FILM LIST
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PHONE BOOKINGSALL SHOWS
Fri 20 - Thurs 26 STRAPLESS (15)
3, 5, 7PM
SOCIETY (18)
9PM
' Fri 27 - Thurs 3 May ROGER 8r ME (15)
3, 5, 7, 9pm
0 Late Nights
at 11.15pm £2.80/£2
Fri 20 :
LAST EXIT TO BROOKLYN (18) & HEART OF MIDNIGHT (18)
Sat 21 :
BETTY BLUE (18) &
BLUE VELVET (18)
Fri 27 : THE COOK, THE THIEF, HIS WIFE & HER LOVER (18) & BROWNING BY NUMBERS (18) Sat 28 :
CASUALTIES OF WAR (18) & GARDENS OF STONE (15)
24 The List 2() April — 3 May 1990
THE KRAYS
Y
The Krays (18) (Peter Medak, UK, 1990) Billie Whitelaw, Gary Kemp, Martin Kemp, Steven Berkoff. 119 mins. The Krays‘ early scenes show various incidents in the lives of the young twins Ronnie and Reggie. The chaps may deliver enthralling speeches about sightings of Jack The Ripper as East Enders shelter from the Blitz in Bethnal Green underground station, but the fact that it was a woman who apparently spotted the slayer is just one indication of how much the womenfolk dominate this society. The boys’ motherViolet (Billie Whitelaw) holds both her oftspring close to her as the sound of dropping bombs commences. ‘Nobody’s going to hurt you my darlings’ she reassures them, ‘they wouldn’t bloody dare.‘
As grown adults the Krays are played by Gary and Martin Kemp (of Spandau Ballet fame) with a frightening sense of the type of evil that will remorselessly use even the most violent means to protect itself, and, by implication, mum at home in the family nest, from the threat posed by the outside world. Violet even finds the twins protecting her when her husband begins threatening ‘our mum’.
Unlike all those predictably tedious
British movies that attempt a naturalist historical portrayal of such events, screenwriter Philip Ridley, aided by his more than competent director Peter Medak, goes for an over-the-top portrayal of East End matriarchy that sees mum making cups of tea forthe boys and their ‘friends’ as they hold ‘business’ meetings upstairs. Every twenty minutes or so the film interrupts into violence, and although the final cut has reduced some of the original action and softened the proceedings on the process, some of the implied details are indeed pretty grisly. Moreover, the apparent discontinuity between the boys close relationship with their mum on the one hand, and the succession of atrocities they commit on the other, surely captures something of what the real Krays were like. With a visual style that suggests a fairy tale (‘The Two Bad Kings‘ perhaps) this is one British movie you simply can’t ignore. (Jeremy Clarke)
From Fri 27. Glasgow: Cannon The Forge, Odeon. Edinburgh: Odeon. Strathclyde: Odeon Ayr, Odeon Hamilton, UCI Clydebank. UCI East Kilbride.
I Silent Running (LI) (Douglas'l'rumbull. US. 1971) Bruce Dern. Cliff Potts. Ron Rifkin. 89 mins. Pioneering effects boffin Trumbull (be supervised 2001's elaborate setpieces) came up trumps with this warmly affecting debut sci-fi feature. Dern stars as the scientist in charge ofa spacecraft experiment that's literally another Garden of Eden and is apparently intended to renourish old mother Earth after the ravages of nuclear war. When orders come through that the plan is to be ditched. Dern and his team of robots head off into hyperspace in the hope that thev can inspire life on another sphere and ' setting the scene for a tearful finale. Glasgow: Grosvenor.
I Ski Patrol (PG) or (Richard Corell. US. 1989) Ray Walston. Roger Rose. Martin .‘vlull. 91) mins. Just when you thought it was safe to go back to the cinema again. he's back! Yes. producer Paul Maslanskv. the man who brought you all five ofthe ' miserably mirthless Police A eademy
movies. returns with his latest er. brainchild. This big-budget comedy caper has dashing ski instructor Roger Rose battling against nasty property developer Ray Walston who‘s seeking to change the local resort beyond recognition. Expect the same bland of juvenile slapstick and exasperating smuttiness as before. Glasgow: Cannon Clarkston Road. Cannon The Forge. Cannon Sauchiehall Street. Edinburgh: Cannon. Central. Caledonian. Cannon. Regal. Strathclyde: Cannon. Odeon Ayr. UCI Clydebank. UCI East Kilbride.
I Society ( 18) (Brian Yuzna. US. 1989) Billy Warlock. Patrice Jennings. Devin De Vasquez. 102 mins. A spunky little B-movie from the folks who brought you the horror comic classics like Reunimuror and From Beyond. The narrative follows alienated Californian youngster Warlock as he comes to terms with both his lack of social acceptability and his deeply rooted fear of incest. but his teen angst is
manifested in a surprisingly physical way courtesy of Screaming Mad George's ‘Special Surrealistic Effects“. Yuzna calls it ‘Psycho-fiction‘. but we‘ll settle for one ofthe more intelligent genre moviesof recent years. Edinburgh: Cameo. Strathclyde: UCI Clydebank.
I Soylent Green ( 15) (Richard Fleischer. US. 1973) Charlton Heston. Edward G. Robinson. Leigh Taylor Young. 97 mins. Film adaptation of Harry Harrison‘s highly-regarded novel Make Room.’ Make Room/sets up a plausible vision of a future world teeming with hungry millions. Heston is a tough cop trying to discover exactly what are the ingredients ofSoylent Green. a synthetic foodstuff that‘s been cooked up to help feed the planet. The final revelation might be obvious from a long way off. but it‘s very logical in a Swiftian sort of way. Glasgow: Grosvenor.
l Steel Magnolias (PG) (Herbert Ross. US. 1989) Shirley MacLaine. Dolly Parton. Sally Field. Olympia Dukakis. Julia Roberts. 117 mins. The downhome tale of a bevy ofsouthern belles who support each other through a combination of hugs and wisecracks. Robert Harling‘s stage play. written as a testimony to the courageous womenfolk of his home-town. wends its weepy way onto the big-screen. Loads of local colour and tragedy but you can‘t help feeling that you‘ve been emotionally manipulated by a bunch of Cindy dolls. Edinburgh: Dominion.
I Strapless ( 15) (David Hare. UK. 1989) Blair Brown. Bruno Ganz. Bridget Fonda. 97 mins. Ms Brown plays a London-based American doctor toiling in an under-funded NI IS hospital. and losing her self-esteem in the process. Enter enigmatic European millionaire Ganz and life could be on the upturn. Meanwhile. motherhood has pulled her sister. fashion designer Fonda. out of the mire ofa dissipated existence. Pulling togetherthe plight of the NHS and notions of female social and sexual independence however proves too much of a task for l lare‘s literary might. and the ill conceived central metaphor of strapless dresses hardly stops the film front collapsing under the weight of itsown portcntiousness. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I The Sugarland Express ( 15) (Steven Spielberg. US. 1974) Goldie Hawn. William Atherton. Michael Sacks. Ben Johnson. 11() mins. Hawn and Atherton are a couple on the run. who manage to kidnap gormless cop Atherton and lead police chief Ben Johnson a merry dance across the state ofTexas. but events are soon to spiral out of control when the chase becomes the focus of a burgeoning media circus. Spielberg's first feature for the cinema (the earlier Duel was made for television) handles the action set-pieces in unsurprisineg confident manner. but there‘s a knowing cynicism about the foibles of America‘s consumer society that's sometimes been missing from his other work. Glasgow: Grosvenor.
l Tango And Cash ( 15) (Andrei Konchalovsky. US. 1989) Sylvester Stallone. Kurt Russell. Teri Hatcher. Jack Palance. 104 mins. Glasgow: Cannon The Forge. Cannon Sauchiehall Street. Central: Allanpark. Strathclyde: UCI Clydebank. L'Cl East Kilbride.
I To Kill A Mockingbird (PG ) ( Robert Mulligan. US. 1962) Gregory Peck. Mary Badham. Philip Alford. Brock Peters. 129 mins. Sturdy film adaptation of the classic Harper Lee novel won an Oscar for Peck as a liberal lawyer in the Deep South defending a black man accused of rape. The material is delicately handled as he attempts to explain the situation to his children. and Duvall makes his screen debut as their friend. a retarded man. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I Trop Belle PourToi ( 15 ) (Bertrand Blier. France. 1989) Gerard Depardieu. Josiane Belasko. 91 mins. Intense study ofpassion and marital infidelity as car dealer Blier finds himself much less attracted to his