FILM LIST
I Alicei l5) l.lan 8y ankmalci. Swit/crland. l‘lb‘xlh‘vl nnns Radical new \‘Cl'sioti til the l.L‘\\ l\ ( hat l’ttll classic l‘.‘ brilliant ( ‘zcch filmmaker lan Syankmaicr. which has the protagonist as the otin liyc action chaiaclci makingth way through an ady enture in a harsh drcamscape y iy idly cony cy cd through puppet animation and trick photography
Far from the l)isney cartoon. the atmosphere licic is dci M ed lioin tltc cruel world of childlike fantasies. a lone w hose dark peryersily will be familiar tothosc who haye sampled any ol the sill llr’nll\f\ of The Surreal/sci ies of progi amines. Recommended \ iewing. but definitely not for young clnldren. l'dniburgh. l’ilmhouse. IAsterix in Britain l H l l’ino \‘an l.amsweerdc. l‘rancc. l‘leil With the voices of .lack Beabci . Bill lscal'tis. (iraham Bushnell (W mins. 'l he Romans hay‘e lll\ adcd Britain and oiily one \ illage refusestosuirender l'hcii clnet sendsa message to his distant cousin x\\lL‘l’l\ the (iaul w lio prepares a barrel ot his special magic potion and rushes to the rescue w iili his sizeable colleague ( )beli\. Along the way. he acquires a bag ol special herbs said to hay c remarkable iey l\ ilying powers and his ‘tca' proy cs immensely popular with the Bi its
'l‘ypical leth anniyeisaiy .'\\IL‘I'I.\ production complete with plucky teatsot derring-do. comic chases. slapstick humour and the it iumpli ot the little ( iallic warrior. l‘dinbingh‘ l'ilmhousc I Au Revoir Les Enfants l l’( i l t 1 mm Mallc. l’rance \V. (iei many. NH") (ias‘pard Mancsse. Raphael l'elito. Philippe .\1orier-( ienoud. 113 mins. l.ow -kcy. cinema-y ei‘ite influenced screen portrayal of autobiographical incidents front Malle‘s ow n boy hood. Set during the (ierman occupation. the film follows the dcyeloping friendship between two boys at a small proy ineial school run by monks. one of Whose Closely‘guardcd Jewish identity is to proy c dangerous to boili boys as the Nazi presence looms alarmineg Close.
Simple. subtle. and yery moy mg film.
w hich ay oids the cliches of the
coming-oi age genre. and makes itslarger political points firmly but iiiiobtrusiyely'. (ilasgow (il'il.
I Barry Lyndon ( IS) (Stanley Kubrick. l'ls'. 1075i Ryan ()‘Ncal. \larisa Beienson. Patrick Magec. 184 mins Kubrick‘s sumptuous recreation of 'l'liackeiay ’sshaggy dog tale follows Ryan ()Ncal‘s gentleman of for tune through lh’lhccntury lrcland .-\ne\traordinary attention todetail and a Visual stylethat cftcctiy cly reproduces the look of contemporary paintings are the major points of interest. easily ontw cigliingthc meandering narratiyc thread. bill this isa
Die Hard (18) (John McTiernan, US, 1988) Bruce Willis, Alan Hickman, Bonnie Bedelia. 131 mins. Lengthy but above average thriller from the director of Predator, which undoubtedly gives Bruce Willis his best screen role to date, although that is not necessarily saying much. Willis plays John McClane, a New York cop flying out to California to visit his estranged wife and kids for Christmas. When he arrives at a corporate party on the thirtieth floor of a new tower block, he thinks he has two problems: his deep fear of heights, and how to get his wife back in the face of her blossoming career.
Those problems quickly multiply when the party is hi-jacked by a gang of highly armed and organised former political terrorists, who are now putting their experiences in the pursuit of ideology to more lucrative use as robbers. Theirtarget is billions of dollars worth of bonds in the highly protected company safe, but they have reckoned without McClane, who proceeds to create havoc with their plans, not to say bumping them off at regular intervals, while the hostages (including his wife) sweat it out, and the LAPD are outdone for ineptness
gorgeous film all the same. lidinburgh: Cameo.
I Big ( l’(i)(l’enny Marshall. l'S. 1988) Tom Hanks. Iilizabeth l’erkins. Robert Loggia. 104 mins. 12 y'ear~oldJosh(Dayid Moscow) has no luck with the school beauty because of his diminutiy e stature. lloweycr. upon diseoyering a neglected fairground wishing machine. he jumpsout of bed the next morning to find hisboyisli self now wrapped in an adult packaging (Tom Hanks).
Of all the role—reyers'al liloy ies out last year. Big has been by far the most successful. because Tom l lanks ofle is a most appealing characterisation as the dopey innocent at large. and because it treats the situation with a little intelligence. Josh is at times lost and bewildered in the adult world. for instance. but his unspoilt ideastriumph when he gets a job with a lt)y'L‘t)lllpilliy'_ (iood mainstream fare. (ilasgow : ('annon (‘larkston Road.
I The Big Easy( l8) (.lirn McBride-1'8. 1987’) Dennis ()uaid. lillen Barkiii. Ned Beatty'. ltll mins. l’rctiy' smart and sexy cop thriller set in a sweaty. atmospheric New Orleans where local lieutenant ()uaid tries to clear up a series ot'gangland murders. all the while falling in loye with Barkin's attorney. in town to inyes‘tigate police corruption. Edinburgh: l’ilmhouse.
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only by the FBI. The only thing which separates this film from the usual macho nonsense served up by the Stallones and Bronsons is that Willis plays the part with a nicely-judged edge of hysteria and plain fear, both of the flying bullets and the yawning lift shafts in which he is forced to retreat. Otherwise, it is a familiar enough scenario: create bad guys who are beyond any sympathy. and let the good guy loose to deliver bloody vengeance. McTiernan has
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I Biloxi Bluest 15) (Mike Nichols. ['S. Wts‘b’) Matthew Broderick. ( 'hris’tophei Walken.('orey l’arkcr. ltl7mins. Second instalment (after Brig/iron Berle/i .llt'niuiry‘ ) of Neil Simon‘s moin autobiography focuses on his misadyenttircs as an army rookie during the dying daysof\\‘orld \Var I‘M). A familiar recipe of basic training capers and the first loyc routine is transformed into something flesh by a sassy script. \Valkeii and Brodei ick's clichefree performances. and the practised cinematic craft of director Mike Nichols. Strathclyde' llaldanc l’ilm Society.
I The Bitter Tears Of Petra Von Kanti is) (Rainer Wei net lassbinder. \V. (iermany. I‘WZ) \largit Kai'stensen. llanna Scliygulla. lrm llermann. 124 mins. In a sumptuous apparimcnt liycs a fashion designer . slay ishly attended by her assistant. but the aiiiy al of an altractiy e young woman whom the former wishes to use as a model changes the domestic power set-up.
()ne of the great l-assbinder films. incisiycly examining the way in which social positions influence romantic relationships. (ilasgow: (il’l.
IThe Blues Brotherst l5) (.lolni l ,attdis. [.78. l‘lh’ll) .loliii Belushi. Dan .-\ykroyd. (‘arric l'ishcr. l3tl mins. Bloated. oy'erlong anarchic ( ‘hicago comedy with
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proved he can handle both action and, more importantly, tension, and produces some genuine edge-of-the- seat moments, even fora non-believer like myself. McClane (as the various cowboy references make clear) is the small guy turned hero, triumphing against the odds and in the face of crass official stupidity, while the ending is pure Hollywood corn. Sound familiar? You bet your ass, but it's not often done quite as well as this. (Kenny Mathieson)
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