After the Wedding
A gender-flipped American remake of Susanne Bierâs 2006 overwrought melodrama, trading up from Mads Mikkelsen and Rolf LassgĂ„rd to Michelle Williams and Julianne Moore. (Opens Fri Aug 23, Regal Fox Tower 10)
Angel Has Fallen
Olympus Has Fallen was a forgettable Gerard Butler action movie vehicle best known for being the worse of two "Die Hard in a White House" movies released in 2013. (Here at the Mercury, at least, we haven't forgotten you, White House Down.) London Has Fallen was perfunctory "War on Terror" throwback schlock rife with tasteless xenophobia and mindless jingoism. But Angel Has Fallen, the third movie in the inelegantly named ______ Has Fallen series, pulls off an unexpected trick: It's actually pretty good! Star and co-producer Butler reportedly wanted to sunset the franchise in the spirit of 2017's masterful Logan, and damn if he didn't get pretty close. (Opens Thurs Aug 22, various theaters) BEN COLEMAN
The Angry Birds Movie 2
In the proud tradition of succesful game-to-movie sequels as Mortal Kombat: Annihilation and Pet Rock 2: Pyroclastic Boogaloo, comes whatever the fuck this is. Pour it in your children's eyes, who cares. The world is burning and time is short. (Now playing, various theaters)
Ballers
Future president Elizabeth Warrenâs favorite show returns for its fifth season! Itâs a much, MUCH better show than our current presidentâs favorite show, Fox and Friends. Ugh. (Season premiere Sun Aug 25, HBO) NED LANNAMANN
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Bill & Tedâs Excellent Adventure
The Wyld Stallyns ride again. (Fri Aug 23, Hollywood Theatre)
Blinded by the Light
A drama about the only man on earth to hear ârevved up like a deuceâ the first time, and his heart-rending and ultimately doomed struggle to convince the world that Bruce Springsteen had not written a song about questionable hygenic products. (Opens Fri Aug 16, various theaters)
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David Crosby: Remember My Name
This unflinching documentary surveys the life of David Crosby, from his rock-star glory days with the Byrds and CSN to his â80s drug-addict lows to his unlikely late-career resurgence. The noticeably frail and occasionally prickly Crosby is thoroughly grilled by Cameron Crowe (who doesnât hold back on the tough questions), and the film ends on a peculiarly sour note, with Crosby taking stock of his many regrets and burned bridges. Itâs rare to see this type of honesty in these types of music docs, and Remember My Name is all the better for it. (Opens Fri Aug 23, Regal Fox Tower 10) NED LANNAMANN
Family Pictures: The Witches
I know a kid who was so scared by Anjelica Huston in this movie he literally had a seizure in the theater when it first came out. They had to stop the movie and everything. Nobody knew how to ever-so-charmingly fuck a kid up like Roald Dahl, and when you pair that instinct with an unleashed Jim Henson studio, all under the direction of Nicholas (The Man Who Fell to Earth and Don't Look Now) Roeg? C'mon. Don't even try to talk to me about your "Hocus Pocus is a Halloween classic" bullshit. Not while The Witches exists. That's like trying to serve me a can of LaCroix when I asked for a two-liter of Jolt. (Sat Aug 17 & Sun Aug 18, Hollywood Theatre) BOBBY ROBERTS
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The Farewell
The Farewellâs storyâabout a Chinese American family keeping a terminal cancer diagnosis from their grandmotherâmight be familiar to you from its 2016 incarnation as a particularly good segment on This American Life. Now writer/director Lulu Wangâs The Farewell expands into a stunning, funny portrait of a complicated, caring family that spans two cultures and continents. (Now playing, various theaters) SUZETTE SMITH
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Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw
The first of the Fast & Furious spinoff films (are we counting The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift? I donât think Tokyo Drift, underrated as it is, technically counts as a spinoff), the ampersand-fueled Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw is exactly as goofy and fun as it should be. Free of the core sagaâs melodrama, the buddy cop comedy finds Dwayne Johnsonâs tough guy Hobbs and Jason Stathamâs tough guy Shaw flex-bickering (âLookinâ at [your face] makes me feel like God is projectile vomiting in my eyes,â Shaw tells Hobbs; Hobbs tells Shaw, âI have a secret weapon: People like me. You wouldnât understand that, because you donât have any friendsâ) and secretly loving each other as they work with Shawâs super-spy sister (Vanessa Kirby, AKA the sister on The Crown) to fight Brixton Lore (Idris Elba), who, notably, has a robot motorcycle. (In the first five minutes, somebody asks Lore who he is, and he says, âBad Guy,â which is almost as good of a name as âBrixton Lore.â) If you thought F&F couldnât get any sillier, Hobbs & Shaw is happy to prove you wrong (the Rock fights a helicopter), and if you thought F&F couldnât get more emo, Hobbs & Shaw is also happy to prove you wrong (once again, we learn that families, both those we inherit and those we create as we flip dune buggies through the air, are Very Important). In conclusion, vote Hobbs and Shaw in 2020. (Now playing, various theaters) ERIK HENRIKSEN
Good Boys
If you think a 12-year-old saying "Fuck" is kinda funnyâand for the record, I'm not judging youâthen you'll probably have fun with Good Boys. There are a bunch of 12-year-olds in it, and they all say "fuck" a lot, which also doubles as the film's plot synopsis. (Opens Thurs Aug 15, various theaters) BEN COLEMAN
Grindhouse Film Festival: Payday
A rare 35mm print of 1973âs Payday, a tribute to the wildcat days of legendary Hollywood hellion Rip Torn. (Tues Aug 27, Hollywood Theatre) BOBBY ROBERTS
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Hedwig and the Angry Inch
With its charming pop-art magical realism, cinematic flashbacks, and the ability to present intimate documentary-style footage of Hedwigâs misfit band on tour with their charlatan business manager, the movie version of Hedwig is able to emphasize the rich plot far better than the stage version did. Director John Cameron Mitchell in attendance. (Fri Aug 23 & Sat Aug 24, Cinema 21) JOSH FEIT
Jason and the Argonauts
Ugh. Thereâs that Jason guy, trying to make fleece cool again. Screens in 35mm. (Fri Aug 16-Thurs Aug 22, Academy Theater)
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Jaws
When I was young, and I saw Jaws for the first time, I knew the shark was the main villain, but I considered Quint to be the secondary. His counterproductive actions, his extreme saltiness, his gruesome exitâa shark is gonna shark, sure, but Quint didn't have to go that hard. And then I was old, and rewatched it (which is easy to do, it might be the single most rewatchable movie of the last 50 years), and I realized what a callow fucking moron I was. Why couldn't Hooper shut the fuck up? Why did Hooper insist on telling Quint his business? This four-eyed numbnuts' grand plan involves building a half-ass birdhouse, climbing inside, and sinking himself 60 feet deep so he can poke at a leviathan with a sharp stick? Quint was on the Indianapolis, for christ's sake. 1100 men went into the water, 315 plus Quint came out, and they delivered the bomb! R.I.P. Quint. You were too pure for this world. Screens in 35mm. (Fri Aug 23-Thurs Aug 29, Academy Theater) BOBBY ROBERTS
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Jurassic Park
Come on. Itâs fucking Jurassic Park. It is always wonderful, best on the big screen, and you donât have to beg for an advance on your allowance to see it this time. (Fri Aug 16-Thurs Aug 22, Academy Theater) ELINOR JONES
The Kitchen
The Kitchen deviates from a traditional mobster movie (man impresses mobster, mobster shows him the ropes, man supplants mobster) with a rewrite for women characters who would never believably find themselves in mentor/mentee relationships in 1978 Hellâs Kitchen. Instead, your favorite actors of the momentâMelissa McCarthy, Tiffany Haddish, and Elisabeth Mossâare the wives of three small time Irish thugs, and when their husbands get imprisoned, the wives join forces to take over the neighborhood crime syndicate. The story isnât muchâwomen doing crime isnât empowering or noble, itâs just, you know, crimeâbut the performances are A-game , with Haddish unrecognizable as the cold-blooded, calculating Ruby and Moss heartbreaking and hilarious as battered-wife-turned hit-person Claire. Writer/director Andrea Berloff has put together a perfectly serviceable, mobster movie with all the punching, betrayals, and people talking about "family" that you crave. (Now playing, various theaters) SUZETTE SMITH
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Love, Antosha
Director Garret Priceâs heartfelt documentary explores the extraordinary life and death of Anton Yelchin, the actor who died at age 27 when his Jeep Grand Cherokeeâa model that had been recalledâcrushed him against his front gate. Love, Antosha details Yelchinâs close relationship with his mother, his dabbling in music and photography, his fight against cystic fibrosis, and the lasting effect he had on friends like Jennifer Lawrence, Chris Pine, and Kristen Stewart. Itâs a gutting story, told in a sentimental manner that feels aimed at Yelchinâs inner circle as opposed to a broader audience. But this guyâs talent, curiosity, and enthusiasm were boundless, and through Love, Antoshaâs interviews and archival footage, we feel like we get to know him a little bit, too. (Opens Fri Aug 23, Regal Fox Tower 10) NED LANNAMANN
Luce
Naomi Watts and Octavia Spencer star in Julius Onahâs high school-set psychological thriller about âidentity in todayâs America.â (Opens Fri Aug 16, Regal Fox Tower 10)
Luz
Everything within Luz, the debut from German filmmaker Tilman Singer, is crafted to call back to the â70s and â80s heyday of supernatural horror, when masters like Dario Argento and Lucio Fulci were warping minds and expectations. The special effects are low-budget yet effective, the performances narrowly avoid over-the-top hysteria, and a mood of creeping dread prevails. While Singer doesnât reach the storied heights of Suspiria or Zombie, he does succeed in creating something thatâs mandatory viewing for our legal weed era. (Opens Fri Aug 16, Cinema 21) ROBERT HAM
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Mike Wallace Is Here
âA nationâs press is a good yardstick of a nationâs health,â a young Mike Wallace says in old black-and-white footage early in Mike Wallace Is Here. âTake a look at the history of any nation which has lost its freedoms, and you will find that the men who grabbed the power also had to crush the free press.â Director Avi Belkinâs doc about the famed 60 Minutes reporterâwho interviewed everyone from Malcolm X to Ayatollah Khomeini to Oprah Winfrey to Eleanor Roosevelt to Vladimir Putinâis a smart, measured look at Wallaceâs greatest journalistic hits and misses, his struggles with depression, and his influence over a changing, weakening news business. (âYouâre a dinosaur!â a belligerent Bill OâReilly shouts at Wallaceâand in the same breath, notes Wallace was a huge influence on him.) Unlike another recent journalism docâHBOâs lightweight The Newspaperman: The Life and Times of Ben Bradlee, about the heroic editor of The Washington PostâMike Wallace Is Here remains clear-eyed and hard-hitting, just as, one imagines, the no-bullshit Wallace would have wanted it. Take, for example, when Larry King attempts to chide Wallace for his brusqueness, and Wallace responds: âDo not confuse anger and hostility with an insistence on getting to the bottom line, to the fact.â (Opens Fri Aug 23, Cinema 21) ERIK HENRIKSEN
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Nerds have done their best to ruin Monty Python and the Holy Grailâquoting it at every opportunity, screeching âNI!â, ad infinitumâbut even they canât tarnish the glory of the 1975 comedy classic. See it on the big screen with a beer, as god (and Sir Robin the Not-Quite-So-Brave-as-Sir-Lancelot) intended. (Fri Aug 23-Thurs Aug 29, Academy Theater) ERIK HENRIKSEN
The Nightingale
The Nightingale isnât the rape revenge film itâs being passed off asâor itâs not only that, anyway. Itâs a film about colonialism and a hierarchy of oppression that hurts everyone involved, though mostly the people at the bottom: women, people of color, and children. Itâs also a story of love and strength. It has a startling, sparse sound design by Robert Mackenzie, and gorgeous landscapesâalpine wilderness, dry lands, and fogâshot in parts of Tasmania that Kent says have never been filmed before. Thereâs a lot to the film, and I respect anyone who needs to sit this one out. But if you go into The Nightingale, be a witness to history. Donât look away. (Opens Fri Aug 16, Living Room Theaters) SUZETTE SMITH
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On Becoming a God in Central Florida
This dark, quirky comedy, set in the early â90s, stars Kirsten Dunst and Alexander SkarsgĂ„rd as a couple embroiled in an Amway-like pyramid scheme. While itâs easyâand satisfyingâto interpret this as a scathing takedown of scumbags like the DeVos family whoâve grossly profiteered off naĂŻve Americans, the show, apart from one or two missteps, wins you over with deeply realized characters and a wryly intriguing tone. (Premieres Sun Aug 25, Showtime) NED LANNAMANN
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Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood
This might be Quentin Tarantino's best movie since Jackie Brown. Actually, now that I think about it, maybe it's even better than Jackie Brown? I know. Crazy! In part, at least, that's because for long stretches, Once Upon a Time doesn't have the self-conscious, This Is a Quentin Tarantino Filmâą feel of the filmmaker's past few movies. While The Hateful Eight, Django Unchained, and Inglourious Basterds couldn't help but poke you every few minutes to remind you that you were watching a great movie, Once Upon a Time is content to just be a great movieâand the result is something that's funnier, more affecting, and more genuine than anything the filmmaker's made in decades. (Now playing, various theaters) ERIK HENRIKSEN
One Child Nation
Nanfu Wang and Jialing Zhang's documentary takes a first-person lookânamely, Wang'sâat China's now-discontinued policy of requiring that parents only have one child. Revisiting China, Wang tracks down others who, like herself and her parents, remember what it was like to live under the decree. One Child Nation doesn't shy away from brutal realities: Xianwen Liu, a former "family planning propaganda official," clangs cymbals as he remembers the opera he wrote extolling the virtues of the one-child policy; Huaru Yuan, a now-84-year-old midwife who helped deliver Wang, estimates that in two decades of traveling to various villages, she particiapted in "between 50,000 to 60,000 sterilizations and abortions." "I counted all of this out of guilt because I aborted and killed babies," she tells Wang. "Many I induced alive and killed. My hands trembled doing it. But I had no choice: It was the government's policy." (Now playing, Living Room Theaters)
The PDX Drive-In Movie Spectacular
For the fifth year, the Expo Center transforms part of its 53-acre campus into the drive-in to end all drive-ins, with live music preceding the films: Star Wars with the Portland Brass Quintet (Wed Aug 14), Planet of the Apes with the Reverberations (Thurs Aug 15), Alien with El Gringo Mariachi (Fri Aug 16), Little Shop of Horrors with Boka Marimba (Sat Aug 17), and Purple Rain with Erotic City (Sun Aug 18). (Wed Aug 14-Sun Aug 18, Portland Expo Center)
Phoenix, Oregon
Director Gary Lundgrenâs Ashland-made film in which a divorced, middle-age graphic artist (James Le Gros) who's suffering âdelusions of aliens controlling his life" decides to buy an abandoned bowling alley. Thatâs one depressing-sounding midlife crisis⊠but also, hey! Bowling! (Sun Aug 25, Hollywood Theatre)
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Re-Run Theater: Battlestar Galactica: The Living Legend
The Hollywoodâs monthly TV party screens what is arguably the original Battlestar Galacticaâs high-point. This was the last serious thing Lloyd Bridges did before starring in Airplane! and (rubber-) cementing himself for the rest of his life as a wild-haired, glue-huffing, bug-eyed spoof machine. As the '70s faded into the '80s, audiences were still capable of believing the Alpo man (AKA Lorne Greene as Commander Adama) and the Airplane! guy were bottomless wells of gravitas. This two-parter (screened with period-appropriate ads in the commercial breaks) needs you to believe it too, and if you can hoist that suspension of disbelief just high enough, The Living Legend shrugs off the naugahyde mediocrity Battlestar was normally swaddled in and peaks so highly that over 25 years later, Ron Moore would tackle the same tale for his remake of the showâand it became that Galactica's high point, too. (Wed Aug 28, Hollywood Theatre) BOBBY ROBERTS
Ready or Not
It was right around the time when newlywed Grace (Samara Weaving) punched her pre-teen nephew in the face and subsequently fell into a pit filled with decomposing bodies that I found myself completely shutting off to Ready or Not, the new horror-comedy from filmmaking collective Radio Silence. From there, atrophy set inârendering me numb to each subsequent act of violence that was supposed to shock and/or amuse me. In Ready or Not, the filmmakers' significant efforts to riff on awful rich people and the dumb shit we all do in the name of family are completely undermined by every moment of screeching histrionics and squishing flesh, and the movie's attempt to land a big gut punch its final line feels instead like getting gently slapped with a wet nap. (Opens Tues Aug 20, various theaters) ROBERT HAM
Them That Follow
Olivia Colman isnât in Them That Follow a whole lot, but whenever sheâs onscreenâas Sister Slaughter, the dour, hardened matriarch of a small, isolated Appalachian community of snake-handling Pentecostalsâsheâs all but unrecognizable from all of her other remarkable turns in everything from The Favourite to Peep Show. This grim drama is helped out by some other excellent performances, including ones from Alice Englert a weary, conflicted young woman trapped by her familyâs faith, and Walton Goggins as her glare-y, shouty pastor of a father. (Now playing, various theaters) ERIK HENRIKSEN
Whereâd You Go, Bernadette
Richard Linklaterâs adaptation of Whereâd You Go, Bernadette drops the epistolary technique of Maria Sempleâs book in favor of a more straightforward movie narrative, but this is still a muddled puzzle of incongruous pieces that donât fit together. (Opens Thurs Aug 15, various theaters) NED LANNAMANN
Wyrd War Presents: The Entity
Wyrd War loves digging through cinematic detritus and sharing schlock treasures with fellow appreciators of vintage trash. For August, theyâre celebrating their vinyl release of Charles Bernsteinâs score to 1982âs The Entity by screening the film, a wad of exploitative nastiness starring Barbara Hershey as the victim of a ghost-rapist. (Sat Aug 24, Hollywood Theatre) BOBBY ROBERTS