.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.

Adventureland: Greg Mottola (Superbad) directs a slightly oddball ensemble (including Ryan Reynolds, Twilight’s Kristen Stewart, Jesse Eisenberg, Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig) in this story about a college grad whose job search lands him at the titular amusement park. R. 107 min. Cinemark. VRC Stadium 15.

Fast and Furious: Vin Diesel and Paul Walker return to the hot-cars-and-hot-chicks franchise that spawned their careers. If the title looks familiar, well, there is a difference: The original film was The Fast and the Furious. Perhaps the lack of “the”s this time indicates it’s trimmed down and goes even faster? PG13. Cinemark. VRC Stadium 15.

Friday the 13th: Directed by the guy who remade The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, who’s apparently making a career of gory do-overs. Pretty young folks find Camp Crystal Lake, get dead. You know how it goes. R. Movies 12.

Great Directors Series: Seminar features the films of Henri-George Clouzot, including Le Corbeau (1 pm) and The Wages of Fear (4 pm). Discussion led by Thomas Blank. Sunday, April 5, DIVA. $7.

Heckler’s Night: Mock loudly and cheerfully as the Goat screens Dawn of the Dead. 7 pm Wednesday, April 8, Wandering Goat. Free.

Pink Panther 2, The: Steve Martin gets goofy again. Yep. John Cleese comes along for the ride. PG. Movies 12.

Push: Dakota Fanning and Chris Evans star as folks with supernatural abilities who are being hunted by the Division, a government agency which … er … made their families superpowered in the first place? I’m not quite clear on this, but the preview looks nifty, if a bit X-Men like. PG13. Movies 12.

Slumdog Millionaire: The latest from Danny Boyle (Trainspotting) is a Mumbai-set fairy tale about life and the pursuit of love and happiness via Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (it’s not quite as simple as that maybe sounds). Slumdog is long on setting and its tangled plot is creative, but it’s short on emotional resonance, though its young actors are solid. R. 120 min. EIGHT ACADEMY AWARDS, INCLUDING DANNY BOYLE, BEST DIRECTOR, AND BEST PICTURE. David Minor Theater. Movies 12. (12/18/08)

Sunshine Cleaning: Amy Adams and Emily Blunt carry this film about sisters (and their eccentric father — played by Alan Arkin, of course — and assorted acquaintances) whose job cleaning up crime scenes leads them to make some unexpected connections, and to deal with long-ago tragedy. It’s a bit too quirky-sweet, but the leads are very good all the same. R. Bijou. See review this issue.

Tumbuka: Filmmaker Robin Truesdale premieres and discusses his documentary about a young man in Zimbabwe who works to overcome poverty, AIDS and traditional gender roles by teaching his peers to respect women. Shows as part of the”You Can’t Crush a Louse With Only One Thumb” conference, 4:30 pm Friday, April 4, Ben Linder Room, EMU, UO. Free.

Wrestler, The: Darren Aronofsky continues making films that seem exactly the opposite of anything he’s done before (Requiem for a Dream, The Fountain) with this rough-and-tumble story of a pro wrestler (Mickey Rourke, in a Golden Globe-winning role) and his relationships with a stripper (Marisa Tomei) and his daughter. R. 105 min. Bijou.

 

CONTINUING:

Bedtime Stories: Adam Sandler’s world goes wacky when the tales he spins for his niece and nephew start to come true — or so he thinks. It’s not all up to him, though. PG. Movies 12. (12/31/08)

Bolt: Wacky adventures ensue when a dog who thinks he’s a superhero — he’s never been off the set of his TV show — finds himself loose in New York. With the voices of John Travolta and Miley Cyrus. PG. 96 min. Movies 12.

Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The: David Fincher (Fight Club) takes a different direction with this story of a man (Brad Pitt) who is born at the age of 80 and ages backwards throughout his life. Based on a short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald and costarring Cate Blanchett. PG13. 159 min. ACADEMY AWARDS: BEST ART DIRECTION, MAKEUP, VISUAL EFFECTS. Movies 12. (12/31/08)

Duplicity: Tony Gilroy (Michael Clayton) directs Julia Roberts and Clive Owen in this tale of battling, romantically involved spies who get together to try to play a pair of battling corporations (led by Tom Wilkinson and Paul Giamatti). PG13. 125 min. Cinemark. VRC Stadium 15.

Fight Club: Directed by David Fincher (Seven) and based on Portlander Chuck Palahniuk’s Oregon Book Award-winning, explosive novel about young men fighting each other in no-rules secret fight clubs. With Brad Pitt, Edward Norton and Helena Bonham Carter in a screenplay by Jim Uhls. R. David Minor Theater.

Gran Torino: Clint Eastwood directs and stars as a bigoted veteran who finds himself in a reluctant friendship with a Hmong kid and his family. “A rueful comedy of enlightenment,” said The New Yorker. R. 116 min. Cinemark. (1/15)

Haunting in Connecticut, The: This horror flick about a haunted house (guess where it is. No, guess. I dare you) is “based on a chilling true story” and stars the slightly odd (to a pop culture buff) trio of Princess Irulan from Dune (er, Virginia Madsen), Casey Jones from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Elias Koteas) and Beaver Casablancas from Veronica Mars (that’d be Kyle Gallner). PG13. Cinemark. VRC Stadium 15.

I Love You, Man: Some people are calling this one a dick flick: Paul Rudd proposes to his girlfriend (Rashida Jones), but then desperately needs to find a male best friend to be his best man. So he goes on a bunch of “man-dates.” With Andy Samberg and the delightful Jason Segel. R. Cinemark. VRC Stadium 15. (3/26)

Inkheart: Brendan Fraser continues his odd trend of appearing in kid-friendly fare with this story of a girl and her father and a family ability to read things out of books. A nasty fellow (played by Andy Serkis) gets out, of course. With Helen Mirren and Paul Bettany. PG. Movies 12.

Knowing: Nicolas Cage’s son finds, in a time capsule, a strange and cryptic list of numbers written by a girl 50 years ago — and it turns out to list the date of every major catastrophe to happen to the world since. Some dates haven’t happened yet. Alex Proyas (The Crow) directs; Rose Byrne costars. PG13. 122 min. Cinemark. VRC Stadium 15.

Last Chance Harvey: Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson star in the grown-up love story of a grumpy fella and a lonely woman, each with their own troubles, who come together in a London airport bar. PG13. 92 min. Movies 12. (1/22)

Last House on the Left, The: When two girls are attacked by escaped convincts, they manage to get away to one girl’s house — where their attackers have also taken shelter. Why is the talented Garret Dillahunt in this needless remake of a Wes Craven flick that was already a remake of something else? R. 100 min. Cinemark.

Let the Right One In: A gorgeous, snow-muffled, Swedish take on a vampire story, this film has taken its sweet time getting here. Gentle, moody and superbly acted by its young stars, its definitely worth the wait. R. 114 min. David Minor Theater. (2/12)  

Marley and Me: Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston are the owners of one very badly behaved dog in this adaptation of John Grogan’s bestselling book. Directed by David Frankel (The Devil Wears Prada). PG. Movies 12. (12/31/08)

Milk: Gus Van Sant’s biopic about Harvey Milk (Sean Penn), the country’s first openly gay elected official, is earning glowing reviews; “Milk is a marvel,” says The New York Times, while The Village Voice says, “Milk is so immediate that it’s impossible to separate the movie’s moment from this one.” With Josh Brolin, James Franco and Diego Luna. R. 128 min. ACADEMY AWARDS: SEAN PENN, BEST ACTOR; DUSTIN LANCE BLACK, BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY. David Minor Theater. (12/11/08)

Monsters Vs. Aliens: When aliens attack, an unlikely gaggle of monsters — a blob (Seth Rogen), a giant woman (Reese Witherspoon), a genius cockroach (Hugh Laurie) and “The Missing Link” (Will Arnett) — have to save the world. In 3D. PG. 94 min. Cinemark. VRC Stadium 15. See review this issue.

Paul Blart: Mall Cop: It’s all there in the title. And probably in the preview. PG. Cinemark.

Race to Witch Mountain: Disney heads back to Witch Mountain with the Rock, er, Dwayne Johnson, who plays the taxi driver who gets caught up with two kids (AnnaSophia Robb and Alexander Ludwig) who are actually aliens. The fate of the world is at stake, I’m sure! PG. Cinemark. VRC Stadium 15.

Revolutionary Road: Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet (who won a Golden Globe for this role) reunite, years after Titanic, in this adaptation of Richard Yates’ novel about the demise of a marriage in 1950s suburbia. Sam Mendes directs, returning to the American ‘burbs years after American Beauty. “It is honorably and brutally unnerving,” said The New Yorker. R. 119 min. Movies 12.

Taken: If you don’t give back Liam Neeson’s daughter (Maggie Grace), he will hunt you down, and he will kill you. You got that? You sure? I hope this Luc Besson-produced action flick is as much fun as it looks, though it seems to take itself awfully seriously. PG13. 93 min. Cinemark. VRC Stadium 15.

Twelve Rounds: When a detective (John Cena) stops a thief, the thief’s girlfriend is killed. After escaping from prison, the “criminal mastermind” sets 12 tasks that the cop must complete lest his fiancée meet the same fate. Directed by Renny Harlin. PG13. Cinemark. VRC Stadium 15.

Two Lovers: James Gray (We Own the Night) directs this “romantic drama” about a troubled young(ish) man (Joaquin Phoenix) drawn to two women: the sweet, stable Sandra (Vinessa Shaw), whom his parents would love for him to marry, and the moody, unstable Michelle (Gwyneth Paltrow), who already has romantic troubles. Melodramatic and predictable — and predictably too kind to its leading man — but nicely shot and with a solid, unexpected performance from Paltrow. R. Bijou. (3/26)

Underworld 3: Rise of the Lycans: Whoa, weird. Michael Sheen’s second film to open in Eugene this weekend (the other being the slightly more hotly anticipated Frost/Nixon) is the third in the series about vampires and werewolves; Sheen is Lucian, a werewolf, who faces off with vampire Viktor (Bill Nighy) while romancing Viktor’s daughter, Sonja (Rhona Mitra, picking up the hotness where Kate Beckinsale left off). R. Movies 12.

Watchmen: Zack Snyder (300)’s adaptation of what the commercials trumpet as the most acclaimed graphic novel, like, EVER, is pretty good ­ and pretty faithful to Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ book, in which costumed heroes try to solve the murder of one of their own. Among other problems. But Snyder is too busy recreating select moments from the book to bring a vision of his own — beyond highlighting his fascination with violence. R. Cinemark. VRC Stadium 15. (3/12)

Yes Man: Jim Carrey is the man who says “Yes.” And he says it to all sorts of things. Not even the moment when he and costar Zooey Deschanel dress up in Harry Potter costumes can save this film from its own blandness. PG13. 104 min. Movies 12. (12/24/08)

 

 

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

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

David Minor Theater
David Minor Theater and Pub 762-1700 | 180 E. 5th

Regal Cinemas
VRC Stadium 15 342-6536 | Valley River Center

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