Seattle!3{2}Film Guide March 12-18: New Releases and Complete Guide to Jewish Film Festival
Seattle Film Guide March 12-18
Opening this Week
A Prophet Bill White reviews it for the Seattle PostGlobe
Green Zone When is Jason Bourne not Jason Bourne? When he is Roy Miller.
Our Family Wedding When you marry someone, you also marry their family. Apparently, thre are people who do not yet know this.
Remember Me “wondering if the movie will ever end” Nick Pinkerton, The Weekly
She’s Out of My League “30% romance and 70% comedy” Megan Selling, The Stranger
Good Guy One of those movies that shows up uninvited and leaves before anybody knows it was there.
Limited Runs
The Most Dangerous Man in America (Varsity, March 12-18) Bill White reviews it for the Seattle PostGlobe
Gold (Grand Illusion, March 12-18) Bill White reviews it for the Seattle PostGlobe
Leonard Cohen Live at the Isle of Wight 1970 (NWFF, March 12-13) Bill White reviews it for the Seattle PostGlobe
45365 (NWFF, March 12-18) “Meticulously balancing cinema-verite intimacy and dreamlike reverie, 45365 fashions a seductive, fascinating tapestry of small-town.” —Variety
Miss Sadie Thompson (Paramount Theater, Monday March 15)
Dave Jeffers Reviews it on Siffblog
Continuing runs at area theatres:
Alice in Wonderland 3D Bill White reviews it for Seattle PostGlobe
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
Brooklyn’s Finest Three cops are trapped in the inferno of cop-movie plot cliches. Richard Gere is one week away from his pension when all hell breaks loose. Ethan Hawke is about to cross the line into corruption to provide a better life for his family. Don Cheadle has been undercover so long his loyalties have started to shift.
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?
The Crazies People in a small town go homicidal mad.
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.
“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.
Ghost Writer Roman Polanski directs this thriller based on the novel The Ghost by Robert Harris about a ghostwriter who, while completing the memoirs of former British Prime Minister, stumbles onto a dark secret.
The Hurt Locker Sean Axmaker review it for Seattle PostGlobe
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus Bill White reviews it for the Seattle PostGlobe
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.
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
When in Rome Unpopular girl is beset by suitors after stealing some coins from a love fountain in Rome.
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 Young Victoria Paula Nechak reviews it for the Seattle PostGlobe
Special Events
AJC Seattle Jewish Film Festival 2010
March 11-21
Presented by American Jewish Committee Seattle Regional Office, the AJC Seattle Jewish Film Festival is the most highly anticipated and attended Jewish event in the Pacific Northwest. Seattle’s ten day international cinematic exploration and celebration of Jewish life, culture, identity, and history takes place March 11–21 at various venues, and features over 25 international films as well as thematic special events, educational programming, performances, and special guests. For more information please visitseattlejewishfilmfestival.org. SJFF Ticket Prices $11 General Admission $8 AJC and SIFF Members, Student with valid ID/Youth under 13/Seniors 65+ ID required at Will Call $8 Groups of 12 or more (please call 206.324.9996 for group orders) Opening & Closing Nights $18 | $11 Student with valid ID/Seniors 65+ Matzoh Momma Sunday Brunch & Family Film $20 | $15 Student/Child/Senior $60 Family of 4 SIFF Passes and Vouchers are not valid for the AJC Seattle Jewish Film Festival.
SJFF Film Only Pass $150; $125 AJC Member/Student/Senior 65+
Festival films only, including Opening Night & Closing Night Films. No other special events.
SJFF Festival Pass Plus+ $200; $175 AJC Member/Student/Senior 65+
All festival films and ticketed events, including one admission to Opening Night Party hosted by Tom Douglas, Centerpiece Performance and Matzoh Momma Brunch.
SJFF Flex Pass: “8 Punch & Brunch” $85; $65 AJC Member/Student/Senior 65+
With the flex pass, you can flex your movie muscles. You get one admission to brunch plus 8 film punches, so bring a friend or seven to the movies.
Restrictions: Passholders can bring friends to general admission screenings only. One admission by passholder only to: Closing Night Film and Matzoh Momma Sunday Brunch. It’s the best SJFF deal around!
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Against The Tide Thursday, March 18, 3:30 PM @ Cinerama This scathing indictment of US indifference to the Holocaust features a never-before-seen interview with Peter Bergson, who challenged the isolationism of the Roosevelt administration and American Jewish organizations in order to attract support from non-Jewish Congressmen and Hollywood personalities.
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Ajami Opening Night Film Saturday, March 13, 8:00 PM @ SIFF Cinema Doors open at 7:30, Introductions at 7:45 Nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Foreign Language Film category, Ajami is a gritty, urban crime drama that tells the interwoven stories of Jewish, Muslim and Christian neighbors living in bloody disharmony in Israel’s impoverished Jaffa neighborhood. Second screening added! Thursday, March 25, 7:00 PM @ Washington State History Museum in Tacoma
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Amnon’s Journey Monday, March 15, 6:30 PM @ SIFF Cinema The fascinating and inspiring story of master violin maker, Amnon Weinstein,
who lovingly restores instruments played during the Holocaust to give voice to a lost generation.
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Breaking Upwards Saturday, March 20, 5:00 PM @ Cinerama A twenty-something New York Jewish couple engineer their own break-up after their four-year codependent relationship grows tedious.
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Camera Obscura Sunday, March 21, 5:30 PM @ Cinerama Plays with the short film Gefilte Fish Set in Argentina at the turn of the last century, this enchanting lyrical and inventive saga follows a homely Jewish woman relegated to the background and made to feel like an ugly duckling until an itinerant photographer reveals her true beauty for the first time. |
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Eyes Wide Open Saturday, March 20, 9:15 PM @ Cinerama Plays with the short film Lost Paradise The rigidly ordered world of a butcher and married father of four is disrupted with the arrival of a lost soul who awakens dormant feelings. Eyes is a restrained yet bold look at the highly controversial topic of homosexuality in Jerusalem’s ultra-Orthodox community. |
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Heart Of Stone Sunday, March 21, 1:00 PM @ Cinerama Plays with the short film Hold the Soup The efforts of a gutsy Newark, New Jersey high school principal to stave off gang violence and boost student morale are chronicled in this heartfelt documentary. |
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Hey, Hey It’s Esther Blueberger Tuesday, March 16, 6:30 PM @ SIFF Cinema This quirky, coming-of-age comedy explores what it’s like to be an outsider in your own world, and stars Toni Collette (Little Miss Sunshine) and Keisha Castle-Hughes (Whale Rider). |
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Human Failure Thursday, March 18, 7:00 PM @ Cinerama Plays with the short film I Saw A Mountain During the Third Reich, virtually every Aryan citizen benefited from the robbery of Jewish assets. But it was not the Gestapo who invaded Jewish residences in order to confiscate property, from bank accounts to the last shirt, it was the German Tax officials. Academy Award nominated director Michael Verhoeven’s remarkable oeuvre dares to tell the truth in Germany about Germany. |
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Jaffa Wednesday, March 17, 9:15 PM @ SIFF Cinema The complexities of contemporary multi-ethnic Israel are explored in this modernized version of “Romeo and Juliet” relocated to the port city of Jaffa where Muslims, Jews and Christians live side by side. |
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The Jazz Baroness Monday, March 15, 8:00 PM @ SIFF Cinema Filmmaker Hannah Rothschild explores the little-known, unlikely story of her great aunt, Pannonica (Nica) de Kkoenigswarter nee Rothschild – the granddaughter of Britain’s first Jewish member of Parliament, and muse and patroness to jazz musician Thelonious Monk. |
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Killing Kasztner Sunday, March 14, 5:50 PM @ SIFF Cinema HERO OR TRAITOR? Rezso Kasztner, the Hungarian Jew who faced down Eichmann, saved thousands and paid with his life. True stories rarely contain a historic mystery, a courtroom drama, a political murder, and a family saga, but all can be found in this amazing tale. |
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Leon/Sefarad – A New Encounter Sunday, March 14, 11:30 AM @ SIFF Cinema The northern Spanish town of Léon has a rich but little-known Jewish history, revealed through fascinating personal accounts, historical footage and haunting pieces of music and writing created by artists heralding from the region. |
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Look Into My Eyes Sunday, March 14, 1:30 PM @ SIFF Cinema Rabbi-turned-filmmaker Naftaly Gliksberg travels through two continents interviewing subjects on the topic of anti-Semitism to investigate whether it remains a pervasive global problem or has evolved into a buzzword. |
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A Matter Of Size Closing Night: “Sushi, Sake, Sweets & Sumo” Sunday, March 21, 8:00 PM @ Cinerama “Sushi, Sake, Sweets & Sumo” Reception at 7:30 PM A thematic and cinematic evening with delicious sushi and sake before SJFF’s Closing Night Film A Matter of Size, a comedy about sumo wrestlers in Israel. Afterwards, join us for a sweet piece of SJFF’s Centerpiece Custom Cake as we draw the curtains on yet another terrific festival season. |
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Rabbi Firer: A Reason To Question Thursday, March 18, 5:30 PM @ Cinerama Nearly 150 patients a day seek assistance from Rabbi Elimelech Firer, a 54-year-old Orthodox Jew self-educated in medicine, to help navigate their way through the tangled web of medical treatments. |
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Rafting To Bombay Sunday, March 21, 3:30 PM @ Cinerama Past and present collide when the Laufer family travels to Mumbai to document their father’s story of refuge in India during World War II and they are caught in the worst terror attack the city has ever experienced. |
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Saviors In The Night Thursday, March 18, 9:15 PM @ Cinerama Based on the 1965 memoir of Marga Spiegel, now 97 years old, Saviors In The Night tells the riveting story of the Spiegel family who found refuge with courageous Westphalian farmers during WWII after barely escaping the last of the death camp deportations. |
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Seven Minutes In Heaven Saturday, March 20, 7:00 PM @ Cinerama A young, Israeli woman struggles to confront her memories of a horrific suicide bombing a year after the event in this well-crafted psychological thriller. |
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Tevye Matzoh Mamma Sunday Brunch & Family Film Sunday, March 21, 10:00 AM @ Cinerama Matzoh Momma Catering proudly hosts SJFF’s Annual Sunday Brunch, starting at 10 AM followed by the film Tevye at 11:00 AM. Don’t miss this incredible spread with musical performance by and a Fiddler sing-a-long with The Jim Mirel Shalom Ensemble! Prizes for best costume! Win tickets to the Paramount Theatre production of Fiddler on the Roof. |
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Voices From El-Sayed Wednesday, March 17, 7:30 PM @ SIFF Cinema Nestled in the Negev Desert, El Sayed is home to a Bedouin village with the largest community of deaf people in the world. Through the generations, a unique sign language has evolved and a father must decide whether to get his son cochlear implants in spite of resistance from a community where the hearing and deaf comfortably coexist. |
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Wedding Song Sunday, March 14, 8:45 PM @ SIFF Cinema Set in 1942 Tunis, Wedding Song is a fearless and poetic exploration of female sexual awakening and Jewish-Arab coexistence as seemingly powerless women find a way through friendship to reclaim their destinies. |
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Where I Stand: The Hank Greenspun Story Sunday, March 14, 3:20 PM @ SIFF Cinema Stranger than fiction, Where I Stand chronicles the life of the charismatic Hank Greenspun, a former Brooklyn kid who became a courageous “give em’ hell” newspaperman, Vegas icon and real-life Zelig, known for winning every battle he ever fought even with formidable opponents like the mob and McCarthy. |
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Zruvabel Tuesday, March 16, 8:30 PM @ SIFF Cinema A family of Ethiopian émigrés is torn between love for their homeland and assimilation within Israeli culture in Zruvabel, the first Ethiopian Israeli feature film. |
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