MARCH 11–17
AP FILM STUDIES
C O U R T E S Y O F WA R N E R B R O S .
the glory of God. “Where’s leni-
ency?” a priest asks the leader
of the jihadis. “Where’s forgive-
ness? Where’s piety? Where’s
God in all of this?” PG-13 .
JOHN LOCANTHI . Living Room
Theaters.
MOVIES
Unbroken
B Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence
meets Chariots of Fire in
Angelina Jolie’s “meh” directorial
debut. PG-13 . Academy Theater,
Vancouver.
Unfi nished Business
The latest Vince Vaughnedy. R .
Showing at most Portland-area
theaters.
What We Do in the Shadows
B+ The last thing pop culture
needs is another vampire fl ick.
The second-to-last is more reality
TV. Leave it to a pack of Kiwis—
including Jemaine Clement of
Flight of the Conchords fame—to
give us both and somehow make
vampires and reality TV feel fresh.
What We Do in the Shadows
follows four vampires as they
prepare for the annual Unholy
Masquerade. Viago (Taika Waititi,
who shares writing and direct-
ing credits with Clement) explains
his nighttime ritual to the camera
and then leaves to wake his fl at-
mates. Deacon (Jonathan Brugh)
is the youngest and lives in the
closet. Viago awkwardly inter-
rupts the severe-looking Vladislav
(Clement) in the middle of a
Coppola-esque threesome. Peter,
a hairless 2,000-year-old vampire,
lies in a stone coffi n in the base-
ment. They then sit down for
a meeting to confront Deacon
about his unwillingness to do the
dishes. These are not oversexed,
unholy demigods; these are petty,
childish people who just happen
to be vampires. They want blood,
preferably virginal. “Think of it
this way: If you were going to
eat a sandwich, you would enjoy
it more if you knew nobody had
fucked it,” Vladislav explains.
While other monster fi lms often
get bogged down explaining their
mythology and origin stories,
What We Do in the Shadows
trusts you already know this shit.
“It’s this big, homoerotic dick-bit-
ing club.” You’d be hard-pressed
to fi nd a more biting and accurate
critique of vampiredom . JOHN
LOCANTHI . Cinema 21.
Whiplash
B+ Whiplash clefts music
from dance, love and spiritual-
ity. What’s left is muscle, red
and raw, beating faster and
faster against a drum. Damien
Chazelle’s beautiful but troubling
fi lm centers on a battle of egos
and tempos, as Andrew (Miles
Teller) must decide how much
of himself and his sanity he’s
willing to give to music. Teller
gives a close-to-the-chest per-
formance. J.K. Simmons is cer-
tainly horrifying as his instructor.
And here’s where Whiplash is
most troubling: It views the
abusive instructor as a neces-
sary evil for creating great art.
This fl ies in the face not just of
morality but of history. R . JAMES
HELMSWORTH . Bridgeport, Fox
Tower, Movies on TV.
Wild
A- Reese Witherspoon trudges
north in Wild , the fi lm adaptation
of Portlander Cheryl Strayed’s
best-selling memoir about
hiking 1,100 miles from scorched
California to soggy Oregon.
Eastport, Living Room Theaters,
Bridgeport.
PERFECT
MURDER
Of all the classics in Alfred Hitchcock’s
repertoire, 1951’s Strangers on a Train
(Academy Theater; March 13-19) might be
the most enduring.
When you look at Hitchcock’s filmography, it’s difficult to find
a relatable character. Can you put yourself in the shoes of a cross-
dressing psychopath, a rich man mistaken for a secret agent or a
woman trapped in a gothic mansion?
But it’s pretty easy to identify with Guy Haynes (Farley Granger),
an ordinary man with a cheating wife who refuses to grant him a
divorce. On a late-night train ride, he meets the eerily charming
Bruno (Robert Walker), and the two begin a morbid conversation in
which Bruno casually lays out his “perfect murder”: a swap in which
motiveless strangers handle each other’s problems.
Guy laughs it off and forgets—until his wife is murdered and
Bruno reappears, demanding Guy uphold their deal by murdering
Bruno’s father. Propelled by Raymond Chandler’s dynamite script
(adapted from a Patricia Highsmith novel), shadow-drenched cin-
ematography and one of the golden age of cinema’s most arresting
murder scenes, Strangers is ageless. It masterfully prompts readers
to ponder what they’d do in the same situation.
“Everyone has somebody that they want to put out of the way,”
Bruno observes—that’s truer than most of us admit.
Even in the company of Hitchcockian legends, Strangers on a
Train isn’t just a masterpiece; it’s that rare fi lm that only gets better
with time. AP KRYZA.
Strangers on a Train
may be Hitchcock’s
most prescient work.
ALSO SHOWING:
Toby Froud—aka the baby from Labyrinth—visits OMSI’s Reel Science
series to host the Jim Henson classic, talk about his puppet-fabrica-
tion work at Laika and endure repressed memories of David Bowie’s
bulge. OMSI Empirical Theater. 6:30 pm Wednesday, March 11.
The Oregon Historical Society presents Far From Home, a series
of short fi lms that have nothing to do with Oregon, but somehow
ended up in its archives. 7 pm Wednesday, March 11.
In 1973’s Werewolf of Washington, a White House press secretary
moonlights as a reporter-eviscerating lycan. So, basically, Josh Ear-
nest’s Fox News fantasy. Joy Cinema. 9 pm Wednesday, March 11.
Church of Film returns with The Pumpkin Eater, a stylish 1964 drama
deconstructing the marriage of a bourgeois couple. North Star Ball-
room. 8 pm Wednesday, March 11.
In the 1963 psychedelic Czech fi lm When the Cat Comes, a feline
dons magical sunglasses that can reveal people’s true character. 5th
Avenue Cinema. 7:30 pm Friday, March 13.
The Laurelhurst is making it possible to watch a Back to the Fu-
ture marathon by showing all three movies, but at diff erent times
throughout the week. The space-time continuum may never recover.
Laurelhurst Theater. March 13-19.
The Portland Geek Council takes the inevitable step of present-
ing Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Clinton Street Theater. 2 pm
Sunday, March 15.
For more Movies listings, visit
Continuing a banner week for Portland theaters and Czech surreal-
ism, the Hollywood presents The Scarlet Flower, a baroque retelling
of Beauty and the Beast. Hollywood Theatre. 9:30 pm Monday,
March 16.
Cinderella (2015) XD (PG) 11:45AM
2:30PM 5:15PM 8:00PM 10:45PM
Run All Night (R) 11:10AM 2:00PM 4:50PM 7:40PM
10:30PM
Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, The (PG) 11:00AM
1:50PM 4:40PM 7:30PM 10:20PM
Project Almanac (PG-13) 11:25AM 2:10PM 5:00PM
7:35PM 10:20PM
Unfinished Business (R) 12:30PM 3:00PM 5:30PM 7:55PM
10:30PM
McFarland, USA (PG) 10:45AM 1:45PM 4:45PM 7:45PM
10:45PM
The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water 3D (PG)
7:00PM
The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water (PG)
11:05AM 1:35PM 4:20PM 9:30PM
The Lazarus Effect (PG-13) 10:55AM 1:15PM 3:35PM
5:55PM 8:15PM 10:35PM
Still Alice (PG-13) 11:10AM 1:50PM 4:30PM 7:10PM
9:50PM
The Duff (PG-13) 11:30AM 2:05PM 4:50PM 7:30PM
10:05PM
Chappie (R) 10:50AM 12:20PM 1:50PM 3:20PM 4:50PM
6:20PM 7:50PM 9:20PM 10:40PM
Cinderella (2015) (PG) 10:45AM 12:35PM 1:30PM 3:20PM
4:15PM 6:05PM 7:00PM 8:50PM 9:45PM
American Sniper (R) 12:40PM 3:50PM 7:05PM 10:10PM
Kingsman: The Secret Service (R) 1:00PM 4:10PM
7:20PM 10:25PM
A La Mala (PG-13) 11:20AM 2:00PM 4:35PM 7:15PM
9:55PM
Jupiter Ascending 3D (PG-13) 1:45PM 7:45PM
Jupiter Ascending (PG-13) 10:45AM 4:45PM 10:45PM
Focus (R) 12:00PM 2:40PM 5:20PM 8:00PM 10:40PM
Fifty Shades Of Grey (R) 10:45AM 1:40PM 4:40PM 7:40PM
10:35PM
Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, The (PG) 11:00AM
12:25PM 1:55PM 3:20PM 4:50PM 6:15PM 7:45PM 9:10PM
10:35PM
Run All Night (R) 11:30AM 2:15PM 5:00PM 7:45PM
10:30PM
Unfinished Business (R) 1:00PM 3:25PM 5:50PM 8:15PM
10:35PM
The Duff (PG-13) 11:40AM 2:15PM 4:50PM 7:25PM
10:00PM
The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water (PG)
11:20AM 4:10PM 6:35PM 9:00PM
The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water 3D (PG)
1:45PM
The Lazarus Effect (PG-13) 11:00AM 10:00PM
Run All Night (R) 11:10AM 2:00PM 4:50PM 7:40PM
10:30PM
Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, The (PG) 11:00AM
1:50PM 4:40PM 7:30PM 10:20PM
Unfinished Business (R) 11:20AM 1:45PM 4:20PM 6:55PM
9:45PM
McFarland, USA (PG) 12:30PM 3:45PM 7:05PM 10:05PM
The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water 3D (PG)
2:10PM 9:40PM
The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water (PG)
11:35AM 4:35PM 7:10PM
The Duff (PG-13) 11:25AM 2:15PM 4:55PM 7:45PM
10:25PM
The Lazarus Effect (PG-13) 11:15AM 4:35PM 10:10PM
Chappie (R) 11:10AM 12:35PM 2:00PM 3:25PM 4:50PM
6:15PM 7:40PM 9:05PM 10:30PM
Cinderella (2015) (PG) 11:00AM 12:00PM 1:00PM 2:00PM
3:00PM 4:00PM 5:00PM 6:00PM 7:00PM 8:00PM 9:00PM
10:00PM
Kingsman: The Secret Service (R) 12:45PM 3:55PM
7:15PM 10:25PM
American Sniper (R) 1:30PM 6:50PM
Jupiter Ascending 3D (PG-13) 1:10PM
Jupiter Ascending (PG-13) 4:10PM 7:10PM 10:10PM
Fifty Shades Of Grey (R) 12:50PM 4:05PM 7:20PM
10:25PM
Focus (R) 11:30AM 2:05PM 4:45PM 7:25PM 10:15PM
Chappie (R) 11:00AM 12:25PM 1:50PM 3:15PM 4:40PM
6:05PM 7:30PM 8:55PM 10:20PM
American Sniper (R) 12:45PM 3:50PM 7:00PM 10:05PM
McFarland, USA (PG) 1:00PM 4:00PM 7:00PM 10:00PM
Cinderella (2015) (PG) 11:00AM 12:10PM 1:05PM 1:50PM
2:55PM 3:50PM 4:40PM 5:40PM 6:35PM 7:30PM 8:25PM
9:20PM 10:20PM
Kingsman: The Secret Service (R) 1:10PM 4:10PM
7:10PM 10:10PM
Focus (R) 11:50AM 2:25PM 5:00PM 7:40PM 10:20PM
Fifty Shades Of Grey (R) 1:15PM 4:10PM 7:05PM
FRIDAY
Willamette Week MARCH 11, 2015 wweek.com
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