Weekend Film Agenda
- One of the most interesting worlds within the world of filmmaking is known as “grindhouse” Used first to describe the often seedy theaters that played B movies, Z movies and the “exploitation” type of films (often a hybrid of horror and schlock, usually made on the cheap and appearing so on screen), the term eventually came to encompass the films themselves as well. The Grand Illusion in association with the Portland Grindhouse Film Festival presents a one night only special double bill of kung-fu movies that ably represent the grindhouse experience on Saturday, January 26th. Mark your calendars now because you might not want to miss this.
While you’re waiting, be sure to stop in at the Grand Illusion to check out the current two-fisted features: evenings give you a choice of two films by director Walter Hill (why not see them both?): The Driver starring Ryan O’Neal as a master getaway driver and Bruce Dern is the detective obsessed with bringing him down, and Hard Times, Hill’s directorial debut in which Charles Bronson and James Coburn scheme to win their fortunes. Late night it’s Ivan Hall’s Kill or Be Killed, a martial arts epic in which ex-Nazi Baron von Rudolf seeks revenge against Japanese karate master Miyagi and “white Bruce Lee” Steve Chase must make a daring escape.
- Into the West, a sweet and beautifully filmed fable about Irish Travelers and a magic horse, plays January 20 at Central Cinema as a fundraiser for Tent City. Animated sci-fi adventure The Iron Giant plays January 18 and 19.
- Northwest Film Forum has some seriously good programming–stop in Saturday night for an evening with Bruce Baille, founder of avant-garde film distributor Canyon Cinema who will introduce several of his stunning films.
Also at NWFF is Deep End, a rediscovered quirky black sex comedy from the 1960s by Polish director Jerzy
Skolimowski in which teenaged Mike gets a job as a bathhouse attendant in London. War Made Easy, a documentary about the US government’s involvement in war, has been held over through January 21. After the weekend ends stop by Tuesday or Wednesday for Prefab People, Béla Tarr’s look at at unhappy family trying to survive in 1982 Hungary. - SIFF and the AJC Seattle Jewish Film Festival present the highly-acclaimed documentary Imaginary Witness: Hollywood and the Holocaust which tells “a provocative and largely unknown story of the 60-year relationship between Hollywood and the atrocities of
Nazi Germany.” The documentary includes scenes from films, rare newsreels, and interviews with key figures from Hollywood and history. - After all this intensity, yoiu might want something light and frothy to cool down your brain. I suggest droping by at midnight to The Egyptian for Strange Brew, the story of two famous fictional Canadians (played by two famous actual Canadians) and beer, lots of beer.
