Catch 'em while you can.
Benjamin Walker in "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter"Benjamin Walker in "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter"Category: abraham lincoln vampire hunter
Benjamin Walker in "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter"The five movies playing in Portland-area theaters that I'd soonest see again.
Emily Blunt (l.) and Rosemarie DeWitt in "Your Sister's Sister"1) "Moonrise Kingdom"
Wes Anderson films are such a specific taste that I'm a bit hesitant to suggest
that this might be his most approachable (but surely not crowd-pleasing)
work. In the wake of the delightful "The
Fantastic Mr. Fox," Anderson returns to live-action and his familiar tics and
habits in a tale of young (as in 'pre-teen') lovers on the run. Newcomers Jared Gilman and Kara Hayward fill
the lead roles delightfully, and Anderson's muses Bill Murray and Jason
Schwartzman are joined ably by Edward Norton, Bruce Willis and Frances
McDormand, among others. It's a light
and breezy film with a very sweet heart and old-fashioned sturdiness. Even if you were left puzzled by the likes of
"Rushmore" or "The Royal Tenenbaums" (still his best non-animated films, for
me), this is likely to win you over. multiple locations
2) "Bernie” It’s a term of deep praise to note that writer-director Richard Linklater (deepbreath: “Slacker,” “Dazed and Confused,” “Before Sunrise,” “Before Sunset,” “Waking Life,” “School of Rock”)
is capable more than any contemporary American filmmaker of making
terrific movies about nearly nothing. Here, working with a
based-on-truth story, he gives us life in the small East Texas town of
Carthage, where a beneficent funeral director (Jack Black) and a mean, wealthy widow (Shirley MacLaine)
become unlikely chums and companions...under she mysteriously goes
missing. Linklater weaves the dramatized version of the story with dry
and deft interviews of actual Carthaginians (is that what they’re
called?) and even several musical numbers in a perfect frappe of a black
comedy. multiple locations
3) "Your Sister's Sister" Seattle filmmaker Lynn Shelton spins a sweet and sad and true-feeling variation on a Hollywood romcom, with shlubby leading man Mark Duplass caught unexpectedly between two half-sisters, Emily Blunt and Rosemarie DeWitt.
There are machinations that could have been drawn from a higher-gloss
(and less appealing) film. But, as in her not dissimilar "Humpday,"
Shelton finds real grounding for the story in the personalities of her
cast, who improvised some of their scenes within guidelines. The result
feels theatrical and human at once, with three wise, low-key
performances and a credible air of confusion and hope. A sly winner. Fox Tower
4) "Monsieur Lazhar" This delicate, sweet and, surprisingly,
harrowing little drama was nominated for an Oscar as best foreign language
film, and it's a mark of its quality that it's a very good film despite that sometimes dubious
distinction. Mohamed Fellag stars as the
title character, a secretive and formal man who arrives at a Montreal school
out of the blue and volunteers to take the place of a teacher who has left
under horrid circumstances. Gradually
his compassion and wisdom come to heal wounds, just as his own personal pains
are revealed. Writer-director Philippe
Falardeau dances around the clichés inherent in the scenario as if they didn't
exist, eliciting wonderful performances from his cast (especially the kids) and
real emotions from the audience. Living Romm Theaters
5) "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" Yes, I know it's an absurd premise and that in many ways it exists only to be absurd, but there's genuine skill and relish in director Timur Bekmambetov's adaptation of Seth Grahame-Smith's novel. The action, as in Bekmambetov's "Night Watch," "Day Watch" and "Wanted," is spectacular, the 3-D effects are top-notch, the woodenness of the historical bits is deliberate and cheeky, and Benjamin Walker is actually quite good as the title character, embodying the clumsiness and self-mocking qualities of the real man and the bloodthirsty venom that this over-the-top story requires. As a summer goof, it's swell. multiple locations
Reviews of this week's new releases in Portland-area theaters.
Benjamin Walker in "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter"A potentially ludicrous what-if history is transformed into a thrilling horror film by a gifted director.
You have to be batty to take seriously the very notion of Seth Grahame-Smith’s novel “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter,” in which the sixteenth President is revealed to be a slayer of undead bloodsuckers. But the movies may not have a battier director than Timur Bekmambetov, the Russian wizard behind “Night Watch,” “Day Watch” and “Wanted,” and it’s a pleasure to report that he dives into an adaptation of the book with wild zest, wicked humor and a hot-blooded spirit of fun.Benjamin Walker in "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter"The story (his mother murdered by a vampire, Lincoln spends his life fighting the undead, a struggle which turns out to be the real reason for the Civil War) is clearly of secondary importance to the director, who stages one action scene after another, some grippingly intimate, some (a horse stampede, a fight on a train that’s doomed to derail) thrillingly audacious. Bekmambetov approaches these sequences with inspiration derived from martial arts films, from the Wachowski brothers, and from something not quite seen in movies other than his own. He’s not afraid to risk seeming ludicrous while putting his signature touch on things; indeed, he courts credulity so blatantly and so often that you sense him getting lost in the magical tools at his disposal. He enjoys himself so much that it’s hard not to be roused along with him.
Look, this is a ludicrous premise, and it’s sometimes played stiffly as to seem willfully inept. But when Bekmambetov is in full stride and the gore, oaths and silver bullets are flying, it’s a kick. The title may sound like a joke, but “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter” is serious fun.
(105 min., R, multiple locations) Grade: B-plus
Shawn Levy's books include the best-sellers The Castle on Sunset, Rat Pack Confidential, Paul Newman: A Life, King of Comedy: The Life and Art of Jerry Lewis, and Dolce Vita Confidential.
He also wrote and narrated the podcast Glitter & Might. The former film critic of The Oregonian and KGW-TV, he has written for Sight and Sound, Film Comment, American Film, Interview, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Guardian, The Hollywood Reporter, and The Black Rock Beacon. He jumps and claps and sings for victory in Portland, Oregon.
