FILM LIST
I Full Metal Jacket (18) (Stanley Kubrick, US, 1987) Matthew Modine, Lee Ermey, Dorian Harewood. 109 mins. Kubrick‘s long-awaited ‘Nam drama is a technically proficient but soulless depiction of raw recruits as they endure basic training and then the even greater horrors of the 1968 Tet offensive. Disappointing.
Glasgow; GFT. Strathclyde: Kelburne
I The Glenn Miller Story (PG) (Anthony Mann. US. 1953) James Stewart.June Allyson. 113 mins. Engaging. sentimental biopic of the big bandleader and his quest for that distinctive ‘sound‘. Stewart offers a well-modulated impersonation of Miller and there is a relaxed confidence and easy warmth in his relationship with screen wife Allyson. Edinburgh; Edinburgh Film Guild
IThe Great Wall (PG) 4? (Peter Wang. US/China. 1986) Peter Wang. Wang Xiao. Li Oinqin. 102 mins. The first American feature film to be shot in mainland China is an engaging comedy ofcross-cultural misunderstandings as the family ofa Chinese computer programmer come to visit his distant relatives in Bejing. Mutual curiosity soon gives way to a number of social faux-pas and misguided attempts at imitating the other in this considered and highly enjoyable production. Edinburgh: Filmhouse
I Hope and Glory ( 15) (John Boorman. US. 1987) Sarah Miles. lan Bannen. David Hayman. 112 mins. A warm. witty and affectionate autobiographical portrait of the child who grew up to beJohn Boorman. Well-crafted nostalgia.
Glasgow; Salon. Edinburgh; Dominion
I Housekeeping (PG) (Bill Forsyth. Canada. 1987) Christine Lahti. Sara Walker. Andrea Burchill. 116 mins. Serupulously faithful to the Marilynne Robinson novel. Forsyth's film tells oftwo orphaned sisters who are entrusted to the custody of a succession ofgeriatric relatives before the arrival oftheir eccentric aunt Sylvie. At first her presence is welcome but whilst one girl finds an awkward affinity with the transient Sylvie. the other yearns for a more conventional lifestyle and the local citizenry grow sceptical about Sylvie s suitability asa responsible guardian.
A magically strange story ofchildhood and perpetual adolescence. expressing wonder at the myriad pleasures ofthe everyday world. melancholy over the impermanenee of happiness and reflecting the almost unbearable heartache of loneliness. Literater scripted. confidently directed. beautifully photographed and performed with sensitive insight. Highly recommended to the discerning palate. Glasgow; Cannon Sauchiehall Street. Edinburgh; Cameo I lnnerspace (PG) (Joe Dante. US. 1987) Dennis Quaid. Martin Short. Meg Ryan.
119 mins. Maverick. gung-ho pilot Quaid is at the helm of an experimental probe that is miniaturized and accidentally injected into the bum of hypochondriac supermarket clerk Short who has just been warned to avoid any undue stress. With just 24 hours air supply Quaid must alert Short to his presence and encourage him to acts of dcrring-do as they evade the wicked clutches of various industrial spies and megalomaniacs.
Overplotted but engagineg ramshackle cartoonish adventure frolic that is the best of the Christmas family entertainment contenders this year.
Glasgow; Cannon Clarkston Road. Cannon Sauchiehall Street. Edinburgh; Cannon. Strathclyde; Cannon. Kelburne Odeon Ayr. Odeon Hamilton
I Jaws: The Revenge (PG) (Joseph Sargent. US. 1987) Lorraine Gary. Michael Caine. 90 mins. Ludicrous and unnecessary addition to the series with a great white shark developing a personal grudge against the Brody family. Strathclyde; Odeon Ayr
Spaceballs (PG) (Mel Brooks, US, 1987) Mel Brooks, John Candy, Rick Moranis, John Hurt. 97 mins. Once upon a time, in a cinema world far, far away, Mel Brooks used to make moderately amusing comic romps where his enthusiastic vulgarity and scattershot technique ensured that some of his pointed barbs squarer hit their target. Apart from an elaborately ingenious Alien gag and the deliciously gross character of Pizza the Hut, Spaceballs is a load of intergalactic garbage that continues a decline in Brooks' work evident over the past decade.
Brooks is the star, producer, director and co-writer ot Spaceballs, so the blame clearly lies at his doorstep lor this lamentable lame-brained Star Wars spool that barely raises a sympathetic titter throughout its excruciatingly, interminany juvenile 97 minutes.
Set on the planet Spaceball, the film
_ SPACEALLS
centres on the eternal conllict between ‘the nice and the rotten’. Having squandered the planet’s atmosphere, President Skroob has not reckoned on the ineptitude of his champion, Lord Dark Helmet, northe intervention of space bum Lone Stan, droid Dot Matrix and the wise Yogurt.
In a fevered guest for laughs, madcap Mel takes swipes at Star Trek, Planet Of The Apes, Lawrence Ot Arabia, over-zealous movies merchandising, Perrier et al, but the effect is one of desperation and not universal hilarity. The gags come as thick and last, loud and inventive as ever, but they fail to amuse. Intoxicated with a llagon or twelve of ale and digesting an extra-large pizza, Spaceballs might appear a boot but otherwise it appears to have been crafted from a schoolboy's discarded jotter of jokes and wheezes. Recommended only for extremely undemanding under 8s. (Allan Hunter)
IThe Jerk ( 15) (Carl Reiner. US, 1979) Steve Martin. Bernadette Peters. 94 mins. Martin‘s feature debut is really for diehard fans only as he portrays an ultra-simple country boy made good through an amazingly successful invention. Edinburgh; Cameo I Let’s Hope It'sAOirl (15) (Mario Monicelli. Italy/France, 1985) Liv Ullmann. Catherine Deneuve. Philippe Noiret. 119 mins. Overlong, complex Italian comedy drama as an all-female family group struggle with bereavement troubled relationships. and a dotty inventor Uncle
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 . Glasgow; GFl‘. Edinburgh; Filmhouse
I La Maitresse (18) (Barbet Schroeder. France. 1979) Bulle Ogier. 95 mins. A suburban haven for those who enjoy such things is presided over by a leather-clad dominatrix meting out the most ingenious varieties of sado-masochistic activity. Dark. hard-edged study in perversity Glasgow; GFT I Masters ol the Universe (PG) to (Gary Goddard. US, 1987) Dolph Lundgren, Frank Lengella, Meg Foster. lOOmins. See panel. Glasgow; Cannon Clarkston Road, Cannon Sauchiehall Street. Edinburgh; Cannon. Lothian; Cannon. Strathclyde; Cannon. Rialto I Monty Python's Meaning olLile(18)
(TcrryJones. UK. 1983) Michael Palin. Terry Gilliam. John Cleese etc. 91) mins. Uneven Python humour combining songs. sketches and general ruminations on the human time scale from birth to death. Glasgow; Grosvenor
I My Life As A Dog (PG) (Lasse Halstrom. Sweden, 1985) Anton Glanzelius. Manfred Serner, Anki Liden. 101 mins. Wholly captivating rite of passage tale set in Sweden during the 19505. Twelve year-old lngemar copes with his mother‘s terminal illness and his family‘s general indifference to his boisterous spirits by indulging in a high fantasy life, including the pretence that he is a dog.
Terrible title, wonderful film. Edinburgh; Filmhouse
I The flame of 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 as a Sherlock Holmes-like sleuth on the trail of the murderer in the monastery. Glasgow; GFT. Edinburgh; Filmhouse I New York New York (PG) (Martin Scorsese, US, 1977) Robert De N iro. Liza Minnelli, Barry Primus. 163 mins. Scorsese revisits the golden age of the studio musical with this elaborately intimate drama. The seductive surface is redolent of A Star Is Born era, but underneath the Big Band nostalgia there lurks a characteristically lacerating personal struggle between mismatched lovers. Edinburgh; Cameo
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 nowa psychiatrist specialising in pattern nightmares. All her skills are needed to assist a group of teenagers being collectively pestered by 01‘ pizza-face FreddY-Glasgow: Cinema. Grosvenor. Strathclyde: Odeon Hamilton
I One Deadly Summer ( 18) (Jean Becker. France. 1983) Isabelle Adjani. 133 mins. In rural France. a town flirt investigates the dark secret of her past and digs up more than she had bargained for. lnterminable Gallic melodrama which Adjani does little to enliven. Sanitised smut. Glasgow; GFT
I Out olAtrica (PG) (Sydney Pollack, US. 1985) Meryl Streep, Robert Redford. 161 mins. Tragic romance between Karen Blixen and English game hunter in this measured. evocative and worthy Oscar champion. Edinburgh; Cameo
I Outrageous Fortune (15) (Arthur Hlllcr. US. 1987) Bette Midler. Shelley Long. Peter Coyote. 99 mins. Dumb.bland horribly overplotted female buddy cartoon farce that even Midler lovers may find hard to stomach. Glasgow; Cinema. Grosvenor. Strathclyde;Ke1burne. Odeon Hamilton. Rialto
I Personal Services ( 18) (Terry Jones. UK. 1986) Julie Walters. Shirley Stelfox. Alec McCowen. 105 mins. Suggested by the life. times and social etiquette of Cynthia Payne. this ribald and engaging commentary on the British way ofsex features a top notch performance from Julie Walters and a lethal script by David Leland. Glasgow; Grosvenor
I Platoon (15) (Oliver Stone, US, 1986) Charlie Sheen. Willem Dafoe, Tom Berengcr. 12(lmins. Writer-veteran Stone‘s multiple Oscar-winner seeks to portray. as vividly as possible. the experience of the ordinary infantryman on combat duty in Vietnam around the turn of 1967—68.
An uncomfortable experience and an undoubtedly well-crafted one with its genre connotations and lack ofa genuine overview on the situation, this landmark in grimy authenticity remains a classic war film that just happens to be set in Vietnam. Glasgow; GF'T. Edinburgh; Filmhouse I Poltergeist ( l8) (Tobe Hooper. US, 1982) Craig T. Nelson. JoBeth Williams. 114 mins. Hooper summons up a few thrills and spills in this familiar story ofa suburban family suffering unwelcome guests Edinburgh; Cameo I Poltergeist II -The Other Side (15) (Brian Gibson. US, 1986) JoBeth Williams, Craig T. Nelson. 93 mins. The long-suffering family from Tobe Hooper‘s 1982 original are again buried by a plethora of increasingly risible special effects in this turgid sequel. Edinburgh; Cameo
I A Portrait of the Artist As A Young Man ( 15) (Joseph Strick. UK. 1977) Bosco Hogan, T.P. McKenna. John Gielgud. 92mins. Dubliner Stephen Dedalus undergoes a stern Catholic education and his experience develops from sin to sanctity to self-expression. Fair BBC-ish attempt at the novel. with T.P. McKenna's hell-fire sermon a memorable highlight. Edinburgh; Filmhouse
I Prick Up Your Ears ( 18) (Stephen Frears, UK. 1987) Gary Oldman, Alfred Molina, Vanessa Redgrave. 110 mins. Wickcdly tart and funny biographical portrait of the seesaw relationship between playwright Joe Orton and his lover Kenneth Halliwell. Highly recommended. Glasgow; GET
I Prini’s Honour ( 15) (John Huston, US, 1985) Jack Nicholson, Kathleen Turner, Angelica Huston. 129 mins. Slow-witted
The List 11 Dec1987-7Jan198819