Only one man can guide you through the coming tortnight‘s new releases and special events. He is the one they call Trevor Johnston.
I BACK TO THE FUTURE PART II (PG) Michael J. Fox and mad doctor Christopher Lloyd return in a direct sequel to 1985's box otlice bonanza, once more in the sale hands at those Zemeckis/Gale boys. Shot back to back with Numero 3. which should be outthis time next year. See review. Wide release lrom 24 Nov.
I BAD TASTE (18) Warped New Zealander Peter Jackson spent every weekend lor lour years putting togetherthis no-budget splatter epic about llesh-hunting aliens and the brave men with chainsaws out to stop them turning the world into hamburgermeat. Oh and watch out lor the exploding sheep. See leature. Edinburgh Cameo late night 24 & 25 Nov; Glasgow Cannon Sauchiehall Street lrom1 Dec.
I CHINESE CINEMA expert Tony Rayns will be present atterthe Edinburgh University Film Society's screening 01 Xhang Yimou's excellent Red Sorghum to discuss the luture (it any) at the wave at Filth Generation Chinese liIm-makers aher the events oITiananmen Square. See Listings.
I DEEPSTAR SIX (15) The word in Hollywood wasthat The Abyss was going to be a box otlice smash, so the exploitation industry set to work with a slew ol rip-oils. Sean ‘Friday 13th' Cunningham directs this tale ol subaquatic alien mayhem. Glasgow Cannon Parkhead trom1 Dec.
’1 I I a? g ‘
I FIELD OF DREAMS (PG) An unlikely winnerlrom writer/director Phil Alden Robinson has Kevin Costner as a hard-pressed tarmer who tosses linancial ruin aside to build the baseball diamond ot his dreams in his back garden and so recapture the innocence at his boyhood. Recommended. See leature. Cannons and UCI Clydebanktrom 24 Nov.
12 The List 24 November— 7 December 1989
i
l
[31E] PREVIEW
INDEX: 13 LISTINGS: WEEK ONE 19 WEEK TWO 20
in
FILM LIST
:— Grazy Kiwi
Bad Taste (18) (PeterJackson, UK,
1989) Peter O‘Herne, Mike Minett, Terry Potter. 93 mins. ‘There's no glowing lingers on these bastards,’ observes Derek ol the Astral Investigation and Delence Service, as
he searches through the tiny costal
hamlet ol Pukerua Bay on the hunt lor
the alien invaders who have carved up the local residents, packed theirllesh in cardboard boxes, and are about to
ship them all to a massive interstellar last lood chain. Derek is played by crazed New Zealander Peter Jackson, the writer/producer/director behind Bad Taste, an outrageous sci-ti splatter comedy adventure extravaganza which started lite as a ten-minute short but ended up years later as a leature tilm that was to rapidly gather an international cult reputation.
Bad Taste was painstakingly assembled by Jackson every weekend overa louryearperiod, mainly because the cast at lriends and acquaintances, who also doubled as the crew, had to work during the week. The other members at the Astral Delence team included Wellington Evening Post photolithographers Mike Minett and Terry Potter, while the paper’s advertising consultant (and co-scriptwriter) Ken Hammon died twenty-three on-screen deaths as twenty-three ditlerent aliens. Remarkable deaths they are too, adding to the brain leakages, dismemberments and chainsaw
mayhem cooked up by Jackson’s remarkable low-budget special ettects expertise.
Shot silent with a clockwork 16mm Bolex camera, and leaturing a variety of homemade cranes and even a DIY steadicam, Jackson however had to bring in the New Zealand Film Commission to sort out the soundtrack the Iilm would need to gain a release. Associate producerTony Hiles brought in a dialogue coach to help the amateur actors dub on their lines, composer Michelle Scullion supplied a rock score, and the all-important sounds of exploding sheep, and hatchets cutting through skulls were artlully added in. The end result still shows its enthusiast roots, but rarely has intergalactic carnage (and it is way, way over the top) been presented with such charm and humour. (Jeremy Clarke)
Bad Taste (18) plays the Edinburgh Cameo late nights on 24 and 25 Nov, belore starting a week at Glasgow Cannon Sauchiehall Street trom1 Dec.
Diamonds are forever
Field at Dreams (PG) Phil Alden Robinson, US, 1989. Kevin costner, Amy Madigan, Gaby Hottmann. 106 mins. ‘To say this Iilm is about baseball is to say that My Beautilul Laundrette is about the laundry business,‘ observes writer/director Phil Alden Robinson, understandably anxious that his new marvellous movie Field at Dreams should not be lumped in with the current wave at sports Ilicks, mainly because, as he himselt admits ‘lt’s not about baseball, it’s about
things everyone can relate to on a
personal level.’
Kevin Costner, lresh Irom Bull Durham, plays Iowa tamer Ray Kinsella, who puts his entire livelihood in linancial jeopardy by succumbing to the voices in his head that tell him to build a baseball diamond in his back yard. Thus begins a Iantastical series of events that see Shoeless Joe Jackson (Ray Liotta) and the whole ol the 1919 Chicago Black Sox return lrom the past, and includes a journey across country to kidnap a reclusive Sixties radical writer (James Earl Jones) and search tor a small-town Minnesota
physician (Burt Lancaster) whose
moment at lame came when he played one innings lor the New York Giants. All at these elements coming together in a miraculous, emotive climax where Costner comes to terms with the his
childhood’s lost innocence and laces the responsibilities at being an adult.
Adapted from a novel by Canadian writer W.P. Kinsella (which had the real JD. Salinger in the James Earl Jones role), Alden Robinson had been looking lorlunding lorthe project lor all at six years belore Costner’s involvement gave the project a green light. ‘Baseball has a real emotional hold on Americans that no other sport has,’ he points out. ‘When you‘re three or louryears old and you’re playing with your dad on the back porch on a summer’s night it's like the lirst time when your dad accepts you as one at the guys. It’s that kind ol really lundamental hook that people lind in the lilm.’
Field of Dreams plays at Cannons Sauchiehall Street and Lothian Road lrom Fri 24 Nov.
I GHOSTBUSTERS 2 (PG)
.9
Slimelighters Murray. Aykroyd and Ramis return to tussle with the special ettects department and Sigourney Weaver reprises her love interest bit in
? anotherinstalmentol ; ghoulishly successlulcomic capers. See review. Wide
release lrom 1 Dec.
' I GREAT BALLS or FIRE
(15) Dennis Duaid givesa detiantly eccentric impersonation 01 Jerry Lee Lewis in Jim McBride's
1 cartoonisth energetic
biopic, which gets music across with some vibrancy but looks decidedly uneasy when dealing with the star‘s
, scandalous marriage to his
twelve year-old cousin,
; here played bythe : unstoppableWynona
Ryder. See leature. Ddeons lrom 24 Nov.
I LIFE IS A LONG OUIET RIVER (15) Etienne Chaliliez's debut leature was a huge hit with over3 million Frenchpersons who lapped up its story ottwo ditlerenttamilies, cleancut Le Ouesnoys and sleazo Groseilles, discovering a hospital baby swap some twelve years atterthe event. See review. Glasgow Film Theatre 3-9 Dec.
I NEW YORK STORIES (15) Three tor the price at one as Martin Scorsese, Francis Coppola and Woody Allen each chip in a shortlilm about lite and love inthe Big Apple, thoughthe results are something ola
' mixedbag.Edinburgh g Cameoand Glasgowaeon
Irom 24 Nov.
; ITANKMALLING(18) ; British conspiracy(ahem) , thriller. has Ray Winstone
as investigative hack John
. 'Tank' Malling set to expose ~ acorrupt politico through
the incriminating evidence
olhis stolen diary,which ; has somehowlallenintothe : mittsotboozyprostitute
l
Amanda Donahoe. See review. Glasgow Cannon
24.
Sauchiehall Street lrom Nov