What To Watch in Portland's Indie Theaters July 27-Aug 2

The AP Film Studies column in on a break. But Bill Murray is here in force.

By AP Kryza

EDITOR'S NOTE: For this year's summer vacation from AP Film Studies, our intrepid columnist is celebrating the 25th anniversary of Point Break by subsisting on meatball sandwiches and Coronas while combing the sands of Cannon Beach (which doubled as Australia in the film) in search of stray tresses of Patrick Swayze's hair. Until he returns, here's what's playing in PDX's indie theaters.

Church of Film wraps its Queer Cinema run with Werner Schroeter's trippy, jarring Willow Springs, centered on a desert cult of murderous women. Clinton Street Theater. 8 pm Wednesday, July 27.

Were it not for The Big Lebowski, Bill Murray's Ernie McCracken in the Farrelly brothers' oft-overlooked Kingpin might have been the greatest movie character ever to grace a bowling alley. If there's a heaven, there's a crossover film starring John Turturro and Murray playing on a loop. Pix Pâtisserie. Dusk Wednesday, July 27.

Oh shit, look, it's Bill Murray again! In Meatballs, playing a camp counselor who's zany and fun and…wait, is it just me or is he also kiiinda rapey? And by kinda I mean a lot. Summer camp kinda sucks. Mission Theater. Opens Wednesday, July 27.

Four years before Do the Right Thing, Spike Lee helped launch the independent film movement—and his own reputation as masterful auteur provocateur—with his examination of polyamory and gender bias in She's Gotta Have It. Hotel deLuxe Rooftop. 7 pm Thursday, July 28.

Legendary synth/cosmic musician the Space Lady comes out of retirement to accompany "Science Is Fiction," the surrealist science-fiction films of French filmmaker Jean Painleve, at the final Mississippi Records Music & Film Series screening of the year. Also, in case you need reminding, there are a shitload of dispensaries down the street from the theater. Hollywood Theatre. 7:30 pm Thursday, July 28.

Flicks on the Bricks presents the still-glorious Disney classic Aladdin, ensuring yet another generation of kids will pretend to understand the Genie's Ed Sullivan and Jack Nicholson impressions. Pioneer Courthouse Square. Dusk Friday, July 29.

West Side Story is the latest classic to get the sing-along treatment. Mission Theater. Opens Friday, July 29.

A rare remake that tops the original, 1978's Invasion of the Body Snatchers is a landmark of paranoid cinema, and one of the most perfectly cynical horror films of all time. Laurelhurst Theater. July 29-Aug. 4.

With its acrobatic wire work, poetic storytelling and backdrop of folklore, wuxia pioneer King Hu's 1971 trailblazer A Touch of Zen laid the groundwork for everything from Crouching Tiger to The Matrix and martial-arts fantasy of the past 40 years. And it's still a breathtaking three hours of cinematic bliss. NW Film Center's Whitsell Auditorium. 7 pm Saturday, 4:30 pm Sunday, July 30-31.

The NW Film Center's retrospective of Bette Davis' and Joan Collins' respective films focuses on two of Davis' collaborations with William Wyler: 1940's dark drama The Letter (Sunday) and 1941's Shakespearean power struggle Little Foxes (Monday). NW Film Center's Whitsell Auditorium. 7 pm Sunday-Monday, July 31-Aug. 1.

The week of Bill Murray concludes with The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou, in which Murray does his damnedest to perk up the most Wes Anderson-y film that Wes Anderson ever Wes Andersoned. Cartopia. 9 pm Sunday, July 31.

Willamette Week

Willamette Week’s reporting has concrete impacts that change laws, force action from civic leaders, and drive compromised politicians from public office. Support WW's journalism today.