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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 18, 2006)
AUGUST 18. 2006 jUStlOUt 43 film The Illusionist Shot in soft focus, with often monochromatic or sepia tonality, The Illusionist resembles a tum-of- the-century kinetoscope. The story, about a master illusionist in the 1800s whose love for a princess- to-be could destabilize the throne of Vienna, is flashy when necessary but played perfectly by an award-worthy cast led by Edward Norton and Paul Giamatti. Combining the romance of Somewhere in Time with the gloomy puzzles of The Sixth Sense, the film is gorgeous and gauzy and, like all great magical acts, will leave the audience awed. Opens Aug. 25. A —Andy Mangels Jailbait This dark and sad prison drama—the debut A young man (Jesse Garcia) disgraces his family in movie by writer/director Brett C. Leonard—is definitely not a feel-good movie but remains worth chance to be alone before his child is bom. For seeing if you are interested in this thought Kurt (Will Oldham), it is a chance to bond with provoking issue. A character study focusing on the another human—beyond the homeless guy who relationship between Randy (Michael Pitt) and his asks for change. A slow-moving film with its own cellmate, Jake (Stephen Adly-Guirgis), Jailbait rewards, Old Joy blurs the lines between cama shows that today’s prison system has not changed— raderie, male bonding and homoeroticism. Opens only the tough ones survive, and the weak will be Aug. 25 at Cinema 21. B- abused. No heroes and glory for mankind here! —John Esther Opens Aug. 25. B Quinceanera —Yvonne P. Behrens Inspired by the Los Angeles neighborhood they Old Joy now call home, writer/directors Richard Glatzer Portland queer filmmaker Todd Haynes co and Wash Westmoreland’s Quinceanera surprised a produced this story of two lifelong friends who lot of people when it took home both the Dramatic reunite for a weekend campout in the Cascades. For Jury Prize and the Dramatic Audience Award at Mark (Daniel London), the trip might be his last Sundance 2006. Arthouse k Foreign k Cult Classics k Gay & Lesbian Documentaries k Asian Cult k The Latest Chart Busters POP IN! ALL RENTALS-5 DAYS 2310 N Lombard 11136 NW Lovejey I 1990 SE Ladd 503-289-0400 I 503-796-2825 I 503-231-1181 7522 N Lombard I 2640 NE Alberta 503-247-3433 I 503-288-4067 Quinceanera. Blending issues about the gentrification, sexu ality and tradition of the heavily Latino-populated Echo Park—located northwest of downtown Los Angeles, near Dodger Stadium—this impressive and enjoyable film sees a community at a cross roads, personally and politically, when 14-year-old Magdalena (Emily Rios) becomes mysteriously pregnant before her Quinceanera, a social event signifying a Latina’s passing on to womanhood at the age of 15, while white gays start moving into the neighborhood. After having disgraced her family, particularly her puritanical paterfamilias, she is forced to live with her great unde Tomas (Chalo Gonzalez). Also living there is Magdalena’s cousin, Carlos (Jesse Garcia), a young man who the filmmakers initially let you think has disgraced his family for his “cholo” ways when, in fact, it is his for his sex ual orientation. While Magdalena deals with her crisis, Carlos begins messing around with the gay guys who now own the house out front and eventually starts an affair with one of the men. This proves to be a deadly decision once betrayal, jealously and eco nomic power start to raise their ugly heads. (In an interview, Westmoreland and Glatzer assured me the gay couple are not based on them.) Moreover, while Quinceanera never directly says it, and none of the characters in the film acknowl edges it, one suspects Tomas might be a friend of Dorothy as well. A family-friendly film from the makers of 200l’s not-so-family-friendly The Fluffer, Quinceanera lives up to its expectations as it deals with issues that affect many communities in urban areas. B + —JE World Trade Center Given director Oliver Stone’s past with JFK and Bom on the Fourth of July, you might expect World Trade Center to he a political movie. But 1 was pleasantly surprised by this very human story about two Port Authority police officers (Nicolas Cage and Michael Peña) who became trapped under the rubble and never gave up hope in the aftermath of the 9/11 disaster. Stone deserves praise for the impeccably detailed sets and flawless special effects and for making a tasteful movie about such a diffi cult moment in world history. B —YPB ©
