Pulse Editor Jacquelyn Lewis Thursday, January 16,2003 I Oregon Daily Emerald On Tuesday Eugene poets "Slam" it home *btstr°er; 4\»«"«» '^r u; rtos m1 ou Irtt* ,,,. - chara°tor- „ "'.•nccouWovc iUAtics * sho«w A ;V tCCCV potions u\ Suwd -forUo\vers< ,\ectonegro' ,ers\WtoSta /•TheW'°ve /- 4 CastM ;vsVUcS jUkVuva A WivsU ; wUl sC' u> sc\i°° Adaptation takes strange and then makes it stranger Movie review Aaron Shakra Pulse Reporter “Adaptation” is a film that’s a living, breathing, thing. In one sense, writing a review of it makes about as much sense as trying to write a review of your best friend, or someone you love. Clearly, words are not the best method to accurately describe such a thing. Any attempt is predisposed to failure, and the words unwittingly shift in the opposite direction of clarity. Of course, there are people who must have at least an inkling of what they’re getting into before they go see something like a movie. For the benefit of such a demographic, I’ll go ahead and try — emphasis on try — to describe a film that largely defies expla nation when it comes down to the question of “What’s it about?” Sure, there’s a skeleton, or frame of a plot, which is, this is a movie about a man writing a movie (actually, adapting it from a book about orchids). But from this foundation, the characters and events of the film are a mixture of fiction and reality, the implied point being the lack of difference between the two. Much like the lives of the characters involved, the only narra tive present is one utterly unpredictable and direction-less. It might help to know that this work comes from director Spike Jonze and writer Charlie Kaufman, who crafted “Being John Malkovich.” “Malkovich” is a wicked, weird adventure involving portals into the consciousness of a movie star, office building half floors and John Cusack as a puppeteer. If this sounds strange, and if you haven’t seen the 1999 film, consider it required viewing for “Adaptation.” Basically, “Adaptation” is on the whole, an even stranger film. Or rather, it builds on “Malkovich” by taking the al ready strange and making it stranger. The film’s protagonist is screenwriter Kaufman himself, played by Nicolas Cage. Cage/Kaufman attempts to adapt Susan Orlean’s Courtesy (also a real person, played wonderfully by Meryl Streep) book “The Orchid Thief’ and ends up in personal crisis, which turns Turn to Adaptation, page 4 MCDONALD THEATRE I yy w w . m c donaldtheatre.comi TONIGHT!! THURSDAY JANUARY 16 viefo^wooitfi MONDAY JANUARY 20 mm mmm SATURDAY JANUARY 25 PINK FLOYD S THE WALL BY THE FLOYDIAN SLIPS SATURDAY JANUARY 18 ARLO GUTHRIE FRIDAY JANUARY 24 SPEARHEAD ROBERT WALTER S 20UH COflGRESS WEDNESDAY FERRDARY 5 iiKeis ai an tasuxx outletsittuuj 992-mxx service charges may apply WILD DUCK MUSIC HALLI PRODDageI THURSDAY JANUARY ll PIEBALDS THURSDAY JANUARY Z3 CLUmSV LOVERS FRIDAY JANUARY 33 CATIE CURTIS WEDNESDAY JANUARY 11 m Tribute to Beatles ‘Abbey Road’ Y JANUARY ZS vineE u/ELMiew T. LAVITZ SATURDAY FEBRUARY 1 |Aavance^^ avaiiaPie at www.wlldduckbrewery.com ► ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ T ◄ and (fct tropical niglitr at our M ^ Cofhc experience tHc x»*z |»ng at^cxpliGre at Eugene x ^ hext tantalizing niglit clutl ^ SAISA L6M0NX: BEGINNERS: Wednesdays, 7pm ADVANCED/ INTERMEDIATE: Thursday, 8pm BEGINNERS: Fridays, 9pm and Saturdays, 9pm 80’s Night: Tuesday ◄ ◄ ◄ ◄ ◄ ◄ ◄ ◄ ◄ ◄ ◄ ◄ ◄ 492 E 1 3th 686-2458 r For the wMk of Friday, January 1Tmi Sign-up tor our weekly WebPage Update! www.btjou-cinemas.com /tending in the /hadoiu/ of MOTOWN the bMt kept went in the history of pop music "This salute lo the literally unsung and undeneeognkzed studio heroes of Motown is so good because it Is one of those rare documentaries that combine information with smashing entertainment"— £ Mtftat Nbw Vbrk Thwa 5:00 & 9:20 Nightly Sat Mat 2:50pm nest NICHOLAS MICKLE BY , MICHAEL MOORE ssmm, 4:46,7:16 ft 9:40 Nightly H Sat ft Sun Mat 2:Miiy FAR FROM HEAVEN j»gty:10 Nightly Sun Mat 2:50pm ^ryadoa: REAL WOMEN HWi CURVES P5-13 EROTIC TALES 'If its not erotic, it's not interesting " http;ltaitiwH»n»n.wtmnn the Road? Jan 23th ♦ Jan 24lh : Can i Be Your BrMwurst, Please? ♦ .Georgian Grapes-TheRadGartsf