SIFF: Thursday's capsule reviews

"7 Years": 2 p.m. Through visits to her jailed husband, Vincent, Maïté becomes involved with prison guard Jean, only to find that her husband set her up. Pacific Place, 600 Pine St.; 206-652-2404. $5.

"Dry Season": 4 p.m. Atim is a 16-year-old whose father was killed before he was born. Atim's grandfather is unwilling to live with the amnesty for his son's murderer, and he sends Atim to the city to exact revenge upon the killer, Nassara. But face to face with his victim, something in Atim makes him put off the execution. Lincoln Square Cinemas, 700 Bellevue Way N.E. No. 310, Bellevue; 425-454-7400. $7.

"Falkenberg Farewell": 4 p.m. The struggle of five 20-something male friends to find their place in the world. Neptune Theatre, 1303 N.E. 45th St.; 206-781-5755. $7.

"Black White + Gray": 4:15 p.m. The fascinating story of the influential figures who helped form the epicenter of New York's grand collision of art, fashion, music and club life in the 1970s and '80s. Egyptian Theatre, 805 E. Pine St.; 206-781-5755. $7.

"The Bothersome Man": 4:15 p.m. Granted a new life in a new town where everything runs efficiently and painlessly, Andreas is unable to get rid of his nagging taste for something spicy and forbidden. Pacific Place, 600 Pine St.; 206-652-2404. $7.

"How Is Your Fish Today?": 4:30 p.m. Hui Rao is a frustrated writer who feels stuck in Beijing. Lin Hao committed murder in southern China and is now escaping to its northernmost town. As it happens, Lin Hao is also the subject of Hui Rao's latest screenplay. Destinies intertwine as fact meets fiction in this strikingly shot film. Cinema, Nesholm Family Lecture Hall, McCaw Hall, 321 Mercer St. $7.

"La León": 5 p.m. In remote northern Argentina, a ferry captain seeking to protect the locals from illegal loggers casts a wary eye on a young, gay harvester who's found most of his trysts among visitors. Harvard Exit, 807 E. Roy St.; 206-781-5755. $7.

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LA LEON (Argentina/France, drama)

As a riverboat glides spookily through the Argentinian jungle, the camera peeks in on a village where a boy, presumed to have killed himself over a girl, is being buried. In a film that's as lazy as the river that runs through it, sexually-charged images of nude men are interspersed between the poetic realism of the villagers' daily routines. An embrace between two men is briefly glimpsed from the boat as it continues its quiet journey, and the audience, subdued by the beautiful boredom of the exquisite cinematography, quietly goes to sleep as a climax of rape, murder and revenge strains for significance. (Bill White) Grade: C-

"Cthulhu": 6:30 p.m. After his mother's death, Russ returns to his hometown to reconnect with Mike, his high school crush, and unwittingly triggers events that may lead to the end of the world. Neptune Theatre, 1303 N.E. 45th St.; 206-781-5755. $10.

"Expired": 6:30 p.m. A sweet-tempered meter maid meets a troubled fellow parking officer, and their tentative love affair becomes an awkward and sometimes hilarious dance of antagonism and attraction. Pacific Place, 600 Pine St.; 206-652-2404. $10.

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EXPIRED (U.S., indie comedy)

Cecilia Miniucchi's little tale of self-esteem and loneliness takes a slightly different tack to the familiar format of misfits in love and their rocky courtship. Samantha Morton is an unusual mix of mopey and cheery as a meter reader who answers the curses of ticketed drivers with a sincere "Have a nice day." Jason Patric's swaggering cowboy of a parking officer is not exactly her soulmate (he's "a little angry," she sheepishly confesses), despite moments of genuine sweetness between his thoughtless insults and cocky crudeness. The sweet and sour chemistry is fascinating but Miniucchi's comedy of discomfort is less funny than painful and, for all its well-observed moments of awkwardness and the terror of intimacy, the ping-ponging relationship overstays its welcome at almost two hours. (Sean Axmaker) Grade: C

"Joshua": 6:30 p.m. An affluent New York couple joyfully brings their newborn daughter home; but when 9-year-old brother Joshua begins acting strangely and a series of escalating accidents falls in his wake, they fear that the boy might be growing into a monster. Lincoln Square Cinemas, 700 Bellevue Way N.E. No. 310, Bellevue; 425-454-7400. $10.

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Joshua (U.S., thriller)

Anxiety rules this rumbling horror tale of sibling jealousy kicked up a grim notch. When Joshua's parents bring home his new baby sister, the gifted 12-year-old rolls with the upheaval of admiring grandparents and new priorities in their Upper West Side nest. He practices his Rachmaninoff and quietly takes up some new hobbies: mummification and abusing the homeless. The cream-faced Joshua's agenda hides, even from us, behind perfect manners and the assumed innocence of youth, obscured further by Mom's postpartum depression and Dad's clueless jollity. Director George Ratliff plays pitch-perfect on tautly wound strings our innermost fears that nothing -- not love, wealth or intelligence -- can protect us from the monsters we harbor. (Gianni Truzzi) Grade: B+

"The Bubble": 6:30 p.m. When an Israeli boy meets a Palestinian boy at a border checkpoint, even love can't always bridge irreconcilable differences. Egyptian Theatre, 805 E. Pine St.; 206-781-5755. $10.

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THE BUBBLE (Israel)

Director Eytan Fox explores another star-crossed relationship after the affecting "Yossi & Jagger" and "Walk on Water," focusing on a trio of roommates in Tel Aviv. Noam is a music store clerk who does reserve duty at a border crossing between Israel and Palestine. Lulu is an actress and Yali works in a bistro. The film follows their lives, ambitions and friendship and Noam's complicated love for Ashraf, a Palestinian youth who suffers under the double whammy of being Arab and gay. "The Bubble" -- which refers to the protected, hip world the trio live in -- isn't as assured as "Yossi & Jagger" but it still engrosses despite severe mood changes and a lot of assumption. Ashraf is the most interesting -- his journey is heartbreaking -- moving from a "make all the politics disappear" stance toward helpless despair. The film's flaw is its inability to completely let us understand his transformation. (Paula Nechak) Grade: B-

"Angels in the Dust": 7 p.m. A wealthy Johannesburg, South Africa, family abandons their comfortable existence and spends their life savings to establish an orphanage in a village in which 50 percent of the population is HIV-positive. Harvard Exit, 807 E. Roy St.; 206-781-5755. $10.

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ANGELS IN THE DUST (U.S./South Africa, documentary)

It begins as the story of an activist and her husband who start an orphanage in a village outside of Johannesburg where 50 percent of the population is HIV positive. Were it to end there, "Angels in the Dust" would be an inspiring portrait of a saint battling for the lives of the sick and forsaken in a frightened and superstitious world. But Louise Hogarth's remarkable film expands into a multi-faceted view of Africa's AIDS epidemic that indicts the hospitals refusing to provide effective medicine, parents who would rather murder their children than admit to their sexual abuse, and folk wisdom that claims your HIV will disappear if you sleep with a virgin. The suffering shown in this film is something that no civilized person should turn away from. (Bill White) Grade: A-

"Nömadak Tx": 7 p.m. Two musicians journey to remote regions of the world, using the txalaparta, a uniquely collaborative traditional Basque instrument, as a medium for cross-cultural exchange. Cinema, Nesholm Family Lecture Hall, McCaw Hall, 321 Mercer St. $10.

THE SEATTLE P-I REVIEW

NOMADAK TX (Spain, documentary)

On first viewing a txalaparta, a Basque musical instrument, you'll likely wonder when they'll finish building it. But the percussive music made by two men hammering what looks like a roughly improvised xylophone of wooden planks honed to pitch is remarkably refined. The film chronicles the project of performers of Oreka Tx (Igor Otxoa and Harkaitz Mtnez. de San Vicente) in their visits to nomadic peoples around the world, playing cross-cultural jam sessions with their hosts' music traditions, such as sitars in India and throat-singers in Mongolia. The journey includes constructing txalaparta from local materials: stone among the Sahara's Berber, and ice with the Sami of Lapland. In this vivid and joyous enterprise, the Basque saviors of this nearly vanished art bond with indigenous cultures for which their own nationalist claims gives them affinity. (Gianni Truzzi) Grade: C+

"Blood on the Flat Track: The Rise of the Rat City Rollergirls": 9:30 p.m. This ain't just roller skating: These are tough, sexy women in short skirts and great outfits competing in the fast-paced and thrilling sport of roller derby. Neptune Theatre, 1303 N.E. 45th St.; 206-781-5755. $10.

"Frozen City": 9:30 p.m. Looking to outrun the horrors of his past, a tormented cabbie flees Helsinki, Finland, for an apartment complex in the suburbs, only to discover that new neighbors bring new problems. Lincoln Square Cinemas, 700 Bellevue Way N.E. No. 310, Bellevue; 425-454-7400. $10.

THE SEATTLE P-I REVIEW

FROZEN CITY (Finland, drama)

Imagine a Dogma 95 remake of "Kramer vs. Kramer" by way of "Taxi Driver." Janne Virtanen is this film's Travis Bickle, a father of three trying to hold it together after his wife runs off to France for an affair, and stretched to the breaking point when she returns. Director Aku Louhimie doesn't giver her much of a part beyond calculating hypocrite who kicks him out of the apartment and withholds visiting privileges out of spite. By the time she smiles triumphantly as he blows his top at a custody hearing, the film feels less like unsentimental realism than an Alec Baldwin fantasy, and that's just the beginning of the tormented Dad's trials. Virtanen makes you feel his paternal devotion as well as the knots of anxiety and rage that build to the snapping point, but otherwise there doesn't seem much of a point to it all. (Sean Axmaker) Grade: C-

"Lovely by Surprise": 9:30 p.m. The story of a blocked writer who turns to her former mentor (and ex-lover) for advice. Harvard Exit, 807 E. Roy St.; 206-781-5755. $10.

"The Missing Star": 9:30 p.m. An idealistic Italian machinist finds his worldview altered when he travels with a young female guide into the heart of China's new industrial landscape. Egyptian Theatre, 805 E. Pine St.; 206-781-5755. $10.

"Trainwreck: My Life as an Idoit": 9:30 p.m. Jeff, an attention-deficit-disorder recovering alcoholic with Tourette's syndrome and little to no discernible intelligence, falls for a gold-digging socialite who inspires him to turn his life around. Cinema, Nesholm Family Lecture Hall, McCaw Hall, 321 Mercer St. $10.

"Vacation": 9:30 p.m. Ana, Robert and their teenage son, Max, plan on spending an idyllic sojourn at their remote German country house. Their fragile unity is disrupted, however, when more and more members of their extended family show up to vent past resentments and reveal long-kept secrets. Pacific Place, 600 Pine St.; 206-652-2404. $10.