Seattle Film Guide for February 5th

OPENING THIS WEEK

District 13: Ultimatum              Bill White reviews it for Seattle PostGlobe

North Face         Bill White reviews it for Seattle PostGlobe

Dear John  Soldier on leave is smitten with a college girl.

From Paris With Love  Director Pierre Morel’s “Taken” was last year’s best action movies, so I am  fairly optimistic  about his thriller, featuring  John Travolta as an American spy in Paris, with Jonathan Rhys Meyers as  his green sidekick..

Shinjuku Incident jackie Chan has gesticulated his way through some of Hong Kong’s  dumbest martial arts pictures. He did make one good film, 1985′s “Police Story.” Now, twenty five years later, the question is, “Can he do it again?”

IN LIMITED RELEASE

Stray Dog       (SIFF Cinema, Feb 5-7)      Bill White reviews it for Seattle PostGlobe

Awesome Land: Women of Dirt    (NWFF, Feb 5-11)

With disco jazz and bad rap (one piece samples a terrible Nirvana cover), this might be mistaken for a porno with bike riding in place of sex scenes. It is recommended only for firls who believe that ‘Awesome Land’ is a magical place filled with awesome people who like to do fun things and guys who think paradise is a place there they will find girls who ride bikes even better than themselves.

Bad Biology (Grand Illusion, Feb 5 and 6 at 11om only)

Something of a comeback, not only for  director Frank Hennenlotter, but for the midnight movie as a genre, this tale of two alienated young people enslaved to their unusual biological makeup will have audiences laughing until they vomit.  In another era, it might have been n instant classic, but today, with transgressive smut  entrenching itself into mainstream comedies, Henenlotter’s dirtbag aesthetic  might go unappreciated.  

Sometimes a Great Notion (Grand Illusion, Feb 5-11) Paul Newman stars in adaptation of ken Kesey’s novel set in the Northwest.

Spike and Mike’s New Generation Animation Festival (Central Cinema, Feb 5-11) “light on gore and notably lacking in sex” Brian Miller, The Weekly

REVIVALS AND SPECIAL PROGRAMS

Seattle Art Museum

King of Cool: The Films of Steve McQueen

Thursday Nights Jan 7-March 11

Plestcheeff Auditorium

The Sand Pebbles (February 4, 7:30 pm)   Bill White Reviews it for Seattle PostGlobe

The Thomas Crown Affair (February 12, 7:30 p,)

Single-film tickets are $7 for everyone, sold day of show at the auditorium (cash only). Tickets are also available through Scarecrow Video: call 206.524.8554

  

Continuing runs at area theaters:

 Avatar   Bill White reviews it for  Seattle PostGlobe 

The Blind Side White family takes in a homeless African-American youth and helps him fulfill his dream of playing professional football.

The Book of Eli       Bill White reviews it for Seattle PostGlobe

Broken Embraces   Bill White reviews it for the Seattle PostGlobe

Crazy Heart Journalist meets broken down has-been, setting him on the road to recovery.  jeff Bridges is Oscar meat for his portrayal of a country singer on the booze skids.  Its about time he got his statue, as he  has been one of this country’s best actors for decades. 

Edge of Darkness   Mel Gibson directs himself as a cop who goes on the rampage after his daughter is killed

“An Education”    Novelist  Nick Hornby (About a Boy, High Fidelity) has had some of his books turned into successful films.  Now he tries his hand at an original screenplay about a young girl manipulated by an older man in swinging London. 

The Hurt Locker Sean Axmaker reviews it for Seattle PostGlobe

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus   Bill White reviews it for the Seattle PostGlobe  

Invictus Sports and politics in South Africa.

It’s Complicated          Meryl  Streep and Steve Martin play exes who maintain an amicable relationship until   they  celebrate their son’s graduation  with a return  to the conjugal bed.

Legion God sends angels to destroy the human race, with whom he is not well-pleased

The  Lovely Bones  ”a misguided tribute to the magic of the movies”  J. Hoberman, The Weekly

Nine   Paula Nechak’s reviews it for  Seattle PostGlobe

Police, Adjective  (Varsity, Jan 29-Feb 4)     Bill White reviews it for Seattle PostGlobe

Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire   Education helps a 16-year old African American girl overcome her seedy past.The Princess and the Frog   Get a break from 3D and check out this new 2D Disney cartoon 

Sherlock Holmes   Just the ticket for Guy Ritchie fans who have no trouble imagining Jude Law playing Watson to Robert Downey Jr.’s  Sherlock

A Single Man   “Major plot points are revealed through intricate bits of cinematic poetry”   David Schmader The Stranger

The Spy Next Door   “immediately forgettable family entertainment” Melissa Anderson The Weekly

The Tooth Fairy   Hockey player knocks out the teeth of his opponents

Up in the Air  Will “Juno” director Jason Reitman strike out or establish himself with this high-profile George Clooney comedy? 

When in Rome    Unpopular girl is beset by suitors after stealing some coins from a love fountain in Rome.

The White Ribbon Bill White reviews it for Seattle PostGlobe

The Young Victoria   Paula Nechak reviews it for the Seattle PostGlobe

Youth in Revolt  Michael Cera plays Nick Twist in C.D. Payne’s  virginity-shedding coming of age story.

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