Gossip That Digs Your 'Stache.

RUBBER
By WW Culture Staff
  1. RUBBER HITS THE PIFF: The most intriguing addition to the 34th Portland International Film Festival: Grindhouse Film Festival curator Dan Halsted has been tapped to present four “PIFF After Dark” midnight movies at the Hollywood Theatre and Cinema 21 at 11:30 pm on weekends during the fest. Halsted, who is best known for his archival preservation of old genre film, is branching out into new genre film—though it’s hard to be sure what genre classifies Rubber, his first selection for PIFF: It’s an experimental French horror film about a telepathic killer tire that falls in love. The other PIFF After Dark films are slightly (but only slightly) more recognizable types: Outrage is a yakuza symphony of violence from director Takeshi Kitano; Mutant Girls Squad is a collaboration between the directors of The Machine Girl and Tokyo Gore Police, so naturally it’s about Japanese schoolgirls who grow tentacles and chainsaws out of their appendages; and The Revenant is a zombie-vampire comedy where the main zombie-vampire is a U.S. Army soldier killed in Iraq. Undead freedom isn’t free.
  1. CLASSICS ON FOOD STAMPS: The city of Portland wants to expose you to classical music and art. That is, if you’re a low-income Portlander. The city’s new “Music for All” program is a six-month deal that offers $5 symphony, opera and ballet tickets to anyone with an Oregon Trail card. Say thanks to the Regional Arts & Culture Council, Work for Art and All Classical 89.9 FM. Oregon Trail cardholders can find info on the ticket deal by visiting goclassicalpdx.org.
  1.  PORTLANDIA IS FOR THE DOGS: The Jan. 14 preview of Portlandia at the Hollywood Theatre did more than just give the city a sneak preview of how Carrie Brownstein would make fun of it for six weeks. The event, organized by Beer and Movie and Film Action Oregon, also raised $6,000 for the Oregon Humane Society, and another $6,000 for the Film Action Oregon and the Hollywood Theatre. That Brownstein is such a do-gooder.
  1.  BEARD BASH: Full-grown men with full-grown facial hair came from far and wide—from Florida to Eugene to right down the street—to participate in the West Coast Beard and Mustache Championships Sunday at Portland’s Crystal Ballroom. Some even wore flair to accompany their hair—one man dressed as Honest Abe, another in a gnome hat with a portable grass patch—as they competed in six different categories including Freestyle Mustache and Partial Beard. Justin Cate, of event organizer Stumptown Stash & Beard Collective, noted that the PDX competition was not affiliated with either the National or World Beard and Mustache Championships, but many of the participants will be traveling to compete in both of those events as well. Congrats to Redmond, Ore.’s, Paul De Leone, who won for his large “natural mustache.”

WWeek 2015

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