Eugene Weekly : Movies : 5.21.09


.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.

Archaeology Channel International Film & Video Festival: The annual festival features a broad lineup of films from around the world that exhibit “the wonderful diversity of human cultures past and present.” Films include Secrets of the Parthenon and The Mummy Who Came In From the Cold, among many others. May 19-23, Hult Center. See full schedule at www.archaeologychannel.org

Dance Flick: How many genres are left for Hollywood to make spoof flicks of? I hope we’re running out. PG13. Cinemark. VRC Stadium 15.

Fired Up!: Two football players think they’re sooooo clever when they realize that if they go to cheer camp, they’ll be surrounded by girls. And hey, they can make the crappy cheerleading squad better, too! PG13. 

Great Directors Seminar: DIVA screens two films by Howard Hawks (His Girl Friday, 1 pm, and The Big Sleep, 4 pm), followed by discussion led by Thomas Blank. Sunday, May 24, DIVA. $7.

Haunting in Connecticut, The: This horror flick about a haunted house is “based on a chilling true story” and stars the slightly odd (to a pop culture buff) trio of Princess Irulan from Dune, Casey Jones from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Beaver Casablancas from Veronica Mars. PG13. Movies 12.

Heckler’s Night: Mock loudly as the Goat screens the wonderful yet absurd Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. 7 pm Wednesday, April 29, Wandering Goat. Free.

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. Movies 12. (3/26)

Lymelife: Two Culkins (Kieran and Rory) are among the strong ensemble cast in this story of suburban Long Island life in the late ’70s. With Alec Baldwin, Emma Roberts and Timothy Hutton. R. Bijou.

Melvin: Local filmmaker Henry Weintraub premieres his latest work, a feature-length film about the titular kid (Leif Fuller), who rises from the grave to enlist a nerdy college kid (Patrick O’Driscoll) to take out the bullies who killed him. Bloody, funny and entirely Oregon-made. Bijou. See story this issue.

My Bloody Valentine 3D: The lone survivor of a coal-mine accident keeps waking up from his coma to kill people; the guy who caused the accident returns, in an obvious moment of brilliance, to the small town where it all went wrong — on the same day the terrible things all happened! No way! R. 101 min. David Minor Theater.

Night at the Museum 2: Battle for the Smithsonian: Ben Stiller returns to the museum in which everything — Amelia Earhart (Amy Adams), tiny statues, Lincoln — comes alive at night. PG13. Cinemark. VRC Stadium 15.

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. PG. Movies 12.

Sugar: The latest film from the creators of Half Nelson follows a young baseball player as he moves from the Dominican Republic to the American minor leagues. Sugar trips over a few clichés, but becomes extraordinary in the end. R. 96 min. Bijou. See review this issue.

Taking Root: Documentary about Kenyan Wangari Maathai, for whom planting trees was the first step toward forming a movement that eventually earned her the Nobel Peace Prize. 7 pm Tuesday, May 26, Room 307, Building 17, LCC. $5 donation supports the Makindu Children’s Fund.

Terminator: Salvation: Christian Bale takes on the role of John Connor, the hopeful savior of humankind. Sam Worthington is Marcus Wright, whose memories don’t match up with his body; Bryce Dallas Howard and Star Trek’s Anton Yelchin also costar. PG13. 115 min. Cinemark. VRC Stadium 15.

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. Movies 12. (4/9)

Angels and Demons: It’s a big Ron Howard-directed, Tom Hanks-starring movie based on a book by the Da Vinci Code guy. Am I wrong in thinking you’re already going, or you probably don’t care? PG13. Cinemark. VRC Stadium 15.

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. David Minor Theater. (12/31/08)

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. Movies 12.

Ghosts of Girlfriends Past: Bit odd to use the Christmas Carol gimmick in the middle of spring, but anyway: At his brother’s wedding, perpetual bachelor Connor (Matthew McConaughey) finds himself visited by the ghost of his uncle (Michael Douglas), who sends the ghosts of the title to keep Connor from screwing up with his childhood love (Jennifer Garner). PG13. VRC Stadium 15.

Gran Torino: Clint Eastwood directs and stars as a bigoted veteran who finds himself in a reluctant friendship with a Hmong kid and his family. “A rueful comedy of enlightenment,” said The New Yorker. R. 116 min. Movies 12. (1/15)

Is Anybody There?: Michael Caine turns in yet another fantastic performance as a retired magician still smarting from a mistake he made years ago. At an odd old folks’ home, he strikes up an unlikely friendship with ghost-obsessed Edward (Bill Milner). A slight film, but not without its minor charms. PG13. 95 min. Bijou. (5/14)

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. Movies 12.

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. (4/2)

Obsessed: Where to start with this women-against-women stalker-lady flick, in which Ali Larter gets a little too attached to Idris Elba, and Beyonce fights back? Actually, I think that’s enough said. PG13. VRC Stadium 15.

Paul Blart: Mall Cop: It’s all there in the title. And probably in the preview. PG. Movies 12.

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.

Sin Nombre: The lives of several teens — a girl from Honduras; two boys from Mexico who belong to a gang brotherhood — cross atop a train heading to the U.S. Roger Ebert called this drama, directed by Student Academy Award winner Cary Fukunaga, “Riveting from start to finish.” R. 96 min. Bijou.

Star Trek: J.J. Abrams’ rebooting of the beloved franchise is currently enjoying a nearly perfect Rotten Tomatoes grade — 98 percent! That’s unheard of for a blockbuster! But even crotchety critics are loving the story of the maiden voyage of the Enterprise — and the rivalry-turned-friendship of young James Tiberius Kirk (Chris Pine) and Spock (Zachary Quinto). With Simon Pegg, Zoe Saldana, John Cho and Eric Bana. PG13. 126 min. Cinemark. VRC Stadium 15. (5/14)

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. David Minor Theater. Movies 12. 

X-Men Origins: Wolverine: My efforts to will this movie into not sucking proved mostly fruitless. Sure, Jackman is fine, Schreiber makes a good Sabretooth (if one utterly unlike the one in earlier films), and for about 10 minutes, Ryan Reynolds is a fantastic Deadpool, but the poor effects, silly plot and shallow writing don’t give me much else to care about. PG13. 107 min. Cinemark. VRC Stadium 15.

 

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