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Combat
Without Mercy
Scary
variation on war movie genre.
By Lois
Wadsworth
BLACK HAWK DOWN: Directed
by Ridley Scott. Written by Ken Nolan, Steve Zaillian, based on the
book by Mark Bowden. Produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, Ridley Scott.
Executive producers, Simon West, Mike Stenson, Chad Oman, Branko Lustig.
Cinematography, Slawomir Idziak. Production design, Arthur Max. Costumes,
Sammy Howarth-Sheldon, David Murphy. Editor, Pietro Scalia. Music,
Hans Zimmer. Starring Josh Hartnett, Ewan McGregor, Tom Sizemore,
Eric Bana, William Fichtner, Ewen Bremner and Sam Shepard. Revolution
Studios, Columbia Pictures, 2001. R. 144 minutes.
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U.S.
soldiers under fire in Mogadishu, Somalia.
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Like Ali and A Beautiful Mind, movies based-on-real-life,
Black Hawk Down attracts those who notice what's has been left
out of Mark Bowden's 1999 book, Black Hawk Down. The Battle
of Mogadishu, Somalia was fought on Oct. 3 and 4, 1993. Eighteen Americans
and somewhere between 500 and 1,000 Somalis were killed. Ridley Scott,
who directed the film and co-produced it with Jerry Bruckheimer, says
he wanted to show those long 15 hours that U.S. Army Rangers and Delta
Force soldiers fought on the streets of Mogadishu — no flag
waving patriotism. "It's as near to the edge of a documentary as I
could make it," he told Reuters.
Many film critics call racist the visual images of
all-white (with one exception) special forces using high-powered weapons
to quell black armed civilians, ragtag militia and rival warlords.
Brian Miller wrote for Seattle Weekly, "what galls is how legions
of faceless, anonymous black men die with less cinematic regard than
any film I can recall since Zulu Dawn." I'm not certain what
he means by "cinematic regard." Except for The Thin Red Line
scene in which captured Japanese soldiers includes one man sitting
in prayer, most war movies fail to acknowledge the humanity of the
enemy.
The actual battle was a PR disaster for the military.
But both the book and the film correct the impression that it was
a rout, instead showing soldiers fighting for their lives, protecting
one another and performing small and great acts of courage. So set
aside the understandable desire to see a racially balanced, compassionate
military elite, because once the bullets start flying, it's a survival
game, and each side will use whatever resources it has to get the
best of the other. That's war, or at least, that's war movies.
Black Hawk Down 's Third World urban battleground
is a new and disturbing variation of the combat film. We know WWI
trench warfare, WWII pitched land and sea battles, Vietnam's jungles
and Desert Storm's barren battlefields from war movies. But Mogadishu's
narrow streets and crowded marketplaces teem with civilians and animals,
while trigger-happy armed men roam the streets. It's easy to imagine
being scared witless in such an atmosphere, a fear that Scott builds
into our images of the city before the battle begins.
Because we already know the mission's outcome, our
anxiety increases as the soldiers casually leave behind canteens and
night-vision goggles for what's supposed to be a one-hour operation
to capture Mohammed Farah Aidid's top lieutenants.
We very briefly meet the U.S. soldiers, who include
Rangers Staff Sgt. Matt Eversmann (Josh Hartnett), an idealist; coffee-addict
Ranger Spec. Grimes (Ewan McGregor); Ranger Lt. Col. Danny McKnight
(Tom Sizemore), an old hand; and Delta Sgt. First Class Jeff Sanderson
(William Fichtner), the pro. Our Maj. Gen. William F. Garrison (Sam
Shepard) watches the grim battle unfold through audio contacts and
video coverage. When the mission goes sideways, he orders the men
to leave no soldier behind, thus sealing their fate.
Now playing at Cinemark and Cinema World, the film
is highly recommended to those who appreciate war films. It's an unrelenting,
deeply unsettling picture of how wrong things can go in wartime.
Back to top
Remembering
Steve Bové
Cinema's
great friend in Eugene.
By
Lois Wadsworth
When I came to Eugene in the mid-1970s
one of the first movies I attended was Les Enfants du Paradis
(Children of Paradise), Michel Carné's black-and-white
picture from 1944 that some critics think is the best film ever made.
The theater was Steve Bové's Cinema 7 in the Atrium. Bové,
50, died Jan. 10 from testicular cancer. He lived in Yachats. During
his Eugene years, Bové's cinematic sensibilities touched many
people. He made a giant contribution to Eugene's film culture.
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Stephen
Luis Bové, Yachats, June 2000..
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By the time I wrote my first movie review in the early
1980s, I had learned a lot about film art through the films Bové
brought to Cinema 7 as well as from his vast storehouse of knowledge.
He was a gracious, generous host. Some weekends when I watched films
to review, I brought along my mother, then in her mid-70s. She came
to a screening of Marleen Gorris' 1985 film, Broken Mirrors,
a thriller about prostitutes stalked by a serial killer, set in an
Amsterdam brothel. When I glanced over at her, she appeared to be
dozing peacefully. After the film, Steve apologized to her, saying
he hoped she was not offended. She reassured him she was OK. "I always
wondered what went on in a whore house," she said.
Through Steve I met his friends who also loved film.
I was privileged to join with a group of friends he invited to his
home to select the top 10 films of the year for several years. The
following anecdotes come from some of those who remember him well.
Movie maven Lucy Lynch wrote, with love and sadness:
"Just quote Dietrich from A Touch of Evil: 'He was some kind
of a man. What does it matter what you say about people?' and print
the entire New Yorker Film & Kit Parker catalogs through 1987.
He showed them all (African, Brazilian, French, German, Japanese,
new wave, independent, classic, and yes, X-rated). It was in Steve's
own words 'Das Golden Agen,' and we won't see its like again."
Artist Ron Finne loves a film clip of Live Matinee,
the wild comedy troupe that Bové fearlessly performed with and
to whom he turned over the theater for live, periodic performances
during the 1980s. The skit is called "Undie 500," Finne said, and
it features the entire cast of Live Matinee prancing around on top
of the Overpark at 8th and Willamette ("this asphalt plateau" Finne
called it) in their underpants — white classic briefs —
and T-shirts, racing colorful toy cars in competition with each other.
Former film professor Bill Cadbury recalls that Steve
showed films "that the 'art houses' wouldn't (and don't) — the
real out-of-system oddballs — truly obscure and often wonderful
films from Africa, for instance; or the matchless and otherwhere unexhibited
Shoah; or the four-day Fassbinder serial, Berlin Alexanderplatz;
or three of the demanding and peculiar films of Hans Jurgen Syberberg,
[including] the seven-hour Our Hitler. After spending all day
at that film (Steve allowed a lunch break), we felt we had been to
the movies!"
Another longtime friend has these words: "Autodidact,
cinephile, scamp, gourmand, oenophile [wine lover]. Prancing to his
own drummer, even if the tune took him right over a cliff. Charming,
kind, sensitive, vulnerable, bullheaded and blind — seeking
oblivion and consciousness with equal zeal. Unparalleled reader, listener,
eater, drinker, collector, wit. There will never be another."
Sean Axmaker, who writes about film in Seattle, recalls:
"I met Steve only weeks after starting college in Eugene in 1983.
Within months I was part of his 'salon,' a small group of cineastes
who gathered to talk cinema in the back room of that wonderful shoebox
showplace, Cinema 7, Eugene's first art house and the birthplace of
many of my best filmgoing memories. Whenever I got my hands on a 16mm
film print, he fired up his projectors and we squeezed in an early
afternoon or after-hours screening. I wouldn't be doing what I am
today without his encouragement or without his passion for movies.
I miss that thrill of discovery, I miss the arguments, and I miss
Steve."
And his friend from the early years to the last, Alice
England, who writes: "Ah, Stephen. And times gone by... Oysters on
the half-shell, a golden Sauterne, the Verdi Requiem, dark red cherries
eaten from the drooping tree, bunches of paper whites from the winter
beach. And one particular summer afternoon, in a meadow overlooking
a blue, blue Pacific, we sat smoking an honest-to-goodness Havana
cigar, blowing clouds of blue smoke into the shimmering coastal airs,
drinking raspberry wine from the bottle, laughing and telling stories,
and then, after some time, when we stood up to walk home, falling
back on the grass, drunk from the rich, exotic cigar and the sparkling
seas and effervescent day! What a friend! What a life!"
Back to Top
OPENING
OR RETURNING:
Films open the Friday following date of EW
publication unless otherwise noted.
Autumn Marathon (Russia): 1979 comedy one of
the better Soviet films of the era. At 6:30 pm on 1/30 in 115 Pacific.
Free.
Autumn Tale: French director Eric Rohmer shows
the power of three women's friendships. Marie Rivière, Béatrice
Romand and Alexia Portal add to the visual pleasure of Rhomer's 23rd
film. PG. At 9:15 pm on 1/25 in 180 PLC Info:
346-2078, 346-0633.
Beau Travail (France): At 7 pm on 1/26 in 180
PLC Info: 346-2078, 346-0633.
Count of Monte Cristo, The: Alexandre Duma's
classic tale of wrongful imprisonment and revenge stars Jim Caviezel,
Guy Pearce and Richard Harris. PG-13. Cinema World. Cinemark.
How High: Rap superstars Redman and Method
Man find some really good smoke that helps them ace their college
entrance exams. Yeah, right. R. Movies 12.
Human Resources (France): The New York Times
called it a "smart, coolheaded and ultimately wrenching film, directed
by Laurent Cantet, explores class differences, corporate behavior,
labor relations and father-son strife with an unusual depth and subtlety."
At 7 pm on 1/27 in 180 PLC Info: 346-2078, 346-0633.
I Am Sam: Sean Penn plays a mentally-challenged
single parent raising his daughter. Michelle Pfeiffer plays an attorney
who takes his case when the girl is put in foster care by social services.
PG-13. Cinemark.
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956): Classic
'50s sci-fi, a disturbing film about a small town doctor who discovers
his patients have been taken over by aliens. pods. At 7 pm on 1/24
in 180 PLC. Free.
Kung Pow: Steve Oedekerk acquired a 1976 Hong
Kong Karate film, placed himself digitally into it, redubbed the other
characters and shot new scenes. Here it is. PG-13. Cinemark. Cinema
World.
Life as a House: Irwin Winkler's tearjerker
about an architect (Kevin Kline) who learns he's dying. He asks his
rebellious teenage son (Hayden Christensen) and his estranged wife
(Kristin Scott Thomas) to help him build a new house. R. Movies 12.
Life of Emile Zola, The (1937): Zola tries
to get Alfred Drefyus off Devil's Island for a crime he didn't commit;
stars Paul Muni. At 7 pm on 1/31 in 180 PLC. Free.
Mothman Prophecies: Richard Gere, Debra Messing,
Laura Linney, Will Patton and Alan Bates star in this tale of the
supernatural based on events chronicled in John A. Keel's book. PG-13.
Cinema World. Cinemark.
Taste of Others, A (France): The New York Times
calls Agnès Jaoui's romantic comedy "a witty, sociologically
astute reflection on the attraction between opposites." At 7 pm on
1/25 in 180 PLC Info: 346-2078, 346-0633.
Voyages: (France) Three linked films look at
the difficulties of remembering the Holocaust in the present day lives
of Jews traveling in Poland, Israel and Paris. Highly recommended.
At 9:15 pm on 1/26 in 180 PLC Info: 346-2078, 346-0633.
Walk to Remember, A: Shane West and Mandy Moore
star in this adaptation of a best-seller. Directed by Adam Shankman.
PG. Cinemark. Cinema World.
Who's Going to Pay for These Donuts, Anyway?:
Japanese American video artist Janice Tanaka's search for her father
after a 40-year separation. At 7 pm on 1/30 at Mother Kali's Books.
Free.
Yellow Submarine (1968): Psychedelic animation
from the Fab Four, who battle the Blue Meanies to help Sgt. Pepper
and others. George Martin is music director. G. At 2 pm on 2/3 in
McDonald Theater. $6/ free, age 3 and younger.
CONTINUING
Amelie: Jean Pierre Jeunet's popular hit film
about a shy young French pixie who meddles in the lives of her co-workers,
family and neighbors instead of looking at her own need for love.
Too sugary sometimes, this little fairy tale has just enough gravity
to stay grounded. Fabulous. R. Bijou. Online archives.
Beautiful Mind, A: Inspired by the true story
of a mathematical genius whose great discovery came early in his career,
Ron Howard's film stars Russell Crowe, Ed Harris and Jennifer Connelly.
Crowe plays the man who battled his demons for many years yet fulfilled
his promise late in life. Stunning work by Crowe and Connelly. Highly
recommended. PG-13. Cinemark. Online archives.
Behind Enemy Lines: John Moore directs this
military drama, which has Gene Hackman as a naval officer and Owen
Wilson as the hot dog pilot who sees where the bodies are buried in
a war-ravaged country. He's shot down, and some soldiers are after
him. PG-13. Movies 12.
Black Hawk Down: Ridley Scott directs this
true story based on the mission-gone-wrong of American special forces
in Somalia, 1993. Stars Josh Hartnett, Ewan McGregor, Ron Eldard and
Sam Shepard. AFI award for best picture, 2001. R. Cinemark. Cinema
World. See review this issue.
Black Knight: Martin Lawrence stars in Gil
Junger's comedy about a theme park called Medieval World with a portal
that opens into England of the 1300s. You know who crawls through
and has to live by his wits. PG-13. Movies 12.
Domestic Disturbance: John Travolta ex-wife's
new husband is a con man, and Travolta's 11-year old son watched him
murder someone. With Vince Vaughn. PG-13. Movies 12.
Gosford Park: Robert Altman's comedy of manners
set upstairs and downstairs in a 1932 English country house features
fine performances by an all-star ensemble cast that includes Kristen
Scott Thomas, Jeremy Northam, Helen Mirren, Kelly Macdonald, Alan
Bates, Emily Watson, Michael Gambon and Maggie Smith. Splendid look
at class warfare, with a nasty, satiric edge. AFI Awards best director
to Altman. Highest recommendations. R. Bijou. Online archives.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone: Early
reviews say it is utterly faithful to J.K. Rowling's book, which can
either be a good thing or not. Stars Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson,
John Cleese, Robbie Coltrane and more. Directed by Chris Columbus.
PG. Cinemark. Online archives.
In the Bedroom: One of the best of 2001, this
intimate domestic drama stars Sissy Spacek, Tom Wilkinson and Marisa
Tomei. First-time director Todd Field adapted the film from an Andre
Dubus' story. The New York Times wrote: "it is an astonishingly
rich, detailed and grimly moving piece of work." AFI Awards best actor
to Spacek. R. Cinemark. Online archives.
Jimmy Neutron Boy Genius: Animated tale of
an inventive 10-year old boy and his robot dog who live in a world
where wishes come true. Jimmy wishes his parents would disappear.
When all the parents disappear, Jimmy and his pals have to bring them
back. G. Cinemark.
joesomebody: John Pasquin directs Tim Allen
as a divorced father whose workplace humiliation in front of his daughter
pushes him to change his life. Also stars Kelly Lynch, Jim Belushi,
Julie Bowen, and Greg Germann. PG. Movies 12.
K-PAX: Ian Softley (Wings of the Dove)
directs Jeff Bridges, who plays a psychiatrist, and Kevin Spacey's
the patient who says he's from another planet. The good doctor notices
changes for the better in the other mental ward patients. PG-13. Movies
12.
Lord of the Rings, The: The Fellowship of the Ring:
The first book in J. R. R. Tolkien's literary trilogy, directed by
Peter Jackson and shot entirely in New Zealand stars Elijah Wood,
Ian McKellen, Cate Blanchett, Liv Tyler, Sean Astin, Christopher Lee.
Highest recommendations. PG-13. Cinemark. Cinema World. Online
archives.
Ocean's Eleven: Steven Soderbergh's remake
stars George Clooney, Matt Damon, Julia Roberts. Brad Pitt and Andy
Garcia. This gang plans to hit several Las Vegas casinos on the same
night, while everyone's distracted by a high-profile boxing match.
Soderbergh never disappoints, and he's assembled great players. PG-13.
Cinemark. Online archives.
Orange Country: Colin Hanks and Jack Black
star in Jake Kasdan's teen comedy about a transcript mix-up. PG-13.
Cinemark. Cinema World.
Out Cold: Guys on snowboards. Comedy adventure
flick stars Jason London and a lot of other people you won't know.
Snowboard champions perform daring stunts. PG-13. Movies 12.
Riding in Cars with Boys: Drew Barrymore stars
in Penny Marshall's film about a woman who wants to be a writer but
ends up with a baby at 15 and a junkie husband. Based on a true story.
With Steve Zahn and Brittany Murphy. PG-13. Movies 12.
Royal Tennenbaums, The: Directed by Wes Anderson
(Rushmore), this critically acclaimed film looks at a family
of geniuses that's undergone two decades of failure, betrayal and
disaster. Gene Hackman is the family patriarch, Royal; Angelica Huston
plays his wife, Etheline. Ben Stiller, Luke Wilson and Gwyneth Paltrow
are their grown children. Also with Danny Glover, Bill Murray and
Owen Wilson. AFI Awards best actor Hackman. Highest recommendations.
R. Cinemark. Online archives.
Serendipity: Destiny has them meet by chance
in a department story, and fate parts them right away. Now it's 10
years later, and John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale try to find each
other again. Directed by Peter Chelsom (Town & Country).
PG-13. Movies 12.
Shallow Hal: Jack Black plays a neurotic womanizer
who gets hypnotized into seeing women's inner beauty for the Farrelly
brothers. But he sees right through Gwyneth Paltrow's fat suit. Word
is the Farrellys are uncharacteristically good humored. Hmmm. PG-13.
Movies 12.
Snow Dogs: Brian Levant directs Cuba Gooding
Jr. in this Disney tale of a man who goes to Alaska to claim his inheritance
— a team of sled dogs with their own minds. With James Coburn,
M. Emmet Walsh and Graham Greene. PG. Cinema World. Cinemark.
Spy Game: Robert Redford is a CIA officer who
mentors Brad Pitt in this spy thriller directed by Tony Scott (Enemy
of the State). Also stars Catherine McCormack. R. Movies 12.
Thirteen Ghosts: Joel Silver and Robert Zemeckis
produced this special effects remake of a 1960 horror film that stars
Tony Shalhoub, Embeth Davidtz and Matthew Lillard. They're given keys
to a fantastic house that contains the spirits of 13 murder victims.
R. Movies 12.
MOVIE
THEATERS
Use the links provided below for specific show times.
Bijou
Art Cinemas
Bijou Theater 686-2458 | 492 E. 13th
Regal
Cinemas
Cinema World 342-6536 | Valley River
Center
Springfield Quad 726-9073 |
Cinemark
Theaters
Movies 12 741-1231 | Gateway
Mall
Movies before 12:30 are Sat. Sun. only. $1.50 all shows all days.
Cinemark 17 741-1231 | Gateway Mall
NEW
RELEASES ON VIDEO:
Releases subject to change. Available the Tuesday following
date of EW publication, sometimes sooner:
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