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Character
as Destiny CAPOTE: Directed by Bennett Miller. Written by Dan Futterman, based on the acclaimed biography by Gerald Clarke. Produced by Caroline Baron, William Vince, Michael Ohoven. Executive producers Dan Futterman, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Kerry Rock, Danny Rosett. Cinematography, Adam Kimmel. Production design, Jess Gonchor. Editor, Christopher Tellefsen. Composer, Mychael Danna. Costume design, Kasia Walicka-Maimone. Starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, with Catherine Keener, Chris Cooper, Clifton Collins. Also with Bruce Greenwood, Bob Balaban, Amy Ryan and Mark Pellegrino. United Artists. Sony Pictures Classics, 2005. R. 114 minutes.
The first time the camera shows the two-story farmhouse where an entire family was brutally murdered in November 1959, the full impact of the flat Kansas landscape hits the viewer. The darkened house sits on the horizon comforted only by statuesque, bare-limbed trees on either side, then open fields, which appear as a long unbroken line. From the highway, a lone car turns up the driveway. A young woman knocks, calls, then enters the silent house through the unlocked front door. Dread takes over as we wait to see what horrors she will uncover. Director Bennett Miller sets a somber mood here as well in a related scene in which writer Truman Capote (Philip Seymour Hoffman) wields a pair of sharp scissors to crisply cut out of the morning edition of The New York Times a story about the Clutter family murders in Holcomb, Kan. Capote calls the famous editor of the New Yorker magazine, William Shawn (Bob Balaban), to tell him he wants to go to Kansas to investigate the effect of the grisly crime on the residents of the small town. Capote takes with him his best friend since childhood, Nelle Harper Lee (Catherine Keener), his assistant and "bodyguard." Within a year, Lee will be famous in her own right as the Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist of To Kill a Mockingbird, set during the years she and Truman ("Dill" in the book) were children in 1940s Alabama. From the moment Nelle signs them in at a small hotel in nearby Garden City, Truman makes no concessions to the sensibilities of the community. He dresses as he would in his privileged literary life in New York, in a camel-colored, tailored cashmere winter coat, hat and elegant wool scarf. His high-pitched speaking voice, self-indulgent laughter and effusive gestures stand out. He is an outsider, and he flaunts it, while Nell blends in graciously and paves the way for him. Capote doesn't make a good first impression on Alvin Dewey Jr. (Chris Conner), a Kansas Bureau of Investigation agent who lives in Holcomb and was good friends with the Clutters. But Marie Dewey (Amy Ryan), Alvin's wife, is delighted to entertain Truman and Nelle, and her husband goes along with it, eventually giving the writer access to many documents the investigation turns up. Murderers Perry Smith (Clifton Collins Jr.) and Mark Pellegrino (Dick Hickock), recently released inmates of the Kansas State Penitentiary, have left a trail. Their trial is swift, and the men are sentenced to die. But from Capote's first sight of Smith, he is beguiled by the man's soulful eyes and quiet demeanor. Capote holds several unauthorized conversations with the prisoner, telling Smith to be sure to put his name, Truman Capote, on the visitor's list at the Pen, so he can come and talk with him some more there. Thus begins a six-year waiting game. Capote may be a victim of his own fascination with the killer, but as Nelle observes, Truman's only in love with himself. His identification as an outsider fits with what Capote learns of Smith's background. But Capote is always working, even when he seems to befriend the killers. Eventually Capote becomes more obsessed with the book he plans to write than with Smith, a juncture fraught with peril for the writer. This outstanding film is ultimately a cautionary tale. Telling a true crime story by using the techniques of fiction, Capote creates a new nonfiction form. In Cold Blood is a brilliant work of literature, but the movie suggests his involvement marred the product. (Capote's breakthrough discovery was expanded by practitioners such as Tom Wolfe, who called it "the new journalism.") The line between journalism and entertainment has never been more fragile than now, which is an appropriate moment for Capote. Very highest recommendations, especially for performances by Hoffman and Keener. Opens at the Bijou Friday, Nov. 4.
Mathematics
and Love PROOF: Directed by John Madden. Written by David Auburn and Rebecca Miller, based on Auburn's stageplay. Produced by Jeffrey Sharp, John N. Hart Jr., Robert Kessel, Alison Owen. Executive producers, Bob Weinstein, Harvey Weinstein, Julile Goldstein, James D. Stern, Michael Hogan. Cinematography, Alwin Kucheler. Editor, Mick Audsley. Production design, Alice Normington. Costumes, Jill Taylor. Music, Stephen Warbeck. Starring Gwyneth Paltrow, Anthony Hopkins, Jake Gyllenhaal and Hope Davis. Miramax, 2005. PG-13. 100 minutes. I'm glad I haven't seen a stage production of Proof, partly because I can't belabor director John Madden's cinematic choices as director. The film's story is so compact and self-enclosed that my not knowing how the mystery turns out was a pleasant suspense. The film contains a few outdoor scenes that focus on a limited number of people, while many interior scenes are occupied by a single character, such as Catherine (Gwyneth Paltrow) or Robert (Anthony Hopklins), daughter and father, both mathematicians.
As a rule, I think it is a bad decision to allow a playwright or novelist to adapt her or his own work to the screen. To make a compelling work in another medium is very difficult, and few do it as well as a writer without an agenda. To cite a recent example, the third film in the Harry Potter series worked much better with director Alfonso Cuaron and writer Steve Kloves. They broke free of the book's overpowering influence and took the tale to a darker, more satisfying emotional level in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Unlike the other film I reviewed this week, Capote, which sets the tone of the film in early shots of Kansas, the establishing shots of the campus of the University of Chicago are impersonal picture postcards that fail to do that for Proof. The Gothic architecture of the buildings speaks of Anglican cathedrals and universities such as Cambridge, rather than an American academy for some 75 Nobel laureates, at some time during their careers. Likewise, the concept of a proof in math terms is a bit out of the realm of many moviegoers. Madden explains proof as a "mathematical formulation in which a particular conjecture or hypothesis as we would understand it can be proved by mathematical deduction to be true." People who try to solve sudoku puzzles may have their own, more personal understanding of proof, as each number placed in a square must be proved the only possible number to fit there. Takes awhile to get the hang of it, but it's fun. Nevertheless, films that rely heavily on characters who express themselves through complicated mental disciplines have a hard time connecting with many people in this rabidly anti-intellectual era presided over by George II. Earlier, even the award-winning A Beautiful Mind and the superlative Kinsey were not box office bonanzas. If you venture to see Proof, you may like it, in part because geniuses are interesting people, even the mad ones such as Robert and Catherine, who has sacrificed her youth, health and career to look after him. When Catherine's sister, the resolutely ordinary and practical Claire (Hope Davis) arrives in Chicago after their father's death, Catherine can barely relate to her. Claire found a way to survive a crazy father, and now it looks to her like Catherine is going that way, too. Only Hal (Jake Gyllenhaal), a gifted student of Robert's, sees that Catherine is OK, even if he cannot persuade her of it. Catherine has very little to give, but Hal is patient. In spite of its flaws, Proof kept my attention for its duration. I don't understand all of Paltrow's film choices, although she is always worth watching. I thought she was splendid as the depressed poet Sylvia Plath in Sylvia (2003), with Daniel Craig as her estranged husband, poet Ted Hughes. Proof, however, has more in common with Neil La Bute's Possession (2002), in which Paltrow plays a professor drawn in by a literary researcher trying to solve the mystery of two famous Victorians who may have had a clandestine love affair. In both Possession and Proof, Paltrow shares only a glimpse of the generous, sexually vital character she played to perfection in the delicious Shakespeare in Love, also directed by Madden. Proof is now playing at Cinema World, which is hopefully beginning to bring films to town we might not see otherwise. I highly recommend Proof for its intelligent pursuit of a sensitive soul who has retreated from the world and now must come back into it.
OPENING
OR RETURNING: Blossoms of Fire (Mexico): Part of the Women without Borders film series, shows at 7 pm on 11/9 in 180 PLC, UO. Free. Breaking the Spell: WTO, anarchists and Eugene: Film features several moving montage sequences as well as in-depth scenes that include footage aired nationally on "60 Minutes" and the "CBS Sunday Morning News." At 6 pm on 11/10 in 110 Willamette. Free. Capote: Director Bennett Miller and writer Dan Futterman create a moving portrait of writer Truman Capote (In Cold Blood) during the years following grisly Kansas murders that rocked the country. Philip Seymour Hoffman gives an indelible performance, likewise Catherine Keener. Clifton Collins plays Perry Smith, one of the killers befriended by Capote. Very highest recommendations. R. Bijou. See review this issue. Chicken Little: Disney's first fully computer-animated feature film is a comedy adventure that brings a satirical twist to the classic fable. Voices by Zach Braff, Garry Marshall, Joan Cusack, Steve Zahn. G. Cinema World. Cinemark. Cleopatra (1963): Joseph Mankiewicz's sumptuous epic stars Elizabeth Taylor as the Queen of Egypt with Richard Burton, Rex Harrison, Roddy McDowell, Martin Landau. At 6 pm on 11/10 in 100 Willamette. Free. Crumb: Critically acclaimed and popular documentary on the life of 60's subculture cartoonist Robert Crumb. R. At 7 pm on 11/9 in 110 Willamette. Free. Eraserhead (1978): David Lynch's first feature film became a cult classic. Surreal tale of a bizarre misfit (Jack Nance, who later played logger Pete in "Twin Peaks") in a misbegotten future world that is sick and sickening. R. 11:30 pm on 11/4, 11/6. Bijou. Forty-Year Old Virgin: Andy Stitzer (Steve Carell) has lived a life of involuntary chastity, and his friends are determined to do something about his state. Directed by Judd Apatow, the film stars Catherine Keener, Paul Rudd and others. R. Movies 12. Online archives. Good Luck, Gentlemen (1992): Vladimir Bortko's film is about a soldier who returns from duty in Berlin to St. Petersburg, which has changed. He, another soldier and an aspiring actress attempt to become stock brokers. At 7 pm on 11/9 in 111 Pacific. In Russian with English subtitles. Good Night and Good Luck: Edward R. Murrow did more to make television a serious news venue than almost any other journalist. George Clooney's film is set in 1953, when the CBS newsman (played by David Strathairn) battled powerful Senator Joseph McCarthy (shown only in archival shots and speaking his own words).. McCarthy's witch hunting tactics were on display in the House Un-American Activities Committee, and Clooney wants us to remember Murrow's courage. As The New York Times puts it: "Murrow, a war hero in his own right, recognized McCarthyism as a domestic echo of Nazism." PG. Cinema World. Happiness: Todd Solondz's 1998 film is the disturbing story of three sisters, their husbands and domestic woes and one's psychiatric patients. Riveting performances by Dylan Baker, Jane Adams and Philip Seymour Hoffman. Tech credits excellent, cast outstanding, but there's no heart. R. At 6 pm on 11/16 at DIVA. Free. How to Fix the World and Oscar: Jacqueline Goss's 2004 film and Sergio Morkin's 2004 film are part of the Margaret Mean film series. Shows at 6 pm on 11/10 in 182 Lillis. Jarhead: Screen adaptation of Marine Anthony Swofford's memoir of his disorienting experiences in the Gulf War stars Jake Gyllenhaal as "Swoff," Jamie Foxx and Peter Sarsgaard. Directed by Sam Mendes. R. Cinemark. Cinema World. Last Days, Gus Van Sant's: Director Gus Van Sant's elliptical, minimalist film imagines the final days of Nirvana frontman, Kurt Cobain. The Village Voice writes, "Last Days is a biography without a story, a sustained monologue that can barely be heard, an interior portrait that denies access to inner life." Michael Pitt (The Dreamers) plays an introspective artist cracking up under the weight of fame. R. Bijou. MirrorMask: A teenage girl projects anxieties over her mother's illness into her dreams in an effects-heavy movie produced by the Jim Henson Company and directed by Dave McKean. Said to be equisitely beautiful. PG. Bijou. Shopgirl: Greatly anticipated film written by and starring Steve Martin (based on his bestselling novella), film also stars Claire Danes and Jason Schwarzman. A poignant love story, it's directed by Anand Tucker. R. Cinemark. Short Films of David Lynch: At 11:30 pm on 11/5. Bijou. Spartacus: A gladiator epic starring Kirk Douglas, it takes place during slave uprisings in ancient Rome, and won four of the 1960 Academy Awards. Stanley Kubrick directed it at age 31 with a cast that includes Laurence Olivier, Charles Laughton, Jean Simmons, and Tony Curtis. Screenplay by Dalton Trumbo. Reissued print includes material deemed too violent or raw for earlier audiences. PG-13. At 6 pm on 11/3 in 100 Willamette. Two for the Money: Naïve former college football star (Matthew McConaughey) sells his soul to work for a powerful bookie (Al Pacino). When trouble comes, push becomes shove. Rene Russo co-stars, and D. J. Caruso directs. R. Movies 12. Zathura: Brothers (Josh Hutcherson, Jonah Bob) are launched on an adventure when their house takes off for space, where they meet up with an astronaut (Dax Shepard) and others. Dad is played by Tim Robbins, and film is directed by Jon Favreau. PG. Sneak at 7 pm on 11/5. Cinemark.
CONTINUING: Brothers Grimm, The: Terry Gilliam directs this tale of the legendary brothers who brought fairytales to the world, Will Grimm (Matt Damon) and Jake Grimm (Heath Ledger). Set in the Napoleonic countryside, the brothers have to wrestle with the demons and magical characters their imaginations have brought to life. Also stars Jonathan Pryce, Lena Headey, Peter Stormare and Monic Bellucci. PG-13. Movies 12. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: Tim Burton's reimagining of Roald Dahl's perennial children's favorite dark chocolate treat stars Johnny Depp as Willy Wonka with Freddie Highmore, his child co-star from Finding Neverland, along with Helen Bonham Carter. Loved it! Highest recommendations. PG. Movies 12. Online archives. Doom: Loosely based on the game by the same name, this sci-fi horror flick from Andrzej Bartowiak takes us to a research station on Mars to hunt down the nasties inadvertently released. Although the film is live action, the angles and visuals are very like a video game – without the joystick. R. Cinemark. Dreamer: Inspired By a True Story: Drama about a father (Kurt Russell) who, for the love of his daughter (Dakota Fanning), sacrifices almost everything to save the life of an injured racehorse and bring the filly back to her former glory. Also stars Kris Kristofferson, Elizabeth Shue. PG. Cinemark. Cinema World. Elizabethtown: Cameron Crowe (Vanilla Sky, Almost Famous) directs Orlando Bloom as a young man who's just lost his job, his girlfriend and his father. This romantic comedy-drama tells his story of returning home to Kentucky and finding new meaning in his life. PG-13. Cinemark 17. Exorcism of Emily Rose, The: Scott Derrickson directs this unusual film, which incorporates horror with a compelling courtroom drama. Stars Laura Linney as an ambitious attorney, Jennifer Carpenter as a murder victim. With Tom Wilkinson, Colm Feore, Campbell Scott and Shohreh Aghdashloo. PG-13. Movies 12. Flightplan: Jody Foster stars in this Brian Grazer-produced psychological thriller about a woman whose 6-year old daughter disappears without a trace mid-flight in a state-of-the-art aircraft. Directed by Robert Swenke, film also stars Peter Sarsgaard and Sean Bean. PG-13. Cinemark. Online archives. Fog, The: Remake (and slight re-write) of John Carpenter's horror flick by the same name, this version tells the story of ghostly lepers returning to take their revenge on a small town's descendants. Stars Tim Welling, Maggie Grace and Selma Blair. PG-13. Cinemark 17. Four Brothers: After their mother is murdered, four brothers reunite to avenge her death. From the director of 2 Fast 2 Furious. Stars Mark Wahlberg, Tyrese Gibson, Andre Benjamin and Garrett Hedlund. R. Movies 12. Online archives. History of Violence, A: After foiling a robbery in his small-town diner, Viggo Mortensen's quiet life with his wife and two children is plunged into a media circus, which attracts unsavory characters who claim they are from his shady past. Directed by the great David Cronenberg, the film also stars Maria Bello, William Hurt and Ed Harris. One of the best films of 2005, despite its violence. R. Cinemark. Online archives. In Her Shoes: Directed by Curtis Hanson. Sisters Maggie (Cameron Diaz) and Rose (Toni Collette) have little in common, but after a major break, they find their way back together with the help of a grandmother (Shirley MacLaine) they didn't know existed. Unsentimental tale of sisters who must find their way to self-awareness, film features great performances by all three principals. Perfect little film deserves highest recommendations. PG-13. Cinemark. Online archives. Legend of Zorro, The: The original masked man again played by Antonio Banderas is now working to gain statehood for California. (Huh?) Catherine Zeta-Jones and director Martin Campbell from the original return as well. Action adventure with a flair. PG-13. Cinema World. Cinemark. Madagascar: Computer-animated comedy stars voices of Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer and Jada Pinkett Smith as animals who escape from the Central Park Zoo for a big city adventure. But they are captured and put on a ship headed for Africa, where they must survive in the wild. Directed by Eric Darnell (Antz) and Tom McGrath ("The Ren and Stimpy Show"). PG. Movies 12. March of the Penguins: Documentary director Luc Jacquet's film chronicles the oft-repeated survival of the species in the wind-strewn wilderness of Antarctica. Film tracks a pair of Emperor Penguins across continent. Includes intimate scenes of the big birds mating. The female lays one egg, passes it to the male and takes off for a three months round trip to the sea and food. Meanwhile, the male penguins don't eat but focus exclusively on keeping the eggs alive for the gestation period. This unique film has now played in every theater in Eugene/Springfield. G. Movies 12. North Country: Niki Caro (Whale Rider) delivers this powerful story of Josey Aimes (Charlize Theron) and her struggle against sexual harassment in the mines of northern Minnesota. Also stars Sissy Spacek, Elle Peterson, Woody Harrelson, Sean Bean. R. Cinema World. Cinemark. Prime: Therapist (Meryl Streep) helps a client (Uma Thurman) involved with a younger man (Bryan Greenberg), who is the therapist's son. Comedy written and directed by Ben Younger. PG-13. Cinemark. Proof: John Madden directs Gwyneth Paltrow, Anthony Hopkins, Jake Gyllenhaal and Hope Davis in the story of a young woman who took care of her dying father and now must confront her own strengths and fears. PG-13. Cinema World. See review this issue. Red Eye: You've all seen the trailer: Rachel McAdams is horrified to learn that her father has been kidnapped and the monster (Cillian Murphy) who's in on it is seated right next to her on a red eye to Miami. Directed by Wes Craven. PG-13. Movies 12. Saw 2: Bloody sequel to James Wan's grisly 2004 thriller stars Donnie Wahlberg. Cinema World. Cinemark. Sky High: Son of superheroes The Commander (Kurt Russell) and Jetstream (Kelly Preston), poor Will (Michael Angarano) must go to Sky High, an elite high school, where he battles a nasty gym coach (Bruce Campbell), a bully, teen angst, parental expectations and girl problems. Wow! PG. Movies 12. Valiant: Vanguard Animation's first film includes voices by Ewan McGregor as Valiant, John Cleese, Jim Broadbent and Ricky Gervais. Set in WWII, the film's about the competition between brave English carrier pigeons (the good guys) and German falcons. Computer animation looks great. G. Movies 12. Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit: Nick Park's and Steve Box's outstanding creations, an eccentric inventor named Wallace and his long-suffering, silent but faithful dog, Gromit, finally reach the big screen in their first feature-length film. The mystery of a vegetable-ravaging "beast" must be solved to save the village's Giant Vegetable Competition, and our intrepid hero Wallace (voice by Peter Sallis) is just the man for the job. Lady Tottington (Helena Bonham Careter) and Victor Quartermaine (Ralph Fiennes) co-star. Most excellent, divine comedy. G. Cinema World. Cinemark. Online archives. War of the Worlds: Directed by Steven Spielberg, this retelling of H.G. Well's seminal sci-fi adventure thriller about an invasion of Earth by Martians, as seen through the eyes of ordinary people played by Tom Cruise, Dakota Fanning, Justin Chatwin, Miranda Otto, and Tim Robbins. Riveting, challenging and moving; very highest recommendations. PG-13. Movies 12. Online archives. Weather Man, The: Chicago TV Weather Man (Nicolas Cage) finds successful career no match for family life. Directed by Gore Verbinskin, film also stars Michael Caine, Hope Davis and Michael Rispoli. R. Cinemark. Wedding Crashers: Hyper pranksters Owen Wilson and Vince Vaghn star in this throwback to a rowdier time in movies. Things go well for the boys until they meet up with Rachel McAdams and Isla Fisher and their parents, Christopher Walken and Jane Seymour. R. Movies 12.
MOVIE
THEATERS Bijou
Art Cinemas Regal
Cinemas Cinemark
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