Spaghetti Western Wednesdays Spaghetti, salad, and garlic bread, served up with a classic movie. One drink minimum. Wednesdays, 6pm. Tin Pan Theater, 869 NW Tin Pan Alley. $6. The Tao of Bluegrass- A Portrait of Peter Rowan There are only a few Blue Grass Boys still around that played with the Father of Bluegrass, Bill […]
Film
Posted inCulture
Twee Noodling
Michel Gondry vs. Noam Chomsky
Michel Gondry is concerned about how documentary filmmakers use selective editing to manipulate audiences’ perceptions of reality. (Of course he is. He’s Michel Gondry. He’s like the French-iest guy ever.) And so Gondry decided to present his new film about renowned linguist Noam Chomsky as an animation, so the audience will never forget they’re watching […]
Posted inCulture
The Singularity Is Near
Behold Transcendence, a movie about Johnny Depp’s disembodied head
“Within thirty years,” wrote computer scientist, mathematics professor, and science fiction author Vernor Vinge, “we will have the technological means to create superhuman intelligence. Shortly after, the human era will be ended.” Vinge wrote those words in 1993, and while the human era isn’t over quite yet, the idea of the singularity—the point when artificial […]
Posted inCulture
Love in the City of Lights
Le Week-End is a commitment worth making
After the first 15 minutes of Le Week-End, I couldn’t stand the film’s two lead characters, Nick and Meg Burrows. He was drowsy and a bit oafish, while she was sour and prickly to the point of being unlikeable. Luckily, a few moments later I realized I was not supposed to like them since they […]
Posted inCulture
A Right Bastard
Hey Jude, You’re Wrong for Dom Hemingway
I can see why Jude Law wanted the part of Dom Hemingway—he’s entirely against type for the heartthrob who once played the perfectly bronzed, lean Dickie Greenleaf. Dom, on the other hand, is a burly, boozy, burnsided safecracker on the back end of a 12-year-stint in the pokey. (Do they call prison “the pokey” in […]
Posted inCulture
Film Shorts
Won’t Back Down, Fly Fishing Films, Easter, Game of Thrones, Peter Gabriel: Back to Front
Steve Peat just loves racing his bike. And Won’t Back Down is a love story, chronicling the veteran downhill mountain bike racer’s love affair with the sport—and all the ups and downs, victories, losses and struggles. Yes, the film has plenty of footage showing Peat successfully navigating some pretty narrow-as-the-eye-of-a-needle trails and, yes, just as […]
Posted inCulture
Hicks With Issues
Joe’s boilerplate backwoods drama
Fifteen percent of the United States’ population lives in poverty. That’s a lot of poor people, living a lot of different kinds of lives. It’s weird, then, that when poor people turn up in movies and on television, their stories always seem to feature the same few elements: The South Bad teeth Weird sex stuff […]
Posted inCulture
Whimsy & Righteousness
Ernest & Celestine—now in English!
Ernest & Celestine originally screened in Oregon as part of the Portland International Film Festival (PIFF), and I remember thinking it was a shame. Not the film itself—which is an absolute delight—but the fact that it was screening in its original French with English subtitles. Fine for adults, but out of reach for kids who […]
Posted inCulture
Won’t Back Down
Steve Peat just loves racing his bike. And Won’t Back Down is a love story, chronicling the veteran downhill mountain bike racer’s love affair with the sport—and all the ups and downs, victories, losses and struggles. (Hey, its like a real relationship!). Yes, the film has plenty of footage showing Peat successfully navigating some pretty […]
Posted inCulture
Homeland Security
Captain America: Fixing America…one punch at a time!
How much credit should Captain America: The Winter Soldier get for being the first superhero movie to feel like it was written by Edward Snowden? Eh, probably not a ton: By the time its end credits roll, the creepy, real-world issues that the film touches on are neatly wrapped up, and thanks to its gleaming […]
