THE HOMESMAN—Pretty sure that this week marks the only time in my life I’ll ever begin a review with the phrase “Tommy Lee Jones is one sneaky motherfucker.”
As an actor, Jones has been in some of the greatest films in the genre, from Lonesome Dove to No Country for Old Men, but few expected him to start directing great westerns, too: First there was 2005’s fantastic The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada, which slipped under most people’s radars and which most people should watch as soon as humanly possible, and now there’s the similarly outstanding The Homesman, based on Glendon Swarthout’s 1988 novel.
FOUND FOOTAGE FESTIVAL—Nick Prueher and Joe Pickett’s traveling tour of weird video oddities returns—this time with some priceless footage from KOIN 6 News.
Along with this year’s lovingly assembled collection of hilarious VHS oddities, curators and hosts Nick Prueher and Joe Pickett will screen a gem that they scored on their last visit to Portland, during a two-night stand at Laurelhurst Theater.
“The first night, this guy came up to us afterward and was like, ‘Hey, so, uh, I have this video and I don’t know if I should show it to you or not,’ and we were like, ‘This is intriguing,'” says Prueher.
THE GREAT INVISIBLE—Oof.
An unflinching, up-close look at the devastating repercussions of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, The Great Invisible travels from Alabama to Louisiana to Texas, tracking down oil rig workers, oyster shuckers, shrimpers, and crab pickers to document how life along the Gulf of Mexico changed after 200 million gallons of oil gushed into the gulf over 87 calamitous days in 2010.
JAPANESE CURRENTS—The NW Film Center’s annual look at contemporary Japanese cinema begins with an insightf—HOLY SHIT IS THAT A SAMURAI WITH A KITTY?!
The other standout of this year is the hilarious, self-referential Neko Samurai, about a masterless samurai hired to kill a rival clan’s pet cat. But when the samurai finds he cannot complete his mission, he instead takes the cat home with him, beginning his metamorphosis into a full-blown cat person.
PROJECT VIEWFINDER—Young Portlanders who’ve experienced homelessness tell their stories. You should listen.
Young people struggling to survive outside rarely enjoy the luxury of someone—anyone—willing to sit down and just listen. Were they abused? Are they funny? Are they talented? Do they still have dreams?
Often, they’re just ignored. Worse, they might be judged and shamed. It’s hardly fair. It’s hardly compassionate. And it’s precisely why the NW Film Center’s Project Viewfinder series is such an important endeavor as Portland confronts a crisis on its streets.
There’s more, as ever—including Alain Resnais’ landmark Hiroshima Mon Amour at Cinema 21 and the Wachowskis’ super fun, super underrated Speed Racer at Fifth Avenue Cinema—in Film Shorts. And here are your Movie Times. Choose wisely. Aaaah! Speed Racer!
