Some claim that January is a cultural dead zone for events, and on days when the sun seems to clock out at noon, it’s hard to argue. But while much of the city hibernates, one institution keeps the lights on. Thanks, independent movie theaters!! This month’s screenings come through with interesting takes on class critique and iconic Miyazaki films; read on for the scoop on those, plus six other films that feel anything but sleepy.

Studio Ghibli Film Festival

For fans of Laika Studios, Makoto Shinkai’s Your Name (2017), Mamoru Hosoda’s The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (2006).

Asking someone whether they like Studio Ghibli films is a bit like asking whether they like cinema at all. Over the past four decades, the Japanese animation studio has become synonymous with emotionally resonant storytelling and poetic, intelligent engagement with nature and the more-than-human world. These aren’t just “kids’ movies” by any stretch—although your kid is certain to love them, if they don’t already.

If you're a Ghibli devotee, you know all of this, and you’re likely jazzed for the return of OMSI's annual Studio Ghibli Film Festival. This year’s edition opens with a 4K restoration of Princess Mononoke, followed by crowd pleasers like My Neighbor Totoro and Kiki's Delivery Service.

A few lesser-screened entries are also very worth your time. Ghibli co-founder Isao Takahata was responsible for the studio’s gentlest and most lyrical work—films like the delicate, textural growing-up story Only Yesterday and the airy, folkloric film The Tale of the Princess Kaguya. Those screen in early February, but this month, OMSI’s Reel Eats showing of Hayao Miyazaki’s Shinto-influenced 2001 film Spirited Away (January 14-15) sounds like the most fun. Your ticket comes with a tasting menu of “6-12 bites” that correlate with on-screen scenes. (OMSI Empirical Theater, 1945 SE Water, January 16-March 2, times vary, $9-$36, more info, age recommendations vary)

Spectrum Between presents Aspen in 16mm

For fans of Albert and David Maysles, Les Blank, Tamara Kotevska and Ljubomir Stefanov’s Honeyland (2019).

Under-the-radar screening collective Spectrum Between—known for holding avant-garde film programs at secret locations that feature experimental directors like Stan Brakhage and Barbara Hammer—takes a turn toward observational documentary with this 16mm screening of Frederick Wiseman’s Aspen at 5th Avenue Cinema.

Wiseman has spent over 50 years crafting documentaries that expand and complicate cinéma vérité. His films avoid voiceovers and talking heads, but feel subtly novelistic, crafted with moral curiosity in mind. Influenced by forebears like D.A. Pennebaker and the Maysles brothers, Wiseman has chronicled institutions from a Dallas Neiman Marcus (The Store) to the Bridgewater State Hospital for the Criminally Insane (Titicut Follies), always with a patient, incisive anti-elitism.

Aspen is less-cited in Wiseman’s filmography, but it exemplifies his observational style. The 1991 film looks closely at Reagan-era wealth disparity (and, in Spectrum Between’s words, “spiritual desperation”) through the lives of rich vacationers and the working class at a Colorado ski resort. It’s sharp without saying a word outright, and often funny. Wiseman is known for his four- to six-hour runtimes, so the film’s two-and-a-half hour length is comparatively breezy. (5th Avenue Cinema, 510 SW Hall, Sun Jan 18, 7 pm, $10-$20 sliding scale, more info, not rated)

The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover

For fans of Dutch Baroque painting, Angela Carter, Derek Jarman’s Caravaggio (1986).

Peter Greenaway’s 1989 provocation unfolds almost entirely inside a fancy French restaurant. Spica (Michael Gambon) is a pervy, sadistic gangster and a rich patron who—among his numerous flaws—never shuts the fuck up. His fashionable and miserable wife Georgina (Helen Mirren) escapes to the powder room to indulge in an ill-advised affair with a restaurant regular.

Greenaway’s films often skew theatrical, with careful blocking and elaborate, tableau-like compositions, but The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover pushes his style to Baroque extremes. Lateral dolly shots glide through luxe dining rooms drenched in red velvet and painterly kitchen scenes. Tables pile high with thick slabs of meat and bundled herbs. A Frans Hals painting looms in the background, while Jean Paul Gaultier’s bondage-style corsets give Georgina an armored edge. The visual impact is overwhelming, akin to Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things with more decadence and cruelty. (This recommendation carries a content warning for just about everything, including domestic violence and a dog death.)

The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover’s emphasis on Spica’s gluttony and violence offers a grotesque, imaginative class critique; the results feel unrestrained and darkly funny. Catch it at the Portland Art Museum’s Whitsell Auditorium, reopening for PAM CUT programming on January 10. (PAM CUT  at the Whitsell, 1219 SW Park, Sun Jan 25, 2 pm, more info, unrated)

Also worth it:

Flesh for Frankenstein

Produced by Andy Warhol, directed by Factory regular Paul Morrissey, and starring beloved German eccentric Udo Kier (who passed in November), Flesh for Frankenstein’s campy, transgressive take on the Gothic sci-fi story is gleefully unfaithful to Mary Shelley’s novel. Fans of Rainer Werner Fassbinder and Peter Greenaway will appreciate its aesthetic excess. (Academy Theater, 7818 SE Stark, January 9-15, more info) 

Swing Girls

After accidentally poisoning their high school’s brass band, a Japanese friend circle decides the only logical solution is to start their own jazz ensemble. Makes sense to me! Shinobu Yaguchi’s 2004 film is light, airy, and comforting. See it if you’re sad. (PAM CUT’s Tomorrow Theater, 3530 SE Division, Sat Jan 10, more info)

Mothra vs. Godzilla
With her rebellious attitude and atmospheric theme song/hymn sung by miniature priestess-fairies the Shobijin, mystical Mothra rules. Witness the divine kaiju in all her genetically engineered glory as she whips ass on Godzilla in this ’64 entry. (Academy Theater, 7818 SE Stark, January 23-29, more info)

All the Colors of the Dark

There's nothing quite like ’70s Italian horror. You want occult paranoia, psychedelic tailspins, and sexual tension? You got it. Prime example: Sergio Martino's giallo flick All the Colors of the Dark, featuring black masses and devilish detours à la Rosemary's Baby. (Academy Theater, 7818 SE Stark, January 23-29, more info)

Rope

Hitchcock's ’48 thriller follows two dapper psychopaths as they strangle a guy, stuff his body in an antique chest, and proceed to host a dinner party. Naturally, they start acting weird about it, and dramatics ensue. (Cinema 21, 616 NW 21st, Sat Jan 24, more info) 

Mississippi Masala

Mira Nair—a filmmaker with a keen eye for cultural narratives who also happens to be New York mayor Zohran Mamdani’s mom—directed this romance between Mina (Sarita Choudhury), an Indian-Ugandan woman and a Black Southerner carpet cleaner named Demetrius (Denzel Washington). Screening as part of Clinton Street Theater’s Color & Sound series, the film’s cross-genre soundtrack and vibrant palette will shake off the post-holiday grays. Half of ticket proceeds go to support the Portland Immigrant Rights Coalition’s legal defense and rapid response work. (Clinton Street Theater, 2522 SE Clinton, Sat Jan 31, more info)