Movie pals! I want your recommendations for Staff Picks! Email me at watchthispdx@gmail.com. Tell me about the good stuff and I’ll watch/write about it in December.
Pick of the Week:
Seven Samurai (1954). Directed by Akira Kurosawa. Starring Toshiro Mifune, Takashi Shimura, Keiko Tsushima.
Plays this weekend at the Hollywood in 35mm! I missed the restoration a couple of months ago (it came and went like most good things in life), but I am going to see this. Kurosawa’s masterpiece and something to behold on the big screen. Our pal Ebert called it, “is not only a great film in its own right, but the source of a genre that would flow through the rest of the century.”
Also Playing:
The Hungry Stones (1960. Directed by Tapan Sinha. Starring Arundhati Devi, Soumitra Chatterjee, Chhabi Biswas.
This looks fantastic and I thank Church of Film for continuing to play things that wouldn’t been seen otherwise in Portland! “A young Bengali bureaucrat is assigned to a remote Muslim region of India. There he takes up residence in a glorious, half-ruined ancient palace, which the locals warn him is haunted. Modern and skeptical, he does not take them seriously—but as ghostly visits occur during the night, he is soon bewitched by the palace. And by one its ghosts, an Arab dancer.”
This Week:
Demolition Man plays at Cinemagic Nov. 26th. Wesley Snipes is one of the unsung 90s action heroes. This movie is campy, fun, and very stupid if you have never seen it. Stallone is a cop who shoots first (with a bazooka) and doesn’t know how to ask questions. Snipes is a charismatic killer. It’s all a joke on 90s PC culture, which keeps getting nastier as our country decays. Is Demolition Man the most prescient film ever made? Find out!
At 5th Avenue Cinema: Babette’s Feast plays this weekend. It’s a contemplative Oscar winning film that both Stanley Tucci and the pope love and based on a contemplative short story. A beautiful movie. The students at 5th Avenue Cinema are really doing a good job of keeping these movies alive.
At the Academy this week:
Eraserhead opens for a run. David Lynch may never direct another film again so enjoy the ones that are there. If this is your first time watching this have fun! If you are a young person go see this! This is often a gateway movie into a wider world of cinema.
The original Mildred Pierce comes back for a run. Joan Crawford does her thing. She’s great!
Good Will Hunting opens for a run. A maudlin crowdpleaser that Affleck and Damon won an Oscar for. Cannot believe this is over two hours. Haven’t watched this since college (?) so maybe I’m just being a schmuck.
At Cinema 21 this week:
The Fall continues to play! I can’t wait to see Mark E. Smith on the big screen!
Casablanca plays on Nov. 23rd. Maybe the ultimate TCM movie and dad movie? Peter Lorre and Sydney Greenstreet star! I don’t think I’ve ever seen this in a theater so you should! We all should. I’ll see you there.
At the Clinton:
Not a movie but the Future Ten Minute Play festival continues again!
There is another documentary that’s a benefit screening for the Snowdays Foundation on Nov. 26th.
At the Hollywood this week:
Murdering the Devil plays on Nov. 22nd. I am a sucker for anything from the Czechoslovak New Wave so I am very excited to see this movie about a lady who may or may not be romancing the devil.
Louder Than You Think plays on Nov. 23rd. This is a documentary about Gary Young from Pavement showcasing his wild life.
Ayahuasca Now plays on Nov. 24th from the Portland Latin American Film Festival. It’s “a powerful documentary about a group of men and women veterans from the Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan wars.”
Caliber 9 plays on Nov. 24th. This is an excellent looking Italian crime drama that your pal Tarantino likes and no, you do not need to see Caliber 1 - 8 to understand.
Escaflowne: The Movie plays on Nov. 24th. This is an anime with giant robots in a fantasy world.
20 Years in the Crypt: Embedded with Dead Moon plays on Nov. 25th. This is a doc about legendary Portland band Dead Moon with lots of backstage footage.
The Italian Connection plays on Nov. 25th. An Italian crime movie about someone stealing heroin from the mafia. I have said it time and time again people, do not steal heroin from the mafia, they will find you.
I Have Been Dead for Years plays on Nov. 26th—a doc “Exploring the life, music, & artistic output of Stuart Gray (AKA Stu Spasm).”
Cisco Pike plays on Nov. 26th. This movie sounds too cool to be real: “Kris Kristofferson stars as Cisco Pike; a musician who falls on hard times, and starts dealing drugs. When he gets busted by a crooked cop (Gene Hackman), he's blackmailed into selling off 100 kilos of marijuana in one weekend in order to get the charge dropped.”
Burden of Dreams plays on Nov. 27th—one of my favorite documentaries: about Werner Herzog trying to make a movie that he probably shouldn’t have! Madness and art intersect here.
RRR plays again on Nov. 27th. “RRR is an exhilarating, action-packed spectacular mythologizing two real-life freedom fighters who helped lead India’s fight for independence from the British Raj, Komaram Bheem (N.T Rama Rao Jr., aka Jr NTR) and Alluri Sitarama Raju (Ram Charan).”
Il Boss plays on Nov. 27th—another Italian crime movie about a hitman embroiled in a mob war.
At the Kiggins Theater this week:
They are playing a bunch of Hitchcock movies this week! Saboteur, Vertigo, The Birds, Psycho, and Marie. If you go see all of these and bring your ticket stubs to Hitchcock’s grave his ghost will appear and he will grant you one boon (not sexual, sorry!). He taught me how to whistle.
Here’s what’s spitting out of the Tomorrow Theater algorithm this week:
The Wizard of Oz plays on Nov. 23rd. There will be a discussion about how some read the novel/film as an interpretation of the “Panic of 73” and the free silver movement. Just kidding!—there is a costume contest and they are playing this because Wicked is opening and they are trying to make money. Guess Jordan Schnitzer couldn’t couldn’t write another check. Anyway, come dressed as William Jennings Bryan!
The Fantastic Mr. Fox plays on Nov. 24th. I have always refused to watch this movie because this was one of my favorite books as a kid. People like it. There is some kids drawing activity beforehand so if you are an adult make sure to push the kids aside, steal their crayons, and win. They will cry when you show them your trophy.
Virtuosity (1995). Directed by Brett Leonard. Starring Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe, Kelly Lynch.
I like to think of this movie as the little brother to Demolition Man. In the far out future of 1999, Denzel Washington is an LA cop who is released from prison because he’s the only guy who can catch Sid, a serial killer played by Russell Crowe.
Oh, sorry, that’s SID 6.7 (Sadistic Intelligent Dangerous). SID is a VR composite of, give or take, 200 violent killers, including the guy who killed Denzel’s family. The guys who created SID figured a way of downloading AI into robot bodies (who can regenerate themselves by eating glass—so if you’ve ever wanted to see Russell Crowe eat glass in a movie this one is for you). SID escapes, of course, and Denzel is released from prison to take him down.
Russell Crowe is just playing the Joker here and it’s very very fun to watch. Here he is in a future nightclub recording screams to make a symphony.
It’s just as dumb as Demolition Man but the camp factor is missing. Denzel is in it! He’s handsome and charming! A serial killer made up of hundreds of killers! It could have been written by Donald Kaufman!
Sometimes you just need to wallow in your trash and this is my trash. Legally, not allowed to be streamed anywhere for fear of SID breaking out of the TV. (It’s in the usual places)
The tip jar is open if you are so inclined! Thank you for continuing to support this newsletter! Otherwise I’m going to be incorporated into SID 6.8 and he’s going to be riddled with anxiety and unable to move!
