Find a complete list of film events in Seattle this spring on our Things To Do calendar, or check out the rest of our critics' picks from Seattle Art and Performance.

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MARCH 21

Vertigo

A detective is hired by a friend to shadow the friend's suicidal wife—but things go devastatingly wrong when he falls in love with the mysterious woman.

Pacific Place & Varsity Theatre


MARCH 22–MAY 17

Alfred Hitchcock's Britain

Hitchcock is known for his lavishly Freudian Technicolor thrillers from the '50s and '60s. But the films he made in his native Britain are just as worthy of note—taut, intricate, their perversity more elaborately disguised. This series includes the masterpiece The 39 Steps and the excellent Young and Innocent, plus the better-known but more Hollywoodized Dial M for Murder.

Seattle Art Museum


OPENING MARCH 23

Pacific Rim: Uprising

Root for the son of Stacker Pentecost (John Boyega) and his friends as they battle some new monsters.

Wide


MARCH 23–26

The Wizard of Oz

The beloved tale of a young girl who travels to a faraway land and kills the first person she encounters. (It proceeds from there, and is forever awesome.)

Central Cinema

David Lynch's 'Wild at Heart'

Anyone can spot the Wizard of Oz resonances, but there's plenty more American iconography being vivisected in David Lynch's violent, sexy, hilarious, disjointed, long, essential 1990 gem—road movies, rock'n'roll (Elvis, specifically), juvenile delinquency, Tennesee Williams, James M. Cain, and many other late-20th century fixtures are stirred up in the film's dust. It also has the last truly great Nicolas Cage performance, and the first truly great Laura Dern one. SN

Central Cinema


MARCH 24

Indigenous Showcase: Indigenous Shorts

This collection of shorts highlights Native filmmakers. One, Mountains of SGaana by the Haida Gwaii filmmaker Christopher Auchter, uses elements of traditional art to tell the story of the abduction of Naa-Naa-Simgat and his lover's journey to the bottom of the sea to rescue him.

Northwest Film Forum


MARCH 24–25

Science Fiction and Fantasy Short Film Festival

The mini-fest is composed of nearly two dozen new sci-fi/fantasy short films judged by a nationally assembled jury.

Cinerama & SIFF Cinema Uptown


MARCH 25

The IF Project

This quiet, simple documentary about women in prison in Washington State tries to capture something hard to see: How writing can make life better. The "if" refers to the question inmates are asked in a writing group: "If there was something someone could have said or done that would have changed the path that led you here, what would it have been?"

SIFF Cinema Egyptian


MARCH 27–28

Ponyo

Ponyo is, it must be said, several notches below Hayao Miyazaki's masterworks, which makes it only, oh, super-duper wonderful. ANDREW WRIGHT

Varsity Theatre


OPENING MARCH 28

Paul, Apostle of Christ

The most interesting story about the rise of the second great Abrahamic religion is not that of Jesus Christ—his birth, his miracles, his sermons, his execution—but that of Paul, who never met the founder but certainly founded his Church. Ignore movies about Christ. Never miss one about Paul. CM

Wide


OPENING MARCH 29

Isle of Dogs

A new Wes Anderson film is always cause for excitement, but this one employs the same animation technique he used on his (somehow) underrated The Fantastic Mr. Fox. This is very good news. The voice cast includes Bryan Cranston, Edward Norton, Bill Murray, Jeff Goldblum, Kunichi Nomura, Greta Gerwig, Frances McDormand, Courtney B. Vance, Harvey Keitel, Liev Schreiber, Scarlett Johansson, Bob Balaban, Tilda Swinton, F. Murray Abraham, and Yoko Ono. SN

Wide


OPENING MARCH 30

Tyler Perry's Acrimony

Taraji P. Henson of Empire is the protagonist of this tale of a woman scorned, which might be reason enough to see it.

Wide


MARCH 30–APRIL 3

Howl's Moving Castle

When it comes to animation gods, there's Hayao Miyazaki, and then there's everybody else. Although reportedly considering retirement after completing the Oscar-winning Spirited Away, Miyazaki was apparently intrigued enough by the prospect of adapting a novel by children's author Diana Wynne Jones to return to the drawing board. ANDREW WRIGHT

Central Cinema

Raising Arizona

The Coen brothers' sublimely goofy love story between a criminal (Nicolas Cage) and a cop (Holly Hunter) who decide to steal a baby.

Central Cinema


APRIL 2–30

Silent Movie Mondays

See silent classics with a live organ score (on the "Mighty Wurlitzer") and other musical accompaniment. This year, the series highlights leading ladies like Marion Davies in The Patsy, Pola Negri in A Woman of the World, Gloria Swanson in Stage Struck, Mary Pickford in Little Annie Rooney and Colleen Moore in Ella Cinders.

Paramount Theatre


APRIL 3

'Showgirls' with David Schmader

Is Paul Verhoeven's dreadfully acted 1995 take on the American dream, or at least the casino strip revue version of the American dream, a stealth masterpiece? Hilarious Stranger alum David Schmader will make the case that this tale of boobs, butts, unsubtle lesbian homoeroticism, weird dance-moans, and Kyle MacLachlan's terrible hair has more than meets your bugged-out eyeballs.

Triple Door


APRIL 4

'Fail to Appear' with 'Scaffold'

Part of the Forum's Future//Present: Canada's New Wave series, Antoine Bourges's documentary-style debut film recounts a caseworker-in-training's struggle to help a man accused of theft, as she struggles against an unsympathetic system with few resources to spare.

Northwest Film Forum


APRIL 5

The Intestine

Maya and her mother move into the expensive house of Maya's one-night stand, who's disappeared. They begin to think of the place as their home, but when the man's sister turns up, Maya will act to defend her usurped territory. Lev Lewis's film is part of Future//Present. Actor Melanie Scheiner will attend the screening.

Northwest Film Forum


APRIL 6–10

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home

The crew of the Enterprise slingshots back to the 20th century to save the earth from an alien probe by enlisting the help of whale song. One of the wittiest and best-acted Star Trek films.

Central Cinema


OPENING APRIL 6

Foxtrot

An upper-class couple (played by Sarah Adler and the superb Lior Ashkenazi) crumples after their soldier son's death—and cruel revelations about his last mission are around the corner. Samuel Maoz's nonlinear film about the boredom and horror of war won the Silver Lion prize at the Venice International Film Festival.

AMC Seattle 10

Outside In

The latest from Seattle-raised director Lynn Shelton (Laggies, Humpday), this film stars Jay Duplass as a 38-year-old ex-con who returns to his hometown and forms an intense and ambiguous relationship with the woman who helped him get early parole, his former high school teacher (Edie Falco).

SIFF Cinema Uptown

A Quiet Place

Who knew affable John Krasinski had it in him to direct a shocker? The Office star and Emily Blunt play a couple with young children who must live in absolute silence for fear of hidden monsters that hunt by sound.

Wide


APRIL 12–15

BYDESIGN

One of the richest institutional collaborations in this city is that between the ByDesign Festival and Northwest Film Forum. Here, two capital-intensive arts that are very similar, film and architecture, meet in the theater. This year, the festival's must-see documentary is Dream Empire. It concerns a company that employs actors to transform "remote Chinese ghost towns into temporary international booming cities." Why? To trick "visitors into buying overpriced property." CM

Northwest Film Forum


OPENING APRIL 13

Lean on Pete

A teenage boy from an unstable home befriends a racehorse on the wane in this tender piece of Americana based on Oregon songwriter/author Willy Vlautin's 2010 novel. Young Charlie Plummer is joined by a fine cast including Chloë Sevigny and Steve Buscemi.

Wide

APRIL 13–15

Claire's Camera

Does Hong Sangsoo ever pause for breath? After last year's On the Beach at Night Alone and The Day After, the extremely prolific international festival favorite paired French legend Isabelle Huppert with his frequent lead Kim Min-hee in a short, sweet, complex story of women's friendship, shot in a single week during the Cannes Film Festival.

Northwest Film Forum


APRIL 13–16

Some Like It Hot

This is one of the greatest comedies in human history. Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon play two Chicago jazz musicians who witness a gang shooting and end up on the run from the mob. Disguised as women, they join an all-girl band and head down to sunny Florida to perform at a seaside resort. A very voluptuous Marilyn Monroe plays a shy and alcoholic singer. CM

Central Cinema


APRIL 13–17

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

An attempt to wed emotionally reticent drama with the exhilarating freedom of Hong Kong-genre filmmaking, but director Ang Lee can't quite pull off the combination; for too long a time, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon's shifting gears only jam. The film finds its rhythm and earns the accolades it has received once it leaves the stars behind and gives its heart over to the young and engaging Zhang Ziyi, as the aristocratic daughter of privilege who opts instead for the dangerous yet thrilling occupation of thief. BRUCE REID

Central Cinema


APRIL 14–15

Seattle Jewish Film Festival

This annual film festival showcases international, independent, and award-winning Jewish-themed and Israeli cinema. The 2018 theme is "isREEL Life," in celebration of Israel's 70th anniversary.

Regal Cinebarre

Langston Hughes African American Film Festival

Honor independent African American film culture in the heart of Seattle's historically black neighborhood. In addition to screenings, there will also be workshops, discussions, talks with filmmakers, and more.

Langston Hughes Performing Arts Institute


APRIL 18

The Bird with Crystal Plumage

Dario Argento's directorial debut tells the story of an American writer in Italy who witnesses a murder in an art gallery, inspiring him to investigate the crime in the true manner of a Hitchcock hero who only thinks he knows what he's doing. This is an excellent primer for the joys of the slightly camp but wickedly eerie school of Italian horror known as giallo. SN

Northwest Film Forum


APRIL 18–19

Jeannette, the Childhood of Joan of Arc

Bruno Dumont often uses austere natural imagery to tease out more or less religious themes in his intensely emotional films. Jeannette promises something rather different: Joan of Arc imagined as a wool-clad, barefoot free spirit in a rock musical scored by electronic composer Igorrr.

Northwest Film Forum


APRIL 20

Puget Soundtrack: Afrocop Presents 'A Scanner Darkly'

It's always a good idea to buy your tickets early to Puget Soundtrack, which matches a cult film with musicians about town to tease out new sensations and emotions from movies you thought you knew. Afrocop—a funk/fusion jazz trio with a penchant for abstract keyboard explorations and banging backbeats—seems like an inspired choice. The film, the 2006 animated sci-fi thriller that's based on a Philip K. Dick novel, should be the perfect fit for 4/20.

Northwest Film Forum


APRIL 20–22

The Green Fog

Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson, and Galen Johnson's experimental remake of Vertigo incorporates Bay Area found footage and a score by the Kronos Quartet for a truly surreal "parallel- universe version" of the already-strange 1950s Hitchcock classic.

Northwest Film Forum


APRIL 20–24

Little Shop of Horrors: Director's Cut

The third-best movie musical of all time was supposed to end with a far darker climax, but test audiences weren't having it, so we got the triumphal, love-conquers-all finale you remember. But now, the original ending has been restored, and you can see the bleak, tragic, curiously consonant-with-life-in-2018 version as nature (and Frank Oz) intended. SN

Central Cinema


APRIL 21

Drone Cinema Film Festival

Curated by renowned electronic musician Kim Cascone, DCF combines minimalist drone-based compositions with complementary filmic imagery. The results of past events have been immersive, meditative, and sometimes transcendent. This edition's theme is "LUNAR/SILVER." DAVE SEGAL

Chapel Performance Space


APRIL 21–22

24 Frames

When the world lost the Iranian film genius Abbas Kiarostami in July 2016, it had not seen the last of his cinema. Kiarostami's last nature and animal explorations, each 4.5 minutes long, have been gathered in a serene, gorgeous, painterly feature film. No one will judge if you cry.

Northwest Film Forum


OPENING APRIL 27

Disobedience

Sebastián Lelio, the Chilean director of A Fantastic Woman, has cast Rachel Weisz as Ronit, a daughter of an Orthodox Jewish rabbi who was shunned from her community for her sexuality. When she returns home, she finds that her male cousin has married her own former lover (played by Rachel McAdams). Based on the novel by Naomi Alderman.

Wide

Where Is Kyra

This story of a woman struggling to survive in an increasingly grim modern city after losing her job is pitched as a comeback vehicle for Michelle Pfeiffer, one of the great stars of the '80s and early '90s who seldom received her full propers as an actor because she was so blindingly beautiful. SN

SIFF Film Center


APRIL 27–MAY 1

Sister Act

A lounge singer with big-time ambitions witnesses a mob hit and is forced to hide out in a nunnery, where she turns their godawful choir into a rockin' ensemble. How can you resist a cast of Whoopi Goldberg, Harvey Keitel, and Maggie Smith?

Central Cinema


APRIL 27–MAY 2

Zama

Lucrecia Martel is one of the most fascinating filmmakers to come out of Argentina in the past few decades. Her thought-provoking period drama, Zama, is about a lonely Spanish judge in a South American colony in the 17th century who refuses to adapt, growing more and more hostile to the people he's supposed to govern.

Northwest Film Forum


APRIL 28

The Third Man

If this movie doesn't glamorize the life of black market profiteers, then no movie ever did. Joseph Cotten plays Holly Martins, a "scribbler with too much drink in him," trying to clear the name of his recently deceased best friend, the nefarious Harry Lime (Orson Welles, at his cherubic pinnacle). The acting, music, photography, and dialogue are peerless. SN

Northwest Film Forum


MAY 3–12

Translations Film Festival

The world's largest trans film festival (according to the organizers), now 12 years old, aims to promote positive and thoughtful portrayals of trans people.

TBD


MAY 10–12

The Very Best of HUMP! 2008-2017

Depending on whether you've attended Dan Savage's amateur porn festival from its inception or haven't yet experienced the arousal/joy/laughs/vicarious embarrassment/shock/terror of watching explicit, omnisexual short films with a roomful of strangers, this screening will resurrect your favorite sexy moments or introduce you to some kinks you've never seen before.

SIFF Cinema Uptown


MAY 12

News from Home

The great Belgian filmmaker Chantal Akerman reads letters from her mother in voice-over to images of New York City in this 1977 reflection on loneliness and family, in Akerman's recognizably intimate and experimental style.

Northwest Film Forum

Nordic Puget Soundtrack

Join the Forum in celebrating the opening of the New Nordic Museum with Scandinavian drinks plus a film with a live score.

Northwest Film Forum


MAY 13 & 16

Sunset Boulevard

Hollywood's greatest movie about itself is a fearlessly dark-hearted psychodrama narrated by a dead man and built around one of the mind-fuckiest performances in cinema history: Gloria Swanson—a former silent movie star with limited luck transitioning to sound —as Norma Desmond. DAVID SCHMADER

Pacific Place, Varsity Theatre


MAY 17–JUNE 10

Seattle International Film Festival 2018

The 44th annual Seattle International Film Festival is the largest film festival in the US, with 400 films (spread over 25 days) watched by around 150,000 people. It's impressively grand, and is one of the most exciting and widely attended arts events Seattle has to offer.

SIFF


OPENING MAY 18

A Star is Born

Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper step into the very expensive, oddly durable shoes previously worn by Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson, Judy Garland and James Mason, and Janet Gaynor and Frederic March, in this oft-remade chestnut about the relationship between an older man and a younger woman who pass each other meaningfully on the rungs of fame's wobbly ladder. SN

Wide


OPENING MAY 25

Solo: A Star Wars Story

With the massive success of Black Panther, I will not be surprised if the studio execs at Disney have entirely lost interest in the Han Solo and turned their attention to his less hairy sidekick Lando Calrissian. He is black. He is played by the rising star, Donald Glover. Lando must come from a black planet. We can have a film with just black people from this Afro-planet. We will make everyone there speak in an African accent and dress Africanish. The formula has clearly worked with Black Panther; surely it can work again and again and again. Han Solo is just another story about a white guy in space. CM

Wide


JUNE 8

Won't You Be My Neighbor?

Remember how badly you miss Mr. Rogers as you watch this documentary about the TV host, Presbyterian minister, and public broadcasting champion's ethics and influence.

Wide