Silver screens

Portland is riddled with multiplexes.

No matter where you live, it shouldn’t be hard to catch the latest blockbuster at your local Regal Cinemas. But, what do you do when you want to catch a film that doesn’t feature a Batman or a Seth Rogen?

Fear not celluloid crusaders, whether you just moved to town or if you merely need a refresher on all things indie, here is an introduction to theaters near campus where you can experience all that cinema has to offer.

Fifth Avenue Cinema510 S.W. Hall St. 503-725-3551Portland State’s student-run movie house is the closest you are going to get to a truly “independent” film experience. The seats may be awful, the prints scratchy and the staff can be snobby, but they do know movies. And cheapskates need not fear, the theater is free for PSU students.

The films play most weekends (usually at 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, and 3 p.m. on Sundays) and range from the exquisite to the painfully ironic.

Whether it’s Blowup or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, you generally won’t see films playing here that you can catch anywhere else in town.

Regal Fox Tower Stadium 10846 S.W. Park Ave.503-221-3280Sure, it’s a Regal theater, a chain not known for it’s wide variety of film choices, but the Fox Tower stands above it’s blockbuster-showing brethren by playing some of the best movies in town.

If it’s a foreign film, Oscar bait or a new documentary, this is the place to catch it.

Be fore-warned: The prices are as high as any other multiplex and the presentation is awful at times, with dim bulbs and late start times. Still, with it’s location in the heart of Portland and its excellent selection of films, the Fox Tower is perfect for film fanatics or for wooing your new crush on a date. Nothing says romance like taking that special someone to a movie about a crack addicted schoolteacher.

NW Film Center (Whitsell Auditorium)1219 S.W. Park Ave. 503-221-1156If you’re a devotee of film festivals, then the NW Film Center is the place for you. The regional media arts organization works year round to make Portland a vibrant film community by offering film classes, inviting renowned speakers to town and showing many film exhibitions.

Playing the most classic films out of any theater in the city, as well as experimental and locally produced films, the Film Center will help you place your finger on the pulse of cinema–from trying to enjoy an obscure Japanese drama or cringing through some locally produced animation.

Films screen at the Art Museum’s Whitsell Auditorium, an exhibition hall unfortunately not known for its comfortable seats or large screen. Every month or two you can catch a retrospective on a famous director (a look at David Lean begins in October) or a topical film festival (like the recent Global Concerns: Human Rights on Film.)

At times PSU has worked out deals with the Film Center so students can get into showings for free, but check with them first to make sure that deal is still on before showing up with an empty wallet.

Cinema 21616 N.W. 21st Ave.503-223-4515This very small, locally-owned theater is right in the middle of the uber-trendy Nob Hill district in NW Portland, but you anti-snobs shouldn’t hold that against it.

The theater plays the types of films that haven’t yet, or won’t ever, reach the mainstream. These are the films, like Fatih Akin’s The Edge of Heaven, that you may never get to see if Cinema 21 did not exist. Like the Hollywood Theatre, Cinema 21 is a throwback to old school art movie houses that you feel are really in it for the films and not the profit.

Prices are standard ($5 matinee and $7 evening for students) and the concession stand is oddly affordable, compared to larger theaters. The fact that it is in a bustling ‘burb only adds to the experience. It’s easy to make a night of it when you can walk right down the street for a drink or a cup of coffee and scrabble at Coffee Time.

Living Room Theaters341 S.W. 10th Ave.971-222-2010Now this is the way to live. Watching movies in a theater with the comforts of home.

Living Room Theaters, which opened at the end of 2006, expands on the usual Portland “pub theater” by amping up the quality of the food and drinks, as well as the surroundings. The theater offers swank digs–comfortable seats, in-theater food service and a trendy bar–along with unusual and sometimes inspired choices of films.

Thirty-five-millimeter diehards may be turned off that it is an all-digital theater, but most cinephiles won’t care in the slightest when they down a few glasses of wine, a panini and plop down in one of the cushy recliners.

If a friend is visiting from out of town this is the theater to take them to. Unless they live in a bigger city, chances are they haven’t experienced a theater like this before. As a bonus for students on a tight budget, the theater offers $5 shows all day on Mondays and Tuesdays. Ignore your homework in style.