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FILM LIST
Comedy. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
i I H (Steven Spielberg. US. 1982). Dec
Wallace. Henry Thomas. Peter Coyote. 115 mins. An alien creature gets stranded on earth (the opening sequence of threatening legs and flashing torchesis beautifully done). where he is adopted by some kids. who help him construct a communication device to summon back his spaceship. All the little guy wanted to do was go home. but Spielberg made sure he had lots ofcute and agreeable adventures first. and Slipped in the most tear-jerking psuedo-death since Baloo the Bear in The Jungle Book for good measure. Strathelyde: UCl East Kilbride. I The Exorcist (18) (William Friedkin. US. 1973) Linda Blair. Ellen Burstyn. Max Von Sydow. 111) mins. Earnest priest Von Sydow steps in to save poor little obsessed girl in this hugely effective scarefest. Dead good. dead scarey. dead priest. Strathelyde: WMR Film Centre. I Exorcist 2: The Heretic ( 18) (John Boorman. US. 1977) Richard Burton. Louise Fletcher, Linda Blair. 11()mins. The horror film that once turned heads receives an unworthy sequel in this silly mumbo-jumbo about priest Burton trying to understand the demons still lurking within the hapless Ms Blair. Strathelyde: WMR Film Centre. I Field of Dreams(PG) (Phil Alden Robinson. US. 1989) Kevin Costner. Amy Madigan. Burt Lancaster. James Earl Jones. 106 mins. An unlikely winnerfrom writer/director Robinson has Costner as a hard-working. hard-pressed farmer who risks financial ruin and builds the baseball diamond of his dreams in one of his fields to recapture the innocence of his boyhood. The miraculous emotive climax forces him to come to terms with the reponsibilities of adult life. Glasgow: Cannon The Forge. Edinburgh: Dominion. Strathelyde: UCl Clydebank. l A Fish Called Wanda ( 15) (Charles Crichton. UK. 1988) John Cleese.Jamie Lee Curtis. Kevin Kline. MichaelPalin. 1118 mins. Stuffy English lawyer Archie Leach (Cleese) gets involved with a gang of diamond thieves. including brash American Kline and animal lover Palin. because he has information that will help them lay their hands on the swag. Glamorous Wanda (Curtis) steps in to romance him into talking. but love is to rear its head. Remarkably effective comedy. with the black humour ofthe Python generation given a narrative control and sense oftiming that only a veteran‘s steady hand could provide. And it makes a wonderful romantic lead out of the rather unlikely Cleese. Strathelyde: Paisley Arts Centre. I Ghostbuslers 2 (PG) (lvan Reitman. US. 1989) Bill Murray. Dan Aykroyd. Harold Ramis. Sigourney Weaver. 108 mins. Need a sequel? Who you gonna call? The down-at-heel and discredited slimefighters are back in business. after mayhem once more breaks out on the streets of New York. The effects look less cheap this time. and ifyou liked it first time round you are on a winner here;if you were less than convinced. stay at home — you‘ve seen this one already. Glasgow: Cannon Clarkston Road. Cannon The Forge. Odeon. Edinburgh: Dominion. Odeon. Central: Caledonian. Cannon. Regal. Strathelyde: Cannon. Odeon Hamilton. UCl Clydebank. UCl Iiast Kilbride. I The Glass Menagerie (PG) (Paul Newman. CS. 1987) Joanne Woodward. John Malkovich. Karen Allen. James Naughton. 135 mins. Definitive and tender screen translation ofTennessee \Villiams' acutely autobiographical play. dealing with his love for a mentally ill sister and his own guilty homosexuality. Woodward plays fluttering Southern belle matriarch with her golden memories of youth. Allen the crippled daughter retreating into herself and her collection of fragile glass animals. Malkovich the
Turner and Hooch (PG) (Roger Spottiswoode, USA, 1989) Tom Hanks, Mare Winningham, Beazley. 108 mins. The last dog/man relationship on screen was the Alsatian and wise-cracking cop (Jim Belushi) in K9, a dull and predictable film. Now we have Tom Hanks in his latest ‘comedy’ role in ‘Turner and Hooch’. Why a film entitled so should ever be made is beyond me but made itwas, and a huge success it’s been in America. Perhaps it’s filled with dozens of American ‘in’ jokes which we uncultured Brits don’t appreciate. It did nothing for me save the odd hall-hearted chuckle.
Hanks plays Scott Turner, an immaculate cop in every sense - obsessively clean and efficient in all walks of life. Tearing a hole in this blissful boredom to the sound of Thus Spake Zarathustra enters Hooch, a large, ugly and powerful mastiff. The original owner of this creature from
hell was an old friend of Turner's, now deceased due to the unfortunate entry of a large knife into his back.
It goes without saying that Turner and Hooch are alter-egos, the comedy revolving around Hooch’s ability to salivate gallons of sticky froth and dismantle everything within reach. It also goes without saying that they develop a loving relationship, Hooch eventually involving himself in Turner’s police activities. Everything you expect to happen does happen.
The credits of director Roger Spottiswoode include the excellent political drama Under Fire, and Tom Hanks is a proven and successful comic actor with Splash and Big in his repertoire. One can only hope that genuine talent like these two get better ideas and scripts to work with. If man and dog must be partnered on screen, leave it to The Thin Man's Nick and Asia. (Dylan Matthew)
restless son eager for life. The situation reaches crisis when a Gentleman Caller intrudes into this delicately perched nest of fantasy and selfdelusion. . .Edinburgh: National Museum.
I Gone With The Wind (PG) (Victor Fleming. US. 1939) Clark Gable. Vivien Leigh. Olivia de Havilland. Leslie l‘loward. 220 mins. This new print has restored the original colour to the classic. fifty-year-old tale that brings alive the era of the civil war through gripping narrative and characterisation. remaining faithful to Margaret Mitchell‘s powerful novel. Strathelyde: Paisley Arts Centre.
I Heathers (15) (Michael Lehman. US. 1989) Winona Ryder. Christian Slater. Lisanne Falk. 10 mins. An ultrablack parody of the high school teenflick. Lehman‘s first feature film manages to combine box office success with artistic merit. This cult hip hit of the year has Slater and Ryder starting a suicide craze to muscle in on the cliquey Heathers running the joint. Tune in. turn on. drop dead. Strathelyde: UCl Clydebank.
I Heaven's Gate ( 18) (Michael Cimino. US. 1980) Kris Kristofferson. Christopher Walken. Isabelle Huppert. 219 mins. Extraordinary full-length 7(1mm version of Cimino's notoriously expensive western. which looks at the conflict between immigrant settlers in 19th century Wyoming and the aristocratic empire-builders who want them swept out oftheir way. Absolutely stunning photography and a wealth of period detail almost make up for the rather thin central narrative. A film to be seen and savoured despite the critical drubbing it has often received. Edinburgh: Film Guild.
I HenryV (PG) (Kenneth Branagh. UK. 1989) Kenneth Branagh. Derek Jacobi. Paul Seofield. Judi Dench. 137 mins.
There are inevitable associations with Olivier in K.B.'s choice offirst feature. but he emerges with some credit as both director and performer. This is a much muddier version than its predecessor. both in the scrappy turmoil of the battle scenes and in the tempering ofzesty jingoism with an appreciation ofthe human cost of conflict. Portraying the young king as a careworn. rather sullen warrior. the film seems to offer a more complex reading of the text. even if Branagh‘s budgetary resources stint somewhat on the grandeur ofOlivier‘s charging horses. Edinburgh: Dominion. Central: MacRobert Arts Centre.
I High Anxiety ( 15) (Mel Brooks. US. 1977) Mel Brooks. Madeline Kahn. Cloris Leachman. Harvey Korman. 94 mins. Brooks turns his juvenile sense ofhumour to the Hitchcock gallery ofgreats in an attempt to spoof them. One or two clever touches may spark off a glimmerof recognition. but otherwise the gags are as subtle as a Sumo wrestler in a swimming pool. Glasgow: Grosvenor.
I A Hungarian Fairy Tale (PG) (Gyula Gazdag. Hungary. 1986) David Vermes. llusak Frantisek. Pal Hetenyi. 97 mins. After the death of his mother. a young boy searches for the father named on his birth certificate. a petty clerk currently on a self-imposed mission to destroy all the paperwork he has fabricated over the years but who happens not to be the child‘s real parent. Initially charming. but finally rather sloppily constructed exercise in would-be magical absurdity. Glasgow: GFI‘Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I Jason and The Argonauts (U) (Don Chaffey. UK. 1964) Todd Armstrong. Nancy Kovack. Gary Raymond. 103 mins. Totally brill adventure yarn as our hero Jason sets out to retrieve the legendary
golden fleece and is helped by a numberof the gods on Olympus along the way. Ray Harryhausen‘s stop-motion effects remain among the best of his career. most notably the final conflict with an army ofskeletal soldiers. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I Jesus of Montreal ( 15) n (Denys Arcand. Canada. 1989) Lothaire Bluteau. Catherine Wilkening. Johanne-Marie Tremblay. 120 mins. See feature. Glasgow: GET. Edinburgh: Filmhouse. I Julius Caesar (PG) (Joseph L. Mankiewicz. US. 1953) Marlon Brando, James Mason. Louis Calhern. 12(1mins. Straight Shakespeare Hollywood-style. from a director who always put the emphasis on talk anyhow. Brando manages the verse surprisingly well as Mark Anthony. and Mason makesa restrained patrician of Brutus. Edinburgh University Film Society.
I Klute ( 18) (Alan J. Pakula. US. 1971) Jane Fonda. Donald Sutherland. Charles Cioffi. Roy Scheider. 114 mins.
Oscar-winning performance from Fonda as upmarket hooker reluctantly accepting protection from Sutherland‘s undercover cop when one of her clients turns dangerous. The intense relationship which follows is the key to this dated but still relevant masterpiece. Glasgow: Grosvenor.
I John Kobal Lecture The curator ofthe world‘s largest collection of movie star portraits gives an illustrated talk to tie in with the recent exhibition and book. The Man Who Shot Garbo. on which he collaborated with noted Hollywood photographer Clarence Sinclair Bull. See also feature. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I The Lady From Shanghai (PG) (Orson Welles. US. 1948) Orson Welles. Rita Hayworth. Everett Sloane. lrish sailor Welles falls in love withfcmmcfamle Hayworth and becomes enmeshed in a deadly game of murder and intrigue involving her unscrupulous millionaire husband. Studio boss Harry Cohn offered a reward to anyone who could explain the plot to him. but a classic love scene in an aquarium and the brilliant final shoot-out in a hall of mirrors show the authentic Welles touch at work. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I Last Exit To Brooklyn ( l8) s: (Ulrich Edel. W.Germany. 1989) Stephen Lang. Jennifer Jason Leigh. Burt Young. 104 mins. See feature. Glasgow: Odeon. Salon. Edinburgh: Odeon. Strathelyde: Odeon Ayr. UCI Clydebank. UCl East Kilbride.
I Law Of Desire ( l8) (Pedro Almodovar. Spain. 101 mins) Eusebio Poncela. Carmen Maura. Antonio Baderas. 1(11 mins. Notorious film-maker Pablo moves through a decadent lifestyle ofsensual pleasure. his only real concern for his transsexual brother-turned-sister. However. when he falls for government minister's son Antonio. a nightmare of manipulation and deceit is to follow. Flamboyant Spanish iconoclast Almodovar‘s exaggerated sexual farrago is interesting as a sort ofoverheated melodrama. though the lack ofnarrative control near the end does let the film down. Edinburgh University Film Society.
I Lawrence 01 Arabia (PG) (David Lean. UK. 1962) Peter O'Toole. Alec Guinness. Jack Hawkins. Omar Sharif. 222 mins. Lean‘s mammoth desert epic. restored to its director's original cut and the big screen. where film-making on this scale belongs. ()‘Toole‘s debut as the enigmatic adventurer still impresses. but apart from the majestic action sequences. it‘s the disturbing sense of clinical and cold-blooded violence hanging over the highly literate characterisation that today seems especially striking. Strathelyde: UCl East Kilbride.
I Lethal Weapon 2 ( 15) (Richard Donner. US. 1989) Mel Gibson. Danny Glover. Patsy Kensit. 113 mins. Wooden return
22 The List 12 — 25 January 1991)