Not much to say here, but, damn, doesn't Noir City look amazing on The Hollywood Theatre's newly restored marquee? Anyone who came out to Friday's festivities already knows what a blast this mini-festival has been so far. Host Eddie Muller presented beautiful 35mm prints of two obscure gems (Try and Get Me! & Sleep, My Love) to the enthusiastic crowd while offering up illuminating and entertaining pre-show banter before each film.
If you missed out last night, there's still plenty of Noir City Portland magic to take part in beginning today with the 1949 version of The Great Gatsby, followed by an additional two, rarely-screened films (Repeat Performance & The Come On). And tomorrow brings yet another opportunity for a triple feature. Anyone else planning on spending their weekend at Noir City?
Noir City Portland runs Friday, September 20th through Sunday, September 22nd at the Hollywood Theatre. More info available here.
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The Hollywood Theatre's monthly Kung Fu Theater series hosts Lau Kar Leung's 1984 Shaw Brothers' classic Invincible Pole Fighter (aka Eight Diagram Pole Fighter) for a one-night-only, rare 35mm screening on their big downstairs screen. If you're not already a rabid fan, all you really need to know about this one is that it's Kung Fu Theater major domo Dan Halsted's favorite kung fu flick of all time. 'Nuff said; the man knows his martial arts cinema. The rest of us? We're just here to learn.
Here's the lowdown on the event:
Kung Fu Theater presents an extremely rare 35mm print of the kung fu masterpiece Invincible Pole Fighter! Around here, we consider this the greatest kung fu movie of all time. Advance tickets are strongly recommended for this show.
Invincible Pole Fighter (1984) A family of fighters is ambushed by invaders in a fierce battle that leaves the family's father and four of six brothers dead. One of the remaining brothers (Gordon Liu) swears revenge, and forces his way into the Shaolin Temple to master his pole fighting skills. When his younger sister is kidnapped by the invaders, it's payback time. After numerous jaw-dropping fight scenes, there is a massive climactic battle that ranks among the greatest action scenes in movie history. This film is directed by martial arts master Lau Kar Leung (36th Chamber of Shaolin), stars Gordon Liu (36th Chamber, Kill Bill) and was a huge influence on the Wu Tang Clan. This is an all-out kung fu masterpiece.
Invincible Pole Fighter plays one-night-only at the Hollywood Theatre on Tuesday, February 12th at 7:30pm. More info available here.
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What better way to soothe your post-New Year's Eve noggin' than with a round of exploitation, grindhouse, and kung fu shot straight into your visual cortex via the Hollywood Theatre's 35mm projector? Co-presented by the Grindhouse Film Festival and Kung Fu Theatre (both the creation of Hollywood head programmer Dan Halsted), there's a mysterious trio of cinematic treats awaiting all who assemble within the Hollywood's large downstairs auditorium--the New Year's Day Grindhouse Secret Movie Marathon! 3 films, 6 hours, a ton of old trailers, and there's absolutely no word in advance of what will be screening tomorrow. But the mystery is all part of the fun. Trust me, local movie nerds will be talking about this for months.
Here's what up, according to the folks behind the event:
The Grindhouse Film Festival and Kung Fu Theater present the New Year’s Day Grindhouse Secret Movie Marathon! Come spend your hangover with a triple feature of mind-blowing 70's cinema! We’re not telling anyone what’s playing, but it will all be from extremely rare 35mm prints.
We’ll give a couple of clues: First up will be a movie with giant monsters battling and tearing the planet apart! The second movie is a gritty crime film that is one of the most underrated movies of the 1970's. The last movie will be an extremely rare kung fu film.
Plenty of 35mm exploitation trailers before each movie too (blaxploitation trailers, horror trailers, kung fu trailers and more). There will also be a giveaway for one free pass to all Grindhouse Film Festival and Kung Fu Theater screenings in 2013! In order to win, you must watch all three movies. Tickets are only $10 for all three movies. The movies start at 3:00, 5:00 and 7:15.
The six-hour long Grindhouse Secret Movie Marathon happens on New Year's Day at the Hollywood Theatre beginning at 3pm. More info available here.
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Banned in several countries due to the misconception that it was a snuff film, Ruggero Deodato's 1980 shock horror film Cannibal Holocaust has become somewhat of a rite of passage for extreme horror fans. The story is simple: an academic (Robert Kerman) heads to the Amazon to find out what happened to a missing film crew. He stumbles upon an indigenous, cannibalistic tribe from which he recovers the crew's footage. Upon returning to America, he reviews what they shot, revealing the group of filmmakers grisly, nasty ends. Pretty basic stuff, and it doesn't take a genius to understand the influence of Deodato's film on the found footage craze driving such pictures as The Blair Witch Project, [REC], Paranormal Activity, and, most recently, V/H/S.
Cannibal Holocaust, unlike those other films, has built up a reputation as one of the most transgressive films of all time. In Britain, it became one of the holy grails of the video nasties, movies that were forbidden for sale by legislative decree, resulting in an active black market for bootleg video copies of those films. For more on video nasties, I've included a short piece hosted by English critic Mark Kermode after the trailer.
The Hollywood Theatre's monthly Grindhouse Film Festival brings Portland audiences the chance to catch the film this Tuesday on the big screen, projected from a rare 35mm print. Here's what the theater's press release has to say (note the warning about refunds):
The Grindhouse Film Festival presents the only known 35mm print of Ruggero Deodato’s soul-shattering horror film Cannibal Holocaust.
Cannibal Holocaust (1980) A crew of documentary filmmakers, working on a movie about a lost cannibal tribe, disappears deep in the Amazon jungle. An anthropologist is sent in search of them, and finds only their film footage. When he screens the film, we witness the crew’’s horrible fate. This gut churning descent into the dark side of humanity includes some of the most horrific images ever burned into celluloid. This film is absolutely guaranteed to shock, offend and disgust. It is also one of the most powerful films of all time.
WARNING: This film contains extreme violence and scenes of animal cruelty. No one under the age of 17 will be admitted, and no refunds will be given to those offended.
Cannibal Holocaust plays one-night-only at the Hollywood Theatre on Tuesday, October 23rd at 7:30pm. More info available here.
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Dan and the crew at the Hollywood Theatre have yet another Shaw Brothers classic lined up for this month's Kung Fu Theater presentation. On the menu: the über-obscure martial arts flick Iron Fingers of Death (1982), directed by Tang Chia (Lightning Fists of Shaolin). As per usual with these monthly events, it's a rare 35mm print that will be on hand, so, if you've got any inclination to see the film, this is probably your only chance to see it on the big screen.
Another reason to show up at the Hollywood on Tuesday night: t-shirts. The brand spankin' new Kung Fu Theater t-shirts, designed by "Kung Fu Bob" O'Brien go on sale Tuesday night for twenty bucks a piece. Want a lil' preview of what your torso could look like after Tuesday night? Take a gander:
Here's what the Kung Fu Theater release has to say about Tuesday night's event:
Iron Fingers of Death (aka Death Mask of the Ninja aka Shaolin Prince) (1982)
Two princes are separated at birth. One is raised by the prime minster, and the other by three weird Shaolin Monks. Both are trained in kung fu, and must eventually combine forces to defeat the evil “Iron Fingers”. Along the way, they’ll encounter an aquatic assassin, a Chinese exorcism, and a group of monks who combine their bodies to become one intertwined mass of unstoppable fighting power. This is the directorial debut of Tang Chia, one of the greatest (and craziest) martial arts choreographers of all time.
35mm kung fu trailers before the movie.
Iron Fingers of Death plays one-night-only at the Hollywood Theatre on Tuesday, October 9th at 7:30pm. More info available here.
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John Flynn's (Lock Up, Out for Justice) notorious 1977 revenge thriller Rolling Thunder has been discussed over the years almost as much for its unavailability on dvd as for the explosive acts of violence littered throughout it. Even though it was finally released last year via the MGM Limited Edition Collection (the studio's trumped up name for the orphaned films in their portfolio, dumped onto burnt dvds, often with questionable transfers), it'd be a crime to miss out this Tuesday night when Dan Halsted has a rare 35mm print of the film lined up for his monthly Grindhouse Film Festival event at the Hollywood Theatre.
Yes, Quentin Tarantino likes the film so much that he named his short-lived distribution company after it, which is all fine and dandy, but the real reason to pay attention to Rolling Thunder is Paul Schrader. Obviously, Schrader's best known for his screenplays for Taxi Driver and Raging Bull, as well as for his work as a writer/director on such films as American Gigalo and Affliction. Rolling Thunder is Schrader at his prime, when his entire output seemed to be dedicated to investigating outsiders prodded towards acts both violent and transgressive. If you're a fan of any of the films dissected in Robert Kolker's"A Cinema of Loneliness", you owe it to yourself to catch this film.
Enough of my blathering, here's the press release for this month's Grindhouse event:
On Tuesday September 25th at 7:30, the Grindhouse Film Festival presents a rare 35mm print of the 70′s revenge masterpiece Rolling Thunder. Written by Paul Schrader around the same time he wrote Taxi Driver, this is one of the most underrated American films of the 1970′s.
Rolling Thunder (1977) William Devane stars as Major Charles Rane who returns from a long tortuous stay in a Vietnamese POW camp to find his wife married to another man and his only son wary of a father he doesn’t know. Tommy Lee Jones co-stars as a shattered POW survivor who finds it impossible to readjust to civilian life, and sees Rane as the only man he can relate to. When a crew of thugs invade Rane’s home, mangle his hand in a garbage disposal, and kill his son, Rane begins down a focused path of revenge. With a sharpened hook for a hand and a duffel bag full of shotguns, he crosses the border to Mexico with the only purpose he has left in his life.
Is it already time for another installment of Kung Fu Theater at the Hollywood Theatre? Man, this year is just slipping through my hands! Well, back to the good news: KUNG FU on a big ass screen, projected from a rare 35mm print! And, boy, do Dan and the crew at the Hollywood have a real treat in store for faithful attendees this month. It's a Shaw Brothers classic directed by Kung Fu Theater favorite Chang Cheh: 1978s Crippled Avengers.
As per usual, buying tickets in advance is advisable, as these events regularly sell out.
Here's the details courtesy of Kung Fu Theater's release:
On Tuesday September 18th at 7:30pm, Kung Fu Theater presents an extremely rare 35mm print of the martial arts classic Crippled Avengers.
The Venom Mob star as a group of men each individually attacked and left crippled. One is blind, one is deaf and mute, one legless, and one mentally challenged. Now they must each learn unique kung fu to overcome their disabilities and exact revenge on the person responsible: the ruthless man with the iron hands! Get ready for non-stop martial arts mayhem, wild acrobatics, and homoerotic funky style (did ancient kung fu masters really roam the Chinese countryside bare-chested, sporting huge sideburns?) Directed by Chang Cheh.
35mm kung fu trailers before the movie.
Crippled Avengers plays one-night-only at the Hollywood Theatre on Tuesday, September 18th at 7:30pm. More info available here.
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Portland can count the the Hollywood Theatre's monthly Grindhouse Film Festival events among its many blessings. Where else but at these screenings are you gonna have the opportunity to see 35mm prints of b-grade & Euro-horror fare with an enthusiastic audience of folks willing to imagine a world where these films are equal, if not better than, the established classics of the cinematic canon? Or more specific to tonight's screening: where else are you likely to be treated to a non-digital presentation of Douglas McKeown's 1983 cult-classic The Deadly Spawn on a big ass screen? Nowhere else, that's where.
Take it away, Grindhouse press release:
The Grindhouse Film Festival presents a rare 35mm print of The Deadly Spawn! This is one of the great crowd-pleasing horror movies of the 1980's. The Deadly Spawn (1983) A meteorite crashes to Earth, bringing with it an angry three-headed alien beast. The alien hides in the basement of an old house, and starts devouring it's residents and giving birth to hundreds of eel-shaped shark-toothed spawn. Now it's up to a young boy and a small group of teenagers to fight the rampaging spawn, kill the alien beast, and save humanity. This film is a low-budget 80's horror masterpiece. 35mm 80's alien horror trailers before the movie!
The Deadly Spawn plays one-night-only at the Hollywood Theatre on Tuesday, August 28th at 7:30pm. More info available here.
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The film eschews the period-based action of many Shaw Bros. classics, instead focusing on the (then) modern day travails of a Vietnam vet who's moved into killer-for-hire work after the war ends. Here's what the Kung Fu Theater crew has to say about the film:
A martial arts mercenary-for-hire is recruited for a dangerous mission of tracking down a deadly assassin in Cambodia. He assembles a crack team to assist him: a knife expert, a sniper, a kung fu master, and a bomb specialist. Dressed in synchronized tracksuits, they set out on a nail-biting adventure filled with car chases, motorcycle stunts, shootouts and kung fu fights. It doesn’t take long for the double crosses to set in, and the mercenaries have to question who they can trust as they fight for their lives. This is over-the-top martial arts action insanity!
Mercenaries from Hong Kong plays one-night-only at the Hollywood Theatre on Tuesday, June 12th. More info available here.
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Paul Newman's film adaptation of Ken Kesey's great Northwestern logging strike tale, Sometimes a Great Notion, returns to the Hollywood Theatre this weekend for a limited, 4-day run. Starring Newman, Henry Fonda and Lee Remick, it's a chance to see a rarely screened, regionally-filmed classic; the only known 35mm print in existence will light up the big screen at the Hollywood. Given how tossed off the dvd version of this title is (it's been relegated to the made-to-order, dv-r "Universal Vault Series"), you practically owe it to yourself to check this out this weekend.
Sometimes a Great Notion plays at the Hollywood Theatre on Friday, June 1st through Monday, June 4th. More info available here. Remember to find and "like" us on our Facebook page. Subscribe to the blog's feed here.
This coming Tuesday night, Dan Halsted's Grindhouse Film Festival celebrates the 50th anniversary of Ishirô Honda'sKing Kong vs. Godzilla in style with the projection of a 35mm print of the film. This is an example of the kind of peerless programing going on at the Hollywood Theatre nowadays; they've hit upon a wonderful balance between the expected indie/art house fare and more adventurous rep-based events, offering really distinctive bookings on a regular basis.
Plus, now with the newly renovated seats, screen and sound system in the downstairs theater space, paired with the theater's reputation for digging up exceedingly rare prints in great condition, there's a near guarantee that even the older, more niche-based programming will shine. January's Grindhouse screening of Dario Argento's 1977 psychedelic, fever dream Suspiria on the Hollywood's 50-foot screen was a revelatory experience.
But enough gushing, let's move on to the details about Tuesday's screening. Here's what the Grindhouse fest press release has to say about what's going down on 4/24:
King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962) Godzilla breaks free from an iceberg and heads straight to Tokyo to start tearing the city apart. Meanwhile, a pharmaceutical company captures King Kong and brings him to Japan. It’s only a matter of time before he breaks free, and we see a colossal collision between the two mightiest monsters of all time!!! Directed by the great Ishiro Honda. 35mm daikaiju trailers before the movie!
King Kong vs. Godzilla plays one-night-only at the Hollywood Theatre on Tuesday, April 24th. More info available here. Remember to find and "like" us on our Facebook page. Subscribe to the blog's feed here.
Dan Halsted's bringing a rare 35mm print of Yuen Woo-Ping's 1981 film Dreadnaught to the large screen at the Hollywood Theatre tonight. As with most of Halsted's Kung Fu Theater and Grindhouse Film Festival events, this is a one-night-only event, not to be missed by fans of martial arts and Hong Kong cinema. And what self-respecting fan of genre cinema would want to miss a flick like this one, featuring characters with names like Mousy and White Tiger?
It all goes down this evening at 7:30 . Here's a brief description of the film via the press release:
On Tuesday April 17th at 7:30 at the Hollywood Theatre, Kung Fu Theater presents the only known 35mm print of Master Yuen Woo Ping's classic DREADNAUGHT. Tickets are $7.
DREADNAUGHT (1981) Yuen Biao (EASTERN CONDORS) and Leung Kar Yan (THE VICTIM) star as a young men seeking to learn kung fu from a legendary master. Meanwhile, a crazed kung fu killer named White Tiger is randomly putting on spooky makeup and unleashing his martial arts skills on unsuspecting victims. It's up to the two young men to stop White Tiger, but not until they master the Eagle Claw style, and fight a mysterious double-faced villain. Featuring Yuen Biao's acrobatic skills, a jaw-dropping kung fu lion-dance sequence, and some of the most incredible martial arts choreography you'll ever see.
Kung Fu Theater presents Dreadnaught at the Hollywood
Theatre on Tuesday, April 17th at 7:30pm. More info here.
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