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OPENING
OR RETURNING: Banff Mountain Film Festival: Touring festival includes short films about kayaking, skiing, crossing the Arctic, rockclimbing, biking, BASE jumping and more. Different program each night. 7:30 pm Thursday, April 16, and Saturday, April 18, McDonald Theatre. $10 adv., $12 door. Crank: High Voltage: Jason Statham reprises his role as a hitman who has to undertake stranger and stranger escapes in order to stay alive. Now, his heart’s been replaced with a battery-powered thing that requires jolts of energy. But he wants his real heart back! R. 85 min. Cinemark. VRC Stadium 15. Directed by Steven Spielberg: The UO film series starts back up with Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, preceded by a short talk from a UO grad student. 6 pm Thursday, April 23, 110 Willamette, UO. Free. DisOrient Film Festival: Asian-American festival features short and feature-length films, including the world premiere of I Am That Girl; Children of Invention, which showed at Sundance; revenge drama The First Breath of Tengan Rei; White On Rice, an unconventional family comedy; and more. (See www.disorientfilm.org for full schedule.) April 17-19, Bijou. Earth Day: Former eco-crusaders are being targeted — but by whom? The prime suspect is the guy who was kicked out of his terrorist sect for “embracing the forbidden art of women’s hair care,” but we suspect he ain’t the guy. This locally produced independent horror comedy has its world premiere at 5 pm, 7 pm and 9 pm Wednesday, April 22, DIVA. $5. www.myspace.com/fauxshowproductions 4/20 Party: Catch screenings of Reefer Madness (4:20 pm & 9:05 pm), Up in Smoke (6 pm & 7:30 pm), Half Baked (4:20 pm & 9:05 pm) and Dazed and Confused (6 pm & 7:30 pm) — and yes, munchies will be served. April 20, David Minor Theater. 21+. He’s Just Not That Into You: Great cast, embarrassing premise; it’s based, loosely I assume, on the unfortunate book of the same title. However will these lovely young folks ever find troo lurv? PG13. Movies 12. Heckler’s Night: Mock loudly and cheerfully as the Goat screens They Live. 7 pm Wednesday, April 22, Wandering Goat. Free. International, The: Clive Owen and Naomi Watts fight to bring down a bank that’s doing nasty, nasty things with your money. The trailer is so full of clichéd lines it almost hurts, but it’s still Clive Owen, right? Directed by Tom Tykwer (Run Lola Run). R. Movies 12. Last House on the Left, The: When two girls are attacked by escaped convincts, they manage to get away to one girl’s house — where their attackers have also taken shelter. Why is the talented Garret Dillahunt in this needless remake of a Wes Craven flick that was already a remake of something else? R. 100 min. Movies 12. Margaret Meade Film & Video Festival: International documentary series continues with Confronting Terrorism: Promised Paradise, about a puppeteer who goes to Bali to confront those resposible for the October 2002 bombing of a nightclub. (Festival continues April 29.) 7 pm Wednesday, April 22, 175 Knight Law, UO. $3. 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. Cinemark. VRC Stadium 15. State of Play: Kevin MacDonald (The Last King of Scotland) remakes the 2003 British TV series, moving it to the U.S., where a congressman’s research assistant is murdered, and an old friend (Russell Crowe) is on the story. With Helen Mirren as Crowe’s editor, Rachel McAdams as his partner and Ben Affleck as the maybe not-so-perfect congressman. PG13. 132 min. Cinemark. VRC Stadium 15. Video Slam: Monthly event invites video artists to submit short videos of up to 10 minutes for a competition that follows the format of the poetry slam. 7 pm April 19, DIVA. Free.
CONTINUING: Adventureland: Greg Mottola (Superbad) directs a slightly
oddball ensemble (including Ryan Reynolds, Twilight’s Kristen
Stewart, Jesse Eisenberg, Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig) in this story
about a college grad whose job search lands him at the titular amusement
park. R. 107 min. Cinemark. VRC Stadium 15. Bedtime Stories: Adam Sandler’s world goes wacky when the tales
he spins for his niece and nephew start to come true — or so he thinks.
It’s not all up to him, though. PG. Movies 12. Coraline: Henry Selick (The Nightmare Before Christmas) adapts Neil Gaiman’s creepy, fantastic story into a creepy, fantastic movie about a girl who finds, behind a door in the wall, a fantatic parallel world — complete with her Other Mother, who has buttons for eyes. PG. Movies 12. Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The: David Fincher (Fight
Club) takes a different direction with this story of a man (Brad
Pitt) who is born at the age of 80 and ages backwards throughout his
life. Based on a short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald and costarring Cate
Blanchett. PG13. 159 min. ACADEMY AWARDS: BEST ART DIRECTION, MAKEUP,
VISUAL EFFECTS. Movies 12. Doubt: John Patrick Shanley directs this adaptation of his prizewinning
play about a nun and the priest she believes is paying too much attention
to a student. Starring Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams
and Viola Davis. PG13. David Minor Theater. Dragonball: Evolution: Emmy Rossum and Chow Yun Fat are among those starring in this live-action Dragonball adventure about a team of warriors saving the world. (What else would they do?) PG. Cinemark. VRC Stadium 15. Duplicity: Tony Gilroy (Michael Clayton) directs Julia Roberts and Clive Owen in this tale of battling, romantically involved spies who get together to try to play a pair of battling corporations (led by Tom Wilkinson and Paul Giamatti). PG13. 125 min. Cinemark. VRC Stadium 15. Fast and Furious: Vin Diesel and Paul Walker return to the hot-cars-and-hot-chicks franchise that spawned their careers. If the title looks familiar, well, there is a difference: The original film was The Fast and the Furious. Perhaps the lack of “the”s this time indicates it’s trimmed down and goes even faster? PG13. Cinemark. VRC Stadium 15. Gomorrah: This widely praised Italian film is a modern-day gangster
story, a look at intersecting lives in a Naples apartment complex run
by the Camorra syndicate, which has its fingers everywhere. The New
York Times called the film “a corrosive and ferociously unsentimental
fictional look at Italian organized crime.” Not rated. 135 min. Bijou.
Hannah Montana: The Movie: The inescapable teen returns to theaters with a movies about getting away from fame for a while. G. Cinemark. VRC Stadium 15. Haunting in Connecticut, The: This horror flick about a haunted house (guess where it is. No, guess. I dare you) is “based on a chilling true story” and stars the slightly odd (to a pop culture buff) trio of Princess Irulan from Dune (er, Virginia Madsen), Casey Jones from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Elias Koteas) and Beaver Casablancas from Veronica Mars (that’d be Kyle Gallner). PG13. Cinemark. VRC Stadium 15. Hotel for Dogs: Emma Roberts (Nancy Drew) is one of two siblings who have to give up their dog when they’re taken into a foster home — but the resilient kids turn an empty building into a dog hotel for their dog and others. PG. 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. Cinemark. VRC Stadium 15. 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. Cinemark. VRC Stadium 15. Let the Right One In: A gorgeous, snow-muffled, Swedish take
on a vampire story, this film has taken its sweet time getting here.
Gentle, moody and superbly acted by its young stars, its definitely
worth the wait. R. 114 min. David Minor Theater. Milk: Gus Van Sant’s biopic about Harvey Milk (Sean Penn), the
country’s first openly gay elected official, is earning glowing reviews;
“Milk is a marvel,” says The New York Times, while The
Village Voice says, “Milk is so immediate that it's impossible to
separate the movie's moment from this one.” With Josh Brolin, James
Franco and Diego Luna. R. 128 min. ACADEMY AWARDS: SEAN PENN, BEST ACTOR;
DUSTIN LANCE BLACK, BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY. David Minor Theater. 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. Cinemark. VRC Stadium 15.
Observe and Report: Seth Rogen stars as a mall cop (another one? Really?) who must take down a flasher, try to charm the makeup-counter woman he adores (Anna Faris) and beat the local cops at their own job. Er, I think. R. Cinemark. VRC Stadium 15. See review this issue. Paul Blart: Mall Cop: It’s all there in the title. And probably in the preview. PG. Movies 12. Push: Dakota Fanning and Chris Evans star as folks with supernatural abilities who are being hunted by the Division, a government agency which … er … made their families superpowered in the first place? I’m not quite clear on this, but the preview looks nifty, if a bit X-Men like. PG13. Movies 12. Race to Witch Mountain: Disney heads back to Witch Mountain with the Rock, er, Dwayne Johnson, who plays the taxi driver who gets caught up with two kids (AnnaSophia Robb and Alexander Ludwig) who are actually aliens. The fate of the world is at stake, I’m sure! PG. VRC Stadium 15. Revolutionary Road: Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet (who won a Golden Globe for this role) reunite, years after Titanic, in this adaptation of Richard Yates’ novel about the demise of a marriage in 1950s suburbia. Sam Mendes directs, returning to the American ‘burbs years after American Beauty. “It is honorably and brutally unnerving,” said The New Yorker. R. 119 min. Movies 12. Slumdog Millionaire: The latest from Danny Boyle (Trainspotting)
is a Mumbai-set fairy tale about life and the pursuit of love and happiness
via Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (it’s not quite as simple as
that maybe sounds). Slumdog is long on setting and its tangled
plot is creative, but it’s short on emotional resonance, though its
young actors are solid. R. 120 min. EIGHT ACADEMY AWARDS, INCLUDING
DANNY BOYLE, BEST DIRECTOR, AND BEST PICTURE. David Minor Theater. Movies
12. Sunshine Cleaning: Amy Adams and Emily Blunt carry this film
about sisters (and their eccentric father — played by Alan Arkin, of
course — and assorted acquaintances) whose job cleaning up crime scenes
leads them to make some unexpected connections, and to deal with long-ago
tragedy. It’s a bit too quirky-sweet, but the leads are very good all
the same. R. Bijou. Cinemark. Taken: If you don’t give back Liam Neeson’s daughter (Maggie Grace), he will hunt you down, and he will kill you. You got that? You sure? I hope this Luc Besson-produced action flick is as much fun as it looks, though it seems to take itself awfully seriously. PG13. 93 min. Cinemark.
MOVIE
THEATERS Bijou
Art Cinemas David
Minor Theater Regal
Cinemas Cinemark
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