Beetlejuice, Blues Brothers, and a Really Famous Bridge: What to Watch in Portland's Repertory Cinemas May 13-19

By AP KRYZA

Also Showing:

The Joy's weekly Weird Wednesday series temporarily ditches schlocky sci-fi for a genuine silent classic in the form of the 1920, John Barrymore-starring Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Joy Cinema. 9:15 pm Wednesday, May 13.

 

We're not saying that you need to be high to enjoy Re-Run Theater's screening of 1979's spandex-straining reboot of Buck Rogers. But, well, you probably need to be high. Hollywood Theatre. 7:30 pm Wednesday, May 13.

 

Church of Film presents early works by legendary filmmaker Luis Bunuel, ranging from his silent surrealist period to the celebrated 1950 examination of poverty in Mexico City, Los Olivados. North Star Ballroom. 8 pm Wednesday, May 13.

 

Often overshadowed by the works of Sergio Leone, Giulio Petroni's grim 1966 revenge flick Death Rides a Pale Horse stands tall among the best spaghetti westerns, and it's got the Lee Van Cleef to prove it. 5th Avenue Cinema. 7:30 pm Friday, May 15.


A semi-autobiographical drama spanning from childhood to adulthood and across continents, Mexican director Carlos Reygadas' Post Tenebras Lux divided audiences when it premiered in 2012. Still, whether you find its mix of drama and hallucinogenic surrealism inspiring or pretentious, it's undeniably gorgeous. 5th Avenue Cinema. 7 and 9 pm Friday-Saturday and 3 pm Sunday, May 15-17.


Celebrating 35 years of rubber biscuits and aping black culture, The Blues Brothers' return to the multiplex finally affords us the opportunity to have the ultimate vehicular-mayhem double feature with Furious 7. Oddly, Jake and Elwood might just have Vin Diesel beat in terms of sheer volume of twisted metal. Century Clackamas Town Center. 2 pm Sunday, May 17.


The NW Film Center's excellent Nicholas Ray retrospective continues this weekend with the filmmaker's jet-black anti-noir In A Lonely Place (Friday-Saturday) and the Pendleton-set, Robert Mitchum-starring rodeo drama The Lusty Men (Saturday). NW Film Center's Whitsell Auditorium. Friday-Sunday, May 15-16. See NWFilm.org for full listings.


One of the first great World War II films, 1957's The Bridge on the River Kwai is everything you'd expect from an epic from the director of Doctor Zhivago and Lawrence of Arabia: sweeping, gorgeous, grandiose, exciting, long and sometimes boring in a way most film fans feel guilty for admitting. Laurelhurst Theater. Friday-Thursday, May 15-21.


With the next generation of Griswolds hitting Walley World in this summer's reboot, now's the perfect time to revisit the original National Lampoon's Vacation, which harks back to a time when Chevy Chase looks like he could feasibly score Christie Brinkley rather than just sort of eat her nonchalantly. Academy Theater. Friday-Thursday, May 15-21.


Back in the day, Tim Burton didn't just dip a bunch of fairy tales in Hot Topic sauce, and call them "visionary." No, back in the day, Tim Burton was a visionary, and to this day, Beetlejuice remains a damn-near flawless macabre comedy. The only thing that could make it better? It's playing for free. Clinton Street Theatre. 7 & 9 pm Monday, May 18.


Film historian Dennis Nyback dusts off a collection of old-school rail-hopping films with "Hobo, You Can't Ride that Train," featuring shorts, cartoons and music. Hollywood Theatre. 7:30 pm Monday, May 18. 


There are lost movies, and then there's A Day at the White House, a 1972 political sexploitation farce that spent 43 years in cinematic purgatory. Now, it will unspool in all its 35mm glory, with kinky footage that probably doesn't have shit on Clinton's Oval Office days, but hey, it was 1973, and cigars weren't really in vogue. Hollywood Theatre. 7:30 pm Tuesday, May 19. 

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