FILM LIST
INDEX
I The Accidental Tourist ( P0) ":5: (Lawrence Kasdaii. LS. 1988) William Hurt. (icena Davis. Kathleen Turner. Amy Wright. See panel. Iidinburgh: (‘ameo.
I The Accused ( 18) (Jonathan Kaplan. 1988) Kelly Mc(iillis. Jodiel-‘oster. Berni ('oiilson. 1 1 I mins. Sarali'l'obias (.lodie l-oster) is raped on a pinball machine by three men. yet w hen the assailants are taken to court. a plea bargain with Sarah’s lawyer Kathryn Murphy ( Kelly Mc(iillis) reduces their charges. When both women realise this is a sell-out. they decide to bring charges against the men in the bar who cheeredon the attack and offered encouragement to the rapists.
Standout performance frorii Foster in this sympathetic and responsible treatment ofdiffieult subject matter.
'w hose firm grasp of character and honest intentions help allay one's resery ations about the content. Glasgow ; ('annori Saucliicliall Street. Edinburgh: Cannon. ('entral: Allanpark. Strathclyde; AMC~ ('lydebank It).
I Arthur II: On The Rocks ( P0 1 ( Bud Yorkin.17S. 1988) Dudley Moore. lila Milielli. John (iielgud. 11.3 mins. While lovable drunken millionaire Arthur and his girlfriend (.Moore and Minelli 1 contemplate starting a fariiily . their fortune is suddenly swept away from under them and our Diid actually has togo out and look for work.
The original cast return. with (iielgud's butler popping in as a ghost. but the little charisma the original had to offer is here replaced by an entirely resistible sentimentality. Strathelyde: AMC (‘lydebank lll. ()deon Ay'r. ( )deon Hamilton.
I Babetfe's Feast ( L') ((iabriel Axel. Denmark. 19871StephaiieAudran. Jean-Philippe Lafont. Bibi Andersson. 111.3 mins. The Jutland peninsula during the late 19th century. lixiled French housekeeper Audran wins 111.1)(111 francs in a lottery and uses the money to prepare a sumptuous banquet marking the centenary of the birth of a Lutheran dean whose surviving spinster daughters carry on his good works among the poor and needy. However. when a shopping list of quail. turtle. champagne and vintage wine arrives the sisters begin to wonder ifsuch pleasure is compatible with their piety . . .
A delicious gastronomic experience and an exquisite slice ofcinematic narrative. this is a boisterous. exemplary literary adaptation full of pleasurable surprises and real feeling. A worthy ()scar winner. Edinburgh: (.‘ameo.
I La Banquiere ( 15) (lirancis (iirod. France. 19801 Romy Schneider. Daniel Mesguich. Marie France l’isier. 1n the aftermath of WW1 . a hat-maker's daughter sets tip a successful sayings bank. but a wild affair with a young left-wing politician soon finds her neglecting her business affairs. (ilossy French soaper. (ilasgow': French (‘ine Club.
I The Big Chill ( 15) (Lawrence Kasdari. LS. 1983) William Hurt. Jeff(ioldblum. 'l'oni Berenger. (ilenn ('lose. 10.3 mins. A group of friends who were once Sixties college radicals get together for a weekend to discuss the old daysand examine why they've all sold out. Brilliantly acted ensemble piece with a snappy soundtrack of golden oldies and the kind of memorably snappy dialogue that has made it a considerable cult attraction. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I Bigfoot and the Hendersons ( PU) (William Dear. US. 1987)]ohn Lithgow. Melinda Dillon. Don Ameche. 111 mins Disneyesque family adventure in which the all-American Henderson famin crash
12 The List 10- 23 March 1989
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Dangerous Liaisons (15) (Stephen Frears, US. 1988) Glenn Close, John Malkovich, Michelle Pfeiffer,1(eanu Reeves. 120 mins. Danger, cultural cred at work. This, as one knows by now, is the long-awaited film version of the award-laden RSC production of Christopher Hampton's play, itself adapted from a very old and very epistolary French book by an 18th century gentleman with a curious name (Choderlos de Laclos). So we know where the audience for this one is coming from. thank you very much. Americans (the massed middlebrows knit their furrows) Glenn Close and John Malkovich star as the Marquise de Meurteuil and the Vicomte de Valmont, the scheming independent woman and wily upper class rogue at the centre of a cool game of sexual manipulation. M de M suggests to V de V that he can help her get back at her unfaithful ex-lover by seducing the latter's current fancy M de T, Madame de Tourvel (Michelle Pfeiffer), for which V De V will receive the reward of an assignation with the M de M herself. Thereupon much vigorous duplicity is set in motion, but events are to spiral unpredictably and (dare one say it) dangerously, when V
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British director Stephen Frears does his career prospects no harm at all with this first American studio production, with his excellent cast effortlessly gliding through a difficult set of narrative pirouettes with quite disarming ease and clarity. There's an agreeable lack of gloating on the sumptuousness of the period trappings, and a certian rounded asperity to the sharp exchanges of dialogue. Yet, while all the time on screen the feeling is apparently one of forceful emotion held under strict control by the whalebone ribs of social reserve, the passion rarely seeps through to the audience. The result is a studied and cool film about human relationships that reads like ‘The Draughtsman’s Contract' with only the sexual element left in. But this somewhat posey air of intelligence and eroticism is what will precisely win over an audience of literary adaptation types, in the market for something that seems both clever-clever and discreetly horny. I‘m not convinced. (TrevorJohnston)
into the legendary Bigfoot and adopt the suprislngly genial beastle as a domesticpct with predictable complications from the neighbour s and blood-hungry hunters. (ilasgow: ( ‘annon ( ‘larkston Road. IThe Big Heaft 13) ( l'rit/ Lang. LS. 1953) (ilenn l'ol'd. (iloria (irahamc. Lee Marvin. illlmins. Muscular thrilleras ex-cop l‘hol'd [ties to track down hiswife's killer and nab a crime ring w ith the assistance of (ii'aliaiiics sy nipathetic rnoll Marvin isa blisterineg vicious y illain . stubbing out cigarettes on a human asli- tray and scalding (iralianie with the contents of a coffee pot. lidiriburgli: litliiiburgh l-‘ilm ( iiiild. I Bird( 1;) ((‘lim liiistwood. US. 1988) l~orrest Whitaker. Diane Venora. Samuel ii. Wright. Michael lellnker. 101 mins. l'.il\l\\ t‘tlLl‘\ lill‘tllll' 01 love manages effortlessly to blast away ourmisgivings about any i lolly wood messing around w ith jazz. for this is a braye and moving attempt to bring to the screen some ofthe coiilplcxitics of ( ‘harlie ‘Yardbird' l’arker. w hose improvisational developments on the alto saxophone mark him down asone of the century's most significant musical presences.
'l‘he skilled patchwork narrative combines with an excellent cast. among whom l-orrest Whitaker‘s range of errioiioiial expression in the title role must
go down as a major achievement. and an evocative shadowy vision of the ja// underworld from cameraman Jack .\'. Green to create not just a milestone iii the cinema's attempts to deal with the music scene. but a sombre. engrossing account that could well go down as one of tliegreal screen biographies. Glasgow: (3171
I Birdy (Alan Parker. L'S. 19841.‘ylatthew Modine. Nicholas Cage. .lohn l larkins. 12(lmins. Atmospheric l’arker adaptation of William Wharton's noy el about a man so traumatised by his experiences that he reverts to being a bird. his passion before the war. Modine is superb as Birdy. with (.‘age as his friend trying to help him through the crisis in a military hospital, Some exhilarating ‘flight' sequences in what is a daring and largely successful film. Edinburgh: Filmhouse
I Blue Velvet ( 18) (David Lynch. 1 'S. 1986) Kyle MacLachlan. Dennis 1 lopper. Isabella Rossellini. llllmins. Lumberton. middle-America. Would -be boy detectiye Jeffrey Beaumont finds a severed car on some waste ground and when the police Shoo him away he decides to do some investigating of his own.
A singular fusion of the cosy and the terrifying which blends kitsch and nightmare. B-movie detection and brutal sexual perversion to deconstruct our complacent vision of what passes for
normal society. This is filmmakingof remarkable imagination and skill that places its director in the front rank of contemporary American cinema. (ilasgow: (irosvenor. Edinburgh: Cameo. I Body Heat ( 18) (Lawrence Kasdan. US. 1981 )William Hurt. Kathleen Turner. Richard ('rcnna. llfimins. llurt hasthe hots for Turner so her hubby (.‘renna is set for an early grave and the insurance company for a big pay-out. Splendid tipdale of Double Indemnity with a ' drenchineg sweaty atmosphere (the sex has a lot to do with it 1 and a script that leayes tectliniarks. lidinburgh: Cameo. I La Boheme ( l’( i ) (Luigi (‘onienchinL l-rance ltaly. 1987) Barbara Hendricks. .liise (ar‘rcras. Luca Canonici. 1(16mins. Puccini's celebrated opera is set in a wintry Paris in 19111. and followsthe fortunesof a group of young artists asthey freeze in their garret. with only the thought of romance to warm their hearts.
l-inc opera movie that works on its own terms as well as remaining faithful tothe text. because the ai'tiliciality' ofthe original perfectly matches (‘ommenchini's nielmlramatic. studio-based stvle. (ilasgow: ( il’l' ( I Broadcast Newsi 15) (James L. Brooks. 1'S. 1937) William Hurt. Holly Hunter. Albert Brooks. 132 mins. llurtisTom (it unick . a blandly charismatic presenter w hose face is his fortune. Brooks is Aaron Altman. a hard-edged newshound who still retains a belief in the paramouncy ofa story 's content rather than its presentation. Hunter is the work-obsessed .lane ( 'i aig. a high-flying producertorn betw een her respect for Aaron and her liist for'l'om.
llighly entertaining romantic comedy set against a convincingly evoked milieu of television network news production and a generation of achiey ers whose private and professional worlds acknowledge no boundar ies. fast-paced. farcical and brilliantly acted with a sly‘ cameofrom Jack Nicholson as a revered network anchorman. Probably the best niainstrearii American comedy you'll see this year. l‘diriburgh: (’anieo.
I Caravaggio ( ls) ( Derek .larman. UK. 1936) Nigel 'l‘erry. Sean Bean.Tilda Sw intoii. 911 mins. Jarnian's biographical study ofthe brilliant Italian Renaissance painter centres on the artist‘s triangular relationship with a low-life ganiblcrand his prostitute lover. a passion that isto result in murder. Ambitious and accessible work that delicately managesto find a cinematic equivalent for the subtle shadings of darkness and light in (‘aravaggio's brushwork. (ilasgow: GFT. I Carry On Nurse ( l’(i) (Gerald Thomas. LR. 1959) Kenneth Williams. Charles 1 iawtrcy. .loari Sims. Sid James. 86 mins. The second film of the series serves up the usual helping of riiiseliiefarid innuendoin acity hospital. fidinburgh: Filmhouse. I A Chinese Ghost Story ( 15) (Chin Siu lung. llong Kong. 1987) Leslie Cheung. 98 mins. While y isiting a haunted temple, a young debt collector falls prey to the charms of a delightful young lady ghost. l€ngaging1y over-the-top commercial film-making from 1 long Kong. with kung fu. slapstick comedy. ilnd gruesome special effects rolled together into one wild package. Watch out for the rapping monk and the killer tongue. iidinburgh: 1’ilmhouse. I Cocktail ( 15) (Roger Donaldson, US. 19881‘1‘oiii ('ruise. Bryan Brown. i-ili/abeth Shire. 95 mins. Cruise playsa greenhorri inducted into the mysteries of all-action bartending by master cocktail shaker Brown. and before long they have graced the top bars in Manhattan and been signed up to work in the Caribbean. (ilossy' soaper with risible pretensions to social comment. which must go down asa disappointment from the talents involved. Edinburgh: ()deon. Strathclydc: AMC (‘lydcbank lil.