movies
5 /2 4
BY MOLLY TEMPLETON
A
R
T
C
I
N
E
M
A
S
INNI:
THE
SIGUR
RÓS
CONCERT
DOC
ends
tonight!
4:20
8:15
5:15
7:20
5/ 25
for May 24 - 31
THU
Follows six young dancers as they prepare for a
chance to enter the world of professional ballet
FIRST POSITION
LIMITED ENGAGEMENT - 6 DAYS ONLY!
NORWEGIAN WOOD
THE KID WITH A BIKE
latenite passes accepted!
9:25
THE RAID: REDEMPTION
686-2458
bijou-cinemas.com
5/ 27
5/ 28
1:00 1:00
3:10 3:10
5:20 5:20 5:20 5:20
7:30 7:30 7:30 7:30
9:00
9:00 9:00
1:30 1:30
6:15 6:15 6:15 6:15
5/ 29
5/ 30
5/ 31
5:20 5:20 5:20
7:30 7:30 7:30
9:00 9:00 9:00
6:15 6:15
4:15 4:15 4:15 4:15 4:15 4:15 5:00
9:30 9:30 9:30 9:30 9:30 9:30 9:30
NEXT: HOW TO GROW A BAND THE
ROOM
MUSIC FROM THE BIG HOUSE
$5
ends
tonight! YOUR SISTER’S SISTER
492 East 13 th 6:15 WE HAVE A POPE SALT OF LIFE 11:00
JIRO
DREAMS
OF SUSHI
5/ 26
FRI SAT SUN MON TUE WED THU
THE GLASSHOUSE:
A FILM & LIVE
GOON
HYSTERIA
MUSIC EVENT
JESUS HENRY CHRIST No passes experimental
short film
WHERE DO WE GO NOW
w/live score
followed by Q & A
DARLING COMPANION
7:30
*Adults—$7 * Students w/ID—$6 * Seniors—$5 * Matinees—$5 * Miser Mondays—$3*
Almost,
Maine
Let’s Dance
OSCAR WINNER
First Position celebrates the art of ballet
FIRST POSITION : Directed by Bess Kargman.
Cinematography, Nick Higgins. Music, Chris Hajian.
Editors, Kate Amend and Bess Kargman. With Aran
Bell, Michaela Deprince, Miko Fogarty, Rebecca
Houseknecht, Joan Sebastian Zamora and Gaya
Bommer Yemini. IFC Films, 2012. Not rated. 90
minutes. 00011
F
irst Position is an unfussy,
enjoyable
documentary
that
doesn’t pretend to be anything
other than what it is: an inspirational
sports movie about young dancers hoping
to enter the highly competitive world
of professional ballet. Director Bess
Kargman, a journalist and former dancer,
has the format down pat: First, fi nd a
diverse, charming group of dancers and
follow them, skipping neatly from story
to story, as they prepare for the super-
important, life-changing Youth America
Grand Prix, a competition for attention,
acclaim, scholarships and positions with
international dance companies. Then edit
the resulting intimate footage — dancers
at home, dancers at practice, dancers
fl oating across the stage — into a compact
90-minute fi lm, its nail-biting fi nale the
Grand Prix’s fi nal round.
Kargman starts with 11-year-old Aran
Bell, a serious-eyed, incredibly talented
boy. Aran is a stunner, but he seems
almost ordinary once you see his friend
Gaya, who hails from Israel, dance in
the competition’s semi-fi nal round. She
transforms from a grinning pre-teen into an
ageless artist, precise and expressive. Each
dancer is astonishing, and then you see the
next one, and the next, and they’re all that
good — or better.
The fi lm focuses on kids in the U.S.,
though two of its subjects were born
elsewhere. Michaela Deprince, orphaned
in Sierra Leone at a young age and adopted
by an American couple, is well aware that
she’s battling ballet’s overt preferences
and stereotypes about black dancers. At
times, the movie isn’t quite sure how to
handle Michaela’s story, especially when
she discusses her childhood, but her
determination gives First Position much
of its emotional impact. (At least one fi st
was pumped in the theater when Michaela
nailed a vital performance.)
Part of the pleasure of a movie like
First Position is the way it puts you in the
judges’ chairs during the carefully edited
performance scenes. It would be diffi cult
not to watch the dancers with a critical eye,
trying to guess what the judges are looking
for, who will win, who will break down
after a rough performance. Kagman’s
subjects are perfectly chosen, from
17-year-old Rebecca Houseknect, who has
the traditional ballerina look but seems
unwilling to put aside the expectations of
“normal” life and embrace her talent, to
12-year-old Miko Fogarty, who dances
with passion and delight while her younger
brother stumbles and grins. (Miko’s wry
coach is an excellent supporting character.)
The odd one out among these kids with
spacious suburban homes and parents who
drive them to practice is Joan Sebastian
Zamora, a 16-year-old from Colombia
who lives in a tiny apartment in Queens
and dances like a star. If there is any doubt
about the futures of some of First Position’s
subjects, there’s none about Zamora’s.
Kagman’s fi lm acknowledges but
doesn’t linger on certain facts of ballet:
The hours are long; dancers’ feet and
bodies get battered, and injuries can be
career-destroying; very few dancers,
no matter how passionate and talented,
become professionals; the cost of coaches
and classes and tutus and costumes adds
up. But her fi lm isn’t a hard look at the
life of a future ballerina, or a consideration
of how privilege often plays a key part in
the accessibility of certain dreams. It’s a
sweet, straightforward, uplifting fi lm, a
celebration of the art of dance and the hard
work that goes into creating that art. ew
First Position opens Friday, May 25, at the Bijou; bijou-
cinemas.com
THE
DESCENDANTS THIS MEANS WAR
7:20
5:15
CHRONICLE
9:25
As the northern lights hover in the star-
filled sky above, the residents of a remote,
mythical small town find themselves falling
in and out of love in unexpected, poignant
and often funny ways in this compelling play.
By John Cariani | Directed by Michael P. Watkins
May 25-27*, May 31-June 3*, 7-9
HAYWIRE
5:15
THE GREY
7:20
THE BIG
LEBOWSKI
9:25
Curtain 8:00 pm Thurs.–Sat. *2:00 pm Sun.
Tickets: $15 ($10 for Thursday)
180 E. 5TH AVENUE • 762-1700
21 & OVER
Adv. Tix on Sale SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN
IMAX: MEN IN BLACK 3 3D - EVENT PRICING (PG-13) ★
Fri. - Sat.1130 200 445 730 1015
MEN IN BLACK IN REAL D 3D - EVENT PRICING (PG-13) ★
Fri. - Sat.(1100 130) 415 700 945
MEN IN BLACK 3 (PG-13) ★ Fri. - Sat.(1030 100 345) 630 915
CHERNOBYL DIARIES (R) - ID REQ'D
Fri. - Sat.(1115 145) 430 715 1000
THE BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL (PG-13)
Fri. - Sat.(1145 355) 645 935
WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN YOUR EXPECTING (PG-13)
Fri. - Sat.(1040 115 350) 640 920
BATTLESHIP (PG-13) ★
Fri. - Sat.(1035 105 135) 405 435 705 735 1010 1040
THE DICTATOR (R) - ID REQ'D
Fri.(1155 205 235) 440 510 740 925 955
Sat.(1125 1155 235) 440 510 710 740 955
THE DICTATOR [OC] (R) - ID REQ'D Fri.(1125 AM) 710 PM
Sat.(205 PM) 925 PM
DARK SHADOWS (PG-13) Fri. - Sat.(1140 220) 500 745 1025
MARVEL'S THE AVENGERS IN REAL D 3D - EVENT
PRICING (PG-13) ★ Fri. - Sat.(1205 245) 400 720 1005 1030
MARVEL'S THE AVENGERS (DIGITAL) (PG-13)
Fri. - Sat.(1105 1135 215) 620 650 930
THE HUNGER GAMES (PG-13) Fri. - Sat.(1120 240) 635 950
Adv. Tix on Sale SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN
CHERNOBYL DIARIES (R) - ID REQ'D
Fri. - Sat.(140) 440 730 1010
MEN IN BLACK IN REAL D 3D - EVENT PRICING (PG-13) ★
Fri. - Sat.(100) 400 700 950
WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN YOUR EXPECTING (PG-13)
Fri. - Sat.(120) 410 720 945
BATTLESHIP (PG-13) ★
Fri. - Sat.(1245) 420 715 1000
THE DICTATOR (R) - ID REQ'D Fri. - Sat.(130) 430 740 1005
DARK SHADOWS (PG-13)
Fri. - Sat.(110 350) 640 930
MARVEL'S THE AVENGERS (DIGITAL) (PG-13)
Fri. - Sat.(1230 PM) 650 PM
MARVEL'S THE AVENGERS IN REAL D 3D - EVENT
PRICING (PG-13) ★
Fri. - Sat.(340 PM) 1000 PM
MEN IN BLACK IN REAL D 3D - EVENT PRICING (PG-13) ★
Fri. - Sat.(100 345) 415 700 945 1015
MEN IN BLACK 3 (PG-13) ★
Fri. - Sat.(130 PM) 730 PM
THE DICTATOR (R) - ID REQ'D Fri. - Sat.(145) 430 745 1010
DARK SHADOWS (PG-13)
Fri. - Sat.(115 350) 715 1000
THEVLT.COM
For tickets, call 541-344-7751
Box office open 2-5:30 Wed.–Sat.
2350 Hilyard Street, Eugene
On Facebook at TheVLT
BATTLESHIP (DIGITAL) PG-13
12:05,1:35,3:05,4:35,6:05,7:35,
9:05,10:35
CABIN IN THE WOODS, THE
(DIGITAL) R
12:25,2:45,5:05,7:25,9:45
DARK SHADOWS (DIGITAL)
PG-13
12:10,1:35,3:00,4:25,5:50,7:15,
8:40,10:05
THE DICTATOR (DIGITAL) R
12:35,2:55,5:15,7:35,9:55
THE FIVE-YEAR ENGAGEMENT
(DIGITAL) R
1:45,4:35,7:25,10:15
THE HUNGER GAMES (DIGITAL)
PG-13
12:20,3:40,7:00,10:20
THE LUCKY ONE (DIGITAL)
PG-13
11:50,2:20,4:50,7:20,9:50
MARVEL’S THE AVENGERS
(DIGITAL) PG-13
11:10,2:30,3:20,5:50,9:10,10:00
MARVEL’S THE AVENGERS
(3D) PG-13
SPECIAL EVENT PRICING: $3.00
UPCHARGE ALL TICKETS
12:00,1:10,1:40,4:20,5:00,6:40,7:
30,8:20,10:40
PIRATES! BAND OF MISFITS
(DIGITAL) PG
12:10,4:50,9:30
PIRATES! BAND OF MISFITS
(3D) PG
SPECIAL EVENT PRICING: $3.00
UPCHARGE ALL TICKETS
2:30,7:10
THE RAVEN (DIGITAL) R
12:10,2:45,5:20,7:55,10:30
THINK LIKE A MAN (DIGITAL)
PG-13
1:30,4:20,7:10,10:00
WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN
YOU’RE EXPECTING (DIGITAL)
PG-13
11:05,1:45,4:25,7:05,9:45
21 JUMP STREET R
12:30, 4:30, 7:30,10:05
AMERICAN REUNION R
12:15, 4:20, 7:10, 9:40
CHRONICLE PG-13
12:20, 5:15,10:10
DR. SEUSS’ THE LORAX PG
11:55, 2:00, 4:15, 6:25, 8:35
DR. SEUSS’ THE LORAX (3D) PG
SPECIAL EVENT PRICING: $2.00
UPCHARGE ALL TICKETS
12:05, 4:50, 9:45
THE FIVE-YEAR ENGAGEMENT R
12:10, 4:00, 7:05, 9:55
JOHN CARTER (3D) PG-13
SPECIAL EVENT PRICING: $2.00
UPCHARGE ALL TICKETS
1:20, 4:10, 7:00, 9:50
JOHN CARTER PG-13
11:50, 2:45, 5:35, 8:25
JOURNEY 2: THE MYSTERIOUS
ISLAND PG
12:25, 2:50, 5:10, 7:40,10:15
MIRROR MIRROR PG
11:45, 2:15, 4:45, 7:15,10:00
THIS MEANS WAR PG-13
2:40, 7:45
THREE STOOGES, THE PG
12:00, 2:30, 5:00, 7:20, 9:35
WRATH OF TITANS PG-13
1:00, 3:25, 6:05, 8:30
WRATH OF TITANS (3D) PG-13
SPECIAL EVENT PRICING: $2.00
UPCHARGE ALL TICKETS
2:25 7:25
Times For 05/25 - 05/26 © 2012
WWW.EUGENEWEEKLY.COM
EUGENE WEEKLY MAY 24, 2012
21