Movies, music
MONTH
Everywhere from the UO Cultural Forum to Sam
Bond's Garage play host to several events in February
BY AMY LICHTY
PULSE REPORTER
February can be one of the dreari
est months of the year. Although it's
shorterthan all the rest, there are
still plenty of events to keep every
one entertained.
Here atthe University, the UO Cul
tural Forum is putting on a wide vari
ety of activities. Friday, "What the
Bleep Do We Know" will be shown
as a part of Friday Night Flicks in PLC
180. The show starts at9 p.m. and is
free. On Valentine's Day, the Derek
Truck Band will be performing in the
EMU Ballroom. The show starts at
8 p.m. Student tickets are $8; gener
al admission is$16 and $17 atthe
door. On Feb. 17, the Cultural Forum
presents the Space Gnome Records
Showcase in Agate Hall at 8:30 p.m.
Tickets for students are just $2
and general admission is S3. On
Feb. 18, Friday Night Flicks presents
another free show, "Brother to
Brother," at 8 p.m. in PLC 180. From
Feb. 24 through the 27, the 13th An
nual Queer Film Festival will be
going on in PLC 180. Passes are $6
for University students and $8 for
community passes. The schedule
hasyetto be announced. On Sun
day, Feb. 27, the Harlem Globetrot
ters will be making a stop at
McArthur Court at 2 p.m. Tickets
range from $15 to $76.
The McDonald Theatre also has a
jam-packed month. Keller Williams
will perform Sunday, Feb. 13. Tickets
can be purchased in advance online
at McDonald Theatre Ticketing and
at all Safeway TicketsWest outlets
for $17. If not sold out, tickets will
also be available atthe McDonald
Theatre Box Office the day of the
show for $20 beginning at 5:30 p.m.
Doors will open at 7 p.m. and the
show starts at 8 p.m. George Win
ston will be atthe venue Feb.14.
Tickets are on sale now for $20, $27
and $35 in advance. Atthe door, tick
ets may be purchased for $23, $30
and $38. Doors open at7 p.m. and
the show starts at 8 p.m. On Tuesday,
Feb. 22, Papa Roach with Skindred
and F-Ups will be atthe McDonald.
Tickets are $18 in advance and $20 at
the door if not previously sold out.
Over at WOW Hall, Handgun
Bravado, Steps To Lydia, One Point
Star, l\lx and MastroS will be per
forming Friday, Feb. 11. The show
starts at 7:30 p.m. and tickets can be
purchased for $5 atthe door.
On Feb. 12, Monkee Torture, The
Anxieties, Streetlight Cardiacs and
the Rock and Roll Hearts will be
playing at 8:30 p.m. Tickets are $5 at
the door. See LAM Presents: Falling
Up, Leaning Towards Infinity, Feb. 13
for$12 in advance and$15atthe
door. The show starts at 7:30 p.m. On
Feb. 26, see the CultureClash pres
ent the Native American Hip-Hop
and Reggae Festival. The show
starts at 8 p.m. Tickets are $12 in ad
vance and$15atthedoor.
Sam Bond's Garage is also host
ing a variety of musical talents. On
Saturday, Feb. 12, see Savitri and
The Quick and Easy Boys rock out at
9:30 p.m. for $3. Mood Area 52 helps
celebrate Valentine's Day at Sam
Bond's Garage. Come tango at
9:30 p.m. for $3 to $5. On Feb. 1.5, en
joy the Sam Bond's Bluegrass Jam
at 9 p.m. for free. On Feb. 17,seeJa
son Webley with Andru Bemis play
some modern folk at 9 p.m. Tickets
range frcttn $6 to $8.
amylichty@dailyemerald.com
Adventures in Pooh’s
new movie act as a
parable about politics
Children will be distracted by the lovable characters; but
parents may notice the allusions to homeland security
BY CHRISTY LEMIRE
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Cute, cuddly, wholesome and well
intentioned — all this you'd expect
from a movie starring Winnie the
Pooh and Co.
However, "Pooh's Heffalump
Movie" is also a parable about prej
udice that could easily apply to to
day's heightened fears about home
land security.
Little kids won't notice. They'll be
too enraptured by the bouncy, slap
stick adventures of Pooh and his ani
mated buddies in the Hundred Acre
Wood. But oh yes, it's right there in
front of you, as plain as Pooh Bear's
beloved hunny pots.
The source of their fear comes one
morning when Pooh (voiced by Jim
Cummings) and the other A.A. Milne
creatures hear a noise that rattles
their usual idyll. The crotchety Rabbit
(Ken Samson)tells his crew the
sound could only have been made by
a Heffalump, an evildoer with "fiery
eyes and a tail with a spike" which is
"wide as a river and tall as a tree," as
the "The Horribly Hazardous Hef
falumps" song goes.
Little Roo (Nikita Hopkins) isn't
scared. He thinks it sounds "neat,"
and wants to tag along with the big
kids on their Heffalump hunting ex
pedition, which the Rumsfeldian
Rabbit has orchestrated, complete
with elaborate traps that make the
best use of his troops' natural
ground game. ’ ■ r v • • - ■ •
Tigger (also Cummings), Piglet
(John Fiedler) and the guys have told
Roo he’s too young to join them in bat
tle. But Roo sneaks off on his own,
runs into one of these Heffalumps
and quickly realizes there's nothing to
be afraid of. It's a goofy kid like him,
named Lumpy (Kyle Stanger), who
looks like a lavender baby elephant
and speaks with a British accent. (If
Bridget Jones were a cartoon char
acter, this is what she'd look like.)
As the mismatched new friends
run around the woods together,
Lumpy divulges that he has seen
Roo's pals, and he thinks they're
terrifying, too.
Xenophobia is bad, we learn from
director Frank Nissen's movie, which
was written by Brian Hohlfeld (who
also wrote 2003's "Piglet's Big
Movie") and Evan Spiliotopoulos.
Singing Carly Simon songs in the for
est and returning home when your
mommy calls is good. (Kath Soucie
provides the voice of Roo's mom,
Kanga, and Brenda Blethyn voices
the formidable Mama Heffalump.
Who wouldn't answer her call?)
It may sound innocent and overly
simplistic — and it is — but its brief
running time and feel-good message
make it ideally suited forthe littlest
Roos out there, and their patient par
ents. During a time in which wall-to
wall pop culture references have be
come the standard in animated family
fare, it's refreshing to find not a single
drop of irony here.
Lichty: Movie versions of
books suffer little success
Continued from page 5
you why: Books are worth it.
"Fight Club" has been one of my
all time favorite movies since the
moment it blew my mind way back
in high school. The suspense, the
drama, the excitement and the
twists inspired me to watch it over
and over again until I had every de
tail figured out. But not until I actu
ally picked up the book did I realize
there was so much more to know.
I read "Fight Club" by Chuck
Palahniuk my freshman year of col
lege, and it was one of those books
that couldn't be put down. There
was so much more involved with
Project Mayhem than I had ever
realized. The complexity of the
characters was drawn out so
much further, and once again the
old saying of "The book is better
than the movie" proved true.
Another movie to which the say
ing applies is "Big Fish." Although I
loved the visual masterpiece that
claimed to be "from the imagina
tion of Tim Burton," the story line
could not live up to that of the
Daniel Wallace novel of the same
name. I wondered how Burton
could say it was from his imagina
tion, but after reading the book I
understood. Although the charac
ters were mostly the same, the
similarities ended there. While it
was a beautiful tale of fantasy in
both forms, it was just more fun to
get lost in my own imagination
ratherthan Burton's.
Other books such as "The Joy
Luck Club," "The Five People
You Meet In Heaven," the Harry
Potter series, "White Oleander,"
"Bridget Jones's Diary" and "
The Lord of the Rings" trilogy, can
never be as good coming through
the "boob tube" asthey are in the
written word.
This year, blockbusters such
as "The Polar Express," "Lemony
Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate
Events," "Bridget Jones: The
Edge of Reason" and even "Christ
mas with the Kranks" (booktitle:
"Skipping Christmas") all had
previous successes in the written
word. Although many, with the
exception of Lemony Snicket's,
had little success atthe box office,
the trend continues as more
books become visual and more
people stop reading.
"Charlie and the Chocolate Fac
tory" will be a classic piece of chil
dren's literature found on the big
screen this year. Although 1971 's
"Willy Wonka and the Chocolate
Factory" was a success, the July
15 release of "Charlie" will be
based more on Roald Dahl's liter
ary classic by the same name. Not
only will this be directed by Holly
wood genius Burton, Willy Wonka
will be played by my favorite actor
of all time: the amazingly talented
Johnny Depp. Regardless of how
this movie turns out, I just hope
parents won't stop reading to their
children before bed. Teaching chil
dren to love reading is one of the
most incredible tools parents can
give to their kids' futures.
Although watching movies
is one of my favorite pastimes,
reading a great book can never
be replaced. In a world where
everything gets thrown at us
visually, it's no wonder more and
more children are having a difficult
time reading. Help your future as
well, and don't let reading become
a thing of the past.
amylichty@dailyemerald.com
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★ all shows are all ages ★
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