Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on May 29, 2020

The stretch of sunny weather in Seattle this week may give way to a little rain on Saturday and Sunday, which should make it easier to pack up your crop circle picnic and hole up in your home with a 4K restoration of the 1982 adventure film The Grey Fox, newly available episodes of The Simpsons, selections from film festivals around the world on YouTube, and other great options streaming through both local theaters and national platforms. Read on for all our top picks for the weekend.

AberdeenFilmed on location in the Pacific Northwest, Colton Van Til's debut feature (that he directed at just 19!) follows a woman who tries to find a place in the male-dominated field of sports journalism by exposing the sexual assault taking place within her hometown's high school sports scene.Available via Northwest Film Forum

15th Annual HUMP! Film Festival 2020Our colleagues, the creators of HUMP!, were crushed to cancel their originally planned spring re-screening. But after receiving enthusiastic support and permission from the filmmakers to show their films online, they knew that the show must go on! Even if we cant watch together in movie theaters, we can still watch the 16 all new, sexy short films, curated by Dan Savage, in the privacy and safety of our homes. Dan will introduce the show, and then take you straight to the great dirty movies that showcase an amazing range of shapes, colors, sexualities, kinks and fetishes! BOBBY ROBERTSAvailable via The StrangerFriday-Saturday

BlackfishOrca-lovers beware: This ain't Free Willy. Gabriela Cowperthwaites searing indictment of Sea World's cruel exploitation of killer whales and the inhumane practice of confining these magnificent creatures is heartbreaking and enraging. From Puget Sound's barbaric history of capturing calves in the 1970s to the abuses that most likely drove bull orca Tilikum to kill two different trainers, this gripping documentary stirs up many of the same emotions the Oscar-winning The Cove did in 2009. While theme-park corporate flunkies blame accidents and deaths on trainer error, Cowperthwaites doc asks: Just how much suffering is our need for entertainment worth? JEFF MEYERSAvailable via SIFFFriday-Sunday

CoFF - Confinement (online) Film FestivalWith everyone cooped up in their respective abodes, The Stranger challenged artsy laypeople everywhere to submit short films that express our current reality of social distancing and self-quarantine. From poignant vignettes todystopian nightmares to sexy stuff tomini-dramas, the results are just as varied as you might expect. Watch it live online and vote online for your favorites. (The categories are "Most Creative," "Funniest," "They Lost Their Goddamn Mind," and Most Poignant.") Available via The StrangerFriday only

Georgetown Super 8 Film Festival 2020This annual Georgetown-bred amateur film festival features short movies shot on Super 8 (aka 8mm) cameras by denizens of the Duwamish Valley. This year, see an online retrospective of submissions from years past, including 45 new films.Available via Northwest Film ForumSaturday only

The Grey FoxA stagecoach robber is released from prison in the early 1900s, only to get inspired for his second wind by the 1903 Western TheGreat Train Robbery. This 4K restoration ofPhillip Borsos's 1982 film was partially filmed right here in Washington. When it came out, Roger Ebert called it "one of the loveliest adventures of the year." Available via Grand IllusionFriday-Sunday

My Sight is Lined with Visions: 1990s Asian American Film & VideoTo round out Asian American Heritage Month, see an eclectic program of short films from the 1990s to the early aughts by filmmakers across the Asian diaspora. Highlights includeRichard Fung's "Dirty Laundry," which explores expressions of sexuality amongChinese Canadians in the 1800s (through the lens of a modern-day fictional magazine writer as he travels through Canada by train);Shu Lea Cheang's campy experimental film "Fresh Kill," abouttwo young lesbian parents who fight against environmental racism in the form of radioactive fish lips; andJon Moritsugu's stereotype-bucking satire "Terminal USA." Available via Northwest Film ForumFriday-Sunday

The Painter and the ThiefIn this dark, time-jumping documentary by Norwegian filmmaker Benjamin Lee, the Czech painterBarbora Kysilkova develops a friendshipor at least a mutual fascinationwith a man who stole some of her paintings from a gallery (and proceeded to lose them).Anthony Lane wrote inThe New Yorker, "The two of them arrive at a happy ending, of sorts, yet I find myself worrying more about Barbora, and the shape of her future, than I do about Bertil. Other viewers will disagree, and thats why The Painter and the Thief is such a good lockdown movie, to be watched in the early evening and then argued about over spaghettiorwithspaghetti, if the discussion gets intense." Available via SIFFFriday-Sunday

SibelIn a secluded Turkish mountain village, a young woman is ostracized for being mute and communicating through an ancestral whistling language. When locals start talking about a wolf prowling the neighborhood, she hopes to gain their approval by going on a hunt to find it, which leads her instead to an injured, armed criminal.Available via Northwest Film Forum

It's Coming from Inside the House! Tucker and Dale vs EvilIn Eli Craig's brief 2010 horror-comedy, a group of college kids gone camping on spring break believes that Tucker and Dale, two well-meaning hillbillies vacationing in their dilapidated cabin, are trying to murder them. It's not super scary, but if you're into the genre, you won't be disappointed by the buckets of gore. Available via MoPOPFriday only

Virtual Moving History X Karl KrogstadScarecrow Video and theMoving Image Preservation of Puget Sound are teaming up again to bring you an evening of shorts created by the late Seattle filmmaker Karl Krogstad, whose work ranged from claymation to experimental found-art films. The lineup includes 1973's "Eggnog," which "is famous for hosting one of the most bloody animation sequences of violence ever recorded," according to the director. Yeehaw! Available via Northwest Film ForumSunday only

ZanaDocumentary filmmaker Antoneta Kastrati's debut feature follows aKosovar bride whose family sends her to mystical healers, where she's subjected her to strange rituals meant to cure her of "black magic," the alleged culprit of her infertility. But when she finally becomes pregnant, her suppressed wartime past comes back to haunt her and her unborn baby. Available via Northwest Film Forum

Central ParkLoren Bouchard, the creator of Bobs Burgers, brings another animated family and even more Broadway-style music and dancing into the mix with her new Apple TV show Central Park.Josh Gadserves as the narrator/busker who fills you in on character and plot details through song. His best friend,Owen Tillerman, is our Bob Belcher, only instead of the proprietor of a burger joint, he's the manager of Central Park, on the grounds of which he lives (in a charming old house) with his family. Available via Apple TV

Hannah Gadsby: DouglasLast year (Jesus was it really only one year ago?) Hannah Gadsbyafter successfully upending the world of stand-up for a hot minute with her Netflix special Nanetteretired, then unretired, then embarked on her first world tour, which sold out every stop (including two shows at the Moore here in Seattle). Douglas is now coming to Netflix, and it differs from Nanette in that there isn't a show-stopping ending that turns your heart inside out (Gadsby addresses that expectation pretty early on), but it's also a more finely-tailored, comfortable, and confident hour of stand-up, one that touches on the controversy of male comics completely disqualifying Nanette as stand-up at all,somewhere before she turns the whole concert into a renaissance art lecture. According to Gadsby, "It's gonna be good! Unless you don't like it! Then it's still gonna be good, and you'll be wrong." BOBBY ROBERTS Available via Netflix

HBO Max LaunchThe latest contender coming for Netflix's streaming crown is one of the oldest movie studios in Hollywood history: Warner Bros has (pretty confusingly) taken their (already confusing) HBO Now/HBO Go streaming platform and "Max"-imized it, adding a ton of classic catalog films (the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Cabaret, Enter the Dragon), a sizable chunk of the Criterion Collection (Seven Samurai, Eraserhead, Godzilla, Paris, Texas), a bunch of Looney Tunes shorts both old and new, Doctor Who and other BBC offerings, and as a particularly fine feather in their acquisitions cap, the North American streaming rights to the Studio Ghibli library (Castle in the Sky, Princess Mononke, Spirited Away). The cost is a little bit higher than Netflix, but if you're already subscribed to HBO through most online meanslike we said, it's kind of confusing, make sure you doublecheck how you subscribedyou don't have to do anything, or pay any more per month to get the HBO Max content, which will eventually include a Friends reunion. BOBBY ROBERTS

The Legend of the Stardust BrothersUntil recently,Stardust Brotherswasn't availableat all. Originally an epic flop, it was gladly left buried for decades. But this winter, the excellent Third Window Films released it onan all-region DVD/Blu-ray format. Now for a limited time this Japanese musical oddity from 1985 is available tostream through Alamo Drafthouse On Demand.Director Macoto Tezka, son of the "Godfather of Manga" Osamu Tezuka, was tasked with creating a movie based around an already created campy album about a fictional duo called the Stardust Brothers. The result is a bombastic, inspired, style-forward fantasy. Its basic premise is loungy and loud: two rival singers are contacted by a shadowy organization named Atomic Productions that wants to turn them into legends. There are catches, obviously. The whole thing is the stuff of stars and notably features Kiyohiko Ozaki, a famous crooner withfamous sideburns. CHASE BURNS Available via Alamo Drafthouse

Love LifeThis rom-com anthology series starring Anna Kendrick explores different stages of relationships through the stories of various protagonists, focusing on the sometimes confusing nuances between infatuation and lasting love. Available via HBO Max

QuizDianaandCharlesIngram tried to con their way into1 million on the British game show Who Wants To Be a Millionaire? back in 2003, and this series starring Sian Clifford (Fleabag) and Matthew Macfadyen (Succession) revisits the whole episode piece by piece. Available via AMCPremiering Sunday

RamyIn January, the Golden Globes gave their award for Best Actor in a Comedy or Musical TV series to Ramy Youssef, the star of Ramy, a semi-autobiographical half-hour sitcom about a guy named Ramy trying to navigate the trials and tribulations of being a second-generation Egyptian-American Muslim millennial in New Jersey. Right up until he won that award (TSA flagged the trophy at LAX a couple days later) most people didn't even know Hulu had a show called Ramyon its platform, much less one so good it got nominated for (and won!) Golden Globe awards. The second season (starring Mahershala Ali as Ramy's spiritual advisor!) is a smart, beautiful, and often surreal half-hour experience every time out. BOBBY ROBERTS Available via HuluPremiering Friday

The SimpsonsOne of the biggest selling points of Disney+ was that it would have all of The Simpsons available, day one, despite the fact the show basically has no business even being on that platform considering how cutesy-poo and precious the company is being (i.e. digitally adding an ass-merkin to Daryl Hannah's buttcrack in Splash) Obviously, it's only there because The Simpsons is more valuable to Disney as an exploitable brand than for its status as a landmark show thatin its glory days (Seasons 3-10)was possibly the greatest sitcom in TV history. A great example of that is how the show was cropped, cut up, stretched out, and slapped on Disney+ at launch, making a show not particularly known for its stellar animation look even uglier for the sake of satisfying a tiny handful of whiny dullards who are still mystified and dumbstruck by the notion of "black bars" in the 21st century. Well GOOD NEWS, EVERYBODY: Disney+ is finally making The Simpsons' golden years available in their original, uncut, less uglified original aspect ratio. Let the re-watches...begin! BOBBY ROBERTS Available via Disney+

Space ForceIt's only fair that the parody of government that the White House has become since our idiot president took office become an actual parody via The Office's co-creator and star (Greg Daniels and Steve Carell, respectively) bringing a new satirical workplace sitcom to Netflix. Space Force's first season has got a pretty stacked cast (John Malkovich! Ben Schwartz! Lisa Kudrow! Did we mention John Malkovich! MALKOVICH!) although early reviews say it's a little wobbly. But to be faiirrrr; The Office didn't have all that great a first season, either, and it's tough to parody something (our government) that is consistently breaking reality with every new day. BOBBY ROBERTS Available via NetflixPremiering Friday

The Vast of NightAndrew Patterson's debut feature comes in the form of a 90-minute teleplay that takes place over the course of a single night in the fictional New Mexico town of Cayuga, revolving around a big high school basketball game and transforming into an old-timey sci-fi mystery. The LA Times' Justin Chang wrote, "Id say that The Vast of Night exists somewhere at the intersection of radio, television and cinema, and that it excavates some of our fondest old-timey memories of all three in order to build something playfully, strikingly new." Available via Amazon PrimePremiering Friday

We Are One: A Global Film FestivalNew York's Tribeca Enterprises will show selections from film festivals around the worldincluding Cannes, Sundance, and the Toronto International Film Festivalon YouTube. They'll also show comedy performances and panel discussions, like a conversation with Jane Campion and Tessa Thompson on Sunday at 10:45 am. It's free, but know that all donations will be given to the World Health Organization's COVID-19 relief funds.Available via YouTubeFriday-Sunday

In case you missed it, here's our guide to where to stream Lynn Shelton movies

AliceWhen Alice discovers that her husband has drained their bank account and skipped town, she becomes a sex worker solely to make ends meet, and is surprised to find the work empowering. IndieWire's Eric Kohn wrote, "[Emilie] Piponnier [who plays Alice] dominates every frame, with a mesmerizing screen presence that pushes the drama well beyond its formulaic premise and visible microbudget constraints." This debut from French director Josephine Mackerras won the 2019 SXSW Grand Jury Prize.Available via Grand IllusionThursday only

Americana KamikazeNYC'sinterdisciplinary performance group Temporary Distortion blends theater, film, and installation to freakily contort Japanese ghost stories and horror (aka J-Horror) through an American musical tradition. In a 2009 New York Times review of the play, Jon Weiss wrote, "Hard-core horror fans should take notice, because with Hollywoods rarely risking something truly upsetting anymore, preferring funny zombies and by-the-numbers remakes, you might have to go to the theater to see death performed live to really test your limits." Available via On the Boards

Best of CatVideoFest: Creature Comforts EditionLocal feline enthusiast and Henri the Catcreator Will Braden, bless his heart, has plucked 40 minutes of quality content from SIFF's CatVideoFestan annual celebration of the divine conjunction of cats and internetfor your viewing pleasure. Available via SIFF

BacurauIn this Cannes Jury Prize-winning sci-fi tale of predation and resistance, a small Brazilian town bands together to repel murderous mercenaries and mysterious forces that want to drive them from their homes and erase the memory of their existence. Available via Ark Lodge

Csar and RosalieIn Claude Sautet's classic romantic drama Csar et Rosalie, two men (the wealthyCsar and David, an old flame) battle for the affections of a beautiful, recently divorced lady (played by Isabelle Huppert in her first film role).Available via Ark Lodge

DeerskinWacky director Quentin Dupieux (Rubber) is back with Jean Dujardin (The Artist) in a movie described as "a comic character study in which clothes make the manmad."Available via SIFF

Diana Kennedy: Nothing FancyProlific cookbook author andJames Beard Award winner Diana Kennedy (known by some as "the Julia Child of Mexico") is the star of this fun documentary for food lovers. It features interviews with famed chefs Jos Andrs, Rick Bayless, Gabriela Camara, and Alice Waters, too. Available via Northwest Film ForumSaturday only

DrivewaysFollowing up his 2016 queer indie gem Spa Night, Korean American director Andrew Ahn's Drivewaysfollows a shy little boy as he adjusts to a new town, where his mom has relocated them to clean out the house of her estranged, recently deceased sister. Finding little luck among his peers, he befriendsDel, his elderly Korean War vet neighbor.Available via SIFF

Exhibition on Screen - Leonardo: The WorksLeonardo da Vinci has been dead for centuries, but his legend lives on. This documentary, released on the 500th anniversary of his death, explores theRenaissance artist's life and work. Available via SIFF

Fantastic FungiAt its worst,Fantastic Fungigets too woo-woo wacky for its own good (when the films discussion turns to magic mushrooms, the visuals turn into what is, as far as I can tell, a psychedelic screensaver from Windows 95), but at its best, the doc pairs fantastic time-lapse imagery with a good dose of actual, mind-blowing science. Affable, passionate mushroom researcher Paul Stamets is joined by talking heads Michael Pollan, Andrew Weil, and narrator Brie Larson to examine everything from massive fungal networks that carry signals between disparate, distant plants to the psychological benefits of psilocybin. Its an uneven trip, but a good one. ERIK HENRIKSEN Available via Ark Lodge

The Ghost of Peter Sellers The behind-the-scenes footage of Peter Medak's unreleased 1973 filmGhost of the Noonday Sun,starring Peter Sellers (The Pink Panther, Dr. Strangelove), is definitively more entertaining than the film itself, which organizers describe as an "outrageous pirate comedy" set in the 17th century, and which Medak would describe as "the biggest disaster" of his life. The director brings it all back in this documentary. Available via SIFF

The InfiltratorsIn this docu-thriller, two young immigrants purposely get themselves thrown into a shady for-profit detention center to dismantle the corrupt organization from the inside. Their detainers don't know that they're members of the National Immigrant Youth Alliance, a group of radical DREAMers who are on a mission to stop unjust deportations. Available via Northwest Film Forum

Lucian Freud - A Self PortraitLondon'sRoyal Academy of Arts and Boston's Museum of Fine Arts will present an on-screen exhibition of 50 paintings, prints, and drawings by the late British painter Lucian Freud.Available via SIFF

Lucky GrandmaIn this crime caper set in New York's Chinatown, a recently widowed 80-year-old woman follows a fortune teller's advice and heads to the nearest casino to win some big bucks. But things don't go so great, as they often don't at casinos. When two gambling gangsters show up at her door and start demanding money, she and her newly acquired bodyguard do what must be done: kick ass for the duration of the film.Available via Grand Illusion

Military WivesKristin Scott Thomas (The English Patient, Gosford Park) and Sharon Horgan (Catastrophe) lead a group of English women who start a choir to cope while their spouses are away serving in Afghanistan, and boy does it look wholesome and heartwarming. Available via SIFF

Now I'm FineSean Nelson wrote, "Ahamefule J. Oluo, of Stranger Genius Award winning band Industrial Revelation, remounts his autobiographical odyssey, a harrowing, hilarious personal story punctuated by astoundingly strong songs, brilliantly arranged and performed by several of the most talented musicians in Seattle." Originally staged at On the Boards, Now I'm Fine received rave reviews during its recent New York run, and will now be screened online.Available via On the Boards

Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and The BandWithOnce Were Brothers, Roher presents a conventional contextualizing rock doc with marquee-name talking headsVan Morrison, George Harrison, Bruce Springsteen, et al.and efficiently reveals Robertson's early family life (his mother was indigenous, his father Jewish) and musical evolution. Robertson is an articulate, passionate memoirist; the film is based on his 2016 autobiography,Testimony. With equanimity, he registers the Band's soaring highs and devastating lows, while his French ex-wife Dominique adds crucial observations about the inter-band dynamics and substance abuse that dogged the members. Tracing a story of relentless, upward mobility through the music industry, the doc emphasizes Robertson's inner strength and boundless ambition, which helped him to avoid the booze- and drug-related pitfalls that afflicted his mates. For fans of the Band, this film will inspire tears of sorrow and joy, if not rage. Now more than ever, their music stirs emotions with a profundity that feels religious, but without the stench of sanctimony. DAVE SEGALAvailable via SIFF and Ark Lodge

Our MothersCesar Diaz's debut, the winner of the Cannes Film Festival Camera d'Or in 2019, is set in the aftermath of Guatemala's bloody 20-year civil war. It followsErnesto, a young anthropologist who's determined to track down his father, a guerillero who disappeared during the war. "Dazs approach is plain and solid, like a well-built wooden chair before varnishing," wrote the New York Times'Glenn Kenny.Available via SIFF

Police BeatPolice Beat, a fictional film I made with the director Robinson Devor (we also madeZoo), is also a documentary about a Seattle that's recovering from the dot-com crash of 2000 (a crash that sent Amazon's shares falling from nearly $100 apiece to $6they're now around $2,400), and entering its first construction boom of the 21st century (between 2005 and 2008).The hero of my film, the police officer Z (played by the beautiful but sadly late Pape Sidy Niang), could actually afford a little Seattle house on his salary (around $45,000). The median price of houses in 2003 was a lot (about $300,000) but not out of reach for a middle-class immigrant with a stable job.Lastly, the film is a documentary about Seattle's beautiful and virid parks. How I love them all and wanted to film them all: Volunteer Park, Freeway Park, the Washington Park, Madison Park, the parks on either side of the Montlake Cut. So green,so urban, so natural. CHARLES MUDEDE Available via The Stranger

RBGAll hail Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Better known as RBG to her fans (and Bubby to her grandkids), at 85 years old, the US Supreme Court justice still has a fierce intellect, a duty to the law, and an immense inner and physical strength. Over the long course of her career, RBG repeatedly defended the rights of everyone to live free from bias, but, as Supreme Court correspondent Nina Totenberg says, Ginsburg quite literally changed life for women. And shes still doing it. With intimate interviews with family and friends, as well as RBG herself, the film captures the life of a woman with a heart none of us wants to stop ticking. KATIE HERZOG Available via SIFF

SIFF RetrospectiveIn place of this year's canceledSeattle International Film Festival, Telescope Film will highlight a retrospective ofall of the films that have won awards at SIFF in its 45-year history by showing you where to watch a ton of them online. From last year's winners like Amber McGinnis's International Falls and Cagla Zencirci's Sibel to Gregg Araki's 2004 indie classic Mysterious Skin, there's plenty to choose from. They'll keep the catalog up for the duration of the would-be in-person event.

Slay the DragonBarak Goodman and Chris Durrance's documentary investigates howgerrymandering has damaged our democracy, and how citizen-led activist groups have been crucial agents of change when bigger systems fail.Available via SIFF and Ark Lodge

Spaceship EarthMatt Wolf's oddly uplifting documentary tells the true story of Biosphere 2a self-engineered replica of the Earth's ecosystem inspired by a project that began in the 1970s, and in which eight people (self-described "biospherians") attempted to quarantine themselves for two years in the early '90s. While the experiment was cut short, the fact that this film chronicles daily existence in the face of a life-threatening ecological disaster makes this a timely online release. Available via SIFF and Ark Lodge

SPLIFF 2019 & 2020A new vibe of stoner entertainment is emergingwitness the rise of Broad City, High Maintenance, and basically every TV show created on Viceland. And, most importantly, The Stranger presents SPLIFF, your new favorite film festival created by the stoned for the stoned. Because we can no longer congregate in person, we're rescreening the 2019 and 2020 festivals (the latter of which is hosted by Betty Wetter and Cookie Couture) online! Got some weed on hand? Check it out from the comfort of your home. All contributions received will be shared with the filmmakers.Available via The Stranger

Stage Russia HD OneginFilmed atNovosibirsks Red Torch Theatre,Timofey Kulyabins Golden Mask Award-winningOnegintrades in Pushkins grandiose historical world for a "quiet love story" set in modern times. Available for Northwest Film ForumFriday-Monday

Thousand Pieces of GoldBased on the novel by Ruthanne Lum McCunn (with a screenplay by novelist and filmmaker Anne Makepeace), this 1990 film follows a young Chinese woman (Rosalind Chao) whose family ships her to an Idaho mining town to be sold as a bride. To make matters worse, she's bought by a gross barkeeper in an Idaho mining town who forces her into prostitution. Available via Northwest Film Forum

The WhistlersFestival favorite Corneliu Porumboiu (The Treasure, Police, Adjective) delves into the noir genre, complete with a beautiful crook, a crooked inspector, and...a secret whistling language?Available via SIFF

A White, White DayIn Hlynur Plmason's follow-up to Winter Brothers, an off-duty police chief ina remote Icelandic townbegins to suspect a local man of having had an affair with his late wife. In thriller-meets-Nordic-art-house fashion, the man becomes obsessed with finding the truth, at the expense of his (living) loved ones. Available via SIFF

The Wolf House (La Casa Lobo)This eerie, dreamlike claymation fairytale is inspired by Colonia Dignidad,an isolated colony established in post-World War IIChile byemigrant Germans, which became a site for the internment, torture, and murder of dissidentsduring the militaryregime of General Augusto Pinochet in the 1970s. FilmmakersJoaqun Cocia and Cristbal Len imagine the film as a means of indoctrination made by the leader of the sect. The New York Times called it "visually stunning and horrifying." Available via Northwest Film Forum

Read the rest here:

The 52 Best Movies to Stream This Weekend from Seattle Theaters and Beyond: May 28-31, 2020 - TheStranger.com

Category: Jewish American Heritage Month
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