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198
C+ With one bong hit and two indecisive individuals, 198 is a 20-minute short of noncommittal talk between a girl who's just received a marriage proposal and her confidant. Her lover popped the question using a deck of cards, but now all the cards are in the would-be fiancee's hand as she struggles with the "you love me more than I love you" problem. Set in a bowling alley, the question of whether she can nab a spare to achieve the perfect 200 is actually more interesting. She settles for a score of 198, and we have to settle for a film that contemplates marriage over bowling. NR. AMY WOLFE. NW Film Center's Whitsell Auditorium. 8:30 pm Saturday, Nov. 14.
The 33
D Ripped from the headlines! In 2010, a cave-in at a Chilean mine left 33 men (the 33!) trapped 2,000 feet below the surface of a mountain for 69 days, before all were rescued. Now, just five years later, The 33 turns that amazing story into a dreary pile of clichés. Antonio Banderas stars as "Super" Mario Sepúlveda, the leader of the miners. He and 32 other actors who looked sufficiently Chilean struggle through a series of disaster-movie tropes such as "evil guy ignores obvious signs of danger," "everybody gives up but then one person refuses to give up" and "rescued man hugs baby." The film's 127 minutes crawl by as if designed to mimic the boredom and hopelessness the miners felt. Save your money and just watch YouTube videos of the real thing, which are 100 times more engaging. PG-13. ALEX FALCONE. Cedar Hills, Eastport, Clackamas, Cornelius, Oak Grove, Cinema 99, Bridgeport, Division, Evergreen, Hilltop, Lloyd Center, Movies on TV, Pioneer Place, Sherwood, Tigard, Wilsonville.
Arresting Power
B- That uncomfortable feeling one gets when noticing this city's less flattering, gentrifying angles won't prepare the average Portlander for the nausea this film induces. Arresting Power highlights the deaths of unarmed African-Americans at the hands of the Portland Police Bureau, including Aaron Campbell, Kendra James and many names new and old Portlanders alike have never heard. However powerful the content, the makeshift sets for interviews with subjects have inconsistent lighting and sound, taking away from the impact of these shocking scenarios. The footage of 1970s Portland is one of the film's strongest aspects, showing rallies at City Hall and conversations in Black Panther and PSU student union meetings about the rise of police brutality. Although the documentary itself lacks any climax or flow to move viewers through the horrifying testimonials, filmmakers Jodi Darby, Julie Perini and Erin Yanke leave a lasting impression with scratched footage of places where a violent or deadly encounters with police occurred. They physically scraped the 16 mm film itself, creating a battered and bruised appearance onscreen, thus "transferring textures of these places onto the film." NR. LAUREN TERRY. NW Film Center's Whitsell Auditorium. 3 pm Friday, Nov. 13.
Birds of Neptune
C+ Birds of Neptune will have its Northwest premiere as the opening narrative film for this week's Northwest Filmmakers' Festival. Caught somewhere between the creepy dreaminess of Robert Altman's 3 Women and the claustrophobic hell of Ingmar Bergman's midcareer chamber films, this drama by Steven Richter is an odd, stilted affair that never quite finds its footing. Molly Elizabeth Parker and Britt Harris star as Mona and Rachel, sisters whose intense and hermetic bond gets stretched to its breaking point when Zach (Kurt Conroyd), a stand-in for ostensibly nice creeps everywhere, inserts himself into their damaged dynamic as a manipulative father-lover-savior figure. Richter brings Zach's nastiness to life in sharp, unsettling ways, but he doesn't seem to know how to handle the sisters. Mona and Rachel are more like mood pieces than people, and the slow drift of their shared sadness isn't quite enough to make audiences ache the way Birds of Neptune wants them to. NR. CHRIS STAMM. NW Film Center's Whitsell Auditorium. 8:30 pm Monday, Nov. 16.
The Curio
C Director Dicky Dahl's memoir about a man dubbed "Curio" follows a character who's retired in every sense of the word. Amid his failed marriage, tired film career and hunger for adventure, the walking midlife crisis makes his way to Portland for a stereotypical industry job and "there's more to life" talk. The film gives stunning views of such Oregon staples as Cannon Beach, and we glimpse almost every bridge in Portland as the beanie-wearing baby boomer commutes by bike across them. This is old-school Portland with no mention of the tech-industry takeover. With a snail-paced narrative, The Curio struggles to tell a real story, instead getting lost in numerous scenes involving deep bar talks and heavy drinking that don't amount to anything. Is the Curio really out for adventure, or is he just here to become a barista and chill—he actually does interview for a barista job, then he ends up in a forest wearing a onesie. NR. AMY WOLFE. NW Film Center's Whitsell Auditorium. 8:30 pm Saturday, Nov. 14.
Death on a Rock
B- Shit happens, and Death on a Rock is all about dealing. Family, love, body and death—the film mines all these deep themes, pointing out that imperfection is the only uncompromising character. The film's action is mainly our young protagonist driving herself to and from stints in a hospital bed, where friends visit with wheatgrass shots meant to cheer her. Instead, she is perpetually depressed, lusting after her life before this mysterious, chronic affliction. We're given pieces of plot, but this is film as art. Writer and director Scott Ballard's many years behind a camera show onscreen in the film's montages of picturesque shots—wheat in a field, sun shimmering on the water, a solitary car driving far. These are interspersed with disorienting tilt-shift scenes—our protagonist is on a rowboat, in a hospital gown. How did she get there? Where will she go next? All the pieces of plot are beautiful, but they're not compelling enough for us to care about how they come together. NR. TED JAMISON. NW Film Center's Whitsell Auditorium. 8:45 pm Tuesday, Nov. 17.
Direct Route
C+ Following a blind woman going about her days and reminiscing with her daughter over the phone, this film combines widescreen shots of Oregon landscapes with the main character's memories from her life before losing her vision. We listen to her and her daughter revisit family camping trips to North Bend and fishing in Coos Bay, while crisp footage of familiar coastlines and forested highways fills the screen. Scenes alternate between phone conversations and quiet moments observing the blind woman at home, typing on a thunderous typewriter and selecting the next day's outfit from her closet. But in spite of director Pam Minty's eye for nostalgic Oregon imagery and the relatable dynamic between the main character and her daughter, the film would be more powerful if there were more of a story. In the end, one gets the sensation of sitting in the backseat while one's mom talks on her cellphone all the way out Highway 6. NR. LAUREN TERRY. NW Film Center's Whitsell Auditorium. 5 pm Friday, Nov. 13.
Make Mine Country
B Ian Berry not only brings some catchy country tunes but history lessons too in this musical flick about a family in the Caribbean as they encounter 'Merican culture. A U.S. airbase built in St. Lucia in the 1940s brought the region Stateside culture and country music, and though the airbase is long gone, this film proves that tunes stick harder. The Caribbean natives still harbor a strong love for country music—local DJ Watts constantly plays the whiskey-worded, sad songs that country fans know so well. With a little unknown history and some twang, this movie is a light educational romp through two types of countries. NR. AMY WOLFE. Skype Live Studio, 1210 SW 6th Ave. 7 pm Tuesday, Nov. 17. Tickets at nwfilm.org.
My All-American
In this good ol', 'Merican sports spirit booster, underdog Freddie Steinmark dreams only of football. After luck, sweat and a drill sergeant dad get him on the University of Texas Longhorns, Steinmark spearheads a successful season under coach Darrell Royal (Aaron Eckhart). But wait, there's even more drama after he walks off the turf. Screened after deadline. See wweek.com for Amy Wolfe's review. PG. Eastport, Clackamas, Cinema 99, Bridgeport, City Center, Division, Evergreen, Hilltop, Lloyd Center, Movies on TV, Sherwood, Tigard, Wilsonville.
Sir Doug and the Geniune Texas Comic Groove
C Almost every shot of Doug Sahm shows him wearing the cap of a different baseball team. It's an interesting detail, one of a number of visual metaphors for the cult musician who could've saved this documentary a lot of hot air—because that's what it amounts to. Once upon a time, Doug was part of Bob Dylan's favorite band, the Sir Douglas Quintet. Described as a generational Texas talent whose artistic wanderlust keeps true fame at bay, the man himself is largely absent from the film. Sir Doug's son is responsible for describing the subject's childhood secondhand, and we see musician after musician dishing praise for the so-called "King of Texas." With so much telling and so little showing, however, it's hard to call this much more than a cinematic love letter. NR. ERIC MILLMAN. Hollywood.
Voyagers Without Trace
D In 1938, two French newlyweds and their close friend set out to be the first to kayak the Colorado and Green rivers. They packed the best camera gear available, color 16 mm film, and lots of beer. Now, 77 years later, filmmaker Ian McCluskey tries to recapture their spirit of adventure. With two recently engaged kayak instructors, a small crew and funding from 156 Kickstarter backers (plus lots of beer), McCluskey retraced the journey. His documentary, which stole its title from what the French trio named themselves, leaves you with very little when all is said and done. The director tries to frame this as the sort of story great adventure novels are written about, but instead just tells the story of a really expensive kayaking trip he got 156 other people to pay for. NR. ANTHONY LOPEZ. NW Film Center's Whitsell Auditorium. 8 pm Sunday, Nov. 15.
Welcome to the Circus
A The Palestinian Circus School isn't about locals escaping a miserable village to make it in the big city. The students are well-rounded performers who can juggle, flip through the air, mime—and they're about to be joined by the Lido circus school of Toulouse for a tour of the Palestinian territories. Director and cinematographer Courtney Coulson zooms in on the spinning and twirling bodies in the practice gym, so everyone loses their ethnic identities in the jumble of limbs. The students' eager anticipation of the performances builds tension as they reach 4 am on the final night of rehearsals, sweating the routines and the military checkpoints that may stop them at any point along the way. In what becomes a deeper portrait of the unpredictable day-to-day for people in the West Bank, the circus becomes more than a way to create nonviolent art that makes people laugh. It gives the Palestinian students a chance to connect with the world in a way that separates their people from their nation's political conflict. NR. LAUREN TERRY. Northwest Film Center's Whitsell Auditorium. 1:30 pm Saturday, Nov. 14.
What Our Fathers Did: A Nazi Legacy
B- How do you cope with knowing your father was an architect of evil? In this anguish-inducing documentary, two men struggle with that question in very different ways. The grandson of a World War II survivor tours his family's Ukrainian hometown with two children of the men responsible for its decimation. One Nazi's son, Niklas Frank, is profoundly repentant for his father's actions, but another Nazi's son, Horst von Wächter, is in complete denial. When the three men visit an auditorium where the elder Frank condemned thousands to death under the elder von Wächter's jurisdiction, the men beg ad nauseum for Horst to incriminate the memory of his father. It forces you again and again to examine your own capacity for mercy, at the risk of some serious schadenfreude. NR. ERIC MILLMAN. Living Room Theaters.
Still showing
Ant-Man
B+ If it were a comic book, it wouldn't be the kind you put in a Mylar bag. It'd be one that you read with greasy fingers and childlike relish. PG-13. AP KRYZA. Academy, Vancouver, Valley.
The Assassin
B- Chinese director Hou Hsiao-Hsien's The Assassin is a bizarre, surreal film. It follows a mysterious female assassin tasked with killing her royal cousin in ninth-century China, yet the movie takes great pains not to be an action flick. Characters flit in and out of the narrative with seemingly little consequence. It is a film packed with a mythos, sometimes overexplained and sometimes very vague. Most importantly, it's a work of painterly beauty, with the Chinese countryside captured in long, inconsequential shots that linger on flickering flames or peonies swaying in the breeze. NR. AP KRYZA. Hollywood, Fox Tower.
Black Mass
A- Much like the city's other exports, Boston's gangster flicks vary in quality from genre-shattering genius (The Departed, most '90s bands, the people who invented America) to mind-numbing pantomimes of misogyny (The Boondock Saints, Boston sports fans, Mark Wahlberg). Scott Cooper's Black Mass is the latest cinematic try. It tells the story of Boston's most notorious criminal, James "Whitey" Bulger (Johnny Depp) and the deal he made with the FBI's John Connolly (Joel Edgerton) that ensured he could do whatever he wanted for decades. R. JAMES HELMSWORTH. Academy, Hollywood, Kennedy School, Laurelhurst, Fox Tower, Valley.
Bridge of Spies
B- Steven Spielberg was born to convey viewers through weird and wonderful alternate realities. Even though history is nearly as illusory as a dinosaur theme park, the director's gift just doesn't shine as brightly when he contends with humanity's past. Bridge of Spies, starring Tom Hanks as an insurance lawyer recruited by the U.S. government to negotiate a spy-for-spy trade with the Soviet Union, benefits from a caustic screenplay by the Coen brothers. While Spielberg is pretty good even when he's on auto-pilot, there is little here that doesn't feel perfunctory. PG-13. CHRIS STAMM. Cedar Hills, Eastport, Clackamas, Mill Plain, Living Room Theaters, Oak Grove, Cinema 99, Bridgeport, City Center, Division, Evergreen, Hilltop, Lloyd Center, Movies on TV, Sherwood, Tigard, Wilsonville.
Burnt
Everyone is always in the kitchen, and you'd think one crowded with Bradley Cooper, Sienna Miller, Emma Thompson and Uma Thurman (Uma!) would be on fire. Cooper is bad-boy chef Adam Jones, who's looking for another ego trip, aka Michelin star. R. Cedar Hills, Eastport, Clackamas, Mill Plain, Cornelius, Oak Grove, Cinema 99, Bridgeport, City Center, Division, Evergreen, Fox Tower, Hilltop, Lloyd Center, Movies on TV, Sherwood, Tigard, Wilsonville.
Crimson Peak
B+ There are all manner of ghosts in this gorgeous, tragic tale, but to call it a horror film is to completely mislabel Guillermo del Toro's meticulously crafted, old-fashioned tale of twisted souls and timeless longing. Scary isn't really the point. The things that go bump in the night are not nearly so terrifying as the people who walk the earth, and the film is so immersive and gorgeous that the plot is secondary. The film is a little too slow-moving for those expecting something more jolty and probably a little too obvious for those looking for a deep mystery. While it's not del Toro's most compelling work, it's very surely his most beautiful. R. AP KRYZA. Eastport, Clackamas, Bridgeport, City Center, Division, Evergreen, Lloyd Center, Movies on TV, Pioneer Place.
Dying to Know
C Director Gay Dillingham's debut feature traces the lifelong friendship forged between the coolest professors ever thrown out of Harvard's psychology department: Timothy Leary and Richard Alpert (better known as Ram Dass). They urge their countrymen to experiment with psychedelics and take up yoga, and effectively ruin dorm room discourse. Breezing through generational touchstones about Nixon and the early days of LSD, the film's anecdotes are charming. NR. JAY HORTON. Cinema 21.
Everest
B+ In 1996, a stranded group of climbers, including New Zealand mountaineer Rob Hall (Jason Clarke) and writer Jon Krakauer (Michael Kelly), met a massive storm at the top of the world. Today's CGI and 3-D technology puts the viewer on the mountain in a visceral way. PG-13. LAUREN TERRY. Eastport, Fox Tower, Tigard.
Goodnight Mommy
B+ There's a twist at the cold heart of German directors Severin Fiala and Veronika Franz's Goodnight Mommy that most viewers will probably see coming, but that doesn't kill any of the tension in this deeply troubling horror show. Set in an isolated lake house, the film centers on twin brothers Lukas and Elias, whose mother (Susanne Wuest) comes home from facial reconstruction surgery with a head wrapped in bandages and a newfound malevolence toward her sons. R. AP KRYZA. Academy, Cinema 21, Laurelhurst.
Goosebumps
A- It's easy to be skeptical about a 2015 Goosebumps film in 3-D. Jack Black plays R.L. Stine, who joins forces with a couple of cute kids to fight every monster he's ever written about and save the town. PG. ALEX FALCONE. Cedar Hills, Eastport, Clackamas, Cornelius, Oak Grove, Cinema 99, Bridgeport, City Center, Division, Evergreen, Hilltop, Lloyd Center, Movies on TV, Sherwood, Tigard, Wilsonville.
Grandma
C+ Like a feminist companion piece to last year's Bill Murray feature St. Vincent, Paul Weitz's Grandma tells the tale of Elle (Lily Tomlin), who takes her neglected granddaughter (Julia Garner) under her wing when the teenager comes asking for money for an abortion. R. AP KRYZA. Fox Tower.
Hotel Transylvania 2
Adam Sandler's hotel is flourishing. PG. Cedar Hills, Eastport, Clackamas, Forest Theatre, Mt. Hood, Cinema 99, Bridgeport, City Center, Division, Evergreen, Hilltop, Movies on TV, Pioneer Place, Sherwood, Tigard, Wilsonville.
The Intern
B+ As an active widower and retiree in need of something to keep himself busy, Ben (Robert De Niro) applies to a senior internship program at "About the Fit," a Topshop-like online clothing site founded by the dedicated Jules Ostin (Anne Hathaway). PG-13. LAUREN TERRY. Cedar Hills, Clackamas, Lake Theater, Living Room Theaters, Bridgeport, City Center, Division, Evergreen.
The Keeping Room
B Within the first minute of The Keeping Room, three people get killed for no discernible reason, even before there's any dialogue. That efficiently sets the tone for what is a sparse, brutal movie set in the twilight days of the Civil War. R. ALEX FALCONE. Living Room Theaters.
Labyrinth of Lies
B Alexander Fehling (Inglourious Basterds) is Johann Radmann, a plucky young prosecutor who uses his office to investigate—and eventually charge—22 men in German criminal court for their actions during the war. This was a first in the country's history. Filmmaker Giulio Ricciarelli's debut features a gripping story, told through nostalgic shots of men in Mad Men-style suits, debating heavy matters in lofty courtrooms, riding pastel Vespas through the countryside or pacing stories-tall archive rooms. The film's only real flaw is being a bit too on-the-nose (Radmann carries a note from his dad telling him to "always do the right thing"). PG-13. ALEX FALCONE. Cinema 21.
The Last Witch Hunter
D- The Last Witch Hunter attempts a lot of twists and turns, and it all ends up rating lower than Vin Diesel's voice. Diesel grunts and groans as Kaulder, an immortal witch hunter fighting to save civilization. The rare sparks of talent here are Michael Caine as an elderly priest and Elijah Wood, who stays wide-eyed, airy and Frodo Baggins-like for the entire movie. The greatest disappointment of all is that the ending promises an unfortunate sequel. That comes off like a threat. PG-13. AMY WOLFE. Cedar Hills, Eastport, Clackamas, Forest Theatre, Oak Grove, Cinema 99, Bridgeport, City Center, Division, Evergreen, Hilltop, Lloyd Center, Movies on TV, Sherwood, Tigard, Wilsonville.
The Martian
B- Take the buzz surrounding The Martian with a boulder of salt. It's just a pretty good sci-fi yarn based on Andy Weir's book that stumbles on its own ambition. When a massive storm hits the Martian exploration project and Watney's team leaves him for dead, the skilled botanist realizes that the only way to escape starvation and space madness is to "science the shit" out of his situation. As always, Scott's direction is spot-on. PG-13. AP KRYZA. Cedar Hills, Eastport, Clackamas, Mill Plain, Cornelius, Oak Grove, Cinema 99, Bridgeport, City Center, Division, Evergreen, Hilltop, Lloyd Center, Movies on TV, Pioneer Place, Sherwood, Tigard, Wilsonville.
Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials
C Still runnin'. PG-13. ALEX FALCONE. Clackamas, Movies on TV.
Meet the Patels
B- Ravi Patel has American dreams of finding his soulmate. PG. LAUREN TERRY. Fox Tower.
Miss You Already
C You're not allowed to openly dislike a movie about cancer. So instead, I will provide a more nuanced perspective by playing the game of yay/boo. Drew Barrymore and Toni Collette are super-duper best friends: Yay! Toni has cancer: Boo. Toni and Drew go on plenty of best-friend adventures while dealing with Toni's cancer, and they meet funny, interesting people: Yay! Everybody in the movie sounds exactly the same—women, men, adults, children, doctors, bartenders and wig makers all talk like they're the same people: Boo. It's nice to get a movie about female friendship because those are rare, and Toni plays an interesting, multidimensional person: Yay! But this platonic comedy has one-dimensional, expendable male characters: Boo. Sometimes it's funny: Yay! Sometimes it's gross—needles going into arms, vomit going into salad bowls, and a baby going out of Drew Barrymore: Boo. It's sad: Yay? I give it a C grade: Boo. That's still passing: Yay! PG-13. ALEX FALCONE. Clackamas, Living Room Theaters, Bridgeport.
Once I Was a Beehive
D Mean Girls meets Mormonism in this family-friendly movie about keeping the faith. Once I Was a Beehive follows angst-filled 16-year-old Lane (Paris Warner), who's coping with the death of her father and that her mother has remarried a Mormon. NR. AMY WOLFE. Movies on TV.
Our Brand Is Crisis
B- This film is based loosely on a 2005 documentary, which was based on a 2002 Bolivian presidential election. In a way it's triple-distilled truth, but mostly it feels like an over-interpreted copy of a copy of a copy. The acting and some decently funny moments (like a llama getting hit by a car, which I felt guilty for laughing at) mask the feeling of being force-fed idealism well. But as with all force-feeding, I still ended up feeling sick to my stomach when it was over. R. ALEX FALCONE. Eastport, Clackamas, Cornelius, Living Room Theaters, Oak Grove, Cinema 99, Bridgeport, City Center, Division, Evergreen, Hilltop, Lloyd Center, Movies on TV, Sherwood, Tigard, Wilsonville.
Pan
Director Joe Wright (Atonement, Hanna) remakes the iconic children's story as a modern-day action flick with Hugh Jackman and Rooney Mara. Screened after deadline. PG. Cedar Hills, Eastport, Clackamas, Bridgeport, Division, Movies on TV.
Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension
B+ Eight years ago, Jason Blum's cheapo horror empire began with a $15,000 festival filler. The sixth and final installment of his "found footage"-fueled franchise, Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension, arrives bearing the same tricks as its predecessors. Alas, the effects may suffer from first-run showings at Living Room Theaters and the Avalon Theatre since Regal Cinemas—like many chains—was frightened off by the producer's unholy alliance with an all-too-apropos threat: video on demand. R. JAY HORTON. Avalon, Cornelius, Forest Theatre, Oak Grove.
The Peanuts Movie
A bald child named Charlie battles questionable fashion choices, impossible odds and burgeoning hormones. G. Bagdad, Cedar Hills, Eastport, Clackamas, Mill Plain, Cornelius, Lake Theater, Milwaukie, Oak Grove, Cinema 99, Bridgeport, City Center, Division, Evergreen, Hilltop, Lloyd Center, Movies on TV, Pioneer Place, Sherwood, Tigard, Wilsonville, St. Johns Theater.
Rock the Kasbah
C- I love a good fish-out-of-water story, but why do all the fish have to be old white guys? In Rock the Kasbah, Bill Murray plays a has-been—or perhaps never-was—rock manager named Richie Lanz, whose favorite client (the insufferable Zooey Deschanel) finds her way onto a USO tour of the war-torn Middle East. This should perfectly set the stage for Murray to improvise his way through the film without a clumsy plot to keep him in check, as he did during his late-career peak (Lost in Translation, Broken Flowers). But director Barry Levinson has other ideas—including armed showdowns, a hooker with a heart of gold (Kate Hudson), and mansplaining the world to angry Arabs. R. CASEY JARMAN. Cedar Hills, Eastport, Clackamas, Forest Theatre, Bridgeport, City Center, Division, Evergreen, Fox Tower, Hilltop, Lloyd Center, Movies on TV, Sherwood, Tigard, Wilsonville.
Room
B+ In this riveting adaptation of Emma Donoghue's novel, an abducted woman must raise her son in a confined space, To maintain a stimulating setting, Ma (Brie Larson) creates a social environment with anthropomorphized characters named Bed and Lamp. R. LAUREN TERRY. Fox Tower, Hollywood.
Sicario
A Emily Blunt (The Devil Wears Prada) is a talented FBI agent specially recruited into a task force fighting a brutal war against Mexican drug cartels. She spends the whole movie confused and on edge while taking orders from the mysterious Benicio Del Toro (Snatch), who manages to act without ever fully opening his eyes or mouth. As the real mission of the task force slowly takes shape, so do beautiful sweeping helicopter shots of the border zone and heartbreaking vignettes of all the people affected by drug war. R. ALEX FALCONE. Cedar Hills, Eastport, Clackamas, Hollywood Theatre, Bridgeport, Division, Evergreen, Fox Tower, Movies on TV.
Spectre
C+ How do you like your James Bond? Brooding and brutal, or breezily throwing out quips? Should he drink craft cocktails or Heineken? Spectre—the 26th Bond film—has it all, and more. The one thing it doesn't have is the ability to leave a lasting impression. We walk out of the theater neither shaken nor stirred. Following the impressive Skyfall, director Sam Mendes returns to the director's chair. Buildings crumble, helicopters do barrel rolls, and Daniel Craig nonchalantly causes millions in property damage. But from the minute Sam Smith's grating theme music starts, the movie slides downhill. Most disappointing is Christoph Waltz—so perfect in Inglourious Basterds and Django Unchained—who just sneers, cackles and hunches. Sure, there's fun to be had—Bond drives a tricked-out ride through Rome's narrow streets and engages in an Alpine plane chase before the anticlimactic conclusion (extremely uncommon for the series) lands with a dull thud. Considering everybody who's involved in Spectre, the very last reaction anybody expected was "meh." PG-13. AP KRYZA. Cedar Hills, Eastport, Clackamas, CineMagic, Mill Plain, Cornelius, Edgefield, Milwaukie, Moreland, Oak Grove, Cinema 99, Bridgeport, City Center, Division, Evergreen, Hilltop, Lloyd Center, Movies on TV, Pioneer Place, Sherwood, Tigard, Wilsonville, Roseway, St. Johns Cinemas.
Steve Jobs
B This is the more high-profile and undoubtedly better of the two movies, with Danny Boyle at the helm and Michael Fassbender (12 Years a Slave) in the lead role instead of Ashton Kutcher (Dude, Where's My Car?). Never seeming quite human, Fassbender's Jobs oscillates between enthusiasm for his own ideas and outrage that the world can't keep up with him, in exactly the way that people close to the genius described him. R. ALEX FALCONE. Fox Tower.
Trainwreck
C Amy Schumer is the absolute tops, but Trainwreck isn't worth the ticket price. R. ALEX FALCONE. Academy, Kennedy School, Laurelhurst, Valley.
Truth
B- What's not to like about a movie helmed by the screenwriter of Zodiac, a movie with speedboat pacing, a frenetic Cate Blanchett and the subdued warmth of Robert Redford? Unfortunately, a lot. Just before the 2004 presidential election, 60 Minutes producer Mary Mapes and anchor Dan Rather exposed a potential controversy. When their sources proved unreliable, they chose to defend their conduct instead of facing up to their obvious errors. Vanderbilt tries to make heroes of Rather and Mapes, continuing an argument that should have ended long ago. R. ZACH MIDDLETON. Eastport, Clackamas, Bridgeport, City Center, Fox Tower, Movies on TV.
The Visit
B- M. Night Shyamalamadingdong has lost the luster of his early career, so it's no surprise he's making little $5 million found-footage horror movies. PG-13. ALEX FALCONE. Academy, Laurelhurst, Vancouver.
The Walk
B Pulling off a moving film about Phillipe Petit's walk on a tightrope between the Twin Towers sounds next to impossible. But for better or worse, director Robert Zemeckis has never been too concerned about what's possible. PG. CASEY JARMAN. Laurelhurst.
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