Out and About -- Every now and then we're allowed to remove the radio collars that keep us within a mile radius of our desks and are in fact encouraged to go out and see the world. Like sleepy grizzlies waking from a long winter's hibernation, we emerge from the Bin, disheveled, yawning and hungry for culture. We found this weekend to be a veritable huckleberry patch for the arts, and perhaps you even saw a few of us making the rounds. Friday night's "Zephyr goes to the Movies" was a nice cinematic immersion in the surreal, with three silent films and their original scores. Our highlights? The highly amusing Entr'acte, the lightly thrumming score for Rain and Kendall Feeney's piano adlib when Un Chien Andalou broke on the first frame.
On Saturday, we thought we needed a fresh dose of Robert Altman, and fortunately his new film Gosford Park delivered. With at least 30 speaking parts (and all of them speaking at once), it was hard to follow but endlessly entertaining.
Sunday was all about the Northwest premiere of Sherman Alexie's new film The Business of Fancydancing, based on his first book of poems. Alexie was in typically gregarious form beforehand, confessing that he was more nervous about the Spokane showing of the film at the Spokane Northwest Film Festival than he was when Fancydancing premiered at the Sundance Film Festival last week in Utah. Opinion is divided here in the Bin as to the merits of the film itself. Some of us found the characters and storyline not developed enough, while others were drawn in by individual performances, witty lines and the experimental use of narrative technique. Still, we were thrilled to be there for the premiere and, overall, were impressed with Alexie's directorial debut.
Full Shop -- Last Thursday night, we stopped by the Shop on South Perry. Finger-style guitarist Bill Mize was playing, and we are glad to report it was standing room only. Tickets were $8 a pop, yet they actually turned people away at the door. Mize is a phenomenal guitarist, smooth and fluent-- a technical master. Mize's repertoire spans everything from the bluesy to the folksy to the classy, with the occasional country ballad mixed in. But what's so exceptional about him is how effortlessly he transitions from one style to the next. It was an amazing show -- the audience didn't want to leave at all. And to the guys at the Shop, we'd just like to say: Keep bringing in the talent, and we'll keep showing up on Thursday nights.
Let us in on your dirty little secrets by e-mailing potential Buzz Bin
items to buzz@inlander.com.
