THE RAIN FALLS DOWN ON PDX: WEEKEND ROUNDUP FOR 4/20

Here's a list of films opening in PDX worth mentioning, although I don't have the time to write at length about them.  Plenty of stuff out there to enjoy over the weekend:

The Laurelhurst Theater is continuing their BAM (Beer and Movie) film festival this week with Sam Peckinpah's 1972 convicts-on-the-run, flick The Getaway, starring Steve McQueen and Ali MacGraw.

Cinema 21 is heading into their final week of showing the Indonesian action hit The Raid: Redemption.  On Saturday the 21st, they'll be hosting a single screening of the new documentary about the politics of vaccinations, The Greater Good, at 4pm.

The 20th Portland Jewish Film Festival continues this weekend at the NW Film Center's Whitsell Auditorium.  On Friday and Saturday, the NWFC hosts The Rabbi's Cat, an animated feature concerning a feline who gains the power of speech.  My Architect, the quite good documentary from 2003, about Louis Kahn plays on Sunday at 4pm.

Over at PSU's 5th Avenue Cinema, Wong Kar Wai's 1997 film Happy Together will light up the screen over the weekend.

And the Clinton Street Theater's got John Walker's A Drummer's Dream through next Thursday.

Reviews and posts for films that are opening today (or playing somewhere in town this week):
Marley: This One's for the Fans
Grindhouse Film Festival presents King Kong vs. Godzilla
The Trouble with Bliss: Sad & Quirky Observations on a Static Life
The Salt of Life (review from PIFF--it opens at Living Room Theaters today)
The Kid with a Bike: Return of the Dardenne Brothers
Jiro Dreams of Sushi: Wherein the Daily Grind Lasts a Lifetime



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THE TROUBLE WITH BLISS: SAD AND QUIRKY OBSERVATIONS ON A STATIC LIFE

There's no kind way of getting around the fact that, in following the non-adventures of its flat and listless protagonist, The Trouble with Bliss ends up being nothing more than a flat and listless viewing experience, lightly peppered here and there with a few promising moments. 

Morris Bliss (Michael C. Hall) is in his mid-thirties.  He's yet to leave the nest, still living at home with his father (Peter Fonda).  And, as the film opens, he's just begun an affair with a teenager named Stephanie (Brie Larson), who happens to be the daughter of a guy called "Jetski" (Brad William Henke), an old friend from high school.

As lives go, Morris' is a bit of a nonstarter.  He's got a map in his bedroom with push-pins marking all the places he hopes to visit one day.  He prefers taking the handouts his father begrudgingly gives him to looking for work; Fonda's pitch-perfect here and the scenes between him and Hall hint at a complexity that the film fails to deliver in the end. 

There's really nothing that Morris seems all that interested in chasing.   Even the women (yeah, that's Lucy Liu in the mix, as a flirtatious neighbor) he becomes involved with don't motivate him as much as inexplicably fall in his lap.  In the world presented here, the ladies apparently can't resist the downbeat and helpless man-child type.

All of which would be fine if there was at least some urgency or momentum built into the story.  But Michael Knowles and Douglas Light's screenplay, based on Light's novel East Fifth Bliss, seems more interested in painting its characters into corners early in the film, defining them before sealing them forever in amber; these are people incapable of evolution. 

There's an abundance of films out there that deal with issues of arrested development, some are even quite good (Heavy or Trees Lounge, for instance).  The Trouble with Bliss just doesn't know what to do with its sad and quirky observations on a static life.

The Trouble with Bliss starts its run at the Hollywood Theatre on Friday, April 20th.  More info here.



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GRINDHOUSE FILM FESTIVAL presents KING KONG VS. GODZILLA

This coming Tuesday night, Dan Halsted's Grindhouse Film Festival celebrates the 50th anniversary of Ishirô Honda's King 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.

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MARLEY: THIS ONE'S FOR THE FANS

I'll have you know there's a massive cult surrounding the legacy of Bob Marley, of which I have yet to be inducted into as a card carrying member.  Chances are, you already were aware of that first fact; the latter tidbit, probably not.  So how does a person who only has a single Bob Marley lp in their collection (this excellent Studio One era compilation) and a limited knowledge of his story accurately judge the new documentary about the man?  Carefully, especially when it only takes about a half an hour to ascertain that this one's for the fans, not the uninitiated.

There's nothing particularly awry about Kevin Macdonald's (Touching the Void,
One Day in September) Marley.  The film houses an abundance of quality archival footage and photographic stills of the musical legend at work and play.  And Macdonald does a fine job of blending these elements with newer interviews with close friends, family and music industry insiders, organizing the material in a coherent and strongly chronological fashion.  It's just that, at nearly 2 1/2 hours in length, there's not a lot of urgency or innovation present in the way that this whale of a feature-length documentary swims.

A little more trimming or, perhaps, a structural device along the lines of what Martin Scorsese fashioned for his Bob Dylan doc, No Direction Home, framing the action around a single important event in Marley's history (like Scorsese did w/ Dylan's confrontational transition from playing acoustically to going electric), might have strengthened what feels like rather anemic pacing at times.

That's not to say that Marley is an uninteresting or unnecessary film; it works rather well as a loving portrait for the long-time fans.  But, here's the rub: if, like me, you're still trying to find your footing in Marley's rather intimidatingly large discography and legacy, there's something to be said for the comforts of brevity and/or dramatic tension, either of which could have greatly improved my experience of the film. 

Marley opens at the Hollywood Theatre and Living Room Theaters on Friday, April 20th.



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THE INTERRUPTERS: STOPPING THE VIOLENCE, ONE CONFLICT AT A TIME

There's little doubt that violence is a disruptive force not unlike cancer; the appearance of one instance rapidly multiplies until much of the social body is overtaken.  If you'll forgive my co-opting of the overused "violence is a cancer" metaphor, the subjects of Steve James' (Hoop Dreams, At the Death House Door) latest documentary, members of Chicago's Cease Fire organization, stand as a type of experimental treatment against the violence plaguing the streets of the windy city.

 James travels the streets of Chicago with representatives of Cease Fire, self-proclaimed "violence interrupters," as they put themselves in the center of conflicts, attempting to defuse them before they reach the boiling point.  What makes the organization unique, beyond their use of direct action, is that these anti-violence advocates are almost entirely made up of former proponents of violence; Cease Fire actively looks to recruit former gang-members and ex-cons to carry out their mission, reasoning that their unique expertise and undeniable street cred is an invaluable resource in stemming the spread of violence that threatens Chicago's neighborhoods.

The film demonstrates how the work being done by these interrupters extends to advocacy and mentoring; James' cameras follow members of the group as they spend time with individuals at high risk for violent action.  And it's within these one-on-one meetings that The Interrupters really finds its feet, allowing for the viewer to witness a far more personal espousal of Cease Fire's philosophy as its relates to each street team member's personal experiences.

Such moments, coupled with the sequences where the advocates divulge the sizable regrets of their past, drive the film forward, offering hope for change in what many might label a hopeless situation.  Their ability to interrupt their own vicious cycles of provocation and retribution speaks loudly to the possibility for others to experience a similar breakthrough.  The Interrupters doesn't assume that outcome but it does offer optimism via the examples of those who have overcome the odds.

The Interrupters plays at the NW Film Center's Whitsell Auditorium (in the Portland Art Museum) on Wed., April 18th at 8pm.  The producer of the film, Alex Kotlowitz, will be in attendance at the screening.


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KUNG FU THEATER presents DREADNAUGHT

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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TORN: THE SOUL OF A MAN, STRETCHED BETWEEN TWO WORLDS

What happens if, over the course of a lifetime, one suffers something akin to cognitive dissonance in regards to their identity, if all that was accepted as self melts away to reveal bitter truths formed by absence, time and history.  Ronit Kertsner's non-fiction portrait Torn immerses the viewer in the unfortunate case of Romuald Jakub Weksler-Waszkinel, a Polish Catholic priest whose Jewish origins, as well as his biological parent's cruel fate during the Nazi era, was revealed to him in adulthood, long after entering the ministry.

When he was a small child, Weksler-Waszkinel's mother delivered him into the hands of a gentile couple right as the Nazi's began transporting Jewish families out of the ghettos and into the camps; she begged them to take him as their own.  Raised by this adoptive family, he grew up to deeply embrace the Catholic faith, entering the priesthood as a serious proponent of the teachings of Jesus Christ.

Kertsner catches Weksler-Waszkinel just as he's made the decision to leave his church and immigrate to Israel.  The priest cites rampant antisemitism within the Polish Catholic church, often springing from the pulpit, as one reason why he must leave.  His central motivation, though, is the strong pull that he feels to connect to his family's roots in Judaism and, yet, there is still the sizable commitment that he's made to his life-long faith.  Weksler-Waszkinel confesses that, if given the opportunity, he would love to act as an intermediary between the two faith systems.

We watch as he sets up an interview with an entrance committee at a kibbutz in Israel, as a means of gaining eligibility for citizenship under the law of return.  He admits during the meeting that he desires to practice Judaism six days a week on the kibbutz while taking leave on the seventh day to join a Catholic congregation for services.  The idea doesn't fly with committee; one member later tells Kertsner that they're not interested in "building bridges."

It's difficult to watch as Weksler-Waszkinel processes the restrictions handed down by the committee in front of the camera.  One gets the feeling that it's a kind of disappointment that he'll have to continue to endure as he seeks a resolution to his unique situation.  It's also plain to see that there are no easy answers.  Torn is a complex and heartbreaking exploration of identity, personal pain and, as one empathetic interview subject points out, a historical event that led to an unexpected conflict visited upon the soul of a man, stretched between two worlds, while never belonging fully to either one.

Torn will play as a part of the 20th Jewish Film Festival at the NW Film Center's Whitsell Auditorium (in the Portland Art Museum) on Tues., April 17th at 7pm.  More info about the festival available here.


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