I saw 6 movies at this year’s Seattle International Film Festival. I REALLY enjoyed 4 of them. My favorite of the lot was Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s MICMACS. I’m a huge fan of Jeunet’s playful style, as seen in Amelie, A Very Long Engagement, and The City Of Lost Children (I’ve still yet to see Delicatessen). His films exude such a feeling of happiness and love of the little things in life. Trailer for Micmacs below.

Another film I fell in love with at this year’s SIFF was THE CONCERT starring Melanie Laurent, the gorgeous martyr projectionist in Inglourious Basterds. Great film for any music lover, classical or not. Trailer below.

There was a lot of hype for WINTER’S BONE, especially after winning the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance this year. The film was very dark (which I always love) and well made, showing a side of America I’ve never before seen on screen. Trailer below.

The final of the blessed “4″ was Luca Guadagnino’s I AM LOVE, starring Tilda Swinton. The film was beautiful, shot in Italy, following an affair between Tilda Swinton’s character and her son’s friend and business partner. I found myself imagining other filmmakers watching I Am Love and thinking to themselves ‘I could never make a film this gorgeous.’ Trailer below.

As for the ‘other two.’ CYRUS, starring John C. Reilly, Marisa Tomei, Jonah Hill, and Catherine Keener, directed by the Duplass brothers. Sounds great, right? Meh. Definitely funny parts but I felt that it couldn’t decide to be more funny or more dramatic and heartfelt. I loved the cast, but especially with the recent Step Brothers (hilarious movie – also starring JCR), it felt too cliche. I’m sure it will get a pretty big nationwide push. Trailer below.

Lastly, there was THE FAMILY TREE, starring Hope Davis and Dermot Mulroney, again, sounding very promising. Not so much. The movie wanted to simultaneously be a heavy family piece a la American Beauty while keeping raunchy, cliche humor int he mix. I saw the world premiere, a lot of the cast and crew were there. I wanted to like it. But then I didn’t. Trailer below.