Willamette Weekend

[VISUAL ARTS] Two years ago, while recovering from multiple concussions, Nile Hagen picked up a SLR camera and started snapping pictures. Some of the images, such as Recovery 1, with its warning sign planted on the ledge of a cliff, held resonance to the burgeoning photographer’s precarious recovery. Hagen’s images aren’t just limited to personal narrative and symbolism, however; they cover a broad range, including some rapturous photographs of landscapes and night skies. This is a promising debut from an emerging artist with an eye for composition, color value and content. RICHARD SPEER. Nov. 1-Dec. 1. Graeter Art Gallery, 131 NW 2nd Ave., 477-6041.

[FILM] The focus of Brooklyn Castle, the first directorial effort by Katie Dellamaggiore, is the incredibly successful chess team from I.S. 318, a public middle school in Brooklyn. But as much as the students and their families are the stars of this documentary, they share top billing with the collapse of the U.S. economy. That boondoggle casts a long shadow on the events of this film, as teachers and administrators struggle with budget cuts that threaten the school’s extracurricular activities and electives. You can see the weight bearing down on the adults as much as on the kids. But through this lens, the success of the chess team shine that much brighter. Same goes for the overarching goal of the film: to encourage parents and educators to protect extracurricular programs and electives. The kids in Brooklyn Castle are the icing on this dense cake. They are a charming, poised bunch with relatable personalities and appropriately lofty goals spurred on by the success they’ve achieved playing chess. Dellamaggiore presents their stories with clear eyes, avoiding the cloying emotion that could have hindered such a fine and uplifting work. ROBERT HAM. Fox Tower, 846 SW Park Ave. Multiple showtimes.

[FILM] Following the release of Tangled in 2010, Walt Disney Animation Studios announced a hiatus from princess movies. Rich Moore’s Wreck-It Ralph is the entertaining result. John C. Reilly voices the title character, a villain in an 8-bit arcade game called Fix-It Felix Jr. In the world behind the arcade screen, Ralph isn’t a villain; he’s just a guy working a thankless 9-to-5 job. He gets tossed in the mud every day and can never win a medal. The film opens with Ralph in a support group for villains, including Bowser, Zangief and Clyde from Pac-Man—a few of many cameos by beloved game characters. Ralph’s irrepressible need for validation in the form of a medal leads him into an Area 51-style shooter game before culminating in a high-speed race through the colorful candy world of Sugar Rush (ridden with product placement). Along the way, Ralph bumps into Jack McBrayer recycling his 30 Rock shtick, a gruff captain “programmed with the most tragic backstory ever” (Jane Lynch) and an obnoxious little glitch (Sarah Silverman). You don’t need to know much about old games to enjoy this alternately funny and touching film, but it rewards those who do. PG. JOHN LOCANTHI. Multiple theaters and showtimes.