FILM LIST
Great fun it all is too. Glasgow: Cannon Clarkston Road. Cannon Sauchichall Street. Grosvenor. Edinburgh: Cannon. Central: Cannon. Strathclyde: Cannon. Kelburne. La Scala. ()deon Ayr. ()deon Hamilton. Rialto.
I The Believers ( 18) 2’: (John Schlesinger. US. 1987) Martin Sheen. Helen Shaver. Robert Loggia. 113 mins. Followingthe death of his wife. psychiatrist Sheen and his son move to New York. Employed asa counsellor to unstable police officers. he becomes involved in a series ofchild murders that appear to be the work ofa modern-day religious sect practising voodoo and black magic.
Generally disparaged horror thriller that has been receive d by gaping mouths at the thought that talents like Sheen and Schlesinger could be involved in its perpetration. Others however. have found it ‘effectively scary and genuinely thought-provoking. Iidinburgh: Cameo. I Big Business (PG) (Jim Abrahams‘. 133. 1988) Bette Midler. Lily Tomlin. 94 mins. See caption review. Glasgow: Grosvenor. ()deon. Edinburgh: ()deon. Central; Cannon. ()deon Ayr. ()deon l lamilton. I Biloxi Blues ( 15) (Mike Niclliols. 128. 1988) Matthew Broderick. Christopher Walken. Matt Mulhern. lflbmins. Glasgow: Cannon Sauchichall Street. Edinburgh: Cannon.
I Bloodsport( 18) :9: (Newt Arnold. US. 1988) Jean-Claude Van Damme. Donald Gibb. Forest Whitaker. 95 mins. A young Americans determination to pay tribute to his martial arts teacher involves him battling the Ninja ofJapan in the Kumite. a free-style martial arts contest staged every five years by the International Fighting Arts Association.
The usual Cannon cheapo action thriller. with Van Damme flexing skills first seen in .Vo Retreat. .Vo Surrender. The audience for this sort ofstuff will nodoubt seek it out. Glasgow: Cannon Sauchichall Street.
I Cat People ( 18) (Paul Schrader. LS. 1982) Nastassia Kinski. Malcolm McDowell. John Heard. 118mins. Visceral. obsessive and occasionally rather stylish remake of the Val Lewton classic. with Kinski and McDowell brother an sister from an ancient caste who turn into felines when sexually aroused. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I Clan Of The Cave Bear ( 15) ( Michael Chapman. 11S. 198(3) Darryl Hannah. James Remar. 98 mins. Troubled attempt to film Jean M. Auel'santhropological bestseller. with John Sayles‘ subtitled grunting screenplay alternately risible and just plain dull. Hannah in bearskin tries hard. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I Clockwise (PG) (Christopher Morahan. UK. 1985) John Cleese. Alison Steadman. Penelope Wilton. 97 mins. A pathologically punctilious headmaster is chronically tardy for a crucialconference. Basically a one-joke farce this is an enervated vehicle for Cleese's incisive comic timing - the film's raison d'etre and saving grace. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I Coming To America ( 15) (John Landis. US. 1988) Eddie Murphy. Arsenio l lall. James Earl Jones. 116 mins. Murphy is Prince Akeem. heir to the throne ofa fabulously wealthy central African state. but dissatisfied with the bride arranged for him by King James Earl Jones. lnstead. he travels to New York with sidekick Hall to seek his own choice ofqueen.
()verlong and not terribly hilarious Murphy vehicle. with the star in several roles doing his best to pump life into a sentimental script. Glasgow: Cannon Sauchiehall Street. Grosvenor. Edinburgh: Cannon. Dominion. Strathclyde: Kelburne. Rialto.
I Comrades (PG) (Bill Douglas. LIK. 1986) Vanessa Redgrave. Robin Soams. Michael Hordern. l8(1mins.Doug1as's long-awaited epic account of the Tolpuddle Martyrs attempts to capture the human story behind the persecution of
26 The List 2 — 15 September 1988
SHAG
Shag (15) (Zelda Barron, UK, 1988), Bridget Fonda, Phoebe Cafes, Annabeth Gish, 100 mins. Shag is a spirited, nostalgic ticket to ride back to an age of innocence in the America of 1963. Then, Kennedy was in his Camelot, Vietnam was a distant rumbling and a quiver of Elvis's poufing lip was still considered the height of sexual braggadocio.
ForfourmiddIe-class girls nothing could be linerthan life in South Carolina. College. marriage and adulthood beckon from a near horizon but, before then. there is time for one lastfling together.
Bride-to-be Carson is convinced by their ruse of spending the time savouring the cultural delights of Fort Sumter, but her compatriots have planned an altogether different jaunt to the Sun Fun Festival at Myrtle Beach, the teen mecca of the South. Promising
her ‘the best weekend of her entire life’, their intinerary includes boys, booze, the beach, a beauty pageant and lots of shagging, the dance craze of the day.
Seeking neither a retrospective analysis of early 60s’ mores or a sly pastiche of the period, like John Waters recent Hairspray, Shag is a film about 1963 that could have been made in 1963 so redolent is it of Sandra Dee, Beach Blanket Bingo and an uncynical view of the modern youngster.
Director Zelda Barron keeps an assured hand on the gossamer-light proceedings and provides the personable, attractive cast with their individual moments to shine.
Hardly in the raunchy mould of Dirty Dancing, Shag is nevertheless thoroughly enjoyable, clean-living, carefree escapism that entertains without insult. (George Bailey)
these icons of the labour movement with a minimum resort to dialogue and a relish in carefully composed images. It is ultimately a film about the indomitable nature of the idea of freedom. equality and justice. Glasgow: GET.
I The Couch Trip ( 15) (Michael Ritchie. US. 1988) Dan Aykroyd. Walter Matthau. Charles Grodin. 98 mins. 'I'op L.A. psychiatrist Grodin. with a popular radio phone-in programme and a thriving practice seeks a replacement for his media activities while he takes a well-earned rest. However dangerous mental patient Ay'kroyd poses as a shrink to clinch the lucrative pose. and only shyster Matthau. who knows his real identity. stands between him and a fortune.
Some good jokes in this frenetic farce w ith a few aspirations towards barbed satire. though Matthau‘s overbearingand often ineffective co-starring role tends to dim Aykroyd's slew ofgood moments. Glasgow: ()deon. Edinburgh: ()deon.
I ‘Crocodile‘ Dundee 11 ( PG ) (John Cornell. Australia. 1988) Paul Hogan. Linda Kozlowski. John Meillon. lllmins. Not entirely unexpected sequel has Hogan's Dundee retracing his steps from Manhattan to the Aussie bush to protect his girlfriend journalist Kozlowski from the unwanted attentions of a gang of Colombian drug pedlars.
A lame script and Hogan's catatonic underplaying mar this antipodean comedy-adventure to the extent that what will undoubtedly be one of the year's most poular features also has to go down as one of its most tedious. Glasgow: Cannon Sauchiehall Street. Edinburgh: Dominion.
I Drowning By Numbers ( 18) (Peter Greenaway‘. UK. 1988) Joan Plowright. Bernard Hill. Joely' Richardson. 118mins. in a narrative as straightforward and complicated as the title. three generations of women. all of them called Cissie Colpitts. dispose of their husbands in a series of aquatic murders. whilst the numbers 1 to 11X) run through the filmin the backgrounds.
Full of the usual ravishing visual symetries and a highly developed sense of the incongruous. Greenaway's latest sports a number of highly polished and sympathetic performances. that along with the enjoyable pastime ofnumber spotting. makes this current effort his most accessible and pleasurable todate. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I Fatal Attraction ( 18) (Adrian Lyne. US. 1987) Glenn Close. Michael Douglas. Anne Archer. 119 mins. Happily'married lawyer Douglas discovers the high price of infidelity when his casual one night stand turns out to be a dangerously psychotic woman who will stop at nothing to gain her man's affection. Glossy. well-acted misogynistic Hitchoek-sty'le thriller attracting more fuss than it merits. Glasgow: GET.
I Ghostbusters (Ivan Reitman. US. 1984) Bill Murray. Sigourney Weaver. Dan Aykroyd. 105 mins. Three wacky unemployed parapsychologists pursue a little private enterprise as exterminators in spook-infested Noo Yawk. Wildly over-rated comedy. Glasgow: Grosvenor. Strathclyde: Rialto. ‘
I Hairspray (PG) (John Waters. US. 1987) Ricki Lake. Divine. Debbie Harry. Sonny Bono. 92 mins. Baltimore. 1962. Uproar
breaks out on the Dance Council oftop 'I'V pop extravaganza The Corny Collins Show when hefty teen queen Ricki Lake dcposes the former star of the show, and begins to make friends with (gulp) black people. thus breaking down the programme's strict racial segregation. [Inflziggirig entertainment as former trash king Waters does his own bizarre version of mainstream comedy. Definitely one of the fun movies of 1988. Edinburgh: Filmhouse. I Ironweed ( 15) (Hector Babenco. US. 1987) Jack Nicholson. Meryl Streep. Carroll Baker. 143 mins. Drunken hobo Nicholson returns to a hometown and family he had abandoned twenty years previously following the death of his infant son. lntimations of his own mortality and the need to make peace with the ghostsof his past have driven him back. Remarkably engrossing examination of blighted lives and the underside ofthe American dream known as failure set during the dying days of the inter-War depression. Excellent performances all-round. moody camerawork and composition; a potentially dour drama of dereliction has been transformed intoan American classic. Edinburgh: Cameo. I Ivan‘s Childhood (PU) (Andrei 'l‘arkovsky. L'SSR. 1902) Kolya Burlyaev. Valentin Zubkov. 95 mins. Gleaming new monochrome print of'I'arkovsky's debut feature. now looking more impressive than ever. The narrative revolves around a teenage WW1] spy. travelling through the country behind enemy lines. Characteristieally breathtaking forestscapes and the imagery ofthe forbidden zone provide a vision ofglories to come. while the aching sense of spirituality springs organically from the drama ofchildhood discovery rather than residing in the grandiose metaphysicalities ofthe later work. Essential viewing. Glasgow: (if-'1'. I The Journey or Natty Gann (PG) (Jeremy Paul Kagan. USm. 1985) Meredith Salenger. John Cusack. Scatman Crothers. 101 mins. Remarkably engrossing Disney adventure that follows a young girl traversing the country tojoin her father and the numerous trialsand tribulations that befall her on the way. Good stuff. a family film worthy ofthe name. Edinburgh: liilmhouse.
I The Jungle Book ( L‘ ) (Wolfgang Reitherman. CS. 1967) With the voicesof George Sanders. Louis Prima. 78 mins. Growing up in the jungle. young Mowin learns from the animals around him. Iinjoyable latterday Disney. a long way after Kipling. but the songs are wonderful. Glasgow: ()deon. Edinburgh: ()deon. Strathclyde: ()deon Ayr. ()deon Hamilton.
I Kings Of The Road ( 15) (Wim Wenders. W. Germany. 1976) Rudiger V'ogler. BrunoGanz. 176 mins. A businessman escaping from his domestic responsibilities joins up with a travelling cinema equipment repairman in an odyssey round the rural moviehouses of Germany. Brilliant road movie more than bearing comparison with its American models. the episodic narrative and bleak monochrome cinematography emanating an almost palpable sense ofdespair. Highly recommended. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I The Last Emperor( 15) (Bernardo Bertolucei. Italy/China. 1987) John Lone. Peter O‘Toole. Joan Chen. 162 mins. Peking. 1908. a three year-old boyaseends to the Imperial Throne to become the ‘Lord of Ten Thousand Years‘. A mere 59 years later. however. he dies a humble gardener in a China that is now the Maoist People’s Republic.
Intelligent epic following the self-delusion and re-edueation ofa man shaped by a superseded power structure. A little cold perhaps. but the production and cinematography are ofsuch exquisitness that one only wishes the film