JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL
Ends April 26. All films screen at the Northwest Film Center's Whitsell Auditorium. For more info, see nwfilm.org.
Being Jewish in France
Three guesses as to what this movie's about.
Emotional Arithmetic
Susan Sarandon plays a Holocaust survivor who reunites with the Polish man (Max von Sydow) who saved her life in the camp.
One Day You'll Understand
"A Parisian husband and father... stumbles into a moral quagmire when work on the family tree uncovers documents pointing to what appears to be a shocking secret." THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU GET INTO SCRAPBOOKING, PEOPLE.
Words and Music by Jerry Herman
A doc about the Broadway composer and lyricist.
FILM SHORTS
Anvil! The Story of Anvil
BMX Double Feature
1983's BMX Bandits AND 1986's Rad? Nope, no fixies parked outside the Clinton during this one! Clinton Street Theater.
Bound for Glory
1976's Hal Ashby movie that may or may not be about two dogs and a cat who are trying to get home. Pix Patisserie (North).
Contemporary Animation About Language
Animated shorts that "explore the relationship of text and image." Featuring two new shorts from local animators Joanna Priestley and Joan Gratz. Hollywood Theater.
The Country Teacher
A gay schoolteacher from Prague moves to a rural town. So kind of like Northern Exposure! Except with a teacher instead of a doctor. And the Czech Republic instead of Alaska. And also gayness. Living Room Theaters.
Crank 2: High Voltage
Jason Statham's ridiculous-looking latest, which wasn't screened for critics. Various Theaters.
Deep Red Film Fest
An "international festival of fantastic film," featuring all sorts of horror and cult films. The highlight looks to be Saturday's screening of Enzo G. Castellari's The Inglorious Bastards (1978), one of the films that inspired Quentin Tarantino's upcoming Inglourious Basterds. Local Tarantino expert D.K. Holm will introduce the film. For more info and a complete schedule, see deepredfilmfest.com. Clinton Street Theater.
Earth
See review. Various Theaters.
Echoes of Silence
A decade before Coppola, Scorsese, and the rest made the "Lonely Guy" the go-to protagonist of '70s American cinema, New York artist Peter Emmanuel Goldman sketched out his plight in 1965's Echoes of Silence. What difference does 10 years make? A lot, when you set your story in the short-lived post-Beats world of black turtlenecks and proud existential angst. Scenes constructed of little more than idle strolling—a young outsider's lusty eyes fixed on nothing in particular—will warm the hearts of Taxi Driver fans. The slow pacing and lack of dialogue will not. ANDREW STOUT Cinema Project Microcinema.
Fighting
Channing Tatum (who?) stars in a film about the "corrupt bare-knuckle circuit" of street fighting, "where rich men bet on disposable pawns." Shockingly, this thing wasn't screened for critics. Various Theaters.
Gigantic
See review. Fox Tower 10.
Hud
The 1963 Paul Newman classic, preceded by filmed jazz performances from Herbie Hancock and Chick Corea, plus live jazz in the theater's lobby. Hud will be introduced by Oregonian film critic (and Newman biographer) Shawn Levy. Cinema 21.
The Immaculate Conception of Little Dizzle
Northwest Film & Video Festival award-winner David Russo's first (and Sundance-approved!) feature. Not screened in time for press. Nothwest Film Center's Whitsell Auditorium.
The Informers
See review. Various Theaters.
Jackpot Film Fest: TV Carnage Presents
See My, What a Busy Week!. Hollywood Theatre.
Just Another Love Story
This smart, sleek Danish thriller from director Ole Bornedal is exquisitely nuanced, despite being packed with sex, violence, and naked corpses. Jonas (Anders W. Berthelsen) has never met Julia (Rebecka Hemse), but after she swerves around his stalled car and injures herslf, he visits her as she lies in a coma. Jonas is married with kids, but he fibs to her family and doctor by claiming to be her boyfriend, and eventually falls in love with Julia's unconscious body. When she wakes up, she has amnesia, so Jonas is safe for a short while, but Julia's very dark past slowly creeps back. The film treads the perfect line between black comedy, nailbiting suspense, and heartwrenching drama—and while it seems inevitable that everything for Jonas and Julia is going to turn to shit, exactly how Just Another Love Story gets there is surprising, inventive, and moving. NED LANNAMANN Living Room Theaters.
My Name is Noémi
A documentary about 86-year-old teacher and speaker Noémi Ban, who survived Auschwitz. Not to be confused with My Name is Naomi, a documentary about a supermodel who throws temper tantrums. Hollywood Theater..
Observe and Report
The fact that Observe and Report is relentlessly funny, and not simply grotesquely offensive, is a testament to the comedic talents onboard—director Jody Hill reprises the deadpan, detail-oriented tone he created in The Foot Fist Way, while actors like Patton Oswalt and Human Giant's Aziz Ansari make welcome cameos. It's star Seth Rogen, though, who injects the film with its improbable levity. By all rights, his mall cop character Ronnie Barnhardt is a dimwitted, gun-obsessed, casually racist sociopath who should be completely repellant—yet he is, at times, oddly charming, even when he's shooting smack in one of the mall's bathroom stalls. ALISON HALLETT Various Theaters.
Obsessed
A "successful asset manager who has just received a huge promotion" is stalked by his office temp! True, this film wasn't screened for critics—but it does costar Beyoncé and Jerry "Remember Me?" O'Connell! Eh? Eh? On a related note, Jesus Christ, Hollywood blows. Various Theaters.
Paris 36
See review. Fox Tower 10.
The Soloist
See review. Various Theaters.
State of Play
Schlubby newspaper reporter Cal McAffrey (Russell Crowe, looking as schlubby as it's possible for Russell Crowe to look) is of the old school: He can't refer to blogs without sneering, and he warns a source that if they don't listen to him, they'll fall prey to "the bloodsuckers and bloggers." But despite his pride and skill, McAffrey's fictional Washington, DC, paper is spiraling downward, with a recent takeover by a media conglomerate and a newfound focus on blogs and eye-catching graphics. The subgenre of thrillers about intrepid journalists is a small one, sure—and for all I know, maybe these movies are only truly thrilling for those few of us who still work in print journalism. But I suspect not: When they're done right (as State of Play mostly is, despite its melodramatic ending) they pack an authoritative, heady punch. ERIK HENRIKSEN Various Theaters.
Student Academy Awards Regional Finals
The best animated, narrative, and documentary films from various colleges and art schools. More info: nwfilm.org. Northwest Film Center's Whitsell Auditorium.
Total Recall
Dodal Reekall ist mine best movie evurgh! Id dakes place on Mahrs, in dah oudah space! Und dere is a womahn with dree boobs! Und at de Laurelhurst, dey let yoo drink bee-ah, doo! ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER Laurelhurst Theater.
