This Independent Week

Cinema 21
616 N.W. 21st Ave.
503-223-4515

Necessary Viewing

“Elevator to the Gallows” 7 p.m. nightly, 1, 3 p.m. Sat.-Sun.

Louis Malle’s “Elevator to the Gallows” is a seminal piece of French New Wave that blends elements of film noir with the burgeoning French art house scene of the time. Avant garde? Yes. Inaccessible and snotty? Not in the least.

The film, presented at Cinema 21 in its English-language version – which Malle preferred – is the disjointed tale of dark characters lost in their world. The humanity depicted by the cast of criminals is rare, the existential plight of the disheveled cast recalls Albert Camus’ “The Stranger” in its unsympathetic detail.

But the film shouldn’t be pigeonholed as one for fans of cold days and cigarette smoke; a soundtrack by Miles Davis and the unfathomable style of ’60s France creates a setting that anyone who enjoys a good cut can sink into and forever remain.

Cinemagic
2021 S.E. Hawthorne Blvd.
503-231-7919

"Grizzly Man" 9:45 p.m. nightly, 3 p.m. Sun.

A heartwarming tale about a man, the woman who loves him and the grizzly that eats them both.

Clinton St. Theater
2522 S.E. Clinton St.
503-238-8899

“Kamikaze Girls” 9 p.m., 5 Sat.-Sun.

Japanese gang movies rule. Mostly because all of the thugs scoot around on mopeds. While not particularly churlish, the ducklike-shape that anyone’s torso takes on while riding a motor scooter is worth a barrel of laughs.

“24 Hours on Craigslist” 7 p.m., 3 Sat.-Sun.

Inside the newspaper-classified-section-destroying free online list.

“The Rocky Horror Picture Show” 12 a.m. Sat.

I’m out of jokes. It really is that movie.

Guild Theater
829 S.W. Ninth St.
503-221-1156

"Shorts 2" 9 p.m. Thursdays in November

A series of shorts from around the Northwest – most of which are from Portland – are showcased in this ongoing series from the NW Film Center.

Moreland Theater
6712 S.E. Milwaukie Ave.
503-236-5257

"Wallace and Gromit: Curse of the Were-rabbit" 5:30, 7:30 p.m. nightly; 1:30, 3:30 Sat.-Sun.

Anyone who hasn’t seen Wallace and Gromit still has the questionable option of doing so.