the girly who shall end all girls

MEMORY: The Origins of Alien

I wanted this to be better. there's a waste of time framing device that's never explained. then there's a brilliant sequence about the script writer and the comics, films, and life experiences that led to writing Alien. obligatory bit about Geiger, news-to-me bit about an influential painting by an artist named Francis Bacon, a million years about the chest buster scene. no interviews with Sigourney Weaver or Ian Holm, so it had not enough Ripley and Ash discussion as far as I was concerned. it did end with the dedication "FOR MOTHER". I laughed. for watching some boring afternoon on whatever streaming service it lands on.

The Long Haul: The Story of the Buckaroos

sweet and funny documentary about an all-male burlesque troupe created by Jonny-boy of the Can-Can. it's a first feature, so the storytelling can be murky, but the performance footage and the non-toxic masculinity on display is rad and worth celebrating. especially notable for the mix of body shapes and sizes on display (although it's still pretty white) and joyfully absurd costume choices. as they say, they wanted it to be sexy but entertaining and funny enough to take your mom or a straight boyfriend. one more show in Seattle on Saturday; this was the premiere so I expect it will be some time before it reappears elsewhere.

Long Time No Sea

story of a boy on Orchid Island, longing for a relationship with his father who works in Taiwan and rarely visits, and his new teacher trying to earn points by organizing the kids for an indigenous dance competition. I was ignorant of the indigenous peoples connected to Taiwan, so there was a lot to absorb. the story is bittersweet but the HFN ending is satisfying and believable. worth seeing.

Kifaru

(Kifaru is Swahili for rhino.) documentary about the caretakers of the last Northern White rhinoceroses. it's intimate and poignant. (includes footage of suffering animals and peaceful animal death.) particularly notable for being about the working class black Kenyans on the ground, not scientists or other talking heads. I liked this a lot and hope it becomes widely available.

Vai

snapshots of the life of an indigenous everywoman. at each age Vai was a woman from a different island, but each story could have been part of the same life. I enjoyed this a great deal.

In Fabric

deeply weird horror film featuring a killer dress. not particularly good.

Greener Grass

is terribad. do not watch. a few moments would have made mediocre sketch comedy, but that was an eternity of it. blech.

Cities of Last Things

this was the bittersweet and brutal Asian film I've been missing. in the near future we see a man at the end of his life, consumed by past wrongs. then we start skipping back in time to see how we got here. not every question is answered but I got my cops/underworld fix and a nice touch of sf. includes graphic deaths, sex, and violence against women. I enjoyed it immensely and recommend it if the premise appeals.

Them That Follow

taut snapshot of life in an isolated Appalachian community of snake-handling Pentecostals. our heroine has to choose between her faith and her feelings for the boy who wants to leave. features rattlesnakes, medical squick, and attempted rape. excellent performances from a great cast, including Olivia Coleman.

Patrinell: The Total Experience

there is nothing, nothing like seeing the world premiere of a film about a hometown hero. documentary profile of Patrinell Wright, founder and director of the Total Experience Gospel Choir. the film is good, and worth seeing especially for its chronicle of the changing landscape of the Central District neighborhood of Seattle. it's a complicated narrative about race, church politics, and economics with a ton of great music.

what you can't have is Pat Wright getting the entire Egyptian theater to stand, hold hands, and sing with her after the film. she didn't ask us, we just did it. she is a treasure and I am sorry that she is retiring.