Eugene Weekly : Movies : 1.11.07


.MOVIE LISTINGS | MOVIE REVIEW ARCHIVE | THEATER INFO

 

OPENING OR RETURNING:
Films open the Friday following date of EW publication unless otherwise noted. See archived movie reviews.

Babel: The last fim of a thematic trilogy for director Alejandro González Iñárritu follows four emotional, affecting storylines on three continents, exploring their connections and breakdowns. Starring Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Gael García Bernal and astonishing newcomer Rinko Kikuchi. R. Cinema World. (11/9/06)

Dauriia: Part two of a chronicle of the Russian experience during WWI’s eve and leading up to the October 1919 revoulution. In Russian with English subtitles. 7 pm Jan. 23, 111 Pacific, UO. Free.

Flags of Our Fathers: Clint Eastwood’s new film explores the story behind the iconic image of the flag-raising on Iwo Jima during WWII. “A film of awesome power and blistering provocation,” says Rolling Stone. R. Movies 12.

Fountain, The: Fearless director Darron Aronofsky (Pi, Requiem for a Dream) spent years making this ambitious film, which follows characters in different times periods, all played by Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz, all on difficult quests. PG13. Movies 12. (11/30/06)

Hitcher, The: Sean Bean (The Lord of the Rings) stars as the titular creep, who torments a young couple on the road. R. Cinema World. Cinemark.

I Won’t Drown On That Levee and You Ain’t Gonna Break My Back: 30-minute documentary focusing on the evacuation of Orleans Parish Prison, the “Greyhound Jail” inside New Orleans’ Greyhound station and the criminalization of survivors of Hurricane Katrina. Part of the UO’s Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration. 6 pm Jan. 18, Walnut Room, EMU, UO. Free.

Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple: Stanley Nelson’s carefully constructed documentary is an engrossing look at the bizarre world of Jim Jones, whose Jonestown settlement in Guyana was the site of a terrible mass murder/suicide. Not rated. Bijou. See review this issue.

Letters From Iwo Jima: Clint Eastwood’s second 2006 WWII film recently won a Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film; The New York Times called this film, which looks at WWII from the Japanese side, “one of the best war movies ever.” R. Cinemark.

Little Otik: Strange animated tale in which a husband presents his wife with a stump, which she treats as a child — to the point that it comes alive. Directed by Jan Svankmajer. Part of DIVA’s Art House Films and Conversation series, with discussion led by Steve Poizat-Newcomb. 7 pm Jan. 21, DIVA. Free.

Lunacy: Described by director Jan Svankmajer as “a philosophical horror film,” this movie, in which a young man is helped to get over his nightmares by a very odd Marquis, is based on two stories by Edgar Allen Poe and inspired by the Marquis de Sade. Not rated. Bijou LateNite.

Peppermint Candy: Like Memento, this South Korean drama runs backward, exploring the history of a bitter businessman who throws himself in front of a train. In Korean with English subtitles. 7 pm Jan. 18, Int’l Resource Center, EMU, UO. Free.

Running With Scissors: Adaptation of Augusten Burroughs’ memoir stars Joseph Cross as young Augusten, whose bipolar mother (Annette Bening) sends him to live with her slightly addled psychiatrist (Brian Cox) and his oddball family. PG13. Movies 12. (11/2/06)

Secret, The: Apparently, “this ground-breaking, feature length movie presentation reveals The Great Secret of the universe.” This power-of-positive-thinking film looks like it might appeal to fans of What the Bleep Do We Know? 7 pm Jan. 24, Cozmic Pizza. Free.

State of Mind: Documentary focuses on two young girls in North Korea as they prepare for the Mass Games, a huge “socialist realism spectacle” dedicated to Kim Jong Il. In English and Korean with English subtitles. 7 pm Jan. 25, Int’l Resource Center, EMU, UO. Free.

Together: In 1975. a woman who tires of her husband moves herself and the kids to her brother’s, in a leftist commune. In Swedish with English subtitles. 7 pm Jan. 19, 221 McKenzie, UO. Free.

 

CONTINUING:

Alpha Dog: Justin Timberlake is among the ensemble cast in Nick Cassavetes’ new film, which follows L.A. teens who impulsively kidnap a younger boy who begins to enjoy himself with his captors. R. Cinemark.

Arthur and the Invisibles: In this animated feature, 10-year-old Arthur goes in search of a magical land after finding a note left by his grandfather. Directed by Luc Besson (The Fifth Element). PG. Cinemark.

Blood Diamond: Leonardo DiCaprio, Djimon Hounsou and Jennifer Connelly star in Edward Zwick’s (Glory) film about diamond mining in Sierra Leone in the 1990s. R. Cinemark. (12/21/06)

Borat: Sacha Baron Cohen (of “Da Ali G Show”) plays the title character, a Kazakhstani reporter creating a documentary while road-tripping across the U.S. The subtitle, “Cultural Learnings of American for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan,” ought to tell you something. R. Bijou LateNite. Movies 12. (11/9/06)

Charlotte’s Web: Dakota Fanning plays Fern, the little girl who loves her pig Wilbur (voice of Dominic Scott Kay) more than anything. Julia Roberts voices Charlotte the spider, who helps Wilbur escape his fate. G. Cinemark.

Children of Men: Clive Owen and Julianne Moore star in this highly praised adaptation of P.D. James’ novel, which envisions a troubled near future where no more children are being conceived. Directed by Alfonso Cuarón (Y tu mamá también). R. Cinema World. Cinemark. (1/11)

Code Name: The Cleaner: Cedric the Entertainer becomes convinced he’s an undercover agent for the CIA. With Lucy Liu and Nicollette Sheridan. PG13. Movies 12.

Curse of the Golden Flower: The latest from director Zhang Yimou (Hero) is an opulent spectacle of court intrigue. Gong Li stars as a troubled empress, Chow Yun Fat her equally conniving husband. Overflows with lavish sets and costumes, but feels hollow in the end. R. Bijou. Cinemark. (1/11)

Déja Vu: This Jerry Bruckheimer-produced, Tony Scott-directed thriller has something to do with traveling four days back in the future to stop a boat exploding. Or maybe it’s just looking four days back. Clever preview, either way. Stars Denzel Washington and Val Kilmer. PG-13. Movies 12.

Dreamgirls: The much-buzzed-about musical from director Bill Condon (Kinsey) stars Beyonce, Jamie Foxx, Eddie Murphy and the said-to-be transcendent Jennifer Hudson in the story of a girl group’s rise, loosely based on the story of the Supremes. PG13. Cinema World. Cinemark. See review this issue.

Eragon: Adaptation of young novelist Christopher Paolini’s first thick tome stars John Malkovich as an apparently campy evil king. Newcomer Edward Speelers plays the title character, who bonds with a dragon named Saphira and, um, saves the world? Or at least the kingdom. Just a guess. PG13. Cinemark.

Flushed Away: Aardman Features (Wallace and Gromit) teams up with Dreamworks for the story of a pampered pet mouse (Hugh Jackman) who finds himself, after a trip down the drain, in London’s bustling rodent underground. With Kate Winslet, Ian McKellen and Jean Reno. PG. Movies 12.

Freedom Writers: Hilary Swank stars as a real-life teacher who made a difference in an inner-city high school through an ambitious writing project. PG13. Cinema World. Cinemark.

Good Shepherd, The: Robert DeNiro heads back behind the camera to direct a story about the birth of the CIA, starring Matt Damon as one of the agency’s founders and Angelina Jolie as his frustrated wife. R. Cinema World. Cinemark. (12/28/06)

Happily N’Ever After: Sigourney Weaver, voicing an evil queen who ruins Fairy Tale Land, faces off against unlikely resistance leader Sarah Michelle Gellar in this painfully punctuated tale. PG. Cinemark.

Happy Feet: Warner Bros. chases some March of the Penguins dough with this animated film, starring Elijah Wood as a cute lil’ guy in search of his soul mate. (OK, so they were working on this one first. Still.) With Robin Williams, Hugh Jackman, Nicole Kidman. PG. Cinemark.

Night at the Museum: When down-on-his-luck Larry (Ben Stiller) gets a job as the night guard at a museum, he sure doesn’t expect the exhibits to come alive at night. There’s something very Jumanji about this. PG. Cinema World. Cinemark.

Open Season: Sony breaks into the animation game with the story of a clueless grizzly bear (Martin Lawrence) whose friend Elliot (Ashton Kutcher) lures him into the wild life. PG. Movies 12.

Painted Veil, The: Edward Norton and Naomi Watts star in the third film adaptation of W. Somerset Maugham’s novel about an English socialite and the doctor she marries, who takes her to a Chinese village afflicted with cholera. “Let it sweep you away,” said Rolling Stone. PG13. Bijou. See review this issue.

Prestige, The: Two magicians (Christian Bale, Hugh Jackman) see their slight friendship turn to rivalry in Christopher Nolan’s (Batman Begins) enthralling film. Competition grows as the men do, each trying to outdo the other’s performance. With Scarlett Johansson, Michael Caine and David Bowie. PG13. Movies 12. (10/26/06)

Primeval: If you’d like to know what the terrible serial killer — still at large to this day! — is in this horror thriller, check out the imdb.com page, which explains a lot. Plot? Some journalists go to Africa to capture something murderous and mysterious. Based on a true story. Yep. R. Cinema World. Cinemark.

Pursuit of Happyness, The: Will Smith stars as a down-on-his-luck father who strives to make it as a stockbroker while facing eviction and raising his son (Smith’s real-life son Jaden). PG13. Cinema World. Cinemark.

Queen, The: Stephen Frears’ movie about the shifting desires and threats of Britain’s public and the differences in Tony Blair’s (Michael Sheen) and Queen Elizabeth II’s (Helen Mirren) responses to the death of Princess Diana is a grand, usually subtle fiction that gets at a lot of truth. PG13. Bijou. (11/30/06)

Santa Clause 3, The: Santa (Tim Allen) faces off against Jack Frost (Martin Short), who’s trying to take over Christmas. G. Movies 12.

Saw 3: There’s something about a doctor who has to keep scary clown-faced villain Jigsaw alive and a former victim working on a plot of his own, but this moneymaking B-movie franchise doesn’t need us to tell you it’s nasty, scary and gory. R. Movies 12.

Shut Up & Sing: Barbara Kopple and Cecilia Peck’s documentary look at the unexpected turn the Dixie Chicks’ career took in 2003 is engrossing on all the right levels, turning an observant eye on the complicated intersection of art and politics while leaving room for the group’s personal stories. R. Bijou. (12/21/06)

Stomp the Yard: A troubled street dancer from L.A. finds himself a hot commodity among the step dancing teams of two fraternities at a university in Atlanta. PG13. Cinemark.

Stranger Than Fiction: Harold Crick (Will Ferrell) begins to hear a voice (Emma Thompson) narrating his life — and he doesn’t like where the story’s going. PG-13. Movies 12. (11/16/06)

We Are Marshall: Matthew McConaughey and Matthew Fox (Lost) play two coaches trying to revive the Marshall College football team following a horrifying crash that killed most of the previous team and staff. Oddly, this based-on-a-true-story flick is directed by McG (Charlie’s Angels). PG. Cinemark.

 

 

MOVIE THEATERS
Use the links provided below for specific show times.

Bijou Art Cinemas
Bijou Theater 686-2458 | 492 E. 13th

Regal Cinemas
Cinema World 342-6536 | Valley River Center

Cinemark Theaters
Movies 12 741-1231 | Gateway Mall
Cinemark 17 741-1231 | Gateway Mall