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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 13, 2005)
| Last call | Max's recent renovation hasn't changed its neighborhood charm Subtle changes include chessboard tables, new bar BY RYAN MURPHEY PULSE REPORTER For some people, a night out isn’t complete unless it involves theme nights, dancing, drink specials, karaoke or some other excuse to dress up and drink up. Everyone else just wants to get away from those people, sit down, and have a gimmick-free drink with some good friends. These people go to the neighborhood bar. It's comfortable but lively; people don’t have to dress up, and if there's a juke box, it's always incredible. No one in Eugene does the neigh borhood bar quite like Max's Tavern, which has recently reopened after five months of renovation. The tavern had to shut down nearthe beginning of last summer after seepage from a corroded drainage system created a 6.5-foot deep bog of sludge under the floor. The load-bearing wall between Max's and Little's Market had to be stabilized, the drainage system re placed and nearly everything touch ing the floor had to be torn out. For Ward Fairbairn, the owner of Max's since 1993, the renovation took "too damn long," and I'm sure that many of the regular patrons agree. Af ter all, there isn't really anything like it in town. The bar's comfortable charm and classic decor has always been more traditional than other bars in the Eugene area, with it’s elaborate bar cabinetry and high-backed wooden benches. The decor is still being reno vated and the bar wall is mismatched plywood, but Fairbairn said that Max's will be looking like it's old self again in time for Saint Patrick's Day. Though the look of the place is : TycerTurner, a Eugene native, returned to Max's Tavern after the reopening to enjoy a drink Friday night. Tim Bobosky | Photographer fairly consistent with the old Max's, a few subtle changes have been made. The bar has been rebuilt and expand ed, two of the booths have been re structured to accommodate larger groups and a second window table has been installed. Also, Fairbairn has constructed several tables with in layed marble chessboards, and hopes to eventually host chess and cribbage tournaments in the bar. Pa trons will be able to check out pieces with photo identification atthe bar. Max's is the oldest bar in Eugene, dating backto 1933, that is still in its original location. It was originally named Robinson's after the original owner, Max Robinson, but was re ferred to as Max's by most regular pa trons. The name was officially changed after Robinson passed away. The bar has since been owned by five different people, the most recent being Fairbairn and his wife Kimberley Fairbairn. "We had come up from San Diego to buy a house, and Ward stopped in to have a beer," said Mrs. Fairbairn. "The owner atthe time told us that we shouldn't buy a house, we should buy the bar." The bar features 11 taps, with three domestics, Guinness and seven mi crobrews. Fairbairn is working on a menuforthe barsothatthey can start serving liquor by spring. Those sophisticated enough to ap preciate the charms of a neighborhood pub can’t afford to miss Max's Tavern. ryanmurphey@dailyemerald.com ■ Movie review Sax’s ‘White Noise’ redeemable as a thriller, cliche as a ghost movie BY RYAN NYBURG PULSE EDITOR "White Noise," the latest in the recent string of Hollywood ghost movie/star vehicles, is a cliche filled ghost story with too many dull stylistic flourishes and a plot you really shouldn'tthinktoo hard about. None of this detracts from its intrinsic value as a thriller, though it does keep it from being anything more than simple fodder forthe cinematically dead month of January. The film begins by explaining its central gimmick, EVP, or Electronic Voice Phenomenon, which de scribes the ability of the dead to communicate with the living through electronic devices such as phones, televisions and radios. The film treats the phenomenon as a real occurrence, though whether it is or not hardly makes any differ ence. It's not a new idea in ghost movies in any case, dating back to at least "Poltergeist," when the family tried to communicate with their daughterthrough the blank channels of their television. The plot concerns an architect (Michael Keaton) whose wife dies suddenly. Shortly afterward he be gins receiving strange phone calls and hearing odd things on the ra dio. He is told by an investigator dealing with such matters that his wife is trying to communicate with him through electronic devices. He meets others who have experi enced such forms of commurTica tion and soon begins making recordings of blank static in order to record the messages. Beyond this point the plot stops making a whole lot of sense. In the right hands this plot could have been turned into something truly worthwhile, but everything is so mishandled thatthe material never rises above TV-movie quali ty. Director Geoffrey Sax adds arty camera angles and otheroverused claptrap for no other purpose than to let people know he is directing something, never seeming to think that a lack of style might have been more effective. When the camera starts doing 360s around the ac tors, it only serves to remind people they are watching a movie, the last thing you want to do if you're trying to scare them. The plot itself is also criminally mishandled, not only in its various loopholes butinthe management of the characters as well. When Keaton's wife dies we never see his reaction to the news. We are never given a chance to make that emo tional connection to the character. The death of the wife is handled in such a perfunctory mannerthat it seems to serve no purpose other than to give Keaton an excuse for be coming obsessed with EVP. The character of Keaton's son is even more cynically handled. Apparently the screenwriterthought it would be importantfor Keaton to have a son to make him more likable, butin orderto skip over the emotional trauma the death of a mother would cause, they make the character a child from a previous marriage. This also serves MOVIE, page 12 Free admittance at the door for all UO students with a valid student ID STUDENT TRAVEL MAKE YOUR BREAK Spring Break '05 »Honolulu $620 »Costa Rica $423 Air + 5 nights stay at the Hokando Air + 5 nights at the Pangea Waikiki Beachside Hostel Hostel Hki* Europe! »London $568 »Paris Air + 5 nights at the Astor Hyde Park Hostel Altpmatiyft »Venezuala $818 Air + 5 nights at the Palace Plaza Hostel in Caracas Packages include roundtrip airfare from Portland and accommodations. 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