Seattle Film Guide Feb 26-March 4: Watch Out For “The Crazies”
Seattle Film Guide for February 26 – March 4
OPENING THIS WEEK
The Crazies David Dutton (Timothy Olyphant) is sheriff of Ogden Marsh, a picture-perfect American town with happy, law-abiding citizens. But one night, one of them comes to a school baseball game with a loaded shotgun, ready to kill. Another man burns down his own house… after locking his wife and young son in a closet inside. Within days, the town has transformed into a sickening asylum; people who days ago lived quiet, unremarkable lives have now become depraved, bloodthirsty killers. Sheriff Dutton tries to make sense of what’s happening as the horrific, nonsensical violence escalates. Now complete anarchy reigns as one by one the townsfolk succumb to an unknown toxin and turn sadistically violent. In an effort to keep the madness contained, the government uses deadly force to close off all access and won’t let anyone in or out — even those uninfected. The few still sane find themselves trapped: Sheriff Dutton; his pregnant wife, Judy (Radha Mitchell); Becca (Danielle Panabaker), an assistant at the medical center; and Russell (Joe Anderson), Dutton’s deputy and right-hand man. Forced to band together, an ordinary night becomes a horrifying struggle for survival as they do their best to get out of town alive.
Ghost Writer Roman Polanski directs this atmospheric and suspenseful political thriller based on the novel The Ghost by Robert Harris. When a successful British ghostwriter, The Ghost (Ewan McGregor), agrees to complete the memoirs of former British Prime Minister Adam Lang (Pierce Brosnan), his agent assures him it’s the opportunity of a lifetime. But the project seems doomed from the start—not least because his predecessor on the project, Lang’s long-term aide, died in an unfortunate accident. The Ghost flies to the East Coast of the United States to work on the project, but the day after he arrives, a former British cabinet minister accuses Lang of authorizing the illegal seizure of suspected terrorists and handing them over for torture by the CIA—a war crime. The controversy brings reporters and protesters swarming to the island mansion where Lang is staying with his wife, Ruth (Olivia Williams), and his personal assistant, Amelia (Kim Cattrall). As The Ghost works, he begins to uncover clues suggesting his predecessor may have stumbled on a dark secret linking Lang to the CIA—and that somehow this information is hidden in the manuscript he left behind. Also starring Timothy Hutton, Eli Wallach, Tom Wilkinson and James Belushi.
Cop Out Kevin Smith tries his hand at directing somebody’ else’s script. Will it be a real Bruce Willis movie or one of the smart-alecky ones?
IN LIMITED RELEASE
Fish Tank (Varsity: Feb 26-March 4) Bill White reviews it for Seattle PostGlobe
The Red Riding Trilogy (Northwest Film Forum: Part One 1974 Feb 26-March 1, Part Two 1980 Feb 26-March 4, Part Three 1983, Feb 27-March 4) Additional screenings of Part One 1974. You can now catch the first film in the trilogy on Wednesday, March 3 at 9pm and Thursday March 4th at 5pm
Bill White reviews it for Seattle PostGlobe
Old Partner (NWFF: Feb 26-March 4) Bill White Reviews it for Seattle PostGlobe
Waiting for Armageddon (Grand Illusion, Feb 26-March 4) America’s 50-million strong Evangelical community is convinced that the world’s future is foretold in Biblical prophecy – from the rapture to the battle of Armageddon. This astonishing documentary explores their world; in their homes, at conferences, and on a wide-ranging tour of Israel. By interweaving Christian, Zionist, Jewish and critical perspectives along with telling archival materials, the filmmakers probe the politically powerful, and potentially explosive, alliance between Evangelical Christians and Israel… an alliance that may set the stage for what one prominent Evangelical leader calls “World War III.”
White Stripes: Under Great White Northern Lights (NWFF, Feb 26-27) is a stylish rock-doc that follows the Jack and Meg White’s 2007 Canadian tour. The band played remote towns and provinces, while finding time at each tour stop to make an unusual promotional appearance, playing on city buses, boats, bowling alleys (where they rolled a full game while rocking), and even one free daytime show in which they only played a single note. Director Malloy mixes gorgeously grainy black-and-white with color footage of Jack and Meg White onstage and off. The Stripes stripped-down, pop-art stage sets make a perfect backdrop for the spare, sonic attack of their music, and the lo-fi punch of their sound seems especially fitting for the landscape of the sparsely populated Canadian countryside.
The Messenger (Varsity) Two Oscar nominations: Woody Harrelson for Best Supporting Actor and Owen Moverman and Allesandro Camon for Best Original Screenplay Bill White reviews it for Seattle PostGlobe
Nine Paula Nechak reviewa it for Seattle PostGlobe
The Hurt Locker Sean Axmaker reviews it for Seattle PostGlobe
REVIVALS AND SPECIAL PROGRAMS
King of Cool: The Films of Steve McQueen
Seattle Art Museum Thursday Nights Jan 7-March 11
Bill White reviews it for the Seattle PostGlobe
Junior Bonner (Feb 25)
The Getaway (March 4)
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
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.
Creation Bill White reviews it for Seattle PostGlobe
Dear John Soldier on leave is smitten with a college girl.
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.
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.
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.
The Last Station By the British measure, Michael Hoffman’s account of the battle between Countess Tolstoy and the head of the Tolstoyan Society for the control of Leo Tolstoy’s writings is a well done affair. By the Russian standard, however, it is an abomination.
Legion The vampires are thirsty, and the blood is running out.
The Lovely Bones ”a misguided tribute to the magic of the movies” J. Hoberman, The Weekly
North Face Bill White reviews it for Seattle PostGlobe
Oscar Nominated Shorts 2010 Bill White reviews it for Seattle PostGlobe
Percy Jackson & Olympians: The Lightning Thief It’s the 21st century, but the gods of Mount Olympus and assorted monsters have walked out of the pages of high school student Percy Jackson’s Greek mythology texts and into his life.
Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire Education helps a 16-year old African American girl overcome her seedy past.
Sherlock Holmes Just the ticket for Guy Ritchie fans who have no trouble imagining Jude Law playing Watson to Robert Downey Jr.’s Sherlock
Shutter Island Bill White reviews it for Seattle PostGlobe
A Single Man “Major plot points are revealed through intricate bits of cinematic poetry” David Schmader The Stranger
Up in the Air Will “Juno” director Jason Reitman strike out or establish himself with this high-profile George Clooney comedy?
Valentine’s Day “among the most offensive things i have ever seen” Lindy West, The Stranger
The Wolfman Inspired by the classic film that launched a legacy of horror, The Wolfman stars Benicio Del Toro as Lawrence Talbot, a haunted nobleman lured back to his family estate in the Victorian hamlet of Blackmoor after his brother vanishes.
The White Ribbon Bill White reviews it for Seattle PostGlobe
The Young Victoria Paula Nechak reviews it for the Seattle PostGlobe
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