Items of note

--While you're in the store picking up movies, be sure to enter our drawing for two tickets to the opening night double feature of SIFF Cinema's NOIR CITY series on Friday, February 13th. The night begins at 7pm with Deadline USA, a Richard Brooks movie from 1952 starring Humphrey Bogart that has yet to be released on any home video format. Leonard Maltin's 2006 Movie Guide calls it "most enjoyable." The double feature continues at 9pm with Phil Karlson's Scandal Sheet starring Broderick Crawford and Donna Reed. Maltin says it's "engrossing." Look for the entry box on our front counter. --The Seattle Human Rights Film Festival presented by Amnesty International Puget Sound starts Thursday, February 5th. Opening night's at the Cinerama with In Prison My Whole Life, a documentary following a young man's investigation into Mumia Abu-Jamal's arrest, along with a panel of speakers to discuss the case. There will be several films at the Northwest Film Forum over the weekend, then it closes at SIFF Cinema with the Darfur documentary Sand and Sorrow. Click here for a full schedule and ticket information. --The 2009 Science Fiction + Fantasy Short Film Festival is this Saturday, February 7th at the Cinerama. There will be two sessions of films and then an award ceremony to announce the winners (are we mistaken, or is the "Chris Weitz" listed on the jury the same Chris Weitz who directed The Golden Compass and will direct the next Twilight movie? Cool!) Follow the above link for ticket and film info. It's always a treat to see these kinds of films on a big screen at the Cinerama. --As Oscar time grows near, Slumdog's Best Picture/Best Director lock seems firm, especially with Danny Boyle's DGA win. There's still a lot of debate going on about the other categories; I'm using Awards Daily and The Carpetbagger to help sort though the chatter. The nominee's luncheon was this past weekend and Awards Daily posted one of my favorite things about this time of year: the group photos. My, does Josh Brolin look tan! BTW, we still don't get the thing about Bruce not being nominated. It would have been interesting to see if the crotch zoom shot at the Super Bowl would have have helped or hurt his chances at another win. As always, let us know what you're thinking about the Oscars (or anything else, really) and keep following our in-store movie playlist on Twitter.