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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 11, 2007)
!24 #).%-!3 ,HZ[[O O[[W!IPQV\JPULTHZJVT :]o^kmbl^hghnk;B@L<K>>GBm l_ngZg]^__^\mbo^ 'PSUIFXFFLPG'SJEBZ +BOVBSZUI IURP:ULWHUGLUHFWRU=KDQJ<LPRX %/2: +HUR+RXVHRI)O\LQJ'DJJHUV &XUVHRIWKH *ROGHQ)ORZHU &KRZ<XQ)DW*RQJ/L 1LJKWO\ 6XQ0DW 3* BY JASON BLAIR Clive Owen and Julianne Moore in Children of Men CINEMARK - SPRINGFIELD Gateway Mall - Beltline @ Gateway 746-5202 - 1/12-1/18 Digital Sound in ALL Auditoriums Adult $7.25 ¥ Adult Fri & Sat $7.75 Child/Bargain/Senior $5.25 ¥ Student with ID $5.75 Early Bird Price is Back!!! Mon thru Fri — First Matinee Showing of each Feature $4.75 METROPOLITAN OPERA SERIES LIVE BY SATEL- LITE TAN DUNS THE FIRST EMPEROR HAPPILY N’EVER AFTER PG 12:05, 2:30, 4:55, 7:25 NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM PG ONLY SATURDAY 1/13 AT 10:30 AM 12:00, 12:50, 3:00, 3:35, 6:30, 7:00, 9:15, 9:55 DREAMGIRLS PG13 12:10, 3:15, 7:05, 10:10 NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM FREEDOM WRITERS PG13 DIGITAL PG 12:25, 3:25, 7:00, 10:00 1:50, 4:35, 7:30, 10:15 ALPHA DOG R THE GOOD SHEPHERD R 2:45, 6:55, 10:40 12:15, 3:10, 7:10, 10:05 STOMP THE YARD PG13 WE ARE MARSHALL PG 1DRPL:DWWV (GZDUG1RUWRQ 1LJKWO\ /LHY6FKUHLEHU 6XQ0DW 3* 4 8((1 7 +( 1LJKWO\ 6DW0DW 3* %,-28/$7(1,7( RQO\ LQFOXGHV)5((SRSFRUQ SP IULVDW VXQ 6DW0DW DP IULVDW VXQ 7:15, 10:30 12:40, 3:40, 7:45, 10:30 CURSE OF THE GOLDEN PURSUIT OF HAPPY- NESS PG13 FLOWER R 12:35, 3:45, 7:25, 10:15 1:20, 4:15, 7:40, 10:40 ARTHUR AND THE INVISIBLES PG ERAGON PG 12:55, 3:30, 7:15 12:20, 2:50, 5:20, 7:50, 10:20 CHARLOTTE’S WEB G PRIMEVAL R 1:30, 4:05 12:30, 3:05, 5:35, 8:05, 10:35 BLOOD DIAMOND R CHILDREN OF MEN R 9:40 2:20, 5:05, 7:50, 10:35 HOLIDAY PG13 CODE NAME: THE CLEANER PG13 9:50 7:55, 10:20 1:25, 4:10 HAPPY FEET PG *NO PASSES/NO SUPERSAVERS MOVIES 12 - SPRINGFIELD In the future, one child makes all the difference No children under age 6 will be admitted to any R-rated feature after 6:00 PM Friday & Saturday after 6pm $2.00 MARIE ANTOINETTE PG13 HARSH TIMES R [11:40] 2:50, 7:15, 9:55 [12:10] 7:10 DÉJÀ VU PG13 [11:55] 2:55, 6:55, 9:50 OPEN SEASON PG FLUSHED AWAY PG [11:20, 12:05] 2:00, 3:00, 4:25, 5:10, 7:00, 9:20 [11:25, 12:00] 2:10, 3:10, 4:20, 5:15, 6:50, 7:30, 9:25, 9:45 BORAT R STRANGER THAN FIC- TION PG13 [11:35] 2:05, 4:35, 7:20, 10:05 [11:30] 2:15, 4:50, 7:35, 10:20 [11:45] 3:05, 7:05, 10:10 SAW 3 R THE GUARDIAN PG13 [11:50] 2:35, 5:05, 7:45, 10:25 3:15, 10:15 SANTA CLAUSE 3: THE ESCAPE CLAUSE G EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH PG13 [11:15] 2:20, 4:55, 7:40, 10:00 7:25, 10:30 THE PRESTIGE PG13 STEREO SURROUND SOUND IN ALL AUDITORIUMS 4-DAY ADVANCE TICKET SALES - NO PASSES -NO SUPERSAVERS SHOWTIMES AVAILABLE AT CINEMARK.COM PRIMEVAL (R) - ID REQ'D DIG (1150 215 455) 715 940 FREEDOM WRITERS (PG-13) DIG (1135 255) 700 945 HAPPILY N'VER AFTER (PG) DIG (1155 235 450) 720 CHILDREN OF MEN (R) - ID REQ'D DIG (1145 220 500) 730 1000 (1200 300) 655 950 DREAMGIRLS (PG-13) DIG THE GOOD SHEPHERD (R) - ID REQ'D DIG (1125 430) 800 NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM (PG) DIG (1140 210 445) 710 935 PURSUIT OF HAPPYNESS (PG-13) DIG (1145 205 440) 715 955 THE HOLIDAY (PG-13) DIG 930 PRIMEVAL (R) - ID REQ'D DIG (1230 300 525) 755 1025 FREEDOM WRITERS (PG-13) DIG (125 420) 720 1015 HAPPILY N'VER AFTER (PG) DIG (1240 255 510) 725 935 DREAMGIRLS (PG-13) DIG (1250 355) 700 1005 Fri. (145 425) 710 955 NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM (PG) DIG Sat. & Sun. (1105 145 425) 710 955 WE ARE MARSHALL (PG) DIG 645 945 PURSUIT OF HAPPYNESS (PG-13) DIG CHARLOTTE'S WEB (G) DIG (110 400) 650 940 Fri. (140 415) Sat. & Sun. (1115 140 415) FREEDOM WRITERS (PG-13) DIG Fri. (350) 650 930 Sat. & Sun. (1250 350) 650 930 ALPHA DOG (R) - ID REQ'D DIG Fri. (400) 700 940 Sat. & Sun. (100 400) 700 940 HAPPILY N'VER AFTER (PG) DIG Fri. (255 500) 710 Sat. & Sun. (1240 255 500) 710 WE ARE MARSHALL (PG) DIG ERAGON (PG) DIG Times For 1/12 - 1/14 22 JANUARY 11, 2007 Barren Gateway Mall - Beltline @ Gateway 741-1231 ¥ 1/12-1/18 920 Fri. (250 510) 730 950 Sat. & Sun. (1230 250 510) 730 950 ©2007 CHILDREN OF MEN: Directed by Alfonso Cuarón. Written by Cuarón, Timothy J. Sexton, David Arata, Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby, based upon the novel by P.D. James. Cinematography, Emmanuel Lubezki. Music, John Tavener. Starring Clive Owen, Michael Caine, Julianne Moore and Chiwetel Ejiofor. Universal Pictures, 2006. R. 109 minutes. 44441 W hatever else might be said of it, Children of Men solves the prob- lem of setting movies in the fu- ture. Instead of hovercrafts and jet packs, which years ago felt nostalgic — more 1950 than 2050 — Children of Men assumes more modest transformations: The future happens to look a lot like right now, only dirtier and with uglier cars. In fact, Children of Men is so visually credible that it plays like a documen- to the coast. The film doesn’t conceal Kee’s important secret, but it’s worth withholding for those who don’t discover it right away. Directed by Alfonso Cuarón, who gave us the fine Y tu mamá también, Children of Men is the type of important film — dare I say vi- sion? — we used to expect from Terry Gilliam (Brazil, 12 Monkeys). Children of Men blends elements of apocalyptic fantasy and dystopian reality while asking, simply: What if the fate of the world fell into the hands of an average Joe? What would happen then? Like Gilliam, Cuarón understands that without humor, survival is impossible. Children of Men, for all its gloom, is one long lesson in comic relief. Visually, the film is subtle and coherent and has already won three prizes for cine- Children of Men is the type of important film — dare I say vision? — we used to expect from Terry Gilliam. tary of the future, which makes its premise — a global infertility epidemic — that much more terrifying. According to the film, set in 2027, the last recorded childbirth was in 2009. That’s a lot of empty playgrounds, but it’s much more dire than that: The world has begun to destroy itself through civil war, terrorism and nuclear attack. The world is a cold and filthy place. Britain alone seems to be coping — “The world has collapsed. Only Britain soldiers on.” — if by coping you mean rounding up and killing the refugees arriving daily from neighboring countries. Within this totalitarian state, former polit- ical activist Theo Faron (Clive Owen) main- tains his composure with regular swallows of whisky and the occasional visit to Jasper (Michael Caine), a jolly old hippie living in secret in the woods. Jasper, looking like Santa without the suit, grows marijuana for various customers (which, fittingly, is still il- legal). One of Jasper’s clients is an immigra- tion cop, which comes in handy when Theo gets paid to escort Kee (Claire-Hope Ashitey) matography. Cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki uses color to denote everything from trust and morality (gray is evil, dark, decay) to innocence and purity (Kee, who’s black, is perfection, health). Narrative details are re- layed not by dialogue but through the im- agery of television, graffiti and newspapers. There are at least two extended scenes in Children of Men that were shot in a single take, one exhilarating and one exhausting. Unfortunately, once Theo becomes Kee’s escort, the film mutates into a chase-and-es- cape picture, losing some of the liveliness and novelty of its first half. There are pro- found moments late in the film, but as our protagonists darted from rock to rock and building to building to avoid one bullet after another, I felt the film lose its footing and its scope. Children of Men begins to feel like Saving Private Ryan: beautiful but brutal, gi- gantic and overpopulated. In the end, Cuarón has created a triumphant film about an un- likely hero at the end of the world, but it’s a film that stumbles somewhat as it lurches toward a finale. ew
