Movie Marathon Weekend

With the Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF) in town and at least one movie in mainstream theatre that we wanted to see we have seen 4 movies in the last four days. If you have never been to a movie of the film festival and you live in the Seattle area, get out there and go! There are some terrific films (and a few stinkers) that you will not see elsewhere.


I already told you about Partik, Age 1.5 - see previous post - or better yet seek this film out and watch it.


SIFF descriptiopn below

What a difference punctuation can make. Because of a stray decimal, the child that a gay couple thinks will be their newly adopted 18-month-old son is actually a troubled, homophobic 15-year-old. Director Ella Lemhagen treats the dramatic subjects of adoption and bigotry with humor, intelligence, and a dash of romance.


On Friday we saw The Overbrook Brothers - Austin Texas is the origin of this film. We went to see it because it sounded funny and because we are headed to Austin this coming weekend and wanted to see if we could get a flavor of the town.

If you have been to Austin and have advice for places to see, we would love to hear from you! Sounds like a great city and this coming weekend is Austin Gay Pride! We have had Austin on our list of places to visit for a long time and Pride weekend sounded like a great reason to do it now!

SIFF description below

A comedy of errors about two arch-rival brothers at a ridiculously awkward family Christmas reunion where the siblings get a life-altering surprise that sends the 30-something ultra-competitive pair on a sometimes bizarre road trip. Writer-director John Bryant spins a hilarious tale of sibling rivalry, family secrets, and a quest for the truth as the brothers kick and scream their way to adulthood.

The film had it moments and I enjoyed it but I did not leave the theatre thinking about it or really wanting to highly recommend it. It had promise but lost me about half way through - worth a rental if it comes out on DVD.

Saturday we saw La Mission with Benjamin Bratt. Bratt, the director (his brother) and the producer were there and took questions following the movie.

SIFF description below

Peter Bratt’s powerful and moving film is an ardent love letter to the vibrancy and daily struggles that take place in the streets of San Francisco’s Mission District. Full of affection for its characters, La Mission is a redemptive story of one man’s struggle to unlearn a lifetime of destructive habits.

Best movie so far! The acting was excellent, storyline compelling and I genuinely connected with the characters in this movie. I hope this gets broad distribution and finds an audience. Seek this one out!

Last on Sunday we had to go see the new Disney/Pixar movie UP. It was a lot of fun and well worth seeing - it's going to make a lot of money! Great animation and great story.

Description from Flixter

From Disney Pixar comes UP, a comedy adventure about 78-year-old balloon salesman Carl Fredricksen, who finally fulfills his lifelong dream of a great adventure when he ties thousands of balloons to his house and flies away to the wilds of South America. But he discovers all too late that his biggest nightmare has stowed away on the trip: an overly-optimistic 8-year-old Wilderness Explorer named Russell.

Have a great week and go see a movie already!

Jim