Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current, August 21, 2008, Image 28

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Eugene weekly., August 21, 2008, Page 28, Image 28

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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 21, 2008)

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Newspaper Page Textmovies ฀ 492 East 13th 686-2458 Starts Friday, 8/22! BY MOLLY TEMPLETON Jay Baruchel, Brandon T. Jackson, Ben Stiller, Robert Downey Jr. and Jack Black in Tropic Thunder http://bijou-cinemas.com “EDGY, LYRICAL, HIGH-OCTANE...THE FILM OF THE YEAR.” 8 years ago, Alex’s wife was murdered. Today...She e-mailed him. TELL NO ONE 4:45, 7:20 & 10:00 Nightly SAT & SUN MAT 2:00 NR Recent and archival interview, news, war and music footage, which often juxtapose the Vietnam and Iraq conflicts, round out this unflinching, well-constructed picture. —G. Goldstein, L.A. Times CSNY Déjà Vu A FILM BY NEIL YOUNG 7:40 & 9:45 Nightly SAT MAT 2:50 We have a NEW Summer Pass! 10 admissions: only $50 R FINAL WEEK! Brideshead Revisited 5:00 Nightly SUN MAT 2:15 * No Passes or Classic Supersavers Accepted MONDAY IS SENIOR DAY • SENIORS ALL DAY $5 FRI THRU TUES ONLY *THE HOUSE BUNNY PG13 12:20, 3:00, 5:35, 8:10, 10:40 *DEATH RACE R 1:00, 3:50, 7:10, 9:55 *THE LONGSHOTS PG 12:15, 2:50, 5:20, 7:50, 10:20 *THE ROCKER PG13 12:05, 2:45, 5:25, 8:05, 10:45 *MIRRORS R 12:30, 3:05, 6:45, 9:30 *STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS PG 12:10, 2:55, 4:25, 5:30, 8:05, 9:55, 10:35 *TROPIC THUNDER R 12:55, 2:30, 3:45, 5:15, 6:55, 8:00, 9:40, 10:45 *PINEAPPLE EXPRESS R 1:55, 4:40, 7:30, 10:20 CIRQUE DE SOLEIL DELIR- IUM NR ONLY ON SAT 8/23 & SUN 8/24 AT 2 PM PG-13 BLOGS. EUGENE WEEKLY .COM SISTERHOOD OF THE TRAVELING PANTS 2 PG13 1:30, 7:00 THE MUMMY: TOMB OF THE DRAGON EMPEROR PG13 12:50, 3:50, 6:50, 9:50 THE DARK KNIGHT PG13 12:25, 2:10, 3:40, 6:15, 7:05, 9:45, 10:40 MAMMA MIA! PG13 1:50, 4:45, 7:40, 10:25 JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH 3D PG 12:00, 2:30*(EXCEPT SAT 8/23 & SUN 8/24), 5:00, 7:30, 10:00 HANCOCK PG13 7:15, 9:45 WALL-E G 1:35, 4:15 Cinéarts BOTTLE SHOCK PG13 12:45, 3:25, 7:05, 9:50 Actors provide the hell in this jungle X-FILES: I WANT TO BELIEVE PG13 12:00, 2:25, 4:50, 7:35, 10:25 KUNG FU PANDA PG 11:05, 12:15, 1:45, 2:45, 4:00, 5:20, 6:45, 7:50, 9:30, 10:05 YOU DON’T MESS WITH THE ZOHAN PG13 11:50, 4:15, 7:25, 10:10 SEX AND THE CITY R 11:35, 7:15 THE LOVE GURU PG13 3:10, 10:20 HELLBOY II: THE GOLDEN ARMY PG13 11:30, 12:40, 2:15 3:30, 5:30, 6:55, 8:20, 9:40 WANTED R 11:20, 1:55, 4:35, 7:45, 10:15 IRON MAN PG13 11:10, 12:30, 2:05, 3:45, 5:10, 7:00, 8:10, 9:50 THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: PRINCE CAS- PIAN PG 11:15, 2:55, 6:50, 9:55 SPACE CHIMPS G 11:45, 2:35, 5:00, 7:10, 9:20 THIS WEEKEND CELEBRATE ANOTHER GREAT AMERICAN VICTORY! “HUGELY ENTERTAINING!” -P ETER T RAVERS , ROLLING STONE “YOU ARE GOING TO LOVE THIS MOVIE!” -P ETE H AMMOND , HOLLYWOOD.COM “GREAT ENTERTAINMENT.” -R OGER E BERT , CHICAGO SUN-TIMES “‘ROCKY’ FOR WINE AFICIONADOS.” -S TEPHEN F ARBER , THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER ★★★★ ! “ MARVELOUS…ADD TO YOUR MUST-SEE LIST!” -R EX R EED , THE NEW YORK OBSERVER Adv. Tix on Sale BABYLON AD (PG-13) ★ DEATH RACE (R) - ID REQ'D (1015 1255 400) 735 1020 Sat. & Sun. 1200 PM CIRQUE DU SOLEIL (NR) ★ HOUSE BUNNY (PG-13) (1040 125 425) 710 940 HAMLET 2 (R) - ID REQ'D (1115 140 410) 745 1035 THE ROCKER (PG-13) (1055 120 435) 725 1015 VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA (PG-13) (1110 200 440) 720 950 MIRRORS (R) - ID REQ'D (1010 100 355) 740 1030 STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS (PG) (1100 150 420) 700 930 OC: TROPIC THUNDER (R) - ID REQ'D ★ Fri. (1120) 730 Sat. (205) 1010 Sun. (1120) 1010 TROPIC THUNDER (R) - ID REQ'D ★ Fri. (1045 145 205 445 515) 800 1010 1045 Sat. (1045 1120 145 445 515) 730 800 1045 Sun. (1045 145 205 445 515) 730 800 1045 SISTERHOOD OF THE TRAVELING PANTS 2 (PG-13) (1020 110 405) 705 PINEAPPLE EXPRESS (R) - ID REQ'D (1050 135 430) 715 1000 THE MUMMY: TOMB OF THE DRAGON EMPEROR (PG-13) (350) 645 935 STEP BROTHERS (R) - ID REQ'D 955 PM MAMMA MIA (PG-13) (1025 130 415) 655 945 THE DARK KNIGHT (PG-13) (1130 330) 650 1025 JOURNEY 3-D: $2.50 ADDED FEE FOR 3-D (PG) ★ Fri. (1035 105 340) 640 925 Sat. & Sun. (340) 640 925 WALL-E (G) (1030 115) DEATH RACE (R) - ID REQ'D THE ROCKER (PG-13) MIRRORS (R) - ID REQ'D STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS (PG) TROPIC THUNDER (R) - ID REQ'D ★ PINEAPPLE EXPRESS (R) - ID REQ'D THE DARK KNIGHT (PG-13) (1140 210 445) 725 1005 (1125 155 430) 705 940 (1145 220 455) 735 1015 (1120 150 420) 650 920 (1205 240 515) 755 1035 (1155 230 505) 745 1025 (1210 325) 640 955 A TRUE TALE OF LOVE, VICTORY AND FERMENTATION. CINEMARK 17 UNCORKS FRIDAY, 2900 Gateway St., Springfield AUGUST 22 ND (800) FANDANGO #1131 www.bottleshock.com 28 AUGUST 21, 2008 EUGENE WEEKLY Get Your War On Adv. Tix on Sale BABYLON AD (PG-13) ★ DEATH RACE (R) - ID REQ'D (1200 220 450) 720 950 THE ROCKER (PG-13) (1210 230 500) 730 1000 TROPIC THUNDER (R) - ID REQ'D ★ (1150 210 440) 710 940 THE DARK KNIGHT (PG-13) (1230 430) 830 Times For 8/22 - 8/24 ©2008 TROPIC THUNDER : Directed by Ben Stiller. Written by Justin Theroux, Ben Stiller and Etan Cohen. Cinematography, John Toll. Music, Theodore Shapiro. Editor, Greg Hayden. Starring Ben Stiller, Robert Downey Jr., Jack Black, Steve Coogan, Jay Baruchel, Brandon T. Jackson, Danny McBride and Nick Nolte. DreamWorks, 2008. 107. R. 44441 I n the running time of Tropic Thunder, it’s extraordinarily rare that you’ll hear a woman speak. There are no real parts for women in this Hollywood satire, and that, like the ﬁ lm’s every offense, is the point: There are few real parts for women in general, let alone in sort of testosterone- dipped war movie that’s — in theory — being made in the movie-within-the- movie here (I think I’ve left out another “within a movie”; Tropic Thunder has as many layers as Tristram Shandy). But the omission of women is one of this ﬁ lm’s more subtle jabs. More obvious satire comes from the actor-types starring in Tropic Thunder (the movie within the movie): Tugg Speedman (Ben Stiller), a waning action star trying to reboot his career with a serious war movie; Jeff Portnoy (Jack Black), a comedian trying to prove there’s more to him than fart jokes and fat suits; and Kirk Lazarus (Robert Downey Jr.), an Australian Method actor so determined to play the part of Lincoln Osiris, one of the group’s two black members, that he undergoes “repigmentation.” As Osiris, Lazarus speaks in a deepened, gravelly voice, but his idea of an authentic black character seems based not on actual men, but on other ﬁ lm and TV characters played by black men. (It’s a careful line Downey Jr. walks, but his nuanced, funny performance makes the role a brief history of Hollywood and race, from the blackface his character suggests to today’s less overt failures of casting.) Tropic Thunder is behind schedule. Its director, Damien Cockburn (Steve Coogan), can’t control his actors. At the suggestion of Four Leaf Tayback (Nick Nolte), on whose memoir the ﬁ lm is based, Cockburn takes his actors deep into the (camera-rigged) jungle in an attempt to get better work out of them. Everything goes to hell, the actors can’t understand when they’re not required to be in character, and an Asian (no one’s quite sure which country they’re in) drug factory is between them and home. Tropic Thunder is both a ridiculously budgeted war movie and a mockery of such, but most of the mockery in Stiller’s ﬁ lm (written with fellow actor Justin Theroux and Etan Cohen) is directed straight at the egos and vanity of actors, producers, agents and other moviemaking folk. These stars are self-centered wrecks; they do things for the accolades and cannot comprehend why their decisions are offensive. (Speedman’s attempt at Serious Acting crashed and burned; Lazarus’ explanation for this — “You never go full retard” — is, like much in the ﬁ lm, both terribly uncomfortable and viciously funny; its true targets are Oscar- baiting actors like Lazarus himself). Alpa Chino (Brandon T. Jackson), a hip hop mogul branching out with his role in the ﬁ lm, takes Lazarus to brilliant, brutal task for his offensive role (he’s the only one who appears to notice that it should have gone to an actual black actor), but he’s got his own schtick going on. The only grounded person in the bunch is Kevin Sandusky (Jay Baruchel), a newbie actor who may just not have been in the biz long enough to get corrupted. Yet. Tropic Thunder meanders a bit as it treks through the jungle (Hawaii standing in for Southeast Asia). The ﬁ lm is preceded by fake previews that are scathing commentaries on the sort of movies they advertise, but they also serve to illustrate Stiller’s strength: short, pointed, compact send-ups. Not every notion in Tropic can take being drawn out, and at times the plot is nothing more than a way to get from one farcical scenario to another. But more often than not, the destination is worth it, the laughter well- earned. Sure, there’s a bit of skepticism required when a major studio releases a ﬁ lm that oh-so-cleverly sends up the exact things that let it rake in the dough. But Tropic Thunder is almost brazen enough — almost discomﬁ ting enough, at times — to convince you it isn’t just patting itself on the back for recognizing what’s wrong with the world from whence it comes. Almost. ew WWW.EUGENEWEEKLY.COM • BLOGS.EUGENEWEEKLY.COM