Beyond the Multiplex's Top 10 foreign language and/or indie films of 2009

1. "The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans" (U.S./Germany)

2. "Gomorrah" (Italy)

3. "Broken Embraces" (Spain)

4. "The Beaches of Agnes" (France)

5. "Still Walking" (Japan)

6. "Passing Strange" (U.S.)

7. "Seraphine" (France)

8. "Revanche" (Austria)

9. "Anvil! The Story of Anvil" (Canada)

10. "Silent Light" (Mexico/France/Netherlands)

Honorable mentions: "Crude," "Everlasting Moments," "Forbidden Lie$," "Humpday," "Hunger," "Medicine for Melancholy," "Paper Covers Rock," "Serbis," "Sita Sings the Blues," "Worlds Apart"

STAN HALL

Portland cinephiles have it really good.

I take this for granted sometimes, but was reminded again the other day when I called my film-loving cousin, who lives in Gallup, N.M., to browbeat him into seeing the maniacally brilliant, almost indescribably out there Werner Herzog-Nicolas Cage black comedy, "The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans." You have to see it now, I told him; you will love it. (And so should the rest of you.)

Glumly, my cousin answered that he'd have to wait for it to become available on Netflix. "We've got only about a dozen screens here, and half of them are playing horror movies."

Oh, that's right, I remembered, he's not in Portland.

My cousin's dilemma is common among American film fans, including those living in towns bigger than Gallup or Portland for that matter. Even as screens proliferate, Hollywood increasingly focuses on tastes and trends that can reliably ensure $50 million-plus opening weekends. Money talks, and the handful of corporations running the majority of multiplexes aren't exactly rushing to give theater space to the foreign, indie and documentary fare that is of interest to a relatively small, though knowledgeable, passionate and motivated, segment of the filmgoing public.

In fact, many art films now bypass theaters entirely and go straight to video-on-demand or DVD. If you believe that sitting with an audience in a movie theater is the optimal cinematic experience, that's a depressing trend.

Happily, the situation in the City of Roses is much brighter. Uniquely so, in fact: Earlier this year, The Oregonian's film critic, Shawn Levy, pointed out on his Mad About Movies blog (blog.oregonlive.com/madaboutmovies) that if you draw a line from City Hall to the Hollywood Theatre at Northeast 43rd Avenue and Sandy Boulevard, within the circle based on that radius there are more theaters, both independent and corporate owned, dedicated to alternative, independent, documentary, foreign, avant-garde and revival cinema, than there are for mainstream Hollywood fare. Why? Because people here pay to see such films. The result is that indie distributors often favor Portland over bigger cities; we get a lot of unusual stuff and much of it is worthy viewing.

Perhaps at some point in 2009 you bypassed "2012" or "The Proposal" and chose to spend your hard-earned discretionary income on a little documentary or outre foreign flick at a locally owned art house theater. Maybe you contributed money to one of Oregon's several excellent, diverse film festivals. Or maybe you helped fund an aspiring filmmaker's struggling production, knowing that you might not ever get your money back. Whatever it was, you helped preserve Portland's special little place in the movie world, not to mention justifying this column's existence. Much obliged.

In 2010, Beyond the Multiplex hopes:

That Austrian enfant terrible Michael Haneke's much-feted "The White Ribbon," which won't be screened for Portland critics until later this month, is the instant classic some have proclaimed.

That the Portland International Film Festival finds a way to inject some adrenaline into what, in its 33rd year, has become a staid, predictable experience, 2009's red-carpet "Coraline" premiere being a notable exception. Make no mistake, PIFF still brings some of the best movies you'll see in a given year, and attendance is pretty much mandatory for serious movie lovers, some of whom create their own excitement by loading up on caffeine and attempting to see every film. But it pales as an event compared to newer, smaller festivals such as the Portland Documentary & eXperimental Festival (PDX Fest).

That PDX Fest founder and all-around Portland indie big deal Matt McCormick's upcoming debut feature, "Some Days Are Better Than Others," starring the Shins' James Mercer and Sleater-Kinney's Carrie Brownstein, racks up festival awards galore and further raises the city's film profile. (somedaysthemovie.com)

That the dedicated avant-garde and experimental film exhibitors at Cinema Project find a comfortable new home. The organization was forced out of its Pearl District site midseason last year.

That another journey to the Rogue River Valley for the reliably fabulous Ashland Independent Film Festival (April 8-12) is in the offing and that a first trip to BendFilm (October) will follow.

That the suits at Regal or Cinemark recognize the commercial potential of opening an East Portland equivalent of Regal Fox Tower, giving more moviegoers convenient access to a number of prominent first-run foreign and art house films --even if such a place would be, technically, a corporate multiplex. Still, what we've got now sure beats Gallup.

Stan Hall is a Portland freelance writer; beyondthemultiplex@gmail.com