Noir City: He Walked By Night

Wednesday, February 16 @ 9:00pm SIFF Cinema egyptian Vince Keenan introduces He Walked By Night Having gotten climbed over for the last movie (despite their being three empty rows in front of me) and wanting a change of scenery, I moved to the other side of the theater for my final Noir City offering, He …

Noir City: The Story of Molly X

Tuesday, February 15 @ 9:00pm siff cinema egyptian Vince Keenan introduces The Story of Molly X Like Shakedown, The Story of Molly X is unavailable at Scarecrow Video, which means it's probably unavailable in most places, if it was ever released on physical media at all (which I doubt, apart from film prints). There aren't …

Noir City: Shakedown

Saturday, February 12 @ 8:30pm SIFF Cinema Egyptian Eddie Muller, the "Czar of Noir," introduces Shakedown The last time Noir City came to Seattle was in February 2020, the month before the pandemic shut everything down. The last time I went to Noir City, however, was the previous year, when I saw The Crimson Kimono …

SIFF DocFest Closing Night: The Sanctity of Space Q&A

Last night, I saw the US Premiere of The Sanctity of Space – the Closing Night film of SIFF DocFest. And since it’s a held review, that’s all I can tell you about it. Just kidding, I can give you a synopsis. The movie is about three climbers: professional climbers Renan Ozturk and Freddie Wilkinson …

SIFF DocFest: The Conservation Game

Photo courtesty of Cargo Film & Releasing Tiger King was one of my guilty pleasures early in the pandemic, as it was for many people. The cast of characters was outrageous, the plot twists were unbelievable, and it was entertaining as hell. Though The Conservation Game takes place within the same time frame, its focus …

SIFF DocFest: The Hidden Life of Trees and Becoming Cousteau

The outside of the Egyptian Theatre Three of yesterday’s screenings at the Egyptian (out of four) had an environmental component to them, including the two movies under review here: The Hidden Life of Trees and Becoming Cousteau. While both films had smaller attendance than the modestly full Flee, the mood seemed more alive (perhaps the …

SIFF DocFest: Storm Lake and In Balanchine’s Classroom

The next two documentaries I saw were screeners. Storm Lake played two days ago (before Flee) and I could’ve seen it then, but I wanted to ease myself into the in-person theatrical experience. Plus, I had to watch A-ha: The Movie. In Balanchine’s Classroom, on the other hand, played at 11am yesterday, and while that’s …

SIFF DocFest: A-ha: The Movie and Flee

A panorama of the inside of the Egyptian Theatre Like all movie theaters in the US, SIFF was hit hard when the pandemic arrived. SIFF Cinema Uptown, SIFF Cinema Egyptian, and SIFF Film Center closed on March 13, and while other local theaters and theater chains have since reopened (such as AMC, Regal, Majestic Bay, …

SIFF’S First Annual DocFest

From September 30-October 7, SIFF is celebrating the reopening of the Egyptian Theatre with 13 documentaries as part of its first-ever documentary festival (you can read the press release here). The festival has both an in-person and virtual component (with some restrictions based on geographical area for the latter), so with a couple of exceptions …