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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 17, 2007)
The Invasion Smartly written and excellently paced, this lat est reiteration of Invasion of the Body Snatchers finds a space fungus taking people over while they sleep. Nicole Kidman plays a psychiatrist who stumbles onto the truth and spends the rest of the film trying to rescue her son and avoid falling asleep. Full of intriguing political sidelines—is the world of the emotionless but relatively peaceful fungus-people better than our war-driven existence?—this is a classy thriller that deserves audience support. A- —Andy Mangels Rocket Science Jeffrey Blitz (Spellbound) won top directing honors at Sundance for this dark coming-of-age comedy about a stuttering teenager cast adrift in the fast-talking world of high school debate competi tions. Like Todd Solondz’s Welcome to the Dollhouse and Wes Anderson’s Rushmore, the film delivers a razor-sharp screenplay and a breakthrough perform ance by an unknown teen actor. The charmingly gawky Reece Thompson evokes all the humiliation, heartaches and transient joy that adolescence has to offer. Fargo fans can rejoice that Steve Park of Mike Yanagita fame has a hilarious supporting role. A —Stephen Blair Stanley Kubrick Retrospective Throughout the lion’s share of August, the Northwest Film Center presents a retrospective of the late, great Stanley Kubrick. As one of America’s greatest independent film mavericks, he stands in the company of Orson Welles, Robert Altman and the British-born Alfred Hitchcock. Whitsell Auditorium will celebrate his legacy by screening : all 12 of his feature films: famous opuses like A Clockwork Orange and Dr. Strangelove alongside early works such as Spartacus and The Killing, made before Kubrick broke entirely with the studio system to work as an independent producer. For a complete schedule visit www.nwfilm.org. —Tony LeTigre Stardust Young Tristan dreams of marrying the prettiest girl in his sleepy English village, and when a falling star crashes to the Earth, he goes over the forbidden wall in the woods to find her. Not unlike a certain Kansas tor Summercamp! nado, he is deposited in the magical land of Storm hold, where he soon comes in contact with evil This documentary about a summer camp in witches, unicorns and a dwindling cadre of murder northern Wisconsin was directed by Sarah Price ous successors to the rightful throne. When the star (The Yes Men) and musician Bradley Beesley of the turns out to be a cranky girl (Claire Danes), only Flaming Lips, who delivered the film’s soundtrack. the gay captain of a flying pirate ship can help him The kids are natural, the comments are honest, and find his true love. the editing is great. Opens Aug. 25 at Hollywood With a pedigreed cast—as the lead witch, Theatre. A- Michelle Pfeiffer gobbles the scenery like a bear at —Yvonne P. Behrens a buffet—and a script based on the excellent Neil Caiman’s graphic novel, 1 wanted to enjoy Stardust The Ten much more than I did, but I can’t pigeonhole what Perhaps responding to the theocratic overtures bothered me most. Perhaps it’s the overstuffed plot, in our government since President Bush and which seems to drag more the busier it gets. Or it company stole office in 2000, co-writers Ken could be Robert De Niro’s gay pirate, who is both Marino and David Wain decided to take an charming and horribly stereotyped. Mostly my .irreverent approach as well in The Ten. Comical annoyance was with Danes, whose scowl brought and worthwhile to watch (at least at home), the the film into the mud during every scene in which primary problem with The Ten is that it lacks she appeared. Stardust strives to be high fantasy but guts. Perchance the filmmakers did this to make only rarely achieves its goals. C + a commentary on our nonchalance today toward —AM the Ten Commandments, but it makes for some rather tame filmmaking. Opens Aug. 17 at Cinema 21. B - —John Esther This Is England This movie is based on director Shane Meadows’ (Dead Man’s Shoes) experience as a young boy grow ing up in working-class Britain under Margaret Thatcher’s regime in the early '80s. A 12-year-old named Shaun (wonderfully played by newcomer Thomas Turgrxise) finds a new family by befriending some Skinheads who are into music, parties and Doc Martin boots. Things change when ex-member Combo (Steven Graham) is released from prison; he soon causes a rift and becomes the catalyst to change the group into a militant, racist force. Filled with great dialogue and brilliant cinematography, This Is England is a wonderful portrait of the culture and politics of this time. Opens Aug. 24 at Hollywtxxl Theatre. A —YPB © Everyone needs Join U& For Our 6th year Anniversary Party A.K.A. 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