Skip to main content
If you’re a Portland film geek of a certain temperament or a Portland State University graduate (or both), chances are you have a fondness for the 5th Avenue Cinema, which has been offering delightfully idiosyncratic film programming for years (everything from Bernardo Bertolucci’s The Dreamers to Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire).
Still, even by 5th Avenue standards, this season’s programming promises to be particularly eclectic. Tomorrow, the season kicks off with Akira Kurosawa’s Yojimbo (which, incidentally, is thought to be an inspiration for the underrated Timothy Dalton James Bond film License to Kill), but it will end in a very different fashion: with 35 mm screenings of the 2006 Cameron Diaz, Kate Winslet, Jude Law and Jack Black romantic comedy The Holiday.
Other offerings include the cannibal horror flick Raw, from director Julia Docournau (the French filmmaker who went on to direct the Palme d’Or-winning Titane), Mysterious Object at Noon (from Thai visionary Apichatpong Weerasethakul, who recently made Memoria), and Pedro Almodóvar’s Law of Desire (starring Carmen Maura and Antonio Banderas).
That said, the gutsiest programming is arguably the decision to include The Holiday, given that director Nancy Meyers (Something’s Gotta Give, What Women Want) has often been mocked by critics who dismiss the artistry behind her glossy and heartfelt romantic comedies.
The full schedule is available at 5th Avenue’s website. PSU students and alumni get in free.