The Clinton St. Theater's spreading eight film-related events over the next six days—so if you can't find something you like, you must be blind.
On Friday, there's "Spend the Night with Bettie Page," a night devoted to the pin-up girl—with movie clips, live dance, and stripper tips from "Isis" of Stripper 101. On Saturday, director Darren Stein will be around to talk about how he made the cult film Jawbreaker and show his latest, Put the Camera on Me. On Sunday, local film geek Greg Hamilton shows off movie trailers from the '30s to the '70s, and on Monday he'll be showing vintage TV news investigative pieces. Tuesday has a "Laurel and Hardy Festival of Fun," featuring four of the duo's films. Wednesday night has two wildly disparate events—first there's "Knitflix," during which the lights will be kept partially up so knitters can knit while watching 1951's romantic comedy Royal Wedding. Weirdly, and later that night, there's a screening of the '80s BMX cult film Rad! And on Thursday, the unfortunately named impov rock band Canoofle will perform impromptu scores of 16mm films put together by Greg Hamilton. Phew. That enough movie-related shit for ya? ERIK HENRIKSEN
Fri-Thurs, Clinton St. Theater, 2522 SE Clinton, 238-8899. $4-6, depending on the night. For complete schedule, see Movie Times.
Once again, the 48 Hour Film Project has made its madcap dash through Portland, and the results will be on display this weekend for your extreme amusement. The premise is simple: Last Friday (August 5), participating filmmaking teams congregated at the Know, where they drew a film genre (horror, romance, etc.) out of a hat and were told a character ("B. Lawrence," an economist), a line of dialogue ("What's that in your pocket"), and a prop (DVD player), all of which had to appear in their ensuing film. At 7 pm, they hit the streets, embarking on a wild two-day frenzy of screenwriting, directing, and editing—and 48 hours later, on Sunday, haggard, twitchy and coffee-stained, they returned to the Know, proud creators/survivors of a brand new movie.
Last year's fest showed that even the lower-quality 48 Hour films were fun to watch, and also revealed some incredible gems that would take most artists months to create, let alone a single weekend. I witnessed a beach-set, hooded sweatshirt-strutting hiphop saga told entirely in rhyming verse; Bandersnatch Film's Wes Anderson-esque vintage chase comedy (Death of a Racer's Spirit, winner of the Audience Award); and Cinema Queso's hilarious special effects showcase Power. This year's teams include Queso again, the Dirty Rejects, and dozens more. Award categories include Best Music, Best Makeup, and even Best Credits, with the winner of Best of City going on to compete with the winners from over 20 other cities and a chance to win valuable Avid editing software. But the real prize is the process itself—a grueling, intense, crazy-fun weekend that brings together artists and viewers in a celebration of local filmmaking. JUSTIN WESCOAT SANDERS
Hollywood Theater, 4122 NE Sandy, Sat Aug. 13, 7 & 9 pm, $7
