Beasts of the Southern Wild
I'll let you in on a secret: Writing negative reviews is pretty easy. Every doofy plot twist and bungled CG jumpkick pulls you out of the moviegoing experience, allowing you plenty of time to compose elaborately mean puns for your headline. It's harder to review a movie when it succeeds—and I mean really succeeds, in that it draws you in completely. The surreal, fantastic Beasts of the Southern Wild is that kind of movie: You may leave the theater conflicted and even confused, but you won't be thinking about anything else while you're watching it. BEN COLEMAN Cinema 21, Kiggins Theatre.
Carnival of Souls
1962's cult horror flick. Clinton Street Theater.
Craft
Gustavo Pizzi's Brazilian film, a "drama of everyday tragedy in the working world of an artist." Screens as part of the Northwest Film Center's Global Lens series. Northwest Film Center's Whitsell Auditorium.
The Dark Knight Rises
If that other, decidedly more candy-colored superflick, The Avengers, was about the importance of teamwork, The Dark Knight Rises delivers the same message on a deeper, much grander scale. Bladders beware: The Dark Knight Rises runs just shy of a bottom-numbing three hours, but you're in competent hands with director Christopher Nolan, who trusts your intelligence enough to delve into the emotional life of these characters while keeping the action hot enough to pull you from scene to scene. There's a finality here assuring you that not an inch of celluloid will be wasted, and Nolan's not going to leave the park without swinging for the fence. WM. STEVEN HUMPHREY Various Theaters.
The Deep
1977's thriller, starring Nick Nolte and motherfuckin' Robert Shaw. Laurelhurst Theater.
Extraterrestrial
Unlikable pair Julio (Julián Villagrán) and Julia (Michelle Jenner) traverse the awkward introductions of a blacked-out one-night stand. Oh wait: There's a flying saucer hanging above Madrid! Oh shit! Julia's boyfriend is home! Director Nacho Vigalondo may already be known to you from his debut Time Crimes; here, he delivers a clever romantic comedy, but be warned: It's 100 percent romcom, zero percent alien flick. SUZETTE SMITH Northwest Film Center's Whitsell Auditorium.
The Ghost and Mr. Chicken
"Mr. Boob, that's me. B-double-oh-B! Boob!" Hotel deLuxe.
Grindhouse Trailer Spectacular 3
See My, What a Busy Week! Hollywood Theatre.
Inni
A Sigur Rós concert film. Better than Outti. Hollywood Theatre.
The Life of Vesper Greer
An hour-long film about "the fourth-generation owner of the Geer homestead in Salem, the oldest frame-built house in Oregon to remain in the same family." Director in attendance. Clinton Street Theater.
Lost Bohemia
For a city that prides itself on its art, New York showed little sympathy to the artists inhabiting the studios above Carnegie Hall. After years of living and creating in their studios, the artists were evicted to make room for office space for the Carnegie Corporation. Josef Astor's 2010 documentary Lost Bohemia captures the lives of these artists as they grapple with leaving behind decades of creative energy and cultural history. Featuring artists like photographer Bill Cunningham and pianist Don Shirley, the film offers a poignant look into the dichotomy between art and corporations—and who inevitably wins. So it's too bad the film is slow, coming off as a home movie for the tenants. ZIBBY PILLOTE Northwest Film Center's Whitsell Auditorium.
The Matchmaker
Tangled in a web of crime, corruption, and detective stories, Avi Nesher's coming-of-age story is anything but typical. It's 1968 Israel when Arik (Tuval Shafir) meets Yankele Bride (Adir Miller), a holocaust survivor, matchmaker, and smuggler. Bride recruits Arik to learn about the corrupt and secret lives of his clients, and The Matchmaker explores the ways in which society and people grapple with love, acceptance, and life after the tragedy. Nesher's charming characters evoke a desperate sense of youth, and the film is a deluge of romance and mystery that succeeds across the board. ZIBBY PILLOTE Living Room Theaters.
OC87
See review this issue. Fox Tower 10.
Off Label
The latest from Portland filmmakers Michael Palmieri and Donal Mosher (October Country), about people using prescription meds in non-prescribed ways. Directors in attendance. Northwest Film Center's Whitsell Auditorium.
People vs. the State of Illusion
A docudrama "that explores the science and power of perception and imagination." Yep, this sounds totally legit. Clinton Street Theater.
Rerun Theater
Yes! A screening of "Brother's Keeper," the excellent 1984 pilot for Miami Vice, starring Don Johnson, Philip Michael Thomas, Jimmy Smits, and Phil Collins' "In the Air Tonight." Yes. This. A thousand times this. Hollywood Theatre.
Shut Up and Play the Hits
LCD Soundsystem's farewell show on April 2, 2011, at Madison Square Garden is given the documentary treatment. While directors Dylan Southern and Will Lovelace haven't made a definitive rock doc, it's valuable as a time capsule, and the footage of LCD frontman James Murphy from the morning after the final show is fascinating: He's drained and apprehensive about the future, but visibly relieved. And the concert's fun and full of energy—hey, is that Aziz Ansari crowdsurfing?—offering a fitting conclusion to an act that might've been the most important American band of this century so far. NED LANNAMANN Hollywood Theatre.
Silver Bullet
This is a werewolf movie starring Gary Busey and Corey Haim. I'D BUY THAT FOR A DOLLAR! Tanker.
Sound + Vision Fest
See My, What a Busy Week! Hollywood Theatre.
Step Up Revolution
See review this issue. Various Theaters.
Technicolor Dreams: Psychedelic Cinema 1959-1980
"A mind bending trip through the history of cinematic hallucinogens," presented by archivist Christian Divine. Hollywood Theatre.
The Watch
See review this issue. Various Theaters.
Wet Hot American Summer
"Douchebags are hygienic products; I take that as a compliment. Thank you." Academy Theater.
