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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 22, 2017)
MOVIES B Y M O L LY T E M P L E T O N FIRST FLIGHT Writer-director Greta Gerwig captures a confident but flawed young woman in Lady Bird I n Lady Bird, her directorial debut, Greta Gerwig looks at familiar moments of teen dramedy — parental spats, ill-chosen crushes, disagreements with friends, a chaf- ing disregard for the place you grew up — with an eye for what they actually feel like. The beats of our main character Lady Bird’s life have the imperfect shape of something lived-in, not the over- worked simplicity of plot fodder. Conflict, here, is just part of life, not the end of the world: Lady Bird (Saoirse Ronan) can desperately want to escape her tired, criti- cal mother (Laurie Metcalf) in one scene and go dream- house hunting with her in another, all disagreements mo- mentarily forgotten in the fantasy of hardwood floors and gorgeous light. Lady Bird isn’t simply a mother-daughter drama, but the relationship between Lady Bird and her mother, who plays the pragmatist to her daughter’s self-obsessed dreamer, is the story’s fuel. Lady Bird rejects her birth name (Chris- tine); her mother rejects Lady Bird’s desire to fly far, far away for college. Wisely, Gerwig roots this conflict not simply in an inevi- table clash of personalities, but also in the reality Metcalf’s Marion can’t ignore: The family can’t afford to give Lady Bird everything her shifting heart desires, and Marion is hurt that what she does have isn’t enough for her daughter. This stress point runs in the background as Lady Bird experiments with who she is: maybe a star in the school musical; maybe friends with the “cool” kids; maybe a teen whose choices run the gamut from clever to awkwardly unwise. Her contradictions are many: sincere and sarcastic, loving and cruel, thoughtless and gentle. One very important hug, between Lady Bird and a for- mer beau, is a thing of forgiveness, anger, grace and hurt; her prank on a kind nun (the wonderful Lois Smith) is fun- nier and sweeter than a truly cruel trick could ever be. Gerwig’s precisely observed script is full of the jagged rhythms of friendships and families and dotted with the kind of absurdities that abound when you’re 18 and just want to get the hell out of town. Though it’s set in the early aughts, Lady Bird avoids the kind of nostalgia that puts a false sheen of coolness on things — like remembering only the movies and albums deemed cool in hindsight, using things that weren’t cool as punchlines, shortcutting emo- tional resonance with memorable references. The director’s memory of 2002 is much clearer: dubi- ous fashion choices (April Napier’s costumes are a de- light), the twitchy transition to cell phones, a single house- hold computer, the uncool songs that made people cry, the changing tastes of a girl who hasn’t settled on one self yet. Gerwig and her cast and crew make Lady Bird look so easy that you might initially write it off as charming and slight — but this cinematic yearbook of a confident, flawed girl making her way into the world under her own power is big and vital and true. (Bijou Art Cinemas) CHECK OUT OUR NE W PODC A ST HIGHLIGHTING E W STORIE S. WHAT ’S HAPPENING PODCAST SOUNDCLOUD.COM/EUGENEWEEKLY TIX $5 SUNDAYS $7 $3 TUESDAYS STUDENT & SENIOR DISCOUNT 11/24-11/30 492 E. 13th Ave 541-357-0375 ALL AGES 762-1700 | 180 E. 5TH AVE DAVIDMINORTHEATER.COM $3 TUESDAYS FRI NOV 24TH - THURS NOV 30TH THEY'RE BAAACK... LADY BIRD (R) Our holiday punch passes return Friday. Available for a limited time only. Marion McPherson, a California nurse, works tirelessly to keep her family afloat after her husband loses his job. She also maintains a turbulent bond with a teenage daughter who is just like her -- loving, strong-willed and deeply opinionated. Written & directed by Greta Gerwig. Starring Saoirse Ronan, Laurie Metcalf, Tracy Letts. 100% RT. NOVEMBER 24-30 THE KILLING OF A SACRED DEER 11:25 2:05 4:45 7:30 9:55 LOVING VINCENT DAILY ADVANCE TICKETS RECOMMENDED DAILY 11:15 1:25 3:35 5:45 7:55 9:55 MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS DAILY 11:15 1:50 4:25 7:00 9:30 THE FLORIDA PROJECT ADVANCE TICKETS RECOMMENDED DAILY 12:05 2:40 5:15 7:45 43 W. BROADWAY (541) 686-2458 REGULAR ADMISSION $9 ADULTS $8 STUDENTS $6 SENIORS $6 BEFORE 5 PM OPEN EVERY DAY SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING ONLY THE BRAVE AMERICAN MADE 7:20 5:00 4:50 BUY TICKETS ONLINE AT BROADWAYMETRO.COM Friday - Sunday 12:30, 2:45, 5:30, 7:45, 10:00 Monday - Thursday 1:30, 4:00, 6:30, 8:45 THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI (R) A darkly comic drama from director Martin McDonagh about a vigilante mother who takes matters into her own hands as she searches for her daughter’s murderer. Starring Frances McDormand, Woody Harrelson, Sam Rockwell, John Hawkes. 94% RT. 10:00 COMING SOON CHAVELA THE SQUARE THE DISASTER ARTIST THE SHAPE OF WATER MOVIES THAT bijou-cinemas.com MATTER Serving the Eugene Community for Over 35 Years! Friday - Sunday 12:00, 2:30, 5:00, 7:30, 10:00 Monday - Thursday 1:00, 3:30, 6:00, 8:30 WIND RIVER 7:05 ATOMIC BLONDE 9:00 IT (2017) 9:20 CLOSED THURSDAY FOR THANKSGIVING Local beer, wine and cider... & now kombucha on tap! TICKET PRICES: MATINEE before 5pm $6 ADULT $8 | STUDENT $7 | SENIOR 62+ $6 CHILD age 12 & under $6 eugeneweekly.com • November 22, 2017 19
