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The film opens with the childhood of Cuban poet and novelist Reinaldo Arenas, who grows up on a farm in remote Orienté Province. The boy's grandfather is stern and unloving, and the child has no companions but the farm animals. Abandoned by her lover, his beautiful mother (Olatz Lopez Garmendia) returns to the land. She remains a lifelong iconic figure to Arenas. But as a child, his fertile imagination fuels his creative play. Teenage Reinaldo (Vito Maria Schnabel) leaves home to join Castro's revolutionaries in the mountains, hitching a ride on a cart with a strange, knowing farmer (Sean Penn). Years later in Castro's victory celebration, Reinaldo (Javier Bardem) rides through villages crammed with cheering crowds. He moves to Havana in 1962, working in the city library and winning awards for his writing. After meeting up with the glamorous Pepe Malas (Andre Di Stefano), he becomes part of Havana's libertine homosexual community Arenas is happy to be actively writing, openly enjoying being gay and getting acquainted with illustrious Cuban writers Virgilio Piñera (filmmaker Hector Babenco) and José Lezama Lima (Manuel Gonzalez). By the late 1960s the glory days end as Communist officials crack down on gays, intellectuals and dissident writers. Now writers are forced to renounce their work, and gays are rounded up and sent to labor camps. Arenas can't get his work published in Cuba, but some writings are successfully smuggled out of the country. In prison he meets a notorious transvestite named Bon Bon (Johnny Depp), who also attempts to smuggle his work out of prison. But the writer spends increasingly more time in prison, often under horrifying conditions. Lieutenant Victor (Johnny Depp), a military policeman of ambiguous sexuality, is a particularly nasty piece of work. But Arenas always finds a way to write, no matter what they do to him, and he keeps trying to escape. Arenas grows desperate to leave Cuba. His life changes when he meets the great friend, Lázaro Gómez Carriles (Olivier Martinez), who will be with him until his 1990 death from AIDS in New York. This complicated film owes its dreamy beauty to Schnabel, who became an art sensation (and a wealthy man) as a neo-expressionist painter during the 1980s New York art boom and then branched out into filmmaking and recording. At the end of the film, a poem by Arenas makes it clear that Schnabel's gorgeous visual treatments represent a deeply felt homage to this moving poet, a writer without a country. Don't miss this stunning cinematic tale of a largely unknown but courageous, talented writer. Opening Friday, March 2 at the Bijou.
Before Night Falls: Artist/director Julian Schnabel's film combines recent Cuban socio-political history with one artist's search for the freedom to express his vision. As poet and novelist Reinaldo Arenas, Javier Bardem gives a flawless performance that earned an Academy Award nomination. With Olivier Martinez, Andrea Di Stefano, Johnny Depp and Sean Penn. Very highly recommended. R. Bijou. See review. Best in Show: Christopher Guest directs and stars in this faux docu about dog-lovers who want to win at national kennel club show. Michael Hitchcock, Parker Posey, Eugene Levy and Catherine O'Hara star. Very funny movie. PG-13. Movies 12. See review in online archives. Birth of a Nation: Silent film director D.W. Griffiths invents the fundamental visual techniques of filmmaking in this brilliant 1915 Civil War classic, but the film (like much of the country at the time) is racist and pro-Ku Klux Klan. Stars Lillian Gish in a luminous performance. At 7 pm March 7, 180 PLC. Free. Carman The Champion: Born-again Christian movie stars gospel singer Carman (Licciardello) in this Rocky-like fight drama. Movie producer Matt Crouch "will hold a live Praise the Lord show" at flick's premiere opening in Los Angeles, according to official website. Oh, dear. PG-13. Cinemark 17. Dinner Game, The: 1999 French farce directed by Francis Veber is about a yuppie snob, Pierre (Thierry Lhermitte), who hopes to win the prize for bringing the dullest, most stupid or boring guest to dinner with friends. But he gets more than he bargained for in the eccentric Francois (Jacques Villeret). Highly recommended intelligent comedy. PG-13. At 7 pm March 6 in 121 Pacific, UO campus. Free. Drugstore Cowboy: The 1989 film about drugstore-robbing junkies in the 1970s introduced Portland director Gus Van Sant to the world. It may be his best work. Gives Matt Dillon the best role of his career, likewise Kelly Lynch and William S. Burroughs. Highest recommendations. R. Environmental Law Clinic Films (Free, UO campus): Ascending Rhythm (2:30 pm 3/3, 100 Willamette); A Dying Trade? The Case Against Trapping (10:30 am 3/4, 175 Law); Killing Coyote (10:30 am 3/2, 129 Grayson); and In Light of Reverence, (10:30 am 3/4, 100 Willamette). Head Over Heels: Single woman who lives with four models gets a makeover and a new boyfriend. Stars Monica Potter and Freddie Prinze Jr. PG-13. Movies 12. Ikajurti: 1990 documentary about Northern Quebec Inuit women reclaiming traditional childbirth practices. At 7 pm March 6, 150 Columbia, UO campus. Free. Kolyma (Russia): Part 2 of prize-winning documentary on Soviet forced-labor camps. At 6:30 pm March 7 in 115 Pacific Hall, UO campus. Free. Mexican, The: Comic road movie stars Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts and James Gandolfini in a mobbed-up escapade south of the border. R. Cinema World. Cinemark. See Spot Run: David Arquette plays a mailman who teams up with a crime-fighting
canine in this comedy. Cinema World. Cinemark. 3000 Miles to Graceland: Kevin Costner and Kurt Russell arrive in Vegas decked out like Elvis, intending to rob the casino. Also stars David Arquette and Christian Slater. The NY Times calls it a "bloated spectacle" and cautions about its "wall-to-wall violence." R. Cinemark. Cinema World. Bounce: Gwyneth Paltrow and Ben Affleck star in Don Roos' romantic drama. Affleck plays a man who gives up his seat on a flight that crashes, and Paltrow is the widow of the man who took his place. Highly recommended. PG-13. Movies 12. See review at online archives. Cast Away: Tom Hanks (Academy Award nominee best actor) learns to survive when he washes up on a remote tropical island after his plane crashes. Helen Hunt is the girlfriend he left behind. Intimate direction by Robert Zemeckis, a lean script by William Broyles Jr., and an edgy performance by Hanks. Highly recommended. Nominee for best sound. PG-13. Cinemark. See review at online archives. Charlie's Angels: Elite private investigators Natalie (Cameron Diaz), Dylan (Drew Barrymore), and Alex (Lucy Liu) can handle anything on land, sea or air with up-to-the-minute martial arts skills, futuristic vehicles, high-tech tools and toys, and a raft of crafty disguises. Also stars Bill Murray. PG-13. Movies 12. Chocolat: Best picture nominee directed by Lasse Hallström (Cider House Rules) stars Juliette Binoche (best actress nom), Johnny Depp and Judi Dench (supporting actress nom). It's about the scandal a sexy, free spirited woman causes in a small town when she opens a chocolate shop. Nominated for best adapted screenplay and for original song. PG-13. Cinemark. See review at online archives. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Ang Lee's cinematic masterpiece, this romantic fantasy set in ancient China involves intrigue, poison darts, a pirate of the dunes, a witch, a magic sword, fabulous women fighters and beautiful, ballet-like martial arts that transcend gravity. Ten Academy Award nominations: best picture, best director, best foreign film, best adapted screenplay, art direction, cinematography, original score, song, costumes and film editing. Stars Michelle Yeoh, Chow Yun Fat, Zhang Ziyi and Chang Chen. Superlative! PG-13. Bijou. Cinemark. See review at online archives. Down to Earth: Chris Rock gets sent to Heaven by mistake, but he gets the body of a recently murdered Manhattan mogul. Also stars Regina King, Mark Addy, Frankie Faison and Chazz Palminteri. "Mildly amusing" says The NY Times reviewer Elvis Mitchell. PG-13. Cinema World. Cinemark. Dude, Where Is my Car?: Danny Leiner's one-joke comedy is about a couple of dudes who are too drunk to remember where they parked the car. PG-13. Movies 12. Family Man: Brett Ratner (Rush Hour) directs Nic Cage, Téa Leoni and Don Cheadle in this fantasy of an unmarried investment banker who sees what his life could have been had he married his only love. PG-13. Movies 12. Finding Forester: Gus Van Sant's latest film is badly written by Portlander Mike Rich. Sean Connery plays a reclusive novelist and 16-year old newcomer Robert Brown plays the super-bright teen who brings him back to the world. With Anna Paquin and Busta Rhymes. Film reprises themes of Good Will Hunting without adding anything new, but audience loved it. PG-13. Cinemark. See review at online archives. Hannibal: Ridley Scott chronicles Hannibal Lector's inevitable return in this gruesome sequel to Silence of the Lambs. Stars Julianne Moore as Clarice Starling and Anthony Hopkins reprising his role as the infamous cannibal. Script by David Mamet, Steven Zaillian (Schindler's List). Bloodsoaked, creepy movie earns its R-rating. R. Cinemark. Cinema World. See review at online archives. Meet the Parents: Ben Stiller plays the unfortunate prospective son-in-law to Robert Di Niro's overly protective father. Directed by Jay Roach, the film also stars Teri Polo and Blythe Danner. Academy Award nominee for best original song. PG-13. Movies 12. Monkeybone: Brendan Fraser, Bridget Fonda and Whoopi Goldberg star in this comedy about a cartoonist who enters a strange world dominated by his creation. PG-13. Cinema World. Cinemark. O Brother, Where Art Thou?: Ethan and Joel Coen's feel-good Depression-era comedy is their best ever. This Odyssey stars George Clooney, John Turturro and Tim Blake Nelson as chain-gang escapees in Mississippi. An homage to old timey music and the folk traditions from which it springs, it also stars Holly Hunter, Charles Durning, John Goodman. One of the top films of 2000, it gets the highest recommendation. Academy Award nominations for best adapted screenplay and cinematography. PG-13. Cinema World. See review at online archives. Recess: School's Out: Animated Disney film has to overcome what The NY Times review calls its "visual deficit." G. Cinemark. Cinema World. Rugrats in Paris: While his dad works on EuroReptarland, a new amusement park, Tommy Pickles leads the gang on adventures in Paris. G. Movies 12. Save the Last Dance for Me: Talented white girl from small town (Julia Stiles) enrolls in an inner city high school in New York where she falls for a popularAfrican American boy (Sean Patrick Thomas) who also loves to dance. PG-13. Cinemark. Saving Silverman: Buddies Steve Zahn and Jack Black try to prevent their best friend (Jason Biggs) from marrying a woman he doesn't love (Amanda Peet) when he should be marrying his high school sweetie (Amanda Detmer). PG-13. Cinemark. Shadow of the Vampire: John Malkevich plays silent film director F.W. Murnau, and Academy Award nominee Willem Dafoe is his bloodthirsty star, Max Schreck in this film about the making of Murnau's masterpiece, the 1922 Nosferatu. Directed by E. Elias Merhige and written by Steven Katz, it's either an homage or an extended riff on the similarities between vampirism and filmmaking or both. Eccentric and spooky with a touch of magic.. Highly recommended. R. Cinemark 17. Late night Bijou. See review at online archives. Sweet November: Romantic drama about workaholic exec (Keanu Reeves) who falls in love with a unique woman (Charlize Theron). The NY Times reviewer says they "dwell in a woozy cinematic fairy-tale land of disembodied emotion and improbable dialogue." PG-13. Cinemark. Traffic: Steven Soderbergh's acclaimed hard look at the complexities of drug interdiction programs has an all-star, ensemble cast that includes Michael Douglas, Benicio Del Toro, Don Cheadle, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Erica Christensen. Brilliant directing, excellent script and dynamite performances make this the best film of 2000. Five Academy Award nominations: Best picture, best director for Soderbergh, best supporting actor for Golden Globe winner Del Toro, best adapted screenplay and film editing. R. Cinemark. Cinema World. See review at online archives. Unbreakable: M. Night Shyamalan's film stars Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson, who put themselves on the line in powerfully understated roles. Beautifully directed, very highly recommended movie. PG-13. Movies 12. See review at online archives. Vertical Limit: Action adventure tale of a former mountain climber (Chris O'Donnell) who has to save a sibling (Robin Tunney) trapped at 26,000 feet. Directed by Martin Campbell. PG-13. Movies 12. Wedding Planner, The: Romance about a San Francisco wedding planner (Jennifer
Lopez) who meets a handsome pediatrician (Matthew McConaughey) who saves her from
a near-fatal collision with a runaway dumpster. PG-13. Cinemark. Bijou
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Contender, The: Three big stars -- Joan Allen, Gary Oldman and Jeff Bridges -- star in this political drama directed by Rod Lurie. Academy Award supporting actor nominee Bridges plays the President, best actress nominee Allen plays a senator in line to be Vice President, and Oldman plays an old enemy who remembers a sex scandal from the past. Grossly underrated film, it's highly recommended. R. Little Vampire, The: Cute kid from Jerry Maguire Jonathan Lipnicki has a vampire friend he shares adventures with. Based on books by Angela Sommer-Bodenburg; directed by Ulrich Edel. PG. Meet the Parents: Ben Stiller plays the unfortunate prospective son-in-law to Robert Di Niro's overly protective father. Directed by Jay Roach, the film also stars Teri Polo and Blythe Danner. PG-13. Next week: Almost Famous, The Bridge, The Crew, Madadayo, Rosie, The
Sixth Day and Wonder Boys.
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