Central Cinema looks incredibly industrial from the outside, but once inside, it's a single screen of terrific movie magic.

The building that houses Central Cinema in Seattle's Central District was erected in the late 1920s and has housed both a car dealership and a milk bottling plant. The idea to turn a piece of the space into a combination movie theater and pub came to Kevin Spitzer, a metal artist, when he was renting it as his studio. In summer 2005, Kevin and his wife Kate opened the theater and have been operating it in the 20 years since.  

I have watched The Return several times now since its release in 2017. Each time, it feels like descending into a cave that should feel familiar—haven’t you been here a hundred times already? And yet, each descent into the third season of Twin Peaks feels almost alien. There are always hidden caverns to explore, new narrative threads to pull and unravel that often feel like they lead you nowhere.

Two days after the dream, I entered a darkly lit theater in Northwest Film Forum to the familiar sound of the synth-heavy, nostalgic yet eerie Twin Peaks theme song, and shuffled into a seat. I was about to spend two hours watching episodes five and six of Twin Peaks: The Return (2017), as part of a collaborative screening of the entire 18-episode season held by Northwest Film Forum, SIFF, The Beacon, and The Grand Illusion Cinema between November 13 and December 16 of this year. I had only watched the first four episodes of the first season of David Lynch’s masterpiece series set in our home state. But there I sat, going in blind.

Last year I was privileged to speak with local filmmaker Shea Formanes about her first feature, I Watched Her Grow. Recently, Shea and I spoke again, this time about shooting a short film she is currently working on. We spoke about her process and how this particular film, titled Diwata (a Filipino word meaning “muse”) went from an idea into her current project. We also went into great detail about how a film like this gets made and the partnerships she found along the way.

Twin Peaks, and indeed the entirety of David Lynch’s oeuvre, was and will always be a communal experience for me. I saw my first David Lynch movie, Mulholland Drive, in an almost-sold-out screening at the SIFF Egyptian in 2023. From then, I watched Blue Velvet, Inland Empire, Eraserhead, and more, reporting my jumbled but inspired thoughts, theories, and emotions back to more senior Lynch fans and friends. Though an endlessly long watchlist prevented me from visiting the humble, beloved town of Twin Peaks, Lynch’s passing in 2025 awakened the urgency to make the trip.

 “I’ll see you in twenty-five years.” These were the final words the spirit of Laura Palmer whispered to Agent Dale Cooper during the season two finale of Twin Peaks in 1991. In 2017, Laura’s farewell became the backdrop for Twin Peaks: The Return, the third and truly final season of David Lynch’s and Mark Frost’s beloved cult classic. And now, The Return returns. This time it’s being presented across Seattle by The Grand Illusion Cinema, The Beacon, Northwest Film Forum, and SIFF. 

At its reopening in 2014, the Egyptian was a first run movie house for arthouse cinema and international films, much like it was under previous management. Toward the end of its lifespan, the Egyptian became the venue where SIFF would host more of its revival, restoration, and thematic programming. It is where Noir City and Scarecrowber found enthusiastic crowds. It is also where SIFF hosted Capitol Hill's pinkest party in July 2023 with joyously raucous showings of Barbie.

Seattle Trans Underground Film Festival (STUFF) held its first viewings on October 16, 2025, at the lovely Northwest Film Forum. I had the honor to snuggle into a cozy theatre amongst a host of creative Queer and Trans individuals to watch the festival’s first double feature, CW’s Laughtrack and Henry Hanson’s Dog Movie. There were many laughs and a few tears shed, especially at the films’ closes, where both received minutes-long applause.

Andrew Bell is a Seattle-based filmmaker whose feature debut, Bleeding (2024), has received attention from the broader horror community in the past year. The film follows teenage cousins Eric (John R. Howley) and Sean (Jasper Jones), in a world where vampire blood is a highly addictive drug. While on the run from Sean’s dealer, they run into a sleeping teenager (Tori Wong) locked in a house, and things spiral into a morbid nightmare. Bleeding tackles intense real-world problems while maintaining the heightened fantasy of horror.

This past year has been a time of wonderfully huge growth for our li’l publication that could. We’ve taken our first steps from the online woods into the public eye around town, and we couldn’t be happier with our trajectory as the new year approaches. We’re immensely grateful to everyone who’s come along with us on the journey and helped us reveal our creative natures via support and readership.
As such, it is with great pride that we announce that The Echo is the media sponsor for The Gregorys!

Walking up to the Palace is like walking on the main street of most beach towns. There are restaurants, unique shops such as the fabulous Griffin Bay Bookstore, and real estate offices that try and entice you to take the plunge and move to the islands full time. Yet, the Palace is not just any building. It sits in the middle of a T with Spring St. crossing in front and Second St. S directing you right to it. It feels like the town draws you toward the Palace like a beacon.

Released in 1985, Re-Animator was loosely adapted from H.P. Lovecraft’s 1922 novelette, “Herbert West—Reanimator,” and while I would gladly change my legal name to “Official Lovecraft Hate Account,” I try not to hold the association against the movie. Director Stuart Gordon, whose background was in theater, originally planned Re-Animator as a stage production. Then it evolved into a television pilot, which was expanded into a feature film.

Local Sightings Film Festival returned to Seattle for its 28th year from Sept. 19-28 at Northwest Film Forum. I was able to catch the second weekend of the festival and view three feature-length documentaries from Pacific Northwest filmmakers as well as the All in My Head horror shorts. A tendency in the weekend’s selections was examining large-scale social issues from a personal place, following people enmeshed in the heart of these issues. I noticed a clear thread in several of the films I saw: They contained powerful interrogations of masculinity.

Walking into Pepper Pepper a.k.a. Kaj-Anne Pepper’s show Pink Moment: Collections at Seattle Central’s M. Rosetta Hunter Gallery feels transcendent. Predominantly a new media show with video, sound, and some photography, Pink Moment is an exploration of “pink as queer energy, movement, and magic.” Viewing the work, the color pink takes on an ethereal effect as the motion of Pepper Pepper—acting as both subject and performer—reveals a dynamic, prismatic quality that is dreamlike and hypnotizing. 

Upon arrival, we mingled, got in line for the bar, and sat in the lobby chatting about the excellent playlist, the overall vibe, and any preconceived notions (of which there were few). Once the doors to the theater opened, we meandered in, a perk of arriving early and secured seats that would allow for the optimal middle-of-the-theater view. We tried to answer the trivia questions as they popped up on the screen, the preshow displaying information about the sponsors as well as information for submitting a film to HUMP! for next year.

On The Boards hosted the “pervs” of Seattle for part two of its 20^th anniversary year. Submissions from all over the world to our backyards were carefully curated down to a selection of erotic short films that have a little bit of everything for everybody. And at least one thing that expands your mind to possibilities previously unthought of.

HUMP! Film Festival will return to the Puget Sound this fall with the second half of its 20th anniversary programming. The indie adult short film festival created by Dan Savage has been a staple in Seattle since its debut. This new collection of 22 shorts, selected from hundreds of submissions, will run 17 screenings in Seattle from September 18-27 and October 10-11 at three venues across the city: On the Boards in Queen Anne, Quality Flea Center in Capitol Hill, and The LumberYard Bar in White Center.

The 28th Annual Local Sightings Film Festival is coming September 19-28—an over a week-long and in-person view into the creative psyche of the Pacific Northwest region—with over 60 films and a dozen world premiers held at the Northwest Film Forum in Seattle’s central district.

The Oak Harbor Cinemas is unlike many of the other exhibition spaces covered here in Sound Cinema. For one it is located on Whidbey Island which is in Puget Sound just west of Anacortes. It is certainly a unique space and a bit off the beaten path. What Oak Harbor Cinemas really has going for it is its price, especially as the theater focuses on new releases with at least one new film every week.

It’s lucky if you live here around the Puget Sound because you do not have to go far to experience great cinema. There are vast possibilities here that will have destinations like Port Townsend, Tacoma, and Orcas Island on your mind. Here are a few highlights of local film festivals and archival series coming this fall.