Movies & Film

While packing an impressive array of movie theaters into nearly every neighborhood, Portland makes it easy to catch a film, or even to stumble into a film festival — and the fact that many movie houses also serve local beer and wine doesn’t hurt, either.

Theaters

Scattered throughout the city, Portland’s beloved movie theaters run the gamut from funky to swanky, serving up all manner of drinks, food and films.

Movie Theaters That Serve Beer and Wine

In downtown’s West End, find Living Room Theaters, an intimate cinema that plays new indie and foreign films on six screens and offers gourmet American food, as well as a full bar. In nearby Nob Hill, Cinema 21 — founded as a single-screen theater in 1926 — now has three screens showingart-house, foreign and classic films. Alongside standard movie snacks like popcorn and candy, Cinema 21 also serves beer, wine and New York-style pizza.

Credit: Ashley Anderson

In Northeast Portland, the Laurelhurst Theater is a local landmark built in 1923. It features nine beers on tap, fresh pizza and a steady stream of second-run and revival screenings in four auditoriums. First opening its doors in 1926, the Hollywood Theatre is the mainstay (and namesake) of the Hollywood neighborhood. With three screens, it can seat 1,500 people in total, and offers a wide variety of screenings, talks, festivals and game nights, plus pizza by the slice, beer, cider and wine.

The Academy Theater in Southeast Portland’s Montavilla neighborhood is a fully restored 1948 moviehouse that features three screens with stadium seating, plus microbrews, wine and pizza. Moreland Theater, discreetly tucked between the bustling businesses in Westmoreland, is a vintage, single-screen cinema that shows new releases and offers classic theater snacks alongside a rotating list of beer and wine. Between the Division/Clinton and Woodstock neighborhoods, Studio One Theaters is a boutique multiplex that feels like an extravagant home theater, with plush couches and dinner delivered right to your seat.

After New York City, Los Angeles and Chicago, Portland ranks fourth in the U.S. for number of operating historical theaters, with 22 across the city. While some no longer show films, like the Aladdin Theater and the Alberta Rose Theatre that instead host stage plays, live comedy and concerts, many remain as independent movie houses, including those mentioned above and the Avalon Theatre on Belmont and CineMagic Theater on Hawthorne.

Credit: Nick Mendez Photography

Several of McMenamins’ historic properties in Portland feature movie theaters: Mission Theater in Nob Hill, Bagdad Theater on Hawthorne, Kennedy School in Northeast Portland, and St. Johns Theater in North Portland. All serve up recent releases, cult classics, and art films, along with handcrafted ales and signature pub fare.

Other Theaters

Regal has multiplexes within central city shopping centers like Pioneer Place and Lloyd Center showing Hollywood blockbusters. Regal Fox Tower, across from Director Park, tends to screen more independent films. Cinemark Century Eastport Plaza is a multiplex in the Lents neighborhood that offers assigned seating with advance ticket purchase and reclining armchairs, perfect for kicking back and watching new mainstream and independent features, and even Met Opera Live in HD, for the classical musical lovers.

With more than 90,000 titles on Blu-ray, DVD, and VHS, and a museum dedicated to some of Hollywood’s iconic movie memorabilia, Movie Madness is a must-see for any film-lover. This unassuming movie warehouse opened in 1991 on Belmont Street and is a beloved Portland institution that was saved by a community fundraiser and the Hollywood Theatre in 2017.

Film Festivals & Events

Ongoing Series

Find special movie events at Hollywood Theatre on Sandy Boulevard, with their Signature Series featuring 40+ genres of screenings from cult classics to B-movies to films for the whole family. At PAM CUT’s Tomorrow Theater on Division Street, their Signature Series highlights local and international film and artists nearly every night of the week.

Film Festivals

Portland hosts more than 20 film festivals every year. Here’s an overview of some of the city’s top cinematic events.

Put together by Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education, the Portland Jewish Film Festival screens new full-length films and selected shorts exploring the complexity, history and joy of Jewish life.

In May, Filmed by Bike Film Festival holds a two-day festival at the Hollywood Theatre, screening bike-themed independent short movies from around the world. In all, about 30 films, all under eight minutes in length, celebrate bike culture.

The Portland Festival of Cinema, Animation & Technology (PFCAT) will be held at OMSI in August, featuring 119 films and animations for adults and kids, documentaries and experimental films, and more.

Every September at the Hollywood Theatre, the Portland Latin American Film Festival features films, documentaries, and short films from Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, France, Germany, Mexico, Panama, Uruguay, and the USA.

Come October, the Portland Film Festival brings a broad diversity of independent voices together on one stage.

QDoc is the first festival of its kind in the United States and only the second in the world devoted exclusively to documentaries with queer content. QDoc aims to engage with the core issues of queer identity in politics, history, culture, family, aging and coming out issues, queer diversity, gender identity and sexuality. Films screen at the Hollywood Theatre every November.

A festival featuring films and shorts highlighting the magical worlds of mushrooms, lichens and micro-fungi shot by filmmakers of all backgrounds. In 2024, the Fungi Film Festival celebrates all things fungi with over two hours of film time from twenty different films from seventeen different countries. Films are screened at Cinema 21 in Northwest Portland.

Movies in the Park and Outdoor Movies

Gather up the family and head to Pioneer Courthouse Square for free movies and popcorn under the stars. Flicks on the Bricks transforms Portland’s Living Room into Portland’s largest outdoor movie theater. Arrive early to score one of the limited theater-style seats, or bring your own low-back chairs, blankets or cushions.

 The Portland Parks Summer Free For All festival hosts “Movies in the Park” in neighborhood parks around the city from July–August.

There is no ticket needed for Hollywood Theatre’s Outdoor Movie series, held every summer at Oregon State Parks, all within an hour’s drive of Portland.