Now Playing
Going to Transylvania
Pick of the Week:
Meek’s Cutoff (2010). Starring Michelle Williams, Bruce Greenwood, Will Patton. Wendy and Lucy (2008). Starring Michelle Williams, Walter Dalton, Will Oldham. Both directed by Kelly Reichardt.
Meek’s Cutoff plays at the Clinton on March 7th and Wendy and Lucy on March 6th. I love Meek’s Cutoff and wrote about it here last March. It’s a wonderful dusty western that really captures the dirt and boredom on the trail. Wendy and Lucy on the other hand I don’t think I could ever handle. The Jon Raymond short story made me cry (it’s in Livability). It’s about a woman who is driving to Alaska to start over. She’s been living in her car with her dog, Lucy, and the car breaks down in Portland and nothing good happens. Reichardt is one of my favorite directors and glad the Clinton has been playing almost all of her movies this month.
Also Playing:
The Gleaners and I (2000). Directed by Agnès Varda.
Playing at the Hollywood on March 12th—one of the Varda movies that plays all the time and is great. It’s a documentary about gleaning and as Varda said, “I've never in my entire career felt that people have loved a film of mine as much as this one.”
This Week:
At the 5th Ave: An Angel at my Table plays this weekend. This is a Jane Campion movie based on some of the works of Janet Frame. “Angel is a film where almost every image strikes the eye with the vividness of an inspired art composition: one where small incidents gain magical properties.”
At the Academy:
Charlie’s Angels from the year 2000 plays. My fellow elder millennials, please do your yoga before going to see this and do not attempt to kick Bill Murray when you see him on the screen. Your knees cannot take it.
Network opens for a run. You can just have the Libertarian IT guy at work yell at you—same experience as watching this.
Mothra opens for a run. Somehow I never got into monster movies but I really wish Mothra would just eat me and get it over with. Does he eat people?
Boathouse Cinema is a new (to me) microcinema. Their next screening is March 16th so check out the calendar and website.
The Cascade Festival of African Films continues. Check out the screenings here. It’s one of the biggest foreign film festivals left in Portland! This is the final weekend!
At Cinemagic:
Cameron’s Closet plays on March 6th on VHS. It’s about a boy who has a demon living in his closet.
Staff Picks starts continues with:
Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer: Somehow I have never seen this, but people like this one. Honestly, I never saw the appeal of serial killer narratives but this one has Mr. Svenning from Mallrats in it.
Van Helsing: I saw this movie on a date when it came out and we never spoke to each other again. “But Van Helsing, I don’t want to go to Transylvania.” This is a terrible monster mash starring Wolverine. An odd staff pick because I didn’t think anyone remembered it?
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence: the classic, and great John Ford Western that’s a treat to see in the theater.
Little Shop of Horrors: the fun musical that plays all the time about Bobby, a well-liked blank slate of a man, who is turning 35 and is surrounded by people in relationships. Audrey 2 is an older woman and one of his close friends and sings “Ladies Who Lunch,” one of the showstoppers from this musical.
At Cinema 21:
The Letter plays on March 7th is a classic 1940 film noir about Bette Davis murdering men. What more do you want?
At the Clinton:
El Camino de los Pueblos Maya a Oregon plays on March 7th. “Over the past fifty years, hundreds of thousands of people of Maya descent have come to the United States, driven by genocide and economic deprivation. Some of them now live in Oregon. The size of the Maya population is hard to estimate, because it is so diverse: the Maya peoples comprise communities across Guatemala, Belize, and parts of Mexico, El Salvador, and Honduras, who speak dozens of distinct languages. In this video, by Oregon Humanities Community Storytelling Fellow Caty Lucas, several Mayan Oregonians share their stories and why they came to the US.
Content warning: this documentary contains explicit descriptions of war and violent acts.”
New Moon plays on March 12th because you can’t get enough of these movies.
From Below is a microcinema with neat showings. Follow them on social media and request to get on the mailing list. Or don’t. It’s none of my business what you do. They played Frederick Wiseman’s Missile last.
At the Hollywood:
King Creole plays this weekend. This is Portland’s preferred Elvis movie that also has Walter Matthau (one of the patron saints of WatchThisPDX) in it so there is that.
Stop, Making Sense? returns March 7th.
Pushing Past the Bad plays on March 7th. “The new film from Penny Allen (Property, Paydirt), who will be in attendance for a post-screening Q&A.
Stann is the head of a dysfunctional three-generation family he struggles to
support via petty crime. He hates his life and yearns for a different one.
Then Gloria, a beautiful Black woman, arrives on the scene, and Stann thinks he
is saved.”
The Red Spectacles plays on March 8th. “In a dystopian near-future Japan, law and order is enforced by a brutal paramilitary police unit known as the ‘Watchdogs of Hell’, equipped with heavy weaponry and reinforced body armor. However, when their extreme methods spark public outcry, the government moves to dismantle the unit. Disobeying orders to disband, a trio of officers stage a rebellion - but only one, Koichi Todome (Shigeru Chiba) escapes.”
The Love Witch plays on March 9th—a fun cult indie comedy from 2016 that’s about a witch making love potions and such.
Seven Grand Masters plays on March 10th—which is a neat kung fu movie. Two things: this is an only known print so I can only assume this was stolen from Quentin Tarantino, and seven grand masters is too many grand masters.
Slapshot plays on March 11th—which is a fun sports comedy starring Mr. Salad Dressing himself Paul Newman.
At Joy: Weird Wednesday returned (again) with a mystery movie last week. Maybe it will return again if you are all nice?
At the Liberty:
Dinosaur sex comedy Jurassic Park plays on March 6th.
At OMSI:
Looks like the extended editions of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings movies are back on the menu in March, boys.
Happy End plays on March 6th from Detour Cinema. This is a rad Czech film telling the life story of a butcher in reverse.
Fellini’s Casanova plays on March 10th, which is about a horny Italian man played by Donald Sutherland. It was Fellini’s first English language film and has been called “155 minutes” by some critics.
At the Tomorrow Theater (the Hub for Cultural Snackers):
Mubi, who has recently come under fire for taking Sequoia Capital investment money, has been partnering with the Tomorrow Theater and they are doing another screening in October. Sequoia has ties to the Israeli army. Mubi has released a bunch of mealy mouthed statements. Filmmakers are urging Mubi to cut ties. If the Los Angeles Festival of Movies can cut ties with Mubi so can PAM. You can contact the Tomorrow Theater here through this link and let them know that they should’t partner with organizations like this.
Again, if the Tomorrow Theater working with a company that has direct ties to the Israeli military bothers you please let them know.
Please do not let the bastards win. Let them know you care about genocide.
We’re not talking chump change for the Sequoia investment: $100 million.
There was a good article about Mubi in Vulture recently behind their paywall.
If we can get them to divest from Mubi I will never make fun of PAM or the Tomorrow Theater ever again.
The tip jar is open if you are so inclined.