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The perfect soundtrack can be as essential as a strong main character. But music in film evolved at such a rapid clip that it's easy to take that for granted.
Film fans love to pinpoint the moment when popular music replaced "the score" (The Graduate, Midnight Cowboy, Mean Streets and Easy Rider are the keys), but it's rare to get a collection of films that revolutionized the movie-music game all on one roster.
Oddly, it's OMSI's Empirical that's bringing the thunder, offering up one of the best music-based film series in recent memory. Running in conjunction with the museum's current Guitar: The Instrument That Rocked the World exhibit, the Film + Music series includes documentaries, concert films and classic movies with ground-shaking soundtracks. The Empirical rocks a screen that makes IMAX look like a laptop and also has ass-rattling, concert-quality sound. Think of it as the NW Film Center's Reel Music Series, only bigger, louder and more broadly appealing. And there's beer.
The series starts with Glen Campbell: I'll Be Me—an Oscar-nominated doc about the country star's battle with Alzheimer's—paired with a talk by a neurology professor from Oregon Health & Science University. Because, science! Then it takes a raucous turn with two essential, music films: Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction—with a soundtrack that is arguably even more iconic than the film—and Martin Scorsese's The Last Waltz—an intimate look at the Band's final performance, with guests like Bob Dylan and Neil Young's coke booger. It also happens to be the best concert film of all time.
Gimp-supervised male rape might seem edgy for a theater known for nature docs. But the pairing of Waltz and Pulp Fiction is right on brand given OMSI's stellar recent programming, which has also included a sci-fi fest and horror films.
"You know our audience: It's families. But we didn't want to limit it," says OMSI's vice president of retail, Russ Repp, who programmed the series. "It's hard to find films that feature rock music that are sort of more PG-13. R-rated is more common."
This weekend is just the beginning. The series will feature everything from family fare like The Sound of Music and Grease (Nov. 22) to Purple Rain and Almost Famous (Nov. 18), The Blues Brothers (Nov. 20), Dazed & Confused (Nov. 21) and This Is Spinal Tap (Dec. 9). The concert films are slated to include Stop Making Sense (Nov. 19), Shine a Light (Nov. 22) and absolutely no Bieber.
"I've tried to broaden the programming, because I'd love to bring in concert films of some of the more recent bands. But there isn't as much out there as you might think," says Repp.
"There's some contemporary stuff out there, but it's like Justin Bieber. That wasn't really the kind of audience we were trying to appeal to."
Goddamned right. This is a film series in conjunction with a guitar exhibit. The gods of thunder demand that it rocks. But not even the most hardcore music fan could have predicted that the best place to catch a movie or a concert this month would be a science museum.
SEE IT: Music + Film is at OMSI's Empirical Theater. See OMSI.edu for full listings.
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Like any good rock opera, Hedwig and the Angry Inch deftly balances great music with deeper social themes. Unlike most rock operas, those themes have only gotten more essential. 5th Avenue Cinema. 7 & 9:30 pm Friday-Saturday, 3 pm Sunday, Nov. 6-8.
Department stores are already celebrating Christmas, so why the hell not go see the Bass/Rankin oddity Rudolph & Frosty's Christmas in July, a little-seem stop-motion non-classic made, presumably, because they had to do something with those little dolls. Clinton Street Theater. 7 pm Friday, Nov. 6.
Once again, the Hollywood is busting out its amazing 70mm gear, this time for a screening of the seminal Sam Peckinpah western The Wild Bunch, a film that redefined violence in cinema. 7 pm Friday-Sunday, Nov. 6-8.
Could Quentin Tarantino—circa 1993—have made a better version of his script for True Romance than Tony Scott.? Not likely. Mainly because he would have tried to cast himself as the comic-book nerd at the center of the coke-and-bullet-riddled story. Laurelhurst Theater. Friday-Thursday, Nov. 16-12.
Speaking of Tarantino, the Empirical isn't the only place showing Pulp Fiction this week. Why this isn't just a weekly thing is still beyond me. Academy Theater. Friday-Thursday, Nov. 16-12.
It's only been 25 years since Martin Scorsese's Goodfellas was almost completely shut out of the Oscars by Dances with Wolves. As a consolation prize, Goodfellas has to settle with being roundly considered one of the greatest films ever made. Dances with Wolves, meanwhile, will eternally be on sale at Walmart. Kiggins Theater. Opens Friday, Nov. 6.
Frederico Fellini's debut feature, marriage comedy The White Sheik, returns to screens courtesy of Wordstock. NW Film Center's Whitsell Auditorium. 7:30 pm Friday, Nov. 6.
It's hard to believe, but it's been a quarter century since what is essentially a kid-friendly remake of Straw Dogs—minus the graphic rape, but subbing in child neglect—became one of the most celebrated Christmas movies of all time. Happy anniversary, Home Alone. Century Clackamas Town Center. 2 & 7 pm Sunday, Nov. 8.
Wordstock presents Always for Pleasure, legendary documentarian Les Blank's glimpse of art and life in 1970s New Orleans. The film will be introduced by author Wendell Pierce. NW Film Center's Whitsell Auditorium. 7:30 pm Saturday, Nov. 7.
In 1980's Fist of the White Lotus, martial arts legend Gordon Liu's quest to avenge the destruction of the Shaolin Temple is interrupted by the white-bearded master Pai Mei… who Liu would go on to play in Kill Bill. Fun fact: Tarantino wanted to play the character himself. Thank god for Gordon Liu. Hollywood Theatre. 7:30 pm Tuesday, Nov. 10.
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