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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (July 16, 2004)
july 16^2004 ' popped and what's floppad, in a theater near you. ~ Anchorman: T he LEGENn R on B urgundy of In the mood for slapstick? Feel like let ting your everyday anxieties slip away while you bathe in the soothing glow of the silver screen? Will Ferrell’s latest vehicle, Anchor - man, will help you do nothing. The story shines with its hilarious characters and punch-drunk gender role parodies; it’s great for a robust laugh or two. Laughter is scien tifically proven to chill you out. — Evan James T he C learing Forget the Oscar talk. How anyone could mistake the boilerplate performances by Helen Mirren and Robert Redford here as special is beyond me. This maudlin, pre dictable kidnapping drama is further bogged down by endless close-ups of Mirren’s tire- somely anguished face. The only thing worthwhile about this trite, poor-little-rich- folks movie is Willem Dafoe, whose charac ter gets within spitting distance of the tragic pathos the film laboriously aspires to. — Gary Morris <^ ) dud, bottom of the bag < £ $ > < only if you’re really hungry good effort, pass the salt <C§> <& mmmm, tasty! get the big tub o’ com T he D oor in the F loor This alternately funny and sad film is actu ally better than the John Irving novel, A Widow for One Year, from which it was adapt ed. A spotless cast helmed by Jeff Bridges and Kim Basinger, whose character deflowers a 16- year-old boy, makes every moment watchable even if you end up asking yourself what the point of it all was. — J.B . Rabin H arry P otter and the P risoner of A zkaban Director Alfonso Cuarón (Y Tu Mamá También) takes over for Chris Columbus and pumps new life into this underperforming fran chise about the young wizard (Daniel Radcliffe) and his adven tures at Hogwarts. This time around the acting is better, the nemesis (Gary Oldman) is more ominous, and the special effects are truly magical. —Jim Radosta <5^> I’ ll S leep W hen I’ m D ead <£><£> D e -L ovely This is the second biopic of gay composer and raconteur Cole Porter, following the 1946 version with Cary Grant. The earlier film sani tized Cole of any queer impulses, but De-Lovely doesn’t do as much better as it should, given that the world is much different than it was 60 years ago. The film looks good— as colorful as a musical should be— and Kevin Kline plays Porter with the right mix of camp and pathos. But the script insists on confusing the crucial gay issue by giving him romantic impulses toward wifey (Ashley Judd) that never existed. Fans of modem singers interpreting Tin Pan Alley will welcome such oddities as Sheryl Crow doing “Begin the Beguine,” but purists will blanch at this and other liberties taken in a misguided attempt to reach a youth market that doesn’t know, and couldn’t care less, about Cole Porter. —GM No, you’ll sleep when you’re in the theater. Mike Hodges ( Croupier) directs this neo-noir revenge drama, which opens July 30, with stupefying slowness. Starring the fetching Clive Owen (with and without beard), the film laboriously follows a reformed crime kingpin as he takes on the evil bisexual crime boss who raped his bratty little brother. Maybe it’s better if you do sleep— that way you may not notice the homophobia that filigrees this unnecessary film. -G M • I Fred Meyer AU3. 10-15 B R O AD W AY P ortland KELLER AUDITORIUM - 5 C 0 3 — 7 9 0 3W 3RD k CLAY — A R T S or ■ ; $ P i t T he S tory of the W eeping C amel imadic fami- In Mongolia’s Gobi Desert ly helps with the delivery of a mother refuses to nurse the ca attempts to bring the two together pass, and the calf becomes weak bottle-fed. At last, the family cal tion and hires a musician to play Mongolian violin for mother ant baby. The results of this brilliant and moving documentary will stun any viewer. — Nadia A t Maiwandi mgust 8 5 C M-F 9 a- 6 p 1 — 866 - 739—6737 Ticket» available at all t/cketmaster outlets Including 01 Joe», •elect Fred Meyer location», PCPA at 3W Broadway k Main and the Portland Opera Box Office at 211 3E Caruther» (Just south of Oasi). a Delta K 113 3R0UP3 OF 20 OR MORE SAVE I 503-241-1407 www.broadwayaoroasaaerioa.oo« www.portlandopera.org www.rentthetour.co* TICK ETS SU BJEC T TO AOEECT CONVENIENCE C I U R ' J S S . 35
