Recommendations for the final weekend at the Seattle International Film Festival.
For more information, go to the International Seattle Film Festival website at www.siff.net/index.aspx.
“The Sentimental Engine Slayer.” Decidedly strange directing and acting debut for Omar Rodriguez Lopez, the musician behind the band Mars Volta; the story goes along various tracks in El Paso, which looks pretty surreal here. It might not add up, but at least an interesting attempt is made in this largely experimental work; 4 p.m. today, SIFF Cinema.
“Imani.” A film from Uganda that threads together three story lines, all of which will end with a terrible bargain being made. This rigorously plotted scenario doesn’t flinch from presenting the difficult systems of life in Uganda today; 4:30 p.m. today, Harvard Exit.
“Micmacs.” That whimsical French filmmaker Jean-Pierre Jeunet (“Amelie”) returns with a typically goofy yarn about a man, shot in the head, who joins a band of misfits and goes after a cartel of arms manufacturers. Seriously, that’s what it’s about. It plays like a 1970s comedy, and will find a big arthouse audience; 7 p.m. today, Uptown.
“Cargo.” Aboard a spaceship for a four-year journey, some very odd things are happening — including a possible unwelcome stowaway. This Swiss flick covers familiar ground, but the close quarters of a space flight can be a useful staging area for suspense; 9:15 p.m. today, Egyptian; 1:30 p.m. Saturday, Egyptian.
“White Lion.” Although it’s strictly for the nature-adventure audience, this South African film does provide family-friendly fare at SIFF (with the usual carcass-munching advisories). It’s about an albino lion that makes his way from cub stage to adulthood, with some wonderful footage of animals in the wild; 11 a.m. Saturday, SIFF Cinema.
“American: The Bill Hicks Story.” Unusual approach for this documentary look at comedian Hicks: no experts or talking heads, just friends and family members narrating the life story of a rule-breaking comic who had to chase away his own demons before really breaking through to his best stuff; 11 a.m. Saturday, Egyptian.
“Drums Along the Mohawk.” Final offering from the list of titles restored by the Film Foundation, and a worthy one: John Ford’s 1939 piece of Americana, featuring Henry Fonda and Claudette Colbert as pioneers, plus one of the great chase sequences; 1:30 p.m. Saturday, Harvard Exit.
“Miss Nobody.” Black comedy is the order of the day with this tale of an upwardly-mobile dingbat (Leslie Bibb) who manages to kill off her business competition. Nice supporting cast in a sturdy, low-budget world premiere; 1:15 p.m. Saturday, SIFF Cinema.
“Hipsters.” I didn’t go for this utterly mad Russian musical, which suggests the existence of jitterbugging hepcats in mid-1950s Moscow, but I can see how its unflagging energy, kooky musical numbers and sheer weirdness could find an audience; 2:30 p.m. Saturday, Pacific Place.
“Grease Sing-a-Long.” Yes, the 1978 musical returns with subtitles for sing-along purposes (not that anybody needed those back in 1978). John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John lead the cast, and the communal singing; 3:45 p.m. Saturday, SIFF Cinema.
“Last Train Home.” Extraordinarily powerful documentary about the lives of Chinese workers who live a migrant lifestyle, just so they can work lousy jobs in city factories. The difficult existence of one such family is distilled in scenes of the annual Chinese New Year holiday, when crowded trains make an already difficult mass migration even more unbearable; 6 p.m. Saturday, Pacific Place; 1:30 p.m. Sunday, Pacific Place.
“Farewell.” A broad but entertaining Cold War espionage thing about a Soviet functionary (played by Emir Kusturica, better known as a director than actor but excellent here) feeding secrets to a Frenchman stationed in Moscow; 6:30 p.m. Saturday, Uptown.
“Angel at Sea.” An elliptical and emotional Belgian film about a father’s mental instability seen through the eyes of his confused but adoring young son, a scenario played out in a seacoast town in Morocco. It bears some of the less exciting conventions of the European art film, but the situation is affecting, and the acting is superb; 3:30 p.m. Sunday, Kirkland Performance Center.
“Get Low.” The festival officially comes to a close with this backwoods tall tale about a hermit (Robert Duvall, crotchety) making plans for his own funeral, which he wants to attend. The movie doesn’t match its early promise, but it has some genuinely funny moments along the way, many of them delivered by Bill Murray as a puzzled but flexible mortuary owner; 6:30 p.m. Sunday, Pacific Place.
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