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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 6, 2004)
42 jflusl 6, 2004 <g><£S><g& I, R obot <£><£><£> B alzac ^ anh the L ittle C hinese S eamstress ^ When you’ve got it, flaunt it, and Sijie Daie does. The Chinese novelist hired him self to direct this adaptation of his novel about two 1970s teen-agers put to hard labor in a remote mountain village to purge them of Western influences under Maoist doctrine. The daughter of the local tailor and a trunk full of banned books complicate the “re-education.” Plays Aug. 13 to 15 at Guild Theatre. — Lisa Bradshaw C atwoman r Not the worst comic book movie ever filmed, Catwoman is still an embarrassment to all involved. Halle Berry saves the world from killer face cream (no, real ly) in this disjointed flick that makes the Batman television series seem restrained. Mildly diverting for the first half, it stumbles into camp for part two. Hissable and missable. — Andy Mangels Beautifully shot but somewhat lazily edited, this is still a sure-fire cure for the summertime blockbuster blues. — Jim Radosta H arold & K umar G o to W hite C astle John C ho and Kal Penn have the doobious distinction of starring in the first-ever Asian stoner flick, which— believe it or not— is actu ally pretty good. Director Danny Leiner (D ude, W here’s My C ar?) takes these slackers on a bizarre road trip that includes raccoon wrestling, skewered stereotypes and an un flattering cameo from Doogie Howser, M .D . himself, Neil Patrick Harris. -JR <&><££><& C ollateral * Tom Cruise continues to flex his acting muscles in this smart, charac ter-driven thriller from director Michael Mann (Heat, The Insider). He plays Vince, a mthless hit man who enlists a distressed cabbie (Jamie Foxx) to drive him around Los Ange les on a one-night killing spree. H o u rs: M - F 9:00 7 00pm S a t 9 :0 0 -6 :0 0 p m C losed S u n d a ys • One of Only 200 Fem ale Owned ¿ 2 ? AN AMMONI GM Auto Dealers in the Nation REVO LU TIO N - 888 - Documentarians Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky (Paradise Lost: The Child Mur ders at Robin Htxxl Hills) have crafted an intimate behind-the-scenes look at the near-meltdown of one of heavy metal’s biggest bands. We not only get a front-row seat to their creative process in the studio but also their intense sessions with a “performance enhancement coach.” W ho knew headbangers were so sensitive? -JR O pen W ater Enjoy the true story of a couple left adrift in the middle of the ocean after a scuba diving mix-up. There’s one funny moment where the two love birds are bitterly fighting about their • M ost DivCrse Dealership in Hubbard! liront h , (J M etallic A: S ome K ind of M onster <&> * • Fam ily Owned Since 1936 Taking the title of Isaac Asimov’s famous tale (and little else), this film features Will Smith in another of his patented smart-ass, tough- detective roles, this time vs. excel lent CG I robotic creations trying to take over the earth. Surprisingly, the movie doesn’t suck as badly as one might expect, though the process by which the mystery is solved is badly contrived. — AM Where the Hecfc is Hubbard? Canby Hubbard” Chevrolet 99 E Woodbum bottom of the bag only if you’re really hungry <g> <^5i <§> < £> < $> good effort, pass the salt mmmm, tasty! <g> get the big tub o’ com relationship at sea— the rest centers on the slow psychological torture of watching sharks casually eat them alive. A great date movie if your date is afraid of water, sharks or the exis tential poetry of imminent oceanic doom. — Evan James T he S tory of th e W eeping C amel In Mongolia’s Gobi Desert, a nomadic fami ly helps with the delivery of a baby camel. The mother refuses to nurse the calf, and all attempts to bring the two together fail. Days pass, and the calf becomes weak despite being bottle-fed. At last, the family calls on tradition and hires a musician to play the Mongo lian violin for mother and baby. The results of this brilliant and moving documentary will stun any viewer. — Nadia Ali Maiwandi
