Eugene Weekly : Movies : 7.2.09


.MOVIE LISTINGS | MOVIE REVIEW ARCHIVE | THEATER INFO

 

OPENING:

Documenting Taiwan’s Indigenous Peoples and Cultures: Workshop and screening event presented by the UO’s Center for Asian and Pacific Studies includes screenings of Children in Heaven; As Life, As Pacang; and Carry the Paramount of Jade Mountain on My Back, 7 pm Monday, July 6, and Dear Rice Wine, You Are Defeated; National Bandit: A Beautiful Mistake; and excerpts from Malakacaway (The Rice Wine Filler), 7 pm Tuesday, July 7. Both take place in 110 Willamette, UO, and include a Q&A with director Mayaw Biho. caps.uoregon.edu for more info. Free.

Ghosts of Girlfriends Past: Bit odd to use the Christmas Carol gimmick in the middle of spring, but anyway: At his brother’s wedding, perpetual bachelor Connor (Matthew McConaughey) finds himself visited by the ghost of his uncle (Michael Douglas), who sends the ghosts of the title to keep Connor from screwing up with his childhood love (Jennifer Garner). PG13. Movies 12.

Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs: The scrappy critters from Ice Age return: two are having a baby, one might be losing his edge and another needs to be rescued. And then there’s that troubling flying squirrel from the preview… PG13. Cinemark. VRC Stadium 15.

Lemon Tree, The: The wonderful Hiam Abbass (The Visitor) plays a Palestinian widow who finds herself at odds with the Israeli minister of defense over her father’s lemon grove, which the minister wants to cut down for security reasons. The minister’s wife also plays a part in the story. The New York Times said The Lemon Tree “is a wrenching, richly layered feminist allegory as well as a geopolitical one.” 106 min. Bijou.

Public Enemies: In the new film from Michael Mann (Heat, The Insider), Johnny Depp and Christian Bale face off as (respectively) gangster John Dillinger and the CIA agent on his case. With the wonderful Marion Cotillard. R. 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. David Minor Theater. (3/26)

Usual Suspects, The: Does Bryan Singer’s unforgettable debut feature film about an impeccable con still hold up to scrutiny almost 15 years later? I’ve heard yeas and nays. Now’s a good chance to decide for yourself. R. 106 min. David Minor Theater.

Whatever Works: Larry David and Evan Rachel Wood star in the latest from Woody Allen, which is about an eccentric New Yorker (No! Really?) and the young Southern girl he meets. With Patricia Clarkson. 92 min. PG13. Bijou.

Films open the Friday following EW publication date unless otherwise noted.

 

CONTINUING:

Away We Go: John Krasinski (The Office) and Maya Rudolph (Saturday Night Life) take on less comedic roles than usual in this Dave Eggers-and-Vendela Vida penned story about an expecting couple who head off on a road trip to find the best possible place for their family to live. Directed by Sam Mendes (American Beauty). R. VRC Stadium 15. See review this issue.

Brothers Bloom, The: The second film from director Rian Johnson (Brick) shows only a bit of sophomore slump. Mark Ruffalo and Adrien Brody are con-man brothers who, with their “muscle,” Bang Bang (Rinko Kikuchi), take aim at one last mark: a wealthy eccentric (Rachel Weisz) who charms the younger brother. Quirky and benefiting from great Weisz-Brody chemistry, the film charms, yet never quite makes the leap to greatness. PG13. Bijou. (6/25)

Drag Me to Hell: Sam Raimi returns to the genre in which he made his name with this tale of a young loan officer (Alison Lohman) who crosses the wrong old lady (Lorna Raver) and finds herself under a nasty curse. PG13. Movies 12.

Graduate, The: Dustin Hoffman and Anne Bancroft give stellar performances as bed fellows in Mike Nichols’ robust sex comedy. One of American Film Institute’s Top 100 Films. Nichols won Academy Award for his excellent direction. PG. 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. David Minor Theater. (1/15)

Hangover, The: This summer’s dirty-fun buzz movie stars Bradley Cooper, Zach Galifinakis and Ed Helms as three guys who have no idea what happened at the bachelor party last night. Where’d that guy’s tooth go? Where’d the baby come from? It’s a really good time finding out. Cinemark. VRC Stadium 15. (6/11)

Hannah Montana: The Movie: The inescapable teen returns to theaters with a movies about getting away from fame for a while. G. Movies 12.

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. Movies 12. (3/26)

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. Movies 12.

Land of the Lost: This adaptation of the odd ’70s TV series stars Will Ferrell as an oft-mocked scientist who, with his assistant (Anna Friel) and a survivalist (Danny McBride) gets transported to a strange, strange land. Movies 12.

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. Movies 12. (4/2)

My Sister’s Keeper: Cameron Diaz and Jason Patric are parents who rely on their youngest child to keep their ill eldest daughter alive — until that younger daughter (Abigail Breslin) wants her own life. Based on the book by Jodi Picoult. PG13. 109 min. Cinemark. VRC Stadium 15.

Night at the Museum 2: Battle for the Smithsonian: Ben Stiller returns to the museum in which everything — Amelia Earhart (Amy Adams), tiny statues, Lincoln — comes alive at night. PG13. Cinemark.

Obsessed: Where to start with this women-against-women stalker-lady flick, in which Ali Larter gets a little too attached to Idris Elba, and Beyonce fights back? Actually, I think that’s enough said. PG13. Movies 12.

Proposal, The: “High-powered” publishing exec Sandra Bullock makes her put-upon assistant (Ryan Reynolds) get engaged to her so she can stay in the U.S. As much as I’m starting to like Reynolds, this is too much ick — and contrived nonsense — for one film. PG13. Cinemark. VRC Stadium 15.

Seventeen Again: Would Zac Efron really grow up into Chandler Bing? Er, I mean Matthew Perry? That’s just one thing to consider in this comedy, in which washed-up former high-school hot stuff Mike O’Donnell (Perry) finds himself in his 17-year-old body again. With Leslie Mann, Thomas Lennon and Michelle Trachtenberg. PG13. Movies 12.

Star Trek: Even the most crotchety critics are loving J.J. Abrams’ take on the maiden voyage of the Enterprise — and the rivalry-turned-friendship of young James Tiberius Kirk (Chris Pine) and Spock (Zachary Quinto). With Simon Pegg, Zoe Saldana, John Cho and Eric Bana. PG13. 126 min. Cinemark. VRC Stadium 15. (5/14)

Taking of Pelham 123, The: Denzel Washington is a New York subway dispatcher whose day gets a little weird when John Travolta hijacks a train and threatens to kill passengers if he doesn’t get a hefty sum. R. Cinemark. VRC Stadium 15.

Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen: A selection of comments: Roger Ebert: “a horrible experience of unbearable length, briefly punctuated by three or four amusing moments.” Detroit News: “A great grinding garbage disposal of a movie.” Dark Horizons: “The male teenage cinematic equivalent of snorting cocaine off a hooker’s ass.” Chicago Tribune: “like listening to rocks in a clothes dryer for 2 1/2 hours.” I think you get the point. PG13. 149 min. Cinemark. VRC Stadium 15.

Up: In the latest film from Pixar, a crotchety old balloon salesman sends his house into the sky (via balloons, of course) to escape from it all — only to find that he has an unwanted stowaway on his porch. The praise is already flowing — and deserved. PG. Cinemark. VRC Stadium 15. (6/4)

X-Men Origins: Wolverine: My efforts to will this movie into not sucking proved mostly fruitless. Sure, Jackman is fine, Schreiber makes a good Sabretooth (if one utterly unlike the one in earlier films), and for about 10 minutes, Ryan Reynolds is a fantastic Deadpool, but the poor effects, silly plot and shallow writing don’t give me much else to care about. PG13. 107 min. Movies 12.

Year One: Michael Cera and Jack Black are a couple of hunter-gatherers who go on an epic (totally, man) journey that involves (based on the preview) women, stonings, swords and cameos from David Cross and Paul Rudd. PG13. 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

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