FILM LIST
striking use of its studio setting and Rudolph Mate’s black and white photography. iiayworth is at the height of her career and displays unforgettable magnetism singing ‘Put the Blame on Mame‘ and sensuously stripping off long black gloves. Glasgow: GFT I Gremlins ( 15) (Joe Dante. US. 1984) Zach Galligan. Phoebe Cates. 106mins. Cute and cuddly little mogwais become malevolent monsters if not properly cared for and wreak havoc in idealised smalltown America. Resistible horror comic. never as funny as it thinks it is. Edinburgh; Cameo I Heavenly Pursuits ( 15) (Charles Gormley. UK. 1986) Tom Conti. Helen Mirrcn. David llayman. 92 mins. Conti is the caring teacher caught up in his remedial school‘s miracle fever who must determine the plausibility ofdivine intervention in contemporary Glasgow. An engaging. lightweight comedy-drama told with wit and charm and performed with assurance. Tartan candyfloss. Edinburgh; EUFS
I Highlander ( 15) (Russell Mulcahy. US. 1986) Christopher Lambert. Sean Connery. Beatie Edney. 116 mins. A handful of immortals battle through the centuries to win a mythical prize. Daffy fantasy adventure executed with some style. Glasgow; Grosvenor. Strathclyde; Odeon Ayr I Hope and Glory (15) (John Boorman. US. 1987) Sarah Miles. Ian Bannen. David Hayman. 112 mins. A warm.witty and affectionate autobiographical portrait of the Second World War as seen through the eyes of the child who grew up tobe John Boorman. Wechrafted, sharp-eyed nostalgia.
Glasgow; Odeon. Edinburgh; Dominion I Housekeeping (PG) a (Bill Forsyth. Canada. 1987) Christine Lahti, Sara Walker. Andrea Burchill. 116 mins. See panel. Glasgow; Cannon Sauchiehall Street. Edinburgh; Cameo I Innerspace (PG) fi' (Joe Dante. US. 1987) Dennis Quaid. Martin Short. Meg Ryan. 119 mins. See panel.
Glasgow; Cannon Clarkston Road, Cannon Sauchiehall Street. Cinema. Edinburgh; Cannon. Lothian; Cannon. Strathclyde; Cannon. Odeon Ayr, Odeon Hamilton
I lshter(PG) fi (Elaine May. US. 1987) Dustin Hoffman. Isabelle Ad jani, Warren Beatty. 108 mins. See panel.
Glasgow; Cannon Clarkston Road. Odeon. Salon. Edinburgh; Odeon. Lothian; Cannon. Strathclyde; Cannon, Kelburne. La Scala. Odeon Ayr, Odeon Hamilton. Rialto I It's Alive ( 18) (Larry Cohen, US. 1973) John Ryan. Sharon Farrell. Andrew Duggan. 91 mins. Low-budget. offbeat shocker inspired by Rosemary's Baby in which a toddler goes on a murderous rampage. Better than most efforts in this genre. Glasgow; Cannon Sauchiehall Street I It Jolly Lives Next Door ( 15) fr (Stephen Frears. UK. 1987) Adrian Edmondson. Rik Mayall, Nicholas Parsons. 52 mins. Rik and Ade, mainstays of Dreamtime Escorts, inadvertently receive a missive intended for their hit man neighbour instructing him to ‘take out‘ Nicholas Parsons. With the £3000 contained within an envelope they proceed to entertain Nick at the Dorchester where the blood-soaked havoc begins . . . Edinburgh; Cameo
I The Journey (PG) (Peter Watkins, Sweden. 1987) Exhaustive and exhausting survey of the impact of the nuclear age on the common man. his attitudes and the lack of accurate information at his disposal. Ten families from around the globe are questioned on their feelings and their knowledge of what is happening often on their doorsteps. Part 21asts$ hours 15 minutes. Part 3 lasts 4 hours and will be followed by an open discussion
ISHTAR
Ishtar (PG) (Elaine May, US. 1987) Warren Beatty. Isabelle Adiani, Dustin Hellman. 108 mins. The history ol the comic vulture is a slight but crucial one. Generally seen as a harbinger oI doom wheeling across a cloudiess Texan sky, this line bird's potential lor comedy remains sadly underexploited. There were, oi course, those champions oi ennui skiliully deployed in The Jungle Book but, by and large, the canon is not extensive. Vulture lovers can take heart, however, with the arrival at Ishtar on our screens, a iilm ieaturing quite the best iocular birds ol prey ever depicted in a popular motion picture. Well, a motion picture anyway, ior ‘lshtar is not the stull lrom which Malibu mansions are made. Dustin Hollman and Warren Beatty play two tailed singer-songwriters who are booked into a residency in Marrakesh. En route, they become entangled with a group 01 lreedom
with members of the production team. Glasgow; GFI‘
I Juliette. Du Le (:16 Des Songes (Marcel Came. France , 1950) Gerard Philippe, Suzanne Cloutier. 120 mins. A young prisoner dreams of a mysterious island where his ideal love Juliette is engaged to the evil but debonair Bluebeard. A disappointing reworking of Peter lbbetson. Edinburgh; Edinburgh Film Guild
I The Killing Fields (15) (Roland Joffe , UK, 1984) Sam Waterston, Haing S. Ngor. 142 mins. Powerful, Oscar-winning true story of a deep friendship that endures the horrors of war and its aftermath in Cambodia. Glasgow; GFT
I King oi Comedy (PG) (Martin Scorsese. US, 1982) Robert De Niro, Jerry Lewis, Sandra Bernhard. 109 mins. Aspiring comedian and hopeful primtime star De Niro will stop at nothing to claim his fifteen minutes of celebrity, including kidnapping a Johnny Carson-style chat show host.
Superb showbiz black comedy with superlativer contrasting work from De Niro as the creepy Rupert Pupkin and an awesomely restrained Lewis as the Carson figure who is definitely not amused. Criminally undervalued on its initial release. Edinburgh; Cameo
I King ellile Marvin Gardens (18) (Bob Rafelson, US, 1972) Jack Nicholson, Bruce Dem, Ellen Burstyn. 104 mins. Nicholson is the host of a controversial late-night radio show , obsessed with creating a tragic autobiography for his listeners. A phonecall from his elder brother Dem summons him from
_- .. J v ,.- I, I 3 ' l./I' rig
lighters from the tiny state oi lshtar, the CIA, some arms smugglers and a blind camel. it you think this doesn’t sound too promising, you'd be quite right. Once the initial joke at seeing Warren Beatty playing against type as a Iailure with women wears all, there is little to hold the attention. The rest oi the cast mug their way through a series of tenuoust comic scenes, Isabelle Adiani does little but ilash her breasts and simper, and there is a sense at tremendous reliel when the thing iinally Iimps to a conclusion, although this is tempered by a suspicion that the director, Elaine May, linishes the lllm only because she couldn’t think oi anything else to do. In theory, the idea of an updated Hope/Crosby vehicle is a good one. but the practice, as represented by Ishtar, is sadly lacking. By all accounts, some $40 million was spent on Ishtar; let us hope that the vultures got most oi it. (Mark Hagen)
Philadelphia to Atlantic City where a wild scheme is unveiled to buy a holiday island off the coast of Hawaii. Unfortunately, Dem is also heavily involved with ruthless black marketeers.
Unforgettably atmospheric, elliptical twilight drama of fading dreams, battered hopes and rueful remembrances of things past. An unarguably great film and part of a splendid double bill of Rafelson’s work. Edinburgh; Filmhouse
I Kiss oi the Spiderwoman (15) (Hector Babenc0. US/Brazil, 1985) William Hurt. Raul Julia, Sonia Braga. 121 mins. Two men share a prison cell. victims in their individual ways of an unspecified fascist regime. One is a flamboyant homosexual. the other a macho revolutionary. The pain of their confinement ultimately brings mutual understanding and a moving exchange of roles. Edinburgh; Cameo
I Let’s Hope it's A Girl (15) #2 (Mario Monicelli, Italy/France, 1985) Liv Ullmann, Catherine Deneuve, Philippe Noiret, Bernard Blier. 119 mins. Overlong. complex Italian comedy drama as an all-female family group struggle with bereavement, troubled relationships, and a dotty inventor Uncle joining their ranks in the big old country house where they all live.
A stellar European cast for this mild entertainment helmed by the ageing Monicelli , the whole thing plays like several episodes of disparate soap operas uneasily shackled together, but the countryside is rather lovely. Edinburgh; Filmhouse I Lilli. Shop ol Horrors (PG) (Frank Ox, US. 1986) Rick Romanis. Ellen Greene.
Steve Martin. 94 mins. Brash. breezy. big-scale musical about Audrey. A likeable plant with a man-size appetite. Glasgow; Grosvenor
I Lola (15) (Rainer Werber Fassbinder, W. Germany. 1981) Barbara Sukowa. Armin Mueller-Stahl. Mario Adorf. 115 mins. The middle film of Fassbinder‘s trilogy on post-war Germany features Sukowa as a mercilessly ambitious singer-whore wo set out to amorously enslave the new Building Commissioner of her town. Striking visuals enhance a compelling storyline. Glasgow; GFT
I The Marriage of Maria Draun (15)(Raincr Werner Fassbinder. W. Germany, 1978) Hanna Schygulla. Klaus Lowitch. lvan Desny. 120 mins. The first filmin Fassbinder’s triology on post-war Germany features a virtuoso performance by Schygulla. wed as Allied bombs are dropping on Berlin and apparenty widowed shortly thereafter. Scratching a living as a nightclub hostess, she reluctanly embarks on an affair with a black American soldier and begins to build her own empire. One of this director’s most accessible films, lusth reminiscent of the Crawford and Davis ‘women’s pictures.‘ Edinburgh; Cameo
I Meat (18) (Fred Wiseman. US. 1974) 90 mins. Wiseman‘s startling documentary takes the viewer inside an abbattoir and is probably one of the strongest arguments in favour of adopting vegetarianism. Edinburgh; EUFS
I Melvin and Howard (15) (Jonathan Demme. US. 1980) Paul Le Mat, Jason Robards. Mary Steenburgen. 95 mins. Quirky slice of comic Americana with Le Mat as the petrol station attendant who gave a lift to Howard Hughes and found himself named as a beneficiary in one of the eccentric billionaire‘s many contested wills. An Oscar-winner for Bo Goldman‘s script and Steenburgen‘s delightfl performance as Le Mat‘s indomitable wife. Edinburgh; Filmhouse
I Memories of Underdevelopment ( 18) (Tomas Gutierrez Alea, Cuba. 1968) 104 mins. Dazzling Cuban political drama displaying a virtuoso command of New Wave formal flexibility. as a writer looks back on the arrival of the Castro revolution and the concurrent break-up of a relationship. Little-seen but impressive piece that deserves as high a reputation as its French models. Edinburgh; Filmhouse I Mona Lisa (18) (Neil Jordan. UK, 1986) Bob Hoskins, Cathy Tyson, Michael Caine. 104 mins. Hoskins gives a heartrending, much-lauded performance as the ex-con with a battered heart in this brilliant thriller/film noir. Edinburgh; EUFS
I The Heme oi the Hose (18) (Jean-Jacques Annaud, W. Germany/France/ltaly, 1986) Sean Connery, F. Murray Abraham. 131 mins. Marvellous medieval mystery with the masterful Connery on the trail of a monastery murderer. Edinburgh; EUFS
I A Nightmare on Elm Street, Part 3: Dream Warriors(18) (Chuck Russell, US, 1987) Robert Englund, Heather Langenkamp. Craig Wasson. 97 mins. Having survived the horrors of Part 1, Langenkamp has put her experiences to good use and is now a psychiatrist specialising in pattern nightmares. All her skills are needed to assist a group of teenagers being collectively pestered by 01’ pizza face Freddy. Interesting if unsuccessful attempt to progress the series beyond its simple desire to shock and try and tell a story instead.
Glasgow; Grosvenor, Odeon. Edinburgh; Odeon. Strathclyde; Kelbume, La Scala, Odeon Hamilton, Rialto
I Outrageous Fortune (15) (Arthur Miller, US. 1987) Bette Midler. Shelley Long, Peter Coyote. 99 mins. Dumb, bland horribly overplotted cartoon of a farce that even Midler lovers may find hard to endure. Strathclyde; Rialto
12 The List 27 Nov — 10 Dec 1987