Wow, this edition of the Weekly Update is LONG!

I'm not kidding, I'm only listing the events through Saturday, March 25, and it's still as long as a few Weekly Updates in October!

Look, I can see the end!

But will I ever get there?

Now, I'd planned on writing something funny about Ms. Lovett's meat "pi"s (Happy 3/14 Day!), but I stepped out of The Shadow Over Portland office for a few days and it seemed the Dark Gods of Genre Goodness went crazy with horror/sci fi/fantasy events in the Pacific Northwest.  I've spent several hours and I think I've got them all listed.  Of course, if I missed something, I'll let you know! 

Be sure to check out the Horror Calendar, now updated through March, 2018!  Yep, the Emerald City Comicon announced next year's event, so it's now on the site and will be updated as I get more details.  But April is looking pretty busy already, so start planning early so you don't miss anything!

Remember, listing an event on The Shadow Over Portland is easy and FREE.  Just email me at shadowoverportland@live.com and I'll get your festival/con/attraction on the calendar!

And, should you attend any of the events listed below, let the organizers know you read about it at The Shadow Over Portland!

Buy tickets NOW!

The Hollywood Theatre (4122 NE Sandy Blvd in Portland, OR) has opened ticket sales to the public for three great features screening this weekend in GLORIOUS 70mm.  The original Tron, the original Ghostbusters and Interstellar will play throughout the weekend, and you know each screening will SELL OUT, so get your tickets NOW!  For a link to showtimes and advance ticket sales, visit The Hollywood Theatre website.

Ongoing 

Feathers and Teeth, a mix of "dark comedy, family drama and fantastical horror," runs through April 2 on the Morrison Stage of the Artists Repertory Theatre (1515 SW Morrison St in Portland, OR).  A young girl, grieving over her mom's recent death, deals with her father's new girlfriend (her mother's ex-nurse), the boy next door and a few freaky little creatures.  This mix of monster tale and revenge tragedy, set in 1978, is "a meaty exploration of grief and obsession."  For additional details, including showtimes and advance ticket sales, visit the Artist Repertory Theatre website. 

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Serenity, Joss Wedon's cinematic conclusion to the cult television series Firefly, plays tonight through Tuesday, March 14 at Central Cinema (1411 21st Ave in Seattle, WA).  For more details, and a link to advance ticket sales (Wednesday's screening is just $1.99), visit the Central Cinema website.

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Old Jack Burton always says head to The Laurelhurst Theater (2735 East Burnside Street in Portland, OR) as Sci Fi Month brings Big Trouble in Little China to the big screen!  Grab your Seven Demon Bag and DO NOT MISS THIS ONE!  The film plays through at 9:30 pm through Thursday, March 19.  Visit The Laurelhurst Theater website, later. 

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The new horror film Get Out opens today at The Hollywood Theatre (4122 NE Sandy Blvd in Portland, OR).  The film runs through Thursday, March 16.  For more details and showtimes, visit The Hollywood Theatre website.

Haunted Attractions

Mental Trap Escape Room Game (3855 SW Murray Blvd in Beaverton, OR) presents Escape Blood Forest, The Awakening.  You and your friends have one hour to gather the weapons and artifacts needed to escape before your hour is up.  Designed for 2 to 6 players, this trap room will be open for a short time and NO ONE is expected to survive this game!  Be aware, the game features lifelike gore and decay, loud noises, realistic collapsing buildings and possible dense fog and strobe lights.  For more details, and a link to advance ticket sales, visit Mental Trap website.

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Please visit the Haunted Attractions page for details on other trap rooms and ghost tours in the Pacific Northwest.


Open Film Submission

NEW LISTING: The third annual Ax Wound Film Festival is accepting submissions.  The festival will be held on Saturday, November 19, at the Hooker-Dunham Theatre and Gallery in Brattleboro, VT.  All selected filmmakers have the option to be interviewed in the 'zine-style program handed out to all attendees.  Submissions will be accepted in any horror sub-genre and must be written and/or directed by women-identified filmmakers.  Submissions are accepted through September 1.  For more details, including rules, a timeline of registration dates and a link for submitting your film, visit this link.

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Please visit the Open Film Submission page for details on other film festival accepting submissions at this time.

Open Auditions

Horrific 3: A Night of Horror-Themed Belly Dance, hosted by Tacoma Bellydance, is looking for performers.  Acts must be based on horror movies and can not be a themed costume with regular dancing.  Strong dance background and well rounded, specific ideas with a story are a must.  For more details and an application, visit the Horrific website.  The performance takes place on Saturday, January 27 of 2018, in Tacoma, WA (location to be announced).  Registration is open until April 25.

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Please visit the Open Auditions Page for details on local movie and theater productions looking for performers.

March, 2017

Wednesday, March 15

Weird Wednesday at The Joy Cinema and Pub (11959 SW Pacific Highway in Tigard, OR) brings you an awesome mix of luchadors, vampires, werewolves and evil henchmen, along with some bad dubbing, with a screening of Santo vs. las Mujeres Vampiro (Santo vs. the Vampire Women).  Hell, you can't ask for anything more!  Showtime is 9:15 pm and admission is FREE, but you must be 21 or older to attend.  Be sure to help The Joy keep Wednesdays WEIRD by picking up some snacks and beverages at the concession stand before the film.  And do not incur the wrath of Santo by bringing in outside food and beverages.  That would be very bad.  For more details, visit The Joy Cinema website. 

Thursday, March 16

The Gentlemen Hecklers Present: The Running Man tonight at 9:30 pm at the Rio Theatre (1660 East Broadway in Vancouver, BC).  Eric Fell, Patrick Maliha and Shaun Stewart will provide their unique commentary to this cheesy Arnold Schwarzenegger flick, which takes place in an authoritarian USA (hum, sounds a bit familiar).  For more details, and a link to advance ticket sales, visit the Facebook Event Page.

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It's a pre-St Patty's Day celebration as Leprechaun in the Hood screens in Hecklevision tonight at 8 pm at Central Cinema (1411 21st Ave in Seattle, WA).  Your witty texts will appear on the screen during the film, and though this is an all ages show, be aware the remarks can get a bit risque.  For more details, and a link to advance ticket sales, visit the Central Cinema website.

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Throwback Thursday at the Edmonds Theater (415 Main St in Edmonds, WA) presents the anime classic Ghost in the Shell tonight at 8 pm.  For more details, visit the Facebook Event Page. 

Friday, March 17

Friday Night Frights presents John Carpenter's classic Prince of Darkness tonight at the Blue Mouse Theatre (2611 N Proctor St in Tacoma, WA).  The show starts at 10 pm and tickets are just $6.  Visit the Facebook Event Page for more details.

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Evil Dead: The Musical comes to the Renton Civic Theatre (507 S 3rd St in Renton, WA) tonight at 8 pm, and Saturday March 18 at 6 pm.  And OF COURSE, there will be a splatter zone, so dress in your best whites and prepared to get sprayed with blood and gore!  For more details, and a link to advance ticket sales (strongly recommended), visit the Evil Dead: The Musical website.

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Jekyll in Chains, a grunge musical based on the classic Robert Lewis Stevenson tale, opens tonight at The Headwaters Theatre (955 NE Farragul St, # 9, in Portland, OR).  This world premiere musical, produced by  Torchsong Entertainment, is set in 1990's Seattle and features music by Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, R.E.M and others.   Tickets are $15 in advance, $20 at the door.  The show runs through March 26.  For more details, including a link to showtimes and advance ticket sales, visit the Facebook Event Page.

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Central Cinema (1411 21st Ave in Seattle, WA) screens James Cameron's classic Aliens tonight through Sunday, March 19.  Seems the perfect time for this film, as we lost actor Bill Paxton in February.  For more details, including advance ticket sales, visit the Central Cinema website.

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You might want to bring a box of tissues with you to The Laurelhurst Theater (2735 East Burnside Street in Portland, OR) as Sci Fi Month presents Tim Burton's modern fable, Edward Scissorhands, to the big screen.  Yes, wonders will be seen and tears will flow during this one.  The film plays through Thursday, March 23.  You'll find showtimes at The Laurelhurst Theater website. 

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Action Movie Night: Monster Edition takes place tonight at 9 pm at the High Water Mark Lounge (6800 NE Martin Luther King Jr Blvd in Portland, OR).  Check out the music of Hyborian Rage, Carnotaurus, Oxygen Destroyer (in their first Portland show) and Power Beast (playing their first show) while enjoying the films Nightbreed, Carnosaur and Godzilla vs Space Godzilla.  Admission is $8.  For more details, visit the Facebook Event Page. 

Saturday, March 18

Rocket Sci-Fi Matinee, presented by Rocket Donuts, brings another George Pal adaptation of a H. G. Wells classic, The Time Machine, to the Pickford Film Center (1318 Bay St in Bellingham, WA) today at noon.  Like War of the Worlds, this film won an Oscar for Best Special Effects and still looks amazing today.  Tickets are just $3, and you can find a link to advance ticket sales, as well as more details on the screening, at the Pickford Film Center website.

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The 2017 Northwest Comic Con, billed as The First Annual Con on the Coast, takes place this weekend at the Tillamook County Fairgrounds (4603 3rd St in Tillamook, OR).  Guests include Vincent M. Ward and Lew Temple from The Walking Dead.  For additional details and updated information, visit the Facebook Event Page or the official website.

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Raw, a French-Belgian horror film about a vegetarian college student who becomes a cannibal, opens tonight at Cinema 21 (616 NW 21st Ave in Portland, OR).  This film caused a stir on the festival circuit, as several viewers passed out during the film!  Showtimes have yet to be announced, so check back, or visit the Cinema 21 website, closer to the opening date.

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The Hollywood Theatre (4122 NE Sandy Blvd in Portland, OR) presents a tribute to the late Bill Paxton with a screening of Near Dark, in GLORIOUS 35mm, tonight at 7:30 pm.  For more details, and a link to advance ticket sales, visit The Hollywood Theatre website. 

Sunday, March 19

Galaxaar: a One-Day "Pop Culture" Event for the Family! takes place today at 9 am at the Issaquah Community Center (301 Rainier Blvd S in Issaquah, WA).  Browse the marketplace, with over 50 vendors offering pop culture arts and crafts, vintage goodies, toys and modern collectibles.  Early bird shopping starts at 8 am.  For more details, and to purchase tickets to the event, visit the Facebook Event Page.  

Monday, March 20

The Lure, a demented Polish musical about vampire mermaids, opens tonight at the Rio Theatre (1660 East Broadway in Vancouver, BC).  The film is presented in Polish with English subtitles.  Showtimes are 6:45 pm tonight, 9:30 pm on Tuesday, March 21 and 9:20 pm on Friday, March 24.  Doors open a half hour before showtime.  Tickets are $10 in advance, $12 at the door for all shows.  For more details, including a link to advance ticket sales, visit the Rio Theatre website.

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Central Cinema (1411 21st Ave in Seattle, WA) presents a Science and a Movie screening of Aliens tonight at 7 pm.  Presented with Pacific Science Center, the screening includes a discussion of the field of astrobiology with local biologists Erin Firth and Anna Simpson before the film, and a Q and A afterwards.  For more details, and a link to advance ticket sales, visit the Facebook Event Page.

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The Canadian theatrical premiere of Peelers, a new horror film from Vancouver-based director Sevé Schelenz, takes place tonight at 9 pm at the Rio Theatre (1660 East Broadway in Vancouver, BC).  The film takes place during the closing night of a small-town strip club, as a crew of infected coal miners start a murderous rampage.  Schelenz will be in attendance for a Q and A after the screening.  Minors are allowed in the balcony for the film, but please note Peelers is rated 18A.  Tickets are $10 in advance, $12 at the door.  For more details, and a link to advance ticket sales, visit the Facebook Event Page.

Tuesday, March 21

Central Cinema (1411 21st Ave in Seattle, WA) presents an encore Science and a Movie screening of Aliens tonight at 7 pm.  Presented with Pacific Science Center, the screening includes a discussion of the field of astrobiology with local biologists Erin Firth and Anna Simpson before the film, and a Q and A afterwards.  For more details, and a link to advance ticket sales, visit the Facebook Event Page.

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Canadian hand-drawn animation is featured tonight at the Rio Theatre (1660 East Broadway in Vancouver, BC) starting at 6:30 pm.  The double feature includes Robert Valley's Oscar-nominated Pear Cider and Cigarettes and Nick DiLiberto's Nova Seed.  The screening is hosted by the Rio Grind Film Festival and the Rio Theatre.  Valley will be in attendance to introduce his film and take questions afterwards.  Tickets are $10 in advance, $12 at the door.  For more details, visit the Facebook Event Page.

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Horror Brew's Pub Quiz returns to Home, A Bar (719 SE Morrison St in Portland, OR) tonight at 7:30 pm.  The top two teams win bar gift certificates, or try and score individual horror prizes during the Lighting Rounds!  For more details, visit the Facebook Event Page. 

Thursday, March 23

Cloud 9 Comics (2621 SE Clinton St in Portland, OR) celebrates its two year anniversary with a huge, all day sale event from 11 am to 7 pm.  Head in, buy some stuff, enter the raffle, then head to The Clinton Street Theater (2522 SE Clinton St in Portland, OR) at 7:30 pm for a screening of Joss Whedon's cult classic Serenity, hosted by Cloud 9 Comics!  For more details, visit the Facebook Event Page. 

Friday, March 24

Sure, the ending has been spoiled countless times thanks to pop culture, but you don't want to miss Soylent Green on the big screen tonight at The Hollywood Theatre (4122 NE Sandy Blvd in Portland, OR).  Presented by Movies in the Dark and Projekt Records, the film follows a police detective (Charlton Heston) through a dystopian New York City as he investigates a murder that leads to the truth about the only food source available to the masses.  The film starts at 9:30 pm.  For more details, and a link to advance ticket sales, visit The Hollywood Theatre website.

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Sci Fi Month at The Laurelhurst Theater (2735 East Burnside Street in Portland, OR) concludes with a high octane finish, George Miller's The Road Warrior (AKA Mad Max 2).  If you've never seen this film on the big screen DO NOT miss this!  The film plays through Thursday, March 30.  Showtimes have yet to be announced, so check back, or visit The Laurelhurst Theater website, later.

Saturday, March 25

Frankenstein's Comicbook Swap 9: Your Wedding/My Funeral takes place today at the East Portland Eagle Lodge 3256 (4904 SE Hawthorne Blvd in Portland, OR).  Admission is $1 (kids and elders are free) and doors open at noon.  Or you can pay $5 for an early bird ticket and get in at 11 am!  You can also donate canned food to the Oregon Food Bank at the event.  For more details, and a link to rent table space, visit the Facebook Event Page. 

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Also at the East Portland Eagle Lodge 3256 (4904 SE Hawthorne Blvd in Portland, OR) today is the return of Comix Thing, starting at 9 pm.  Entry to this underground comix show and VHS tape swap is just $1 for all ages.  For more details on the event, and information on exhibitor tables, visit the Facebook Event Page.including a link to advance ticket sales, visit the Rio Theatre website.

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Sharing space at the East Portland Eagle Lodge 3256 (4904 SE Hawthorne Blvd in Portland, OR) with Comix Thing is the Fifth Annual Gotham A Go Go, Portland's only Batman themed dance party!  Swinging 60s music and DANCING starts at 9 pm, with a costume contest at midnight.  For more details, visit the Facebook Event Page.

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Well, I don't get to write this every day.  Geekenders returns to the Rio Theatre (1660 East Broadway in Vancouver, BC) with We All Float Down Here: A Burlesque Tribute to Stephen King.  Yep, I have nothing else to add.  The show starts at 8 pm (doors open at 7 pm) and you must be 18 or older to attend.  Tickets are $15 in advance, $18 at the door.  For more details, including a list of performers and a link to advance ticket sales, visit the Rio Theatre website.

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Heckle along with the crowd at The Hollywood Theatre (4122 NE Sandy Blvd in Portland, OR) as Ghost Rider, starring Nicolas Cage, screens in Hecklevision tonight at 9:30 pm.  Text your riffs on this cheesy film and watch your comments appear on the screen, along with those from others in the audience.  For more details, and to purchase advance tickets, visit The Hollywood Theatre website.

Kong: Skull Island (2017)

Updating a classic film must be a tricky act.  Follow the plot too closely, and fans of the original will cry out that the film is offering nothing new, and is no where near as good as the original.  Deviate too far from the plot and those same fans will protest that move as well.

Add into the mix that most studios are now more interested in setting up a
cinematic universe, with endless sequels, rather than make a fun, stand alone film.  Given all this baggage, it's surprising that Kong: Skull Island works at all.  Yes, the film is a set up for the Giant Monster-verse to come from Legendary Studios, but the clues are much more subtle than most universe-building movies.  And the film is terrific fun, from start to finish.

The film takes place in 1973, as the United States is pulling out of Vietnam.  Bill Randa (John Goodman) and his assistant Houston Brooks (Corey Hawkins) are members of Monarch, a government agency on the brink of being defunded.  No surprise, as the group is on the hunt for ancient monsters, but Randa manages to pull some strings and gets one last expedition funded to a island unseen by modern man until until a recent satellite photograph reveled its location.

Randa hires ex-British military tracker James Conrad (Tom Hiddleston) and war photographer Mason Weaver (Brie Larson) for his team, and enlist a chopper squadron under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Preston Packard (Samuel L. Jackson).  With the team assembled, the expedition heads to Skull Island, piercing a continual storm surrounding the location to find a tropic paradise.

Of course, the team starts dropping bombs, oh, sorry, the proper term is seismic charges, for subterranean mapping.  As the survey revels evidence supporting Brooks' hollow Earth theory, the operation is cut short by Kong, who doesn't take kindly to strangers vaporizing parts of his island.

And, as expected, mayhem ensues.

Oh, that's gonna hurt!

Two groups of survivors survive Kong's assault.  Packard leads one, set on taking the big ape down, while Conrad, Weaver, Brooks and a few others find a tribe hiding behind a giant wall.  Just by luck, Hank Marlow (John C. Reilly) a U.S. Air Force pilot marooned on the island since World War II, is around to explain the wall is meant to keep the other creatures, which he calls Skullcrawlers, at bay.  But the village's true protector is Kong, who kills the beasts as they emerge from deep caverns around the island.

As expected, as the two groups reunite and attempt to make a scheduled rendezvous with an extraction team.  But Packard decides this is one battle he will not walk away from and decides to take out Kong.

Of course, more giant monster mayhem ensues.

Say hello to my little friend!

And let's be honest, that's what we're in the theaters to see and the movie delivers in spectacular fashion.  Unlike Garth Edward's Godzilla (the first movie in the upcoming Giant Monster-verse), Kong is in full view right away, smashing the copter squadron in a brutal, exciting set piece.  Then we get other creatures, some benevolent, others eager to add humans to the food chain, all shown on screen in their full glory.

It seems the studio also listened to the complaints about the human characters in Godzilla being uninteresting and more the focus of the film than the giant monsters.  The characters in Skull Island are simply guides leading the audience across the island and from one monster attack to the next.  Though they do get involved at time, the film is shot to show how puny they are compared to the inhabitants of the island, and their ineffectiveness at protecting themselves against the onslaught.  It's a nice build on the theme in Godzilla, that some monsters exist as our protectors, maintaining the balance of nature.

Humans are the superior species on Earth!

We can...  Oh hell.

Run away!  RUN AWAY!!

It's also nice that, by the time the action sequences kick in, the script delivers as more character development than you might expect in a film about giant monsters.  Sure, most of the soldiers are lifted from most any other war movie you might have seen, and some of the scientists are underutilized.  But the main character's motivations are never in doubt and the script allows for a bit more revelations during the quick breaks between the monster battles.  And it's nice that Marlow is treated with respect by the script, given some great character moments and allowed to be eccentric without becoming a parody.

Best of all, Weaver is not an Ann Darrow surrogate.  Though her job as a photojournalist in a war zone might seem odd for the era, it's not unprecedented (Goggle Dickey Chapelle, for starts), and she is not over-glamorized by the filmmakers.  Sure, she looks good in her tank top, but the film doesn't focus on her physical appearance, and neither does the mostly male crew.  And though she does have a few moments with Kong that might lead one to think she's going to catch the big guy's fancy, the filmmakers steer clear of recycling that plot point.  It's a refreshing break from the normal portrayal of the main female character in a monster movie, and from a story that was so well told back in 1933, it does not need to be replayed.

Imaginary studio executive memo:

Wait, who allowed this female character

to wear sensible clothes?

Quick, CGI some short shorts on her!!

But the film isn't shy about dropping homages to the earlier films.  The script includes plenty of the standard Kong troupes, like the besieged natives hiding behind a giant wall, a giant spider (above the trees this time, not in a pit) and Weaver ending up in Kong's palm (again, not for the reasons you expect, so leave the Beauty and the Beast idea in the theater lobby).  The film also lifts a moment from Jackson's remake and fans of the original will recognize the Skullcrawler's origins.

What's more amazing is that the film is such a good monster movie considering the filmmaker's credits.  Director Jordan Vogt-Roberts' directorial debut was 2013's coming of age film, The Kings of Summer.  And with the exception of Derek Connolly (Safety Not Guaranteed, Jurassic World and Monster Trucks), the writing staff has little experience with genre films.  Given their previous work, it explains how the filmmakers were able to develop the characters so well in such a brief amount of time, but I would not have expected them to deliver such a great monster movie.

Screenwriter Max Borenstein worked on Edward's Godzilla, and I suspect his inclusion was to set up the upcoming Giant Monster-verse.  The hints are there, but as I mentioned, the audience is not beat over the head with the clues.  The moments are subtle and will become more clear with the next feature in the series.  I must admit, it will be fun rewatching this film before and after Godzilla: King of the Monsters arrives in theaters. 

But, should you need more details, or just want to get a chill down your spine as to what might be coming next, stay for the post-credit scene.  I'm serious, wait for it, it's worth it.

Nope, not going to spoil it.

You'll have to sit through the credits 

like the rest of us.

Now, I just want to let parents know this film does push the PG-13 rating to the limit.  A few humans meet surprisingly gruesome ends and while no blood is spilled (as is the case for PG-13 films), a few moments are as harrowing as the Spider Pit scene in Jackson's Kong.  Just wanted to let you know, this could give younger kids a fright.

It might not surprise you that I'm a BIG '33 King Kong fan and this movie will not replace the original.  But, to the filmmaker's credit, the film isn't trying to craft a better Kong and the Beauty story.  Instead, they set off on a different path with the big guy and delivered a massively fun monster movie, full of wonder, terror and giant creature battles.  Kong: Skull Island is much better than I expected and now I can't wait for the big guy to return in 2020.

Especially after the post-credit scene.  Oh, it's going to be epic!