American Sniper
American Sniper is basically The Hurt Locker rewritten for love-it-or-leave-it-style Americans who hate war movies that depict our enemies as actual people, rather than evil, swarthy stereotypes. WM. STEVEN HUMPHREY Various Theaters.
B-Movie Bingo
The Hollywood's series features B-movies, with the audience marking down clichés on a custom-made bingo card. This month: 1993's TC 2000, a documentary about how Billy Blanks must save the atmosphere from nuclear destruction while fighting the murderous cyborg version of his partner. Hollywood Theatre.
Black or White
Kevin Costner and Octavia Spencer star in a race drama that was not screened for critics. Various Theaters.
Black Sea
See review this issue. Various Theaters.
Butch Cassidy and the
Sundance Kid
"Think ya used enough dynamite there, Butch?" Academy Theater.
Force Majeure
Life is pain, even in the gorgeous French Alps. What starts as a perfect family vacation goes hideously awry in Force Majeure, Ruben Östlund's darkly hilarious and/or darkly horrifying tale of a marriage on the rocks. Or maybe that should be "on the slopes"? I don't know. The important thing is that these people are fucked. ERIK HENRIKSEN Laurelhurst Theater.
Game of Thrones IMAX
Episodes nine and 10 of the fourth season. And probably some ads for season five. Lloyd Center 10 Cinema, Regal Cascade Stadium 16 Cinemas.
Groundhog Day
"I was in the Virgin Islands once. I met a girl. We ate lobster and drank piña coladas. At sunset we made love like sea otters. That was a pretty good day." Laurelhurst Theater.
The Homesman
As an actor, Tommy Lee Jones has been in some of the greatest films in the genre, but few expected him to start directing great westerns, too. The Homesman, based on Glendon Swarthout's 1988 novel, smooths over its pitch-black cynicism with a surprising amount of pitch-black humor—but there's no mistaking the film's central truth that life is hard and unfair and some of us aren't able to handle it. ERIK HENRIKSEN Academy Theater.
Inherent Vice
The best mysteries are the unpredictable ones—and the unpredictable ones rely on quick-switches and surprise reveals, buried details and long-forgotten connections. So when I tell you that Paul Thomas Anderson's Inherent Vice has all of those things, and also that it flickers onscreen through a thick blur of marijuana smoke, it won't come as a surprise when I add that the movie makes hardly any goddamn sense. Maybe it does if you see it twice, or if you've read the Thomas Pynchon book it's based on, or if you—unlike me—possess enough foresight to sneak a joint into the theater. Or two, or three: Inherent Vice is two-and-a-half-hours long, and for some, that'll feel like a long time to be confused. For Inherent Vice's dubious hero, Doc Sportello (Joaquin Phoenix), that feels like a long time to be sober. ERIK HENRIKSEN Various Theaters.
The King and the Mockingbird
Paul Grimault's 1980 animated fairy tale, in which the subjects of paintings fall in love with each other. NW Film Center's Whitsell Auditorium.
The Loft
Karl Urban and James Marsden star in a not-screened-for-critics thriller. In related news, January is a terrible month for movies. Various Theaters.
A Most Violent Year
See review this issue. Various Theaters.
Mr. Turner
See review this issue. Cinema 21.
The Old Man and the Seaweed
A documentary about the life of "world-renowned scientist, herbalist, and teacher" Dr. Ryan Drum. Director in attendance. Clinton Street Theater.
Oscar Nominated
Animated Shorts
I'm all sorts of meh about this year's crop of Oscar nominated animated shorts. Usually they're bold, adorable, and fun, but this year... not so much. The strongest, Me and My Moulton, by Norwegian Canadian Torill Kove, is a lovely, bittersweet look at her childhood in 1960s-era Norway. Take my indifference about all the other nominees with a grain of salt, though, because Disney's entry wasn't included as a screener: By all accounts, Feast (which is currently showing before Big Hero 6 in theaters) is an adorable short about a Boston terrier named Winston and the many meals his owner treats him to over the course of his life. COURTNEY FERGUSON Hollywood Theatre, Living Room Theaters.
Oscar Nominated Shorts
Say what you will about this year's milquetoast Best Picture Oscar nominees, but the directors and stars of the nominated live-action shorts are a veritable rainbow of diversity. We got ladies behind the camera, Tibetans in front, and three women leads, including Sally Hawkins, who acts her wonderful face off in The Phone Call. It's not often that the live-action shorts outshine the historically more sprightly animated ones, but this year they're a special batch, full of joy, humor, and warmth. COURTNEY FERGUSON Hollywood Theatre, Living Room Theaters.
Portland Black Film Festival
The third annual Portland Black Film Festival, curated by Ariella Tai and David Walker, aims to concentrate "on the important contributions to cinema of African American women directors." The fest kicks off with 1991's Daughters of the Dust (screens Thurs Feb 5), then moves on to Eve's Bayou (Sat Feb 7) and Free Angela and All Political Prisoners (Sun Feb 8). Festival runs through Sat Feb 21; more at hollywood theatre.org. Hollywood Theatre.
Project Almanac
A not-screened-for-critics film about time-travelin' teens! Produced by Michael Bay. Various Theaters.
Still Alice
See review this issue. Fox Tower 10.
Top Five
Chris Rock invited all of his friends to make a movie. And because his friends are Cedric the Entertainer and Jerry Seinfeld and Questlove and DMX, Top Five—like Rock himself—exists at the vibrant intersection of hiphop and stand-up comedy, drawing from both worlds without comment or conflict. ALISON HALLETT Academy Theater, Laurelhurst Theater.
Two Days, One Night
See review this issue. Fox Tower 10.
