FILM LIST
the way in which contemporary avant-garde filmmakers like Kenneth Anger. Steve Dowskin. Jayne Parker and Stan Brakhage have attempted to use the medium as a means ofexpressing the personal aspects ofsexuality. Edinburgh; Filmhouse
0 She's Gotta Have It ( 18) (Spike Lee. US. 1986) Tracy Camila Johns. Redmond Hicks. Spike Lee. 85 mins. Spirited. sympathetic comedy of sexual manners with a snappy script and fluid technique that marked an auspicious debut for its young. gifted and black writer/director/star. Highly recommended. Glasgow; GFT
0 Short Circuit (PG) (John Badham. US. 1986) Ally Sheedy. Steven Guttenberg. Fisher Stevens. 98 mins. Formula romp in which a sophisticated military robot is struck by lightning and develops human characteristics. An E. T. by any other name. Edinburgh: Filmhouse 0 Something Wild (18) (Jonathan Demme. US. 1987) JeffDaniels. Melanie Griffiths. Ray Liota. 113 mins. Another yuppie in peril laff fest to top After Hours and Desperately Seeking Susan with its deft blend of kooky komedy and emotional resonance all floating around in the most eclectically non-stoppingest soundtrack in years. A movie with style and savvy that treats its audience on equal terms. Don‘t miss it. Glasgow; Cannon Sauchiehall Street
0 Stand By Me (15) (Rob Reiner. US. 1986) Wil Wheaton. River Phoenix. Richard Dreyfuss. 88 mins. Looking back to a special summer in his youth, middle-aged writer Dreyfuss recalls the camaraderie of his childhood chums as they brawled, bragged and traded ingenious Obscenities during a vital weekend in his growing up and future development as a storyteller.
A near perfect evocation of children on the brink of adolescence, beautifully judged. immaculately performed. touching and funny. A complete winner. Glasgow; GFT 0 Stop Making Sense (PG) (Jonathan Demme. US. 1984) 88mins. Dynamic footage of'I‘alking Heads in concert from 1983. Glasgow Grosvenor o Stranger's Kiss ( 15) (Matthew Chapman. US. 1983) Peter Coyote. Victoria Tennant. Blaine Novak. 94 mins. A speculative fiction woven around the making ofStanley Kubrick‘s Killer's Kiss contrasts events on screen with the tangled emotions and shady financial dealings that are part and parcel of the film-making process.
The hectic atmosphere of the studio during production is well-conveyed in the stylish recreation of low-budget Fifties Hollywood. with the background events proving just as unscrupulous as those in any film noir. Edinburgh; Filmhouse o Streets at Fire ( 15) (Walter Hill. UK. 1984) Michael Pare. Diane Lane. Rick Moranis. 94 mins. When a rock singer is kidnapped. her former boyfriend rides to the rescue.
Good Morning Babylon (1 Vittorio Taviani, ltaly/France/USA, 1986) Vincent Spano, Joaquim Del Almedla, Greta Scacchi, Desiree Becker, Charles Dance. 117 mins. The Tavlani Brothers latest cinematic epic will come as something of a surprise, a very sentimental, hugely nostalgic tribute to the pioneering, let's all pull together spirit oi the early movies, when Hollywood was still a meadow at the end of the tram lines, its famous sign not yet broadcasting the decadence ol the studio system to come.
The lilm opens in Italy, as a family oi stonemasons iinish work on 3 Cathedral restoration. Business is bad, however, and a Iamily riit sees the two youngest brothers heading off ior America, intent on making theirtortune before returning to take up their Iather’s work, maintaining a tradition spanning generations. Instead, the boys Iind themselves minding pigs, until a chance encounter with a group oI Italian artisans heading Ior Los Angeles to build the Italian Pavilion.
Lo and behold, along comes the great American tilm director D. W. Griltith (Dance), in the throes oi creating his
Swaggering. comic strip rock ’n‘ roll fable that is hard to take seriously on any level. Edinburgh; Filmhouse
0 To Live and Die in LA ( 18) (William Friedkin. US, 1986) William Petersen. Willem Dafoe. 116 mins. Director Friedkin has a go at updating his earlier French (.‘onnection in this violent and cynical thriller that follows the trail of two unscrupulous FBI agents on the tail of a psychotic counterfeiter. As in its predecessor the highlight is an astonishing car chase. this time along with wrong side of a freeway at rush hour. Edinburgh: Filmhouse
o The Untouchables ( 18) a (Brian De Palma. US. 1987) Kevin Costner. Sean Connery. Robert De Niro. 1191/2 mins. See panel.
Glasgow; Cannon Clarkston Road. Cannon Sauchiehall Street. Edinburgh; Cannon. Strathclyde; Cannon Kilmarnock. ()deon Ayr. Lothian; Cannon
0 Vertigo (PG) (Alfred Hitchcock. US. 1958) James Stewart. Kim Novak. Barbara Bel Geddes. 126 mins. Agrophobic detective Stewart retires from the force and is engaged
GODDNING BABYLON
5) (Paolo and i '
masterpiece, Intolerance. By devious routes and more humiliating disappointments, the boys get themselves signed on with the film company, meet and marry two beautliul dancers, and eventually, atter yet more devious etc, Iind iavour with the great man himself.
Having designed the famous elephants lor the Intolerance set (the Iilm, which moves Irom Babylon In 539 BC to America in Griffith’s own time, is screening at GFT on 10 October), their Iortune seems secure, but tragedy strikes one of the brothers, thus breaking the almost mystical union between them. In an ending at breathtakineg naive sentimentality, the Tavianis play out a tragic, tearful battleiield re-union which underlines the entire spirit of tribute cum pastiche which has motivated their film. It would be easy to write It 011 as an embarrassing wallow in nostalgia, but considered lrom anotherviewpoint, it is actually a very radical act to attempt such a film in these sophisticated, cynical times. What is not in dispute is the visual splendour they invariably bring to their work.
(Kenny Mathleson)
privately to follow a woman with whom he falls hopelessly in love. An audacious mystery and a classic study of male perversity, Vertigo proved an impeccable swansong for the Stewart-Hitchcock team. Edinburgh; Cameo
0 Violent Streets ( 18) (Michael Mann. US. 1981)James Caan. Tuesday Weld. 123 mins. Caan is a professional, big-time thieftrying to survive in a tough world ofChicago’s rainswept streets. Inventive. stylish lowlife drama with several pluses including the cast and a Tangerine Dream score. Well-done moody macho-ness from the future originator of Miami Vice. Edinburgh; Filmhouse
o The Warriors (18) (Walter Hill. US, 1979) Michael Beck. James Remar, Thomas Waites. 90mins. Hill‘s Sledgehammer technique was at its most effective in this violent. visceral, fast-paced saga of a New York gang have to traverse the turf of a deadly rival to return to home base. Edinburgh; Filmhouse
o The Whistleblower (PG) (Simon
Langton. UK. 1986) Michael Caine. Nigel Havers. James Fox. John Gielgud. 104 mins. A strong cast and a good subject are wasted in this lacklustre. old-fashioned thriller that can‘t match up to the more exciting reality of the Peter Wright case and the true skullduggery at the heart of the British Secret Service. Glasgow: Salon
0 Witness(15) (Peter Weir. US. 1985) Harrison Ford. Kelly
McGillis. 112 mins. A young Amish boy is a witness to murder. The investigation leads a cop into a brush with another culture. a little romance to the sounds of Sam Cooke and the expected police corruption. One great film. Edinbrugh; Filmhouse
0 Witness tor the Prosecution (U) (Billy Wilder. US. 1957) Charles Laughton. Marlene Dietrich. Tyrone Power. 116 mins.'1‘op-notch cast in this delightful romp of an Agatha Christie courtroom suspenser with Laughton in casually juicy form. Glasgow; GFI‘
0 Yellow Earth (PG) (Chen Kaige. China.1984)Xue Bai. Wang Xequi. 89 mins. Kaige’s extraordinary debut feature centres on the clash between the traditional values and rituals of a remote mountain tribe and the new-fangled ideologies of a Communist soldier sent in 19391)}- the Party to study peasant culture. Edinburgh; Filmhouse
0 Young Sherlock Holmes ( PG) (Barry Levinson. US. 1985) Nicholas Rowe. Alan Cox. 109 mins. Schoolboys Holmes and Watson combat the worst that a bizarre Egyptian religious cult and the animatronics department of Industrial Light and Magic can throw at them. A sort ofConan Doyle meets Indiana Jones. Glasgow; GFT. Edinburgh: Filmhouse
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The List 18 Sept— l ()ct 17