FILM LIST
Frewer. Thomas Brown. Amy O‘Neill. Robert Olivcri. Jared Rushton. 92 mins. Hapless father and would-be inventor (Moranis) does just what the title suggests. The kids find themselves cut down to size (a quarter ofan inch)and swept out with the trash. Their mission: to escape from the garbage bag and somehow attract their father's attention to their height problem. Well. we might think it's old hat but Walt Disnae. Showing with the excellent new Roger Rabbirshort. Tummy Trouble. Glasgow: Odeon. Edinburgh: Dominion. Odeon. Strathclyde: UCI Clydebank. UCI East Kilbride. I The Hunt for Red October (PG) (John McTiernan. US. 1990) Sean Connery. Alec Baldwin. Sam Neill. 136mins. Connery is Captain Markus Ramius. a top Ruskie in charge of their latest piece oftop hardware. On the maiden test voyage of the eponymous sub. he sneaks off course toward the US. Not surprisingly his superiors suspect trouble. as do the Americans. Only one man believes his intentions are honourable. But can CIA agent Baldwin make contact with the rebel sub before World War III breaks out? A mixture of high production values. outstanding special effects. pointless snippets of Russian dialogue and charming lead actors combine to make it a satisfying voyage into escapist entertainment. Nevertheless. it all smacks ofa strangely dated anti-Russian attitude. Glasgow: Cannon Clarkston Road. Cannon The Forge. Cannon Sauchiehall Street. Salon. Edinburgh: Cannon. Dominion. Central: Caledonian. Cannon. Strathclyde: Cannon. Odeon Ayr. Odeon Hamilton. UCI Clydebank. UCI East Kilbride. I I Be Done Been Was ls ( 15) (DebraJ. Robinson. US. 1985) Rhonda l-Iansome. Princess Pee Wee. Ethel Waters. 58 mins. Hilarious and important documentary looking at the comedy industry‘s treatment of black women performers through the decades. Complete with archive footage of the likes of the great Ms Waters. who sang. danced. told jokes and (this being 1920s America) still got treated like dirt. Robinson‘s survey also takes in the raunchy. politicised and damn tough comediennes of the 1980s. Watch out for the most cruelly funny impersonation of Diana Ross you‘ll ever see. Edinburgh: Filmhouse. I l’m Gonna Git You Sucka (15)(Keenan Ivory Wayans. US. 1988) Keenan Ivory Wayans. Isaac Hayes. Jim Brown. 89 mins. In this zippy spoof of the Seventies blaxploitation cycle. writer/director/star Wayans returns home from the army only to find the ghetto hooked on gold chains and his own brother a recent o.g. (over-golding) victim. Reuniting former tough guys and blaxploitation icons Brown and Hayes. he decides to go after the white Mr Big who controls the market. enlisting the help of superpimp Antonio Fargas (aka the one and only Huggy Bear) along the way. Wayans hits several right notes of absurdity in this send-up ofan already ridiculous genre. Edinburgh: Filmhouse. Ilntemal Affairs (18) (Mike Figgis. US. 1989) Andy Garcia. Richard Gere. Nancy Travis. 105 mins. See review. Glasgow: Cannon The Forge. Cannon Sauchichall Street. Edinburgh: Cannon. Central: Cannon. Strathclyde: Cannon. UCI Clydebank. UCI East Kilbride. IJean De Florette (PG) (Claude Berri. France. 1986) Gerard Depardieu. Yves Montand. Daniel Auteuil. 121 mins. Provence. during the 1920s. Depardieu‘s indomitable hunchback struggles against impossible odds to make a success ofhis inherited farmland. unaware that his neighbours are plotting to drive him from his land. Beautifully photographed. with flawless performances. this is a towering tribute to the highest aspirations of French storytelling. A BAFTA winner forthe film ofthe year. Edinburgh: Filmhouse. I Johnny Handsome (15) (Walter Hill. US.
A NIGHTMARE 0N ELM STREET PART V:
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A Nightmare On Elm Street Part V: The Dream Child (18) if: (Stephen Hopkins, US, 1989) Robert Englund, Lisa Wilcox, Danny Hassel. 90 mins. The original ‘A Nightmare On Elm Street’ has now been elevated to classic status among horror fans. There the fiendish Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund) appears in the nightmares oi his teen victims, and if he murders them in their dreams they wake up dead in real life, so to speak.
First time around, this wasn’t merely a good idea, but underthe guiding hand of the concept’s originator, writer/director Wes Craven, it was also a genuinely well executed one. Despite the simplicity oi the basic premise, however, most of the sequels chose to concentrate on lavish special effects and groansome one-liners from dear, dear Fred as he disposes oi his victims in ghoulish, increasingly inventive fashions. While none oi the subsequent instalments has quite sunk to the depths of the truly dreary ‘Part II: Freddy’s Revenge’, this latest offering doesn’t have too much to recommend it.
For those still interested, the plot of ‘Part V: The Dream Child’ centres on Alice (Lisa Wilcox), who’s come through the trauma oi ‘Part IV: The Dream Master’ and managed to get
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THE DREAM CHIL
herself pregnant into the bargain. Although these stereotyped juveniles never actually work up any audience sympathy, it appears that ol’ Freddy is taking advantage of the unborn child’s dreams to lure victims to the slaughter. Confused? Well, so’s the film. How else do we account for the presence of ghostly nun Amanda Krueger? She first cropped up way back in ‘Part III: Dream Warriors’ when we were greatly ediiied to discover that Freddy is actually the evil spawn of a lunatic asylum gang bang. And so. he’s also come to be known as the ‘bastard son of a thousand maniacs’.
Here though, the famous Freddy merry quips are down in number, as if the scriptwriters themselves became aware of flogging a dead horse. Nevertheless, Englund still gets the best moment when he appears, minus make-up, as one of the aforementioned thousand maniacs and Ieers enthusiastically at the camera. Well, it’s a buck, ain’t it. (Jeremy Clarke)
Preview Sat 5 (Late). Strathclyde: UCI Clydebank, UCI East Kilbride.
From Fri 11. Glasgow: Cannon The Forge. Central: Regal. Strathclyde: La Scala, UCI Clydebank, UCI East Kilbride.
1990) Mickey Rourke. Ellen Barkin. Lance Henriksen. Morgan Freeman. 94 mins. So-called because his facial deformations make him look rather unfortunately like the Elephant Man. Johnny ‘1 landsome‘ Sedley is asmall-time crook whose closest friend is killed by other members of the gang during an unsuccessful heist. Upon his later release from jail. Johnny undertakes the services of Forrest Whitaker's plastic surgeon and emerges a new man in the shape ofMickey Rourke. While falling in love for the first time with Elizabeth McGovern. his task at hand is to track down and kill nasties Barkin and llenriksen who dispatched his buddy. As you might guess from the synopsis. take away the twist ofthe malformed protagonist and you have a rather formulaic revenge flick. but director Hill makes good use of the New Orleans locations and has never forgotten how to put a good action scene together. Glasgow: Cannon The Forge. Edinburgh: Cameo. Strathclyde: UCI Clydebank.
UCI East Kilbride.
I The Karate Kid 1-3 (PG) (John G. Avildsen. US. 1984—89) Ralph Macchio. Noriyuki ‘Pat‘ Morita. 127,113. lllmins. A lot of chop but little change in this trioof martial arts movies. In the first and best of them a NewJersey kid has trouble fitting in with the locals when his mom movesout to the West Coast. In particular. he falls foul ofa big shot at the local karate club. Fortunately however. he meets a wise old Okinawan karate master. From him our hero learns inner strength. resilience. strong moral values and not to use hisgifts for violence. Character building stuff. which he puts to good effect in the subsequent chopfests — as good triumphs over evil. again and again. Glasgow: Cannon Sauchichall Street.
IThe Krays ( 18) (Peter Medak. UK. 1990) Billie Whitelaw. Gary Kemp. Martin Kemp. 119 mins. The long planned biopic of the terrible twins: Ronnie and Reggie. comes crashing onto the screen. Director Medak opts to imbue their lives with the
mythic qualities of a fairy tale andthereby ignores most of the grisly details oftheir reign of fear. Whether or not you believe that their sordid tale deserves such treatment. the Spandau siblings do turn in a passable impersonation. despite their love of gazing moodin at the camera. Glasgow: Cannon The Forge. Odeon. Grosvenor. Edinburgh: Odeon. Strathclyde: Odeon Ayr. Odeon Hamilton. UCI Clydebank. UCI East Kilbride. 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 bad family feature. with plenty offurry creatures to keep the kids happy. Central: Caledonian. Strathclyde: Kelburne. I The Left-Handed Woman ( 15) (Peter llandke. W. Germany. 1977) Edith Clever. Bruno Ganz. Gerard Depardieu. 119 mins. Clever is effective in the role ofa Parisian housewife who without explanation rejects husband Ganz and finds herself alienated from her home and children as she silently embarks on an inner quest for a sense of self. Produced by Wim Wenders. this is a striking latterday exercise in existential crisis. though the film‘s overwhelming quietness and ennui may not endear it to viewers Iookingfor the usual melodramatic approach to this kind ofmaterial. Edinburgh: Filmhouse. I Look Who’s Talking ( 12) (Amy Heckerling. US. 1989) John Travolta. Kirstie Alley. Olympia Dukakis. 97 mins. In Travolta‘s much-hyped comeback he plays stand-in papa to Alley's first baby. but is quicker to meet approval from the little brat. via the voiced-over musings of one Bruce Willis. than he is from its confused and binkered mama. Crass. lowbrow and thus extremely popular comedy whose sole redeeming feature is the natural charm of the trusty Travolta. But any movie whose idea of a comic setpiece means filmimg a foetus inside the womb with the dreary Willis intoning on the soundtrack just doesn‘t come near the ball park. Glasgow: Cannon Clarkston Road. Cannon The Forge. Odeon. Edinburgh: Dominion. Odeon. Central: Allanpark. Strathclyde: Kelburne. Odeon Ayr. Odeon Hamilton. UCI Clydebank, UCI East Kilbride. I Manhunter ( 18) (Michael Mann. US. 1987) William L. Petersen. Tom Noonan. Brian Cox. Kim Griest. 119 mins. FBI agent Petersen returns from psychiatric treatment to face another case. using his customary technique for tracking down serial killers by recreating their train of thought. In the past this has proved all too wearingon his own mental state. and when faced with evidence ofa killer who slays whole families every lunar cycle. he finds himself back on the brink. Convincing and disturbing adult thriller with effortlessly stylish use ofthe wide screen. Edinburgh: Cameo. I The Man With Two Drains(15)(Carl Reiner. US. 1983) Steve Martin. Kathleen Turner. David Warner. 93 mins. Zany Martin-Reiner romp in which the great man plays a brilliant brain surgeon driven to the depths of despair when he weds Turner. a man-hungry murderess with a penchant for driving elderly husbands to early graves and pocketing their legacies. Deliriously delightful. Glasgow: Grosvenor. I Monsieur Hire ( 15) (Patrice Leconte. France. 1989) Michel Blane. Sandrinc Bonnaire. 82 mins. An elusive neighbourhood recluse (Blane). whiles away his evenings spying on his alluring neighbour Alice (Bonnaire). Gradually. he becomes entangled in an unsolved murder and a passionate romance. Based on a Simenon novel this sensitive and enthralling film. which was almost overlooked in Britain. received its first screening in this country at the Filmhouse last month. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
The List 4— 17 May 199043