There is not as much of a thematic through-line with the documentary selections as the live action narratives, except a subtle one: Regular people dealing with trauma, death and depression and keeping hope alive. While that sounds like a brutal bit of programming (and at times it is), there is always light and beauty; there […]
Film
Posted inMusic
Out of Town 2/4-2/11
Eugene friday 6 & saturday 7 KLCC Microbrew Festival 2015 Bringing classic fundraising out of the standard car washes and pledge drives, KLCC (Eugene’s NPR affiliate, 88.1) holds a microbrew tasting event instead featuring collaboration brews and a homebrew competition, along with a cd and record music sale. Seventy-five breweries will serve up 190 craft […]
Posted inNews
Jared’s 14 Favorite Films of 2014…And Some Runners Up
Who the hell am I to say what the best movies of 2014 were? Just a guy…who watched around 300 movies in total across the year. But what the hell does “best” even mean? Instead, I’ll say these were my top 14 (because a top ten is so 2013) favorite movies of 2014. Opinions are […]
Posted inNews
BendFilm Releases 2014 Festival Lineup
BendFilm has released the lineup for the 2014 film festival—its 11th annual and the first under new Executive Director Todd Looby—featuring two world premieres, one U.S. premiere, jury awards and prizes. In addition to increased efforts to connect with the Central Oregon community year-round, BendFilm is also partnering for the first time with the Confederated […]
Posted inCulture
Neigh-Bros
Mediocrity at its most affable in Neighbors
“Just because we have a house and a baby doesn’t mean we’re old people,” Seth Rogen muses at the beginning of Neighbors. He’s delusional, of course—it totally does—and the gods aren’t about to let hubris of that magnitude slide. Zeus snaps his fingers and a frat house appears next door to Rogen’s adorable new home. […]
Posted inCulture
Better Than The Godfather III
Kermit & Co. return with Muppets Most Wanted
“We’re doing a sequel!” Kermit and Fozzie sing at the start of Muppets Most Wanted. “That’s what we do in Hollywood! And everybody knows that the sequel’s never quite as good!” Then either Statler or Waldorf chimes in: “How hard can it be? We can’t do any worse than The Godfather III!” And yes, thankfully, […]
Posted inNews
Is “Drone” a Dirty Word?
A new world takes (unmanned) flight
In 1959, a year before Bono was born, U-2 was the name for a classified, unmanned plane that flew past the Iron Curtain and across the restricted airspace in the Soviet Union. Concerned about sending pilots into hostile air space, the US Air Force launched a program—code name “Red Wagon”—to send “unmanned aerial vehicle”—or, what […]
Posted inCulture
Welcome Back Fellini
The Great Beauty brings back traditional Italian cinema
The Great Beauty takes a while to take on a structure—and, with true Fellini dreaminess, rarely holds onto a cohesive storyline. The film opens with a seemingly unrelated scene—a lyrical and sun-dappled scene as Japanese tourists explore one of Rome’s hillside chapels, before one man drops dead from a heart attack—and then jumps to a […]
Posted inCulture
Jack Ryan: Hot Idiot Recruit
Jack Ryan has many positive qualities. Being smart is not one of them.
Have you ever dated somebody who was super good-looking, but there wasn’t really a connection, and you were pretty sure they were straight-up dumb, but they got a pass because it’s fun to make out with hot people and you decided not to care about substance? And you knew in your heart that it was […]
Posted inCulture
Tough Love
Short Term 12: Damaged Kids Helped by Damaged Heroes
Besides being a good band name, Chekhov’s Gun is the principle protecting cumulative narrative coherence: A gun introduced in the first act must go off by the end of the third. In the first act of Short Term 12, the studiously humane drama written and directed by Destin Cretton, we’re instantly introduced to a number […]
