FILM LIST
WHEE- l
It's elementary. Watson. We knew one ofthese videos was murder. A simple trap soon sorted out which one it was. Atterthat. it was merely a case of proving my supposition was correct.
I BAGDAD CAFE (PG) 108 mins. Deep in the heart of America. there lies awee motel. the setting for Percy Adlon's wonderful oddball comedy. There the outsize German tourist. Marieanne Sagebrecht. alights trom a passing Greyhound and there she settles down with the proprietors and regulars of the run-down establishment whose lives she is to transform. Adlon weaves a warm and charmingtale around the quirks of his characters. (Vestron. £9.99).
I THE BEAR (PG) 98 mins. An uncomplicated tale of the lives of two bears which never quite manages to get away from the old Disney-style animal story. DirectorJean-Jacques Annaud went to great lengths to capture the bears acting naturally. ooh they can be sotemperamentai these bears. and by and large he pulls itotf. Unfortunately. you keep waiting fora bass voice-overto chuckle at their romping. An entertaining and moving film. (RCA/Columbia. Rental).
I BATTERIES NOT INCLUDED (PG) 106 mins. A sort of Passportto Pimlico meets ET which might be worth splashing outa tenneron ityou've got unruly kids to keep amused. Atew crumblies. a single mother. an artist and an ex-boxing champ are the only remaining inhabitants of the last building onthe block. Unfortunately. it's the only building thatstands in the way of a multi-million pound development. thus they are mercilessly
INDEX
I All Dogs Go to Heaven (U) (Don Bluth. US. 1989) With the voices ofBurt Reynolds. Loni Anderson and Dom DeLuise. 84 mins. ln Bluth‘slatest animated feature. likcable Alsatian Charlie Barkin is killed by his partnerin small-time crime. but manages to trick his way out of the Afterlife to face earthbound adventure with cute orphan Anne-Marie as he seeks revenge on his double-crossing buddy. Occasionally sloppy animation is more than made up for by the inventive story-line and an allusive sense ofhumour that should even have adults suppressing the odd guffaw. Glasgow: Cannon The Forge. ()deon. Edinburgh: Odeon. Strathclyde: ()deon Ayr. Odeon Hamilton. UCl Clydebank. UCI East Kilbride. WMR Film Centre.
I Always (PG) (Steven Spielberg. US. 1989) Richard Dreyfuss. Holly Hunter. John Goodman. 120 mins. Airborne fire-fighter Dreyfuss‘ deepening relationship with feisty co-worker Hunter faces a slight hitch when he’s killed in action. trying to save best mate Goodman. Thanks however to guardian angel Audrey Hepburn. his soul returnsto Earth. only to face anguish as his ex-lover falls into the arms ofhunk Bradlohnson. An absorbing mix of old fashioned sentiment and state-of—the-art special effects. Spielberg‘s reworking of 1943‘s Spencer Tracy actioner A Guy Named/0e pays tribute to the wholesome Hollywood warmth of halfa century ago. but his attempts at conveying an adult love affair remain uncomfortably adolescent. Glasgow: Grosvenor. Edinburgh: Dominion. Strathclyde: UCI Clydebank. liCl East Kilbride.
I Basket Case ( 18) (Frank llenenlotter. US. 1981) Kevin VanHantenrtick.Terri Susan Smith. Beverly Bonner. Robert Vogel. 91 mins. Low budget wickerwork horrorfest. as a wee nerd and his basket-case brother set out for revenge on the nympho surgeon and vet that that done him wrong. Gore and garish characters abound in the charmingly evoked sleazo side oflife in New York. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I Betty Blue ( 18) (Jean-Jacques Beineix. France. 1986) Jean Hughes Anglade. Beatrice Dalle. 120mins. Tempestuous love gone mad as an older handyman and a free-spirited woman embark on a passionate. peripatetic fling that ends in tragedy. Filmed with a dazzlingtechnique and art irritating emptiness by the maker of [)ll'tl. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I Bill and Ted's ExcellentAdventure ( 15) (Stephen l lerek. LS. 1990) Keanu Reeves. Alex Winter. 91 minutes. Billand Ted have art ‘excellent' friendship. but their dream of forming a band calledthe ‘Wyld Stallyns‘ is haunted by the spectre of flanking their history exams and being packed off to military academy. However. courtesy of a time-travelling telephone booth. the two dudes canter through the centuries on a breakneck refresher course where they meet up with the likesof Genghis Khan and Beethoven. Problems multiply in this enjoyany manic teen romp when this brace ofhistorical figures make it back to contemporary California with them. Like. totally tubular. titan. Glasgow: ()deon. Edinburgh: ()deon. Strathclyde: ()deon Ayr. ()deon Hamilton. L'Cl (‘lydebank L'Cl East Kilbride.
I Blade Bunnert IS) ( Ridley Scott. US. 1983) Harrison Ford. Rutger Hauer. Sean Young. 117 mins. A tough coptracks down a group of malfunctioningandroids in this gritty hi-tech retread of Raymond ('handler. executed with Scott's customary visual flair. and with strong performances. especially from Ford and
Hauer. But try following the confusing plot first time around. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I Blue Velvet (18) (David Lynch. US. 1986) Kyle MacLachlan. Dennis Hopper. Isabella Rossellini. 120 mins. ln small-town MiddleAmerica. would-be boy detective MacLachlan finds a severed car on some waste ground. 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 sex to deconstruct our complacent vision of normal society. This is film-making of remarkable imagination and skill. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I Bringing Up Baby (PG) (Howard Hawks. US. 1938) Cary Grant. Katharine Hepburn. Charles Ruggles. 102 mins. Zany gal Hepburn causes timid zoology professor Grant to lose a valuable dinosaur bone and mislay a pet leopard within the course of one screwball evening. Archetypal Thirties crazy comedy with one outlandisth hilarious scene following another within the progression of an unerringly logical narrative. Both stars at their charismatic best. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I Candy Mountain (15) (Robert Frank/Rudy Wurlitzer. France/Canada. 1987) Kevin O'Connor. Harris Yulin. Tom Waits. 92 mins. Dreamer O‘Connor longs for fame and fortune as a rock star. and edges closer to fulfillment when he‘s asked to track down legendary guitar maker Yulin. Crossing two countries by way ofvarious forms of transport. he encounters an array of troubled lives. but eventually finds that ‘Life ain‘t no candy mountain.‘ Offbeat and engaging road movie from noted photographer Frank
' and former screenwriter (Pat Garrettand
Billy The Kid) Wurlitzer. which boasts a cast of music biz eccentrics including Dr John. Leon Redbone. Joe Strummer and Mary Margaret O‘Hara. Glasgow: GET. I Casualties of War (18) (Brian De Palma. US. 1989) Michael]. Fox. Sean Penn. Thuy Thu Le. 120 mins. De Paima‘s contribution to the ever increasing pile of ‘Nam films concentrates on the dilemma ofthe new ‘cherry' recruit (Fox) when confronted with his comrades‘ gang-rape of a Vietnamese girl. The candy coated finale somewhat destroys the film‘s impact. as if it were merely a bad dream in the American conscience. An intriguing contribution to the pile. even if it doesn‘t make it to the top. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I Cesar et Rosalie ( 15) (Claude Sautet. France ’Germany. 1972) Yves Montand. Romy Schneider. Sami Frey. 105 mins. This popular French "image a trots follows the passion-filled exploits ofCesar and Rosalie. and the sudden reappearance of her ex-Iover David in their lives. Another typical Sautet dissection ofthe French bourgeoisie. with Montand's charismatic central performance proving extremely popular at the box office. Glasgow: GET.
I Chicago Joe and the Showgirl ( 18) (Bernard Rose. UK. 1990) Keifer Sutherland. Emily Lloyd. Keith Allen. 103 mins. See Review. Glasgow: Odeon. Edinburgh: Odeon.
I Les Choses de la Vie ( 15) (Claude Sautet. France. 1969) Michel Piccoli. Romy Schneider. Lea Massari. 89 mins. Sautet‘s second feature established his prominence amongst French film-makers. Having left his wife. architect Piccoli now has a relationship with a younger woman. but he has no wish to share the simple life she craves. With an episodic narrative largely constructed from flashbacks. Sautet‘s achievement here is to make the characters both convincing and interesting. Glasgow: GF'T.
I A City of Sadness ( 15) (Hou llsaio-Hsien. Taiwan. 1989) Tony Leung. lfsin Shu-Fen. Chen Sown Yung. 158 mins. Despite the events at Tiananmen Square. Chinese born director Hou still
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hounded by ambitious property men. Having doggedly hung on totheir homestor as long as possible things are looking bleak. until . . . a pairoltlny spacecraft touch down on the root of the old building and bolster their defences no end. A rather uninspired itamiable enough Spielberg produced movie. (ClC. £9.99)
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I BULL DURHAM (15) 108 mins. A baseball movie that ain't only about the grand ol' game! Instead. it focuses on the emotional triangle between Susan Sarandon an ageing catcher (Kevin Costner) and a slow pitcher(Tlm Robbins). Fine performances all round make for an enjoyable movie. (Virgin. Rental).
I FATAL ATTRACTION (18) 114 mins. The best known moral tale for the Eighties comes out on sell-through. Michael Douglas is perfectly happy with his wife and kids and his career. So happy in tactthat he only sleeps with Glenn Close a couple of times before he realises it ain'ta good idea. Unfortunately. she doesn't share his point of view and sets out for revenge. A glossy
box-olfice smash which probably made lots of middle-aged men at least think twice about knocking off Glenn Close lookalikes
in elevators. (ClC. £12.99).
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I LETHAL WEAPON 2 (15) 108 mins. Unconventional cop capers with a big arsenal as Mel Gibson and Danny Glovertake on some South Africans. An action movie with enough well-worn sequences to have your video's cliche-counter playing up like a geiger-counter at Sizewell. However, though the acting may make the Woodentops look like an experimental dance troupe the thumping Eric Clapton soundtrack does at least move things along quickly. Escapist fluff, it may be. but it nevertheless makes for a disappointing follow-up to the original. (Warner. Rental).
1B The List 20 April — 3 May 1990