Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current, May 21, 2009, Page 26, Image 26

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    movies
ART
CINEMAS
492 East 13th 686-2458
BY JASON BLAIR
“Boo”
1986-2009
www.bijou-cinemas.com
Thurs-Sat $7 Sun-Wed $6 all shows before 6pm- $4
Alec Baldwin Kieran Culkin Rory Culkin Jill Hennessy
Deserves recognition as one
of the best independent films
released so far in 2009.
No 9:00 on 5/22.
BLOW
7:00 & 9:00 Nightly
Sun & Mon Mat: 2:30
R
*NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM:
BATTLE OF THE
SMITHSONIAN PG
10:10, 11:00, 11:40, 12:25, 12:50,
1:35, 2:25, 3:05, 3:40, 4:20, 5:00,
5:45, 6:20, 7:00, 7:40, 8:30, 9:00,
9:40, 10:25
*TERMINATOR SALVATION
PG13
10:15, 10:40, 12:15, 1:10, 1:45,
3:20, 4:10, 4:40, 6:25, 7:10, 7:45,
9:25, 10:10, 10:40
*DANCE FLICK PG13
10:00, 12:30, 2:50, 5:10,
7:30, 9:50
*ANGELS AND DEMONS
PG13
11:35, 12:35, 1:00, 2:55, 3:50,
4:15, 6:25, 7:05, 7:35, 9:40,
10:20, 10:45
STAR TREK PG13
10:25, 11:25, 12:20, 1:40, 2:45,
3:35, 4:55, 6:05, 7:40, 8:10, 9:15,
10:45 – DIGITAL AT 7:05 & 10:20
X-MEN ORIGINS:
WOLVERINE PG13
10:05, 10:30, 1:05, 4:00, 4:30,
7:00, 10:00, 10:30
17 AGAIN PG13
1:30, 7:30
MONSTERS VS ALIENS
3D PG
11:05, 2:00, 4:25
Sugar is an exceptionally-crafted film -- part
sports flick, part immigrant tale -- with
touching and poignant drama highlighted
by splendid performances.
SUGAR
7:10 & 9:35 Nightly
Sun & Mon Mat: 2:40
R
MICHAEL CAINE
IS ANYBODY THERE?
In Spanish with English subtitles.
R
Final week! 4:50 Nightly
directed by local
independent
filmmaker, Henry
Weintraub
Shot entirely in
Oregon!
“Melvin's dead... You're next.”
9:00, 10:25 pm Friday, 5/22
RACE TO WITCH
MOUNTAIN PG
[11:40, 12:45] 2:05, 3:05, 4:25,
5:25, 6:50, 8:00, 9:25, 10:25
I LOVE YOU, MAN R
[11:55] 2:35, 5:00, 7:30, 9:55
THE HAUNTING IN
CONNECTICUT PG13
[11:50] 2:10, 4:35, 7:10, 9:40
FIRED UP PG13
[12:10] 2:30, 4:55, 7:40, 10:05
FAST AND FURIOUS (2009)
PG13
[11:30, 12:30] 2:00, 3:00, 4:30,
5:30, 7:00, 8:10, 9:30
KNOWING PG13
[12:25] 3:15, 6:55, 9:45
GRAN TORINO R
[12:50] 4:15, 7:15, 10:00
TAKEN PG13
[12:40] 2:55, 5:10, 7:55, 10:15
PAUL BLART MALL COP PG
[12:00] 2:20, 4:45, 7:25, 9:50
Cinéarts
ADVENTURELAND R
[12:15] 2:45, 5:20, 7:50, 10:20
hi-def
Tickets:
Thrifty Thursday
$1 Sunday
2 for 1 Tuesday
TIX
X
$4
4
Beer
err
WINE
& WIN
N E
N NEW
EW
F FOOD
OOD
MENU
M ENU
& pub
since 2008
theater 1:
theater 2:
TAKEN
6:00
THE CURIOUS
CASE OF BENJAMIN
BUTTON
MY BLOODY
VALENTINE 3D
7:45, 9:30
6:15
133” HD SCREEN
FREE 3D GLASSES!
Adv. Tix on Sale LAND OF THE LOST
NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM II (PG) ★
Fri. - Sun.(1100 1130
1200 135 205 235) 405 435 505 645 715 745 920 955 1025
TERMINATOR SALVATION (PG-13) ★ Fri. - Sun.(1045 1115
1145 125 155 225) 415 445 515 700 730 800 945 1015 1045
DANCE FLICK (PG-13)
TAKEN
9:30
WE WILL BE CLOSED MEMORIAL DAY
Adv. Tix on Sale DRAG ME TO HELL
Fri. - Sun.(1215 230) 455 710 935
The Great Escape
Quiet baseball drama is a champ
SUGAR: Written and directed by Anna
Boden and Ryan Fleck. Cinematography,
Andrij Parekh. Music, Michael Brook. Starring
Algenis Perez Soto, Rayniel Rufi no and Andre
Holland. Sony Pictures Classics, 2009. R. 96
minutes. 44441
21 & ovER
[ ] = FRI THRU SUN ONLY
Adv. Tix on Sale UP
Ellary Porterfi eld and
Algenis Perez Soto in Sugar
Final week! 5:05 Nightly
PG-13
MAY 29 LAST FRIDAY
ART SHOW & FOOD BENEFIT
WITH FREE WINE TASTINGS
“NO LONGER SNEAKING BEER
INTO THE MOVIES SINCE 2008”
7 762-1700
62-1700 | 180 E. 5TH AVE | DAVIDMINORTHEATER.COM
M
S
ugar, the new fi lm by the directors
of Half Nelson, begins and ends
with our hero atop a pitcher’s
mound. Tucked in between is a minor
league season, one that elapses with all
the boredom and fury you’d expect from
a modern baseball drama. But baseball is
a side attraction in Sugar, as mature and
empathetic as any sports fl ick in recent
memory. In the era of Eastbound and
Down — HBO’s terrifi c spoof of a clueless
ex-pro baseballer — we can expect a glut
of baseball satire, given what the game
has done to itself. Meanwhile, Sugar has
other scores to settle. It’s about how easily
undone are the dreams of being among the
best at something, and how to in order to
be the best, it can be necessary to leave
those we love behind. Sugar works as an
immigrant saga, a coming of age story and
a coming-down-to-earth cautionary tale. In
short, Sugar is pure and honest, which is
more than we can say for baseball itself.
is already washed up. What Miguel can’t
see is that he’s one misfortune away from
a fate such as this. The passage is lyrical,
even mournful, as Miguel immediately
regrets the comment while the offended
says nothing to defend himself. A fi tful
Miguel then teases a younger prospect,
who chases him into the ocean. Crisis
averted. Lesson learned?
Eventually, Miguel gets the call. He
lands in Iowa in the minor league system
as a boarder in a family home. Surrounded
by corn, strip malls and bushels of farmers’
daughters, Miguel, always a disciplined
player, allows himself a few distractions.
Up to this point, Sugar avoids the kinds of
clichés that undo typical sports fi lms, which
tend to overdramatize the temptations and
simplify the outcomes. But the fi lm hits a
cliché patch as Miguel faces adversity for
the fi rst time. After its careful, convincing
setup, Sugar accelerates through its rising
action like a pitcher scrambling through
his windup. Following a leg injury, Miguel
inexplicably loses his velocity; no longer
dominant, Miguel appears fi nished only
days after looking pitching fi ercely.
Naturally, we cut to a quiet corner of the
clubhouse, where a tubby white guy slips
OC: ANGELS AND DEMONS (PG-13) ★Fri.(1225 PM) 750 PM
Sat.(440 PM) 1055 PM
Sun.(1225 PM) 1055 PM
ANGELS AND DEMONS (PG-13) ★
Fri.(1150 340) 410 440 650 720 1000 1030 1055
Sat.(1150 1225 340) 410 650 720 750 1000 1030
Sun.(1150 340) 410 440 650 720 750 1000 1030
STAR TREK - DP (PG-13)
Fri. - Sun.630 PM 930 PM
STAR TREK (PG-13)
Fri. - Sun.(1140 1220 355) 425 705 735 1005 1035
GHOSTS OF GIRLFRIENDS PAST (PG-13)
Fri. - Sun.(1210 240) 510 740 1010
Joy & Diana from Brails present
NOODLE
BOWL
X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE (PG-13)
Fri. - Sun.(1120 210) 450 725 1020
OBSESSED (PG-13)
Fri. - Sun.(1155 AM)
MONSTERS VS. ALIENS 3D - SPECIAL EVENT
PRICING (PG) ★
Fri. - Sun.(1125 AM 150 PM) 410 PM
Adv. Tix on Sale UP
Adv. Tix on Sale LAND OF THE LOST
TERMINATOR SALVATION (PG-13) ★
Fri. - Sun.(1120 100 200 340) 440 640 730 940 1030
NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM II (PG) ★
Fri. - Sun.(1100 1240 140 330) 420 630 720 920 1010
ANGELS AND DEMONS (PG-13) ★
Fri. - Sun.(1250 350) 700 1000
STAR TREK (PG-13)
Fri. - Sun.(120) 410 650 950
X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE (PG-13)
Fri. - Sun.(150) 450 710 1020
TERMINATOR SALVATION (PG-13) ★
Fri. - Sun.(100 130) 400 430 700 730 1000 1030
DANCE FLICK (PG-13)
Fri. - Sun.(120) 410 710 930
X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE (PG-13)
Fri. - Sun.(110) 420 720 1015
Times For 05/22 - 05/24 © 2009
18 MAY 21, 2009
EUGENE WEEKLY
AUTHENTIC KOREAN
& ASIAN CUISINE
NOW SERVING BUBBLE TEA
& BUBBLE JUICE
THE BEST IN TOWN!
Pan Fried Noodles
Vegetarian Options
Healthy Hot Soup
11am - 9pm
Monday - Saturday
860 PEARL · 686-1114
Sugar accelerates through its rising action like
a pitcher scrambling through his windup.
Sugar begins in San Pedro in the
Dominican Republic, a modest town that
has produced more than 30 professional
baseball players. In the baseball academy of
the Kansas City Knights, Miguel “Sugar”
Santos (Algenis Perez Soto) awaits a phone
call from America. Drafted when he was
16, he’s been in the system for three years.
The early scenes of Sugar are loose and
authentic, moving quickly from classroom
language lessons — “fl y ball,” “line drive”
— to shots of Miguel hurling strikes. The
fi lm doesn’t pause for breath until Miguel
returns to his grimy neighborhood, at
which point we realize exactly what he’s up
against: His friends already consider him
the next Pedro Martinez. Even his mother
can’t sleep until Miguel turns pro. Then
something remarkable happens: While
playing dominoes, Miguel insults a former
top prospect who, while clearly still young,
pills to Miguel. “You didn’t get these
from me,” he says, the line thudding like
a dropped fl y ball. The pills give Miguel
his best start — and worst fi nish. However
briefl y, the clichés come marching in. The
coaching staff abandons him. He loses
his cool, then recovers himself to make a
crucial decision, one that will determine
the rest of his life. The surprise move sets
up a strong third act, taking Sugar from
ordinary to extraordinary.
A moving fi lm about an aspect of
professional sports we rarely see — its
development of foreign players — Sugar
is among the better sports fi lms in a long
while. Its use of non-actors overturns the
conventional thinking (which the recent Gran
Torino solidifi ed) that only professionals can
be convincing. As Sugar, Perez Soto is a
natural, as is this terrifi c fi lm.
ew
Sugar opens Friday, May 22, at the Bijou.
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