Welcome to Erik Henriksen Tells You What to Watch This Weekend™, a weekly post in which I, Erik Henriksen, tell you what you should watch this weekend! I will continue doing this post until you have watched everything you should watch.
AND THUS WE ENTER JANUARY, the worst month for movies—it's the time after Oscar Bait season, when studios released everything they were proud of, and it's the time before blockbuster season, when they'll release everything that'll make money. January and February are kinda movie graveyards, as evidenced by this weekend's only major release of note, the not-screened-for-critics horror flick Escape Room.
Thankfully, all hope is not lost. This weekend also offers the PDXtreme Film Fest, which Arts Editor Suzette Smith recommends:
Horror fans, here is your fest! Every year, local filmmaker and horror-fancier Jeremy Jantz puts together a binge-worthy weekend of indie horror films for gore fans to marathon. This year’s haul includes 10 features and 31 shorts—that’s 41 horror films over the course of two days! Can you do that? Will you be okay? I know you reeeeallly like horror. Tickets are always insanely cheap ($25 for a two-day pass), so I think Jantz does it for the love (of blood). (Sat Jan 5-Sun Jan 6, Mission Theater)
There's also a new theater to check out, the recently opened Studio One Theaters on SE Powell, which we wrote about a few weeks ago. I swung by yesterday afternoon to see endure Vice, and while a number of finishing touches are still being put on the place, the picture and sound are great. Prices aren't cheap—you're generally looking at between $10.95 and $13.50 per ticket, and the food menu has things like $8 french fries—but keep an eye on their weekend morning screenings, when tickets are only $5.
As for what else to watch, I'll direct you to the Mercury's favorite movies of 2018, which is a very helpful guide on what to catch up on, and this week's Things To Do Movies & TV. Movie times, as always, are here.
Hold tight, everybody! It'll get better. And hey, you can always just go see Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse again.
