FILM LIST
Pretty woman (15) ‘5‘ (Garry Marshall,
US, 1990) Richard Gere, Julia Roberts, Ralph Bellamy, Laura San Giacomo. 120 mins. In a recent TV chat show appearance Richard Gere recalled how Jeffrey Katzenberg, head of Touchstone Pictures, described his latest project as “‘Wall Street meets My Fair Lady”, except that he probably meant Pygmalion’. And so, following in the enormously successful footsteps of other high-concept Touchstone offerings like Three Men And A Baby or Down And Out In Beverly Hills comes Pretty Woman, recently number one in the US box office charts. High-concept, by the way, is studiospeak for .‘back-of-a-cigarette-packet’, meaning the kind of picture that is very easy to explain very quickly to very stupid people.
In one of two movies to be released in Britain this fortnight (see panel on Internal Affairs), Richard Gere plays megawealthy New York
é wheeler-dealer Edward Lewis, who's on a trip to LA to negotiate the Sale and subsequent breaking up for succulent profit of lovely old Ralph Bellamy’s shipyard. He is, in otherwords, a birrova bastard. Yetwhoah there, for healthy character development is at hand in the comely shape of Julia Roberts. She’s Vivian Ward, a downhome smalltown girl who's hit hard times in the big smoke and is reduced to selling her favours on Hollywood Boulevard, but when a slightly befuddled Gere picks her up to ask directions back to her hotel, so begins a relationship that is to change both of them. As they realise that they're both in the business of ‘screwing people for money', he becomes more of a caring human
being, and she regains her self respect by carrying off the role of companion amidst the luxurious trappings of the LA smart set. But just when it looks like their liaison has become more than a transaction, Lewis’s week in the city is due to come to an end, and Vivian’s fairy tale could soon be over.
It’s easy to see why ’Pretty Woman' has been such a massive hit in the States, for it entertainineg perpetuates the Horatio Alger myth that inside all honest poor folks (salt of the earth etc) there’s a rich person waiting to get out — all it takes is just a little good fortune, so remember to hold on to your dream, y’all. The usual sentimental guff, in other words, except that it’s so disarmineg written, directed and performed that even the most austere socio-polltical theorist would probably enjoy themselves. Gere, very much at home with light comedy, makes a perfect double-act with charming Julia Roberts, and there’s a couple of extremely commendable Good Egg' character roles from Sex, Lies and Videotape’s Laura San Giacomo (Viv’s best buddy) and Hector Elizondo (the hotel manager). Go, see, enjoy. (TrevorJohnston)
Preview Sun 6. Glasgow: Cannon The Forge, Odeon, Salon. Edinburgh: Odeon. Sfrathclyde: Kelburne, Odeon Ayr, Odeon Hamilton, UCI Clydebank, UCI East Kilbride.
From Fri 11. Glasgow: Cannon Clarkston Road, Cannon The Forge, Odeon, Salon. Edinburgh: Odeon. Central: Allanpark, Cannon. Sfrathclyde: Cannon, Kelburne, Odeon Ayr, Odeon Hamilton, UCI Clydebank, UCI East Kilbride.
from the wicked Medtisa‘s home in a Louisiana swamp. Glasgow: Cannon The Forge.
I Road House ( 18) (Rowdy I Ierrington. US. 1989) Patrick Swayze. Ben (iauara. Kelly Lynch. I 1-1 mins. Swayze moves from Dirty Dancing to dirty dunling when he becomes bounce r-in-chief at the savage Double Deuce nightclub. litterly ‘ execrable macho nonsense. but full of
satisfying cheap thrills if you take it in the right spirit. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I Roger and Me ( 15) (Michael Moore. IIS, I989) Michael Moore. Roger Smith. 90 mins. Alternater hilarious and saddening portrait of the disastrous effects of widespread unemployment on Moore‘s home town of Flint. Montana. A former journalist. Moore sold his house and auctioned its contents to make this movie.
An unexpected hit in the Statesthis docu-comedy follows the trail ofhis camera as he gleans comments from all manner of folk and sets off in search of Roger Smith. the head of General Motors. who closed down their Flint factory with the loss of 30.000 jobs. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I Rosalie Goes Shopping ( 15) ( I’ercy Aldon. France. 1989) Marieanne Sagebreeht. Brad Davis. Judge Reinhold. 94 mins. Third and apparently final film in the Percy AldonMarianne Sagebrecht series which also boasts Sugarhaby and Bagdad Cafe. has the hefty hausfrau offon a credit card spree as she tries to cope with the temptations of the States’ consumer paradise. In the same spirit she gets herself a computer and hacks into a local bank to clear her debts. This may be your last chance to catch the celebrated team in action. Central: MacRobert Arts Centre. I Santa Sangre ( 18) (Alejandro Jodorowsky. Italy/Mexico. 1989) Axel Jodorowsky. Blanca Guerra. Guy Stockwell. 118 mins. After I7years' absence from the film sccne.Jodorwosky remains one ofthe few genuine enigmasof world cinema. “is instantly recognisable style graces this latest feature. a typical mixture of fantasy and reality. Against the backdrop ofa circus. young Fenix witnesses horrifying events when his strongman father commits suicide after dismembering the boy‘s mother. Committed for 20 years. he eventually escapes. only to find the maternal bonds still strong. driving him to kill any woman he finds attractive. Jodorowsky‘s film is dcliberatley disturbing and provocative. but its visual imagination makes it a landmark in cinematic surrealism. Glasgow: (il’l'.
IThe Searchers ( PG) (John Ford. us. 1956) John Wayne. Vera Miles. Jeffrey IIunter. Natalie Wood. 11‘) mins. ()neof Ford's finest Westerns. and hence one of the greatest achievements of the genre has
Wayne as the obsessive Ethan Edwards. a man whose five-year quest to hunt down the Indians who murdered his wife and captured his young daughter has developed into a thirst for murderous revenge. Indeed. his drive is not only to murder the Indians but to kill hisown offspring because she‘s been tainted by her time with the Redskins. With Wayne at his most intense. this is one ofold
I Iollywood‘s darker. richer moments. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I She's Gotta Have It ( 18) (Spike Lee. US. 198(1) 'I'racy Camilla Johns. Redmond IIicks. Spike Lee. 85 mins. Spirited. sympathetic comedy of sexual manners. with a snappy script and a fluid technique that marked an auspicious debut for its young. gifted and black writer’directortstar. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I Shirley Valentine ( 15) (Lewis Gilbert. UK. 1989) Pauline Collins. BernardIIill. Tom Conti. 110 mins. Gilbert‘sscreen version of the celebrated Willy Russell play. now expanded from a monologue to include Hill as the insensitive hubby and Conti as the Greek bit of stuffShirIey meets on a Mediterranean holiday that turns into a voyage ofself-( re )discovery. Collins is outstanding in the title role of frustrated Liverpudlian housewife. Edinburgh: Dominion.
I Shocker( 18) (Wes Craven. US. 1989) Peter Berg. Michael Murphy. Mitch Pileggi. llllmins. In whichthe overworked Freddy Krueger is resurrected by his original creator in anew guise. that of I Iorace Pinker. electrical engineer and personal pal of Old Nick. whose spell in the electric chair only serves to increase his appetite and aptitude for gratuitous meat-cleaving activities. In a startlingly innovative twist to the genre. Craven has a teenage boy dream our
I Iorace's murders before they occur. But with a positive plethora ofingenious blood-letting schemes and psychic leaps.
GLASGOW’S
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I v) . . . from 1-26 May I‘heArches busyprogrammeofthealre. Ma e‘l, music and late-night happenings will be hosted by Mafest. Glasgow's annual festival of the arts — pick up a Mayfcst I990 brochure for full details
All this plus a restaurant. videos lectures. debates u wrleshops. ceilldhs and much more See the .1 rehes day and night programrnefarfu/l details
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Slei/fle-eumfolk/mm the darlings o/ the (iarden l‘estn a! a ha '5 metal 1' released single. The Poll llLt’ Song. sold out in ay/Urtm'ght.’
THE ARCHES BY NIGHT Sun — 'Ilturs 8pm — Midnight I‘ri & Sat 8pm - .Zam 'I‘ickets available from ’I‘l( LKIi'l‘CI-ZN'I’RI-I. (Iandleriggs.Glasgow. 'l‘e|.(()-rl )22' 551 1
The Arches, of)” Jamaica Street, Glasgow. Tel. (041) 204 3995
The List ~1— 17 May I99045