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The
Sensual Socialist THE BARBARIAN INVASIONS: Written and directed by Denys Arcand. Produced by Denise Robert and Daniel Louis. Cinematography, Guy Dufaux. Editor, Isabelle Dedieu. Set design, Francois Seguin. Costumes, Denis Sperdouklis. Starring Rémy Girard, Stéphane Rousseau, Marie-Josée Croze and Dorothée Berryman, With Johanne Marie Tremblay, Pierre Curzi, Yves Jacques, Louise Portal, Dominique Michel, Marina Hands, Toni Cecchinato and Mitsou. Miramax Films, 2003. R. 111 minutes. Best Actress Cannes 2003 for Marie-Josée Croze. Winner 2003 Academy Award for Best Foreign Film.
Denys Arcand's long-awaited sequel to his 1987 Academy Award-nominated The Decline of the American Empire reunites many of the same actors and introduces two younger actors. At 62, Arcand's sense of history remains pointed, his wit acerbic and his filmmaking powerful and humane. The film is a testament to the joy of good friends and the art of living, loving and dying well. Rémy (Rémy Girard) is no longer a college professor whose womanizing is discovered by his beloved wife, Louise (Dorothée Berryman). Rémy and Louise are divorced but love each other, even though Louise is still shocked to discover how many lovers her unrepentant ex-husband had. But now Rémy lies in an overcrowded, understaffed Montreal hospital ward dying of cancer, and Louise wants him to reconcile with their son, Sébastien (Stéphane Rousseau). Sébastien lives in Paris, where he works as an investment banker. Louise ignores her son's resistance when she asks him to take over his father's care. After a couple of initial blow-outs in the hospital between father and son, Sébastien steps up to the task. He throws wads of money at the hospital union and administrators to get his father moved to a refurbished private room on an empty floor. Sébastien also reconnects with a childhood playmate, Rémy's lover Diane's (Louise Portal) daughter, Nathalie (Marie-Josée Croze). Nathalie, a drug addict, agrees to buy heroin and give it to Rémy, whose pain has become unbearable on the legal limit of the hospital's painkillers. Now the movie relaxes. Old friends come to visit and stay for the duration, including Rémy's former lovers Diane and Dominique (Dominique Michel). Pierre (Pierre Curzi) is married to a younger woman and has two daughters he's crazy about. Claude (Yves Jacques) cooks gourmet meals for them in the kitchen in Remy's room and brings along his Roman lover, Alessandro (Toni Cecchinato). By the time the picture ends at a lodge on a lake, we have seen Sébastien and Nathalie draw closer to the dying man and to each other. Both allow the experience to change them. The ending of the movie leaves open the possibility of following these characters into another story. Rémy and his friends have many conversations but none more hilarious than that following the question Pierre asks at the lodge, "Was there an 'ism' we didn't worship?" For anyone who lived through the politically charged intellectual and historical era of the 1960s and '70s, the group's answers to Pierre's questions bring it all back. Highest recommendations.
McNamara's
War
THE FOG OF WAR: ELEVEN LESSONS FROM THE LIFE OF ROBERT S. MCNAMARA. Documentary directed by Errol Morris. Produced by Morris, Michael Williams, Julie Ahlberg. Executive producers Jon Kamen, Jack Lechner, Frank Scherma, Robert May and John Sloss. Original music, Philip Glass. Cinematography, Peter Donahue, Robert Chappell. Editors, Karen Schmeer, Doug Abel, Chyld King. Production design, Ted Bafaloukos, Steve Hardy. Sony Pictures Classics, 2003. PG-13. 106 minutes. Winner 2003 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.
Errol Morris's reputation for making thought-provoking documentary films holds true in The Fog of War. Morris takes on the Vietnam War and a man widely considered a champion of some of the war's most egregious abuses. McNamara at 85, his age when the film was shot, reflects on the history of self-deception and public lies that muffled the roar of America's failed foreign policies in Vietnam. He does not, however, admit to moral culpability but hides behind the truism that "in wartime nobody in power knows anything," as The New York Times' Stephen Holden puts it. During the powerful anti-war protests of the mid-1960s, Vietnam was known as "McNamara's War," and one of the most powerful scenes in the film is archival footage of the Quaker protester, Norman Morrison, who set himself on fire in November 1965, right below McNamara's office window in the Pentagon. Apparently Morrison's protest still challenges McNamara's moral self-confidence, because he mentions the event with feeling. The greater part of this film is a lengthy series of interviews with Robert S. McNamara, who served under both President John F. Kennedy (1961-1963) and President Lyndon Johnson (1963-1969) as secretary of defense (1961-1968). As secretary of defense during the Vietnam War, McNamara is generally considered to be the architect of U.S. policy toward Vietnam during these crucial years. Errol Morris' brilliant documentary explores new historical territory in its investigation of McNamara's relationship with Air Force General Curtis LeMay both before and during the Vietnam War. A huge "supporting cast" of military experts appear in archival footage, including: LeMay, Air Force chief of staff (1961-1965). Maxwell D. Taylor, Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff (1962-1964). William C. Westmoreland, who led U.S. ground forces during the escalation of the war in Vietnam. Earl G. "Bus" Wheeler, chairman of the joint Chiefs of Staff, 1964-1970; and the principal military figure in Washington overseeing the Vietnam War. In addition cabinet-level advisors included McGeorge Bundy, National Security Adviser to Presidents Kennedy and Johnson. Clark Clifford, outside advisor to President Johnson. Clifford replaced McNamara as secretary of defense in 1968. Dean Rusk, secretary of state 1961-1969. Morris conducts interviews differently than others. He uses an invention of his own making called the Interrotron, which allows him to project his image on a monitor placed directly over the camera's lens, which gives the interview subject the illusion of making eye contact with Morris. It also gives viewers the illusion the interviewee is looking right at them. Morris's methodology is to let the interviewee talk, interrupt as seldom as possible and keep the camera rolling. Nothing McNamara says balances the toll in human life of the war: U.S.: 58,000. Vietnam: Three million. The advisors around two presidents may have been "wrong" even "terribly wrong" to press for the war, as McNamara admits. But another admission probably comes closer to the truth of the matter. McNamara worked for military hawk Curtis LeMay during the final days of WWII and served on the committee that ordered the fire-bombing of 67 Japanese cities, which killed hundreds of thousands of civilians. When the war was over, LeMay mused that if Japan had won, he and McNamara would have been treated as war criminals. Now there's a thought. The Fog of War opens Friday, March 5 at the Bijou. Highest recommendations.
Blossoms of Fire: Documentary about matriarchal utopia in Juchitan, Oaxaca, Mexico. Filmmaker Maureen Gosling present. At 5 pm on 3/5 in 100 Willamette Hall, UO. Free. Fog of War: 2003 Academy Award-winning documentary feature directed by Errol Morris. Robert McNamara served as Secretary of Defense for both President Kennedy and President Johnson. At the award ceremony, Morris said "Forty years ago, this country went down a rabbit hole in Vietnam. Millions died. I fear we're going down the rabbit hole once again." Highest recommendations. PG-13. Bijou. See review this issue. Hidalgo: Based on autobiography of distance rider Frank T. Hopkins, played by Viggo Mortensen, this epic action-adventure takes place during a 3,000 mile survival race across the Arabian Desert in 1890. PG-13. Cinema World. Cinemark. Hidden Fortress, The (1958): Akira Kurosawa's masterful Samurai epic of a warrior (Toshiro Mifune) who protects a princess from feuding enemy warlords. At 7 pm on 3/11 in 180 PLC, UO campus. Free. In America: Jim Sheridan's memoir of living in New York in 1981 with his wife and two daughters is a heartfelt film that stars Samantha Morton, Paddy Considine, Sarah Bolger and Emma Bolger. Very highest recommendations. Academy Award noms: Best Actress, Samantha Morton; Supporting Actor, Djimon Hounsou; Original screenplay, Jim, Naomi and Kirsten Sheridan; PG-13. Cinema World. Online archives. Last Samurai, The: Action-adventure directed by Edward Zwick. Civil War veteran Nathan Algren (Tom Cruise) trains emperor's troops to defeat the last of the country's samurais. But Algren is captured by warrior Katsumoto (Ken Watanabe) and learns about Samurai traditions and code of honor.2003 Academy Award noms only: Watanabe, Supporting Actor; art direction; sound mixing; costume design. R. Movies 12. Online archives. Prompter, The (Norway, 1999): At 7 pm on 3/9 in EMU International Resource Center, UO campus. Free. Starsky and Hutch: Ben Stiller is uptight Starsky, while Owen Wilson is laid back Ken "Hutch" Hutchinson in this remake of TV's undercover crime-fighters. Aslo stars, Vince Vaughn, Snoop Dogg and Juliette Lewis. PG-13. Cinemark. Cinema World. War and Peace Part 1 (1967): Sergei Bondarchuk directed this classic film version of Tolstoy's epic novel, entirely shot in Russia at cost of $100 million. Music by Nino Rota. 1968 Academy Award Best Foreign Film. At 8:15 on 3/8 in 115 Pacific Hall, UO campus. In Russian, English subtitles. Free. Films open the Friday following EW publication date unless otherwise noted. See archived reviews at www.eugeneweekly.com
CONTINUING: Along Came Polly: Ben Stiller plays Reuben, a hapless husband whose bride dumps him. Then he meets up with a childhood friend, Polly (Jennifer Aniston). Also stars Philip Seymour Hoffman, Hank Azaria, Bryan Brown and Alec Baldwin. John Hamburg directs. PG-13. Movies 12.. Bad Santa: Directed by Terry Zwigoff. The story of two con men who go on a road trip to malls dressed as Santa and his elf who rob the malls after hours. An 8-year-old teaches them the true meaning of Christmas. Right! Stars Billy Bob Thornton, Bernie Mac, Lauren Graham, John Ritter. R. Movies 12 Brother Bear: Disney tale of young man who is transformed into a bear and his adventures in the great Northwest. Academy Award nom for animated feature film. G. Movies 12. Butterfly Effect: The trailer is about a young man (Ashton Kutcher) who time travels back to the past to fix the broken lives of a childhood girlfriend (Amy Smart) and his friends, Lenny (Eldoen Henson) and Tommy (William Lee Scott). R. Movies 12. Catch That Kid: Bart Freundlich directs this caper film about three smart kids on a mission without permission. Stars Kristen Stewart, Corbin Bleu, Max Thieriot, Jennifer Beals, Sam Robards, John Carroll Lynch and James LeGros. PG. Movies 12. Cheaper by the Dozen: Steve Martin and Bonnie Hunt play the parents of 12 children, including Piper Perabo, Hilary Duff and Tom Welling. Directed by Shawn Levy. PG. Movies 12. Club Dread, Broken Lizard's: From the makers of Super Troopers comes the tale of a non-stop party at an island resort. Stars Bill Paxton and members of Broken Lizards. R. Cinemark. Cold Mountain: Anthony Minghella's adaptation of Charles Frazier's Civil War best-seller is an elegaic meditation on war. Stars Jude Law as a wounded Southern soldier who walks 1000 miles to get home, Nicole Kidman as his pre-war sweetheart, and Renee Zellweger as a young drifter who teaches her to farm and survive. Excellent performances, beautiful film; very highest recommendations. Academy Award to Rene Zellwegger, Supporting Actress. Nominations for Jude Law, Best Actor; cinematography; original score; two original songs; film editing. R. Cinemark. Online archives. Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen: Stars Lindsay Lohan (Freaky Friday). Welsh director Sara Sugarman's her first movie. PG. Cinemark. Eurotrip: Teens from USA invade Europe. Crass commercialism. R. Cinemark. Fifty First Dates: Drew Barrymore and Adam Sandler in a romance with a catch: she has no short-term memory recall, so she forgets him every night. Also stars Rob Schneider, Sean Astin and Dan Aykroyd. Directed by Peter Segal. PG-13. Cinemark. Cinema World. Girl With the Pearl Earring: Scarlett Johansson and Colin Firth give consummate performances in this underrated, lovely film about Vermeer and the model for his famous, mysterious painting. Based on Tracy Chevalier's best-selling novel. Very highest recommendations. 2003 Academy Award nominations for cinematography, art direction, costume design. PG-13. Cinema World. Online archives. Gothika: Halle Berry plays a criminal psychologist who blacks out and comes to accused of murdering her husband (Charles Dutton). Now she's a patient in his hospital. Directorial debut of Mathieu Kassovitz. Also Penélope Cruz, Robert Downey Jr., Bernard Hill. R. Movies 12. Haunted Mansion: Eddie Murphy stars in Rob Minkoff's (Stuart Little) ghost comedy, with Jennifer Tilly, Don Knotts, Terence Stamp PG. Movies 12. Havana Nights, Dirty Dancing: Re-telling of Dirty Dancing set in 1958 in the Cuban capital, where an American woman (Romolo Garai) and Cuban man (Diego Luna, Y Tu Mama Tambien) dance at a steamy local hot spot, La Rosa Negra, on the eve of the revolution. PG-13. Cinemark. Ichi the Killer (2001): Director Takashi Miike creates what Seattle Weekly calls a "psycho yakuza classic." Not for the fainthearted. NR. Latenite Bijou. Lord of the Rings: Return of the King: Peter Jackson completes Tolkien's trilogy on film, and the result is stunning. Stars Elijah Wood, Viggo Mortensen, Sean Astin, Ian McKellen, Billy Boyd, Orlando Bloom, Liv Tyler, Cate Blanchett. Frodo and Sam make it to Mount Doom as the warriors of Middle Earth under the leadership of Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen) fight the final battle against the forces of the evil Sauron. Very highest recommendations. 2003 Academy Award sweeps for Best Picture; Director, Peter Jackson; adapted screenplay; art direction; sound mixing; original score; original song; costume design; film editing; makeup; and visual effects. Cinemark. Online archives. Master and Commander The Far side of the World: Peter Weir brings Patrick O'Brian's best-selling nautical adventures to the screen. Russell Crowe is Captain Jack Aubrey and Paul Bettany is Dr. Stephen Maturin, ship surgeon and naturalist. Set during the Napoleonic Wars. Highest recommendations. Academy Awards for ceinematography and sound editing. Nominated for picture; director, Peter Weir; art direction; sound mixing; costume design; film editing; makeup; visual effects. PG-13. Cinemark. Online archives. Miracle: The: 1980 US Ice Hockey team beat the greatest team in the world, the Russians, at the Olympics. Stars Kurt Russell as the coach of this inspiring tale of a sports-world miracle. PG. Cinemark. Mona Lisa Smile: Julia Roberts is an idealistic teacher and nonconformist at Wellesley in the 1950s. Julia Stiles, Kirsten Dunst and Maggie Gyllenhaal are her students. Mike Newell directs. PG-13. Movies 12. Monster: Patty Jenkins' feature film about real-life killer Aileen Wuornos stars Charlize Theron in an unforgettable performance. Theron's physical transformation not only captures Wuornos's fragile hold on human decency but also show that her tough exterior is the only buffer she has between her marginal life and an uncaring world. Co-stars Christina Ricci. Hard-to-watch violence, but outstanding. 2003 Academy Award for Theron, Best Actress. R. Bijou. Cinemark. Online archives. Mystic River: Directed by Clint Eastwood; written by Brian Helgeland, based on the novel by Dennis Lehane, this dramatic tragedy stars Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, Kevin Bacon, Laurence Fishburne, Marcia Gay Harden, Laura Linney and Emmy Rossum. Very highest recommendations. 2003 Academy Awards for Best Actor, Sean Penn; Supporting Actor, Tim Robbins. Also nominated for Best Picture; Supporting Actress, Marcia Gay Harden; Director, Clint Eastwood; Adapted screenplay, Brian Helgeland. R. Cinemark. Online archives. Passion of Christ, The (2004): Mel Gibson film opens amid charges (denied) of anti-Semitism. A..O. Scott of The New York Times writes, "'The Passion of the Christ' is so relentlessly focused on the savagery of Jesus' final hours that this film seems to arise less from love than from wrath, and to succeed more in assaulting the spirit than in uplifting it." Others cite the film's graphic torture as being unwatchable. Think of the ending of Braveheart for an unrelenting two hours. No thanks. R. Cinemark. Cinema World. Paycheck: Based on a Philip K. Dick sci-fi short story and directed by John Woo, film stars Ben Affleck, Uma Thurman Aaron Eckhart, Paul Giamatti, Colm Feore, Michael C. Hall. PG-13. Movies 12. Peter Pan: Directed by P.J. Hogan, movie stars Jason Isaacs, Jeremy Sumpter, Richard Briers, Olivia Williams, Lyn Redgrave, Ludivine Sagnier and Rachel Hurd-Wood. PG. Movies 12. Princess Bride, The: Rob Reiner's 1987 fairy-tale adaptation stars Cary Elwes, Mandy Patinkin, Robin Wright, Wallace Shawn, Peter Falk, Andre the Giant and Chris Sarandon. Ironic humor and great dueling scenes make it a real crowd pleaser. PG. LateNite Bijou. School of Rock: Substitute teacher and wild guitarist Jack Black turns elementary musical prodigies into a high-voltage rock band. Directed by Richard Linklater, it also stars Joan Cusack, Mike White and Sarah Silverman. PG-13. Movies 12. Triplets of Belleville: Sylvain Chomet's animated tale features the writer, director's whimsical, skewed architecture looming over the bizarre figures, who populate his strange and wonderful story. A don't-miss gem from 2003, the film's Academy Award noms include Best Animated Film and original song. Very highest recommendations PG-13. Bijou. Online archives. Twisted: Philip Kaufman directs Ashley Judd, Samuel L. Jackson and Andy Garcia in a policier involving a female serial killer. R. Cinema World. Cinemark. Welcome to Mooseport: Ray Romano, running for small-town mayor, and Gene Hackman, former US Prez, square off for Maura Tierney's love. Also stars Marcia Gay Harden, Christine Baranski, Rip Torn. Directed by Donald Petrie. PG-13. Cinemark.
MOVIE
THEATERS Bijou
Art Cinemas Regal
Cinemas Cinemark
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