Seattle Gay News
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT Issue 35, Volume 37, August 28, 2009
Boylesque 101 on Paul Giamatti bares his soul about Cold Souls Capitol Hill
moviepatron.com
first run features
by Sara Michelle Fetters SGN Contributing Writer
Among the more refreshingly unusual items screened during this year’s Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF) was first-time writer/director Sophie Barthes’ Cold Souls. A surreal sci-fi comedy about the human soul, the plot follows Paul Giamatti as he rehearses for an upcoming production of Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya. Unhappy with how things are proceeding, the actor goes to a company offering “soul storage” and has his own removed only to discover later it has been stolen by Russians to be sold on the black market. Complex, funny and ultimately moving, the film proves to be a Miss Indigo Blue in A Wink and a Smile true original asking unique quesby Shaun Knittel Indigo started the Academy of tions we seldom come across. I sat SGN Staff Writer Burlesque six years ago. Since down with Giamatti to discuss the then, she’s watched it grow by project, our conversation a freeMiss Indigo Blue, twirlygirl ex- leaps and bounds. The academy wheeling chat that went in almost Paul Giamatti traordinaire and headmistress of offers classes like ballet, bump and as many directions as the movie the Academy of Burlesque, along grind, belly dance basics, and now itself. Here are some of the high- approached me she said she'd writ- idea. The whole idea was just fun with gender-bending sensation Boylesque. lights: ten this character and it was [me], and great and original, and that’s Miss-ter Waxie Moon, will beShe came up with the idea for but then she told me the plot of it what sold me on it. gin teaching Boylesque 101 – the a Boylesque course, which acSara Michelle Fetters: What and that’s what was great. When I Fetters: But did you ever have first class of its kind anywhere – at cents the very popular Burlesque were some of the things that drew read it I loved the sort of wonderful those moments where the fact you Oddfellows Building inside West 101 class featured in the local film you to Barthes’ screenplay? It had Slavic, slightly absurd melancholy were essentially playing yourself Hall September 7. A Wink and a Smile, and said the to be a little weird reading a script that [ran] through the whole thing. ended up taking you off your game “Boylesque seems timely,” In- class quickly filled to capacity, where you’re the main character. The movie is about the soul and she or out of your comfort zone? digo told SGN. “The first class of proving “How hungry the commu- Was that even something you let goes to the source of the soul of the Giamatti: I never did. There are graduates are really pioneers in all yourself think about? world, which is the Russian soul, of this.” see giamatti page 28 Paul Giamatti: When [Sophie] and I just thought that was a great see boylesque page 32
David Cook takes Seattle by storm
The Dead Weather with Jack White, intense & dramatic
by Shaun Knittel SGN Staff Writer David Cook August 24 Showbox SoDo Alternative rocker and postgrunge sensation David Cook brought his Declaration tour to an adoring audience at the Showbox SoDo August 24. For many, Cook became a household name when the singer-songwriter won the seventh season of American
Idol. However, with over 100 live shows under his belt, the 26-yearold is quickly becoming one of rocks best live acts. “You guys are loud,” Cook told the crowd of mostly teenage girls and Gay boys clamoring to get close to the rocker. “Keep it up,” he added, shooting a smile to the standing-room-only crowd. As soon as Cook launched into the first set, it quickly became apsee david cook page 32
The Dead Weather August 20 Paramount Theatre Truth be told, I went to The Dead Weather show last week to be in the same building with Jack White – and I wasn’t alone. The large turnout at the Paramount Theatre, leaning heavily male and very much hipster, shrieked and hollered when the mysterious, near-freakish rock star appeared on stage with a head of hair that would make an electrical socket proud. White, the genius behind Grammy-winning duo The White Stripes and member of another successful ensemble, The Raconteurs, and producer of Loretta Lynn’s widely acclaimed comeback, Van Lear Rose, arrived in Seattle with his latest side project in tow, a razorsharp act called The Dead Weather. Fronted by The Kills leading lady Allison Mosshart and enlisting Queens of the Stone Age guitarist Dean Fertita and fellow Raconteur Jack Lawrence (also in the Greenhornes), the new Jack White gig has badass written all over it –
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rca
David Cook
by Albert Rodriguez SGN A&E Writer
The Dead Weather
dramatic lyrics, dark backgrounds, stinging vocals, and in concert, the group was considerably intense. Opening with “60 Feet Tall,” Mosshart immediately presented herself as a don’t-mess-with-me chick – a girly Joan Jett loaded with cockiness. I loved her gritty presence right off the bat, though she became a bit over-the-top as the night moved on. “Bone House” came next, and while it was a great piece, the constant flashing of stage lights made it slightly annoy-
ing towards the end. “Hang You from the Heavens” was awesome and sinfully indulgent, especially when Mosshart sang, “I’d like to grab you by the hair, and drag you to the devil.” Fertita and Lawrence grinded away on guitars and bass like synchronized chainsaws in a deep forest. Even better was a flawless run-through of “I Cut Like a Buffalo,” featuring White on vocals as see dead weather page 37