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Lust's
Thousand Avenues KINSEY: Written and directed by Bill Condon. Produced by Gail Mutrux. Executive producers Michael Kuhn, Francis Ford Coppola. Bobby Rock, Kirk D'Amico. Cinematography, Frederick Elmes. Production design, Richard Sherman. Editor, Virginia Katz. Costume design, Bruce Finlayson. Music by Carter Burwell. Starring Liam Neeson, Laura Linney. With Chris O'Donnell, Peter Sarsgaard, Timothy Hutton, John Lithgow, Tim Curry, Oliver Platt, Lynn Redgrave and Dylan Baker. Fox Searchlight Films, 2004. R. 118 minutes.
Last Sunday, I found myself thinking about sex. First I read a Washington Post story by a health and human sexuality educator of 30 years. Deborah Hoffman said teaching about sex should educate, not dictate, and that it should be "based on scientific evidence." Later I saw Kinsey, an artfully done cinematic biography of the world's first scientist to actually study adult human sexual behavior. Were Alfred Kinsey alive today in the midst of a culture-war waged by the religious right against science, I have no doubt he would fully support Hoffman's recommendations. No traditional biopic, Kinsey opens on a face-to-face training session between Kinsey (Liam Neeson) and his three research assistants, Clyde Martin (Peter Sarsgaard), Wardell Pomeroy (Chris O'Donnell) and Paul Gebhard (Timothy Hutton). In turn, each interviewer questions Kinsey about his sexual history and records his answers in code. Kinsey helps them achieve an open attitude toward sex, keep an interested but not judging demeanor, and use frank, non-euphemistic words about sexual behavior appropriate to the person's background — penis for well-educated subjects, he suggests, but prick, dick or other slang for the less educated. Neeson's gifted, down-to-earth portrayal is astonishing, from his wispy hair to his bemused twinkling eyes. A nature-loving, serious scientist, Kinsey spent his first 20 years of academic life capturing a million specimens of the gall wasp and the remaining years asking just such candid questions of adult American men and women in the 1940s and '50s. Kinsey's 1948 Sexual Behavior in the Human Male sold out its first printing in mere days. His research showed that between 67 percent and 98 percent of men had sex before they were married. Fifty percent had extramarital affairs, a whopping 92 percent masturbated, and 37 percent had had at least one homosexual experience. Kinsey's 1953 Sexual Behavior in the Human Female showed that 50 percent of women had premarital sex, 26 percent had extramarital sex and 62 percent masturbated. Feminists will not be surprised to learn that this book was received with shock and awe by the patriarchy, nor that Kinsey became a cultural untouchable as a result of publishing his findings. The movie is about Kinsey's life, not only his work. His wife and former student, Clara McMillen (Laura Linney), is as brilliant, open-minded and adaptable as he is. Linney plays Mac, as she was called, with a delicate humor that almost belies the depth of her performance. She models for us the way such a woman married to a famous man might find to keep her own life alive, while supporting him in the most important ways. The Kinsey's dinner conversations with their young adult children is absolutely hilarious. Mealtime with my family was nothing like this. Sarsgaard's portrayal of Kinsey's assistant Martin is as nuanced as I have come to expect from him and as luminous as Linney's. Considered a member of the family, Martin's frequently found at the Kinsey home. He develops a special bond with both Albert and Clara. We come to see Kinsey through the eyes of Clara and Martin, whose love for him enables us to see his almost-innocence, personal grief and manipulation. Kinsey is damaged goods, but love helps him find a redemption his work alone could not. Kinsey's two great achievements are that he found a way to get people to open up about their sexuality without shame and guilt, and that he used the data he collected to show there is no such thing as "normal" sexual behavior. As he noted about gall wasps more than a half-century ago, no two individuals are alike: "There is only variation." His portrait of American sexuality at mid-20th century was followed by Masters and Johnson's Human Sexual Response, 1966, which has had an equally liberating effect on the lives of adult men and women. But Kinsey was the first. Kinsey opens at the Bijou Saturday, Dec. 25, with my very highest recommendations. One of 2004's best pictures.
Active
Imaginations FINDING NEVERLAND: Directed by Marc Forster. Written by David Magee, based on the play, The Man Who Was Peter Pan, by Allan Knee. Produced by Richard N. Gladstein. Executive producers Gary Binkow, Neal Israel, Bob Weinstein, Harvey Wenisten, Mischelle Sy. Cinematography, Roberto Schaefer. Editor, Matt Chesse. Production design, Gemma Jackson. Costume design, Alexandra Byrne. Music, Jan A. P. Kaczmarek. Starring Johnny Depp, with Kate Winselt, Julie Christie, Radha Mitchell, Dustin Hoffman and Freddie Highmore. Also, Ian Hart, Joe Prospero, Nick Roud, Luke Spill, Kelly Macdonald and Eileen Essell. Miramax Films, 2004. PG. 101 minutes.
This friendship between playwright James M. Barrie and a family of young boys carries the freight of our era, in which the natural, asexual attraction between child and adult creates hysterical fantasies of pedophilia in the leaders of the religious right. Barrie himself might have been that rare creature to whom the sexual drive was less animated than were his dreams and fertile imagination. We don't know. But I do know that's the way Johnny Depp plays him in this film, and his is a persuasive portrait. Barrie (Depp) meets Sylvia Llewelyn Davies (Kate Winslet) and her fatherless sons in Kensington Park, where the boys are playing, and the writer is making notes for a new play. In a previous scene, Barrie's wife, Mary (Radha Mitchell), has made it clear to him she is tired of their bland marital relationship. An unhappy man, Barrie is touched by the high-spirits of the youngest of the Llewelyn Davies' boy, Michael (Luke Spill), who crawls under Barrie's bench to hide from his brothers. The relationship between Barrie and the family grows when Sylvia thanks Barrie for helping 10-year-old Peter (Freddie Highmore) grieve for his recently deceased father. Barrie tells the boy he isn't trying to take his father's place, and Peter learns to trust him. The film suggests a romantic connection between Sylvia and Barrie simmers from the beginning, but if so, it produces little or no steam. Admiration, certainly. Winslet makes a heroic, strong, hands-on parent. Sylvia's aristocratic, censorious mother, Mrs. Du Maurier (Julie Christie), however, raises the temperature. She disapproves of Barrie spending so much time with her daughter's family and says so. Living in turn-of-the-century London, she is concerned about her daughter's reputation, since Barrie is a married man. In reality, when Barrie became friends with Sylvia and the boys, her husband was still alive, so both were married. Liberties with facts abound. Finding Neverland is less about history and more about the solace and joy the creative imagination can play in human affairs. Depp's performance is his warmest ever. He genuinely likes Highmore, whose award-worthy portrait of a sad boy is truly remarkable. Highmore understands that less is more, showing restraint and maturity far beyond his years. He and Depp respect each other as actors, which makes the boy Peter less a model for Peter Pan than even the writer believes. Late in the film, Peter tells a theater patron the real Peter Pan is Barrie himself. Winslet's grounded, warm-bodied performance as a loving maternal woman of diminishing health does not play as attention-seeking or pitiful. Sylvia won't see the doctors until Barrie shows her that her condition threatens her boys' fragile self-confidence. In real life both Depp and Winslet have children, and here they model good parenting. Peter Pan shows that the Darling children had a comfortable, supported childhood. As a child, I identified with Wendy, who might be patterned on Sylvia. Finding Neverland does not hold together as a film. Robbed of tension, it is a fractured work with no concrete connection between the dominant story of Barrie's relationship with the family and the secondary story of the stage production of Peter Pan. Barrie tries to heal Sylvia by showing her scenes from the play. An inadequate bridging device at best, the scene draws attention to the wide gap in realities of the widow and the writer. Now playing at Cinema World, Finding Nevermore will bore little children expecting Peter Pan. Recommended for Depp, Winslet and Highmore's able performances.
OPENING
OR RETURNING: After the Sunset: Just one more heist and he'll retire, master thief Pierce Brosnan promises his girlfriend (Salma Hayek). But a pesky FBI agent (Woody Harrelson) comes to his island paradise. Bret Ratner directs; also stars the great Don Cheadle. R. Opened 12/22. Movies 12. Annie Hall (1977): Woody Allen stars in and directs an irrepressible Diane Keaton. Film took the big Academy Awards: picture, director, star (Keaton), screenplay (Allen). Great supporting actors and Gordon Willis's cinematography. PG. Plays at 8 pm on 12/23 in Café Paradiso. Aviator, The: Martin Scorsese's 169-minute film about lover, aviation pioneer and eccentric billionaire industrialist Howard Hughes stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Hughes, with Cate Blanchett, Kate Beckinsale, John C. Reilly, Alec Baldwin, Jude Law, Alan Alda, Frances Conroy and Ian Holm. PG-13. Opens 12/25. Cinemark. Cinema World. Darkness: Fright-filled horror movie written and directed by Jaume Balagueró, it's about a family that moves into a haunted house where horrible things happened. Stars Anna Paquin, with Lena Olin, Iain Glen and Giancarlo Giannini. Depite mild rating, film is reported to be nightmare-material. PG-13. Opens 12/25. Cinemark. Fat Albert: Bill Cosby character debuts in a live-action and animated film based on Cosby's stand-up routines about growing up in Philly. Directed by Joel Zwick. PG. Opens 12/25. Cinemark. Kinsey: Bill Condon's excellent film about human sexual researcher Alfred Kinsey stars Liam Neeson, Laura Linney and Peter Sarsgaard. Frank, open-hearted and genuinely humorous, this is a must-see movie. An entertaining and enlightening antidote to the bedroom politics of the religious right and one of 2004's best, the film gets my highest recommendations. R. Opens 12/25. Bijou. See review this issue. Ladder 49: Stars John Travolta and Joaquin Phoenix) as Baltimore firemen. PG. Opened 12/22. Movies 12. Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou: Wes Anderson's new ensemble comedy stars Bill Murry as a famed underwater adventure filmmaker who's run into some big waves and is going under. Co-stars Owen Wilson, Anjelica Huston, Cate Blanchett, Michael Gambon and Willem Dafoe. R. Opens 12/25. Cinema World. Cinemark. Life of Brian: Terry Jones directs the crazed Monty Python players in this irreverent 1979 fantasy about a ''savior" born just down the street from Jesus' creche. Jones, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Michael Palin, Terry Gilliam and Graham Chapman star. R. At 7 pm on 12/28 in Cozmic Pizza. Meet the Fockers: Jay Roach follows Meet the Parents (2000) with Ben Stiller's bride and in-laws to-be Teri Polo, Robert De Niro and Blythe Danner meeting his rather eccentric parents, Dustin Hoffman and Barbara Streisand. Culture clash writ small. PG-13. Opened 12/22. Cinemark. Cinema World. Phantom of the Opera, The: The Andrew Lloyd Webber musical is brought to the screen by Joel Schumacher. It stars Emmy Rossum in a break-through performance. PG-13. Opened 12/22. Cinemark. Shall We Dance: American remake of the sublime Japanese film of the same title. Sorry to report it, but Jennifer Lopez plays the dance teacher and Richard Gere the shy man who learns to dance. See the original to compare to this all-Hollywood effort. PG-13. Opened 12/22. Movies 12. Unlocking DaVinci's Code The Full Story: Plays at 3 pm on 12/25 on National Geographic Channel (NGC). Films open the Friday following EW publication date unless otherwise noted. See archived reviews at www.eugeneweekly.com
CONTINUING: Blade: Trinity: Vampire hunter Blade (Wesley Snipes) is back. Meanwhile, vampire leaders are bringing back the rejuvenated Dracula, their progenitor, who's now called Drake (Dominic Purcell). Yikes! Written and directed by David Goyer and based on the Marvel Comics character, the film also stars Kris Kristofferson, Ryan Reynolds, Jessica Biel, Parker Posey and Natasha Lyonne. R. Cinemark. Bourne Supremacy, The: Paul Greengrass (writer, director of Bloody Sunday) directs Matt Damon as assassin Jason Bourne in the second installment of Robert Ludlum's espionage thrillers Also stars Joan Allen, Brian Cox, Julia Stiles, Kurt Urban and Franka Potente. One of the summer's best films. Highly recommended. PG-13. Movies 12. Online archives. Bridget Jones The Edge of Reason: Lackluster Bridget Jones sequel stars Renee Zellwegger, Colin Firth and Hugh Grant again. Directed by Beeban Kidron, romantic comedy also stars Jacinda Barrett, Jemma Jones and Jim Broadbent. R. Movies 12. Online archives. Christmas With the Kranks: Based on John Grisham's Skipping Christmas, this comedy stars Jamie Lee Curtis, Julie Gonzalo and Tim Allen and is directed by Joe Roth. Also stars Dan Aykroyd, Cheech Marin and M. Emmet Walsh. PG. Cinemark. Closer: Director Mike Nichols (Angels in America) looks at the relationships of four strangers, played by Julia Roberts, Jude Law, Natalie Portman and Clive Owen. Outstanding performances by all four make this a film not to be missed. Shows the anger, resentment and folly that result from such high-voltage matters as fidelity, sexuality and relationship. Ignore the negatives and see it. Very highest recommendations. One of 2004's top movies. R. Does not play 12/24. Cinemark. Online archives. Finding Neverland: Johnny Depp stars as British playwright J.M. Barrie, based on Allan Knee's play, The Man Who Was Peter Pan. Directed by Marc Foster, it also stars Kate Winslet, Julie Christie, Radha Mitchell and Dustin Hoffman. Winslet and Depp's performances are radiant, but the real star of the show is 12 year-old Freddie Highmore, playing the actual child, Peter Llewelyn Davies, who inspired Barrie's play. The picture is heartbreaking, gorgeous and probably too complicated for young children. PG. Cinema World. See review this issue. Flight of the Phoenix: Using Robert Aldrich's 1965 adventure film as his base, John Moore updates the main story, in which crash survivors in the vast, remote Gobi Desert attempt to put their fractured plane together and fly out. Stars include Giovanni Ribisi, Dennis Quaid and Jacob Vargas. PG-13. Cinemark. Cinema World. Forgotten, The: Julianne Moore is a grieving parent. She learns from her psychiatrist (Gary Sinese) and others that her 8-year-old son never existed. Directed by Joseph Ruben, the film also stars Dominic West, Alfre Woodard, Linus Roache, Anthony Edwards. PG-13. Movies 12. Garden State: Zach Braff wrote, directed and stars in this funny, resonant romantic comedy, which co-stars Natalie Portman, Peter Sarsgaard and Ian Holm. Braff and Portman help the film get to a truth about what it is to be 20-something in the early years of the 21st century. Highest recommendations. R. Movies 12. Online Archives. Head in the Clouds: John Duigan's lame WWII drama fizzles, despite starring roles by Charlize Theron, Penélope Cruz and Stuart Townsend. Patronizing, air-brushed version of Europe during 1930s and '40s. Pure escapist fare. Not recommended. R. Through 12/24. Bijou. Online archives. I Heart Huckabees: Selirious, laugh-out-loud comedy from David O. Russell (Three Kings, Flirting with Disaster) stars Jason Schwartzman, Lily Tomlin, Dustin Hoffman, Isabelle Huppert, Mark Wahlberg, Naomi Watts and Jude Law. One of 2004's top films, it gets my very highest recommendations. R. Through 12/24. Bijou. Online archives. Incredibles, The: Writer, director Brad Bird and Pixar Animation Studios create an action-adventure story set in suburbia where a former top crime fighter, Mr. Incredible, gets the call to jump back into actions. PG. Cinemark. Online archives. Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events: The New York Times calls the Lemony Snicket books "mordantly funny," but the stories of the misadventures of three orphans who fall into the hands of an evil count are popular with children and adults. Jim Carrey plays said count, three game kids bedevil him, and Meryl Streep, Timothy Spall, Billy Connolly, Luis Guzmán, Jennifer Coolidge, Jane Adams and Catherine O'Hara help. Directed by Brad Silberling and written by Robert Gordon. PG. Cinema World. Cinemark. Napoleon Dynamite: Jared Hess' indie comedy stars Jon Heder as a high schooler, who lives in Idaho with his grandmother. The Village Voice says, "the film is an epic, magisterially observed pastiche on all-American geekhood, flooring the competition with a petulant shove." PG. Movies 12. National Treasure: Directed by Jon Turteltub and producer Jerry Bruckheimer, adventure stars Nicolas Cage searching for treasure George Washington hid during the Revolutionary War. Sean Bean plays his British rival who's anxious to score the treasure first. PG. Cinema World. Cinemark. Ocean's Twelve: Director Steven Soderbergh returns with the gang: George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Don Cheadle, Bernie Mac, Andy Garcia, Julia Roberts and newby Catherine Zeta-Jones. A recent group interview in Premiere makes reveals they had a blast making this sequel. Highly recommended for its unabashedly confident entertainment value. PG-13. Cinemark. Cinema World. Online archives. Polar Express, The: Robert Zemeckis directs a wholly CG animation adventure, starring Tom Hanks in multiple roles in this adaptation of children's book by Chris Van Allsburg. Called "performance capture," the technique uses actors' live-action performances to drive the emotions and movements of the digital characters. G. Cinemark. Cinema World. Ray: Jamie Foxx plays late, great Ray Charles in this musical, biographical drama, directed by Taylor Hackford. Co-stars Kerry Washington, Regina King, Clifton Powell, Harry Lennix, Terrence Dashon Howard, Richard Schiff, Aunjanue Ellis and Sharon Warren. Outstanding performance by Foxx. One of the year's finest films. PG-13. Movies 12. Online archives. Shark Tale: In this computer-animated feature, a lovable tropical fish with the voice of Will Smith takes on the underwater Mafia when he assumes responsibility for killing the godfather of the Great White Sharks. Other voices include those of Jack Black, Robert De Niro, Renée Zellweger, Angelina Jolie and Martin Scorsese; Eric Bergeron. Directed by Vicky Jenson. PG. Movies 12. Sideways: Fresh social comedy by Alexander Payne follows two guys on a bachelor week in California wine country. Great performances by Paul Giamatti (American Splendor) and Thomas Haden Church ("Wings") sweetens the tale, as do Virginia Madsen and Sandra Oh. One of the best films of the year. Don't miss. R. Bijou. Online archives. Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow: Starring Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow and Angelina Jolie, this digital special effects sci-fi action film was shot without sets and locations. Brainchild: writer/director Kerry Conran in collaboration with producer Jon Avnet. Other stars include Giovanni Ribisi, Michael Gambon and Bai Ling. PG. Movies 12. Online archives. Spanglish: James L. Brooks's comedy/drama stars Adam Sandler, Tea Leoni, Anne Bancroft and Paz Vega. A non-English speaking woman goes to work for an upscale LA family. PG-13. Cinemark. Cinema World. SpongeBob SquarePants: Animated feature starring one of Nickelodeon's most absorbing characters. Voices by Alec Baldwin, Scarlett Johansson and others. PG. Through 12/24. Cinemark. Without a Paddle: High-speed comedy adventure stars Seth Green, Matthew Lillard and Dax Shepard as clueless adventurers who go into the Oregon wilderness in search of lost treasure. PG-13. Movies 12.
MOVIE
THEATERS Bijou
Art Cinemas Regal
Cinemas Cinemark
Theaters
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