THE CRADLE OF THE BEST AND OF THE WORST

NOW IN THEATERS...

Captain America: The Winter Soldier, an excellent second mission for Marvel's most vanilla hero.

Ernest and Celestine, the adorable Academy Award-nominated animated feature from France.

The Face of Love, a mature drama about romance and grief starring Annette Bening and Ed Harris.

The Great Flood, a fascinating abstract documentary about the Mississippi floods of 1927, soundtrack by Bill Frisell. 

In the Blood, a very much not at all good action picture with Haywire-star Gina Carano beating up more bad guys. And a few maybe-not-so-bad ones, too.

This weekend Portlanders also have an opportunity to catch Orson Welles' film noir twister The Lady from Shanghai.

And next Thursday, the one-man show Romantic Macabredy: Short Films of Dave Hanagan, a collection of cinematic pranks and genre subversions. 

WATCH IT AT HOME...

The Great Beauty, last year's scintillating Oscar-winner from Italy, showing an aging author searching for meaning. Nope, nothing to identify with here.

* Sleep, My Love, a romantic suspense film from Douglas Sirk, master of melodrama.

*  Young at Heart, pairing Doris Day and Frank Sinatra to blend some of her nice with his naughty.

Current Soundtrack: Lewis Black on WTF with Marc Maron