Note: Okay, so Portland is not much of a movie paradise. When you see that phrase "opening in selected cities," Portland gets to play that famous position "left out." Mostly, I saw a few films that opened there before they came here (some are yet to come). No matter, Portland has other Edenic qualities involving […]
Screens
Posted inArts + Scene
Survival of the Fittest
Opening REDBELT. Jiu-jitsu master breaks his avoidance of prize fighting and steps into the ring when he must overcome a financial crisis. Rated R. 99 m. At the Broadway. SPEED RACER. Full-length live action film adaptation of classic Japanese anime series. Rated PG. 135 m. At the Broadway, Mill Creek and Fortuna. WHAT HAPPENS IN […]
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Smart People, Dumb Movie
EXPELLED, NO INTELLIGENCE ALLOWED.Documentary on academic professionals blacklisted for their theories disagreeing with Darwinism. Rated PG. 97 m. At the Broadway. IRON MAN.Action/adventure flick based on Marvel’s iconic, comic book super hero. Rated PG-13. 126 m. At the Broadway, Mill Creek, the Minor and Fortuna. MADE OF HONOR.Man realizes his love for his best friend […]
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‘Sarah Marshall’: Forgotten
Opening BABY MAMA.Infertile business woman hires working-class woman as unlikely surrogate. Rated PG-13. 99 m. At the Broadway and Mill Creek. CJ7.Poor father goes to junkyard for kids’ clothes and brings home CJ7, a "pet" orb with mysterious powers. In Cantonese w/English subtitles. Rated PG. 86 m. At the Minor. DECEPTION.Business man meets womanizing lawyer […]
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War and High Society
Opening 88 MINUTES.College prof moonlighting as FBI agent receives death threat stating he’s got only 88 minutes to live. Rated R. 107 m. At the Broadway. FORBIDDEN KINGDOM.American teen is transported back in kung fu time when he finds weapon of ancient warrior in pawn shop. Rated PG-13. 113 m. At the Broadway, Mill Creek […]
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Clooney Plays the Field
Opening COUNTERFEITERS.Biggest counterfeit money scam of all time goes down during the last years of WWII in the Sachsenhausen concentration camp. Rated R. 98 m. At the Minor. DON GIOVANNI.San Francisco Opera performs Mozart classic in pure Digital Cinema. Second of four SF Opera Cinemacasts, runs April 12-13 at Fortuna. MISS PETTIGREW LIVES FOR A […]
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Same Old Spacey
Opening FUNNY GAMES.Remake of 1997 thriller follows young men as they take a family hostage in a vacation home invasion. Rated R. 108 m. At the Minor. LEATHERHEADS.A ragtag team in early-1920s professional football league is saved by golden boy war hero. Rated PG-13. 114 m. At the Broadway, Fortuna and Mill Creek. NIM’S ISLAND.Author’s […]
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Band’s Visit: A Small Gem
Opening 21.Group of brilliant students and unorthodox math prof take on big casinos and win their way into racy Vegas lifestyles. Rated PG-13. At Mill Creek and the Broadway. MARRIED LIFE.Characters fumble towards their passions leading to a complicated web of deceit, murder plans, love and lies. Rated PG-13. At the Minor. SAMSON AND DELILAH.San […]
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See ‘City of Men,’ Quick
Note to readers: This will be my last column until early May as I’m going on hiatus to spend about six weeks in Portland, Ore., where, among other pleasures, I may get to see a greater variety of films. I realize that "hiatus" is TV-speak for "to be canceled at a later date," but hopefully […]
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March Badness
Previews Rhona Mitra (The Practice; Boston Legal)leads a team of scientists to a quarantined Scotland in Doomsday in an attempt to find a cure for a lethal virus known as the Reaper, which is once again threatening the human race. The team failed to account for survivors of the original virus, who may turn out […]
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Noble Savages
Previews We are not yet graced locally with The Other Boleyn Girl, so what we get instead on Friday, March 7, is 10,000 B.C. This may make some hearts go pitter-pat, but mine must be too worn out. The plot, involving a mammoth hunter (relatively unknown Steven Straight) who has to go on a quest […]
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‘El Shining’: ¡Muy bueno!
Previews Laura Linney didn’t win an Oscar for The Savages, which opens at long last locally on Friday, Feb. 29, losing out to French actress Marion Cotillard, but Philip Seymour Hoffman won a Best Actor Spirit Award for the film, and the film took Best Screenplay for Tamara Jenkins (Slums of Beverly Hills) at the […]