filmland / By Charlie Myers

Meet the Fosters

The film was shot in Calaveras County by a crew of Humboldt filmmakers including Matt St. Charles — known for his own indie features Remote Control Grandpa and The Making Of. The same crew is currently in pre-production on a new feature with a contemporary storyline — Flea — to be shot in and around Arcata in coming weeks. Note: The Arkley box office opens at 6:30 p.m. Showtime is 7 p.m.

The Quorum Incendiarios Silent Soviet Classics Series at the Arcata Playhouse concludes with ¡Que Viva Mexico! a fascinating assemblage of footage from pioneering Russian filmmaker Sergei Eisenstein’s never-finished film about the culture and history of Mexico from before the days of the Conquistadors to the Mexican Revolution. The screening begins at 8 p.m. on Monday, April 19.

The Arcata Theater Lounge will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger when they host a late night screening of PulpFiction (1994) on Friday, April 16, at 11 p.m. Be warned of the dangers that this week’s Godwit Days Spring Migration Festival may inflict on Humboldt with a screening of Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds (1963) on Sunday, April 18, at 7:30 p.m. Also, check out the Banff Mountain Film Festival on both Monday and Tuesday, April 19 and 20, at 7 p.m. for some thrilling mountain sports-themed action.

Review

DATE NIGHT: It was a pleasure to finally see a drama/comedy/romance that was actually funny and even, in its own way, romantic. Date Night is a subset of the genre featuring the estranged/divorced/bored couple who rekindle the romance.

Of course, the bar for this group of films is rather low (think of Did You Hear About the Morgans?). Still, Date Night is a minor pleasure. The enjoyment is certainly not due to the efficiently formulaic plot, but rather to the presence as the featured couple of Tina Fey and Steve Carell, who manage to carry along the story with intermittent but persistent humor along with the rest of the cast.

The setup has some similarity to that in the Morgans. Phil and Claire Foster (Carell and Fey) are a married couple with children whose lives have settled into a monotonous and largely sexless routine. They both work full-time, Claire as a realtor and Phil as a tax consultant, and Claire, who can’t remember why she used to love Phil, is too tired at night to have sex.

In between bickering about the usual couple stuff, their relationship has devolved into a date night at a local Jersey steak house. In a desperate attempt to escape their personal black hole, Phil decides on the spur of the moment to take Claire into an “in” over-priced Manhattan restaurant where, of course, there is no table available. When the Tripplehorns are called and don’t respond, Phil pretends to be them and he and Claire are seated.

1 2 3 4 NEXT PAGE >SHARE