You can't get much more iconic than Julie Andrews spinning through Austrian hills in Robert Wise'sThe Sound of Music. Well, beginning Thursday, Cinema 21's going to give you a chance to try your hardest to outsing the old girl when Sing-A-Long Sound of Music returns to Portland. Whether you bring a group of friends or decide to caterwaul with a bunch of strangers, the event promises you the rare opportunity to be loud at the movies without getting tossed out of the theater on your head.
Here's a glimpse at the release for the event:
The hit, interactive, musical phenomenon, SING-A-LONG SOUND OF MUSIC, returns to Portland for 7 full performances at Cinema 21 September 26 - October 6, 2013! Having started in the UK back in 1999, the Sing-a-Long Sound of Music show has now become a worldwide hit, playing to packed houses across the globe with over 10,000 performances in 11 different countries! It’s even filled the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles – 7 times!
For those of you not yet converted, Sing-a-Long Sound of Music is a screening of the classic Julie Andrews film musical in glorious, full-screen technicolor, complete with subtitles so that the whole audience can sing along! The fun-filled show starts with a vocal warm-up led by the evening’s host, who also takes the audience through their complimentary "magic moments pack," containing various props to be used at strategic points throughout the film. Then there is the famous fancy-dress competition in which everyone who has come in costume is invited onto the stage to show off their fantastic tailoring skills. And the more venues we play, the more elaborate the costumes get. Previous entries have included: nuns of both genders (including a pregnant nun!), girls (and boys!) in white dresses with blue satin sashes, a lonely Goatherd, a man in a gold lycra catsuit (Ray a Drop of Golden Sun!), a gazebo and more!
Get out your wimples and warm woolen mittens, put on your white dresses with blue satin sashes, cut up those chintz curtains and get your vocal cords warmed up because the city is alive with SING-A-LONG SOUND OF MUSIC! SING-A-LONG SOUND OF MUSIC is a fun, joyful, interactive event that makes an ideal girls' night or a unique family outing!
Sing-A-Long Sound of Music runs Thursday,
September 26th through Sunday, September 29th, plus Saturday, October 5th through Sunday, October 6th at the Cinema 21. More info
available here.
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It's been seven years since 49 Up and, like clockwork, director Michael Apted returns with 56 Up, the latest installment in his groundbreaking Up series. Checking in with the lives its English subjects every seven years since they were young schoolchildren, this series of made-for-television documentaries has yielded an amazingly emotional look at ordinary lives lived; their failures and triumphs aired for all the world to witness. It's one thing to appreciate the idea that informs these films, but watching them is an entirely different experience, as it's possible to be drawn into the otherwise private details of the lives of complete strangers.
If this sounds roughly like the effect of watching a season of reality
tv, it's probably due to the undeniable influence that the Up series has
had on that genre; Apted's initial chapter in the series
predates An American Family, PBS' 1971 experiment in reality-based television, by seven years. The difference between the Up series and, say, Jersey Shore, is profound; whereas most reality television takes on a leering gaze, the Up series has always had more anthropological aims in mind. In Apted's hands, the 14 subjects who have taken part in the series have been less representatives of themselves than of the universal experience that is living life and gathering stories along the way.
As we pick up once again with the familiar faces in 56 Up, many of them are beginning to evaluate where they are in their lives, often within the context of the series and how it has and has not fairly represented them. Some complain that it has offered the public a sense of identification that isn't earned, and, surely, being repeatedly approached by complete strangers who want to commiserate with you over the private details of your life must be exhausting. Neil Hughes, whose past struggles with homelessness made him the subject that most viewers worried about in prior chapters, has found stability and is probably the most vocal in his protests that people don't know how he feels just because they've seen small slices of his life on the telly every seven years.
All in all, 56 Up isn't going to surprise viewers, whether or not they've checked in with the series before. But it does offer the same comforts as the past few chapters, mainly the possibility of transformation over time, as many of the "characters" found within have achieved some form of peace with the way their lives have unfolded. Like previous installments, 56 Up betrays its roots in television, especially how each person's story remains a discrete section of the larger whole; Apted doesn't cut between the tales as he might were he presenting a feature documentary, so, even if we're seeing it in theaters in the U.S., the overall style is that of the small screen. This should in no way dissuade anyone from checking in with it, though, as this latest chunk of the Up series retains its fascinating power to pull viewers into the lives of its subjects.
Highly recommended.
56 Up premieres at the IFC Center in NYC on Friday, January 4th. It opens locally at Cinema 21 on January 25th. More info available here. Remember to find and "like" us on our Facebook page.
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Cinema 21 extends their ongoing winning streak of retrospective 35mm programming with a series of five of Woody Allen's most loved films. Entitled Yes, We Have No Bananas: Five Films By Woody Allen, their Woody mini-fest covers the basics for fans and newbies alike, gathering together his two unassailable masterpieces of the late 70s (Best Picture winner Annie Hall and the b&w beauty that is Manhattan), a pair of his best films of the 80s (Crimes and Misdemeanors & Hannah and Her Sisters), and a charmingly sturdy cult fave (The Purple Rose of Cairo) whose reputation has only grown with time.
While the title of the series singles out the absence of Allen's 1971 screwball film Bananas, I'm completely fine without it (sure, it's really funny, but I've always had a strong preference for Sleeper over any of the other films Allen made during his early, visual gag-oriented period). Plus, it's hard to quibble over what's not there when looking at what is actually present in the line up. Woody may have become notoriously hit or miss over the past couple of decades, but here's a chance to revisit a time when he was all hit and no miss.
Yes, We Have No Bananas: 5 Films by Woody Allen begins on Friday, January 4th. More info available here.
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Cinema 21's still in the midst of A Bit of the Old Ultra-Kubrick, their four film Stanley Kubrick series, which comes to a close on Thursday. I was thrilled to see last night's DCP screening of the digitally restored Dr. Strangelove last night and still hope to make it a 35mm showing of 2001: A Space Odyssey after catching an advance screening of Hyde Park on Hudson tomorrow night. And while news of their upcoming bookings of the 4K digital restoration of David Lean'sLawrence of Arabia as well as Sergio Corbucci's spaghetti-western classic Django (nicely timed to take advantage of the holiday release of Q.T.'s Nero-indebted latest film, Django Unchained) are bound to thrill film fanatics, it's pretty likely that a whole bunch more excitement is going to be generated when folks hear that there's a Wes Anderson series a comin' to Cinema 21 this holiday season.
The announcement certainly comes at an interesting moment in Anderson's career. His latest, Moonrise Kingdom, has done much to illustrate a critical and popular divide between those who revile his style and the fans who lap it up. Personally, I liked Moonrise Kingdom quite a bit and really don't agree with the all-too-often cited issue that some have with Anderson's work--the notion that he's just making the same film over and over again. Still, I'm not as enamored with some of his films (The Life Aquatic, though it has its fervent defenders, felt pretty flat to me) as I am with what I feel are the true highlights of his career.
The upcoming holiday series at Cinema 21 nicely sidesteps this debate, which mostly seems centered on his post-Tenenbaums work, by programming Anderson's initial three releases. Bottle Rocket, Rushmore, and The Royal Tenenbaums are, in my opinion, truly solid films that even the most miserly of film goers would have to concede as having sprung from the imagination of a creative and talented original. There might be plenty of films out there approximating Wes Anderson's moves (Thumbsucker, Rocket Science, Boy, Submarine, etc.), but few sport the authenticity suggested by his considerable influence.
Here's what Cinema 21 owner Tom Ranieri has to say about the Anderson triple feature:
He is the origin of several parodies and even more copy-cats. He is an oeuvre unto himself. He is, according to Martin Scorsese, "the Next Martin Scorsese."
Cinema 21 is exceedingly proud to announce:
A VERY WES ANDERSON CHRISTMAS His first three feature films on vibrant 35mm prints. -Bottle Rocket (1996, 91 mins.) -Rushmore (1998, 93 mins.) -The Royal Tenenbaums (2001, 110 mins.)
Starting Christmas Day! Don't take this for granted! In a very dark room, on a big, bright screen. The colors, the music, the charm, the humor, the nostalgia, the dysfunction, the obsession, the outright joy! It will bowl you over. This is the perfect opportunity to re-discover the birth of the most unique voice in American cinema over the last two decades.
-$6 for one film, $9 for two, or $12 for a triple feature! Celebrate the holidays watching relationships even more dysfunctional than your own.
Now on to the trailers:
As a bonus, here's the original 1994 Bottle Rocket short that Anderson made prior to his feature debut:
A Very Wes Anderson Christmas begins on Tuesday, December 25th and runs through Sunday, December 30th. Keep an eye on the Cinema 21 webpage for soon to be announced showtimes (TBA) and more.
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Probably the most iconic American actor of all time, Humphrey Bogart was at his hard-boiled best in the early-to-mid 40s, something that the good folks at Cinema 21 seem bent on calling attention to with their latest 35mm revival series, You'll Take It and Like It!: 3 Bogart Classics in 35mm. Over the course of seven days, the theater will be running a non-stop tour through three of Bogey's best-loved films, The Big Sleep, The Maltese Falcon, and Casablanca (directed, respectively, by the none too shabby trio of Howard Hawks, John Huston, and Michael Curtiz).
Humphrey may be the main man across this triptych of silver screen classics, but his supporting cast members, including outstanding, career-defining performances by Lauren Bacall, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid, Sydney Greenstreet, and (one of my favorites character actors of the golden age) Peter Lorre (who's in 2 of the 3 films!), shine just as brightly as their leading man.
Cinema 21's mini-Bogart fest, "You'll Take It and Like It!" begins on Friday, November 30th and runs through Thursday, December 6th.More info available here.
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While I was already patiently awaiting Universal Studios release of their massive Alfred Hitchcock blu-ray box set, an even better bit of Hitchcock related news hit my e-mail account last month. Tom Ranieri and the top shelf crew at Portland's great Cinema 21 have done it again. Following in the footsteps of their stellar noir series, they've cobbled together an amazing lineup of ol' Alf's finest films for what's being dubbed the first annual Hitchcock festival. Best of all, the festival is entirely sourced from 35mm prints!
Now I've seen my fair share of classic films on the big screen , but what this festival has made me realize is that, 1) I've never seen my favorite Hitchcock film, The 39 Steps (or Vertigo, for that matter), projected on film before, and 2) with things progressing as they are, further and further towards an all-digital cinema future, this may be the last chance that most of us have to view these seminal, 20th century works on film.
Which is to say, you can expect to see me sitting in the balcony for as many of these films as I can possibly make it to during the series. Sure, we'll always have the option to pop in the nice new digital transfers at home, but c'mon, these films deserve a little more respect. Many props to Cinema 21 for giving 'em (and us) their proper due. It's completely without hyperbole when I say that this is THE movie event in Portland this coming month.
BTW, if you're in the mood to get a lil' academic with your readings of these films, I can recommend no better text than the late, great film theorist Robin Wood's Hitchcock's Films Revisited. Magnificent stuff, I tell ya!
The Master of Suspense: The First Annual Hitchcock Festival begins at Cinema 21 on Friday, November 2nd. More info available here.
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I'm not sure if it was posting 10 times in seven days last week or just how busy things have been while shutting down my day job at Video Verite, but you might have noticed that the blog's been fairly quiet this week. Even without posting this week, we finally passed 30,000 hits yesterday, a small milestone for our humble, little film obsessed site, indeed. Many thanks to everyone who has taken the time to read, comment, and encourage me to continue posting.
Even with all the other regular life distractions at hand, I was still able to catch a small handful of films opening this weekend at the local indie theaters. Here now is a sampling of just a few of the many options available in PDX for the cinematically curious.
In Search of Blind Joe Death, dir. James Cullingham
A documentary on the immensely, influential primitive folk picker John Fahey. The film brings together a wide swath of individuals, ranging from members of Calexico to Pete Townsend to musicologists and various associates, to heap much deserved adulation at the feet of the late steel string guitarist. Fahey's life and (especially his) music form a story worth exploring and I've often wondered why no one had made a film about him. In Search of Blind Joe Death is a compelling view for both fervent followers and those completely unfamiliar with Fahey's legacy.
In Search of Blind Joe Death plays one-night-only at the Hollywood Theatre on Saturday, October 21st at 7pm.More info available here.
Washington D.C. hardcore band Bad Brains were a complete anomaly when they first emerged in the punk scene of the late 70s. Being an all African-American punk group in a mostly white playing field was one thing, but Bad Brains was also the fastest, most technically innovative group that anyone had ever seen playing this kind of music.
Directors Logan and Stein tell the story of the band's formative years while following them on the road during a recent, tumultuous reunion tour. Their cameras don't stop rolling even when things get rough between the band (singer H.R. displays his notorious mental health issues for the camera, causing things to go sour near the end of the tour), adding much needed tension to a film that might otherwise just be an exercise in nostalgia.
Bad Brains: A Band in D.C. screens
at the NW Film Center's Whitsell Auditorium (in the Portland Art
Museum) as a part of the Reel Music Festival series on Friday, October 19th at 8:45pm. More info available here.
This 1971 fever dream of a film started the ball rolling for the Australian New Wave. Detailing the downward trajectory of John, a Sydney-based schoolteacher (Gary Bond) on vacation in the Outback town of Bundanyabba (referred to as "the Yabba" by the natives he meets), the film throws our hero into a volatile mix of gambling, alcoholism, and kangaroo death unlike anything I've ever seen. Donald Pleasence shows up about a third of the way through the picture as Doc Tydon, a drunken physician living in squalor. Once they meet, John and Doc's paths are tied together to the bitter, marsupial-wrestling end.
Recommended for those who revel in the weirder, more disturbing side of cult cinema (probably not ideal viewing for card carrying members of PETA).
Wake in Fright begins its run at Cinema 21 on Friday, October 19th. More info available here.
As I pointed out last week, without the success of the 1931 version of Dracula, Universal Pictures might not have continued producing what are now unquestionably a series of the best monster flicks of the silver screen. Taken on its own, though, Dracula is a masterpiece of the macabre, filled with more shadows than light and powered by an unparalleled and unforgettable performance by Bela Lugosi in the title role.
If you haven't seen the film in a while, or even if you have, there's no better time to revisit it than now while the Hollywood Theatre has a 35mm print on hand.
Dracula plays at the Hollywood Theatre on Saturday, October 20th and Sunday, October 21st at 2pm.More info available here.
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It's safe to say that Emily Brontë's famed 1847 novel Wuthering Heightshas seen more that its fair share of screen adaptations;IMDb lists fifteen such entries. Somehow, I'd only seen the 1939 William Wyler version with Merle Oberon, Laurence Olivier, and David Niven, a rather flowery, stiff affair that carries the strong whiff of being based on important literature. That early version tells the story, but little else is conveyed by its capable performers and workmanship-like production.
When it was announced some time back that Andrea Arnold's next film would be a new take on Wuthering Heights, it seemed an odd fit. Her work on Fish Tank and Red Road had shown her to be one of the most promising contemporary directors on the British scene, garnering positive comparisons to the social realist cinema of Ken Loach. But how, exactly, would the application of her most lauded techniques--the use of handheld cameras, wide-open, dialogue-free spaces, and an emphasis on the environments in which her characters live--work when set against a 19th century period piece? Incredibly well, it turns out.
Andrea Arnold's Wuthering Heights isn't like most period pieces. If there's a comparison to be had, it's with Jane Campion's last feature, the magnificently composed Bright Star. Both pieces shed the sterility so often associated with costume dramas, dirtying up the clothing worn by the characters and allowing period dialogue to flow from the actors mouths in an organic manner that communicates both its basis in reality and its meaning. It's an approach that offers a sense of life to what might otherwise come off as nothing more than filmed theater.
As with her prior projects, Arnold's take on this material engages deeply with issues of class and gender. She's also recast Brontë's Heathcliff (Solomon Glave as the younger version, James Howson as the elder one) as Afro-Carribbean, adding a telling analysis of racial inequity via Heathcliff's struggle to seen by his adopted family and loved openly by his Catherine (Shannon Beer as an adolescent, Kaya Scodelario as an adult).
None of these concerns are forced, as Arnold integrates everything into a
film that quietly watches over the lives of these people, observing
their emotional lives and circumstances, rather than placing the audience into a formally set stage where the actors project performative representations of lives lived. Arnold slowly paints these characters in additive strokes that cumulatively forms the framework for her retelling of the story.
Highly supportive to this bold vision is the work of cinematographer Robbie Ryan
who has crafted the best version of the visual style
they've been exploring during his long-running collaboration with Arnold. Ryan's camera imparts the chill of the landscape, the smell of the earth, and the warmth (and great lack thereof) of the bodies that roam these spaces. When Heathcliff sorrowfully lies back in the pouring rain, there's a sense of danger and urgency promoted by the imagery that's palpable to the senses.
Fish Tank was the best film I saw in 2010. Wuthering Heights is among a handful of titles from 2012 that I expect to be thinking about and revisiting for years to come. Andrea Arnold is more than just a promising talent; she may be the best working director out there. Wuthering Heights, like all of her films thus far, isn't fashioned for those expecting quick thrills, easy explanations, or happy endings, but it is a great work of art made at a time where, more and more, art films seem to be falling out of fashion. My advice: resist giving in to your reservations about slow cinema, period dramas, and art films. Wuthering Heights may not be for everyone, but to my own set of aesthetic sensibilities, it's exactly the kind of cinema that I want to see when I go to the movies.
Highly recommended.
Wuthering Heights begins its run at Cinema 21 on Friday, October 12th. More info available here.
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Compliance is a troubling, true-crime drama set at a fast food joint. No, it's not about a drive-thru robbery. Instead, director Craig Zobel (Great World of Sound) has a far more insidious tale to tell, one that confronts blind adherence to authority while asking the audience to endure to some fairly icky developments. He's crafted a complex cocktail that raises far more questions than it ever intends on answering and doesn't shy away from interrogating the audience's response to the nightmare it presents.
Zobel opens the picture with a convincingly mundane depiction of life in a fast food restaurant. Most of the workers there are, predictably, teenagers. It's plain to see how the much older manager, Sandra (Ann Dowd), wearily deals with the daily disappointment of still working around fried chicken, barely masking her condescending tone as she leads her crew through a morning meeting. What seems like an average morning shifts abruptly when the phone rings in Sandra's office.
The voice on the other line identifies himself as Officer Daniels (Pat Healy). He claims that one of Sandra's employees, Becky (Dreama Walker), has stolen cash out of a customer's purse. Daniels says the theft has been confirmed because Becky is already under observation for "an unrelated investigation." Since all police personnel is currently tied up with that other investigation, Officer Daniels tells Sandra that she'll need to detain Becky in her office until someone for the department can make it down; which is all fine and good, if somewhat questionable, until the voice on the other line asks Sandra to strip search their suspect.
The request destabilizes our understanding of what's going on here. It's like the film is letting us in on a dirty secret and the impact of that revelation ripples throughout the remainder of the film. What follows is a test of Sandra, the other employees at the restaurant, and the audience itself. Each time the instructions of Officer Daniels are followed, another more invasive command is issued and the tension grows. And we're left to watch as it all unfolds.
This is not a feel-good film. There were moments when I wondered if I'd accidentally stumbled into a torture porn film, such is the level of degradation on offer. Compliance rises above the pointless sadism of that horror subgenre by actually having and coherently delivering a well-organized interrogation of how culpable we are in the structure of evil, refuting the notion that such phenomena ever springs from a single individual. Let's just say that I don't think it's a mistake that Zobel has cast a chicken restaurant as the setting (the incident it's based on happened at a McDonalds).
Bottom line: this movie will be rattling around in your head for weeks after viewing, so powerful are its themes, accusations, and the level of filmmaking on display.
Highly recommended.
Compliance begins its run at Cinema 21 on Friday, September 21st. More info available here.
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Let's just get straight to the point: Bart Layton'sThe Imposter is among a handful of must-see documentary features this year. Relating the details of the 1994 disappearance of a child in San Antonio, Texas and, as the title indicates, the emergence some three years later of an individual claiming to be that missing person, the film winds in and around competing versions of the truth, employing dramatic re-creations, a clever editing scheme that delays reveals and heightens suspense, and intimate interviews with some of the most unreliable subjects this side of the Watergate hearings. In The Imposter, the truth is never certain.
This is a maddening, fascinating watch, demanding an immediate
post-screening breakdown with fellow viewers. And, like the best
mysteries, (much) more than a little ambiguity remains after the
final shot hits the screen. A mind-boggling treat of a film. Do not miss it.
Highly recommended.
The Imposter begins its run at Cinema 21 on Friday, August 24th. More info available here.
Bart (David Anders) hasn't been the same since he returned from Iraq. You see, he didn't quite make it back alive but, then, he's not exactly dead, either. The Revenant is a low-budget, horror comedy that embraces the campier side of Bart's unique problem. Rather than adopting a gothic-inspired tone for this vampire-zombie hybrid, director D. Kelly Prior and crew play the situation for laughs, sending Bart and his best friend Joey (Chris Wylde) on nocturnal missions that revel in the more ridiculous end of blood-sucking pool.
The Revenant is at its best when it remains focused on Bart and Joey's adventures, which are generally cast as two guys up to no good during an endless series of nights on the town. Whenever it moves away from this dynamic, the subplots that emerge (be they the one about the bereaved girlfriend or the expertise on the occult offered up by her Wiccan friend) end up feeling like needless filler.
To be perfectly honest, there's no reason why this film (or the majority of low-budget indie fare) needs to be two hours long. There's enough good stuff going on here that one can imagine a much stronger version of The Revenant would exist if as much as a half an hour were excised from the overstuffed plot. Still, fans of campy horror along the lines of Fido or Near Dark will find plenty to love here.
The Revenant begins its run at the Hollywood Theatre on Friday, August 24th.More info available here.
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I'm not usually in the habit of posting about films after they've already begun their theatrical run here in town. But last night I hit a screening of Beasts of the Southern Wild with friends and was so impressed that I'm feeling the need to write as a means of processing it. To cut to the chase, I loved it; I'm already scurrying to find a small amount of free time (not easy w/ an 8 month old in the house) to go see it again.
Beast of the Southern Wild is made of such magic. It's a wild, unruly sort, and while it may not yield a movie grounded in perfection, there's little doubt that the chances taken in order to conjure this cinematic spell will extend one's belief in film just a little further, if one is willing to go where the film takes you. This is a greatly ambitious first feature from director Benh Zeitlin, filled to the brim with risky transitions between passages that soar to ones based in somber ruminations, painting a deeply textured world that has more in common with the writing of Faulkner than with your average celluloid adventure.
You also might recognize within it the influence of Malick, George Washington, John Sayles (The Secret of Roan Inish is the obvious touchstone, but also his very underrated 1999 picture Limbo),
and a general aesthetic of of tone based in absence and loss that's been quietly burbling under the surface of most recent American
realist cinema. All of which doesn't prepare you for the insertion into
the mise en scène of aurochs roaming the film's Louisiana Delta setting (their presence bringing
to mind the Leonard Smalls character that shadows H.I. in Raising Arizona). Let me be clear, there's no mimicry at play here, Zeitlin masterfully blends these influences in manner that makes them his own.
As for plot, well, I'm not really going to get into that at all. I purposely went into the film totally blind. I hadn't even seen the trailer (linked below). I'd recommend ignoring that link and encountering it without any bloody notion what you're about to see. Not a spoiler: it's a wonderful surprise.
Beasts of the Southern Wild is playing now at Cinema 21.
More info available here.
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