| 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
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