FILM LIST
O Late Night
Double Bills at 11.15pm. Tickets £2.80 (£2 concs)
Frl11zDOWN BY LAW& BIO TIME
Sat 12: PLANES TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES & DEAD MEN DON’T WEAR PLAID
Mon 14: MANHATTAN 8i ANNIE I'IALL
Tue 15: MY DOYFRIEND’S GIRLFRIEND & FULL MOON IN PARIS
Wed 16: EUREKA & PERFORMANCE
Thurs 17: FULL METAL JACKET & PATI'IS OF GLORY Frl18le’S ALIVE & IT LIVES AOAIN & TI‘IE STUFF
During the Festival
the CAMEO BAR is open every day for coffee, snacks and drinks.
From Friday 8 September Steven Soderbergh’s SEX, LIES AND VIDEOTAPE (18)
Winner Palme d’Or
Cannes Film Festival 1989
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differences with a con-men‘s wager. Despite the obvious skill of its stars, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels fails to stretch them or to take itself seriously enough, and thus does not fulfil its full potential. It's an amusing and enjoyable. but ultimately bloodless entertainment. Glasgow: Cannon The Forge. Odeon. Edinburgh: Dominion. Strathclyde: UCl Clydebank 10.
I Down By Law (15) (Jim Jarmusch, US, 1986). John Lurie. Roberto Benigni,Tom Waits. Three petty crooks in New Orleans find themselves framed (tdown by law‘) and imprisoned in the heart of the Louisiana swamps. They escape . but the jailbreak is hardly relevant (and hardly explained either) — the crux of the film lies in the relationship between the three men as they make their hazardous way through an alien environment. Benigni just steals the honours from his better known comrades in J armusch‘s splendid. monochrome comedy. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I Eureka (Nic Roeg, US. 1982) Gene Hackman. Theresa Russell, Rutger llauer. Mickey Rourke. 129 mins. Hackman‘s prospector finds gold in the Arctic waste and later settles down to a life of luxury on his own Caribbean island. But his daughter's relationship with a dashing playboy. and the attentions of a consortium of property developers combine to disrupt his peace of mind. Impressive story of lust for flesh and material wealth, with metaphysical overtones thrown in. It‘s a heady brew all right. though the scenes amidst the frozen tundra are the most memorable and the climactic trial lets the film down badly. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I The Exorcist (18) (William Friedkin. US. 1973) Ellen Burstyn. Max Von Sydow, Linda Blair. 110 mins. Earnest priest Von Sydow steps in to save poor little possessed girl Blair in this hugely convincing and effective scarefeast that has stood the test of time. Strathclyde: UCl Clydebank 10.
I Full Metal Jacket ( 18) (Stanley Kubrick, UK. 1987) Matthew Modinc. Dorian Harewood. Lee Ermey. 109 mins. Technically effective but soulless depiction of raw Vietnam recruits as they endure basic training and the even greater horrors of the 1968 Tet offensive. A disappointment. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I Full Moon in Paris ( 15) (Eric Rohmer, France. 1984) Pascale ogier.Tcheky Karyo. Fabice Luchini. 101 mins. A young trainee textile designer finds her fondness for socialising causes tension between herself and her lugubrious lover. Rohmer‘s typical finesse and charm infuse this production with a great deal ofcharm. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I The Getaway(18) (Sam Peckinpah. US. 1972) Steve McQueen. Ali McGraw. Ben Johnson. 123 mins. Enjoyable. commercial thriller from Peckinpah has couple McQueen and McGraw squabbling on the run after a robbery. Amoral and violent stuff adapted by Walter Hill from Jim Thompson‘s famous pulp novel. Glasgow: GFT.
I to Grand Chemin ( 15) (Jean-Loup Hubert. France. 1987) Anemone. Richard Bohringer. Antoine Hubert. 107 mins. Nine year-old Parisien Louis is dumped on Anemone‘s turbulent Breton household while his mother goes into hospital to have another baby. and during his summer in the country is instructed by a village tomboy in the ways of the adult world. Memorable evocation of childhood confusions over birth. sex and death. Glasgow: OFT.
I Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade( PG) (Steven Spielberg. US. 1989) Harrison Ford. Sean Connery. Alison Doody. l)enholm Elliot. 127 mins. The third and supposedly final instalment of Spielberg's bumper blockbuster series. in which the archaeological adventurer is joined by his father (Connery) for a romp through the
BATMAN
Batman (12) is (Tim Burton, US, 1989) Michael Keaton, Jack Nicholson, Kim Basinger. 120 mins. The greatest Cape! Incredibly ‘Batman' lives up to all the hype and hoopla and isn’t a huge disappointment. In retrospect director Tim Burton made the right choices on every artistic level and the result is one of this decade’s finest iantasy epics. Michael Keaton captures the lonely, haunted intensity of Bruce Wayne and is utterly convincing as the obsessed, vengeance-driven vigilante hiding behind the last word in chic power-dressing. Jack Nicholson has never been better exploring the menacing edge between posturing buffoonery and twisted psychosis. His creation of The Joker is now the high watermark of sinister comic acting. ‘Batman’ couldn’t be truer to spirit of Bob Kane’s DC comic character either as the sophisticated design is probably every comic book fan’s dream come true. Crime strips were the major inspiration for Forties film noir and Burton brilliantly adapts that creepy off-beat angled style to punch home a dazzling array of fabulous nightmare images.
But ‘Batman’ is a cause for celebration above being a sure-handed reworking of the Caped Crusader myth. For in brooding tone this is the darkest iantasy from a major studio in years - an arresting black vision far more imaginatively controlled and superior to ‘Beetleiuice’ than anyone had a right to expect. However what really raises Burton’s evocative flight of fancy to glorious heights is the placement of Wayne and The Joker on the knife-edge of good and evil. Each character is within the same mentally disturbed bracket and these subtle, but complex, Freudian shadings make “Batman’ the ‘Blue Velvet’ of superhero movies.
There’s no story as such which may prove a stumbling block in appreciating the meit-in-the-mouth visuals and poetic insights Burton has incorporated into the basic narrative structure. Bruce Wayne’s nocturnal behaviour stems from the adolescent trauma he
suffered alter witnessing the murder of his parents. Failing a set-up raid in a
chemical factory, Batman throws crook Jack Napier into a vat of acid transforming him into the disfigured Joker. When The Joker tries to move in on his photographer girlfriend, Vicki Vale, Wayne realises he's the man responsible for his orphan status and atop Gotham City’s cathedral makes him pay the ultimate price.
From the camera crawling around the Bat symbol under the opening credits to ‘The Hunchback of Notre Dame’ finale with Hicholsom waltzing around the cathedral bell tower. ‘Batman’ is pure unadulterated cinema and a transfixing mass audience experience. Burton invests the whole glittering affair with a knock-out American Gothic feel best displayed when the amazing Batmobile enters the Batcave, the Bafwing plane the. past the moon and The Joker leaves the seedy Cronenbergian plastic surgery. Thank the superlative dynamic duo of Burton and production designer Anton Fursf, whose daring eclectic mix of architectural styles is so striking, for elevating ‘The Dark Knight’ saga info a thrilling work of art. Despite the intrusion of Prince info Danny Eilman’s glorious score, ‘Batman’ fulfils every expectation and emerges an eye-popping masterpiece.
Holy tour de force! At last the unique talents of Tim Burton have been showcased to perfection because, for once, the film of the year is ‘The film of the Year’. And ‘Batman’s cross-over form cinematic event of cultural phenomenon is fully deserved. (Alan Jones)
Middle East in search of the Holy Grail. hotly pursued (as ever) by the Nazis. A rather dodgy would-be Christian morality and a more-of-the-same-ish plot are offset by strong performances from Ford and Connery and technical bravura. Glasgow: Cannon Clarkston Road. Cannon The Forge. Cannon Sauchiehall Street. Grosvenor. Edinburgh: Cannon. Dominion. Central: Cannon. Strathclyde: Cannon. Kelburne. Odeon Ayr. Odeon Hamilton. UCl Clydebank 10.
I The Karate Kid Part 3 (PG) (John G. Avildsen, US. 1989) Ralph Macchio. Noriyuki ‘Pat‘ Morita. Thomas lan Griffith. 111 mins. lnthisinstalment Daniel (Macchio) and his coach Mr Miyagi (Morita) are driven apart when the young martial arts expert agrees against his mentor‘s advice to take part in another karate tournament. but the source ofthe pressure placed upon him can be traced back to unscrupulous millionaire Silver (Thomas). whose hobby seems to be turning innocent young lads to nastiness. The fight sequences. as ever. are the
highlights. but the signs are there ofa certain running out of creative steam. Glasgow: Cannon The Forge. Odeon. Edinburgh: Odeon. Central: Allanpark. Caledonian. Cannon. Strathclyde: Cannon. La Scala. Odeon Ayr. Odeon Hamilton. UCI Clydebank 10.
I Labyrinth (PG) (Terry Jones. US. 1986) David Bowie. Jennifer Connelly. 101 mins. Teenage girl has her baby bruv kidnapped by demon Dave. the King Of The Goblins. and so has to enter the fiendish labyrinth to get him back. Not had family feature. with plenty offurry creatures to keep the kids happy. Central: MacRobert Arts Centre.
I The Land Before Time ( U) (Don Bluth. US. 1989) 86mins. Latestanimatcd feature from Disney graduate Bluth follows the fortune oforphancd Brontosaurus Littlcfoot. who loses his mum to the claws of a nasty Tyrannosaurus Rex before teaming up with a gang of similarly parentless wee dinos to undertake the hazardousjourncy across country to the safety of the Great
74'l‘hc List ll— l7 August I989