FILM
INDEX
I Aliens (18) (James Cameron, US, 1986) Sigoumey 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 terrifically gutsy performance from Weaver. this nerve-shredding sequel not only matches its predecessor but cannily surpasses it. An Oscar winner for special effects. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I All Dogs Co to heaven (U) (Don Bluth. US, 1989) With the voices of Burt Reynolds, Loni Anderson and Dom DeLuise. 84 mins. In Bluth‘slatest animated feature, likeable Alsatian Charlie Barkin is killed by his partnerin small-time crime, but manages to trick his way out of the Afterlife to face earthbount 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 of humour that should even have adults suppressing the odd guffaw. Glasgow: Cannon Clarkston Road. Cannon The Forge. Edinburgh: Odeon. Central: Cannon. Strathclyde: Cannon, Odcon Ayr.
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 returns to Earth, only to face anguish as his ex-lover falls into the arms of hunk Brad Johnson. 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 Joe pays tribute to the wholesome Hollywood warmth of half a century ago. but his attempts at conveying an adult love affair remain uncomfortably adolescent. Edinburgh: Filmhouse. Strathclyde: Odeon Hamilton.
I Another Country (15) (Marek Kanievska, UK, 1984) Rupert Everett, Colin Firth, Michael Jenn. 90 mins. At an English public school in the Thirties, an older student discovering his homosexuality is driven towards communist sympathies when he‘s passed over for election to the establishment's exclusive society for prefects. While Everett gives an elegant central performance, Julien Mitchell‘s play loses some of its credibility in the transition to the screen, though viewers from a public school background do seem to take to it in a big way. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I BabanThe Movie (U) (Alan Bunce, Canada/France, 1990) With the voices of Gordon Pinsent, Elizabeth Hanna, Sarah Policy. 70 mins. Jean de Brunhoff's lovable elephant graces the screen in animated form for the first time as the long-running children's favourite is called into action to save Elephantland from the clutches of Lord Rataxes and his Rhino Hordes. Undemanding and likeable children‘s fare for the school holidays. Glasgow: Odeon. Edinburgh: Odeon. Strathclyde: UCI Clydebank, UCI East Kilbride.
I Iar'ry Lyndon (15) (Stanley Kubrick, UK, 1975) Ryan O‘Neal. Marisa Berenson, Patrick Magee. 184 mins. Kubrick’s sumptuous recreation of Thackeray's shaggy dog tale follows O’Neal‘s gentleman of fortune through 18th century Ireland. An extraordinary attention to detail and a visual style that effectively reproduces the look of
contemporary paintings are the major points of interest, easily outweighing the meandering narrative thread, but this is a gorgeous film all the same. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I Betty Blue (18) (Jean-Jacques Beineix, France, 1986) Jean Hughes Anglade. Beatrice Dallc. 120 mins. 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 dazzling technique and an irritating emptiness by the maker of Diva. Glasgow: GFI‘.
I The Big Easy (18) (Jim McBride, US. 1987) Dennis Quaid, Ellen Barkin, Ned Beatty. 101 mins. Pretty, smart and sexy cop thriller set in a sweaty, atmospheric New Orleans, where local lieutenant Quaid tries to clear up a series of gangland murders while falling in love with Barkin's attorney, in town to investigate police corruption. Glasgow: GFI'.
I Black Sunday 2: The Revenge (18) Following the event at Glasgow‘s Salon cinema earlier in the year when local licensing problems led to last minute alterations in the programme, this Second Scottish Horror Film Festival is set to offer an all-night programme of brand new genre releases. The line-up of ten films is expected to include a brace of sequels from Brian Yuzna‘s Bride of Reanimator, Joseph Ruben’s The StepfatherZ and Frank Henenlotter's Basket Case 2 to the less eagerly awaited Hallowe’en 5. Among the other titles on view will be the adaptation of Whitley Streiber‘s alien tale Communion, Ally Sheedy as a psychic tussling with a mass murderer in Fear, Mike Hodges’ macabre story of a run-down travelling show Black Rainbow (with Rosanna Arquette and Jason Robards) and another post-apocalyptic Aussie adventure in Life On The Edge. The whole gorefest kicks off at 11pm on Saturday 7 July at Edinburgh Filmhouse. Please note: tickets will not be available on the night but can be reserved in advance by picking up a booking form at the Filmhousc box office. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I Blaze (15) (Ron Shelton, US ,1989) Paul Newman, Lolita Davidovich, Jerry Hardin. 117 mins. Newman's latest screen incarnation is an extraordinary portrayal of Louisiana State Governor Earl K. Long a loud-mouthed megalomaniac cruising through a series ofmind-bending eccentricities. In the memoirs ofreal-life ‘pre-forming artist‘ Blaze Starr, the luminous cinematography of Haskell Wexler meshes with Newman‘s comic brilliance to form a delightful. if idiosyncratic, whole. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I Blue Velvet (18) (David Lynch, US. 1986) Kyle MacLachlan, Dennis Hopper, Isabella Rossellini. 120 mins. In small-town Middle America, 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. Glasgow: Grosvenor.
I Bull Durham (15) (Ron Shelton, US, 1988) Kevin Costner, Susan Sarandon, Tim Robbins. 108 mins. A surprisineg intelligent and absorbing baseball flick, whose real focus is on the emotional triangle between baseball groupie Sarandon and players Robbins and Costner. the former a half-witted pitcher, the latter an aging catcher who this time lets it slip between his fingers. Strong playing all round and inspired leadership from Shelton (of Under Fire fame) make a winning team. Glasgow: GET.
I Casablanca (PG) (Michael Curtiz, US. 1942) Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman. Dooley Wilson. 102 mins. You
must rememberthis. . . Bogart being impossiny noble. Bergman torn between two lovers. Claude Rains playing both ends against the middle, devious Nazis, a fogbound airport, a piano-player tinkling that tune . . . A wonderful hill ofbeans. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I Charlotte's Web (U) (Charles A. Nichols, US, 1972) Voices of Debbie Reynolds, Henry Gibson. 85 mins. Animated version of the EB. White classic in which a farmyard spider befriends a shy piglet. Not badly done by the Hanna-Barbera studio. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I Christopher Strong (15) (Dorothy Arzner, US, 1933) Katherine Hepburn. Colin Clive. Billie Burke. 72 mins. In what was Hepburn's second film apperance. she plays an adventurous aviator whose affair with a married businessman ends in tragedy. More highly rated today than upon its initial release, Dorothy Arzner‘s film may superficially appear well in keeping with Thirties Hollywood melodrama. but does so with a telling sensitivity towards the feelings and aspirations of its female characters. Glasgow: GF’I‘.
I Courage Mountain (U) (Christopher Leitch, US, 1990) Charlie Sheen, Leslie Caron. 98 mins. In this revision of the Heidi saga, Juliette Caton plays the young damsel in distress as her life with grandad is threatened by both an impending war and the bureaucratic talons of orphanage director Yorgo Voyagis. Sheen plays Peter,the dashing soldier hero struggling to maintain his dignity in the face of some truly cringeworthy dialogue. Adequate matinee material for the unfussy kids‘ audience, but parents with a sense of the absurd might get into it. Strathclyde: Odcon Ayr.
I Dancin’ Thru The Dark (15) (Mike Ockrent, UK, 1990) Con O’Neill, Clare Hackett. Simon O‘Brien. 95 mins. The lads and Iases of Liverpool are once more brought to the silver screen courtesy of Willy Russell’s pen. This time however. the vital spark of humour is largely missing and without it the central dilemma between repression and expression is made merely to seem hackneyed and dull. Adapted from his more successful stage play Stags and Hens Ockrent appears to have had the small screen in mind as he focuses on a collection of talking heads. Between him and Russell thay mangage to turn a universal concern into just so much parochial navel-gazing. Glasgow: Grosvenor.
I Dangerous Liaisons (15) (Stephen Frears, US, 1988) Glenn Close. John Malkovich, Michelle Pfeiffer, Keanu Reeves. 120 mins. Madame de Tourvel and the Vicomte dc Valmont (Close and Malkovich) are treacherous 18th century aristocrats weaving a web oferotic duplicity around one another. Frears makes a notable Hollywood debut, guiding his cast through a difficult set of narrative pirouettes. Yet for all the pent-up emotion on screen, little fervour seeps through, and the result is rather cold and calculating. Glasgow: GFT.
I Dead Calm (15) (Philip Noyce, Australia, 1989) Sam Neill, Nicole Kidman. Billy Zane. 96 mins. A psycho on the seven seas disturbs a young couple trying to get away from it all on acruise along the Barrier Reef. First rate suspense follows, in this canny mix of on-ship claustrophobia and wide open seascapes from Aussie new waver Noyce. Glasgow: GF'T. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I Dead Ringers (18) (David Cronenberg. US, 1988) Jeremy Irons, Genevieve Bujold. Heidi Palleske. 115 mins. Extraordinary examintion of sexual jealousy on identical twins. Irons plays gynaecologists. arrogant Elliot and the more studious Beverly Mantle, who fall in love with fading actress Claire Niveau when their clinic treats her infertility. As the emotional turmoils mounts up, the trio
become involved in a frightening downward spiral of drug-induced mania. Deeply melancholic, irrationally powerful exercise in wayward psychology, which boasts magnificent and carefully differentiated characterisation from Irons. Edinburgh: Cameo. I Driving Miss Daisy (U) (Bruce Beresford, US. 1989) Jessica Tandy, Morgan Freeman, Dan Aykroyd. 99mins. The winner of four Oscars. including Best Film and Best Actress for Jessica Tandy. This film adaptation of Alfred Uhry's Pulitzer-winning play. charts the relationship between gentlewoman Tandy and her chauffeur Freeman. The narrative spans several decades of gradually shifting attitudes and developing racial consciousness. An affecting mosaic of everyday pride and prejuduce which reveals a deeply-laid insight into human behaviour, presented throughout with wonderful pacing. Edinburgh: Dominion. Strathclyde: La Scala. I Earth Girls Are Easy (PG) (Julien Temple. US, 1988) Geena Davis,Jeff Goldblum. Michael McKean, Charles Rocket. 100 mins. A small spaceship crash-lands in a Californian manicurist‘s swimming pool. Out step three furry aliens to enjoy the plastic delights of beach culture and, once they shave off their fur, the attentions of the native girls. Emphatically. but quite creatively, tasteless musical comedy which, on the whole. does a good job of lampooningthe social whirl in which consumption is king and jargon the language of fools. For sure. Edinburgh: Filmhouse. I The Exorcist (18) (William Friedkin, US. 1973) Linda Blair, Ellen Burstyn, Max Von Sydow. 110 mins. Earnest priest Von Sydow steps in to save poor little obsessed girl in this hugely effective scarefest. Dead good. dead scarey. dead priest. Strathclyde: Odeon Ayr. I The Fabulous Baker Boys (15) (Steve Kloves. US, 1989) JeffBridges, Beau Bridges, Michelle Pfeiffer. 113 mins. Writer/director Kloves makes an
auspicious debut with this evocative tale of.
broken dreams, fraternal jealousy and slowly awakening passion among three very ordinary cabaret performers. Veteran piano duo Jeff and Beau draft in Ms Pfeiffer‘s smokey chanteuse to save their act‘s declining fortunes. but as the trio go on the road together, romantic and professional relationships are soon in turmoil. Crackling with some ofthe sharpest dialogue in years. this is a moody. mature picture. beautifully shot and scored. Edinburgh: Filmhousc.
I Fresh Horses ( 15) (David Anspaugh. US, 1988) Molly Ringwald. Andrew McCarthy. Ben Stiller. 103 mins. Offbeat and improbable teen-love story has well-to-do society kid Andrew McCarthy on his way to graduate school. aglittering career, and marriage to the town's most eligible young lady. A chance meeting with Molly Ringwald's enigmatic bohemian however soon has him falling breathlessly in love and pondering a now uncertain future. On the shelf fortwo years before getting British distribution, this uneasy attempt at more mature emotions stretches the talents of its young performers. but at least they're making an effort. Glasgow: Cannon Sauchiehall Street. Strathclyde: UCI East Kilbride. I Hands Across the Table (U) (Mitchell Leisen, US. 1935) Carol Lombard. Fred MacMurray. Ralph Bellamy. 80mins. Carole Lombard is at her most delightful as a sharp-tongued manicurist out to marry a rich man. yet putting offthe tedious attentions ofcrippled millionaire Ralph Bellamy in favour of the more suspicious charms of caddish Fred MacMurray. Old pro Leisen handles it all with just the right balance oflight comedy and romance. A typical Thirties souffle of a movie. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I Hard To Kill (15) (Bruce Malmuth, US. 1989) Steven Seagal, Kelly Le Brock.B4ill_J
The List 29June— IZJuly 199027