2005.05.16
SIFF 2005
Been so occupied lately that I almost forgot it’s SIFF season again, one of my favorite times of year! Am only just now getting around to browsing through the listings, so already I can guess there’s no hope of getting tickets for Howl’s Moving Castle (sigh!) but already a few others are looking promising:
- Strings: because really, how can you go wrong with fantasy, puppets and Derek Jacobi?
- a Murakami double feature of Tony Takitani and Tuesday’s Women (a short film which is, as told me by Alice, based on the story later expanded into The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle)
- Asian-American director Alice Wu’s Saving Face looks like fun!
- The Syrian Bride, an Israeli-Palestinian co-production. Could be too much to handle, but I’d like to see it if I can.
That’s only a first glance; there’s a lot left to read through. Unfortunately, since I’ll be spending two of SIFF’s first three weekends out of state (in Chicago and New York/New Haven), I’m sure I won’t be able to attend every film I’d like to.
Still, what are you going to see?
Oh! If you’re stuck on the eastside and craving Thai, I totally recommend Noodle Boat in Issaquah. It’s so good! I especially liked the “volcano honey duck,” which sounds a lot kitschier than it actually was, but really, everything we tried was delicious. Lots of sweet basil, lime leaf, cilantro, and a menu that seemed just a bit off the beaten path (with evocative, engrish-esque names like “Mr. Lime,” “Whatever you called?” and my fave: “Egg! Best friend”) — one of our favorites (“kao tod”) was almost like a Vietnamese “bun,” with deep-fried chunks of curried rice instead of rice stick noodles.
A word of warning, though: keep an eye out for the sign, since it’s almost impossible to see from the road.