So, another Seattle International Film Festival is in the
books. As usual, I watched a crap-load of movies over the past six weeks—SIFF
is nothing if not a marathon. My total topped 60 this year, which isn’t even
half of the features. (On the final night, I encountered someone on their 123rd
movie.) Overall, it was the strongest field in a few years; I routinely found
myself pleasantly surprised by movies I didn’t expect. With that in mind, here
are my favorites of SIFF 2018, in no particular order.
Sundance fave Hearts Beat Loud shows
maybe the best on-screen father-daughter relationship I’ve ever seen. Sam
(Kiersey Clemons) is the driven, focused one, about to start a pre-med program.
Her father, Frank (Nick Offerman), is the head-in-the-clouds dreamer unable to
relinquish a fading musical ambition and desire to start a band with his
daughter.
The Seattle International Film Festival is an ungainly
monster. It runs almost four full weeks (25 days), more if you hit up press
screenings and screeners that start two weeks ahead of time, and features more
than 400 movies, 168 of them features. You’ll find things that literally won’t
see anywhere else. And while that’s awesome, wading through everything gets a
bit much.
