Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current, January 29, 2009, Image 39

Historic Oregon Newspapers

Eugene weekly., January 29, 2009, Page 39, Image 39

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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 29, 2009)

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Newspaper Page Textmovies WE'VE GOT YOUR DOG! BY JASON BLAIR FEATURING: ITALIAN SAUSAGE www.DoginaBoxEugene.com Visit the site for full menu & new products 2 GREAT LOCATIONS: 17th & Pearl • 6th & Charnelton OPEN MONDAY - SATURDAY ART CINEMAS $ 1 492 East 13th 686-2458 http://bijou-cinemas.com Thurs-Sat $7 Sun-Wed $6 all shows before 6pm- $4 .ULVWLQ6FRWW7KRPDV sunday $ 3 tickets 2 1 tuesday f o r ,·9(/29(' <2862/21* BLOW Frank Langella and Michael Sheen in Frost/Nixon In French with English subtitles. 7:25 Nightly Sun Mat: 1:50 Trust/Issues PG-13 5VTPUH[LKMVY(JHKLT`(^HYKZ FREE SUPER BOWL PARTY Superbly acted, but how faithful? FROST/NIXON: Directed by Ron Howard. Written by Peter Morgan. Cinematography, Salvadore Totino. Music, Hans Zimmer. Starring Frank Langella, Michael Sheen, Sam Rockwell, Kevin Bacon, Rebecca Hall and Oliver Platt. Universal Pictures, 2008. R. 122 minutes . 44421 F rom the inspired fantasy of Cocoon to the history-inspired A Beautiful Mind, you can’t accuse director Ron Howard of staying put when it comes to genre. But you can say there is a Ron Howard pattern. And that pattern simply is this: When the times get tough, the tough start crying. I’ll never forget feeling the narrative power of Apollo 13 — arguably his best ﬁ lm, although A Beautiful Mind earned him an Oscar — piddle away after the umpteenth u-turn back into the den of the astronaut’s spouses. Opie, Richie, Mr Howard: Stop polishing my tear ducts. While Howard manages to create precise, even sumptuous ﬁ lms, they tend to be as shallow as a kiddie pool and about as intellectually stimulating. It’s as if deeper waters are more than he can bear. All of this is why the prospect of Howard at the helm of Frost/Nixon is both exciting and worrisome. The stage play, written by Peter Morgan (The Queen), was tense and combative; it was a partly speculative telling of the interviews President Nixon granted to David Frost, a minor British TV personality, three years after Nixon resigned. The material had the potential to relieve Howard of his maudlin sensibilities, his tendency to emotionally manipulate viewers just as things get dark and dirty. And on the strength of several sensational performances, this is mostly the case with Frost/Nixon the ﬁ lm. (The performances are so good that as journalist James Reston, actor Sam Rockwell — the third option in this top-heavy lineup — steals every scene he’s in.) Using actual news footage, searing close-ups and gentle focusing techniques, Howard pumps Frost/Nixon for maximum drama. The question is whether in pumping too hard, he’s overinﬂ ated the importance of actual events. On the surface, Frost/Nixon is a classic David and Goliath story. In 1977, Frost (played by Michael Sheen) was a callow, weak-kneed playboy, a sort of Robin Leach for the disco set. He was occasionally clever but easily distracted. Watching Nixon (played by Frank Langella) resign via television, he hatched the idea to interview Nixon as means of advancing his career. Nixon, for his part, saw Frost as easy prey. A formidable and menacing but disgraced ex-president, Nixon coaxed $600,000 from Frost, a then-record for a TV interview and proof enough, when it became public, that Frost was a lamb to Nixon’s lion. All of this Frost/Nixon covers effectively, not to mention entertainingly. But the ﬁ lm, like the stage play, is all about the interviews, the great match — recorded in four sessions — during which Nixon bests Frost again and again. In the ﬁ lm, Nixon is a cutthroat competitor, but he’s also funny, stubborn and keenly observant. Crucially, Langella doesn’t attempt an impersonation; he goes within, with a great sense of mystery and purpose, to reveal a man more credible than any look-alike. But the pathos here is Howard’s; Nixon, in the ﬁ lm, is too gentle and sympathetic. (Sheen, for his part, has been used more effectively; he’s smirky and cagey here.) Nor is Nixon’s participation fully disclosed: Nixon was to receive 20 percent of the interview’s proﬁ ts, meaning that — and there’s no two ways about this — Nixon and Frost were business partners. But even if you’re willing to overlook this historical inﬁ delity, deliberate revision of the actual interview transcripts is harder to accept. Editing the arrangement of Nixon’s statements is one thing; inventing what Nixon said is another. Even at the level of pure entertainment, Frost/Nixon, while often fun, can feel pushy, like it’s trying to build mountains out of sand. At one point during a break from the interviews, someone yells at Frost, “You’re making him look presidential!” I had the same reaction — without the disappointment. With so little actually at stake, it was hard to share their passion. ew WWW.EUGENEWEEKLY.COM • BLOGS.EUGENEWEEKLY.COM DOORS OPEN 2:45 5:10, 7:45 & 10:20 Nightly Sat & Sun Mat: 2:15 &RPLQJVRRQ&+( TUESDAY JAN. 27 - WEDNESDAY FEB. 4: R 5VTPUH[LKMVY (JHKLT`(^HYKZ SCREEN 1: VICKI CHRISTINA BARCELONA 5:30 ROCK N ROLLA 7:30, 9:30 SCREEN 2: ROCK N ROLLA 5:30 VICKI CHRISTINA BARCELONA 7:30, 9:30 “NO LONGER SNEAKING BEER INTO THE MOVIES SINCE 2008” 762-1700 | BEER & WINE | 21& OVER 180 E. 5TH AVE | DAVIDMINORTHEATER.COM R 4:45 & 9:50 Nightly Sat Mat: 1:50 FOOD &RPLQJVRRQ$6+(62)7,0(5('8; & since PUb 2008 MENU Adv. Tix on Sale THE PINK PANTHER 2 Adv. Tix on Sale FRIDAY THE 13TH TAKEN (PG-13) Fri. - Sun.(1155 220) 440 710 930 THE UNINVITED (PG-13) Fri. - Sun.(1210 230) 450 720 940 NEW IN TOWN (PG-13) ADULT $7.50 ADULT FRI & SAT $8.00 STUDENT WITH ID $6.50 CHILD/SENIOR $5.50 BARGAIN ADULT $5.75 EARLY BIRD $5.00 BRIDE WARS PG *NEW IN TOWN PG 12:35, 3:00 12:05, 2:40, 5:10, 7:45, 10:25 GRAN TORINO R *TAKEN PG13 1:10, 4:20, 7:25, 10:35 12:10, 2:55, 5:30, 8:00, 10:35 THE CURIOUS CASE OF *THE UNINVITED PG13 BENJAMIN BUTTON PG13 12:50, 3:15, 5:40, 8:05, 10:40 12:30, 4:50, 8:15 *INKHEART PG LAST CHANCE HARVEY 12:55, 3:40, 7:00 *UNDERWORLD 3: RISE OF PG13 9:45 PM THE LYCANS R TWILIGHT PG13 12:20, 2:45, 5:15, 7:45, 10:20 *REVOLUTIONARY ROAD R 1:05, 7:05 1:40, 4:35, 7:30, 10:25 MY BLOODY VALENTINE *MILK R 3D R 12:40, 3:50, 7:00, 10:10 2:00, 4:45, 7:35, 10:15 *SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE R HOTEL FOR DOGS PG 1:00, 4:10, 7:10, 10:20 12:15, 2:50, 5:20, 7:55, 10:30 PAUL BLART MALL COP PG *THE WRESTLER R 1:55, 4:40, 7:30, 10:15 12:00, 2:35, 5:25, 7:35, 10:00 *FROST/NIXON R NOTORIOUS R 4:05, 10:10 7:05, 10:05 DEFIANCE R 12:45, 3:55, 6:55, 10:05 Cinéarts Fri. - Sun.(1135 205) 435 700 925 FUEL (NR) Fri. - Sun.(1140 215) 455 735 1010 UNDERWORLD 3 (R) - ID REQ'D Fri. - Sun.(1215 240) 510 740 1020 MY BLOODY VALENTINE 3D (R) - ID REQ'D ★ Fri. - Sun.(1200 235) 505 745 1025 OC: PAUL BLART - MALL COP (PG) PAUL BLART MALL COP (PG) Fri.(210 PM) 715 PM 945 PM Sat.(1145 AM) 445 PM 945 PM Sun.(210 PM) 445 PM 945 PM GRAN TORINO (R) - ID REQ'D Fri. - Sun.(1245) 425 730 1015 REVOLUTIONARY ROAD (R) - ID REQ'D Fri. - Sun.(1225) 405 655 1000 FROST NIXON (R) - ID REQ'D Fri. - Sun.(1230 355) 645 1005 THE WRESTLER (R) - ID REQ'D Fri. - Sun.(1240) 410 650 935 INKHEART (PG) Fri. - Sun.(1125 200) 435 715 DEFIANCE (R) - ID REQ'D Fri. - Sun.(1220 PM) 645 PM LAST CHANCE HARVEY (PG-13) HOTEL FOR DOGS (PG) THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON (PG-13) Fri. - Sun.935 PM Fri. - Sun.(1150 225) 500 725 950 MARLEY AND ME (PG) FOUR CHRISTMASES PG13 [12:05] 2:20, 4:35, 7:15, 9:30 AUSTRALIA PG13 [12:35] 4:10, 8:00 ROLE MODELS R [12:20] 2:50, 5:10, 7:50, 10:10 BEVERLY HILLS CHIHUAHUA PG [12:25] 2:40, 4:55, 7:20, 9:35 Cinéarts CADILLAC RECORDS R [12:10] 3:15, 6:55, 9:25 Fri. - Sun.415 PM 955 PM Fri. - Sun.(1130 200) 430 705 BRIDE WARS (PG) MARLEY AND ME PG [12:00] 4:00, 7:00, 9:45 TRANSPORTER 3 PG13 [12:40] 3:00, 5:20, 7:40, 10:00 THE TALE OF DESPEREAUX G [12:15] 2:30, 5:00, 7:35, 9:50 THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL PG13 [11:55] 2:25, 5:05, 7:30, 9:55 QUANTUM OF SOLACE PG13 [12:50] 3:20, 7:05, 9:40 MADAGASCAR: ESCAPE 2 AFRICA PG [11:50, 12:55] 2:10, 3:10, 4:25, 5:30, 6:50, 7:55, 9:20, 10:05 Fri.(1145 AM) 445 PM Sat.(210 PM) 715 PM Sun.(1145 AM) 715 PM Fri. - Sun.950 PM Adv. Tix on Sale THE PINK PANTHER 2 Call Theatre for Showtimes TAKEN (PG-13) Fri.440 PM 730 PM 1010 PM Sat. - Sun.(200) 440 730 1010 MILK (R) - ID REQ'D Fri.400 PM 650 PM 950 PM Sat. - Sun.(100) 400 650 950 SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE (R) - ID REQ'D Fri.420 PM 710 PM 1000 PM Sat. - Sun.(120) 420 710 1000 DEFIANCE (R) - ID REQ'D Fri.500 PM 920 PM Sat. - Sun.(140 PM) 500 PM 920 PM [ ] = FRI THRU SUN ONLY CREDIT CARDS ACCEPTED | *NO PASSES-NO CLASSIC SUPERSAVERS Times For 01/30 © 2009 EUGENE WEEKLY JANUARY 29, 2009 19