American Honey
Yes, this is an indie film with Shia LaBeouf in it. No, he doesnât have that nasty-ass beard anymore. Yes, heâs still kind of a distracting weirdo radiating awkward shame in every direction. But writer/director Andrea Arnold knows how to use that effectively in support of Sasha Lane, the real star of the film (her name is literally Star), as a teenager on a cross-country journey with a crew of like-minded wanderers slinging magazines door-to-door. Fox Tower 10.
Bending the Bard: Cinematic Twists on Shakespeare
A film series commemorating the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare's death, featuring some of the most interestingly skewed adaptations of his work in cinema history, including films from directors Akira Kurosawa, Julie Taymor, Laurence Olivier, Gus Van Sant, and more. More at nwfilm.org. NW Film Centerâs Whitsell Auditorium.
The Birth of a Nation
See review, this issue. Various Theaters.
The Blob (1958)
Steve McQueen stars in this 1958 horror classic about ravenous slime bent on consuming the planet. Of all the things that escaped the 1950s to resonate through the history of pop culture, this filmâs legacy is one of the most potent. You donât even have to see it (although you should, especially if itâs screening at a damn drive-in) to buy into it. You just have to be willing to tap into that childlike mentality that suggests the floor is lava, there are monsters under the bed, and amorphous gelatin from outer space is gonna find you and eat you the fuck up. BOBBY ROBERTS 99W Drive-In.
Chills & Thrills: The Gimmick Series
The Hollywoodâs latest throwback series firmly and lovingly embraces the art of the gimmick, spending the month of October resurrecting classic Hollywood hucksterism via awesome-yet-corny promotional stunts. Saturday, October 1 allows you to see and feel William Castleâs The Tingler in seat-shaking âPercepto.â Monday, October 10 features John Watersâ Polyester in its original âOdorama.â Friday, October 14 seesâin anaglyph red and blue 3Dâa 35mm screening of the monster classic Creature from the Black Lagoon. Wednesday, October 19 is your opportunity to feel Irwin Allenâs legendary disaster flick Earthquake in real room-rumbling âSensurround.â Hollywood Theatre.
Fashion in Film
Eden Dawn and former Mercury fashion maven Marjorie Skinner present a special screening of one of the most David Lynchian things David Lynch ever David Lynched: 1992âs Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, both a bit of a dry run for Mulholland Drive and a bitter, hallucinogenic pill ramrodded down the collective throat of the showâs fans. Time and distance has eased the very, very bad trip the director sent his acolytes on in 1992, and itâs also made apparent just how visually and stylistically influential both the show and the movie have become. Hollywood Theatre.
Girl Asleep
Looking to get another hit of down-under magic after getting high on the wonderful Hunt for the Wilderpeople? Director Rosemary Myerâs coming-of-age fantasy Girl Asleep might do the trick, following a 15-year-old Australian introvert who finds herself transported to a parallelâand much more theatricalâ universe on her birthday. Living Room Theaters.
The Girl on the Train
See review, this issue. Various Theaters.
The H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival & CthulhuCon
Portlandâs annual celebration of all things slimy and tentacled, with special guests including John Shirley, Sean Branney, Cody Goodfellow, and the celebrated director of From Beyond and Re-Animator, Stuart Gordon. More at hplfilmfestival.com. Hollywood Theatre.
Hausu
Seven Japanese schoolgirls visit a haunted house in Nobuhiko Obayashiâs 1977 head-trip, which is quite simply one of the weirdest movies I have ever seen. The effects are incredibly cheesy and the movie refuses to settle on a consistent tone, but Obayashiâs visual style creates a wispy, sugary dream world that gushes with blood. NED LANNAMANN Laurelhurst Theater.
Hell or High Water
Leave it to a Scot to deliver the next great American western. Itâs possible director David Mackenzie (Starred Up) had the distance and perspective to depict Hell or High Waterâs depressed West Texas towns and dust-dry plains with unvarnished truth. Maybe he recognized, from across the pond, a universal struggle in the specific plight of brothers Toby and Tanner Howard (Chris Pine and Ben Foster) as they try to hang on to their fatherâs ranch. Perhaps he sensed the timeliness of a story that depicts white American men running out of time, money, and land. More likely, Mackenzie had Taylor Sheridanâs (Sicario) superb script to navigate a path around the obvious men-with-guns clichĂ©s that make up Hell or High Waterâs western-noir milieu. Whatever the case may be, itâs resulted in an intelligent and incisive movie thatâs painful and lovely to watch. NED LANNAMANN Century Clackamas Town Center.
Hunt for the Wilderpeople
In another directorâs hands, this would be a touchy-feely character study about the rehabilitation of a juvenile delinquent, but Taika Waititiâs at work here, taking the absurd, pitch-perfect sense of humor that made What We Do in the Shadows one of the funniest movies of the past few years and applying it to a heartfelt, real-world story. Wilderpeople is a hugely loveable movie thatâs suitable for date night or the whole family, and I know that sounds like a hacky movie poster blurb. But when a movieâs this good, itâs tough to avoid clichĂ©s, so Iâll leave you with another: Donât miss it. NED LANNAMANN Academy Theater, Laurelhurst Theater.
Kung Fu Theater: Seven Brothers Meet Dracula
This monthâs installment in Dan Halstedâs ongoing celebration of all things whoop-ass is an amazingly-rare 35mm print of 1974âs Seven Brothers Meet Dracula, a collaboration between Hammer Studios and the Shaw Bros., and if youâre already grinning at the mere idea of a Hammer horror packed so full of kung fu mayhem its cravat might burst, youâre going to beâto use a British termâabso-fucking-lutely giddy when you clap eyes on Peter Cushing and David Chiang doing battle against a squad of gangster-ass vampires rocking enchanted gold medallions. BOBBY ROBERTS Hollywood Theatre.
The Magnificent Seven
If thereâs a way to make a movie starring Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt, Ethan Hawke, Vincent DâOnofrio, Peter Sarsgaard, and Byung-hun Lee and not have it be super fun to watch, scientists have yet to discover it. ERIK HENRIKSEN Various Theaters.
Miss Peregrineâs Home for Peculiar Children
I haven't liked a Tim Burton film since Batman Returns, and I'm saying that now to illustrate how much I did like his latest, Miss Peregrineâs Home for Peculiar Children. Coming from an overly precious book series and an eccentric director, I don't know how MPHPC turned out so relatable, exciting, and heartwarming, but it's a friggin romp. It's like a good Harry Potter movie without the awkward mandate to follow the book's plot. MPHPC the film throws MPHPC the book out the window. (Polite opera claps.) Plus, Asa Butterfield is the perfect empty persona for the audience to latch onto, and Samuel L. Jackson actually has fun for once! But wait, my space is running out and I have to warn you about the messy time travâ SUZETTE SMITH Various Theaters.
Phantasm: Ravager
Finally, after 36 years, the Tall Man exits stage left, angry little ball behind him, in the final chapter of the Phantasm series, Phantasm: Ravager. Only the ball isnât so little, anymore. If the trailer is any indication, itâs less like a murderous snitch from Harry Potter and more like a Death Star made of knife. It probably wonât be the greatest of hop-on points for newcomers to the increasingly ridiculous series, but if youâve been soaking in Phantasmâs unique aesthetic for the past three decades? Consider this your love letter from director Don Coscarelli and the dearly departed Angus Scrimm. Hollywood Theatre.
Presidential Debate
Who knows, maybe the prolapsed rectum in a wig that melted down into a sweaty, sniffing mess from behind his lectern might actually manage a somewhat decent performance against Secretary Clinton when allowed to go ambling around the stage in this town hall-styled debate. Or maybe youâll witness stage two of Trump: the Tire-Fire. Academy Theater, Laurelhurst Theater, Mission Theater.
Print the Legend
So there's this competition-style reality show on. Itâs the one that pits the bloviating, orange-haired pustule who spouts incoherent, racist free verse against a grandparent with the temerity to possess a vagina. The show asks America to make the agonizing decision: Which oneâs worse? Well, according to several sources, this is no mere entertainment: In just a few short weeks, the results will be used to determine which striver will occupy the most important job in the country for the next four years (or until he gets bored and quits). As usual, one can turn to H.L. Mencken: âDemocracy is the theory that the common people know what they want and deserve to get it good and hard.â The fact that electioneering and entertainment have become so incestuously linked is the subject of the NW Film Centerâs fall series Print the Legend, which lines up 17 movies between now and Election Day that tackle the intersections of politics and mass media. Also see "Print the Legend: Cinema, and Politics, at the NW Film Center" [Film, Sept 7]. MARC MOHAN NW Film Center.
Queen of Katwe
Thereâs a not insignificant legacy of terrible movies about poor brown kids being taught out of poverty by godly white people like Sandra Bullock. Mira Nairâs Queen of Katwe isnât one of those movies. Queen of Katweâs protagonistâa Ugandan tween named Phionaâdominates at chess with the help of a teacher, yes, but that teacher is a black, Ugandan one, Robert (David Oyelowo). Robert teaches the slum kids chess because these kids are fighters, and chess is a game for fighters. Families looking for a not-cartoon movie to see together should know, however, that it isnât a fast movie. Itâs not short, either, but if ânot racistâ and âfor smart kidsâ is your familyâs deal, Queen of Katwe might be a movie for you. ELINOR JONES Various Theaters.
Queer Horror: Beetlejuice
The bimonthly series, hosted by Carla Rossi, returns with a 35mm screening of Beetlejuice, Tim Burtonâs 1988 blockbuster featuring Michael Keatonâs last great comedic performance as a guttural, gutter-born Robin Williams in dingy stripes, coughing and spitting one liners in every direction like a haywire lawn sprinkler. But if it were just a vehicle for Keatonâs madness, it couldnât maintain the legendary status it holds, and Rossi intends to celebrate the filmâs campy atmosphere, feminist messaging, and its strong argument that being strange is necessary, and art should be dangerous. Hollywood Theatre.
The Return of the Living Dead
While itâs a fact the most influential person in zombie fiction is George Romero, the undeadâs most easily identified traitâtheir hunger for human brainsâcame not from him, but from Dan OâBannon, co-writer of Alien and writer/director of this 1985 cult classic, which also introduced the idea that zombies can run, talk, and deliver Schwarzenegger-tier one-liners. Itâs funnier than it is scary, but its signature creature, the Tarman, is one of horrorâs most iconic monsters. While itâs not anywhere near as satisfying as Romeroâs own Day of the Dead released that same year, itâs understandable why audiences then (and now, really) would have preferred the nudity-filled, punk rock joys of OâBannonâs spinoff instead. BOBBY ROBERTS Academy Theater.
Shin Godzilla
See review, this issue. Hollywood Theatre.
Tanna
The story itself may not be all that originalâyoung lovers on the run, staying together against all oddsâbut the way the story is told sets Tanna apart from all other riffs on Shakespeareâs Romeo and Juliet, shot entirely in the South Pacific nation of Vanuatu, based on real events that happened there in 1987, and starring a cast pulled entirely from members of islandâs tribal communities. Living Room Theaters.
Train to Busan
South Korean director Yeon Sang-ho sticks a bunch of people on a bullet train, then loads it up with a shitload of pissed off fast zombies, sets the throttle wide open, and lets it go. Hollywood Theatre.