Beyond the Multiplex: April 23-29
&Nbsp;"NOT DEAD YET": Giving voice to the frustrations and cruel irony experienced by actresses unable to land significant roles as they enter middle age, the Portland-made comedy-drama "Not Dead Yet" uses strong acting and intensity of purpose to mitigate the limitations of its daytime drama-like structure. Particularly effective is the trio of Susan Hess Logeais, Sherilyn Lawson and Betty Moyer, playing fed-up actresses who, with the guidance of a shaman (veteran character actor Seymour Cassel), decide to make their own movie. Already dealing with criticisms and less-than-solid support in their personal relationships, the women have their production waylaid by a pretentious hack director (David Ogden Stiers) obsessed with sexing up the film, forcing imperative, brave choices.
Each of the three weekend screenings of "Not Dead Yet" is accompanied by a different program designed to guide and inspire older adults ready to make bold life choices and shatter stereotypes.
After a six-month hold back on in pokey, enigmatic Downright (Shawn Andrews) returns to his hometown of Los Angeles and lands a job at a store, working for the manager (Seymour Cassel). But at where one lives stress, he finds that his girlfriend, Jane (Desi Lydic) — now seven months fertile — is missing. Na’s search for the facts in fact is marred by his own web of lies, as he follows a succession of clues that restraint to nothing more than paranoia and id.
