.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.

Archaeology Channel International Film and Video Festival: The fifth annual festival changes venues this year, moving to the Hult with its lineup of films from around the world that exhibit “the wonderful diversity of human cultures past and present.” Films include Pocahontas Revealed and Hidden Worlds: Underground Rome, among many others. May 20-24, Hult Center. See full schedule at www.archaeologychannel.org

Chronicles of Narnia, The: Prince Caspian: When the Pevensie children find themselves back in Narnia, it’s just a year later for them — and 1300 years later for the magical land, now under the control of an evil king. Lucy, Susan, Peter and Edmund (with help, of course) must help get the true king back on Narnia’s throne. PG. 144 min. Cinemark. VRC Stadium 15.

Death Note: This “unique theater event” features the popular Japanese manga series and includes behind the scenes looks at the live-action production. 7:30 pm May 20, Cinemark. $10.

Drillbit Taylor: When three high school kids get sick of being picked on, they hire Drillbit Taylor (Owen Wilson), who pretends to be a teacher in order to keep an eye on his young clients. There’s brand-name talent behind the scenes (Judd Apatow, Seth Rogen) but the reviewers weren’t charmed. PG13. 102 min. Movies 12.

Found Objects: UO grad student Johnnie Mazzocco’s terminal project is about a woman’s efforts to alleviate her feelings of being trapped by her domestic life. 7 pm May 17, DIVA. Donation.

In Bruges: Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson star in playwright Martin McDonagh’s directorial debut, a slightly sweet, somewhat philosophical, totally sailor-mouthed tale of two hitmen sent to hide out in the Belgian town of Bruges. A mixup of genre and tone, it’s nonetheless diverting and amusing, and Farrell, as the more distressed of the pair, is surprisingly sympathetic. R. 107 min. Movies 12. (2/28)

Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day: Frances McDormand is Miss Pettigrew, who (in 1939 London) finds herself a job as a “social secretary” after being dismissed from her governess position. Over 24 hours, Miss Pettigrew and Delysia Lafosse (the wonderful Amy Adams) change each others’ lives — and those of the three men circling Delysia (Lee Pace, Ciaran Hinds and Mark Strong). PG13. 92 min. Movies 12. (3/13)

Potter-Belmar Labs: Storytellers Leslie Raymond and Jason Jay Stephens present “Fortune,” in which the audience selects and arranges a series of scenes into a unique performance/presentation. The scenes are composed of original and sampled sound, music and moving images. (See www.potterbelmar.orgfor more.) 8 pm May 20, DIVA. $5-$7.

Queer Film Festival: This free festival continues with The Birthday, a documentary that explores Iran’s surprisingly liberal policies regarding transsexuality. 3:20 pm May 17, Bijou. Free.

Young@Heart: This BBC-funded documentary follows the Young@Heart Chorus as they prepare for a performance in their hometown of Northampton, Mass., working on songs you might not expect a group of octogenarians to perform and dealing with the issues that arise for people of a certain age. “Young@Heart is a heartening and poignant affirmation of the transformative power of music,” said USA Today. PG. 107 min. Bijou. See review this issue.

 

CONTINUING

Baby Mama: When successful businesswoman Kate (Tiny Fey) finds that she can’t conceive the kid she wants, she hires Angie (Amy Poehler) as her surrogate. It’s a clash of personalities and more when Angie shows up on Kate’s doorstep. “An essentially sweet-natured picture that doesn’t go as far as it could,” says Salon.com. PG13. 96 min. Cinemark. VRC Stadium 15.

Bucket List, The: Jack Nicholson, I expect this kind of thing from. But Morgan Freeman? In this schmaltzy-sounding flick about two new friends trying to cram all the adventures of a lifetime into a considerably shorter amount of time? Oh, Rob Reiner. Once upon a time, you made a good movie or two. PG13. 97 min. Movies 12.

Fool’s Gold: Fools’ choices? Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey play a divorced couple who reteam to bicker endlessly — and search for a sunken treasure. Totally sure they stay divorced in the end, too. PG13. Movies 12.

Forbidden Kingdom: When an American teenager finds a lost relic of the legendary Monkey King, he also finds himself sent back in time to join a band of warriors fighting to free said king. The important bits? Jackie Chan and Jet Li costar, and Wo Ping (Crouching Tiger; The Matrix) handles the fight sequences. Awesome. PG13. Cinemark.

Forgetting Sarah Marshall: The Apatow Onslaught continues with this romantic comedy about a guy (Jason Segel, who also wrote the screenplay) who tries get away from it all after his famous girlfriend (the fantabulous Kristen Bell) dumps him — only to find that she, and her strange new boyfriend, are at the same Hawaiian resort. With Mila Kunis, Jonah Hill, Paul Rudd and a lot of other funny people. R. 112 min. Cinemark. VRC Stadium 15. (4/24)

Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay: John Cho and Kal Penn revisit their hilarious stoner characters from Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle. When they sneak a bong onboard a flight to Amsterdam, our heroes are suspected of terrorism. And, needless to say, all manner of wackiness ensues. R. 102 min. Cinemark. VRC Stadium 15. (5/1)

Horton Hears a Who: The Dr. Seuss classic gets the animated treatment from the creators of Ice Age, with Jim Carrey as Horton and Steve Carell as the mayor of Who-ville, the tiny world on a speck that Horton discovers and defends from his fellow animals, who think he’s gone nuts. G. 110 min. Cinemark.

Iron Man: The first major summer flick (summer? Huh?) stars Robert Downy Jr. as Tony Stark, a wealthy industrialist who devises a suit that gives him the superheroic ability to take down baddies who misuse his destructive technology. Awesome. With Jeff Bridges, Terrence Howard and Gwyneth Paltrow. PG13. Cinemark. VRC Stadium 15. (5/8)

Jumper: Adapted from a novel by Steven Gould, this film follows “jumpers” who can leap through space and time. Among these lucky few are Hayden Christensen and Jamie Bell; Samuel L. Jackson provides the tension as a fella who doesn’t approve of these crazy hijinks. Directed by Doug Liman (The Bourne Identity). PG13. 88 min. Movies 12.

Juno: Jason Reitman directs from a screenplay by newcomer Diablo Cody. Ellen Page (who was outstanding in Hard Candy) plays a pregnant teenager dealing with herself, her future, her parents, the best friend who fathered the kid and the couple who wants to adopt it. “Hilarious and sweet-tempered, perceptive and surprisingly grounded,” said the Los Angeles Times. ACADEMY AWARD: BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY. PG13. 96 min. Movies 12. (1/10)

Leatherheads: George Clooney directs and stars in this romantic comedy set in the 1920s against the start of the pro football league. With Jon Krazinski (The Office) as a golden-boy quarterback and Renee Zellweger as the reporter determined to prove he’s not as perfect as he seems. PG13. 113 min. Movies 12. (4/10)

Made of Honor: This sliver of nonsense seems deliberately scheduled opposite Iron Man, as if some moron imagined it were a palatable “chick flick” option. Nice going, universe. Even Dr. McDreamy, Patrick Dempsey, as the guy who figures out too late that he’s in love with his best friend (Michelle Monaghan) isn’t enough to make this look anything but embarrassing. PG13. 101 min. Cinemark. VRC Stadium 15.

National Treasure: Book of Secrets: Nicolas Cage returns for more adventure and hijinks — something to do with the president’s secret book (hey, this sounds like Crooked Little Vein!) and clearing his family’s name; did great-great grandpa have something to do with Lincoln’s assassination? With Helen Mirren. PG. Movies 12.

Nim’s Island: Moppet-of-the-moment Abigail Breslin stars as Nim, a girl who lives with her scientist father (Gerard Butler) on an island and has a literary heroine whose life is rather similar. When Nim’s father disappears, life brings Nim and her favorite author together to find him. With Jodie Foster. PG. 95 min. Cinemark.

Redbelt: David Mamet directs (and wrote) this film, the story of Mike Terry (the fantastic Chiwetel Ejiofor), a martial arts teacher who’s chosen to live by a samurai’s code rather than fight competitively. But everything changes after an accident. With Emily Mortimer, Alice Braga, Ricky Jay and Tim Allen. R. 99 min. Cinemark.

Speed Racer: Here it comes, here comes … the Wachowski Brothers’ color-saturated, whiz-bang take on the oddball Japanese cartoon that some of us never understood when we were children. Emile Hirsch stars as Mach 5 racer Speed; Matthew Fox (as baddie Racer X), John Goodman, Christina Ricci and Susan Sarandon round out the cast. PG. 129 min. Cinemark. VRC Stadium 15.

Spiderwick Chronicles, The: Adaptation of Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi’s books about a young boy (Freddie Highmore, playing twins) who finds that there’s much more than meets the eye to an old family estate. Black has a knack for a different kind of fairy tale; let’s hope the movie can translate that to the screen. With Mary-Louise Parker. PG. Movies 12.

Super High Me: Comedian Doug Benson, inspired by Super Size Me, decides to go without pot for a month — then spend an entire month high as a kite and see what effects the endless inhaling has on his body and mental state. The film mixes Benson’s experiment with his stand-up routine and a bit of history about California’s drug laws; it’s all a bit muddled, but it’s also relatively funny. Bijou LateNite. (5/1)

Ten Thousand B.C.: Director Roland Emmerich (Independence Day) directs a set-ages-ago story about a young hunter and the lovely woman he’ll stop at nothing to save from “mysterious warlords.” Other key phrases from the studio’s synopsis include “ultimate fate,” “tyrannical god” and “empire beyond imagination.” PG13. 109 min. Movies 12.

Vantage Point: Dennis Quaid, Matthew Fox, Forest Whitaker and Sigourney Weaver are just half the people — and perspectives — in this thriller about an assassination attempt made on the American president (William Hurt) as he gives a speech about the war on terror. I think the real story might be, uh, complicated? PG13. 90 min. Movies 12.

Visitor, The: A disillusioned professor who finds two young people living in his unused apartment allows them to stay and finds, slowly, that he’s growing close to them — until one is arrested as an undocumented citizen. “This is a film of our times — paranoid, heartbroken, disillusioned,” said The Boston Globe‘s Wesley Morris. PG13. 103 min. Bijou. See review this issue.

What Happens in Vegas: Cameron Diaz and Ashton Kutcher star as a couple that gets rather spontaneously wed in Vegas, then realizes they hate each other — only to wind up stuck together when he puts her quarter in a slot machine and hits the jackpot. PG13. 99 min. Cinemark. VRC Stadium 15.

 

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

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

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

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