SpIFF: Ninjas down, Gypsies & baseball up next

Ninjas and skateboarders: What do they have in common? Besides a bit of blood flowing now and then, the correct answer is the Spokane International Film Festival .

And let’s not forget the vomit.

Up on the screen of the Bing Crosby Performing Arts Center during the first full day of 2007 SpIFF were two features: “Rising Son: The Legend of Skateboarder Christian Hosoi” and “Shinobi.”

“Rising Son” is a documentary that tells the story of Hosoi, one of the gang that came along after the original Dogtown crowd, immortalized in the Stacy Peralta doc “Dogtown and Z-Boys” and the narrative flick “Lords of Dogtown.”

While filled with lots of good skating footage, plus interviews with everyone from Tony Hawk to actor Jason Lee, “Rising Son” basically tells the same story that “Dogtown” does with a lot more skill – and originality. And the digital cinematography looks more washed out than a decade-old tie-dyed t-shirt.

“Shinobi” is an “X-Men” variation done like a standard samurai movie. One character carries claws that look like Wolverine’s, another’s kiss kills quicker than Rogue’s and a third has eyes that are nearly as strong as those wielded by Cyclops. But the story is pure Kurosawa, blended with a bit of Ang Lee.

The shorts that preceded the features had familiar feels to them. The first, “Jack the Vomiter,” reimagines the Jack the Ripper tale as the story of a man who believes that killing is an art form – part of the process being, it seems, drenching the crime scene in barf. The codirectors – Mike Corrigan, Travis Hiibner, Derrick King and Gary McLeod – were featured in last year’s festival with their short, “What’s in the Barn.”

And then there was James Dunnison’s 2002 short “Organ Music,” the only film so far to be commissioned by the Contemporary Arts Society – the organization that sponsors SpIFF.

Day two is down, and Saturday looks to be a long one, with film programs at 11 a.m., 2 p.m., 5 p.m. and 8 p.m.

If you haven’t seen any of the films, yet, you might want to head on down to the Bing. There’s bound to be something you like – even if there are no more ninjas or skateboarders.

Saturday’s schedule includes baseball and Gypsies . Almost as good.