What to Watch This Week: A Zombie-Fighting Lovable Loser, Fritz Lang’s Only Rom-Com and a Sweaty, Chest-Baring Jeff Goldblum

The best old movies in theaters right now.

Catch an old favorite or watch something you've had on your list for a while now. Here are some of the best flicks revived across Portland screens right now.

Shaun of the Dead (2004)

Remember that 30-year-old deadbeat whose failure to launch forced his parents to get a judge to evict him? Now imagine that dude mustering the motivation to lead a battle against a zombie uprising (and to find a job and his own place to live). Shaun of the Dead shows the evolution of a lovable loser who fights flesh-eating animated corpses to get back in his girlfriend's good graces. Mission, Oct. 1-2.

Jurassic Park (1993)

Steven Spielberg broke ground with the special effects in this blockbuster about a theme park gone wrong. But the actors were just as memorable: Laura Dern as a heroic paleobotanist, Seinfeld's Newman as an unscrupulous employee brought down by dinosaur spit, and Jeff Goldblum in all of his chest-bearing glory during a big monologue. Clinton, Oct. 1.

Mulan (1998)

For a Disney cartoon, Mulan is surprisingly complex when it comes to gender identity and performance. The title character assumes a male persona to serve in the Chinese military and battles the Huns, making her the most badass princess since Beauty and the Beast's Belle. 5th Avenue, Sept. 28-30.

You and Me (1938)

Director Fritz Lang is best known for his vision of a technologically advanced, socially stratified dystopia in Metropolis. But he made one romantic comedy: You and Me. It was a box-office flop and Lang's least favorite work. But it's probably the only rom-com you'll see that's inspired by Brecht's Threepenny Opera. Hollywood, Sept. 24.

Clueless (1995)

The source material for this teen rom-com, Jane Austen's 1815 novel Emma, is a timeless classic, just like Cher's iconic plaid yellow blazer and skirt combo and Paul Rudd—who seemingly hasn't aged a day since this movie was shot. Mission, Sept. 27.

ALSO PLAYING:
Academy: Oldboy (2005), Sept. 26-27.

Empirical: Yellow Submarine (1968), Sept. 27-28.

Hollywood: Il Boom (1963), Sept. 26. Dark Breed (1996), Oct. 2.

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.