Pick of the Week:
Glen or Glenda (1953). Directed by Ed Wood. Starring Bela Lugosi, Ed Wood, Timothy Farrell. Necromania (1971). Directed by Ed Wood. Starring Maria Arnold, Rene Bond.
Ed Wood was a true American—a lunatic who insisted he was good at something without having the skills to back it up. Glen or Glenda is, of course, about cross-dressing and is an early film preaching tolerance across the gender identity spectrum. Necromania is hard core porn based on a novel Ed wrote about a couple have sexual problems and needing magic to help. It does not have anything to do with necrophilia. I have never seen Necromania but Glen or Glenda is oddly charming. Playing at the Clinton on Oct 10th. for Ed’s 100th! Which means both Jimmy Carter and Ed Wood were born in the same year. What a world!
Also Playing:
Strangler vs. Strangler (1984). Directed by Slobodan Šijan. Starring Taško Načić, Srđan Šaper, Sonja Savić.
Playing at the Clinton on October 9th from Church of Film. This movie looks rad as hell! A serial killer stalks the streets of Belgrade, “Pera Mitic, a flower salesman with serious Oedipal issues, starts squeezing necks over carnations. Meanwhile an ambitious punk singer named Spiridon (Srdjan Saper, real life frontman for Yugoslavia’s most celebrated band, Idoli), develops a mysterious psychic connection with the killer, and whips up a controversial hit single—an ode to the Belgrade Strangler.”
This Week:
Eno, a documentary about musician Brian Eno, plays on Oct. 8th at Cinema 21. Brian Peter George St John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno was in Roxy Music! He was a pioneer of ambient music. He made the Windows 95 boot up sound. He’s one of my guys, as they say. This documentary uses a software to create a unique version each time it plays. Of course, Film Forum in New York played it for weeks with a slightly different version each day. Go see this!
At 5th Avenue Cinema: The Truman Show is playing this weekend. It’s about Jim Carey living in a simulated world. I haven’t seen this in decades. I thought it was decent, but a little maudlin. Ed Harris is one of our great bald actors.
At the Academy this week:
Night the Living Dead hobbles into theaters this week. This was the first movie I remember watching on YouTube since it’s in the public domain and of decent quality. Just like Romero intended us to watch it! Go see this on the big screen or I’ll bite you.
The Addams Family plays this week. Yes, Gomez and Morticia are great and we all hope to have a love like that, but like Uncle Fester I’m going after their secret gold so I can retire.
The Brood opens for a run. It’s Cronenberg’s movie about how much he hated his ex-wife! It’s about pregnancy and killer children and sure is something.
At Cinema 21 this week:
Playtime is the most famous Jacques Tati movie (at least in America). This is one of the Monsieur Hulot films. If you don’t know Hulot, imagine if Mr. Bean was funny, but that’s an oversimplification. It often makes “Best Movies Ever Made” lists. I was once very depressed and I watched all of the Hulot films. I think it helped? It also made me feel 900 years old. The point is this was shot on 70mm and absolutely needs to be watched on the big screen. Here’s an idea of what you’re in for with this.
At Cinemagic:
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre restoration continues to saw up our screens, playing on Oct. 4th, 5th, and 8th. Hey! Chainsawing people is hard work and you’ve got to pace yourself. He needs those two days off.
Travel back to the dystopian year of 2019 with Akira playing again on Oct. 5th, 6th, and 7th. Motorcycles, monsters, mayhem!
Their Cinema City series returns on Oct. 9th with Full Contact. This is a rad looking crime movie with Chow Yun-fat. It’s been called “Fast, fierce and gleefully tasteless.” Sounds like fun!
At the Clinton this week:
Frankenhooker plays on Oct. 4th. It’s about a lady made up of murdered sex workers. Supercrack and late 80s New York are part of this cultural stew.
Susperia plays on Oct. 4th. The original and still classic Dario Argento ballet horror movie.
Antichrist plays on Oct. 6th. You know, the movie about a couple trying to fix their marriage and the devil shows up. Not for the faint of heart.
Psychotropic Halloween plays on Oct. 6th. “Vintage 16mm film. Get ready to shiver in your shoes with a visit from the Groovy Ghoulies, the Spooky Boos, The Witty Witch and none other than the Headless Horseman!”
Blood Tea and Red String plays on Oct. 7th. A terrific looking “stop-motion fairy tale for adults that tells the tale of the struggle between the aristocratic White Mice and the rustic Creatures Who Dwell Under the Oak over the doll of their heart’s desire.”
Mirror Mirror plays on Oct. 8th, in which a teen gains powers from a haunted mirror.
At the Hollywood this week:
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre continues to terrify.
The Lovecraft Film Festival plays this weekend. It’s three days of horror so cosmic you won’t know what’s what by the end of it.
The Best of Final Girls: Berlin plays on Oct. 7th. It’s a showcase of “horror cinema that’s directed, written, or produced by women and non-binary filmmakers.”
The surprisingly fun Fright Night plays on Oct. 7th. It’s about a kid who’s convinced his neighbor (played by Chris Sarandon) is a vampire. Roddy McDowall plays a TV vampire hunter who helps him uncover the truth.
It’s a rare print alert as Seven Brothers Meet Dracula on Oct. 8th. Peter Cushing tries to kill some kung fu vampires. You must fight a vampire to view this rare print.
Electric Lady Studios: A Jimi Hendrix Vision plays on Oct. 8th. The film “chronicles the creation of the studio, rising from the rubble of a bankrupt Manhattan nightclub to state-of-the-art recording facility inspired by Hendrix’s desire for a permanent studio.”
Tokyo Cowboy plays on Oct. 9th, a neat looking indie movie that played at the Clinton last month. It’s about a Japanese businessman trying to make the American beef industry turn a profit. He’s a real fish out of water!
Reinas plays on Oct. 9th as part of the Portland Latin American Film Festival. “In the midst of Peru’s social and political chaos, Lucia, Aurora and their mother Elena are preparing to emigrate to the USA.”
Pulp Fiction plays on Oct. 10th. This movie plays a lot around town! What is there left to say about it? It’s got a zippy run time? The briefcase is full of ham?
Fresh Kill plays on Oct. 10th. It’s an oddball film about lesbians and ghosts on Staten Island, and I’ve always meant to watch it.
At Kiggins Theatre (by request I’m adding some area theaters when Rep programming shows up!)”
Popeye plays on Oct. 4th. Not even close to being Altman’s worst movie, but maybe his most deranged? Shelley Duvall is, of course, great in this. The set is a vacation town too, if you want to visit Malta.
At the Tomorrow Theater—who’s rep programming is resembling an abandoned Blockbuster this week, is playing:
Marie Antoinette plays on on Oct. 5th. “The screening will feature a discussion led by designers from adjacent practices, providing deeper insights into creative processes, techniques, and influences shaping its unique intersection with graphic design.” Ten dollars to anyone who can tell me what that’s supposed to mean.
Ah, the classic millennial comfort movie The Mummy plays on Oct. 5th. What a great thing for an art house theater with the backing of the Portland Art Museum (who gets about $20 - $40 million a year in donations/grants) to play! The Seattle Art Museum is playing a bunch of neat Korean films in November. What’s PAM got this month? Photos of Paul McCartney’s thumb? Look at the wide array of programming the Museum of the Moving Image is doing! Why can’t we have nice things?
The Monster Squad on Oct. 6th. The beloved (but not very good) 80s kids monster movie. Look, Tom Noonan is great in this but I still think it stinks. Oh! I’m in a rotten mood now. I hope there’s a good staff pick this week.
Ferat Vampire (1982). Directed by Juraj Herz. Starring Jiří Menzel, Dagmar Veškrnová, Jana Břežková.
Church of Film played this last Wednesday and it was great—it’s about a car that runs on blood.
The movie is a perfect metaphor for consumerism. The Ferat company makes a fashionable car that just so happens to kill the driver in order to run. Cars are unholy terrors in this movie. I can’t name too many anti-car films! I have such resentment for having to own a car to get around.
Ferat Vampire has a perfect late 70s/early 80s aesthetic. Everything is dingy and a little gross looking but the fashion and designs are fantastic. Did I mention the evil car company employs a bunch of fashionable lesbians?
There are a couple of gross Cronenberg-ish scenes that are wonderful. Our hero is a feckless doctor who looks like Neil Hamburger. It’s a great introduction into the Czech New Wave if you’ve never explored those films or Herz’s work.
They don’t have a copy at Movie Madness but someone put it on YouTube. I don’t think there has been a physical media release of this in America, probably because we are a terrible country. Morgiana, one of his other films, will pop up in Staff Picks here at some point, I’ve been wanting to rewatch before I wrote about it.
The tip jar is open, if you are so inclined. My car needs more blood! Blood!
BLOOOOOOD!