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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (March 15, 2018)
MOVIES B Y M O L LY T E M P L E T O N A KINDER, GENTLER CLASSIC Inspiration replaces weirdness in Ava DuVernay’s adaptation of Madeleine L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time t might be easier, for those of us who grew up loving Madeleine L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time, to view Ava DuVernay’s movie as less adaptation and more distillation. Key parts of the novel are there, but the essential weirdness of the book is missing, replaced with something unexpectedly gentle and inspiring. This movie wears a heart on each sleeve — one is DuVernay’s, glittering and wise and focused on a long-neglected audience; the other, polished to a safe sort of colorful gleam, is Disney’s. I would have liked a weirder Wrinkle, but I find it hard to argue too much with the one we got. Leave your memory of the book at the theater door, and this is what you’ll find: a story that offers a stubborn, mistrustful, aching, much-needed heroine; that unabashedly presents itself as a guide for making the world better, one small act at a time; is fiercely interested in presenting a world free of stereotypes and gender norms; and that wants to remind you that love is never uncool. Meg Murry (Storm Reid) misses her scientist father (Chris Pine), who vanished four years ago. Could he have left his perfect family? It almost doesn’t matter; what matters is how it feels. The rest of Meg’s family, including her preternaturally mature little brother, Charles Wallace (Deric McCabe), and her also-a-scientist mother (Gugu Mbatha-Raw, excellent but underused), are wonderful, but Meg hurts, a fact that should be apparent to I TIX $5 SUNDAYS $7 $3 TUESDAYS anyone with eyes. That hurt leaves her suspicious — of Calvin (Levi Miller), a classmate who’s sweetly interested in Meg, and of the strange women Charles Wallace keeps introducing her to. These are the Mrses — Mrs. Whatsit (Reese Witherspoon), Mrs. Who (Mindy Kaling) and Mrs. Which (Oprah Winfrey) — all glitter-lipsticked, definitely-not-human-beings who send Meg, Charles Wallace and Calvin across the universe in search of Mr. Murry. Meg is no Alice in Wonderland, blithely accepting of all the weirdness she encounters. She doesn’t trust herself, doesn’t trust the Mrses and can’t fully fling herself into the adventure at hand. Her doubt makes her journey more difficult — but it doesn’t stop her. You don’t have to have faith or trust the world, this story says, in order to have wild adventures. It’s OK to doubt and question, to be angry and skeptical. Not everyone is Lucy Pevensie, running wide-eyed off to tea with a faun. Some of us are Meg Murry, and some of us don’t have our balance yet. Wrinkle isn’t so much about how the journey changes you as it is about how you can change yourself — and how that’s one small step that everyone is capable of taking. It doesn’t ask for perfection; it asks for acceptance. The movie, like each of us, has its flaws. And maybe it should: Those flaws are a reminder that $100 million can’t buy perfection. It can, however, provide vision, and color and inclusiveness, and an intense curiosity as to what Ava DuVernay will do next. ■ MARCH 16-22 THE PARTY DAILY 12:10 3:00 7:40 10:15 THOROUGHBREDS DAILY 12:00 2:45 5:00 7:40 9:40 CALL ME BY YOUR NAME DAILY 2:00 5:00 9:15 I, TONYA STUDENT & SENIOR DISCOUNT ALL AGES Asian Food Market 762-1700 | 180 E. 5TH AVE DAVIDMINORTHEATER.COM $3 TUESDAYS Now Featuring Middle Eastern Food & Vegetarian Items MAR 16TH - MAR 22ND *SATURDAY AND SUNDAY ONLY MATINEE $5 HELD OVER DAILY 12:20 5:00 7:50 THE SHAPE OF WATER FRI 12:00 2:15 5:00 7:10 9:35 SAT 2:15 5:00 7:10 9:35 SUN-WED 12:00 2:15 5:00 7:10 9:35 THU 12:00 2:15 5:00 Including Vegetarian Seafood, Meat Substitutes & Snacks Asian Groceries Seaweed, rice, noodles, frozen products, deli, snacks, drinks, sauces, spices, produce, housewares, and more. Sushi & Asian deli take-out 29TH AVENUE FERDINAND 2:45* EARLY MAN FACES PLACES 4:40 3:00* OAK STREET SHOPPING CENTER WILLAMETTE STREET Woodfi eld Station METROARTS PHANTOM THREAD 4:50 Sunrise www.sunriseasianfood.com M-Th 9am-7pm•F 9am-8pm•Sa 9am-7pm•Su 10am-6pm 70 W. 29th Ave. Eugene • 541-343-3295 THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBB- THE GREATEST DARKEST HOUR THE POST ING, MISSOURI SHOWMAN 8:30 7:10 9:05 6:25 492 E. 13th Ave 541-357-0375 MOVIES THAT bijou-cinemas.com MATTER Serving the Eugene Community for Over 35 Years! A FANTASTIC WOMAN (R) Oscar Winner for Best Foreign Film In Spanish with English Subtitles A transgender singer faces scorn and discrimination after the sudden death of her older boyfriend. 1:00, 3:30, 6:00, 8:30 PREMIUM EVENT ADMISSION IN THE FADE (R) In German with English Subtitles SAT THU 3:45, 6:15 THE ROYAL OPERA: TOSCA 11:00 7:00 43 W. BROADWAY (541) 686-2458 REGULAR ADMISSION $9 ADULTS $8 STUDENTS $6 SENIORS $6 BEFORE 5 PM OPEN EVERY DAY 3/16 - 3/22 COMING SOON ANNIHILATION OUTSIDE IN BOMBSHELL: THE HEDY LAMARR STORY READY PLAYER ONE THE LEISURE SEEKER DIRTBAG: THE LEGEND OF FRED BECKEY DISTANT SKY – NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS GRACE JONES: BLOODLIGHT AND BAMI BUY TICKETS ONLINE AT BROADWAYMETRO.COM Katja’s life collapses after the death of her husband and son in a bomb attack. After a time of mourning and injustice, Katja seeks revenge. NOVITIATE (R) Set in the early 1960s and during the era of Vatican II, a young woman in training to become a nun struggles with issues of faith, the changing church and sexuality. 1:00, 8:45 TICKET PRICES: MATINEE before 5pm $6 ADULT $8 | STUDENT $7 | SENIOR 62+ $6 CHILD age 12 & under $6 eugeneweekly.com • March 15, 2018 21
