FILM
For the lirst time in central Scotland, performing tor your delectation, it'sthose zany new releases, with your ringmaster tor the evening Mr Trevor Johnston.
I THE FOURTH WAR (15) John Frankenheimer directs as Roy Scheider and Jurgen Prochnow leave world political events behind and get into their own personal East/West conflict. See main preview. Odeons Glasgow and Edinburgh from Fri 22 June.
I LIMIT UP (12) She sells her soul to do it. but Nancy Allen cracks the Chicago commodities market only to realise she's lleecing the starving millions. Wall Street meets Faust meets Third World consciousness in this vigorously plotted comedy. Cannons Sauchiehall Street and Parkhead irom Fri 22 June.
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I PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (18) Nowt to do with Michael Crawlord or Sara Brightman. this latest remake has Robert (Freddy) Englund strutting his usual gruesome stutl. Andrew Lloyd Vlebber might actually have been more horritylng. See review. Wide release from June 15.
I THE RIFT (15) Anotherln the unending and unprofitable series oi subaquatic thrillers is about a submarine that gets stuck in an undersea ritt. Er. that's it apparently. Glasgow Cannon Sauchiehall Street and UCI East Kilbride irom Fri 22 June.
I REVENGE (18) Costner returns as a retired pilot romantically involved with lingerie-bedecked Madeleine Stowe and lacing the wrath 01 Mexican magnate hubby Anthony Dulnn. Director Tony Scott piles on the billowing white curtains etc. See review. Odeons release from Fri 22 June.
INDEX
I The Abyss ( 15) (James Cameron. US. 1989) Ed Harris. Michael Biehn. Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio. 140 mins. An estranged couple get caught up in a tense drama on the sea floor in this movie made almost entirely underwater. Though Cameron has opted for a more contemplative exercise in tension. the intertwining of plots leads one to feel that he‘s crammed too much into the film‘s length. It may not go down as agreat artistic achievement. but it does push back a few boundaries of the possible in movie-making. so it won‘t sink without trace. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I The Adventures ot Baron Munchausen (PG) (Terry Gilliam. US. 1988)John Neville. Sarah Polley. Eric Idle. Robin Williams. 126 mins. Fabulously expensive 18th century fantasia has a besieged Turkish city entertained by the tall tales of Baron Munchausen. who finally saves the day. Gilliam’s extravagant visual sensibility guides this maniac epic through its sticky patches. and there is so much to look at and enough genuine laughs that his relentless campaign against mediocre convention is more than justified. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I Aliens (18) (James Cameron. US. 1986) Sigourncy Weaver. Michael Biehn. 137 mins. Revived from a 57-year snooze in deep space. Warrant Officer Weaver is cajoled into joining a marine rescue mission to the planet that is home forthe original alien beastie. Unrelentingly paced with a terrifieally gutsy performance from Weaver. this nerve-shredding sequel not only matches its predecessor but cannin surpasses it. An Oscar winner for special effects. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I All Dogs Go to Heaven (U) (Don Bluth. US. 1989) With the voices ofBurt Reynolds. Loni Anderson and Dom DeLuise. 84 mins. In Bluth‘s latest animated feature, likeable Alsatian Charlie Barkin is killed by his partner in 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. Edinburgh: Odeon. Strathclyde: Odeon Ayr. UCl Clydebank. UCI East Kilbride. WMR Film Centre.
I Altered States (18) (Ken Russell. US. 1980) William Hurt. Blair Brown. Bob Balaban. 102 mins. Hurt made his film debut in this conflict-ridden production from a disowned Paddy Chayefsky script about an inquisitive scientist dabbling in things best left alone. An interesting jumble of mind-bending special effects and ludicrous narrative developments as Hurt regresses to an ape-like state under the influence of his dangerously self-destructive experiments. Quite conventional by Russell‘s standards. Glasgow: Grosvenor.
I An American Tail (U) (Don Bluth. US. 1986) With the voices of Dom DeLuise. Madelaine Kahn. Christopher Plummer. 80mins. The late 19th century. The Mousekewitz family make their way from trouble-torn Russia to a new life in America. but they find the streets of New York are not all paved with gold. A wealth of background detail displays Bluth‘s admirably painstaking approach to animation. but the foreground narrative. often agreeably perilous. docs occasionally reek of sentimentality. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I Angel Heart (18) (Alan Parker. US. 1987) Mickey Rourke. Robert de Niro.
Charlotte Rampling. 113 mins. Scruffy. unshaven private eye Harry Angel is hired by the mysterious Louis Cyphre to track down a missing Forties crooner who has reneged on a life-or-death deal. His investigations lead him to a seedy New Orleans dominated by voodoo cults and extremely dead bodies in this uncomfortable mating of visceral gore and moodyfilm noir. with some ingenious if nasty twists in the plot. Edinburgh: Cameo. I Bagdad Cate (PG) (Percy Adlon. US/W. Germany. 1988). Marianne Sagebrecht. C.C.H. Pounder. Jack Palance. 108 mins. The wonderful Sagebrecht stars as a redoubtable German lady who leaves her husband in the middle of the desert and settles down with the folks at a run-down motel. where proprietrcss Pounder has also recently lost a spouse. The two women re-invent themselves through their friendship. and transform the place into the bargain. Adlon displays a warm and charming sympathy with the quirks of his oddball but convincing characters. and shapes a beguiling tale from the most basic of materials. Central: MacRobert Arts Centre. I Beaches(15) (Gary Marshall US. 1988) Bette Midler. Barbara Hershey. John Heard. Spalding Gray. 124 mins. Two eleven-year-old girls meet on a beach in Atlantic City and become lifelong friends despite jealous arguments and diverse lifestyles. C.C. Bloom is a loudmouthed actress/singer bound for stardom (a taxing role. one feels. for Midler). while Hershey's Hilary Whitney is a prim. moneyed beauty trying hard to resist‘ conformity. Midler makes good work of the star-vehicle script and is ably supported by Hershey. But make no mistake. this overlong female buddy movie is the schmalziest tear-jerker you'll see in a while. Glasgow: GFT. I The Bear (PG) (Jean-Jacques Annaud. France. 1988) Bart. Douce. Jack Wallace. Tcheky Karyo. 98 mins. Simple. unsentimental narrative follows the experiences of two bears. a big adult kodiak and a young orphan cub. as they are pursued by two hunters. Cleverly filmed to capture the bears acting naturally. this insightful record oftheir point of view makes a moving plea for the decent treatment of all animals and is highly entertaining as it goes about it. Strathclyde: UCI East Kilbride. I Ben HUT (PG) (William Wyler. US. 1959) Charlton Heston. Jack Hawkins. Haya Haraeet. Stephen Boyd. 217 mins. Grand. lavish and massively long epic set in New Testament times. Sweating brows and rippling muscles a-plenty. plus of course the unforgettable chariot race. Fine. upstanding entertainment. ifyou‘ve got four hours to spare. Glasgow: Cannon Sauchiehall Street. I Berlin Experimental Films ( 15 ) Organised in collaboration with the Goethe lnstitut. Berlin-based experimental film-maker Christoph Janetzko returns to Glasgow a couple of years after his last visit. This session will be an illuminating opportunity to discover how the substantial social and political changes ofthe intervening period have affected his work. Glasgow: GFT. I Betty Blue ( 18) (Jean-Jacques Beineix. France. 1986) Jean Hughes Anglade. Beatrice Dalle. 12(1mins. Tcmpcstuous love gone mad as an older handyman and a free-spirited woman embark on a passionate. pcripatetic fling that ends in tragedy. Filmed with a dazzling technique and an irritating emptiness by the maker of Diva. Edinburgh: Cameo. I Big Business (PG) (Jim Abrahams. US. 1988) Bette Midler. Lily Tomlin. Fred Ward. Edward llerrmann. 93 mins. You've seen identical twin movies. now meet the double identical twin movie. Rose and Sadie (Tomlin and Midler) are the heads ofcorporate giant Moramax. about to take over a small rural firm. The
I A SHORT FILM ABOUT LOVE (18) Second of two
j feature liims developed
j from Polish maestro
' Kiesiowski's Ten
i Commandments is a
i thought-provoking tale oi teenage voyeurism that gets out of hand. Glasgow
I Film Theatre Thur 28 to Sat 3DJune.
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iii.
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(a:
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I I STANLEY AND lRlS (15) Adult illiteracy teacherJane
, Fonda teaches struggling
l 40 year-old Robert De Niro
i more than his ABC in this
loose Americanised
adaptation 01 Pat Barker's
gritty northern novel from
the directing and writing
; team that broughtyou
j classics like Hud. See
I review. Cannons Glasgow
9 and Edinburgh irom Fri 22
June.
I A TALE OF SPRINGTIME
(PG) inaugurating a new
cycle Tales 01 The Four
Seasons. Eric Rohmer
sticks to home turf with
anothertale ol tangled
romance amidst those
terribly nice people from
the French middle classes.
Edinburgh Filmhouse Sun
17 to Sat 23 June.
I TREASURE ISLAND (PG)
l Charlton Heston steps into the shoe most notably worn
: by Robert Newton. donning
‘ parrot as Long John Silver
( in this new and hardly
, warranted retelling of the
i Robert Louis Stevenson
l
i
classic. packed with British thesps and helmed by his son Fraser. Cannons Glasgow and Edinburgh, UCls from Fri 15June. I VINCENT AND THEO (15) As featured on a recent South Bank Show. wayward American talent Robert j Altman has turned to European backing iorthis latest project. an examination of the levered relationship between tortured artist Vincent Van Gogh and his long-suliering brotherTheo. Director 5 Altman will be present at the Edinburgh Cameo on i Mon 18 June to discuss the 1 film prior to its run atthe ‘ cinema irom Fri 22June. See also review.
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16The List 15 — 28June1990