B-Movie Bingo: Rambu the Intruder
Your monthly opportunity to literally check off a bingo card full of B-movie clichĂ©s. This monthâs entry: Rambu the Intruder. Thatâs right. Rambu. The shameless motherfuckers who cut off this greasy slice of â80s schlock could barely be bothered to change a single letter. To prevent undue confusion, hereâs a cheat sheet: Rambo is a Vietnam veteran. Rambu is an ex-cop. Rambo fights to exorcise demons burned into his soul via the nightmare of war. Rambu lives at home with his wife, who would really like him to stop going out at night like a shirtless gorilla attacking gangsters with a baseball bat. Ramboâs climax takes place in a Soviet-armed prison camp. Rambu raids the liquor cabinet in a drug lordâs living room. Rambo might get you one B-movie bingo. Rambu will black out the whole board in like 15 minutes. BOBBY ROBERTS Hollywood Theatre.
Best of the NW Animation Fest
Whittled down from the weeklong festival that took place in May, the Best of the NW Animation Festival collects 14 animated shorts that either won awards or garnered special mention. I always find at least one great short in a batch like thisâand at this level of curation, there arenât any duds. SUZETTE SMITH Hollywood Theatre.
The Big Lebowski
At first it was just a weird, low-key almost-misfire in the Coenâs canon. And then it was an underrated work of layered comedic genius. And then it became this whole culty thing complete with festivals and cosplayers and idiots in bathrobes blocking traffic with marching bands playing jazzy versions of âHotel Californiaâ on their way to the theater (Sorry about that last one, by the way). And now? Now, itâs just The Big Lebowski again, a properly-rated work of layered comedic genius, screened in honor of David Huddlestonâs recent passing. He did play the titular character, after all. And if you feel a little wistful when he rolls onto the screen, itâs okay to let a stray tear go rolling down your cheeks. Strong men also cry. BOBBY ROBERTS Hollywood Theatre.
Cinema Classics: The Adventures of Robin Hood
Errol Flynnâs Kevin Costner impersonation is... okay. Hollywood Theatre.
Complete Unknown
See review, this issue. Living Room Theaters.
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 Various Theaters.
The Light Between Oceans
See review, this issue. Various Theaters.
Lo and Behold: Reveries of the Connected World
As a filmmaker, Werner Herzog is often obsessed with the tangibleâwith people on the edges of society, with feats as lethal as they are daring. But Lo and Behold is Herzogâs attempt to parse a world thatâs moving away from the physical. It makes sense he starts his documentary by reminding us that the internet started asâand still isâa series of weird-smelling tubes and wires. It also makes sense, given the immeasurable ways the internet has affected humanity, Lo and Behold splits in countless directions: It isnât long until Herzogâs interviewing brain researchers and hackers, until heâs watching orange-clad Buddhist monks stare into their phones. If this parade of scientists and eccentrics and weirdos sounds broad, it is: Herzog wants to look at every aspect of our online lives. Lo and Behold is a look at what might come next, and a mourning for what weâve lost, but more than anything, itâs a meditation on how the internet has already changed us. ERIK HENRIKSEN Hollywood Theatre.
Miss Sharon Jones!
See review, this issue. Hollywood Theatre.
Morgan
See review, this issue. Various Theaters.
Multiple Maniacs
One of John Watersâ earliest celluloid atrocities (thatâs not us saying it, thatâs the filmâs poster saying it) has been digitally remastered so as to best capture every last millimeter of Divineâs psychotic glory. Co-starring the National Guard, and George Figgs as Jesus Christ. Also see Film, this issue. Hollywood Theatre.
NausicaÀ of the Valley of the Wind
Almost everything you could, should, and do love about Mad Max: Fury Road, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and Avatar (both the blue-kitty-people version and the kid-with-the-arrow-on-his-head version) was already present in this 1984 anime classic, but made more visually interesting and emotionally engaging thanks to the beautiful mind of legendary storyteller Hayao Miyazaki. BOBBY ROBERTS Academy Theater.
On the Ground
The premiere screening of Sisters of the Roadâs original short documentary examining homelessness in Portland and the causes behind it. Oregon Historical Society.
The People vs. Fritz Bauer
An absorbing dramatization of the capture of high-ranking Nazi Adolf Eichmannâand the man who made it happen, Fritz Bauer. Frazzled and occasionally belligerent, Bauer (Burghart KlauĂner) sees opposition wherever he looks, from the death threats arriving through his mail slot to the complacency of a German society not yet willing to face itself. WWII is a never-ending source of film fodder, but itâs rare that the post-war ripple effects are given worthy attentionâwhich happens here, even as the filmâs examination of systemic denial offers an important glimpse into dangerous group psychology. MARJORIE SKINNER Fox Tower 10.
Portland Film Festival
The Portland Film Festival enters its fifth year with a slew of films youâve likely never heard of before (and likely wonât hear of again), along with workshops, panels, and networking parties. Judging by PFFâs previous years, the films wonât be much to write home aboutâPFF often feels less like a film fest and more like a precious parade of vanity projectsâbut this year the screenings are at a centralized location (the Laurelhurst), with features, docs, and shorts alongside repertory screenings of movies both respected (My Own Private Idaho) and... not (Short Circuit). Questionable quality aside, itâs worth noting that this year, PFF did something too few festivals do: Put an emphasis on selecting work from women filmmakers. Still, if that matters to youâand it shouldâyouâre better off waiting until March for the Portland Oregon Womenâs Film Festival. More at portlandfilmfestival.com. ERIK HENRIKSEN Laurelhurst Theater.
MEANS WE RECOMMEND IT. Theater locations are accurate Friday, Sept 2-Thursday, Sept 8, unless otherwise noted. Movie times are updated daily and are available here.