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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 5, 2005)
FILM ▼ Broken Flowers REVIEWS Bill Murray kxiks more like a corpse than ever in this Cannes Film Festival prize win ner about a depressed businessman who revisits old girlfriends, hoping to meet a long-lost son who may or may not exist. Writer/director Jim Jarmusch advances the plot at a glacial pace, but the sad and funny second half captures just how futile it is to tinker with the past. The supporting casts packs ixxlles of female firepower, with spot-on performances from Frances Con roy, Jessica Lange, Tilda Swinton and Sharon Stone. B+ —Stephen Blair Charlie and the Chocolate Factory rugby—and more. The most compelling figure is hothead coach Joe Soares, who joins Team Canada after getting kicked off the U.S. team, suffers a heart attack and reluctantly comes to accept his 12-year- old son’s preference for violins over violence. A —JR Ex-Wonder Woman Lynda Carter, 54. comes to the rescue in The Dukes of Hazzard (left) and Sky High. As sweet as can be, Tim Burton’s remake of the 1971 classic Willy Wonka deftly adapts the children’s book, showcasing both gorgeous visuals and a stellar cast. And while Johnny Depp is uncomfortably Michael Jackson-like creepy at times, more often he’s endearing and tart. A delicious movie experience! A —Andy Mangels The Chumscrubber Jamie Bell (Billy Elliot) plays a depressed teen-ager in this suburban indie that strikes an uncomfortable balance between quirky and heavy subject matter. Add to that a desperate sci-fi twist toward the end, and this Donnie Darko wannabe starts to seem more like Donnie Liteo. C+ —Jim Radosta The Dukes off Hazzard Take away the car chases and you’d have about 25 minutes of film in this surprisingly boring TV-to-film remake that had patrons walking out of a free screening. Why cast two hunks in the lead and never show any gratu itous male skin like Jessica Simpson does? Willie Nelson and Lynda Carter make the most of minor roles, while a few race-related jokes, a gay reference stolen from Serial Mom and the end-credit bkx>pers are about the only other things worth staying awake for. D+ —AM Murderball This triumphant documentary tells us everything we wanted to know about the wheelchair-smashing sport known as quad Must Like Dogs Directed and produced by three-time Emmy Award winner Gary David Goldberg (Famdy Ties, Spin City), this clean-cut romantic comedy tells the story of a divorced preschool teacher (Diane Lane) who finds herself back in the dating game. With her family getting involved in finding the best potential suitor, Sarah braves mismatches and first dates on her way to find the perfect man. Every part is superbly cast (Stixzkard Channing, John Cusack, Elizabeth Perkins, Christopher Plummer and Dermot Mulroney), and it is a pleasure to see these great actors making the audience laugh—and some of the singles cry, because real life isn’t just like in the movies. B —Yvonne P. Behrens Saraband Legendary director Ingmar Bergman returns from semiretirement to revisit the long- divorced couple (Liv Ullmann and Erland Josephson) from his 1974 film Scenes from a Marriage, using their bittersweet reunion to frame the story of a young cellist’s (Julia Dufve- nius) struggle to escape her smothering, posses sive father (Borje Ahlstedt). Bergman’s exact ing formality and tormented intimacy are com pletely intact; Saraband is nearly perfect. A —Christopher McQuain Sky High The story of the powerless son of two super heroes going to a super-school, Sky High is a teen movie, a high school flick and a superhero film rolled into one, with the familiar elements of each cleverly tweaked. Though the special effects are dixlgy, the cast is fun, and there’s both preteen humor and humor aimed at nos talgic adults. Lynda Carter, in particular, steals her scenes. Expect fun and lightness, and leave pretensions of humorless heroes at the door. B —AM Undead This Australian zombie movie has lots of action and cheap special effects, a fkxxl of gore, bad acting and a plot that even Einstein couldn’t figure out. It’s really two movies—a zombie flick with ordinary folk inexplicably turning into flesh-gnawing freaks, and a sci-fi opus about an alien attack on said folks. Undead might have been helped by some extended scenes of anal probing in the alien spaceship, but no such luck. At least bear-watchers will enjoy the hunky lead, who shows his big butt in one scene. C+ —Gary Morris jFl r" Specializing in I t a 1 i a n I raditi o n s ioin nJ Joon to jhare our paJJion Clannoli • gassata for aood food E>iscotti • ~1~iramisu and friendship in F*resh F^ruit ~Tart« Fiand-made threads the FJome-made ^oups y ]e tv ()rfeanj manner. 5ausage E>read Cratering • Wedding C.akes Open every day! AN ew MondciqAycjfurdoq 5-IOpm |_ unck 11:30-2:30 1956 N. Kjllingsworth Street th ree blocks west of Interstate 503-283-5936 1303 NgPemont St creoljpJx.com
