Culture
Posted inCulture

Our Picks for the Week of 2/18-2/26

The Source Staff

Mass Transit, Mindscape,
Gainon the Illyrical
friday 20
Start
off the weekend with a free night of local hip-hop headlined by the
eclectic beats of Mass Transit. The show is hosted by Mindscape, who
many of you probably know as Fish from Person People, but he's got a
sweet game of his own. Oh yeah, and it's free, did we mention that.
9pm. Players Bar & Grill, 25 NW Century Dr.
Cicada Omega, Larry and His Flask
friday 20
This
Portland band brings a special brand of Kentucky fire and brimstone
coupled with rock, soul and blues…and plenty more. Read more about them
in the Sound section. 8pm doors, 9:30pm show. Silver Moon Brewing Co.,
24 NW Greenwood Ave. $5.
 

Posted inCulture

Bridal Survivor: A Do? A Don’t? The council is still out

And The Winner Is…The factory outlet stores may offer a nice view of the Cascades, but the blank storefront between the Paper Factory and Rocky
Eric Flowers

And The Winner Is…The factory outlet stores may offer a nice view of the Cascades, but the blank storefront between the Paper Factory and Rocky Mountain Chocolate hosts no resemblance to Borneo, or any of the other exotic locations of one of TV's most spun-off game shows. Survivor begat the likes of Big Brother, the Bachelor/ette, and the most classy VH1 set (Charm School, Flavor of Love, you know, the really irresistibly trashy ones). So when local Bend radio station 104.1FM decided to apply the Survivor convention to the wedding season, Bend found itself in reality heaven. While in this economy I can rationalize $10,000 in prizes, I can't quite rationalize a week posing as a store mannequin with sorority-hazing inspired personal hygiene, while competing in "tough" games like Hollywood Celebrity Matchup, or Name that Peak Tune. Aren't brides supposed to be poised, graceful and glowing, not strategizing and competitive and self-deprecating? When did Anna Nicole Smith replace Audrey Hepburn?

Posted inCulture

Raiding the Tomb Again!: Tomb Raider Underworld

Shawn Wallbaum

Adolescent boys rejoice, Laura has returned. Tomb Raider helped define the original Playstation. The game sold
millions of copies spinning many sequels and a brassiere-busting silver
screen turn from a pre-tabloid Angelina Jolie. Now Laura Croft returns
for another adventure with Underworld. Making her way through the
wilderness of the Mediterranean, the deep jungles of Mexico and other
exotic locations around the world that would give Indiana Jones a run
for his money. On Laura's plate this time is the quest for the
legendary Hammer of Thor. As with most of the Tomb Raider games you
have to make your way through mind-numbing puzzles and just about every
trap you could think of.

Most Tomb Raider games follow a basic
outline, and this one is no different. The layout of the game is
gorgeous, and the lush landscapes team with life. A lot of time was put
into the environments and animals to make them more realistic than the
original Tomb Raider game. Crystal Dynamics was able to blend Tomb
Raiders' old-school puzzle solving, shooting, and climbing so they
overlap each other. The result is smoother and more realistic. A neat
change also new to this edition is the melee combat system that makes
Laura fight and keep her distance from her attackers at the same time.

Posted inCulture

Another Dimension: Coraline takes the animated movie to another level

Mike Bookey

Give a hand to 3-d animation.After My Bloody Valentine, I was convinced that every movie should be
in 3D. Now that I've seen Coraline I'm not so sure. It's already so
cool to look at with its ingenious concepts and artistic designs, so I
say why bother? This movie is a psychedelic treat to the eyes and more
colorful than anything I can remember. Using stop-motion animation,
puppeteers moved models 32 times for every second we see, so this movie
took about five years to make. The 3D, as effective as it was, almost
distracted from the already flawless animation.

Cute and
warped-that's Coraline in a nutshell. This movie sends mixed messages
and creates a metaphor that reinforces the age-old belief pounded into
the heads of children that being good will bring you the things you
want. But given the twisted approach, Coraline might just be too creepy
for kids. Moms and dads will have a lot of explaining to do if they
bring the kids. It's definitely dark and there are some real blatant
sexual themes, including cartoonish fat old English biddies showing off
their scantily clad, enormous hooters. But in addition, moms themselves
are depicted in two ways: completely evil or incompetent.

Posted inCulture

Labor Pains: Push is purely work for moviegoers

We told you Dakota Fanning’s cute days were limited.During the closing credits for Push, a sci-fi lark with an incoherent plot, boring action sequences and
Mike Bookey

We told you Dakota Fanning's cute days were limited.During the closing credits for Push, a sci-fi lark with an incoherent plot, boring action sequences and listless dialogue, I felt like I was being given a list of people to blame. Though I know they cannot all be held responsible for this movie's failures, the smart ones would have picked a pseudonym.

Push is a little like reading an Encyclopedia Brown book, except the ending pages have been ripped out and most of the mystery's clues are covered in graffiti and fecal stains. The movie stars Chris Evans (the fiery dude from Fantastic Four) and Dakota Fanning as Nick and Cassie, young superheroes blessed with, respectively, telekinetic and clairvoyant superpowers. These powers make them targets for government capture and control by a badass agent and "pusher", played by Djimon Hounsou, virtually the only adult in the film. Luckily, Nick and Cassie are not alone. An entire race of humans with these rare abilities walks the earth. Think X-Men without the sideburns.

Posted inCulture

Our Picks for the Week of 2/11-2/19

The Source Staff

Bend Poetry Slam

wednesday 11
It's been a while since we sent you to
the Poetry Slam, so if you got your mitts on the paper a bit early this
week, head over to the Silver Moon and check out this monthly battle of
intellect and wit. Could be a good start to your night before crossing
the street to the Annex for the Pimps of Joytime show. 8pm. Silver Moon
Brewing Co, 24 NW Greenwood Ave.
Get Yours with DJs Ali-Sun and Moksha

friday 13
Remember
the sweet-ass Hi-Top sessions at the Grove back in the day? Well the
co-star of that dance party, DJ Ali-Sun, is making her return to the
wheels of steel by joining DJ Moksha for a night of "crunk-tastica."
For this show, however, Moksha will be going by "LaShawn" and Ali-Sun
will be "BabyLove" as they preside over a costume party hosted by Mr.
Gone. Prizes for best dressed! 10pm. Downtown Martini Bar, 850 NW
Brooks St.

Posted inCulture

A Dogged Pursuit: In search of Chile’s “Hero Dog”

The video, to put it mildly, is incredible, and when belatedly posted on YouTube in December of 2008 it became an overnight sensation. In it
Mike Bookey

The video, to put it mildly, is incredible, and when belatedly posted on YouTube in December of 2008 it became an overnight sensation. In it a dog in Santiago, Chile, is hit by a car on the freeway at rush hour and another dog comes to its rescue, weaving between speeding cars, looking left and right with uncanny awareness, and dragging - with its paws - its fallen friend to safety. Road workers arrive shortly and the injured dog, unfortunately, dies, while "Hero Dog" as he or she quickly becomes known, disappears into the city, and has yet to be found. The video is a grainy black and white from a surveillance camera, and a link is listed below. The link between Santiago, "The Hero Dog" and Bend, however, is happily more clear, and can be found in the handsome visage of Vanessa Schulz.

Posted inCulture

Taken to the Cleaners: Subpar revenge flick will have you begging for mercy

It says it’s from Justin Timberlake. Taken completely lives up to its title. You will feel taken for every penny you spent and every second
Mike Bookey

It says it's from Justin Timberlake. Taken completely lives up to its title. You will feel taken for every penny you spent and every second you wasted sitting through this movie. It definitely will make my top ten worst movie list for 2009. Taken will stretch your patience like a balloon to the popping point. Not to mention the paranoid message it sends to anyone considering a vacation in Europe.

Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson) is a retired moody guy with a secret past. It's never clear as to where he retired from. Mercenaries? CIA Black Ops? Secret agent school? He refers to himself as "a preventer," so you be the judge. He wants to become closer to his daughter Kim (Maggie Grace), and then overprotects her, much to the dismay of his ex-wife (Famke Janssen) and her new husband (Xander Berkeley). The first 20 minutes setup of sad divorce woes and cute eye glances between Mills and Kim were way too cute and excruciatingly long. The 50-minute wedding scene in Deer Hunter suddenly didn't seem so bad. A subplot has Mills moonlighting as a bodyguard to Kim's favorite chick rock star, an attempt to bring them all together. But then Kim goes and gets kidnapped on a European trip and Mills has to go all Rambo using his special "skills" to save her from a white slave trade syndicate (of course). So with spy-gizmos, big fists and guns a blazin', Mills heads off to Paris.

Posted inCulture

Scared Skinny: South Korean thriller retread is good for token frights

Mike Bookey

Rub a dub dub. By the time young Emily Browning - the Australian waif who stars in The
Uninvited - sees her 8th or 9th scary, decaying corpse come to life I
begin to wonder if anyone ever considered late-stage anorexia as a
cause for these hallucinations. Between last month's The Unborn
(featuring the sharp-hipped Odette Yustman) and this movie, I am now
certain that a steady diet of pizza and pancakes can ward off ghosts.

Unfortunately
the requisite beanpole heroine isn't the only well-beaten path that
this film walks. Like other post-holiday horror releases we're treated
to basic thriller formulas, teen drinking, PG-13 half-nudity - along
with more scared-stiff and seemingly starving protagonists who should
probably stop at a deli on the way to the police station.

Posted inCulture

Our Picks for the Week of 2/4-2/12

The Source Staff

My Own Two Feet

thursday 5
We thought we'd take another stab at
getting the word out about the premiere showing of this snowboard flick
that forsake flashy helicopter shots and snow cat transportation for
simple human power…as in walking and such. A DJ will start spinning
after the screening as ski and snowboard films play in the background
to keep the dance party pumping. Oh, and there's plenty of free stuff
to be given away! 6pm, The Summit Saloon and Stage, 125 NW Oregon Ave.
$6, $10/two.
Reading the Wonder of Kesey's Notion
thursday 5
Here's
something you probably didn't know: one of the greatest American novels
was written and takes place right here in Oregon. We're talking about
none other than Ken Kesey's Sometimes a Great Notion and at this
discussion, University of Oregon professor David Scott Arnold takes an
in-depth look at the novel. 6:30pm. Bend Public Library, Brooks Room,
601 NW Wall St.

Verify your email

We'll send a verification code to .

Sign up for newsletters

Get the best of The Source - Bend, Oregon directly in your email inbox.

Sending to:

Gift this article