FILM LIST
that isn’t just an assemblage of effects in search of a plot. Edinburgh; Filmhousc
0 Re-Animator ( 18) (Stuart Gordon. US, 1984) Bruce Abbot, Barbara Campton. 84 mins. Enjoyable black horror comic wherein a crazed scientist (aren‘t they all?) comes up with a nifty serum that can bring the dead back to life. Much fun is had with the special effects which include some ofthe friskiest intestines ever. Edinburgh; Filmhousc
0 Robin Hood (U) (Walt Disney Productions. US. 1973) With the voices of Peter Ustinov. Terry-Thomas, Andy Devine. 83 mins. Off-form Disney cartoon of Robin and his Merrie Men betraying every sign of a formula worn thin and a lack of imagination. Perhaps the nadir of the studio‘s animation work. Edinburgh: EUFS
o The Rocky Horror Picture Show ( 15) (Jim Sharman. UK. 1975) Tim Curry. Susan Sarandon. Barry Bostwick. 1(leins. Dust offthe old suspenders. water pistols and rice for another spin with the kinky cult musical horror spoof. Edinburgh; Metro
0 Room With A View (PG) (James Ivory, UK. 1985) Helena Bonham Carter, Maggie Smith, Daniel Day-Lewis. 117 mins. Elegantly mounted with an agreeable lightness oftouch. this is a near-perfect version of the Forster novel. Edinburgh; Dominion
0 Running Scared (15) (Peter Hyams. US. 1986) Gregory Hines. Billy Crystal. Steven Bauer. 107 mins. Very familiar. buddy-buddy cop caper strongly reminiscent of an old Starsky and Hutch episode but enlivened by the infectious camaraderie ofthe Hines-Crystal partnership.
Glasgow; ABC Sauchiehall Street. Edinburgh; ABC
0 Ruthless People (18) (Jim Abrahams, David and Jerry Zucker, US, 1986) Bette Midler, Danny De Vito, Judge Reinhold. 94 mins. Insultingly unfunny satire on contemporary greed, or something, has spandex mini-skirt king Dc Vito lose his wife Midler to inept kidnappers, which is just what he has been planning anyway. Irritatineg acted, sluggishly directed celluloid atrocity with an inert and wearisome script. Witless People might be a better description for the brain-death brigade involved. Glasgow; Grosvenor. Odeon. Edinburgh; Odeon. Strathclyde; Kelburne. Rialto
0 Shanghai Surprise (15) (Jim Godard. Uk, 1986) The Poison Penns, Bernard Hill. 92 mins. Woebegone attempt at recreating Forties‘ quickfire comedy with inept stars and a catatonic script. To be missed. Glasgow: ABC Sauchiehall Street. Lothian; ABC. Strathclyde; ABC Greenock. ABC Kilmarnock. La Scala
0 Static (15) (Mark Romaneck, US, 1985) Keith Gordon, Amanda
Plummer. 88 mins. An alienated young man is fired from his job at a
religious artefacts factory and spends his time working on a revolutionary invention — a TV screen that will
Men (15) (Doris Dorrie, West Germany, 1985) Heiner Lauterbach, Uwe Ochsenknecht, Ulrike Kriener. 99 mins. Don’t burst your lederhosen with anticipatory enthusiasm, but Ménner is acually that rare creature; a funny German comedy with etwas interessant to offer by way of comment on the age-old battle of the sexes.
Julius is a complacent, sell-satisfied, middle-class, middle-management representative of the bourgeoisie. His extra-curricular philandering with a succession of office secretaries is deemed a perfectly satisfactory adjunt to a well-balanced and seemingly happy marriage. However, on his twelfth wedding anniversary he discovers a love bite on his wife Paulas's neck and is incensed by her blatant infidelity. The very foundations of his unthinking existence have been rocked and he retaliates in a manner worthy of the more devious and hypocritical of the species.
Spying on his wife and her lover Stefan, Julius decides thatthe only way to restore his idea of harmony is to eradicate any vestige of the other man’s individuality. He determines to transform Stefan into a virtually indistinguishable carbon copy of himself and thus terminate his wife’s infatuation.
Stefan is a free living, hippy-like freelance graphic artist who is secretly motivated by the same basic greed as the rest of mankind. Concealing his identity, Julius becomes Stefan’s new flatmate and, gaining his confidence, a mentor and guide towards a new
lifestyle based on conformity, full-time employment and a strict adherence to the work ethic. As an unconventional friendship develops between the two men, they become an Odd Couple for the Eighties and poor Paula is left with little variety in her life.
manner is at its best as a dissection of male behavioural traits, neatly capturing the quirks and foibles of the petty-minded, jealousy-inspired, needlessly competitive and hypocritical overgrown schoolboys that we are all capable of being. Dorrie offers some neat observations and home truths even if there is very little fresh or unsettling in her insights. Her film embodies a dilemma of never being wilfully malicious towards its characters and thus appearing inoffensive; more bite would not have gone amiss.
Some of the farcical elements work well, particularly a breakfast scene at Stefan’s where Julius dons a gorilla mask and boxing gloves to avoid face to face contact with his visiting wife. However, the climax, in which the two men, now pin-striped city gents, confront each other in the office lift and wind up stripped down to their underwear, is redundant and indicates a film that is unable to satisfactorily conclude after it has made its point. Nevertheless, Manner is a mirthlull, entertainineg performed comedy of manners in which everyone should discern some glimmer of their own character and be able to chuckle with wryly affectionate self-deprecation. (Allan Hunter)
show a live picture of Heaven. Strange and beguiling American independent with a great eye for bizarre detail and a splendidly deranged performance from co-scenarist Keith Gordon (Dressed to Kill, Christine). A genuine curiosity and a sure-fire cult movie for years to come. Make sure you get in on the ground floor. Edinburgh; Filmhouse 0 Subway (15) (Luc Besson. France. 1985) Christopher Lambert. Isabella Adjani, Michael Galabru. 102 mins. A smooth, stylish thriller likened to Diva but with a drive. energy and exuberance of its own. Glasgow; GET 0 Syncopated Animation (PG) 75 mins
(approx) A programme of 17 films from 1929 to 1986 exploring the relationship between music and animation, the close harmony of rhythms and images. in work ranging from Oskar Fischinger and Chuck Jones to the Art of Noice‘s (lose to the Edit and the video for Peter Gabriel‘s Sledgehammer. Edinburgh; Filmhouse o The Termlnator(18) (James Cameron. US. 1984) Arnold Schwarzenegger. Michael Biehn. Linda Hamilton. 107 mins. In 2029 machines have all but conquered the planet but a saviour is at hand in the form ofa new human leader. Part-man. part-machine. Schwarzenegger‘s cyborg is sent
back from the future to 1984 on a mission to kill the future leader‘s mother. He is followed through time by a guerrilla fighter determined to ensure that he does not succeed. Together they fight it out on the streets of Los Angeles.
Inventive. excitingly-paced science-fiction adventure with a notable performance from Schwarzenegger in his first villainous role. Glasgow; GET
0 Top Gun (15) (Tony Scott. US. 1986) Tom Cruise, Kelly McGillis. Anthony Edwards. 110 mins. Glossy. mindless mainstream American pap with hunky Cruise proving his worth in the air_and on the ground (ably assisted in the latter department by the mouthwatering McGillis). Laces with the patriotic nausea endemic to much of 19805’ US cinema, the film’s chiefvirtues are a seductive surface and some dazzling highflying effects. Glasgow; ABC Clarkston Road. ABC Sauchiehall Street. Cinema. Grosvenor. Edinburgh; ABC. Dominion. Strathclyde; Odeon Hamilton
0 Trading Places (15) (John Landis, US. 1983) Dan Aykroyd, Eddie Murphy. 116 mins. A ‘Prince and the Pauper‘ lifestyle-swapping comedy sparked by Murphy‘s dynamic performance. Glasgow; Grosvenor o Trancers (15) (Charles Band, US. 1984) Tim Thomerson, Helen Hunt. 76 mins. Police trooper Jack Deth from 2247 travels back to 1985 to :liminate the ancestor of a mystic whose zombie-like followers are a threat to society‘s well-being. Spirited B-movie mating of Blade Runner and The Terminator in the best punk noir style. Edinburgh; Filmhouse
0 Trouble in Mind (15) (Allan Rudolph. US, 1986) Kris Kristofferson. Keith Carradine. Genevieve Bujold. 112 mins. Rudolph’s phantasmagorical blend ofgangster movie. fantasy melodrama. and modern day western. with desperate characters trying to go straight in the moral playground of Rain City. far from being confusing works with idiosyncratic logic to create a memorably allusive yet wholly unclassifiable experience.
For the way in which it continually avoids cliche whilst teasingly awakening memories of past pleasures. it‘s a dream of a film. Probably the year‘s best. Edinburgh; Filmhousc 0 White Nights(15) (Taylor Hackford, US. 1985) Mikhail Baryshnikov. Gregory Hines. Helen Mirren. 134 mins. Soviet defector stranded in Siberia and anti-Vietnam Yank team-up to fight the Ruskies and fly the flag for Uncle Sam. Forget the Cold War rhubarbing and watch two great dancers. Glasgow: Grosvenor 0 Young Frankenstein (15) (Mel Brooks, US. 1974) Gene Wilder. Peter Boyle. Gene Hackman. 108 mins. Affectionate. bullseye pastiche ofThirties horror movies chock full of memorable one-liners and crazee situations. Edinburgh; Metro
The List 28 Nov — 11 Dec 13