I'm back on my Friday schedule, sort of...

I'm calling this a win.  Sure, it's a bit later than I usually post a Weekly Update, but still, I made my self-imposed Friday deadline.  I'm hoping to keep the streak up, but my day job schedule changes yet again on July 1, so I expect some adjustments will need to be made yet again.

At least I won't have to deal with another big blockbuster heading to local theaters for a while...  Oh, wait, a wide release dinosaur movie hits next week.  Damn it!

 

 Okay, maybe I walked in front of a massive truck when I decided to include major blockbusters on the site.  

Still, SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL THEATERS!

But this week's offerings are just the start.  Head over to the Horror/Sci Fi/Fantasy Calendar for more great events happening in the Pacific Northwest until the end of the year.  I'll be adding more content in the next few days, as I always do, so keep checking back!

Okay, I'm signing off for now.  Stay safe and healthy, everyone, and I'll be back next week with more amazing events happening under The Shadow Over Portland!

If you'd like to help support the site, visit my Ko-fi page.  Thank you.

 

Happening This Week   

 

Crimes of the Future, David Cronenberg's return to body horror, opens tonight at the Laurelhurst Theater (2735 E Burnside St in Portland, OR; plays through Thursday, June 9), The Grand Cinema (606 Fawcett Ave in Tacoma, WA; plays through Thursday, June 9), the Hollywood Theatre (4122 NE Sandy Blvd in Portland, OR; plays through Thursday, June 9), the Darkside Cinema (215 SW 4th St in Corvallis, OR; plays through Thursday, June 9), the Broadway Metro (888 Willamette St in Eugene, OR; plays through Thursday, June 9), the Salem Cinema (1127 Broadway NE in Salem, OR; plays through Thursday, June 9), the Hollywood Theatre (4122 NE Sandy Blvd in Portland, OR; plays through Thursday, June 9), Cinema 21 (616 NW 21st Ave in Portland, OR; plays through Thursday, June 9) and SIFF Cinema Uptown (511 Queen Anne Ave N in Seattle, WA; plays through Thursday, June 9).

 

The serial killer thriller Watcher opens at Cinema 21 (616 NW 21st Ave in Portland, OR; plays through Thursday, June 9), the Broadway Metro (888 Willamette St in Eugene, OR; plays through Thursday, June 9), and SIFF Cinema Uptown (511 Queen Anne Ave N in Seattle, WA; plays through Thursday, June 9).

 

Game over, man!  GAME OVER!!  Central Cinema (1411 21st Ave in Seattle, WA) will screen James Cameron's sci fi classic Aliens through Thursday, June 9.  The film features Sigourney Weaver as Ripley, Michael Biehn, Lance Henriksen, Bill Paxton and the best timed countdown in cinematic history (just so you know, it ends a few seconds EARLY!).

Bertrand Mandico's After Blue, about a girl on a distant planet who releases an assassin and is force to track her down with her mother, will screen at The Grand Illusion (1403 NE 50th St in Seattle, WA; plays through Thursday, June 9).  Visit the site for a more detailed summery of the film.  It's much more complex than my description.

 

Michelle Yeoh fighting to save the multiverse?  I'm SOLD!  Also starring the amazing James Hong and Jamie Lee Curtis, Everything Everywhere All At Once continues this week at the Darkside Cinema (215 SW 4th St in Corvallis, OR; plays through Thursday, June 9), the Hollywood Theatre (4122 NE Sandy Blvd in Portland, OR; plays through Thursday, June 9), the Salem Cinema (1127 Broadway NE in Salem, OR; plays through Monday, June 6), the Broadway Metro (888 Willamette St in Eugene, OR; plays through Thursday, June 9), Cinema 21 (616 NW 21st Ave in Portland, OR; plays through Thursday, June 9), the Laurelhurst Theater (2735 E Burnside St in Portland, OR; plays through Thursday, June 9), the Academy Theater (7818 SE Stark St in Portland, OR; plays through Thursday, June 9), The Grand Cinema (606 Fawcett Ave in Tacoma, WA; plays through Thursday, June 9), and Studio One Theaters (3945 SE Powell Blvd in Portland, OR; plays through Thursday, June 9), the Olympic Film Society at the Capitol Theater (206 5th Ave SE in Olympia, WA; plays through Thursday, June 9), the Granada 3 Theatre (1311 Adams Ave in La Crande, OR; plays to Thursday, June 9) and the St Johns Twin (8704 N Lombard St in Portland, OR; plays to Wednesday, June 8).

 

Alex Garland's (Ex Machina, Annihilation) latest horror film, Men, continues at the Broadway Metro (888 Willamette St in Eugene, OR; plays through Thursday, June 9). 

 

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness continues next week at the Granada 3 Theatre (1311 Adams Ave in La Grande, OR; plays through Thursday, June 9), the Yelm Cinemas (201 Prairie Park Lane SE in Yelm, WA; plays through Thursday, June 9), the Sandy Cinema (16605 Champion Way in Sandy, OR; plays through Thursday, June 9), Studio One Theaters (3945 SE Powell Blvd in Portland, OR; plays through Thursday, June 9) and the M-F Drive-In Theater (84322 Oregon-Washington Highway in Milton Freewater, OR; co-feature is The Bob's Burgers Movie).

 

The Bleedingham Horror Film Festival is taking submissions through September 1, 2022.  The event takes place on Saturday and Sunday, October 22 and 23, in Bellingham, WA.

 

Metalesque Fest will be taking performer applications through June 18.  The festival takes place from September 30 to October 2 at locations in Portland, OR.

 

June, 2022

Friday, June 3

 

The Shaw Brother's whacked (in the best way) superhero battling rubber-suited monsters movie, Infra-Man, plays at The Beacon (4405 Rainier Ave S in Seattle, WA) tonight at 8:30 pm.

The Clinton Street Theater (2522 SE Clinton St in Portland, OR) has rescheduled Gaspar Noe's Lux AEterna to this evening at 6 pm.

VHS Night at CineMagic (2021 SE Hawthorne Blvd in Portland, OR) will screen Stuart Gordon's fighting giant robots flick Robot Jox in GLORIOUS VHS tonight at midnight.  The show starts at 11:30 pm with VHS trailers.

Weird Elephant at The Grand Cinema (606 Fawcett Ave in Tacoma, WA) will show the 2022 remastered version of David Lynch's Inland Empire tonight and tomorrow night at 10 pm.

Saturday, June 4

Check out Butcher, Baker, Nightmare Maker, starring Jimmy McNichol, Bo Svenson and Bill Paxton, at 10:30 pm tonight at The Beacon (4405 Rainier Ave S in Seattle, WA).

In celebration of the film's 40th anniversary, the Rio Theatre (1660 East Broadway in Vancouver, BC) will screen Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan tonight at 11:30 pm.

The Lilac City Comic Con takes place today and tomorrow at the Spokane Convention Center (334 W Spokane Falls Blvd in Spokane, WA).  Daniel Cudmore (Colossus in X2, X-Men: The Last Stand, X-Men: Days of Future Past) is scheduled to attend.

The Oregon Renaissance Faire takes place this weekend and next weekend at the Clackamas County Fairgrounds (694 NE 4th Ave in Canby, OR).  Click on the link for all the details.

Wyrd War Presents: Autopsy, with Spirit Possession, Deathcharge and Hellshock at 7:30 pm tonight at Stage 722 (722 SE 10th Ave in Portland, OR).  Doors open at 7 pm.  You must be 21 or older to attend. 

 

The Clinton Street Theater (2522 SE Clinton St in Portland, OR) will show The Rocky Horror Picture Show, with a shaowcast by the Clinton Street Cabaret.

 

Sunday, June 5

 

The Traveling Vampire Show stops by Dante's (350 W Burnside St in Portlandd, OR) tonight at 7:30 pm.  This blend of cirque and soul, a spectacle of blood, sex, fire and ritual, showcases the hypnotic vocals of Soriah, a veteran of Anne Rice's New Orleans Vampire Ball.  Purchasing tickets in advance would be a good idea.  This event is for those 21 or older.

 

Fathom Events brings The Wizard of Oz back to theaters nationwide to celebrate what would have been Judy Garland's 100th birthday.  Screenings take place today and tomorrow.  Visit the link to find a theater near you showing the film.

 

Monday, June 6

 

The Rio Theatre (1660 East Broadway in Vancouver, BC) will show Gaspar Noe's witchy Lux AEterna tonight at 6:45 pm. 

 

 

The #Oregonmade Film Series at the Hollywood Theatre (4122 NE Sandy Blvd in Portland, OR) will screen Twilight in GLORIOUS 35mm tonight at 7:30 pm.  No judgement on this site, whether you're Team Edward, Team Jacob, or Team Vampires Don't Sparkle.

Tuesday, June 7

The Rio Theatre (1660 East Broadway in Vancouver, BC) will show the serial killer thriller Watcher tonight at 8:30 pm.

The Darkside Cinema (215 SW 4th St in Corvallis, OR) Sci-Fi Extravaganza feature tonight is Indestructible Man, starring Lon Chaney Jr.  Doors open at 6:15 pm, with the feature starting at 7 pm.  Be aware, heckling is encouraged.

Wednesday, June 8

The Hollywood Theatre (4122 NE Sandy Blvd in Portland, OR) will host a 20th anniversary screening of Star Trek: Nemesis tonight at 7:30 pm.

Thursday, June 9

Get to tha chopper!  Oh, I mean the Rio Theatre (1660 East Broadway in Vancouver, BC) for a screening of Predator tonight at 9:30 pm.  And no, that gag will never grow old.

The Hollywood Theatre (4122 NE Sandy Blvd in Portland, OR) will screen the cult classic The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension in GLORIOUS 35mm tonight at 7:30 pm.

BECU Drive-In Movies at Marymoor Park will show the sci fi comedy Back to the Future at Marymoor Park (6046 W Lake Sammamish Parkway NE in Redmond, WA) tonight at 9:15 pm.  For more details and to buy tickets, visit the link above.

 

Jurassic World: Dominion, the *cough cough* "epic conclusion," opens tonight at the Mt. Hood Theatre (401 E Powell Blvd in Gresham, OR), the St Johns Twin Cinema (8704 N Lombard St in Portland, OR), the Broadway Metro (888 Willamette St in Eugene, OR; plays through Thursday, June 16), the Yelm Cinemas (201 Prairie Park Lane SE in Yelm, WA; plays through Thursday, June 16), the Sandy Cinema (16605 Champion Way in Sandy, OR; plays through Thursday, June 16), Studio One Theaters (3945 SE Powell Blvd in Portland, OR; plays through Thursday, June 16),.

Friday, June 10

Wanna play a game?  Then head to the Rio Theatre (1660 East Broadway in Vancouver, BC) for a screening of Saw tonight at 10:30 pm

The Sci Fi film After Yang, about a family trying to repair their robotic child, will be shown by the Olympic Film Society at the Capitol Theater (206 5th Ave SE in Olympia, WA; plays through Sunday, June 12).

PAMCUT is hosting a Michelle Yeoh Mini-Fest, starting to night at 7 pm with the fabulous Everything Everywhere All at Once.  The screening takes place at the Portland Art Museum Whitsell Auditorium (1219 SW Park Ave in Portland, OR). 

Central Cinema (1411 21st Ave in Seattle, WA) will show Jordan Peele's second horror film, Us, through Wednesday, June 15.  Check it out befor Nope shows up in theaters on July 22.

Neptune Frost, an Afrofuturist sci fi punk musical, plays at 7 pm tonight at the Grand Illusion Cinema (1403 NE 50th St in Seattle, WA).  

Jurassic World: Dominion, the *cough cough* "epic conclusion," opens tonight at the Blue Mouse Theatre (2611 N Proctor St in Tacoma, WA; plays through Sunday, June19).

Saturday, June 11

Alex Garland's (Ex Machina, Annihilation) latest horror film, Men, will be shown by the Olympic Film Society at the Capitol Theater (206 5th Ave SE in Olympia, WA; plays through Saturday, June 18).

 

The Clinton Street Theater (2522 SE Clinton St in Portland, OR) will show The Rocky Horror Picture Show in a special screening for virgins tonight at midnight.  

 

Sunday, June 12

The PAMCUT Michelle Yeoh Mini-Fest continues today at noon with a newly restored version of Johnnie To's crazy mix of superheroes and supernatural evils The Heroic Trio, starring Yeoh, Maggie Cheung and Anita Mui.  The screening takes place at the Portland Art Museum Whitsell Auditorium (1219 SW Park Ave in Portland, OR).  The film is in Cantonese with English subtitles.  

 

The PAMCUT Michelle Yeoh Mini-Fest concludes today at 3 pm with a newly restored version of Executioners,  the sequel to The Heroic Trio.  The screening takes place at the Portland Art Museum Whitsell Auditorium (1219 SW Park Ave in Portland, OR).  The film is in Cantonese with English subtitles.  

The Animayhem Series at the Hollywood Theatre (4122 NE Sandy Blvd in Porrtland, OR) will screen the cult classic Vampire Hunter D tonight at 7:30 pm.

Fathom Events brings the first of the "Grande Dame Guignol" films, What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, back to the big screen for it's 60th anniversary today and on Wednesday, June 15.  Follow the link to find a theater near you showing the film. 

Tuesday, June 14

Burlynomicon-A Darkly Decadent Burlesque Revue returns to The Coffin Club (421 SE Grand in Portland, OR) tonight for another spellbinding show.  Doors open at 7 pm, the show starts at 8 pm.  Advance tickets are recommended for this 21 and older event.

 

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022)

 

I feel as if Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is living up to my worst fears for the MCU after Disney+ took control.  First, it became obvious that one had to keep up with the slew of programs offered only by the streaming service.  And it ends up making the MCU less focused on telling a cinematic story, leaving the film collapses under the weight of such expectations and becomes a mindless mess of CGI excess.

The story follows Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) as he tries to save America Chavez  (Xochitl Gomez) from a demon, while the two attempt to retrieve a mystic book surrounded by yellow light (so it has to be good).  But things go south and Strange decides he has to kill Chavez to keep her power from the demon.  That doesn't end well either, revealing it to be a dream Strange awakens from in the current universe.  Yeah, it appears dreams are only you experiencing something happening in another part of the multiverse.  Hey, I didn't write it.  Just go with it.

Strange is attending the wedding of his ex, Christine Palmer (Rachel McAdams), but his mourning her decision to be with someone else is cut short as Chavez (and the corpse of the other universes Dr. Strange) arrives in the MCU universe, followed by a multi-tentacled monstrosity (called Shuma-Gorath in the comics, but unnamed in the movie, due to rights issues with the copyright owners Heroic Signatures).  Strange and Wong (Benedict Wong) defeat the creature and discover Chavez is being chased because of her ability to travel through through the multiverse.  And she is the only one able to do so, as she doesn't dream.  Strange and Wong vow to protect her and, as expected, mayhem ensues.  Lots of CGI mayhem. 

Okay, what have the CGI staff have in store for us now?

You might notice I haven't talked abut the villain yet, as that will involve spoilers.  So, let me take a few paragraphs to discuss how this film failed before the infamous spoiler warning.

The film is directed by Sam Raimi, who needs no introduction to most genre fans.  His Evil Dead trilogy, and the Starz series, as well as the first three Spider-Man films show he's a talented director.  And all his trademark camera work is on display here, working well within the story during the non-CGI moments.  And, of course, Bruce Campbell does show up, so keep your eyes open.  His cameo is pretty funny, and harkens back to his work on the Evil Dead series.  

But while a bit of Raimi's Evil Dead homages are fine, he went into overdrive at some point, lifting sound cues lifted from the series.  Raimi's sweeping POV camera, moving and hiding like a Deadite stalking its prey is to be expected.  It's part homage, part Raimi's style.  But inserting sound effects from Evil Dead into a superhero film feels like too much fan service, and doesn't serve the story.  It took me out of the story playing on screen, and reminded me of the classic movies.

I suspect the inclusion was because, as the promotional buzz proclaimed, this is the first Marvel horror film.  And I'm sure everyone involved with the film figured what better way to proclaim it's horror roots than tying it to the Evil Dead franchise as often as possible.  But the film is more a superhero movie with horror tones, or horror lite at best.  Yeah, the film includes some horrific deaths, a zombie and some demons, but it feels like the sound cues from Raimi's horror films were meant to give the impression of something horrific, rather that showing it on-screen.

 And no, this don't count as horrific.  Unless you want to talk about the CGI...

This is a shame, as Raimi showed he could deliver true PG-13 horror with Drag Me to Hell.  But I suspect Marvel/Disney didn't want to go full-bore horror, and would rather keep the mayhem from going full-blown horrific.

And that leads us to the on-screen violence, which is pretty brutal at times.  But, unlike other internet posts I've read, I'm not questioning how this movie received a PG-13 rating.  Instead, I'm going to say that was the rating the film deserved.

Look, I'm old, and I was growing up, a PG rating meant a film could contain nudity and pretty intense violence.  Hell, back then, even G rated films could contain some pretty adult moments (unless the film was from Disney, which seems pretty funny to me now).

I'm sorry, you never saw a movie in the 70's, did you?

PG-13 started out once filmmakers started walking on the razor's edge between PG and R.  If you didn't know, Raiders of the Lost Ark avoided an R-rating by covering Belloq's exploding head with super-imposted flames in post-production.  After Steven Spielberg lobbied the MPAA to create the PG-13 rating, filmmakers could bring more intense scenes to the screen, garner a teenager audience with the idea that the film is too intense for kids, and avoid upsetting parents concerned about their children seeing gremlins explode in a microwave. 

But, now PG movies mean fart jokes, and PG-13 has morphed into films involving intense scenes of violence without any bloodshed.  This Doctor Strange movie is a reminder of what PG-13 movies were, not what they've become.  It contains zombies, possession, and some pretty gruesome, though mildly bloody, deaths.  It's not meant for young children and could scare a lot of them.  And it's no surprise Raimi is responsible for it, as his Drag Me to Hell pushed the PG-13 boundaries back in 2009.  

And yes, I mentioned earlier that Raimi seemed reigned in by Disney, and I'll stand by that.  The horror in this film is more old-school PG than a PG-13 that need to be re-edited to drop it from an R-rating.

Okay, enough that rant, let's get back to the movie and how the villain of the film really doesn't work.  For that, I need to issue a big SPOILER WARNING.  So, if you haven't seen the film, and avoided the reveal online, skip ahead two paragraphs and DO NOT look at the next picture.

Okay, last chance....

Who's been screwing up the multiverse?

It was Wanda Maximoff all along.

It's revealed within the first 30 minutes of the film that Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) is chasing Chavez throughout the multiverse, using various monsters to do her bidding, as she wants to rob the girl of her power and skip across the multiverse looking for a way to reunite with her sons, created in the miniseries WandaVision.  Corrupted by the Darkhold, which she took from Agatha Harkness at the end of the Disney+ series, Wanda is now willing to destroy the multiverse to spend time with the children she created in Westview.

And I'm fine with that as a motivation moving Wanda from hero to villain.  But it's never fully explained, and she never talks about reuniting with Vision, which was the entire plot of the series.  WandaVision ends with her in isolation, with Wanda brewing tea while her Scarlet Witch persona is studying the Darkhold.  Sure, Agatha said Wanda was destined to destroy the world, but the filmmakers needed to include a brief moment showing her embracing that prophecy, rather than making it a surprise reveal so early in the film.  And the movie needed to include why Vision wasn't around, other than Paul Bettany might not have wanted to come back, though his answers to the press aren't very clear.  Don't know if that's true or not, but I'm just putting it out there.

Okay, END OF SPOILERS.  Welcome back.

 

 

I'm not saying the film is all bad.  The acting is, as expected, solid.  Everyone is giving it their all, and it shows.  Some of the CGI is impressive, but overused at times.  I know it's cheaper, for some reason, to make a CGI zombie.  But I suspect Marvel could have made a better zombie with more practical, and less CGI effects, than what we got in the final act of this film.

But I will say, the CGI monsters are REALLY good.  Zombies, not so much.

But for all the effort put into this film, it lands flat.  It's just more of the same Marvel has dealt out since the beginning of the MCU.  But over a decade ago, that wasn't bad.  CGI brought to life character abilities that no effects crew could translate to screen convincingly before then.  And the idea of a series of movies leading to an epic conclusion was novel and exciting. 

And that is how the current crop of Marvel movies fail.  Starting with The Incredible Hulk, Marvel started laying out the creation of the Avengers.  Regardless of how well the continuity was followed in the subsequent films, we knew what was building.  And once The Avengers came out, the reveal of Thanos gave the audience a true threat.  

Now, you have to deal with streaming episodes and internet fan theories to try and figure out what's going to happen.  And, given the idea that the MCU might be including the Netflix series into the mix, it leads to frustration as to why one needs to become invested in a film series that seems to have no clear direction.

And yes, I'm going on another rant.  As I mentioned earlier, I told friends that, once Disney+ announced all the series planned for the service, if you didn't subscribe, you'd end up not knowing the full story behind the events of the film.  And while some expository dialog is added to catch up unsubscribed viewers, it's pretty annoying Marvel is turning it's cinematic universe to a multi-comic event.  The idea that you need to read the latest issue of a comic you don't follow, or else you're at a loss concerning the entire story, drove me out of comics decades ago.  And I suspect it will drive mainstream audiences away from the MCU.  Time will tell if the strategy pays off or not.  

Still, it's not an effective way to run a film franchise, and the latest Doctor Strange movie proves it.  No matter how talented the actors and filmmakers are, you need to follow your past success, not try to augment it with additional content that will force your audience to spend additional money to follow where the story is going.  Unfortunately, Disney/Marvel seem happy to repeat the mistakes of the 90s comic crash in their current cinematic universe.

Look, we're standing in an alley, and have a moment to develop your character, America.

Too bad the effects house won't give us much time.