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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (April 15, 2005)
acni 15.20Q5 * just ©Ut 39 n & o o FILM The Amityville Horror Haunted house movies don’t come vyith more baggage than The Amityville Horror, a remake of rhe film that spawned seven sequels (and that sprang from a btxik based on a supposedly tme story). Ryan Reynolds plays George Lutz, rhe father who’s going cuckoo, with great nervous tics; gay viewers will love the fact that he’s shirt less for about half the film. (After his exposure in Blade 111 and this, he should just do a gay pom movie already!) Though about half the scares in the trailer aren’t in the film, there are quite a lot of creepy moments and a few jumps along the way. The first wasn’t a classic, and neither is this, but it’s solidly sptxiky fun that doesn’t insult the audience B- —Andy Mangels Thailand’s official position on homosexuali ty is disapproving, but with this film and the Iron Ladies series, it seems to be pioneering the Asian-tranny-sports genre. Perhaps next season will bring pre-op football players or drag kings doing water polo. B+ —Gary Morris Fever Pitch Saturday Night Live alum Jimmy Fallon cements his status as the next Jim Breuer in this charmless romantic comedy about a man- child schoolteacher who loves the Boston Red Sox more than his workaholic girlfriend (Drew Beautiful Boxer Opening April 22 at Hollywood Theatre, this lushly photographed biopic is based on rhe tme story of Thailand’s famous transgender kick boxer, Nong Toom. Director Ekachai Uekro- ngtham cast a straight guy in the lead role, and it proved a wise choice. Asanee Suwan is simply wonderful, managing the almost impossible task of etching this unusual character without veer ing into camp caricaturing. The film is epic, framed by an interview of adult Nong Toom and surveying his life through extended episodes from a tormented childhood through Buddhist school (where he insists on using lip gloss, to the horror of his mentors) to his ultimate fame. The fight scenes are riveting, particularly a harrowing one in which Nong Taom, weakened by female hor mones, confronts a scary female Japanese boxer in war paint and multicolored fringe. eatingout eatingout hampered by a script that tries to capture the uncertainties and hesitations of everyday con versation. Unfortunately, it’s about as engaging as everyday conversation. C- —Floyd Sklaver RiriflPIIIIC B al fc» w M w Barrymore), who’s way outta his league anyway. More baffling is how such a smart team—the film was directed by Bobby and Peter Farrelly (There’s Something About Mary) and written by Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel (City Slickers) loosely-based on a novel by Nick Hornby (High Fidelity) —created such a dumb product. C —Jim Radosta Off the Map The Land Has Eyes Now playing at Hollywoixl Theatre, Vil- soni Hereniko’s directorial debut is set in his native Fiji in 1970 as the country is claiming independence from the United Kingdom. A young girl named Viki (Sapeta Sokag’aitu Taito) must learn to find balance between rhe traditional ways of her people and rhe modern world. Shamed by her village for being poor and rhe daughter of a convicted thief, Viki is inspired and haunted by the mythical Warrior Woman (Rena Owen of Once Were Warriors). The film is reminiscent of Whole Rider but drags at times B- —Yvonne P. Behrens i If only there were a letter preceding “A” to bestow on this brilliantly wrought, powerful movie. Campbell Scott directs the story of Bo (Valentina de Angelis), an 11-year-old stuck in the New Mexico desert with her depressed father, Charley (Sam Elliot), and mother, Arlene (Joan Allen), when the Internal Rev enue Service sends word that they are being audited. The tax man (Jim True-Frost) quickly falls in love with Arlene, but really he falls in love with the desert and this family, and the performances and photography make us fall in love with all of them. A —J.B. Rabin Sahara Here is another adventure movie to shorten the wait until Indiana Jones IV. Directed by Michael Eisner’s son Breck, this is the story of master explorer Dirk Pitt (Matthew McConaughey) and his quest for a lost Civil War vessel. On his search to solve the mystery, he meets a beautiful and brilliant doctor (Pene lope Cruz—kxiking good but without a lot of The only reason to see A Lot Like Love is for . lines) who believes this hidden-treasure might the brief glimpse of Ashton Kutcher’s bare hum be connected to a much larger problem that in profile. Beyond that, director Nigel Cole’s threatens the world. Action-packed and funny, (Calendar Girls, Saving Grace) film is as inter thanks to sidekicks like Steve Zahn (Reality esting as listening to your friends bitch about Bites) and, brilliant once again, William H. their relationships. While Kutcher and Aman Macy. Pure, solid entertainment. 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