Film

A taste of the wonderment that is the Mountainfilm fest.This is your chance to vicariously scale the globe. Mountain bike
through an old growth forest, ascend Colorado's Black Canyon, or go fly
fishing in Baja, all from the comfort of your Tower Theater seat.
Bend-based nonprofit reSource hosts the touring film festival,
Mountainfilm on Tour, as a fundraiser for the organization. With an
emphasis on sustainable living, the event is also intended to encourage
Central Oregonians to make everyday choices that reduce our impact on
the environment. Play lists include 7-8 short films per night. Here's
are some particularly eyebrow-raising films from the weekend schedule.

He doesn’t seem to mind those critics.The funniest thing about this documentary is Johnny Carson's plaid leisure suit in the film's opening scene. Aside from that, the film is a sobering lesson on the ongoing struggle between Israel and Palestine and Jimmy Carter's three-decades-long involvement in the conflict.

From the honest, jovial, straight-forward way he handles things, cutting to tiny bits and pieces defining glimpses of Carter's real persona to details you'd never know about him-he swims daily, reads from the Bible to his wife every night (in English and Spanish) his favorite poet is Dylan Thomas, he believes in science and evolution along with his devout Christianity-he's like the Mother Teresa of politics.

Playing the smugglers blues.The Latino Community Association presents a cinematic journey
across Latin America, at the Tower Theatre, on the evenings of February
29 and March 1. The featured films explore the rich history, both
political and cultural, of Brazil, Mexico, Spain and Argentina, as well
as the social strife and conflict that have defined people’s lives
there.
The festival opens with a gathering at Café Sintra, (1024 NW
Bond St) at 5:30, with drinks, snacks, and a brief presentation.
Afterward, film-goers can walk to the theater.

Cooler than you.There's no doubt Joe Strummer was a cool guy. I wouldn't have wanted to be in The Clash with him, but I would've definitely enjoyed sitting around the campfire telling stories with him, which is exactly how this outstanding documentary, Joe Strummer: The Future is Unwritten, is woven together.
I was shocked and saddened when I heard he died. I thought he was on the comeback trail but sadly, he succumbed quickly and without warning to a cognitive heart condition and was-poof!-gone.

can’t you hear me knockin’?It was a year of exceptional films and acting performances in 2007,
possibly the most competitive Oscar field ever. Three Best Picture
nominees are based on major novels. Cinematography and special effects
soar to new levels. Both veteran and novice actors roll out an uncanny
breadth of talent and emotion. So, at the end of Sunday night's 2008
Academy Awards, who will be left clutching those coveted gold
figurines? Here's my roundup of the Best Picture nominees, as well as
some biased predictions of who will win other awards.

I told you we’d be able to find something worthless on the bottom of the ocean.All that glitters may not be gold, but if you're willing to check your
brain at the door, you’ll find a brief respite from winter in the new
romantic/action comedy, Fool's Gold. Director Andy Tenant (Sweet Home
Alabama) leads us on a treasure hunt set in the Florida Keys. (It was
actually filmed in the Bahamas and Australia's Great Barrier Reef.) The
result is a watery plot embedded in warmth-inducing scenery.

Hell hath no furry like a New York City bicycle messenger.Although snow is still on the ground and most folks have their bikes
tucked neatly away in the storage shed for another month or two,
cycling is never quite on the backburner in this two-wheel obsessed
town. Riders who can't actually get out on the road or trail burn away
the cabin fever by talking about cycling, reading about cycling, and
perhaps most entertainingly, watching movies about cycling - which is
where WebCyclery comes in.

BendFilm and the Tower kick off the Series with the Breast Cancer DiariesFor a few days in October, the Tower Theatre becomes home to the
BendFilm festival, packing the historic venue with diehard film buffs,
as well as locals who just like to get a taste of independent cinema
without leaving town. But when the festival closes down, documentaries
and out-of-the-mainstream feature films, although not completely vacant
from our cultural landscape, are much tougher to find.

While some
might think of BendFilm as an entity existing only during that long
weekend in October, the organization has teamed with the Tower Theater
to present a bi-monthly series of independent films from the festival's
library and beyond. Kicking off Indie Reels is The Breast Cancer
Diaries, a film documenting a woman's battle with the disease.

These pirates don’t have scurvy.This is one of those highly entertaining, insightful, humorous,
fact-filled documentaries that can be enjoyed by those on both sides of
the political fence, despite its clear agenda.
I saw this movie
at the BendFilm Festival and was glad to see our local community radio
station KPOV 106.7 FM bringing the documentary to McMenamins on
Wednesday. As a DJ on KPOV, I confess that I'm somewhat biased -
sharing an affinity for the free-speech rights of local broadcasters
over large media conglomerates, having volunteered at the station for
more than three years.

How many 60-year-olds can kill like this?Let's get this straight right off the bat, something I'm sure we ALL
know … DO NOT MESS WITH RAMBO. This movie sledgehammers that fact home
by combining preachy stereotypes and super-gore. And you know what?
Parts of it are actually all right.
Rambo opens with grisly authentic
stock footage of the atrocities in Burma (oddly never referred to by
the nation's present-day name of Myanmar). Stallone said he wants this
movie to carry a "real" message, so people will become aware of the
genocide that plagues Burma, but then he chucks himself into a fake-ass
drama smack-dab in the middle of it, allowing him to come across as a
hero, "find" himself and kill tons - and I mean tons - of people in the
meantime.