Reelin' in the Years: Part FourClick here for part two Unlike part two, these pictures of film folk in Seattle, cir-ca 2007-8, took place in venues other than Wallingford's Blue Star Café (which I once reviewed for Seattle Sound).***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****Above: At Quinn's on Capitol Hill. Filmmakers RobinsonDevor and Charles Mudede (Police Beat, Zoo), editor Mark Peranson (Cinema Scope), and executive direc-tor Michael Seiwerath (Northwest Film Forum). Per-anson had just introduced the NWFF's Pedro Costa ret-rospective. Photo taken on 12/07 by E. Steven Fried."Critics Critiqued," 2/08 installment of the NWFF's quar-terly Fi

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September ReviewsThese are the reviewsand other assignmentsI'm working on this month.Amazon DVDs: The Small Back Room - Criterion Collection (Powell & Pressburger), Billy the Kid (profile of a 15-year-old with Aspergers syndrome), The Last Days of Left Eye, and Le Deuxième Soufflé (Jean-Pierre Melville directs Lino Ventura). Amazon Theatricals: Burn After Reading (the Coen Bros direct their favorite actors), Flash of Genius (Greg Kinnear's inventor takes on the auto indus-try), Igor (animated fable featuring the voices of John Cusack and Steve Buscemi), Battle in Seat-tle (docudrama about the WTO protests), Miracle at St. Anna (Spike Lee takes on

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TWO WORDS OF THE SAME LENGTH: DAVID LYNCHFrom time to time, I'll be excavating unedited versions of interviews that aren't otherwise available online. To that end, here's the first draft of my conversation with David Lynch. The finished edition ap-pears in the 4/07 issue of Resonance, which ceased publication in 2/08. ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****Emerging 30 years ago with a little black and white picture called Eraserhead, David Lynch (born 1946) hit the scene fully form-ed. No matter that it took six years to make and featured a then-unknown Jack Nance as shockheaded Henry Spencer, the thing looked fantastic and scarred

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Reelin' in the Years: Part ThreeChapter Two: Lola(in a class by herself)Checking out the street through the blinds.***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****[Please pardon any formatting problems below; Blogger ap-pears to be enjoying a non-alignment pact with alignment.]Herewith a tribute to Lola, my tiny grey cat. As Robert Smith once sang, "All cats are grey (in the dark)." Though undersized, she's energetic, af-fectionate, and has the world's softest coat. Waking from a nap, feeling woozy. Feeling quizzical.Star of her own personal David Lynch film.Poster art for INLAND EMPIRE II: Lola Strikes Back.A more pastoral version of the same image, c

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Reelin' in the Years: Part ThreeChapter One: The CatsThe shot above doesn't do Onyx justice. I've never met a more handsome fellow. He even won the Anchorage cat show one year, and he was a mixed breed (like all our cats).***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****After a flurry of images featuring me and my friends,I figured it was time to give the cats some. It isn't thatmy life revolves around the furry creatures—it doesn't,I swear—but that they've always been a part of my life.Sometimes they drive me up the wall (whining, scratching).Sometimes I drive them up the wall (whining, scratching...),but I appreciate their companionship and entertaini

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Their Aim Is TrueJesse Dee, Bittersweet Batch, 7not Records [9/16/08]Take it from me / it's good to be /alive and kickin'.-- Jesse DeeJesse Dee soundslike the cover of El-vis Costello's 1977debut, My Aim Is True, come to life. On it, thesplayed-leg musiciancomes on like the new wave reincarnation of a rockabilly icon from the 1950s.Granted, Bittersweet Batch is more of a pop-soul hybridthan a retro-rockin' platter, but Dee revives the spirit of late-night juke joints where the ladies flounce about in puffy skirtsand the gents sport tight trousers. He provides the Boston-based link between Brits Amy Winehouse and Jamie Lidell.Suffice to say there are a

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