Drive-in movies in the Portland area are a sad impossibility (damn you, temperate climate!), but this summer at least, Portland urbanites can get their fill of outdoor flicks at the Northwest Film Center’s Top Down Film Festival. Starting this week and lasting through the end of August, every Thursday night the Northwest Film Center will be hosting an outdoor movie screening on the roof of the swankalicious “art deco noir”-styled Hotel deLuxe.
Tops off for film
Drive-in movies in the Portland area are a sad impossibility (damn you, temperate climate!), but this summer at least, Portland urbanites can get their fill of outdoor flicks at the Northwest Film Center’s Top Down Film Festival.
Starting this week and lasting through the end of August, every Thursday night the Northwest Film Center will be hosting an outdoor movie screening on the roof of the swankalicious “art deco noir”-styled Hotel deLuxe.
The films start at 9 p.m., or whenever the sun dips low enough on the horizon, and prior to screenings each film is accompanied by live music from groups handpicked by the lovely folks at KPSU.
Promotions director Andrew Stern said KPSU picked bands they thought would fit well with Top Down and with the movie selections being screened.
Top Down coordinators welcome moviegoers to bring along a blanket or chairs, but leave your dog and your flask at home–no pets or outside food or drink are allowed.
However, food and cocktails will be on-hand for purchase through the hotel’s restaurant, Gracie’s, and TAZO and Sierra Nevada brewing will also have refreshment tables.
Here’s a look at the movies and bands playing the festival this summer:
July 24Big Time (U.S. 1988, 88 minutes) Love MenuThe Top Down Film Fest kicks off with this strange, interesting and entirely entertaining music film written by Tom Waits and Kathleen Brennan.
July 31Hot Rods to Hell (U.S. 1967, 92 minutes)The Rainy StatesHot-rodding hooligans attempt to corrupt the blonde all-American daughter of a father dealing with a late-sixties mid-life crisis who takes his family on a road trip west to California in search of a new life.
Aug. 7Flight of the Navigator (U.S. 1986, 90 minutes)Eskimo and SonsThis classic sci-fi family flick brings nerdy nostalgic fun for any child of the ’80s. In a Rip Van Winkle-esque plot, prepubescent David gets knocked unconscious and wakes up eight years later still 12 years old, while the rest of the world has aged without him.
Aug. 14Thunder Road (U.S. 1958, 92 minutes)HighwayA classic car-chase flick across the Southern U.S. backwoods filled with bad boys, hot women, moonshine and plenty of cars from an era before the oil crisis. Bring your girl-pants and sassy attitude.
Aug. 21Willie Dynamite (U.S. 1974, 102 minutes)NewspapersHookers, pimps, fur-covered phones. Bling. All the makings of a standard blaxsploitation flick turned surprisingly into an engaging film with a complex and conflicted main character. And a fabulous metallic gold longcoat.
Aug. 28Super Argo and the Faceless Giants (Italy 1968, 102 minutes)Will Carpenter’s Towering TreesTop Down finishes the summer off with a bang with this campy gem from Italy. Professional wrestler-turned-superhero? Check. Mad scientist nemesis? Check. Plot to “robotize” the world’s top athletes into unstoppable henchmen? Check. This movie has it all, including bad English dubbing.
Top Down Film FestivalHotel deLuxe 729 N.W. 15th Ave.Music at 8 p.m., movies around 9 p.m.$7
