* 50 Years of Godzilla Film Festival See review this issue.

Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein
Abbott and Costello meet Frankenstein (Glenn Strange), the Wolfman (Lon Chaney), and Dracula (Bela Lugosi). Either a) wacky comedy ensues, or b) Abbott and Costello are viciously and graphically killed. Clinton Street Theater

* The Battle of Algiers
Director Gillo Pontecorvo manages to re-create the fighting in the streets of Algiers with breathtaking honesty. Shot in stark black and white, the camera often handheld, the film achieves a level of realism that is quite startling. (Bradley Steinbacher) Cinemagic

Before the Revolution
Bernardo Bertolucci's film about Italian youth and the varying paths of philosophy and politics. PSU Smith Memorial Union

* Birth See review this issue. Fox Tower 10, Lloyd Cinemas

Black Aura On an Angel
Sure, you think your lesbian relationship is going just fine. But then you get your tarot read, and the shit hits the fan! A selection of the Lesbian & Gay Film Festival. Cinema 21

Brother to Brother
Anthony Mackie (8 Mile) stars as Perry, a black gay college student shunned by his family and many of his homies for his knob-gobbling. Befriending a similarly-lonely contemporary (Roger Robinson) of Langston Hughes and company, Perry finds crucial (and contrived) parallels between their lives. It has a script straight outta Film Studies 101, complete with a walk along the shore (don't forget the voice-over) for an ending. A selection of the Lesbian & Gay Film Festival. (Will Gardner) Cinema 21

Bush's Brain
This film examines Karl Rove, the man that the filmmakers have dubbed "the Wizard of Oz behind the curtain of today's Presidential politics." Kennedy School

Destroy Everything Now
The first full-length skate video from 88 Footwear. And it's free! Kennedy School

* DiG!
A completely engrossing documentary tracing the surreal connection between the Brian Jonestown Massacre and the Dandy Warhols. (Zac Pennington) Hollywood Theatre

Drag Kings on Tour
A documentary about the "Kingdom Come" drag king tour, which traveled through 15 cities in Canada and America with no small amount of hijinx and drama. A selection of the Lesbian & Gay Film Festival. Cinema 21

Eating Out
A comedy of manners about libidos and friendships within a circle of gay and straight college students. A selection of the Lesbian & Gay Film Festival. Cinema 21

* Election 2004 Results
Rejoice in the brilliance of a new regime! Or shuffle home, pack your suitcase, and start hitch-hikin' to Canada. Let's be optimistic, though, and hope that it'll be rejoicing--after all, who wants to live in Canada? Doug Fir Lounge, Mission Theater

Father and Son
A father and a son in Russia deal with their shifting family dynamic and love for one another. A selection of the Lesbian & Gay Film Festival. Cinema 21

Feminist Film Series
This week: The Burning Times, a film about the burning of witches from the 15-17th Centuries. While this film might try to convince you that those being burned weren't really witches at all. Don't be fooled. They were, and we're lucky to be rid of them. Now, if we can just track down and eliminate these elusive "Wiccans," we'll be in great shape.... PSU Smith Memorial Union

* Frankenstein (1931)
The original classic with Boris Karloff as Frankenstein's creature--and it's showing on Halloween! How cool is that? Central Library, US Bank Room

The General (1927)
A film that analyzes the pivotal role Buster Keaton and his train had during the Civil War. Finally! A real history of the Civil War, instead of that Ken Burns PBS shit. Old Town Pizza

* Going Upriver: The Long War of John Kerry
Given the emotional thrust of the movie--it documents Kerry's metamorphosis from brave soldier to forthright activist--Kerry inevitably emerges as the very man needed to lead America. (Phil Busse) Now available for free download at www.thekerrymovie.com. Laurelhurst, Mission Theater

The Grudge
Takashi Shimizu redirects his Japanese hit Ju-On into The Grudge. Karen (Sarah Michelle Gellar), an American exchange student in Japan, checks in on an old woman--and finds the woman nearly comatose, the rooms of her house filthy, and an all-encompassing sense of dread in the air. But that's just the warm up: when Karen follows hair-raising noises up the stairs, she discovers a terrifying little boy (Yuya Ozeki) trapped in a closet. While Stephen Susco's script plays to Shimizu's strengths, this haunted house tale stumbles by shifting to a mostly American cast, and the original's pervasive sense of tension has been lost in translation. (Erik Henriksen) Regal Cinemas, etc.

Hellbent
Five gay men try to survive on Halloween night in West Hollywood. Where other than the Lesbian & Gay Film Festival are you going to find "the first ever gay horror/slasher movie"? Cinema 21

Horror Movies
Various horror movies, playing from 5-close every night throughout October. Sabala's Mt Tabor Theatre

Horror Shorts
Kicking off the closing night of the Lesbian & Gay Film Festival, these six shorts span the horror genre, with equal amounts of terror and gayness. Cinema 21

* I a Huckabees
Jason "That Kid From Rushmore" Schwartzman plays Albert Markovski, a hipster/hippie whose experience with strange coincidences inspires him to hire two "existential detectives," Bernard (Dustin Hoffman) and Vivian (Lily Tomlin). Regal Cinemas, etc.

Intersex Film Night
Dear reader, do you have "internal or external reproductive organs that do not fit into the medical standard of normalcy"? Then this is the night you've been waiting for! Films include Hermaphrodites Speak!, XXXY, Mani's Story, and Born Queer: Dear Doctors. PSU Smith Memorial Union

The Kite
A Lebanese film about a 16-year-old girl who abandons her family, her school, and her kite to cross the barbed wire barrier between her village and her fiance's village, which has been annexed by Israel. Guild Theater

* KnowFilmFast Film Series
The first screening of the films of the Know's "The Horror Competition." All of the films were made in 66 hours and six minutes (aah!), and all of them are no longer than six minutes and 66 seconds long (AAH!). The Know

Make A Wish
A bunch of straight and lesbian women go camping for an annual birthday camping trip, but something's not quite right in the woods.... The Lesbian & Gay Film Festival brags that this is a "sly, sexy, action-packed thriller." But what kind of "action" are they talking about? Cinema 21

Malevolence
A throwback to '70s and '80s horror films, complete with unsuspecting victims and a family of serial killers! Valley Theater

* The Motorcycle Diaries
A duo of medical school friends (Rodrigo de la Serna and Gael Garcia Bernal) ride, push, and carry their motorcycle across Argentina, Chile, Brazil, and Peru, generally achieving the kind of good times/bad times adventure balance that all great road trip stories thrive on. After traveling thousands of miles, it's made clear just who Bernal's playing: Ernesto Guevara. (Justin Sanders) Fox Tower 10

* Mystery Train
Jim Jarmusch's classic about wanderers searching for the Elvis mystique in Memphis. Blind Onion

* The Nomi Song
Klaus Nomi, the German avante-garde falsetto, has always been an enigma in pop music history. The Nomi Song pays homage to the elfin singer who was one of the first casualties of AIDS. The documentary paints a fabulous, gritty and wild landscape of late '70s-early '80s New York, and using interviews with people who knew Nomi and tons of amazing concert footage, the audience is privy to a well-rendered portrait of the greatest pop star that never was. A selection of the Lesbian & Gay Film Festival. (Michael Svoboda) Cinema 21

NW Exposé: Lost, Forgotten, and Suppressed Films 1931-1967
Rare lost advertising and promotional films from Portland and the Northwest. Whitsell Auditorium

Oh Yoko: Four Films of Yoko Ono!
Wait... isn't Yoko Ono dead? Well, even if she isn't, the Cinema Project is presenting four of her films over two nights. (Wait... Yoko Ono made films?) Night one: The Museum of Modern Art Show has a group of people (including Bob Dylan and Jack Nicholson) discovering that they're being filmed by John Lennon as part of an art piece. No. 4 (Bottoms) is 80 minutes of nothing but ass, as Ono edits together close-up after close-up of naked human buttocks walking, with interviews of those filmed playing on the soundtrack. Night two: Erection is time-lapse photography of a building being built, while the 77-minute-long Rape has a camera crew following an isolated, bewildered German woman from a park all the way to her apartment. So: Love asses? Hate the Beatles? These are the films for you! Cinema Project

* The Other Side of AIDS
Through a series of interviews with scientists, doctors, activists and people living with AIDS, cases are made for and against the idea that HIV is an illusion. Most interesting are the assertions that AIDS drugs are largely untested and cause more harm than good to the patients who take them. A selection of the Lesbian & Gay Film Festival. (Michael Svoboda) Cinema 21

* Primer See review this issue. Fox Tower 10

Ray
A biographical drama about Ray Charles (Jamie Foxx). Not screened in time for press, but there's already Oscar buzz for Foxx--the only question is whether his performance here will be better than his other brilliant role the Academy ignored, that being "Bunz" in Booty Call. Regal Cinemas, etc.

Saw Reviewed this issue. Regal Cinemas, etc.

Shall We Dance?
A good dancing movie is like a porno you can watch with your mom--hot young things dry hump to sexy music, usually followed by a makeout session that tastefully fades to black, allowing your dance-fevered imagination to fill in the blanks. Shall We Dance?, however, substitutes "washed-up actor" and "singer with more ass than talent" for "hot young things," resulting in perhaps the most un-watchable dancing movie ever. (Alison Hallett) Regal Cinemas, etc.

Shame
The Northwest Film Center continues its Bergman binge with this film about a war-torn married couple (Max Von Sydow and Liv Ullman) and their disintegrating marriage. Guild Theater

* Shaun of the Dead
A sharp, clever, and gory horror-comedy that manages to be as scary as it is hilarious, Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg's Shaun of the Dead shows all the marks of becoming a classic (and yeah, I know that sounds clichéd--but in this case, it's actually true). (Erik Henriksen) Regal Cinemas, etc.

Short Cut to Nirvana: Kumbh Mela
This documentary reveals India's Kumbh Mela, the oldest and largest religious gathering in the history of mankind. It's fascinating that such a massive event takes place while being largely absent from the consciousness of the Western world, the bulk of its hour and a half is left to the useless musings of several honkies in tow with the crew and footage of people praying. (Marjorie Skinner) Hollywood Theatre

The Silence (1963)
An Ingmar Bergman film that has it all: Sexual attraction between sisters, masturbation, alcohol, and a 10-year-old boy falling in with a troupe of dwarves. Guild Theater

Silver City
John Sayles' latest film attempts to combine political satire with murder mystery, with decidedly ramshackle results. (Andrew Wright) Century Eastport 16, Hollywood Theatre

Stage Beauty
Set in Shakespearian London, a time when it was illegal for women to act on a public stage, Stage Beauty revolves around an interesting situation, but it can't figure out how to twist it into a consistently involving story. (Justin Sanders) Fox Tower 10

Sugar
A suburban Canadian (Andre Noble) goes to Toronto for his 18th birthday and hooks up with Butch (Brendan Fehr), a "sexy street hustler." Then, according to the press release, "the unusual pair delve into the beginnings of a real romance amidst the prostitutes, gangs, and mean streets of Toronto." Wait. Are they fucking kidding? It's fucking Canada. A selection of the Lesbian & Gay Film Festival. Cinema 21

Surviving Christmas
The true test of a good Christmas movie is if you can see yourself watching it every year and still laughing (or crying) at the appropriate moments. I never want to see Surviving Christmas again for as long as I live. (Michael Svoboda) Regal Cinemas, etc.

Tae Guk Gi: The Brotherhood of War
When the battle scenes in a war movie become too graphic, the movie essentially becomes an antiwar movie. This is the case of Tae Guk Gi, an epic about two brothers who are swept into the middle of the civil war between North and South Korea. (Charles Mudede) Lloyd Mall

* Team America: World Police
South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone have not only created a meticulous homage to the terrific Gary Anderson Thunderbirds series of the '60s (in which a globe-trotting team of marionettes save the world), but also a biting commentary on the very modern "war on terror" that gleefully cuts both ways. (Wm. Steven Humphrey) Regal Cinemas, etc.

Testosterone
A graphic novelist (David Sutcliffe) tries to find Pablo (Antonio Sabato, Jr.), his "stunningly sexy Argentine lover" who ran away from their pad in California. A selection of the Lesbian & Gay Film Festival. Cinema 21

A Time to Ride
Married lesbian grandmothers bike across the country, spreading messages of equality and the importance of always--always--wearing a bike helmet. A selection of the Lesbian & Gay Film Festival. Cinema 21

Too Late For Tears
When some stolen money unexpectedly ends up in their hands, upstanding citizens Jane and Alan Palmer (Lizabeth Scott and Arthur Kennedy) decide to hold onto it instead of going to the police. But then an asskicker shows up lookin' for the dough (Dan Duryea), and Jane has to go all femme fatale. Cafe Nola

* Vera Drake
Besides working as a maid, factory worker, and homemaker for her husband and two grown children in '50s London, the beatifically portrayed Vera (Imelda Staunton) performs illegal abortions. When disaster strikes a teenaged patient and Vera gets pinched, the devastation she faces puts the finishing touches on the film's masterful, horrifying recreation. (Marjorie Skinner) Fox Tower 10

Winter Light
A village pastor (Gunnar Bj-rnstrand) attempts to understand his faith and "God's silence" as the Northwest Film Center attempts to lure in viewers with another Ingmar Bergman film packed with "profound emptiness" and "crippling self-paralysis"! Guild Theater

Woman, Thou Art Loosed
This film features a tedious screenplay and pedestrian direction, from Real World-style confessionals with all the major players to a narrative that can't seem to settle on whether its temporal irregularities are supposed to be foreshadowing or a flashback. But Kimberly Elise turns in such a fantastic, rage-twisted performance as the lead character that it's tempting to forgive the film's flaws. This is a crappy movie with one of the best performances of the year. (Annie Wagner) Lloyd Mall

The World According to Bush
Reviewed this issue. Clinton Street Theater

* Wrestlevania
Sabala's will show two B-movie classics--Dracula vs. Frankenstein and the ingeniously titled Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things. Even better, the folks from Wrestlevania will be in attendance, with host Spectacula Dracula (and his hunchbacked sidekick, Fritz) helping those in attendance with drinking games for the films, then conducting interviews with the movies' monsters--who will then fight! Sabala's Mt Tabor Theatre

* The Yes Men
Artist activists Mike Bonanno and Andy Bichlbaum--AKA the Yes Men--specialize in what they call "identity correction." Armed with suits from thrift stores and cleverly rendered PowerPoint videos, the Yes Men crash lectures and conferences around the world, sarcastically representing what they feel are the true motives of the organizations--like the WTO--they impersonate. (Marjorie Skinner) Fox Tower 10