Art by Zee

Silent Movie Mondays at the Paramount Theater are always a lot of fun and the current series – “Crime Spree” – is no exception to that rule.

Much of the charm of the recurring program is getting a taste of what is was like to go to the movies when going to the movies was still a novelty for a lot of their audiences. It’s great fun to catch a flick on a big screen that’s really big, in a lovely and ornate setting like the Paramount, settling into comfortably plush seats with leg room for a trip down Memory Lane. (The snacks provided by program sponsor Trader Joe’s are great, toom). With a film on the screen older than the audience and the lively live Wurlitzer organ soundtrack, it’s easy to slip into a Monday night time travel fantasy.

Silent Movie Mondays aren’t just fun for history buffs, however. The movies selected for each program aren’t only interesting for the sake of their historical merit. A lot of the films remain genuinely engaging pieces of entertainment, like tonight’s selection, Beggars of Life” with Louise Brooks as a sympathetic killer on the lam and Wallace Beery as the hobo king who both helps and hinders her.

Hollywood’s been good at the crime drama ever since there’s been a Hollywood. Something about the genre lends itself well to the cinematic experience. Crime films actually predate Hollywood, having been a staple of the original East Coast studios, too.

You still have two chances this month to see this for yourself:
“Underworld” from 1928 screens on October 18 and 1915′s “Regeneration” plays on October 25.

Northwest Film Forum continues their consistently innovative and engaging series “Live at the Film Forum” with The French Project: The New New Wave. Seattle’s top neo-French all-star music collective (Sara Edwards, Basil Harris, Erin Jorgensen and Charles Smith; with appearances by Kirk Anderson and Sari Breznau & “special secret” musical guests) perform music ranging from Saint-Saëns and Debussy to Francoise Hardy and ZZ Top to accompany screenings of short films by Tania Kupczak, Karn Junkinsmith, Shane Wahlund & Michael Anderson and others.

Also at NWFF: the Seattle premiere of Bunny & the Bull, director Paul King (The Mighty Boosh)’s comedic road trip that takes place entirely within the confines of the apartment and mind of eccentric shut in Stephen Turnbull, played by Edward Hogg.

Daniel Holder hates Japan; his father was killed by Japanese soldiers during World War II and his son dies in a traffic accident while teaching English in Japan. He travels there to retrieve hsi son’s belongings; despite the kind treatment his son’s former colleagues give him, Holder prefers to hang on to his anger and resentment. It’s not until he learns some unexpected details of his son’s life that Holder has to rethink his feelings about both Japan and his own life. The Harimaya Bridge is at The Grand Illusion.

It took John Hughes less than a week to write the screenplay for Ferris Buelle’s Day Off but the film has been a pop culture phenomenon for nearly a quarter of a century now, a film so well-known that even people who’ve never seen it can quote it extensively. At Central Cinema

Midnight at the Egyptian: Daniel Day-Lewis stars in Michael Mann’s Last of the Mohicans.

The Maelstrom International Fantastic Film Festival (MIFFF, for short) is a weekend long event dedicated to discovering and promoting the sort of independent and international genre films appreciated by audiences but often ignored by the film festival circuit. MIFFF films include works in animation, fantasy, horror and science fiction, programmed by a team of experienced organizers who keep an eye on what’s going on in genre filmmaking around the world and here at home in Seattle.

This year’s MIFFF takes place once again at SIFF Cinema with a schedule packed full of fantastic shorts and full length-features. The festival kicks off Friday, 9/17, at 8 pm with an introduction to the festival and the opening night film, Blood River, a psychological horror thriller in which a married couple survive a near-fatal car crash in an empty desert where they encounter a sinister drifter whose malevolent agenda strains their relationship to the breaking point.

Saturday at noon begins a series of animated shorts with a variety of stories: Bill Plympton’s The Cow Who Wanted to Be a Hamburger tells the “tragic story of a bovine seduced by advertising led down the path of butchers and carnivores”; Kidnap features a Kung fu master chicken whose journey to school is interrupted by gunmen, aliens, and Jesus; Scottish Ninjas features…well, Scottish ninjas. Nine other shorts round out the program.

The festival continue Saturday at 2:30 with a program of fantasy shorts. The eight films in the program include Billy Baxter and the Mystery of Dr. Amazo, a young boy’s adventures with comic book toys; The Hatter’s Apprentice, a cautionary tale about dabbling with magic; and the choice between love and imaginary friendship, Manual Practico del Amigo Imaginario (abreviado.

Saturday’s 6:00 pm horror feature is Mørke Sjeler, a Norwegian feature film which begins with Johanna’s father receiving a phone call from the police informing him of her death just as she walks in the front door of her house. What’s behind her strange behavior and the continued attacks on others? Accompanied by Irish horror short The Hollow Girl.

See the MIFFF website for details on Saturday night’s feature.

Sunday at noon is the local filmmaker’s showcase featuring Temporal Studios’ tribute to Star Trek, Star Trek: Phoenix, a fan film with serious ambitions to join the official franchise. Taking place 42 years in the future from official Trek film Star Trek: Nemesis, ST:P begins with a major attack on the starship and a rescue team who need to be rescued themselves from the mysterious planet Katrassiii Prime. It’s paired with Matt Vancil’s comedic swords and sorcery spoof Journey Quest.

Three employees in a large bank are trapped in the men’s room with a bank robber in No Escape, which kicks off the Action & Science Fiction shorts program at 2:30 on Sunday. Six other films include Babylon 2084 in which a future Earth has been covered by water and Thy Kill Be Done in which three nuns are out for violent revenge.

At 6 pm there’s another round of Horror shorts: Sam gets to fulfill a lifelong dream when he becomes a vampire’s assistant in The Familiar; two vampire sisters race to save one’s unlife in Dracula’s Daughters vs. the Space Brains. Eight other films round out the program.

The festival closes Sunday night at 8:30 with a short called Flowers for Norma, based on a Stephen King short story and the Northwest premiere of The Presence which stars Oscar winner Mira Sorvino in a supernatural love triangle.

The fine folks at Couchfest, the festival of short films viewed in people’s houses want to remind all interested filmmakers that the deadline for submissions is rapidly approaching. Entries must be in no later than October 10th. Sure, that might seem like a lot of time but that’s only because your delaying disaster hasn’t happened yet. Don’t miss out on your chance for fame and fortune (relatively speaking) and a trophy and some brownies – get your films in today.

Saturday, September 11 at 7pm be on hand at the NW Film Forum for an evening of performance and video with live music featuring Jacob Ciocci and David Wightman (Extreme Animals, Paper Rad, You Can’t Do That on Television). Jacob and David present a mash-up of live music, video, and staged theatrics as they “choreograph a disjunctive array of live shredding, extreme feedback, YouTube bombardment, ecstatic dance moves and Sunday morning cartoons. Their newest performance delves into the world of ‘tween’ culture, the vampire fad and the current obsession with the infinite hall of mirrors known as ‘forever young.’”

Check out a preview clip and buy tickets online at NWFF.

NW Film Forum presents two classic Italian films: Pier Paolo Pasolini’s 1962 film Mamma Roma is possibly his best – with stunning imagery of the best and worst of Roma and genuine feeling for its characters, Mamma Roma tells the story of a prostitute trying to go straight for the sake of her teenaged son, but stymied by the return of her pimp who is definitely not interested in seeing Mamma achieve respectability.

Also at NWFF: Wheedle’s Groove, a look back at Seattle’s soul music scene in late 60s. “Rediscover that history with local collector DJ Mr. Supreme, who uncovered Seattle’s soulful past after finding a dusty Black on White Affair 45 called “Bold Soul Sister” in a 99-cent bin at a Seattle Center record show. By 2003, he had a rough impression of a once-thriving scene and a hefty collection of Seattle soul and funk 45s, some of which were fetching upwards of $5,000 on the collector circuit.” The movie plays with an exciting collection of special guests:

Friday, September 3 – Performance with Pastor Patrinell Staten Wright and members of Total Experience Gospel Choir

Sunday, September 5 (8pm show) – Drum seminar and Q&A with Robbie Hill (Family Affair, Black On White Affair)

Tuesday, September 7 – Q&A with members of Cookin’ Bag, along with King County Councilman Larry Gossett discussing the music, culture, and history of the Central District and the Seattle Black Power movement during the late ’60s and early ’70s.

Wednesday, September 8 – Performance with Overton Berry

Thursday, September 9 – Q&A with Wheedle’s Groove mastermind DJ Supreme La Rock and the film’s narrator Sir Mix-A-Lot, discussing Wheedle’s Groove and the resurgence through sampling and hip-hop

The Grand Illusion presents Battle League Horumo, a fantastic comedic love story from Japan about a bunch of college students who get involved in a competition involving battling ancient spirits.

Speaking of Japanese films, Midnight at the Egyptian is Hayao Miyazaki’s brilliant and breathaking animated adventure Spirited Away.

At the Harvard Exit see Mesrine: Killer Instinct and its sequel, Mesrine: Public Enemy No. 1 starring Vincent Cassel as the title character, a French soldier returned from Algiers seduced by the glamour of 1960s Paris into a life of crime and notoriety.

Ready, Set, Bag! recently became first film to pre-sell screening tickets using the social commerce site Groupon, selling 294 discounted tickets online for the film’s August 6 theatrical release at Seattle’s Central Cinema.

This was the first time Groupon offered a movie as its deal of the day.

$1 from every Groupon deal sold on Sunday, July 25th was donated to Food Lifeline, funding nearly 600 meals for patron’s of Washington state’s largest hunger relief organization. Ready, Set, Bag! continues the good work by teaming with Central Cinema to donate $1 for every ticket sold at the box office. As of July, screenings of Ready, Set, Bag! have already funded more than 5,000 meals across America. In addition, all ad revenue from the Ready, Set, Bag! online web series, which broadcasts additional footage, celebrity remixes, and fan videos, is also being donated to food banks.

Ready, Set, Bag! is a documentary featuring eight top grocery baggers as they prepare to meet in Las Vegas to compete in the National Grocers Association’s Best Bagger competition. Winners get $2,000 and a nifty plaque, but it’s hardy high stakes. Why, then, follow this story? “The grocery store is a very common experience which is why this film resonates with so many people,” said director Justine Jacob.

There have been enough documentaries that follow a diverse group of characters as they make their way to some sort of competition to form a sub-genre with its own conventions – introduce the characters, introduce the compeition, dig deeper into the competitors’ lives, build up the anticipation for the climactic event and then give the audience a wrap-up and maybe a “Where are they now?” Jacob doesn’t deviate from this formula, but she doesn’t need to – the structure serves the story well.

Eight different state winners are introduced to us, representing a variety of ages, locations, and family histories. Each one is a unique individual, but there’s not particularly special or unusual about any of them, which is the whole charm of this film: we’re not just watching the tale of one year’s competion, of one year’s competitors. This is actually a story about America, a story about the plain, ordinary, hard-working men and women that make up the backbone of this country, and a story about the value of striving to be the best at what you do no matter what it is that you do. These ordinary men and women are interesting and their stories compelling (I dare you to escape the lure of choosing a favorite to root for – I don’t think you can resist) not in spite of their ordinariness but because of it.

Let’s face it – how many of us can even dream of becoming an Olympic champion or a world leader or a household name? Not many, that’s for sure. But we can all hope to do our best, to live a good life, and maybe get a bit of recognition for the things we do well. That hope is the heart of Ready, Set, Bag! and it grabs you and holds you from start to finish. This is a fun, charming and thoughtful movie that just might change the way you look at the service industry people you encounter every day.

Justine Jacob will be on hand for a post-screening Q&A on Friday, August 6.

Four films from this year’s SIFF festival line up open this weekend. SIFF 2010 Centerpiece gala film Farewell tells the amazing but true story of a French businessman who helps hasten the end of the Cold War when he’s handed top secret documents by a KGB colonel. (Seven Gables) The Concert is a comedy about a Bolshoi conductor reduced to working as a janitor who finds a chance to return to the spotlight when he stumbles upon an invitation to play in Paris. (Harvard Exit) The Pacific Science Center screens the IMAX presentation of The Wildest Dream which tells the intersecting stories of George Mallory, the first man to attempt a summit of Mount Everest, and Conrad Anker, the mountaineer who finds Mallory’s frozen remains 75 years later. Countdown to Zero is director Lucy Walker’s look at the evolution of atomic fears and reasons for international disarmament. (Varsity)

Midnight at the Egyptian: Jack Nicholson has never been creepier than he was in The Shining, Stanley Kubrick’s tale of madness, murder and malevolent spirits an isolated hotel snowed under a heavy Colorado winter. Stephen King was reportedly unhappy with the plot deviations in this adaptation of his novel, but the film stands on its own as a satifyingly scary story.

NW Film Forum blows your mind two different ways: Hausu is a 1977 Japanese film about a group of teenagers who join a classmate on a trip to her grandmother’s country estate. They have no way of knowing just what a trip this vacation will be – Granny’s a ghost and her haunted house is filled with weirdness that’s only getting started once an evil cat convinces a piano to eat one of the girls. Jean-Michel Baquiat: The Radiant Child is an intimate look at the famed artist by one of his close friends.

Behind the Burly Q tells the true story of the history of burlesque from its dawning days through its domination by other forms of entertainment, including the cinema. It features Alan Alda, Dixie Evans, Lili St. Cyr, Tempest Storm, Kitty West, Lou Costello, Rita Grable, Blaze Starr and many more and screens at Grand Illusion Cinema

Late night at the Grand Illusion: Amazon Women on the Moon, an omnibus spoof film from the late 80s that takes satirical aim at pop media culture, with appearances by the likes of the legendary Russ Meyer, Andrew Dice Clay, Slappy White, B.B. King, Penthouse Pet Monique Gabrielle, Phil Hartman, Lou Jacobi, Michelle Pfeiffer, Griffin Dunne, Forrest J. Ackerman, Henry Silva, Rip Taylor, Henny Youngman, Steve Allen, Kelly Preston, Howard Hessman, Ed Begley Jr. as a naked “Invisible Man”, Steve Guttenberg and more.

Northwest Film Forum does it again with Let’s Do It Again, a night of sex worker made media on Thursday, July 29 at 10 pm, that follows last quarter’s successful screening.

Works this time include: films from Seattle filmmakers Kinsey Bell (Manicured) and Basil Shadid and billie rain (Humor Me), as well the performance film I Want You, with multimedia artist Sadie Lune, experimental work by Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore and Gina Carducci (All That Sheltering Emptiness) and the documentary shorts In Our Own Image and Taking the Pledge.

While you’re there, be sure to pick up your tickets for of Montreal: Family Nouveau, a documentary that follows the whimsical band as they tour Europe (Friday, July 30 through Sunday, August 1; director Spenser Simrill in attedance) and “The Genius of Insanity”, a five film retrospective of the work of Portuguese auteur João César Monteiro.
The program examines artistic and political achievements by sex workers and focuses on some of the complicated challenges unique to their industry. The night is also a benefit to raise funds for the Bird Cage Collective, a sex worker advocacy collective.

Ready, Set, Bag! is a documentary about the National Grocers Association’s Best Bagger competition. Like other competition documentaries, Ready, Set, Bag divides its time between the build-up to the competition, the competition itself, and the lives of some of the competitors.

Groupon is an awesome service that allows people to get super massive discounts on one service or product in their local area each day.

Central Cinema is the fun Seattle dine-in cinema that features all kinds of neat films, including Ready, Set, Bag! from August 6 – August 11.

The three of them come together for a Groupon that today, July 25 only, allows you to buy two tickets to see the movie, a large popcorn, and a reusable bag with the really cool logo of how to pack your bags properly all for less than the price of two regular movie tickets alone. As an added bonus, for each deal purchased $1 is donated to Seattle’s Food Lifeline Food Bank. How sweet is that?