recommended The Avengers
Vengeance is a dish best served by the Avengers. ERIK HENRIKSEN Various Theaters.

Battleship
See review this issue. Various Theaters.

recommended Bernie
Like a basset hound coming in first at the Kentucky Derby, Richard Linklater's Bernie is a floppy, improbable triumph. Nothing about it should work, but almost everything does. Essentially the story of a very friendly murderer (Jack Black), Bernie poses a finely balanced ethical quandary: What do we do when someone we like does something terrible to someone we hate? This isn't a documentary, and Linklater isn't constrained with balance or objectivity. Your opinion will shift, at times in sync with and in times in opposition to the film. Films this challenging are rarely so pleasant about it. BEN COLEMAN Fox Tower 10.

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
A comedic drama about a group of retirees who move to a dilapidated hotel in India, starring the worship-worthy British biddies Dame Judi Dench and Queen Bitch Maggie Smith. Century Clackamas Town Center, Fox Tower 10.

recommended Bill Cunningham New York
Since the late '70s, weekly photo collages of what people are wearing on the streets of New York have been a highlight in the pages of the New York Times. Many New Yorkers are acutely aware of the author of these photos: a wiry octogenarian snapping away at passersby in a cheap poncho when it rains, and a no-nonsense blue jacket when it shines. This is Bill Cunningham, the subject of Bill Cunningham New York, a documentary about the artist whose life's work is as much cultural anthropology as it is fashion, providing an intimate introduction to those who less frequently pass by his lens. MARJORIE SKINNER Fifth Avenue Cinema.

recommended Castles in the Sky: Miyazaki, Takahata, and the Masters of Studio Ghibli
An excellent selection of some of the best films from Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli. This week's films include Ocean Waves, Porco Rosso, My Neighbors the Yamadas, and Spirited Away; for more info, see nwfilm.org and "When Totoros Attack," Film, May 3. Northwest Film Center's Whitsell Auditorium.

Darling Companion
Empty nester Beth, played by Diane Keaton, loves her dog, Freeway, more than her doctor husband. Meanwhile, her doctor husband, Joseph (Kevin Kline), loves his work more than her. When Joseph loses Freeway at their vacation home in the Rocky Mountains after a family wedding, emotional hell breaks loose. "You love spinal surgery more than you love me!" Beth basically screams over and over. "You are menopausal!" Joseph basically screams back. In most movies starring a dog, the dog actor is the worst on screen. But in Darling Companion, you can't help but empathize with poor Freeway, forced to flee into the Rockies to escape this self-absorbed, screamy family, and can only wish that the film builds to their eventual deaths. Spoiler alert: It does not. CIENNA MADRID Fox Tower 10.

The Dictator
See review this issue. Various Theaters.

Experimental Film Festival Portland
See Film, this issue. Various Theaters.

Filmusik
The Wizard of Oz, with a live score from Pink Floyd Norway's In the Country. Hollywood Theatre.

God Bless America
See review this issue. Hollywood Theatre.

Good for Nothing
Shooting a western in New Zealand is a fine idea, and the lush countryside in Good for Nothing is reasonably spectacular. But the film is shot like a bad TV movie, and the story is atrocious. Uppercrust-y Isabella (Inge Rademeyer) makes the voyage to her uncle's ranch, but a grimy gunslinger (Cohen Holloway) murders her escorts and abducts her. He attempts to rape her—or, as this movie so cheerfully puts it, "give her a poke"—but his dick is limp. So he lugs her around looking for a doctor who can fix his broken boner. Along the way, Isabella catches a glimpse of the would-be rapist's bare ass and perhaps, maybe, starts to have feelings for him. This movie is appalling. NED LANNAMANN Clinton Street Theater.

Great NW Film Tour
A new, McMenamins-based film series aiming to give "new films a place to be shown, gather momentum, and burst out onto the scene." First up: Adventures in Plymptoons!, a documentary about Portland animator Bill Plympton. Director and producers in attendance for all screenings; Plympton in attendance on Saturday, May 19. Kennedy School, Mission Theater.

recommended Headhunters
A very good Norwegian thriller starring Aksel Hennie and Game of Thrones' Nikolaj Coster-Waldau. The action is consistently deft and darkly humorous, bringing to mind the Coen brothers at their leanest, darkest, and Blood Simple-est. NED LANNAMANN Cinema 21.

recommended The Killing
Stanley Kubrick's 1956 noir. Laurelhurst Theater.

Mansome
See review this issue. Fox Tower 10.

NW Animation Festival
An indie animation showcase screening almost 60 short films over two nights, as well as a look at Laika's upcoming ParaNorman. More info: nwanimationfest.com. Hollywood Theatre.

Payback
A documentary about "societal, personal, environmental, spiritual, criminal, and economic" debt, directed by Jennifer Baichwal (Manufactured Landscapes). Living Room Theaters.

The Perfect Family
An indie dramedy starring Kathleen Turner. Hey, Kathleen Turner's still making movies! Living Room Theaters.

QDoc: Portland Queer Documentary Film Festival
See Film, this issue. Kennedy School.

Sprung! A Bike Smut Retrospective
A weekly, Bike Smut-curated retrospective of films that have "influenced or paved the way for our festival." Each screening will be accompanied by "shorts, performances, trivia, games, and prizes." Clinton Street Theater.

recommended Steve Jobs: The Lost Interview
See review this issue. Hollywood Theatre.

What to Expect When You're Expecting
See review this issue. Various Theaters.

The Whisperer in Darkness & The Call of Cthulhu
An H.P. Lovecraft-inspired double feature. Clinton Street Theater.