Video Verite

10/31/2024

If you're only gonna see one flick on the big screen this year, make it this one. I'll be there, unless existential dread gets me first.

Wyrd War proudly brings Ingmar Bergman’s dark psychological folk horror masterpiece HOUR OF THE WOLF (1968) to the big screen for one night only! Troubled painter Johan Borg (Max von Sydow) and his pregnant wife Alma (Liv Ullmann) live a solitary life on a remote island where Johan finds himself h...

10/27/2024

This is:

a. One of the more insightful depictions of American during the Trump presidency
b. A textbook example of transformative fair use
c. Some fantastic editing.

It's an hour--check it out. I was hypnotized.

A free, curated platform streaming one film every week.

10/25/2024

This documentary about the repatriation of looted African artworks seems like the sort of thing a film-centered program under the auspices of an art museum might be interested in screening. Or maybe not.

In 2021, 26 objects from the Kingdom of Dahomey leave Paris and are returned to present-day Benin. How should these art treasures, stolen from ancestors, be received in a country which has reinvented itself in their absence?

10/25/2024

This is, apparently, a real movie. I'm aware that so-called "faith-based" films are an increasingly popular and profitable segment of the theatrical business model. But this one just boggles the mind. Any Christians out there who want to tell me if they find this sort of thing compelling? In the New Testament, did Jesus have a muscly buddy that he helped with his self-confidence? What's with the Messiah's accent? Why does an omniscient, benevolent deity allow things like this?

After the death of his father, a fighter becomes an apprentice to a mysterious carpenter.In theaters nationwide starting Nov 1, 2024.Directed by Garrett Batt...

10/16/2024

One reason I should try to live a healthy life is that I'd love to see what Julio Torres is up to thirty years from now. Very much enjoyed chatting with someone so genuinely thoughtful and curious.

Ahead of an appearance in Portland, the writer-director-comedian and "Los Espookys" actor talks about consumerism, authenticity, and his recent HBO series "Fantasmas."

10/15/2024

Hey, it's me! I went to Ashland last weekend and saw 9 movies in 2+ days at the Ashland Independent Film Festival, and lived to tell the tale! Read more about it at the link... https://www.orartswatch.org/ashland-independent-film-festival-rebounds-with-first-full-in-person-event-since-2019/

10/11/2024

It's the scariest time of the year, Election Season, and THE APPRENTICE is a suitably chilling tale of a young schmuck's conversion to evil by a demonic power.

ALSO, DISCLAIMER on AppleTV+ is a sleek, sexy prestige drama that brings maximum big-screen cred (Alfonso Cuaron, Cate Blanchett, Kevin Kline, etc.) to your living room.

This week's highlights include Sebastian Stan as a young Donald Trump, a new TV series from Alfonso Cuarón, plus more Halloweeny horror flicks than you can shake a broomstick at.

10/02/2024

THE GREAT DIVIDE, a Portland-made, darkly comic feature, has its world premiere next week at the McMenamins Kennedy School. I spoke with Sarah Brody Webb and John Skipp about the unique process involved in making it. The Great Divide Movie - 2024.

A new dark comedy film featuring an ensemble cast of students from a Portland theater class premieres October 8th at the McMenamins Kennedy School Theater.

09/27/2024

MEGALOPOLIS is sort of like if SOUTHLAND TALES was directed by an octogenarian. (To be clear, I like SOUTHLAND TALES!) More at the link:

Francis Ford Coppola's first studio film in more than two decades is an underdeveloped vanity project, albeit an entertaining and visually splendid one.

09/19/2024

OK why don't we consider this an open thread for people who've seen THE SUBSTANCE. (I'm especially curious to hear how crowds react to the last 45 minutes!)

Three new movies put women actors front and center. Also this week: 1964's "Nothing but a Man," new Portland-made features, and "Burden of Dreams" restored in 4K.

09/18/2024

Check out this fascinating time capsule from the halcyon days of the early 1990s, made by a twentysomething who worked for the Columbia House Music Club during the heady rise of alternative rock. A must-see for Nirvana fans and Gen X nostalgia buffs, so I'm thinking Wells Thiede and Eric Spitznagel, at the very least, need to see it. Only streaming for free here for the next couple days, so like the old ads used to say, Act Fast! (Special appearances from Aerosmith and David Hasselhoff...)

A recent college grad documents his new office life as a marketing agent at a corporate music firm.

09/12/2024

To see the best new movie opening in Portland this week, you need to go to Vancouver. Which is not some sort of punishment, it's a great town with a great movie theater in The Kiggins Theatre. But it's a troubling sign of how atrophied the arthouse movie scene can feel in this city compared to The Before Times. More here:

Halloween creeps into September with three new horror flicks of varying quality. Also this week: the documentary "Join or Die," plus pre-Code women screenwriters on the Criterion Channel.