B-Movie Bingo
The Hollywood's series features B-movies, with the audience marking down clichés on a custom-made bingo card. This month's schlockfest? Undefeatable, starring Cynthia Rothrock as a mafia street fighter trying to put her sister through college. Hollywood Theatre.
Before I Go to Sleep
See review this issue. Various Theaters.
Birdman
See review this issue. Fox Tower 10.
Dear White People
The central conflict in Dear White People is driven by Sam (Tessa Thompson, AKA Jackie from Veronica Mars!), a fired-up young activist who hosts a satirical radio show where she instructs white people on the nuances of how to behave in a multiracial world. There's entirely too much plot, but Dear White People shines interpersonally, as its characters navigate how race factors into relationships, self-presentation, and group identification. And it doubles as a catalog of how creepy even the most well-intentioned white people can be—if you haven't yet gotten the "don't touch black people's hair" memo, there are some skin-crawlingly effective scenes that will drive the point solidly home. ALISON HALLETT Various Theaters.
From Nothing, Something
Director Tim Cawley profiles creative thinkers, including comedian Maria Bamford, Passage videogame designer Jason Rohrer, and choreographer Keith Young. Director in attendance. NW Film Center's Whitsell Auditorium.
Fury
Like the claustrophobic, blood-splattered WWII tank in which it's largely set, Fury rumbles on, solidly, brutally doing its job. ERIK HENRIKSEN Various Theaters.
Ghostbusters
"Everything was fine with our system until the power grid was shut off by dickless here." Edgefield, Hollywood Theatre, Mission Theater.
GuignolFest
A screening of the films submitted for "Portland's DIY horror movie contest." More at cstpdx.com. Clinton Street Theater.
Halloween
"Death has come to your little town, sheriff." Academy Theater.
Horns
See review this issue. Living Room Theaters, VOD.
Interstellar
Christopher Nolan's galaxy-spanning latest opens two days early on 35mm before expanding digitally to every multiplex in the universe on Fri Nov 7. Review forthcoming in next week's Mercury. Hollywood Theatre.
Je t'aime je t'aime
A recent study published in the journal Science found that many adult humans prefer a painful electric shock to being alone with their thoughts. Alain Resnais' 1968 film Je t'aime je t'aime plays upon this discomfort to nightmarish effect, as a suicidal man is forced to cycle through his past in a time-fracturing scientific experiment. Resnais' claustrophobic focus and nonlinear structure have been copied endlessly in films like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, but the cancelation of Je t'aime's 1968 Cannes premiere meant the film never gained much exposure stateside. The NW Film Center's new 35mm print should help fill that gap. MEGAN BURBANK NW Film Center's Whitsell Auditorium.
John Wick
Like the best Keanu Reeves characters, John Wick is a man of few words. He lets his actions speak for themselves. Given that John Wick is an action movie, he ends up saying quite a bit; given that John Wick is a really fucking good action movie, what he says is great. ERIK HENRIKSEN Various Theaters.
The Last Unicorn
1982 was an amazing year for film, and among classics like E.T. and Blade Runner stands the melancholy The Last Unicorn. Author and screenwriter Peter S. Beagle is personally bringing a restored digital print of this quiet treasure to the Hollywood, and will answer questions, sign your stuff, and maybe even sing along with the film's wood-paneled, AM gold theme song. BOBBY ROBERTS Hollywood Theatre.
Listen Up Philip
See review this issue. Cinema 21, VOD.
Nightcrawler
See review this issue. Various Theaters.
Ouija
"D.E.F.I.N.I.T.E.L.Y. S. I. L. L. Y. W.A.I.T. F.O.R. A. M.A.G.I.C. E.I.G.H.T. B.A.L.L. A.D.A.P.T.I.O.N. G.O.O.D.B.Y.E." COURTNEY FERGUSON Various Theaters.
Return to Oz
The sequel to one of the most beloved motion pictures of all time. Also a film that scarred a generation. Fifth Avenue Cinema.
Sex Workers Film Series
A series offering "the best films by and about sex workers." This month: Lot Lizard. More at cstpdx.com. Clinton Street Theater.
Super Duper Alice Cooper
An entertaining but weirdly laudatory documentary about the rise and fall (and rise) of Vince Furnier, who transformed himself into the notorious Alice Cooper a few years before KISS put on their makeup. There are some scorching glimpses of the early days when Alice Cooper was a band, but it's mostly focused on Furnier's redemption from beer and cocaine. NED LANNAMANN Hollywood Theatre.
V for Vendetta
"This visage, no mere veneer of vanity, is a vestige of the vox populi, now vacant, vanished." Laurelhurst Theater.
Voices in Action:
Human Rights on Film
The NW Film Center's human rights film series. This week's selections: Reaching for the Stars, Seeds of Hope, and Nelson Mandela: The Myth and Me. More at nwfilm.org. NW Film Center's Whitsell Auditorium.
Whiplash
See review this issue. Fox Tower 10.
White Bird in a Blizzard
See review this issue. Kiggins Theatre, Living Room Theaters.
The Zero Theorem
Terry Gilliam's latest has barely been given a release. That a film this full of vision, ideas, and dark humor, from one of the world's greatest living filmmakers, has been sidelined to the margins should tell you everything you need to know about the current state of cinema. NED LANNAMANN Academy Theater, Laurelhurst Theater.
