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Fast Forward: Fast & Furious uses old model and broken parts to predictable results

Apparently the way to make the fourth sequel is to take out “The” from the title and cast all the main actors from the 2001

Eric FlowersApril 8, 2009July 26, 2024

Apparently the way to make the fourth sequel is to take out "The" from the title and cast all the main actors from the 2001 original. But this movie is such a predictable hunk o' cheese that I can only hope that the video game is more fun. Neither the plot nor the dialogue graduates beyond the 8th grade. The opening sequence is impressive with its over-the-top oil truck hijacking. But after that initial wallop, the movie fizzles out.

The story again teams up Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) with Brian O'Connor (Paul Walker) to bust a heroin dealer and seek revenge for the killing of Letty (Michelle Rodriguez). After that it's very simply good guys vs. bad guys… period. The plot holes open faster than pop up windows on a porn site. Around three quarters of the way through the film, F&F actually stops making any sense at all. The dialogue is so clichéd that it was down right laughable. There are some exchanges reminiscent of Tonto talking to the Lone Ranger. "This bad." "Go here." "Why for?" "Take tunnel." I half expected Vin to say, "Crash site tell heap big story." After O'Connor demolishes around 15 cars, a police chief actually utters this tired old line, "You had better have one good goddamned explanation for this." And a henchman warns, "When GPS calls you follow." Vroom!

Culture

Dirty Jobs: Sunshine Cleaning scrubs away memories of lesser movies

Oh my god, and he left the toilet seat up, too!The unemployment picture may need to get a little worse before most of us would

Eric FlowersApril 8, 2009January 30, 2023

Oh my god, and he left the toilet seat up, too!The unemployment picture may need to get a little worse before most of us would resort to cleaning up blood and organ tissue from crime scenes for a paycheck. Although I think we're getting there.

Sunshine Cleaning is a film about a pair of sisters who try to turn their lives around by making a killing, so to speak, from cleaning up after suicides, homicides and other bloody happenings. It's the kind of movie that one would think is inspired by recent economic chaos - if not for the fact that the film was made more than a year ago, and screened at Sundance in January 2008.

Culture

Mingling Polarities: The refreshingly weird world of Tom Monson

Mike BookeyApril 5, 2009April 11, 2025

Tom Monson wears his art on his sleeve.

Monson at work.

He is a postmodern scavenger, in his words “projecting value onto something un-valuable, like redemptions.” Tom turns kitschy thrift store finds into gems by adding bittersweet Maurice Sendak style characters, often placing them in grievous situations in a humorous way. In “slogan” a small plaque’s original saccharine image is over painted with a simply drawn nude that stares blankly at the viewer, his arm severed on the floor Monty Python style, the words “Win Some, Lose Some” fade into the background behind him. These altered appropriations confront universal emotions, but are also unabashedly autobiographical. Monson’s show at the PoetHouse last November called “Images that Breethe, frum thawts that bur^rn” (misspelling intentional) presented pieces that dealt blatantly with betrayal, hypocrisy and grief. In one piece, “Untitled,” a bright red snake is hacked in pieces and bleeding, X’s for eyes.

Culture

Friendly Fire: Beautifully crafted Killzone plods predictably

Mike BookeyApril 1, 2009January 4, 2023

Locked, loaded and dancing to the rhythms of your machine gun.After the attacks, our leaders tried to reassure us. "They started this
war," we were told. Our enemy was "threatening the peace of the
universe." Our leaders declared that "the time for diplomacy is past."
It was up to us to "get it done." We were assured that the first wave
of our assault would deal "decisive blows" to the Helghan forces.

But
when we arrived, we found that their forces were far from blown apart.
Helghan soldiers are everywhere. Their glowing red eyes emerge from the
gloom of their disfigured cities. They peep through the scrim of dust
that blows across their deserts. "Red eyes!" someone from my squad
yells. And we all turn and fire on the crimson targets.
The
Helghast are decent fighters. They adjust their position to flank me as
I move. They yell "Shit!" when I throw a grenade into their midst. But
I'm learning how they think. If I keep my scope trained on a spot where
I just saw a Helghast's eyes, they will reliably pop up again. And if I
kill one Helghast, another takes its place. It's not that they're
unintelligent. They're just predictably intelligent.

Culture

SmackDown Your Intellect: 12 Rounds? Ehh, Die Hard 3 did it better

Mike BookeyApril 1, 2009May 2, 2025

Explosions? Check. Hot rod? Check. Beefed up professional wrestler? Check.I am operating under the assumption that fans of Milk or Like Water for
Chocolate are probably not interested in reading a review of a movie
starring a WWE icon. So forgive me if, for the remainder of this
review, I actually take this film seriously. Because lord knows it
takes itself seriously.

12 Rounds stars John Cena, the WWE wrestler
and rapper (yes, rapper) as Danny Fisher, a New Orleans cop who foils
an international terrorist's plan to steal diamonds or something.
Anyway, during the pursuit, the terrorist's girlfriend is killed, and
the terrorist captured. Then the terrorist goes to jail. Then,
naturally, he breaks out a year later, kidnaps Danny's fiancé, and
torments Danny for an entire day with a number of impossible tasks that
have Danny running, jumping and flexing to save his girl. But mostly
flexing.

Culture

Haunt Not, Want Not: Another house bites the dust, this time in Connecticut

Mike BookeyApril 1, 2009March 17, 2023

Something tells me you're not in a good place right now. If nothing else this film confirms my theory that a movie with the word
"haunting" in the title is doomed before the opening credits. If it's,
"based on a true story," doubly so. Based on the documented 1986
paranormal happenings to the Campbell family, The Haunting in
Connecticut stretches truth like county fair taffy. There's nothing new
here. The haunting flick is one heckuva tired old genre, even with
beefed up hyper-kinetic special effects to mask the absolute emptiness
of the action on the screen.

The plot goes something like this: a
family in turmoil…Mom (Virginia Madsen) is a big Christian, Dad (Martin
Donovan) is a big drunk and son Matt (Kyle Gallner) is dying of cancer.
They buy a house on a whim to avoid long drives for rigorous cancer
treatments. The house is a bargain but has a "history"-turns out that
it was a funeral parlor in which séances were conducted to raise the
dead. Now the dead want revenge or possession of a soul or something.
In other words the house is, um…haunted.

Culture

Our Picks for the Week of 4/1-4/9

The Source StaffApril 1, 2009April 11, 2025

1st Annual Bend International Comedy Competition

wednesday-saturday 1-4
We've
always said that comedy is hard to find in this town, but not this week
as the first edition of the Bend International Comedy Competition takes
over several venues in town. Local comedian Morgan Preston is one of
the producers of this event and has roped in comedians from around the
country, including Tommy Savitt who's taken home top honors at the
Boston Comedy fest and the Seattle International Comedy Competition.
The first three nights are preliminaries, followed by the finals at the
Tower on Saturday night with 20-minute sets from all the finalists.
Weds-Thurs, April 1-2, 8pm Seven Nightclub, 1033 NW Wall St. Fri, April
3, 8pm: Baltazar's Ristorante, 1465 SW Knoll Ave. Sat, April 4, 8pm:
Tower Theatre, 835 NW Wall St. All events $25, $85 all-event passes are
also available.

Culture

Keep Your Left Hand Up!: A night at the Golden Gloves

Suzanne BurnsMarch 26, 2009January 7, 2024

The work beneath the gloves…Boxers don't walk. Boxers don't strut. Boxers glide, eyes forward,
their profiles reminiscent of Dick Tracy, strong and dashing, with a
hint of vulnerability that belies the ballet of brutality to come.

Noted
author Joyce Carol Oates refers to boxing as, "the lost religion of
masculinity," and the horde that gathered on a Friday night in the
Middle Sister Building of the Deschutes County Fairgrounds for the
preliminary bouts of the Oregon State Golden Gloves championship came
to re-christen this loss. Men dominated the throng as Ozzy Osbourne,
Rammstein and Mexican rap detonated from speakers. The overpowering
smell of nachos and popcorn blended with the bittersweet aroma of mixed
drinks. The bartender, resplendent in a jewel-toned vest and bow tie,
attempted to create a little bit of Las Vegas elegance on a
linen-draped card table positioned near a hall water fountain.

Culture

Dupe City: Performances shine in romantic con game

Mike BookeyMarch 25, 2009January 4, 2023

A Ray Bans man.This quick-paced espionage comedy (apparently part of an emerging genre
when combined with Burn After Reading) trades blazing guns for
sharp-tongued dialogue and finely honed performances. But despite the
unconventional delivery, this movie is, at heart, an off-kilter love
story that ultimately turns out to be quite conventional.

Duplicity
starts off promising with crisp, tricky photography, split-screen
images and inventive camera angles. The two main characters, Ray (Clive
Owen) and Claire (Julia Roberts), come from different secret agent
backgrounds and the story unfolds as their romance and inherent
distrust of each other progresses. Forming an alliance of sorts, they
use their spy talents to go after two huge multinational conglomerates,
pitting CEOs Howard Tully and Richard Garsik (Tom Wilkinson and Paul
Giamatti, respectively) against each other to embezzle the bejeezus out
of them. Ray and Claire plan on cashing in on the divulgence of a new
secret product about to bust open on the market. But of course, nothing
is as it seems. While gearing up to pay close attention, I found that
it wasn't necessary…everything is spelled out for you, albeit
disjointedly, then taken away and re-explained.

Culture

Taking the Apron out of the Kitchen

Eric FlowersMarch 25, 2009September 12, 2023

Pretty is as pretty does and a flirty apron worn over jeans and a sheer top coyly whispers: "I've got both covered."
Similar to the dress with pants trend of the last few years, a smart apron develops the look a step further, exhibiting DIY confidence while maintaining a view of those apple bottom jeans - practical femininity at its finest.

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