The Boxtrolls
See review this issue. Various Theaters.
The Equalizer
See review this issue. Various Theaters.
Fashion in Film
For the Hollywood's clothes-obsessed "Fashion in Film" series, the Mercury's Marjorie Skinner presents the director's cut of Cameron Crowe's 2000 magnum opus Almost Famous, with the real-life Pennie Lane in attendance. Hollywood Theatre.
Grindhouse Film Festival
See My, What a Busy Week! Hollywood Theatre.
Halloween III:
Season of the Witch
See Film, this issue. Hollywood Theatre.
Hecklevision
The Hollywood's series where the audience texts their best jokes directly onto the screen. This month's target: RoboCop. Hollywood Theatre.
Hector and the
Search for Happiness
See review this issue. Various Theaters.
Last Tango in Paris
"I could dance forever! Oh, my hemorrhoid." Laurelhurst Theater.
Martin Scorsese Presents: Masterpieces of Polish Cinema
A touring program of Polish films bearing Martin Scorsese's name and curatorial stamp hits Portland with some remarkable work rarely seen by American audiences. After the death of Stalin in 1955, a Polish national cinema of (in the words of director Andrzej Wajda) "impertinent freedom" flourished—albeit in fits and starts, under various communist regimes—and although no films from more familiar Polish directors like Roman Polanski or Andrzej uawski are in the program, there's plenty here to sink into. The can't-miss is Wajda's 1958 masterpiece Ashes and Diamonds (Sun Sept 28), a gorgeous, harrowing thriller set during the immediate aftermath of World War II. Krzysztof Kielowski's A Short Film About Killing (Wed Oct 1), re-edited from 1988's groundbreaking 10-piece The Decalogue TV series, is another crucial bit of viewing. Meanwhile, Wojciech Has' 1965 surrealist epic The Saragossa Manuscript (Sat Sept 27) is a silly, eerie, three-hour stretch of ghostly, sexy fun, while Krzysztof Zanussi's Camouflage (1977; Fri Sept 26) and The Constant Factor (1980; Thurs Oct 2) explore the period's "moral anxiety" with intellectual if not exactly emotional purchase. Kielowski's Blind Chance (1981; Tues Sept 30) and Janusz Morgenstern's arty but un-self-conscious To Kill This Love (1972; Sun Sept 28) round out the series' first week. NED LANNAMANN NW Film Center's Whitsell Auditorium.
A Maya Deren Double Feature
Cinema Project presents short films from the woman known for being one of the major catalysts of avant-garde cinema. More at cinemaproject.org. Hollywood Theatre.
The Maze Runner
The latest serviceable adaptation of a post-apocalyptic young-adult novel. MARJORIE SKINNER Various Theaters.
Midnight Cowboy
Ah, romance. Academy Theater.
Nas: Time is Illmatic
A not-screened-for-critics look at the life of the man who many consider to have written one of the single best hiphop albums of all time. Cinema 21.
The Notebook
See review this issue. Cinema 21.
Portland Latin American Film Festival
A screening of Diego Quemada-Diez' award-winning immigration thriller The Golden Dream, raising funds for the Portland Latin American Film Festival. More at pdxlaff.org. Hollywood Theatre.
Re-run Theater
Re-run Theater presents the third installment of their "TV Knows Best" series by paying tribute to the Children's Television Workshop and other educational entities that filled your little noggin with quality learnin'. Hollywood Theatre.
Sing-Along Sound of Music
A reckless abomination; a slack-jawed insult; an infected and insane parody of cinema and all that it represents. Cinema 21.
The Skeleton Twins
See review this issue. Various Theaters.
The Song
What most movies about the rise and fall of musicians lacked until now was a powerful anti-sex message. Fortunately, the latest Christian epic The Song—as in the Song of Songs, as in the Song of Solomon, as in the Bible at its sexiest—is here to fill that hole in the universe. The Song follows the son of a famous musician who isn't particularly good at music. He meets a girl and bonds over their mutual desire to not have premarital sex, marries her, and then, magically, their postmarital sex turns him into a great musician! Powered by the sex of a good woman, he forms an implausibly famous Jesus-y version of the Lumineers and heads out on a massive world tour, only to fall into the usual pitfalls of fame... because his wife stops sleeping with him enough. The Song is well shot and acted, if a little cheap-looking (the simulated crowd scenes are especially sad), and if you ignore the lyrics, the music sounds like any Portland band. If it weren't for its strange obsession with sex at every turn, The Song might even be an interesting movie. ALEX FALCONE Various Theaters.
This Is Where I Leave You
About two-thirds into This Is Where I Leave You, siblings Judd and and Wendy Altman (Jason Bateman and Tina Fey) have the most telling of their 9,000 heart-to-heart talks: "Nobody is happy," says Judd. I wonder if that wasn't the original title of this film. Because Jesus Christ, these people are all miserable. And given that the Altmans' story is neither funny enough to be a comedy nor honest enough to be a drama, watching them might make you miserable, too. ELINOR JONES Various Theaters.
Tracks
A visually epic, emotionally quiet film portraying the true story of Robyn Davidson (Mia Wasikowska), who, as a young woman in 1977, undertook a 1,700-mile journey through the Australian outback, bringing along only four camels and her dog. Tracks is less about events or character than it is a gorgeous meditation on the truth that at certain points being alone and walking are the only things that feel good. One can criticize Davidson's privilege or lack of purpose—and the resulting absence of any dramatic arc in Tracks—but to do so would look past its simple, honest strengths. Besides, while Davidson consented to visits from a National Geographic photographer (Adam Driver), her endeavor fundamentally involved a lack of regard for what anyone else might think of her. MARJORIE SKINNER Various Theaters.
MEANS WE RECOMMEND IT. Theater locations are accurate Friday, Sept 26-Thursday, Oct 2, unless otherwise noted. Movie times are updated daily and are available here.
