Eugene Weekly : Movies : 1.4.07


.MOVIE LISTINGS | MOVIE REVIEW ARCHIVE | THEATER INFO

 

OPENING OR RETURNING:
Films open the Friday following date of EW publication unless otherwise noted. See archived movie reviews.

Amadeus (1984): Stars Tom Hulce, Elizabeth Berridge and Simon Callow in an acclaimed, fictionalized portrait of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Winner of eight Academy Awards. PG. 7 pm Jan. 7, DIVA, followed by a discussion led by Tom Blank. Free.

Children of Men: Clive Owen and Julianne Moore star in this highly praised adaptation of P.D. James’ novel, which envisions a troubled near future where no more children are being conceived. Directed by Alfonso Cuarón (Y tu mamá también). R. Cinemark.

Code Name: The Cleaner: Cedric the Entertainer becomes convinced he’s an undercover agent for the CIA. With Lucy Liu and Nicollette Sheridan. PG13. Cinemark.

Hair High: Animator Bill Plympton presents a ’50s comedy about a broken love triangle, starring the voices of Martha Plimpton, Sarah Silverman and David Carradine. “Gleefully outrageous,” said The New York Times. Not rated. Bijou LateNite.

Happily N’Ever After: Sigourney Weaver, voicing an evil queen who ruins Fairy Tale Land, faces off against unlikely resistance leader Sarah Michelle Gellar in this painfully punctuated tale. PG. Cinema World. Cinemark.

History Boys, The: Director Nicholas Hytner and writer Alan Bennett bring their much-loved, Tony Award-winning play about a gaggle of young English lads studying to get into elite colleges (and just to grow up) to the screen as a winning, if flawed, production. R. Bijou. See review this issue.

I Puritani: See New York’s Metropolitan Opera live via satellite. 10:30 am Jan. 6, Cinemark.

Orphans (1983): A successful novelist returns to the orphanage where he and his brothers were raised during WWII. Not rated. 7 pm Jan. 9, 111 Pacific, UO. Free.

Saw 3: There’s something about a doctor who has to keep scary clown-faced villain Jigsaw alive and a former victim working on a plot of his own, but this moneymaking B-movie franchise doesn’t need us to tell you it’s nasty, scary and gory. R. Movies 12.

 

CONTINUING:

Apocalypto: Mel Gibson follows The Passion of the Christ with another violent epic set in an ancient time (something that looks vaguely like the end of the Mayan Empire) and filmed in an unusual language. R. Cinemark. (12/14)

Blood Diamond: Leonardo DiCaprio, Djimon Hounsou and Jennifer Connelly star in Edward Zwick’s (Glory) film about diamond mining in Sierra Leone in the 1990s. R. Cinemark. (12/21)

Borat: Sacha Baron Cohen (of “Da Ali G Show”) plays the title character, a Kazakhstani reporter creating a documentary while road-tripping across the U.S. The subtitle, “Cultural Learnings of American for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan,” ought to tell you something. R. Bijou LateNite, Movies 12. 44441 (11/9)

Casino Royale: Bond gets blond as Daniel Craig (Munich, Infamous) steps into the role in a rebooting of the whole franchise, turning it into something darker and, well, better. With Judi Dench and Eva Green. PG13. Cinemark. (11/22)

Charlotte’s Web: Dakota Fanning plays Fern, the little girl who loves her pig Wilbur (voice of Dominic Scott Kay) more than anything. Julia Roberts voices Charlotte the spider, who helps Wilbur escape his fate. G. Cinema World. Cinemark.

Deck the Halls: Matthew Broderick and Danny DeVito face off when DeVito’s character decides to build the world’s biggest holiday light display. With Kristin Davis, Kristin Chenoweth and Alia Shawkat. PG. Movies 12.

Employee of the Month: Dane Cook and Dax Shepard are two slacker clerks working to become the employee of the month in hopes of getting in Jessica Simpson’s pants. Ah, cinematic brilliance. PG13. Movies 12.

Eragon: Adaptation of young novelist Christopher Paolini’s first thick tome stars John Malkovich as an apparently campy evil king. Newcomer Edward Speelers plays the title character, who bonds with a dragon named Saphira and, um, saves the world? Or at least the kingdom. Just a guess. PG13. Cinema World. Cinemark.

Good Shepherd, The: Robert DeNiro heads back behind the camera to direct a story about the birth of the CIA, starring Matt Damon as one of the agency’s founders and Angelina Jolie as his frustrated wife. R. Cinema World. Cinemark. 44441 (12/28)

Guardian, The: A hotshot young Coast Guard rescue swimmer (Ashton Kutcher) learns how to be a real hero from a retired swimmer who lost his team in an accident (Kevin Costner). PG13. Movies 12.

Happy Feet: Warner Bros. chases some March of the Penguins dough with this animated film, starring Elijah Wood as a cute lil’ guy in search of his soul mate. (OK, so they were working on this one first. Still.) With Robin Williams, Hugh Jackman, Nicole Kidman. PG. Cinemark.

Holiday, The: Man-troubled Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet swap houses for Christmas break in the new film from Nancy Meyers (Something’s Gotta Give) – and naturally, each finds a new feller (Jude Law and Jack Black) on the other’s home turf. PG13. Cinema World. Cinemark.

Marie Antoinette: Sofia Coppola’s third movie follows Marie Antoinette (Kirsten Dunst), who became the queen of France as a teenager. The film is said to be a confection, a romp, anachronistically set to ’80s New Romantic tunes and with some actors using their own accents. PG13. Movies 12. (10/26)

Nativity Story, The: Catherine Hardwicke (Thirteen) directs Whale Rider‘s Keisha Castle-Hughes as Mary in the Biblical story of Jesus’ birth. With Shohreh Aghdashloo and Ciarán Hinds. PG. Movies 12.

Night at the Museum: When down-on-his-luck Larry (Ben Stiller) gets a job as the night guard at a museum, he sure doesn’t expect the exhibits to come alive at night. There’s something very Jumanji about this. PG. Cinema World. Cinemark.

One Night With the King: The biblical story of Esther is twisted into a manipulative teen movie about learning that “all of life is under God’s command.” We wish we were kidding. PG. Movies 12.

Open Season: Sony breaks into the animation game with the story of a clueless grizzly bear (Martin Lawrence) whose friend Elliot (Ashton Kutcher) lures him into the wild life. PG. Movies 12.

Prestige, The: Two magicians (Christian Bale, Hugh Jackman) see their slight friendship turn to rivalry in Christopher Nolan’s (Batman Begins) enthralling film. Competition grows as the men do, each trying to outdo the other’s performance. With Scarlett Johansson, Michael Caine and David Bowie. PG13. Movies 12. 44441 (10/26)

Pursuit of Happyness, The: Will Smith stars as a down-on-his-luck father who strives to make it as a stockbroker while facing eviction and raising his son (Smith’s real-life son Jaden). PG13. Cinema World. Cinemark.

Queen, The: Stephen Frears’ movie about the shifting desires and threats of Britain’s public and the differences in Tony Blair’s (Michael Sheen) and Queen Elizabeth II’s (Helen Mirren) responses to the death of Princess Diana is a grand, usually subtle fiction that gets at a lot of truth. PG13. Bijou. (11/30)

Rocky Balboa: Rocky (Sylvester Stallone) returns for what’s supposed to be the last Rocky film. When a computer simulation shows that the young Rocky would likely have taken down the current champion, the aging Rocky agrees to an exhibition bout. PG. Cinema World. Cinemark.

Santa Clause 3, The: Santa (Tim Allen) faces off against Jack Frost (Martin Short), who’s trying to take over Christmas. G. Movies 12.

Shut Up & Sing: Barbara Kopple and Cecilia Peck’s documentary look at the unexpected turn the Dixie Chicks’ career took in 2003 is engrossing on all the right levels, turning an observant eye on the complicated intersection of art and politics while leaving room for the group’s personal stories. R. Bijou. (12/21)

We Are Marshall: Matthew McConaughey and Matthew Fox (Lost) play two coaches trying to revive the Marshall College football team following a horrifying crash that killed most of the previous team and staff. Oddly, this based-on-a-true-story flick is directed by McG (Charlie’s Angels). PG. Cinema World. Cinemark.

 

MOVIE THEATERS
Use the links provided below for specific show times.

Bijou Art Cinemas
Bijou Theater 686-2458 | 492 E. 13th

Regal Cinemas
Cinema World 342-6536 | Valley River Center

Cinemark Theaters
Movies 12 741-1231 | Gateway Mall
Cinemark 17 741-1231 | Gateway Mall