FilmWatch Weekly: ‘Elvis’ rocks; ‘All About Evil’ rolls
June 22, 2022
Baz Luhrmann’s latest is myth, not history, but Austin Butler is a knockout as The King. And if you’re up for the joke, the gory “Evil” is a hoot.
Baz Luhrmann’s latest is myth, not history, but Austin Butler is a knockout as The King. And if you’re up for the joke, the gory “Evil” is a hoot.
A new feature documentary from former Portlander Warren Pereira talks about his quest to discover the answer.
Emma Thompson, Mark Rylance, Dakota Johnson and some fresh faces shine in a trio of movies for grownups.
From battered up to batter up: A week at the movies that runs from Cronenberg’s eviscerations to the 30th anniversary of the women’s baseball classic.
Cronenberg’s newest in hiding? A trio of tales steps up, including a Calabrian mob story, a look at the life and times of poet Siegfried Sassoon, and a terse little terror.
As theaters gear up for big-budget Summer Movie Season, several intriguing small films slip into town. Plus: some big, loud flicks that AREN’T “Top Gun: Maverick.”
Set against Big Sky country, the filmmaking duo’s intimate tale of family conflict is rooted in the past but unfolds resolutely in the present.
An unrepentant (and successful) outsider talks from his Oregon coast home about indie movies, American imperialism, and the pleasures of a good beer and a good dog.
Some like it hot, or just out on the edge. Here comes a handful of boundary-pushing flicks. Enter at your own risk.
The timely topics of abortion and suicide get searing attention onscreen. Plus: A demented take on Shakespeare and a King Crab fable.
Two beautifully performed films – one with child actors, one about old age – defy the ordinary in welcome ways. Plus, streaming picks.
What’s up with the film center’s relationship with the Portland Art Museum and its sharp but uncertain shift in direction? It’s complicated – and not everyone’s happy about that.
A fresh and poignant Iranian road trip, a David Lynch mind trip, an affair in Estonia, witchery on Clinton Street, decadent Berlin and mind games in a rural house.
Tilda Swinton teams fascinatingly with an inventive Thai director; big-budget bloody battles Viking style; Nic Cage playing (sort of) himself in an action-comedy spy caper.
This week at the movies: From the busy bedrooms of Paris to a pasture near London, with a pop star and a startling prison tale between.
Portland documentary filmmaker Jan Haaken talks about the Columbia Gorge, oil trains, civil disobedience, and her newest film.
On beyond streaming and big screens: “Old” technologies give a fresh lease on life to some eye-opening cinematic rediscoveries.
Alternate universes, an IRS office, hot dog fingers, and tons of fun. Plus: Israel, Palestine and “Ahed’s Knee”; French “Gagarine.”
“We’re looking to be Ashland, but with the clout and the power of Sundance”: Virtual or not, the festival opens up to a wider world.
The Project resurfaces with vivid works by Berlin video artist Anouk de Clercq. Plus what’s new on home and big screens.
Mobsters and Mark Rylance with scissors in the entertaining “Outfit,” “X” marks the slashers, plus new & revival releases around town.
Two foreign-film winners: Archaeology and understanding on a Russian train; moral complexity in the Palestinian West Bank.
The stars show up, a cinemonster crashes the party at Tuesday night’s Cinema Unbound Awards – and the film center forges a new identity.
A fascinating and empathetic sci-fi family drama explores the ever-thinning line between artificial and “real” intelligence, and what being human is.
ABC has dropped several categories from its live Oscars telecast. In the process it’s dismissing some of the year’s best work.
Marc Mohan reviews Dennis Hopper’s punk masterpiece “Blue” and Kentucker Audley’s surreal futuristic “Mansion.”
Musician, writer, and ecdysiast Viva Las Vegas, who’ll talk at a screening at the Hollywood Theatre, declares the artistry of the naked body.
A smart, engaging, crowd-pleasing winner from Norway; a probing of race in America with righteous resolve and firm facts.
The Film Center honors a “Portlandia” progenitor and other trailblazers; the Cascade Festival of African Films begins, Tim Roth quietly shines.
Also this week: An extra-noirish “Nightmare Alley” and a host of good revivals strut their stuff.
Oscar best-foreign-film candidates from Japan’s Ryûsuke Hamaguchi and Spanish master Pedro Almodóvar highlight Portland’s movie week.
In search of an avatar dragon and a very real snow leopard. Plus: Martin Luther King Jr. tributes, Coen Brothers & more.
A two-time Oscar winner for best foreign film looks at the ambiguities of heroism; a “demented Horatio Alger” keeps on trying.
From “The Lost Daughter” to “Memoria,” Marc Mohan picks his top movies – “some legitimately great” – of the year.
Spielberg, Del Toro, and the perils & possibilities of remakes. Plus questions of mortality in a sci-fi flick that sends in the clones.
While the big prestige pictures don’t live up to their billing, a satiric Romanian sex farce slides in to save the day.
Jane Campion’s corrosive revelations on the Montana range and Paul Verhoeven’s tale of convent carryings-on dig deeper than their surfaces.
The director will be at a Clinton Street screening to talk about his star-crossed (and star-studded) 1979 movie, whose perilous making is a tale unto itself.
Lush, lively, and luxuriant, Ridley Scott’s high-fashion tale walks a tightrope between campy nighttime soap and insightful true-crime drama with nary a wobble.
Most of the films made before 1950 are lost. A tenacious group is working to rediscover them, and bring them back to public view.
Marc Mohan at the movies: Branagh recalls his childhood during the Troubles; a political bio puts things in and leaves things out; some short streaming gems.
Marc Mohan at the movies: From audacious revivals to the Houses of Windsor and Marvel.
A clear-eyed view of the city’s swinging scene and the turmoil under the glamour, with fine performances by its young stars and a trio of ’60s veterans.
What’s old is bold: Lavine’s screen series is bringing famous and obscure gems back to life.
Wes Anderson’s “Dispatch” is about as Wes Anderson as a movie can be. And Benedict Cumberbatch stars as the Victorian polymath Wain, an artist who paints psychedelic cats.
Ridley Scott directs a Rashomon-like 14th century tale; marriage neo-Bergman style; a soccer team’s rescue.
It’s their baby (but is it human?); a feel-good film about a transgender child; Daniel Craig’s final go-round.
If this is (almost) October, it must be horror and Halloween and Lovecraft time. Plus, a Breathless bit of history.
A charming “Los Lobos” at the Latin fest; an Argentine apocalypse; CineMagic scares; Schrader’s new deal.
In a trio of noteworthy new movies, the eyes (and the people behind them) have it.
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