Arts & Entertainment
Opening This Week: March 2 Edition
De Niro and Paul Dano co-star in this dys-
functional family dramedy about a young
man mourning the loss of his mother
(Julianne Moore) who is surprised to find
his long-lost father living in a homeless cen-
ter. With Olivia Thirlby, Lili Taylor and
Dale Dickey.
By Kam Williams
Special To The Skanner News
BIG BUDGET FILMS
The Lorax (PG for mild epithets) Danny
DeVito stars as the title character in this ani-
mated adaptation of the Dr. Seuss classic
about an idealistic 12 year-old (Zac Efron),
raised in an artificial reality, who searches
for a real tree in order to impress the girl of
his dreams (Taylor Swift). Voice cast
includes Betty White, Ed Helms and Rob
Riggle.
Project X (R for nudity, drug and alcohol
abuse, mayhem, recklessness and pervasive
profanity, sexuality, and crude humor)
Raunchy teensploit revolving around three
high school seniors (Thomas Mann, Oliver
Cooper and Jonathan Daniel Brown) who
throw a wild house party that spirals totally
out of control. With Alexis Knapp, Kirby
Bliss Blanton and Dax Flame.
‘The Lorax’
FOREIGN FILMS
Art Is… The Permanent Revolution
(Unrated) Agitprop documentary examining
how printmakers, including Rembrandt,
Goya and Picasso, have influenced the
political landscape over the ages via graph-
ic depictions of the human condition.
Being Flynn (R sexuality, drug use, per-
vasive profanity and brief nudity) Robert
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What Will You Do with
Your Tax Refund?
By Bruce Whiting
Western Regional Manager,
KeyBank
W
ill you be getting an income
tax refund check this year?
It’s not too early to think
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Consider these helpful tips:
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• When deciding how best to use your
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• Consider using refunds to beef up a
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• You may want to use some of your
refund to pay down debt. Before using a
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review a copy of your credit report to
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ing debt. All three credit bureaus,
Page 6 The Portland Skanner
Bruce Whiting
Experian, Equifax and TransUnion, pro-
vide free reports at www.annualcred-
itreport.com.
To learn more about budgeting and
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You don’t need to be a customer to
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About the author: Bruce Whiting is
the Western Regional Manager of Com-
munity Development Banking at Key-
Bank and is committed to helping local
residents. He can be reached at
bruce_a_whiting@keybank.com.
February 29, 2012
Black Butterflies (Unrated) bittersweet
biopic, set in South Africa in the Sixties,
recounting the ill-fated arc of a defiant, anti-
Apartheid poet (Carice van Houten) who
found herself at odds with her father (Rut-
ger Hauer) serving as the racist regime’s
Minister of Censorship. Supporting cast
includes Liam Cunningham, Grant Swanby
and Graham Clarke.
Boy (Unrated) Coming-of-age drama, set
in New Zealand in 1984, about an 11 year-
old Michael Jackson fan (James Rolleston)
who belatedly bonds with his absentee
father (Taika Waititi) when the Prodigal
hoodlum returns to town to unearth a buried
treasure. With Moerangi Tihore, Cherilee
Martin and Haze Reweti.
Heist: Who Stole the American Dream?
(Unrated) The haves vs. the have-nots doc-
umentary chronicling the carefully-orches-
trated dismantling of the U.S. middle-class
by the corporatocracy with the help of
politicians and lobbyists.
Let the Bullets Fly (Unrated) Action
comedy, set in China in the Twenties, about
a notorious crime boss (Wen Jiang) who
poses as the newly-appointed mayor of a
‘The Salt of Life’
provincial town until he meets his match in
a local mobster (Chow Yun-Fat). With Cari-
na Lau, Kun Chen and You Ge. (In Man-
darin and Cantonese with subtitles)
Patriocracy (Unrated) Middle-of-the-
road documentary issuing an urgent call for
reason in this age of political polarization.
Featuring appearances by Eleanor Clift, Pat
Buchanan and Tennessee Congressman Jim
Cooper.
The Salt of Life (Unrated) Midlife crisis
comedy about an aging guy (Gianni Di Gre-
gorio) neglected by his wife (Elisabetta Pic-
colomini) who decides to find out whether
he’s still attractive by flirting with neigh-
borhood ladies. With Valeria De Franciscis,
Alfonso Santagata and Valeria Cavalli. (In
Italian with subtitles)