Eugene Weekly : Movies : 10.21.10


.MOVIE LISTINGS | MOVIE REVIEW ARCHIVE | THEATER INFO

 

OPENING:

Best Years of Our Lives, The: The classic film about three WWII vets who return home to find their worlds have changed shows as part of Lane’s Integration of Vets in Education’s “Veterans Helping Veterans” film series at 2 pm Tuesday, Oct. 26, Room 216, Building 3, LCC. 

Cropsey: This indie documentary explores the place where urban legend and true horror meet and mix, as filmmakers Joshua Zeman and Barbara Brancaccio use the horror story they heard as Staten Island kids — that a man named Cropsey lived in the woods and would kidnap and murder kids — as a starting point to study what really happened when a little girl went missing in the ’80s. Creepy and effective. Bijou. See review this issue

Crowbar: This locally produced thriller centers on a young couple who move into a new house that’s maybe not so nice as it initially seems. The world premiere — red carpet and all! — takes place at 8 pm Friday, Oct. 23, at the McDonald Theatre. $8.

Hereafter: Clint Eastwood’s latest follows a young boy, a French journalist and a man who can talk to the dead loved ones of anyone he touches. “Hereafter considers the idea of an afterlife with tenderness, beauty and a gentle tact,” says Roger Ebert. With Matt Damon, Cécile de France and Jay Mohr. R. 126 min. Cinemark. VRC Stadium 15.

Inception: The latest from director Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight, Memento) sweeps in on a building wave of expectation. It’s something to do with thieves stealing ideas from dreams. I think. I know it stars the stellar lineup of Leonardo DiCaprio, Ellen Page, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Marion Cotillard and Ken Watanabe. PG-13. Movies 12. (7/22)

Make Way for Tomorrow: William Wellman’s 1937 film, about an older couple forced to separate when their kids won’t take them both in, screens as part of the DIVA/LCC Behind the Lens seminar. 7 pm Tuesday, Oct. 26, DIVA. $3. 

Other Guys, The: Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg are paper-pusher policemen who try to cop the style of their bad-ass, attention-grabbing colleagues (Dwayne Johnson and Samuel L. Jackson). Things go poorly. With Steve Coogan, Eva Mendes and Michael Keaton. 107 min. PG13. Movies 12.

Paranormal Activity 2: The sequel to the surprise blockbuster involves more spooky hauntings. R. 91 min. Cinemark. VRC Stadium 15.

Portland Women’s Film Festival Short Works: Four shorts from Portland’s POW Fest screen — with most of the filmmakers in atendance — screen at 7 pm Friday,  Oct. 22, at DIVA: $6.

Predators: Adrien Brody plays a fearless mercenary. See, right there: I’m in. He’s one of a group of  “hardened killers” being hunted down on an alien planet. With Alice Braga, Lawrence Fishburne and Topher Grace. R. David Minor Theater

Seventh Voyage of Sinbad, The: The 1958 film about Sinbad’s adventures rescuing a princess from an island of monsters screens at 1 pm Wednesday, Oct. 27, Willamalane Adult Center, Springfield. Free. 

Step Up 3D: Street dancers + NYU kid (shorthand for spoiled and well-intentioned, obviously) + OMG DANCING IN 3D = you’re going to pay the 3D upcharge for this? 97 min. PG-13. Movies 12.

Toy Story 3: Andy’s all grown up, and his toys — Woody (Tom Hanks), Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen), Jessie (Joan Cusack) and the rest — face an uncertain future in the third Toy Story film, which has some, but not all, of the charms of the first. Movies 12. (6/24)

Waiting for “Superman”: Davis Guggenheim (An Inconvenient Truth) directs this documentary, which explores some of the forces at work in the U.S. education system. “A powerful and alarming documentary about America’s failing public school system,” says The New York Times. PG. 102 min. Bijou.

You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger: Naomi Watts, Josh Brolin, Anthony Hopkins and Gemma Jones star in the latest film from Woody Allen, which follows two couples struggling in their marriages. But it’s a comedy! OK? R. 98 min. Cinemark.

 

ONGOING:

American, The: George Clooney is an assassin holed up in Italy, where he befriends a priest and has a “torrid liaison” with a gorgeous woman. Critics are divided on Anton Corbijn’s follow-up to the Joy Division biopic Control; the New York Times says “The American is never less than gorgeous.” R. 105 min. Movies 12. (9/9) 

Despicable Me: Evil Gru (Steve Carell), who hides his lair in a tidy suburb, is planning to steal the moon. Three orphan girls need a dad. When these parties collide, wackiness is pretty much guaranteed to ensue. PG. Movies 12.

Devil: M. Night Shyamalan produced this shiny thriller about a group of people stuck in an elevator — one of whom may be — shock! horror! — the devil. PG-13. 80 min. Movies 12.

Dinner For Schmucks: Paul Rudd is a successful executive who becomes even more successful when he finds the best idiot (Steve Carell) for his boss’s monthly dinner, at which their underlings compete to invite the most horrifying dinner guests. Directed by Jay Roach (Austin Powers). PG-13. Movies 12.

Easy A: The charming Emma Stone (Superbad, Zombieland) stars as a teen who gets a new rep when she agrees to fib about getting busy with a classmate. The rumor mill has a field day, and then things get really complicated. Sweet but shallow, Easy A is fun while you’re watching but leaves an odd aftertaste. Stanley Tucci and Patricia Clarkson, however, are charming as our heroine’s kooky parents. PG-13. 92 min. Cinemark. VRC Stadium 15. (9/23)

Eat Pray Love: Julia Roberts stars in the adaptation of Elizabeth Gilbert’s bestselling memoir about traveling the world to find herself after an unpleasant divorce. PG-13. 133 min. Movies 12.

Expendables, The: Yet another film about a group of mercenaries trying to accomplish something that would be totally impossible — for any other group of men. And make no mistake: This movie is a frickin’ sausage fest. With Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Mickey Rourke, Dolph Lundgren, Jet Li and Steve Austin. R. 103 min. Movies 12. 

Get Him to the Greek: Jonah Hill and Russell Brand reunite with their Forgetting Sarah Marshall director Nicholas Stoller for a comedy about a record label intern trying to get British rocker Aldous Snow (Brand, revisiting his Sarah character) to a show on time. R. David Minor Theater. (6/10)

Ghostbusters: True story: As a kid, I was so terrified of the New York Public Library’s lion statues coming to life that I had to leave this movie way early. If you were like me — which pretty much no one was — now’s your chance to finish the flick in an actual movie theater. David Minor Theater. 

Iron Man 2: Minuses: the annoying replacement of Terrence Howard with (the fantastic, don’t get me wrong) Don Cheadle as Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.)’s buddy Rhodey; Mickey Rourke, period. Plusses: Well, it still stars RDJ, and Gwyneth Paltrow was a nice Pepper Potts in the first one… Scarlett Johansson and Samuel L. Jackson join the fray. PG13. 122 min. David Minor Theater.

It’s Kind of a Funny Story: Ned Vizzini’s young adult novel gets adapted into a fuzzy flick starring Keir Gilchrist as a stressed-out, freaked-out teen who checks himself into a mental hospital and finds himself in the adult ward, where he makes a friend (Zach Galifianakis) and meets a girl (Emma Roberts). VRC Stadium 15.

Jackass 3D: You can tell me it’s tacky, tasteless, absurd, idiotic, sophomoric, downright offensive — you can tell me I’m an idiot for wanting to see this — but nothing’s going to keep me from the new Jackass film. I still say I should’ve given Jackass: Number Two four stars. So yes. I’m expecting to laugh until I cry again. R. 94 min. Cinemark. VRC Stadium 15. See review this issue.

Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole: Zack Snyder — yes, the Watchmen and 300 guy — directs this movie based on Kathryn Lasky’s series of books about a young owl named Soren and his quest to find the legendary Guardians of Ga’Hoole — and save his world from the evil Pure Ones. With the voices of Sam Neill, Geoffrey Rush, Hugo Weaving and David Wenham. PG. 90 min. Cinemark. VRC Stadium 15.

Life As We Know It: Katherine Heigl — c’mon, world, get this woman a real role! — and Josh Duhamel star as unattached twentysomethings who become instant parents when their mutual friends die in a car crash. PG-13. 112 min. Cinemark. VRC Stadium 15.

My Soul to Take: Wes Craven’s latest involves a small town, a killer’s curse and a kid with a link to evil who hopes to save his friends before it’s too late. I think. The plot summary is a little convoluted. R. 107 min. Cinemark. 

Never Let Me Go: Carey Mulligan (An Education), Andrew Garfield (the next Spider-man) and Keira Knightley star in director Mark Romanek’s adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro’s subtle, excellent novel about humanity, sacrifice and connection. R. 104 min. Bijou. See review this issue

Red: Bruce Willis, Helen Mirren (that’s DAME Helen Mirren to you, punk), Morgan Freeman and John Malkovich are former CIA agents currently being targeted for assassination because of all the old secrets they know. Other than the badass women in the cast (Mirren and Mary-Louise Parker), one key thing makes this (hopefully) worth seeing: The foulmouthed, evilly creative Warren Ellis wrote the comic book on which the film is based. PG-13. 111 min. Cinemark. VRC Stadium 15.

Salt: Angelina Jolie is a badass again. What more could you need to know? She’s a sleeper spy! She has to prove she’s not trying to assassinate the president! The movie will surely have even more exclamation points than this small paragraph! PG13. 99 min. Movies 12. (7/29)

Secretariat: Diane Lane stars in Disney’s all-American version of the story of Secretariat, the horse that won the 1973 Triple Crown. “A family film about one of the fastest racehorses in history, Secretariat stumbles along beneath the weight of leaden life lessons,” says The Wall Street Journal. Cinemark. VRC Stadium 15.

Social Network, The: Facebook gives good movie — or at least this story of the ubiquitous website’s founding does. Directed by David Fincher, the film stars Jesse Eisenberg (Zombieland) as controversial Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. With Rooney Mara (soon to be Lisbeth Salander in the American Girl With the Dragon Tattoo), Andrew Garfield (soon to be Spider-man) and, uh, Justin Timberlake. PG-13. 120 min. Cinemark. VRC Stadium 15. (10/7)

Sorcerer’s Apprentice, The: College kid Dave (the charming Jay Baruchel) finds himself swept into a battle between good and evil (I assume; these things always involve such battles) when a sorcerer (Nicolas Cage in a terrifying wig) crosses his path. PG. Movies 12.

Town, The: Ben Affleck’s second directorial effort is getting solid reviews; the film, based on a novel by Chuck Hogan, follows a group of Boston thieves, the FBI agent hoping to catch them, and the woman who might be able to turn them in. With Rebecca Hall, Jon Hamm, Jeremy Renner, Chris Cooper and Pete Postlethwaite. R. 124 min. Cinemark. VRC Stadium 15. (9/23)

Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps: Michael Douglas reprises his role as Gordon Gekko, who’s just out of prison and back playing the money game. Shia LaBeouf is the young trader who teams up with Gekko; Carey Mulligan is Gekko’s estranged daughter, and, naturally, LaBeouf’s love interest. Oliver Stone directs. PG-13. 127 min. Cinemark. (9/30)

You Again: Kristen Bell is a successful career woman virtually undone by the news that her brother is marrying her old high school rival. Wait, seriously? There must be more to this film, or KBell, Sigourney Weaver and Jamie Lee Curtis wouldn’t be in it. Right? PG. 105 min. Cinemark.

 

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

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

David Minor Theater
David Minor Theater and Pub 762-1700 | 180 E. 5th

Regal Cinemas
VRC Stadium 15 342-6536 | Valley River Center

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