouTube doc about one day in the life of everyone on planet earth. Ambitious. The film was met with praise at Sundance and opens in theaters in late July.

A BAREFOOT DREAM
This story of a retired pro soccer player who travels to East Timor and ends up coaching youth soccer was South Korea’s entry for the Best Foreign Language Oscar last year.

THE REDEMPTION OF GENERAL BUTT NAKED
Daniele Anastasion and Eric Strauss’s documentary about a Liberian General responsible for the deaths of thousands and his quest for atonement was a hit at Sundance where it won the cinematography prize. Still no word on distribution.

TYRANNOSAUR
Actor Paddy Considine’s directorial debut was hailed as one of the best dramas of Sundance. Peter Mullan stars as a degenerate drunk looking for a way to reconnect with society. If this film is any indication, we can expect more great things from Considine.

BRUCE LEE, MY BROTHER
Tony Leung Ka Fai and Aarif Rahman star in this biopic of Bruce Lee’s early days in HK. While reviews have been mixed (including ours), big Bruce Lee buffs will likely want to catch the gorgeous visuals on the big screen.

KING OF DEVIL’S ISLAND
I hadn’t previously heard of Marius Holst’s early 20th century juvie prison drama, but with Stellan Skarsgård in the lead and a very atmospheric and polished looking trailer, this one might just be worth making an effort to catch.

PERFECT SENSE
I particularly enjoyed this Ewan McGregor and Eva Green love story at Sundance. The film does a great job of imagining what would happen if everyone in the world suddenly started losing their senses. Read my full review

SUSHI: A GLOBAL CATCH
Hmmm, this one must be in the “Beyond” category because it certainly doesn’t appear to be sci-fi. This doc from first-timer Mark Hall explore the global sushi trade and how we can work to make the world’s growing favorite food sustainable.

SOMETHING VENTURED
This doc from Ballets Russes directors Dan Geller and Dayna Goldfine explores the birth of Silicon Valley tech companies through the venture capitalists who gave the Apples and Ataris of the world a shot.

OUR HOME
This mixture of sci-fi and horror explores the ideas of suicide and the afterlife. It is said to be the most expensive Brazilian film ever produced ($9.9M USD – still qualifying it as low budget here).

PAGE ONE: INSIDE THE NEW YORK TIMES
I cannot recommend Andrew Rossi’s insightful documentary highly enough for anyone interested in the changing face of journalism and the media in these fascinating times. From Iraq to WikiLeaks, Rossi’s camera follows NYTimes personalities David Carr, Brian Stelter and others as they explore what it takes to bring the news to people all over the world. This film will make you feel a whole lot closer to the people you’re probably already following on twitter.

THE FIRST GRADER
Justin Chadwick’s drama about an 84-year old man in Kenya trying to get a basic education is a story of hope, an examination education in Africa, and SIFF’s selection for their Opening Night Gala.

FIRE IN BABYLON
Steven Riley’s acclaimed doc tells the story of the 70s champion West Indies cricket team against the backdrop of apartheid, post-colonial social unrest, and reggae music.

AN AFRICAN ELECTION
This doc directed by actor Jarreth Merz takes you onto the podium, inside the voting booth and behind the protest lines for the very controversial Ghanaian election of 2008. The trailer looks innn-tense.

HOW TO DIE IN OREGON
Peter Richardson’s euthanasia doc won the prestigious Grand Jury Documentary Prize at Sundance this past year. If you can’t make it to SIFF, it premieres on HBO May 26th.

NATURAL SELECTION
Robbie Pickering’s ridiculously funny family comedy won just about every award on the table at SXSW and continues its path towards world domination at SIFF.

THE BENGALI DETECTIVE
Philip Cox’s hilarious documentary about a comic detective in India was such a hit at Sundance that Fox Searchlight bought film rights to remake it as a scripted comedy.

HIGH ROAD
Upright Citizens Brigade founding member Matt Walsh directs an all star cast including Abby Elliott, Rob Riggle, Lizzy Caplan, and Ed Helms in this stoner-crime-romance-comedy.

THE TRIP
Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon resume their roles of themselves in Michael Winterbottom’s deliciously clever real world continuation of Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story. Cut down from a three hour mini-series, the film finds Coogan and Brydon touring the English countryside throwing jabs at each other and generally having a grand old time.

SUBMARINE
Another Brit comedy (this one set in Wales), Richard Ayoade’s hilarious coming-of-ager has been loved by audiences from Toronto to Sundance. A big part of this is the clever script – and an even bigger part is the wonderful cast made up of Sally Hawkins, Noah Taylor, Paddy Considine, Craig Roberts and Yasmin Paige.

TABLOID
Errol Morris has made some of the best docus of our time from The Thin Blue Line to the Oscar winning Fog of War. His latest is the examination of a 1970s kidnapped Mormon beauty queen and the media circus that followed. The film played well, if not quite gangbusters, at Sundance and SXSW – it will get a release from Sundance Selects July 15th.

3 (DREI)
Tom Tykwer returns to his Run Lola Run roots with this German language story following all three legs of complicated love triangle.

CIRCUMSTANCE
This Iranian story of forbidden love between two women in Tehran’s art and music scene received mixed marks at Sundance but did walk away with the Audience Award for Dramatic feature.

THE FUTURE
Miranda July follows-up her Me and You and Everyone We Know with this adult-angst film told from the perspective of her cat. I guarantee that you will love this film… if you love everything that Miranda July does.

SAIGON ELECTRIC
The trailer for this Vietnamese Step Up has all the dance movie clichés (they are gonna close the rec center?!) – but even so, it shows some promise if you are into Asia and/or hip hop – and how many movies make it over here from Vietnam anyway? I just wish they’d stuck with the film’s original title in Vietnam, Saigon Yo!

BLACK, WHITE AND BLUES
Jefferson Bailey, Michael Clarke Duncan, and Tom Skerritt star in Mario Van Peebles’s blues-infused road story of redemption.

WHO TOOK THE BOMP? LE TIGRE ON TOUR
Strange Powers: Stephin Merritt and the Magnetic Fields director Kerthy Fix takes us on the road with feminist –electronirockers Le Tigre for a tour spanning four continents.

THE ROADIE
Director Michael Cuesta is perhaps best known for his 2001 Sundance winning L.I.E.. Since then he has directed a slew of cable dramas including Six Feet Under, Dexter, and True Blood. His latest feature is the story of a roadie returning home after 20 years touring and stars Ron Eldard alongside favorite (of anyone who saw Win Win) Bobby Cannavale.

PRESSPAUSEPLAY
This documentary from Swedish first-timers Victor Köhler & David Dworsky looks to be an interesting examination of the digital arts revolutions and the dissolving barriers between creator and consumer. Check out the trailer on its SIFF page (or go out and make your own).

A MATTER OF TASTE: SERVING UP PAUL LIEBRANDT
Sally Rowe’s docu about the rise, fall, and resurrection of avant-garde chef Paul Liebrandt has received a colon and second title since it impressed audiences at SXSW and Tribeca.

SHUT UP LITTLE MAN! AN AUDIO MISADVENTURE
What happens when two assholes from the Midwest decide to record the hysterical alcohol-induced rants and raves of their homophobic neighbor and his flamboyantly gay roommate? This doc by Aussie Matthew Bate had Sundance audiences in stitches.

LA DOLCE VITA
Don’t miss this rare chance to see this restored print of Fellini’s 1960 masterpiece on the big screen – a true cinematic indulgence.

Mi Madre and I headed to Vancouver earlier this month for a very fun 24 hours tromping around the town, checking out restaurants, bars, parks, and art. Here is a short account of the trip. Please check out the links to read my considerably more detailed Yelp reviews of each of the spots we visited. I’ll also link to photos from my Vancouver photoset on flickr.

After checking into our West End hotel the Blue Horizon (the same hotel where my grandfather stayed for a few months when he first moved to Vancouver in the 1970s), we hit Robson heading east. Our first stop was Japa Dog (4* on Yelp) (photo) – a little lunch time amalgamation of a hot dog stand and Japanese street food. That provided us with some fuel for the long walk down seedy Hastings street. But before we got there, we passed the big construction project that is Vancouver’s BC Place Stadium (photo). When the retractable roof is completed next year it will be the home of Vancouver’s new MLS franchise, the Whitecaps.

Hastings Street is starting to show some signs of gentrification. I only saw two people smoking crack openly on the street. There was still some pretty cool street art to be found (photos 1 | 2 | 3). Once past all that, we came to our destination, Commercial Drive. I had read that The Drive, as it’s known, is one of the more happening parts of Van and the reports seem to be true. It isn’t quite Los Feliz or Abbott Kinney, but it did remind me of The Ave in Seattle’s University District.

We stopped for coffee on the north end of The Drive at Pane Vero (4* on Yelp) before heading down through the heart of The Drive’s shopping district. Amongst other spots, we ducked into the memorable 10,000 Villages (5* on Yelp) where we bought a very cool trivet made of folded newspaper from the Philippines. After that we headed down The Drive past a number of Italian groceries and soccer bars where we spotted a very cool Italian soccer mural (photo). We went on to explore the Portland-esque neighborhood behind The Drive and then stopped for happy hour at an enjoyable spot called Timbre Restaurant (4* on Yelp).

From there we jumped on the skytrain and got out at the east end of False Creek where the sun finally peeked out for a bit (photo). The south east corner of False Creek is where Vancouver’s Olympic Village was built last winter. They’ve turned the media center into a very nice recreation center and all the athlete’s housing is now condos for sale (though most seemed empty). The weird part is that it seemed like they have done as much as possible to wipe away the signs that this is where the Olympics took place. No rings, no flame – the only hint was a street sign that ready Athlete’s Drive. Really it was kind of strange.

Just west of the condos is a very cool park (photo) with some great sculptures and some big kid toys. We had a great time checking this place out and the nice view across the creek (photo) before walking back downtown over the Cambie Street Bridge. Looking down from the bridge there was a very cool view of a huge pile of concrete street barriers (photo).

We walked back through downtown and up to Gastown where we walked past photogenic alleyways (photo) and shops (photo). We had a before dinner drink at my new favorite bar the Alibi Room (5* on Yelp) before heading to the dinner spot we decided on, the disappointing Pourhouse (3* on Yelp).

After dinner we walked back west past a cool interactive wooden art installation (photos 1 | 2). Our destination was a bar (pictured above) near our hotel called O’Douls (3* on Yelp). Unfortunately the advertised live music was a glorified hotel lobby band. But we did have a great time ending the evening sipping whiskey (photo). Stay tuned for news on my momma’s upcoming blog Sketching Scotches (working title).

We awoke to a rainy morning and after coffee took a nice drive around Vancouver’s Stanley Park. We then headed south to trendy Kitsilano where we stopped for brunch and the funky and delicious Sophie’s Cosmic Cafe (5* on Yelp) (photo). After eating we were off to the extremely enjoyable Museum of Anthropology on the UBC campus. I’m going to post a whole photoset of all the cool masks inside the museum soon, but for now here, is a photo of Arthur Erickson’s beautiful building.

After the museum it was time to drive back south to the US of A where we met John and friends for a delicious dinner in BHam at Bayou on Bay (5* on Yelp). All in all it was a fantastic trip. Vancouver is just as fun a city as I remember from those 19 year old drunken escapades – only this time with much better food. I look forward to the next trip. Thanks Momma!

Don’t get mad at me Seattle film fans – I just heard someone on iW refer to your wonderful fest that way and couldn’t help but repeat it. With 260 features, SIFF is the biggest fest in the country. It is a great opportunity for NWers to see the movies making the fest rounds from the previous year and to catch some otherwise hard to find foreign films. SIFF’s website format makes it hard to weed through the multitude of titles (just put the director under the damn title), but here is what caught my eye in the quick look I took at the program.

The Sentimental Engine Slayer – Wow I somehow missed hearing about this one when it prem’d at Rotterdam and then played at Tribeca, but this is the debut feature from Omar Rodriguez Lopez (yep, of The Mars Volta fame) who wrote, directed, and stars in this tripped out sounding film. Peep the trailer and move this one to the top of your list.

Farewell – Christian Carion’s French Cold War spy thriller is his follow up to 2005′s Joyeux Noel.

Leaves of Grass – Coming off an acclaimed premier at SXSW, this pot growing drama from Tim Blake Nelson screens as part of a Tribute to Ed Norton that includes screenings of 25th Hour, Fight Club, and American History X (what… no Death to Smoochy?).

American Faust: From Condi to Neo-Condi – This is the first I have heard of Sebastian Doggart’s (a former Project Runway producer) political docu that delves deep into the career of Condoleeza Rice as “a woman whose pursuit of power has both destroyed her values and hurled America into a perilous new direction.”

The Milk of Sorrow – This challenging sounding Peruvian film by Claudia Llosa was nom’d for the Foreign Language Oscar.

The Dancer and the Thief – Fresh off his fantastic performance in the Foreign Language Oscar winning The Secret in Their Eyes, Ricardo Darin stars as a reformed thief in veteran filmmaker Fernando Trueba’s post-Pinochet era romantic-thriller. This screens as part of a New Spanish Cinema program at the fest.

Skeletons – This British black comedy by Nick Whitfield about skeleton extractors (like the ones in closets) has a decisively Gondry-esque surreal sound to it and might be worth a gander.

Micmacs – I’ve mentioned it a number of times and I am still looking forward to catching the latest from Jean-Pierre Jeunet.

Ondine – Neil Jordan’s (The Crying Game, Interview with a Vampire) Colin Farrell starring mermaid story never quite caught hold after its Toronto prem – but it hung around long enough to play at Tribeca last month and again at SIFF.

This Way of Life – Call me fascinated with New Zealand, but this documentary about a family living in New Zealand’s Ruahine Mountains and their struggles with modernity sounds incredibly interesting. Just check out the trailer.

The Trotsky – Jay Baruchel stars as the young Canadian reincarnation of the Socialist revolutionary in this Jacob Tierney comedy hit from Toronto.

Down Terrace – I’ve heard nothing but good about this British gangster flick which screened way back at Fantastic Fest.

Life During Wartime – Paul Reubens and others star in Todd Solondz’s (Welcome to the Dollhouse, Happiness) latest dark comedy.

Under the Mountain – You may think Jonathan King’s New Zealand based film will be a fresh take on the youth adventure genre, but it is snores-ville as evidenced by its unimpressive reception at Fantastic Fest.

JAPANESE FLICKS

RoboGeisha – Get ready for wacky as you delve into Noboru Iguchi’s wild world of genital weaponry.

Air Doll – Hirokazu Kore-eda (Still Walking, Nobody Knows, After Life) returns with this odd tale of a man and his doll.

K-20: The Fiend with 20 Faces I was no big fan of this big budget action flick starring Takeshi Kaneshiro back at Fantastic Fest.

Kanikosen I don’t know much about the Japanese director who goes by Sabu (Unlucky Monkey), but this film about Japanese-Russian relations in the early days of the 20th century takes place on a crab canning ship and sounds suitably wacky.

ASIAN TOUR

Bakal Boys – This Filipino docu-drama tells the story of the young metal divers in the heavily polluted Manila Bay.

Little Big Soldier – Jackie Chan’s latest action comedy takes place in way ancient China.

At the End of Daybreak – There aren’t a whole lot of movies that make it here from Malaysia. This noir-ish drama could be interesting.

City of Life and Death – You might remember this stylish Rape of Nanking drama from my Toronto write-up way back in September

Mundane History – Thai filmmaker Anocha Suwichakornpong’s first feature sounds like an impressive exploration of art and life.

SUNDANCE HITS

Quite a few of Sundance’s best narrative films are making their NW premier at SIFF – including the official fest fave, Debra Granik’s Winter’s Bone. One of my personal faves, Tucker & Dale Vs. Evil will be playing as a midnight film along side one of the less popular midnighters, the Adrian Brody + Sarah Polley starrer Splice. The John Lennon as a young man Nowhere Boy is playing – as is the James Franco as Allen Ginsberg Howl. Two more flicks that I caught, Cyrus which stars John C. Reilly, Jonah Hill, and Marisa Tomei and the Jesse Eisenberg orthodox Jew ecstasy smuggling movie I enjoyed, Holy Rollers.

SUNDANCE DOCS

There are also some great Sundance docs at the fest – including one I am still excited to see, Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child. Restrepo which won the Docu Grand Jury prize will be there, as will the other big war docu The Tillman Story. The Oath, about a Guantanamo detainee won a special cinematography prize and Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work had a whole lot of buzz. A couple domestic topics, 8: The Mormon Proposition about California’s anti-gay Prop. 8 and the Davis Guggenheim directed public school expose Waiting for Superman are both playing. Finally, one film I enjoyed about Chinese domestic migration Last Train Home is also on the bill.

For more on these Sundace flicks, check out my Sundance Wrap from earlier this year.

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.

Burma VJ
A behind the scenes look at the 2007 Burmese political uprising shot covertly by people on the ground – Burma VJ has already been hailed as one of the year’s best docs winning an editing award at Sundance. I’m planning to see this film May 26 at 5pm.

The Beast Stalker
This is the other flick I am gonna try to catch May 27 at 7pm. Called by SIFF “the Hong Kong action hit of the year,” Dante Lam’s cop/triad battle begins with “a thrilling car chase that ends with a $200,000 multicar stunt you have to see to believe.” Sounds good to me.

Hansel and Gretel
Also while I’m in town is this Korean surrealist take on the old fairy tale directed by Yim Phil-sung . The trailer is definitely worth checking out.

Don’t Let Me Drown
I’m pretty intrigued by this ultra indie about latino teens set in NYC shortly after 9/11. Director Cruz Angeles is a name that might be worth looking out for.

Favela on Blast
The most interesting thing about this documentary examining the Brazilian club culture of Baile Funk is that it is co-directed by musician/dj Diplo.

Forever Enthralled
Director Chen Kaige (Farewell My Concubine, Together) returns from his abysmal The Promise with this Chinese romance starring the always amazing Zhang Ziyi as an opera singer in 1920s Peking. This big budget biopic looks to have a fair bit of, ahem, promise.

The Garden
This doc looks at a large plot of land in South Central Los Angeles that was transformed into a community garden after the 1992 riots and the city’s battle to develop the land out from under the locals.

The Strength of Water
This is the story of Maori kids in rural New Zealand. Said to be less kid friendly than The Whale Rider, this film looks to be just as interesting.

Still Walking
Hirokazu Kore-eda returns with this Japanese meditative family drama. While I didn’t love 2004′s Nobody Knows, Kore-eda’s After Life from 1998 is one of my faves.

Inju, The Beast in the Shadow
This French erotic thriller is based on a Japanese novel and set in Japan. It is directed by veteran director Barbet Schroeder most famous (to me, at least) as the director of Bukowski’s Barfly and hilarious character in Bukowski’s novel ‘Hollywood.’

The Maid
Chilean director Sebastian Silva’s second feature is an interesting character study of a maid and her awkwardly comedic assistant. This film won the Grand Jury World Cinema prize at this year’s Sundance.

Cold Souls
This feature debut from Sophie Barthes looks to be an extremely interesting and entertaining story about an actor, Paul Giamatti, playing himself, Paul Giamatti. Many have compared this to Jonze/Kaufman’s Being John Malkovitch – a high standard to match, but a nice comparison none the less.

Paper Hearts
This Sundance hit is actually the only film on this list I have seen. It is co-written by and stars Charlyne Yi (who you might remember as Martin Starr’s hilarious Asian gf in Knocked Up) as she embarks on a journey to discover if there is really such thing as love. Along the way a relationship develops between she and Michael Cera and the story evolves into their love story. Part doc, part scripted, not quite everything works in this off beat film but it is interesting and certainly charming.

Departures
This surprise Oscar winner for Best Foreign Language Feature by Yojiro Takita is the story of a Japanese cellist who has to take a job in a funeral parlor after his orchestra is dissolved.

It Takes a Cult
This documentary looks at the Northwest’s own hippy commune known as The Love Family and their controversial leader Love Israel from the point of view of one of the children of the family.

Stella
I am intrigued by this French dramedy about an 11-year-old over achieving daughter of a barmaid assigned to an upper-class Parisian school.

Spring Breakdown
You know it isn’t a good sign when the trailer for the film on the fest’s website ends with “Now available on DVD and BluRay” but this comedy deserves a mention because it stars Parker Posey, Amy Poehler, and the funniest actress in Hollywood, Jane Lynch.

Kabei — Our Mother
Festival and personal favorite Yoji Yamada returns to SIFF with the first film since finishing his Twilight Samurai trilogy. Yamada takes on the decidedly different setting of prewar Tokyo. From SIFF: “Unashamedly emotional without lapsing into sentimentality, Kabei—Our Mother is lightened by a subtle undercurrent of humor and exceptional performances. The film’s meditative approach and impeccable formal construction make it a rewarding exploration of a family’s resilience in the face of distress.”

Moon
The trailer for this interesting looking Sam Rockwell starrer is a must watch! Sony Classics is set to release the film June 12.

The Clone Returns Home
A good old Japanese sci-fi clone thriller from relative newcomer Kanji Nakajima.

The Cove
This documentary about a dolphin trainer turned dolphin activist was a huge hit at Sundance winning the Audience Award for U.S. doc.

Unmistaken Child
This doc takes a look at the Buddhist practice of the reincarnation search. From SIFF: “While the film is ostensibly about the identification and education of a remarkable child, it also portrays hardworking Zopa’s evolution from shy disciple to resourceful teacher, capturing the beauty in wild nature and timeless, elaborate Buddhist rites and rituals.”

The Higher Force
This Icelandic take on the darkly comedic mob genre looks great from the trailer.

Messrine: A Film in Two Parts
This looks to be a bit more classic style mob film. This epic French film runs a full 4 hours in total.

Warlords
This big budget HK costume actioner stars Jet Li, Andy Lau, and Takeshi Kaneshiro. With names like that this has a ton of potential.

Food, Inc.
This documentary from good guys Participant (An Inconvenient Truth) goes in depth into the world of big agro-business and asks the question, just where does our food come from?

Opium War
In his follow up to Osama, Afghan filmmaker Siddiq Barmak tells an interesting looking story of Americans shot down in a poppy field who must try to survive, all the while “licking the poppy essence to bury the pain and anguish of battle.”

The Dark Harbor
This looks like a pretty awesome Japanese comedy with a way-too-ominous sounding title. Check out the trailer.

The Yes Men Fix the World
The gonzo political activists The Yes Men are at it again with this follow up docu to 2003′s The Yes Men.

Tetro
And we close with this special presentation of Francis Ford Coppola’s Vincent Gallo starrer. Let’s all just hope this is better than 2007′s Youth Without Youth.

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.

Blood Brothers
Alexi Tan’s 1930s Shanghai gangster flick looks very cool (and co-stars Shu Qi). I plan to go to the May 29 Screening at the Egyptian at 4:30P.
Toronto 07 writeup

The Edge of Heaven & Head-On
I have heard nothing but amazing praise for Turkish/German director Fatih Akin and both of his films are at SIFF this year.

Elite Squad
This great Brazilian action flick won the top prize at this year’s Berlin Film Festival. I guess you could say it is kinda like a present day City of God from the cops’ perspective.

Under the Bombs
This Sundance flick was incredibly shot a few days after the 2006 bombing of Beirut. Although the story isn’t all that polished, the filmmaking and photography are really remarkable.

Let the Right One In
People have been telling me I need to see this Swedish vampire flick for months. So I finally plan to do just that on Sat. May 31 at 11:00A.

American Teen
I’ve talked about it before and here is more – this is one of the most interesting docus of the year – exploring the social interactions of a group of teens growing up in a small Indiana town.

Jolene
This is an interesting sounding World Premiere film based on an E.L. Doctorow story about a girl making her way across America over a 10-year period.

Baghead
This super low budget flick from the Duplass Bros. (Puffy Chair) is a good example of getting a solid film made outside the system and worth a watch.

Sukiyaki Western Django
Ahhh Miike – always a fun ride. This is Miike’s western and he has an all Japanese cast speaking in broken English. Should be a blast. I’m checkin it out Monday 6/9 at 9:45P.

Bigger Stronger Faster
While I have yet to catch this docu about steroid use – it got good buzz out of Sundance and the filmmaker, Chris Bell, is a good guy.

Nocturna
Interesting sounding Spanish animated film.

Chrysalis
This French sci-fi action-thriller looks like it could be pretty decent.
Trailer

Mad Detective
Very cool looking Johnnie To & Wai Ka Fai HK cop actioner.

Up the Yangtze
I have heard great things about this Sundance docu about China’s Three Gorges Dam project.

Some Assembly Required
Interesting sounding docu about kids competing in an annual toy building challenge.

In Search of Kennedy
This docu about Kennedy and what would have been different had he lived is the world premiere screening from director Chuck Workman.

Song of Sparrows
What is bound to be another beautiful film from Iranian auteur Majid Majidi (The Color of Paradise).

Girl Sparks
What SIFF would be complete with some kooky Japanese comedy? This one, about a teen and her cross-dressing dad, is by Yuya Ishii who directed the 2005 hit (well…) Bare-assed Japan.

California Dreamin’ (Endless)
This feature debut by touted Romanian Christian Nemescu won a jury prize at Cannes a year ago and sounds interesting in an Eastern European comedy kinda way.

August
Josh Hartnett, and David Bowie star in this interesting sounding film about a dot-com entrepreneur. Co-starring Sloan from Entourage (Emmanuelle Chriqui).

Anvil! The Story of Anvil
One of my favorite docus from Sundance, this story of a heavy metal band’s 30 year search for stardom is a hell of a good time. If the band or brilliant director Sacha Gervasi is there, expect a great Q&A. (photo is me with lead singer Lips at SKE)