The first weekend of the Spokane International Film Festival is over, but SpIFF is also screening films every night this week.
Tonight through Wednesday at 7 pm at the Magic Lantern (35 W. Main Ave.), for example, you can watch City of Life, Carancho and A Somewhat Gentle Man.
City of Life is a cross between Crash and The Fast and the Furious, only set in the United Arab Emirates. So you get rich people in race cars whose lives intersect when they have auto accidents — with ultra-wealthy Dubai as a backdrop.
Just think: Instead of staying home and watching the same old boring Monday night television, you could take a little two-hour imaginary trip to the UAE, which you'll never get to otherwise.
A Somewhat Gentle Man features Stellan Skarsgard (one of the "fathers" in Mamma Mia!, and the math professor in Good Will Hunting) playing a character who's just gotten out of jail. Those Norwegians, their view of life can be dark.
Thursday night brings a double feature: Poetry at AMC and "The Big Sayonara" at the Lantern.
Poetry is a Korean film about an elderly woman with problems: Her grandson's a crook, there's ugliness and death all around her, and she's losing her mind to Alzheimer's. But then, at her local community center, a poetry class changes everything....
"The Big Sayonara" is one of several locally produced short films that will be presented by Don Hamilton of Toad Hall (also known as Spokane's Don Hamilton Studios).
And next weekend, during the final three days of SpIFF (Feb. 11-13), there will be nearly 20 more sessions to take in. For details, visit SpIFF and check out our SpIFFY cover package.
