The Shadow Over Portland: 3/25/18

Happy Easter weekend, everyone!

What, you expected something warm and fuzzy from me?

Sorry for being so late this week, but my back decided it was time to be re-acquainted with my heating pad after a 13 hour work day. Not a lot you can do when standing, or even sitting, becomes an endurance test after five minutes.

Okay, it wasn't THIS bad,

but it was still a painful couple of days.

Anyway, I have some great stuff to share with Pacific Northwest Horror/Sci Fi/Fantasy Fans, with lots of great films, conventions, festivals like the Hayao Miyazaki Celebration at The Hollywood Theatre in Portland, and much more!

Don't forget to check the Horror/Sci Fi/Fantasy Calendar for more great events happening throughout 2018. I'll be updating it this weekend, so keep checking back for more great things coming our way!

Don't forget, it's easy and FREE to have your event posted on The Shadow Over Portland. Just send me an email at shadowoverportland@live.com with the details and artwork, and I'll do the rest.

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

Ongoing

The Salem Cinema (1127 Broadway St NE, #170, in Salem, OR) will continue showing Guillermo del Toro's Oscar winning film The Shape of Water through April 5. For showtimes, visit the Salem Cinema website.

The Darkside Cinema (215 SW 4th St in Corvallis, OR) will continue showing Guillermo del Toro's Oscar winning film The Shape of Water through April 5. Visit the Darkside Cinema website for more details.

The Grand Cinema (606 S Fawcett Ave in Tacoma, WA) will continue showing Guillermo del Toro's Oscar winning film The Shape of Water through Thursday, April 5. Visit The Grand Cinema website for more details and advance ticket sales.

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Norwescon 21 takes place this weekend at the Doubletree by Hilton Seattle Airport (18740 International Blvd in SeaTac, WA). The event has announced the Writer Guest of Honor this year will be Ken Liu, Artist Guest of Honor will be Wayne Barlowe, the Science Guest of Honor will be Mathew Wedel, the Spotlight Publisher will be Green Ronin Publishing and the theme for the con will be Uncovering Mysteries. More announcements to come, so visit the Norwescon website later in the year.

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The Pacific Northwest's oldest anime convention, Sakura-Con, runs this weekend at the Washington State Convention Center (800 Convention Place in Seattle, WA). For more details and links for the event, visit the Facebook Event Page.

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The Academy Theater (7818 SE Stark St in Portland, OR) will screen David Lynch's Dune through Thursday, April 5. Visit the Academy Theater website later for showtimes.

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Sci Fi Month concludes at the Laurelhurst Theater and Pub (2735 East Burnside St in Portland, OR) with James Cameron's The Terminator. The film plays through Thursday, April 5. For more details, visit the Laurelhurst Theater website.

Buy Tickets Early!

The Northwest Film Center will screen the INSANE Japanese cult classic Hausu (House) in GLORIOUS 35mm on Saturday, April 7, at the Portland Art Museum Whitsell Auditorium (1219 SW Park Ave in Portland, OR). Seriously, don't miss this one, it's the weirdest film you'll see this year. The only way I can describe it is to have you think of the old TV show H. R. Pufnstuf if the writers were all smoking crack. It's a haunted house film with an evil cat, a futon closet of death and a hungry piano. Yeah, it's that bizarre and just as AMAZING! Showtime is 9:30 pm. For more details and advance ticket sales (strongly recommended), visit the NW Film Center website.

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WYRD WAR'S Third Annual Walpurgisnacht Celebration brings the Indonesian horror classic Mystics in Bali, directed by H. Tjut Djalil (Lady Terminator). I can't even begin to explain how AMAZING this film is on the big screen, and it will sell out so buy tickets early and DO NOT MISS OUT ON THIS ONE! The movie will show at The Hollywood Theatre (4122 NE Sandy Blvd in Portland, OR) on Monday, April 30, at 7:30 pm. For more details, you can visit the Facebook Event Page, and you can buy advance tickets (strongly recommended) at The Hollywood Theatre website.

March, 2018

Friday, March 30

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The Lombard Pub (3416 N Lombard St in Portland, OR) is the site of the Blade Runner 2018 Party tonight at 10 pm. This dark electronic dance party is a tribute to the film, with three DJs working to help you dance through the night. No cover is required, and more details will be announced soon. Check out the Facebook Event Page for up to date details.

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The Campout Cinema series at the Museum of Pop Culture (325 5th Ave N in Seattle, WA) presents Dark City. The event starts at 7 pm and tickets include admission to the museum's Infinite Worlds of Science Fiction and Scared to Death: The Thrill of Horror Film. This is a 21 and older event. For more details, visit the Facebook Event Page.

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The Academy Theater (7818 SE Stark St in Portland, OR) will screen David Lynch's Dune through Thursday, April 5. Visit the Academy Theater website later for showtimes.

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The Hollywood Theatre (4122 NE Sandy Blvd in Portland, OR) will screen the Jack Arnold classic It Came from Outer Space tonight at 6 pm. Oh, I forgot to mention the presentation is in GLORIOUS 35mm and in 3D. AND star Kathleen Hughes will be present for a post screening Q and A. Tickets go on sale to the general public today (Monday, February 19), and you know this will sell out fast. For more details and advance ticket sales, visit The Hollywood Theatre website.

April, 2018
Sunday, April 1

No, it ain't the Easter Bunny heading to the McMenamins Mission Theater and Pub (1624 NW Glisan in Portland, OR) this weekend. The cult classic Donnie Darko, featuring the monstrous-bunny suited "Frank," will be showing through Tuesday, April 3. For additional details, including showtimes and advance ticket sales, visit the Mission Theater website.

Thursday, April 5

The Hollywood Theatre (4122 NE Sandy Blvd in Portland, OR) begins a month-long celebration of the animated films of Hayao Miyazaki with a screening of Princess Mononoke tonight at 7:30 pm. The film is in the original Japanese with English subtitles. For more details and advance ticket sales, visit The Hollywood Theatre website.

Friday, April 6

The Hayao Miyazaki Celebration continues at The Hollywood Theatre (4122 NE Sandy Blvd in Portland, OR) with a screening of Spirited Away tonight at 7:30 pm. This screening will be in the original Japanese with English subtitles. For more details and advance ticket sales, visit The Hollywood Theatre website.

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The Academy Theater (7818 SE Stark St in Portland, OR) will screen the 1976 sci fi cult classic Logan's Run through Thursday, April 11. Visit the Academy Theater website later for showtimes.

Saturday, April 7

Pop culture scholar Jennifer K. Stuller presents Wonder Woman: Herstory of a Heroine on Screen today at SIFF (305 Harrison St in Seattle, WA) from noon to 4 pm. The presentation looks at the titular superhero in her many incarnations, from cartoons to live action television movies and series and her appearance on the big screen. General admission tickets are just $20. For more details and advance ticket sales, visit the Facebook Event Page.

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The Hayao Miyazaki Celebration continues at The Hollywood Theatre (4122 NE Sandy Blvd in Portland, OR) with a screening of Spirited Away today at 4 pm. This screening will be dubbed. For more details and advance ticket sales, visit The Hollywood Theatre website.

Saturday, April 7

The Hayao Miyazaki Celebration continues at The Hollywood Theatre (4122 NE Sandy Blvd in Portland, OR) with a screening of Ponyo tonight at 7:30 pm. This screening will be presented in the original Japanese with English subtitles. For more details and advance ticket sales, visit The Hollywood Theatre website.

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The Northwest Film Center will screen the INSANE Japanese cult classic Hausu (House) in GLORIOUS 35mm tonight at the Portland Art Museum Whitsell Auditorium (1219 SW Park Ave in Portland, OR). Seriously, don't miss this one, it's the weirdest film you'll see this year. The only way I can describe it is to have you think of the old TV show H. R. Pufnstuf if the writers were all smoking crack. It's a haunted house film with an evil cat, a futon closet of death and a hungry piano. Yeah, it's that bizarre and just as AMAZING! Showtime is 9:30 pm. For more details and advance ticket sales (strongly recommended), visit the NW Film Center website.

Sunday, April 8

The Hayao Miyazaki Celebration continues at The Hollywood Theatre (4122 NE Sandy Blvd in Portland, OR) with a screening of Ponyo today at 4 pm. This screening will be dubbed. For more details and advance ticket sales, visit The Hollywood Theatre website.

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The Hayao Miyazaki Celebration continues at The Hollywood Theatre (4122 NE Sandy Blvd in Portland, OR) with a screening of Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind tonight at 7 pm. This screening will be presented in the original Japanese with English subtitles. For more details and advance ticket sales, visit The Hollywood Theatre website.

Sometimes, an artist's enthusiasm for their work is so great, it infuses the project and creates something wonderful. It doesn't mean the work is good in a critical sense, but the project is so full of the joy the creator experienced bringing it to life that one can't help but smile and enjoy the end result.

Such was the case for me with 2013's Pacific Rim. As I mentioned in my review of that film, the script is a cliche loaded military action film that one would expect to fall flat. And it might have, if the robot/monster battles weren't so damn awesome. The film was little more than director Guillermo del Toro's inner eight year old with a box of cool toys inviting us to play with them. And for me, as well as my inner eight year old, it worked.

Now we have the followup, Pacific Rim Uprising and, though del Toro is listed as producer and visual design consultant, it is quite evident he's not the one running the show.

And, just so you know, I have a minor SPOILER ahead. Skip the next four paragraphs if you don't want to know, though you'll see it coming early on in the film.

Maybe if we have the Jaegers fighting three Kaiju at once this time,

that might be enough. Maybe...

The movie takes place ten years after the events of the first film, with Jake Pentecost (John Boyega) stealing Jaeger parts to sell on the black market. During one heist, he runs into Amara Namani (Cailee Spaeny), who's built her own single person Jaeger.

Of course, the authorities realize people running around in Jaegers is not a good idea and the two are arrested by the Pan-Pacific Defense Corps. Jake's adoptive sister Mako Mori (Rinko Kikuchi), now the PPDC General Secretary, offers to get Jake out of jail if he returns to the Hong Kong Shatterdome as an instructor. So with Amara in tow, Jake returns to the PPDC, butts heads with his former co-pilot Nate Lambert (Scott Eastwood), and starts teaching a bunch of forgetful stereotypes how to be Jaeger pilots.

Wow, it appears all the older Jaeger pilots have

just retired and left the fate of the world to a bunch of new recruits.

We might be screwed.

Meanwhile, Mako is preparing a final assessment on a drone Jaeger program developed by the Shao Corporation, ran by Liwen Shao (Tian Jing). Working with her is Kaiju junkie Dr. Newton Geiszler (Charlie Day), who left the PPDC for the better paying private sector. Good thing mathematician Dr. Hermann Gottlieb (Burn Gorman) is still at the Shatterdome, as a rogue Jaeger attacks the PPDC council meeting in Sydney, killing Mako in the process.

The drone program is approved, but Jake and Nate follow Mako's last message to a decommissioned Jaeger facility in Russia and find the rogue Jaeger. And I'm going to end the summery there, because past this point are some massive spoilers. Let's just say not all is what it seems with the drone program, which you probably figured out, and eventually, Kaiju mayhem ensues.

Nope, not saying what's happening here.

Except it's not good!

All the elements are in place for a fun, robots verses monsters smackdown. But film lacks any spark to engage the audience. The script (by director Steven S. DeKnight, Emily Carmichael, Kira Snyder and T. S. Nowlin) might be loaded with stock characters and cliche moments from other military action films, but that isn't the problem. Rather, part of my issue with the script is how it deviates from the original.

For example, in this film, Drift compatibility is not an issue. Any two pilots can work in the Drift now, and the cool staff fighting test in the original is never brought up. Gottlieb and Geiszler's character's aren't as interesting as in the first, which is a shame, as they were two of the most enjoyable characters in the original. It also doesn't help that original hero Raleigh Becket isn't in the film, and is only mentioned in passing before the climatic battle. The lack of any explanation for his absence should have been addressed, as his co-pilot Mako is back.

As I mentioned, the cadets are a crew of stereotypes from other movies, much like the first film. The actors are fine, given the material, but unlike the original, they all just look like a bunch of pretty faces. To use one example, the Russian Jaeger pilots in the first film look the part, while the Russian character in this one lacks the physical appearance of a badass Russian Jaeger pilot. Again, that's not to say any of the performances are bad, but the cast just blends together into a sea of attractive young people who are instantly forgettable.

I'm sorry, I didn't realize this room was being used

by the cast of a CW show.

The problem of cast members blending together extends to the Jaegers as well. In del Toro's film, the brawler looked big and bulky, the acrobatic Jaeger was thin and lithe, and the one piloted by the heroes was the barrel-chested machine you expected to have a big "S" emblem painted on it. In this film, the only defining characteristics of the Jaegers are the weapons and color schemes, lacking any uniqueness or identifiable abilities based on the Jaeger's physical appearance.

As for the Jaeger weapons, they are pretty nice, with an electronic whip, a mace, and the ever present sword, in addition to missiles and some really big guns. But again, this army of Jaegers are lacking in the little touches that del Toro brought to the original. Sure, these new Jaegers still punch their opponents in the face, but cool stuff like the rocket elbow, or the piston-driven fist that delivers a second blow to a Kaiju's nose, are gone. Such moments added to the "Oh, wow, that's so COOL" factor of the first film and are sorely missed here.

But that's not to say the battle sequences are bad. Director DeKnight (who worked on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel and Netflix's Daredevil) keeps the action visible to the audience. Unlike another giant robot franchise, the battle sequences are well shot, exciting and allow you to see what is happening, rather than showing a rolling mass of metal and monster in extreme, overly kinetic close up shots.

You know Michael Bay would have shot this scene

so you'd have no idea what was going on.

It's just too bad this film lacks the childlike joy that infused the original. Though both have the same shortcomings, del Toro's movie delighted my inner eight year old, allowing me to overlook the weaknesses in the film and just enjoy the spectacle of giant robots beating up giant monsters. But during Pacific Rim Uprising, he was content to stay in his room, playing with his own action figures. And without him at my side, the movie was pretty bland.

Race you to the toy shop shelves!

The Shadow Over Portland

Pages

Friday, March 30, 2018

This Easter edition of the Weekly Update is full of great events for Pacific Northwest Horror/Sci Fi/Fantasy Fans!

Sunday, March 25, 2018

Pacific Rim Uprising (2018)