FILM LIST
ST ELMO
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St Elmo's Fire (15) (Joel Schumacher, US, 1985) Emilio Estevez, Rob Lowe, Judd Nelson, Ally Sheedy. 108 mins. A group oi seven college lriends iind their closely-knit group disintegrating alter graduation. Estevez tails madly in love with a trainee doctor who rejects his advances; Lowe develops an alcohol problem; Nelson casts aside his political ideals by working lorthe Republicans; and Sheedy isn’t sure whetherto chose him orioumallstic wunderkind Andrew McCarthy. There Is more, but ii i told you all the details there would be no need to go and see the lilm. Sultice it to say that it resembles several episodes at virtually any glossy American soap opera crammed into one movie.
Following on from The Breaktast Club, this is another move away lrom the by now traditional tits ‘n’ ass teen movie (a la Porkys) to more
’8 FIRE
sophisticated pastures. The emphasis is now on the problems oi character development amidst the vagaries oi the adult world. However, whereas the superior Breaktast Club chose to locus upon live readily recognisable generic teenage types, St Elmo's Fire tries to cope with seven young adults and in the process loses the more luin-liedged character delineation of its lorerunner, and bungles what one supposes it was setting out to do.
A cast oi the most able young talent available does its best to enliven things (the excellent Emilio Estevez is saddled with a particularly tiresome role), but with all the characters being so ostentatioust comlortably oil, St Elmo's Fire becomes embalmed in its own relentless glossiness — sacrllicing any street cred hold on reality. Stay in and watch Eastenders instead. (Trevor Johnston)
0 Raiders of the Lost Ark (PG) (Steven Spelberg, US. 1981) Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Denholm Elliott. 115 mins. Exhilarating gung-ho high adventure with Ford’s invincible hero taking on the might of the Third Reich and emerging victorious. Strathclyde; Cinema East Kilbride.
o Rambo: First Blood Part ll ( 15) (George Pan Cosmatos, US. 1985) Sylvester Stallone, Richard Crenna. 96 mins. Inferior sequel to Stallone‘s 1982 hit. His monolithic Vietnam vet is released from incarceration to seek out his buddies still rotting in Vietcong prison camps. o Re-Animator(18) (Stuart Gordon, US. 1985) Bruce Abbott, Barbara Crampton, David Gale. 86 mins. To be reviewed. Glasgow; GET 0 Rio Bravo (PG) (Howard Hawks, US, 1959) John Wayne, Dean Martin. Angie Dickinson. 141 mins. Long—winded but still potent western with Wayne trying to prevent a killer escaping from the town jail assisted only by the drunken Martin and sundry other none too promising recruits. Glasgow; Grosvenor. 0 St Elmo's Fire (15) (Joel Schumacher, US, 1985) Emilio Estevez. Rob Lowe, Ally Sheedy. 108 mins. See caption review. Edinburgh; ABC. Glasgow; ABC Sauchiehall Street.
o The Searchers (PG) (John Ford, US, 1956) John Wayne, Natalie Wood, Jeffrey Hunter, Vera Miles. 119 mins. When his neice is captured by Indians Wayne spares neither man nor beast in his relentless quest for her retrieval.
Stark, impressive Western perhaps the apotheosis of the Wayne-Ford partnership. Glasgow; Grosvenor o The Seven Samurai (PG) (Akira Kurosawa, Japan, 1956) Toshiro Mifune, Takashi Shimura. 155 mins. Americanised as The Magnificent Seven, this medieval adventure remains vivid even today, with a restless narrative inescapably moving towards the explosive violence of the climax. Edinburgh; Filmhouse O Splash (PG) (Ron Howard, US. 1984) Tom Hanks, John Candy, Darryl Hannah. 110 mins. A city businessman feels that love has passed him by until he falls head over fin for a beautiful mermaid.
A naive, amiable romp Still a disappointment from the director of Night Shift. Edinburgh; Filmhouse.
0 Stop Matting Sense (PG) (Jonathan Demme, US, 1984) Talking Heads. 88 mins. The best band alive filmed in concert in L. A. The
student movie of the year. Edinburgh; Filmhouse.
0 Sunrise (PG) (F. W. Murnau. US. 1927) George O'Brien. Janet Gaynor. 95 minchrman
director Murnau brought a
painterly fatherly eye for visual feel to this typical story of American emotiveness.
One of the greatest films of the silent era. Edinburgh;Filmhouse
0 2010 (PG) (Peter Hyams. US, 1984) Roy Scheider, Helen Mirren, Keir Dullea. 116 mins. Nine years on Scheider commands a joint Soviet-American mission to discover the fate ofthe original crew member Dullea and answer the many
questions posed by 2001 . 2010 may lack the intellectual
density of Stanley Kubrick but it provides plausible solutions as to why computer HAL malfunctioned, and the explanation of the secrets of the black marble slab as a further stage in the evolution of mankind is
both clever and comforting. GET 0 Trading Places (15) (John Landis. US, 1983) Dan Aykroyd, Eddie
Murphy. Don Ameche, Jamie Lee Curtis. 116 mins. Two elderly members of Philadelphia's Heritage Club indulge in a wager that black down-and-out can make it as a commodities broker and instal him in a partnership, while the former
‘ broker he has replaced (now reduced
to vagabond status himself) decides to fight back. Superb comedy intricately scripted and beautifully timed, with Eddie Murphy almost stealing the show from Denholm Elliot‘s plucky butler and Ameche and Ralph Bellamy’s curmudgeonly old codgers. Worthy ofcomparison with 30$ models, and you even come out having learned something about the commodities market.
0 Up in Smoke ( 18) (Lou Adler. US, 1978) Cheech Marin, Tommy Chong, Stacy Keach. 86 mins. Debut film ofthe popular American comedy team Cheech and Chong is an episodic ramble as the two attempt to find some good grass. If
THE WRITE STUFF
The annual Lloyds Bank National Screenwriting Competition is once more underway. Open to non-professional writers under the ago 0126 on 26 February 1986 the aim is to select a winning script that is lresh, original and shows a command of the visual requirements oi writing tor the screen.
Entrants are expected to submit a script, preterrably typed, oi approximately 60 to 100 pages. Mark Bentley 01 the Oxford Film Foundation stresses the importance oi not being daunted by script-writing ionnat it this is something you have never previously attempted. What is essential is telling a story and presenting it in terms oi images. Planning elaborate camera angles or specltylng the depth oi locus is not essential. Reading William Goldman’s excellent Adventure in the Screen Trade may provide a lew tips tor the budding scribe.
The directors at the Oxtord Film Foundation and representatives of Lloyds Bank make a preliminary selection hunt the anticipated 200 or so scripts, and shortlisted screenplays will be judged by Verity Lambert, tormer head oi production at Thom-Em. The winner receives £500 with live runners-up prizes oi £50 each.
You also become eligible to attend an invaluable 10 day residential course in Oxtord designed to help young writers to develop their skills assisted by leading protessionais. This year writers like Jack Rosenthal and Bruce Robinson and directors like Peter Duttell and Charles Sturridge all lent their expertise.
The 1985 winner Kevin Scouler has now secured a place as writer/director at the National Film School. Last year Edinburgh native Ninian Dunnett, a lonner joumaiist, was the winner ior his script ot Restless Natives which subsequently went into production and was released this year. lie is now engaged on a script about the Loch Ness monster which is good or bad news depending on one's appreciation ol Restless Natives, but at least proves that winning the Lloyds Competition can lead to a career in the movies.
Further details, photocopies oi what a script should look like and general advice can be obtained lrom the Lloyds Bank National Screenwriting Competition, P.0. Box 156, Oxtord 0x1 1A2. This is also the address to which you can despatch completed scripts by no later than 28 February 1988. Good luck. (Allan Hunter).
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28 The List 15—28 November