â MEANS WE RECOMMEND IT. Theater locations are accurate Friday-Thursday, unless otherwise noted. Movie times are updated daily and are available here.
Bad Times at the El Royale
See review. (Opens Fri Oct 12, various theaters)
Beautiful Boy
See review. (Opens Fri Oct 19, Fox Tower 10)
Bubba Ho-Tep
Throughout history, cinema has told many great storiesâstories that revolutionize cultures, that meditate upon emotion and philosophy, that attempt to define what it means to be this thing we call âhuman.â All of those stories are shit compared to Bubba Ho-Tep, a film in which Elvis (Bruce Campbell) and JFK (Ossie Davis) fight an evil mummy in a retirement home. Director Don Coscarelli in attendance. (Fri Oct 19, Hollywood Theatre) ERIK HENRIKSEN
Curse of the Demon
The latest in the Hollywoodâs âCinema Classicsâ series is Curse of the Demon, a startlingly effective hit of psychological horror from 1957 directed by Jacques Tourneur (Cat People). Tourneur wasnât happy about a literal demon being inserted into the film over his protests, but producers figured, âItâs in the title! The people gotta have a demon!â To the producersâ credit, the demon, while kinda chintzy, is fairly unnerving (at first), but to Tourneurâs credit, the movie packs the wallop it does because of great performances by Dana Andrews and Niall MacGinnis. Martin Scorsese thinks this is one of the 10 best horror films ever made, so thatâs probably all the recommendation you need. (Fri Oct 12, Hollywood Theatre) BOBBY ROBERTS
First Man
The space stuff is great. When La La Land director Damien Chazelleâs biopic about Neil Armstrong focuses on NASAâs insanely ambitious and dangerous plan to put a man on the moon, it thrums with thrill and threatâfrom the astonishing scope of space to the claustrophobic confines of the command module, the best parts of First Man are worth experiencing on the biggest screen possible. Ryan Gosling offers an excellent turn as Armstrong, but even Gosling canât liven up the storyâs more pedestrian elements, which largely involve Armstrongâs relationship with his wife (Claire Foy) and his stoic mourning of his daughter. These chunks have little of the verve and punch that Chazelle delivers whenever he crams a camera into the cockpit with Goslingâspeeding through the atmosphere, spinning in space, flipping switches as strained bolts groanâor visits Armstrongâs fellow astronauts and scientists (played by a fantastic lineup of underused actors, including Jason Clarke, Corey Stoll, Patrick Fugit, Shea Whigham, and Coach Taylor). First Man bears the familiar curse of the biopicâit somehow feels both overlong and unsatisfyingâand never quite escapes the shadow of The Right Stuff, Philip Kaufmanâs remarkable 1983 film that told a similar story with more grace and smarts. Still: the space stuff is great. (Opens Fri Oct 12, various theaters) ERIK HENRIKSEN
A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night
In horror movies, and sometimes in life, a girl alone at night is a victim. Shadows are ominous, noises are frightening. The night doesnât belong to her. Which is just part of why Ana Lily Amirpourâs debut feature is so exhilarating. The Girl (Sheila Vand) is a taciturn, hijab-clad vampire in a tiny Iranian town called Bad City, gliding through the deserted streets like a not-so-friendly ghost. The night is her domain, though the men she encounters might assume otherwise. The Girl does what she wants, and usually what she wants is to drink somebody. (Fri Oct 19-Sun Oct 21, Fifth Avenue Cinema) ALISON HALLETT
Grindhouse Film Festival: Pieces
Pieces: Wow! I mean really! Unintentionally hilarious, with bizarre non sequiturs thrown into imaginative, gory death scenes, this is one youâll really have to see to believe, from its badly dubbed beginning to its amazing, crotch-cringing ending. (Fri Oct 19, Hollywood Theatre) COURTNEY FERGUSON
Hale County This Morning, This Evening
âWe need more black folks taking pictures and videos of the area,â Hale County This Morning, This Evening director RaMell Ross explains to a neighbor as he films plumes of bonfire smoke filtering afternoon sunlight. Ross taught photography and coached basketball in Hale County, Alabama starting in 2009, and the product of his time there, Hale County This Morning, This Evening presents vignettes that are difficult to look away from. Some of these images should be commonplace, but all of them are exceptionalâwhether itâs seeds floating on the wind or teenage youths chilling on horsebackâas the storylines of several subjects (like Boosie, who is pregnant with twins and, at least initially, âcareth not about the filmâ) slowly unfold. (Fri Oct 12-Sun Oct 14, NW Film Centerâs Whitsell Auditorium) SUZETTE SMITH
Halloween
See our interview with Halloween co-writer Danny McBride. (Opens Fri Oct 19, various theaters)
The Hate U Give
Compared to Angie Thomasâ YA novel, this adaptation of The Hate U Give feels decidedly like âedutainment.â The storyâabout the activism of Starr (Amandla Stenberg), a young Black woman, after she witnesses the shooting of her childhood friend by a police officerâfeels co-opted, and Starr, as she mourns, is subjected to a series of teaching moments. One of the filmâs most ??!? moments involves a monologue Starrâs Uncle Carlos (Common) delivers from a policemanâs point of view. The whole affair feels aimed at non-Black viewers who have only just started paying attention to the struggle Black people face, and who have never needed to have a talk with their parents about how to survive a routine traffic stop. (Opens Fri Oct 19, various theaters) SUZETTE SMITH
The Lost Boys
1987âs glistening horror-comedy The Lost Boys is one of two movies on Joel Schumacherâs resume that can be said to contain more good in it than bad. When the film stays focused on the Coreys and their pseudo-Goonies-ish adventures fighting Santa Claraâs enclave of noodle-haired, heavily mulleted vampires? When Barnard Hughesâ Grandpa is allowed to indulge his scene-stealing putter ânâ mutter routines? When Tim Capello, as the now iconic sexy sax man, is dripping and heaving on a carnival stage? The movie is a nice slice of fried â80s gold. Unfortunately, a large chunk of the movie is also dedicated to following Jason Patricâs morose Michael around as the rest of the cast chants his name every 30 seconds, as if Schumacher wasnât confident youâd caught it the first 3,000 times. Still thoughâthe soundtrack is really solid (cryyyyyy little sistah!), and when the lurid finale finally kicks into frenetic, shrieking overdrive, you can almost see why studios kept giving Schumacher giant budgets to waste for the next decade-plus. (Fri-Sun, 99w Drive-In; Mon Oct 15, Hollywood Theatre) BOBBY ROBERTS
Mommie Dearest
Youâre supposed to take Mommie Dearest seriously. You cannot possibly take it seriously. There is nothing about it that works on any intended level. But that is fine. That is how camp is made. Not the sort of camp where people are going over the top knowingly, winkinglyâletting you know itâs okay, weâre all in on the joke. Not that chickenshit half-assed camp they got âround Rocky Horror way. This is Faye Dunaway serving up weapons grade camp in a form so undiluted that Walter White would marvel at the purity of its chemical composition. And thatâs the whole point of seeing Mommie Dearestâbecause youâre a cringe-addict, a purveyor of superlative pettiness, and when you jones for unapologetic, manipulative, emotionally ugly trash, Mommie Dearest will always deliver. (Fri Oct 12-Sun Oct 14, Fifth Avenue Cinema) BOBBY ROBERTS
Not Sorry: Feminist Experimental Film From the 1970s to Today
âExperimental film is a kind of haven for marginalized groups that need an alternative way to express themselves,â says Mia Ferm, the education program manager at the NW Film Center. âBut some people, when presenting the history of this work, are like, âOh, I just show some Stan Brakhage and call it a day.ââ Each Sunday this month, the Film Center is providing an alternative to that narrow view with the series Not Sorry: Feminist Experimental Film from the 1970s to Today. Co-curated by Ferm and PSU School of Film Assistant Professor Kristin Hole, each program spans the globe and the past four decades to give a crisp, pointed platform for a multitude of cinematic voices from societyâs edges. (Through Sun Oct 28, NW Film Centerâs Whitsell Auditorium) ROBERT HAM
The Old Man and the Gun
Based on a true story, the latest from David Lowery (Aint Them Bodies Saints, A Ghost Story, and 2016âs under-appreciated Peteâs Dragon) reteams the filmmaker with Robert Redford, who plays Forrest Tucker, the charming, handsome leader of a trio of geriatric bank robbers. Forrestâs partners in crime are Teddy (Danny Glover) and Waller (a fantastic Tom Waits); meanwhile, middle-aged cop John Hunt (Casey Affleck) tries to chase Forrest down as Jewel (Sissy Spacek) tries to figure out why her charming, handsome new boyfriend wonât tell her what he does for a living. Like one of Forrestâs disarmingly polite robberies, The Old Man and the Gun starts out pleasant and sweet before revealing hints of darknessâeach of these characters is deeper than they first appear, and oneâs never quite sure what any of them are going to do next. Lowery is happy to tag along, capturing lives that are polished by time and dented by experience, but remain bright and sharp with wit and passion. Watching Redford have this much fun is, as always, a goddamn delight. (Opens Fri Oct 12, various theaters) ERIK HENRIKSEN
Panâs Labyrinth
Arguably Guillermo del Toroâs masterpiece. Set in post-civil war Spain, Labyrinth follows a young girl, Ofelia (Ivana Baquero); as post-war fascism dominates her life, she discovers an ancient forest presided over by a faun whoâs at once welcoming and sinister (Doug Jones). Descending into a world of myth, danger, and horror, Ofeliaâs story becomes twofoldâroughly half of Labyrinth deals with historical drama, while the other explores the fantastic and symbolic. (Fri Oct 10-Sun Oct 21, Fifth Avenue Cinema) ERIK HENRIKSEN
Portland Film Festival
In past years, this weeklong festivalâs programming has been burdened by generic, forgettable indies and awkward vanity projects; while this yearâs programming had yet to be announced by the Mercuryâs print deadline, the organizers of the 2018 Portland Film Festival Presented by Comcast NBC Universal promise over 150 films (including âmore than 35 films from local filmmakersâ), along with the festâs usual workshops and networking events. More at portlandfilmfestival.com. (Mon Oct 12-Sun Oct 28, various theaters)
Portland Unknown Film Festival
An âoutcast film festivalâ offering shorts, music videos, a found-footage installation (If You Believe by Nicole Baker), and a feature (Micah Vassauâs Fingerilla), all collected with the aim of curating âa gallery of film for the underground, under-known, rough, and raw filmmaker,â and dedicated to ânew innovative filmmakers and old punks who never sold out!â More at portlandunknown.com. (Fri Oct 19-Sat Oct 20, Disjecta)
Prince of Darkness
1987âs Prince of Darkness has the scariest set of bookends John Carpenter ever builtâunnerving in the way they move and sound, to the point where your fight-or-flight response legitimately kicks in the longer youâre sitting in front of them. The problem is that the movie he places between those bookends is the worst fucking thing he ever made, and that includes Ghosts of Mars and Vampires. (Fri Oct 12-Thurs Oct 18, Academy Theater) BOBBY ROBERTS
Queer Horror: Halloween H20
Carla Rossiâs bimonthly celebration of horror pays homageâin its own wayâto the grandfather of the slasher film, John Carpenterâs Halloween. But Carlaâs not screening the original. No, this installment of Queer Horror features 1998âs Halloween H20, a nonsensically titled return to form with a cast that is, in retrospect, maybe the best in the series? Jamie Lee Curtis, Michelle Williams, Janet Leigh, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt are in this thing! Granted, Josh Hartnett is âleadingâ it, and LL Cool J is the comic relief, and Adam Arkin is... Adam Arkin-ing around (heâs like if George Clooneyâs worst tics were downloaded into a talking ball of lint), so, yunnoâitâs not perfect, but itâs still a lot of fun! And that fun will be augmented with one of Carlaâs pre-show routines, and pints of Royale Brewing beer brewed especially for the occasion. (Thurs Oct 25, Hollywood Theatre) BOBBY ROBERTS
Queercore: How to Punk a Revolution
Queercore: How to Punk a Revolution feels scrapped together like one of the zines that erupted out of the movement. Homocore, or queercore, developed from the fringes of punk scenes in the â80s, so itâs fitting that Queercore isnât polishedâitâs a bunch of parts taped together to make one anti-establishment package. The film contains loads of hand-drawn dicks and nipples, which are cool, as well as some white power imagery, which is not cool. (While many aspects of the movement are thoughtfully explored, its skinhead roots never are.) (Sun Oct 21, Hollywood Theatre) ELINOR JONES
Re-Run Theater: Trilogy of Terror
The Hollywoodâs monthly TV party a suitably spooky October entry: 1975âs ABC Movie of the Week Trilogy of Terror, an anthology of Richard Matheson short story adaptations, none of which have anything to do with each other but all of which star the wonderful Karen Black acting her fuckinâ heart out as a revenge-fueled tutor, a victim of sibling rivalry, and a woman stuck in a room with a vicious fetish doll. With sinister â70s-era ads during the commercial breaks! (Wed Oct 24, Hollywood Theatre) BOBBY ROBERTS
The Sisters Brothers
A darkly funny, satisfyingly violent adaptation of Patrick DeWittâs novel, The Sisters Brothers follows four men whose bumbling paths cross in Oregon and California in 1851. The titular brothers are assassins, and are played with predictable excellence by John C. Reilly and Joaquin Phoenix; when they arenât drinking or bickering, theyâre chasing two other men, played by Jake Gyllenhaal and Riz Ahmed (also excellent, also predictably). There are intense shoot-outs and goofy pratfalls, and thereâs dread and sadness and mishaps involving everything from an angry bear to a well-loved shawl. Somehow, the ungainly contraption holds together beautifully. (Now playing, various theaters) ERIK HENRIKSEN
Smokey and the Bandit
What better way to pay tribute to the cinematic legacy of Burt Reynolds than with his biggest hit? Smokey and the Bandit, a 1977 romantic comedy about a beer bootlegger escaping the chubby grasp of a redneck sheriff, was the second biggest film of the year, and would have easily been number one if not for that one space movie about the farm kid and the glow sticks and the bleeping trash basket. But that movie had the benefit of never-before-seen visual effects and an all-timer of a score by John Williams. Smokey and the Bandit had... uh, it had âEastbound and Downâ as the score to a series of ridiculous car chases and the irresistable, smirking, fourth-wall-breaking charm of Reynolds. Every likeable wiseass of the â80s, â90s, and â00s, from John McClane to Tony Stark, owes part of their existence to Burt, shiftinâ and grinninâ out from behind the wheel of that legendary Trans Am. (Fri Oct 12, Hollywood Theatre) BOBBY ROBERTS
Sonic Youth: 30 Years Of Daydream Nation
Drummer Steve Shelley, archivist Aaron Mullan, and filmmaker Lance Bangs present this documentary triple feature celebrating the 30th anniversary of Sonic Youthâs landmark LP Daydream Nation, including 1989âs Put Blood in Music by Charles Atlas, focused on New Yorkâs music scene; On Rust, a Dutch TV program, and Bangsâ Daydream Nation, capturing the bandâs 2007 Glasgow performances. (Sat Oct 20, Hollywood Theatre)
A Star Is Born
I considered leaving A Star Is Born several times. For his directorial debut, Bradley Cooper remade the 1954 musical drama with himself playing the grizzled, alcoholic country rock star Jackson Maine and Lady Gaga as Ally, an unknown singer he discovers in a drag bar (her lack of a surname hints at just how much attention was given to her character development). Cooper clearly does not know how to read a room: He wrote the script with two other dudes (red flag number one). Although itâs presumably about the rise of Ally, the whole thing is told from Maineâs perspectiveâwe even hear the ringing of his tinnitus and see the room spin when heâs drunk. And heâs constantly degrading her! Itâs upsetting to see a film so blatantly romanticize an abusive relationship in 2018. Iâd hoped this new version of A Star Is Born would somehow challenge the destructive narrative that a woman is worthless until a man deems her worthy of love, validation, success, or fame. Hahah, nope! (Now playing, various theaters) CIARA DOLAN
Venom
Venom is bad in a way I didnât think it was still possible for superhero movies to be. Itâs pre-Marvel Cinematic Universe bad. Itâs pre-X-Men bad. Venom has all the hallmarks of a shitty superhero movie from 10-plus years ago: Itâs a long, boring origin story with incoherent stakes, an aggressive indifference to the source material, and the color palette of muddy garbage. BEN COLEMAN (Now playing, various theaters)