FILM INDEX
his wife and child. Violent stuff with death-defying stunt work. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I Mad Max 2 (18) (George Miller, Australia, 1981) Mel Gibson, Bruce Spence. 94 mins. Exhilarating post-Apocalypse adventure. with plenty grotesque imagery and vicious villians. Pure cinema (count the'number of words 01’ Max has to say) and the highpointof the series. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome(15) (George Miller & George Ogilvie, Australia, 1985) Mel Gibson,Tina Turner. 107 mins. Max is hailed as the new Messiah by a group of children and faces the challenge of Tina‘s queen of Bartertown in this overblown dsappointment. No shortage of pigshit, though. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I The Maltese Falcon (PG) (John Huston. US, 1941) Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, Sidney Greenstrcet, Peter Lorre. 101 mins. Huston‘s first film isa quintessential clautrophobic film noir. Bogart is caught in a web of deceit and betrayal as the Fat Man uses every means, including murder, to get his hands on the elusive ornament of the title. Forget the twists and turns of Dashiell Hammett's plot; enjoy instead the darkly comic world peopled by Sam Spade and Joel Cairo. Glasgow: Grosvenor.
I McCabe and Mrs Miller (18) (Robert Altman, US, 1971) Warren Beatty, Julie Christie. 121 mins. Ultra-realistic. downbeat western yarn that eschews the traditional approach of glamourising the era. Beatty is in good form as a hustling, two-bit braggart who opens a brothel in a tum-of-the-century boom town. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I Meet the Applegates (15) (Michael Lehman, US, 1990) Ed Begleer,
- Stockard Charming, Cami Cooper, Dabney Coleman. 82 mins. Lehman‘s follow-up to the wonderfully black comedy Heathers is an off-beat satirical comedy about the green movement‘s struggle against consumerism. Posing as an ornery, mid-Western family led by blue-eyed patriarch Begley, the Applegates are in fact a gang ofgiant Brazilian insects charged with the subversive duty of extinguishing the environmentally unsound human race. But of course, the temptations of American decadence can be seductive . . . Gentle satire with a slimy underbelly. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I Meet Me In Sf Louis (U) (Vincente Minnelli, US, 1944) Judy Garland, Margaret O‘Brien, Leon Ames, Mary Astor. 113 mins. The comfortable lifestyle fo Garland’s St Louis family is threatened by her father’s promotion and a move to New York. Alternately nostalgic, moving and sickenineg sweet, the film paints a memorable picture of an innocent world now long gone. Minnelli's best and an important entry in the musical genre. Glasgow: Grosvenor. I The Mllagro Beanfield War (PG) (Robert Redford, US, 1987) Sonia Braga, Ruben Blades, Chick Vennera, Christopher Walken. 118 mins. Redford‘sinfectiously good-natured film weaves a picaresque tale around lone Chicano farmer Vennera, as he irrigates his small holding with water earmarked for a new leisure development and so pitches the local community into conflict with the businessmen. This gentle comic fable reads as if Frank Capra had filmed The Grapes 0f Wrath with just a little Finian '3 Rainbow to sweeten the mixture. for it wraps its serious message in a breezy. heartwarming package of light entertainment. Edinburgh: Filmhouse. I My First Wife (15) (Paul Cox, Australia, 1984) John Hargreaves, Wendy Hughes. Lucy Angwin, David Cameron. Anna Jemison. 98 mins. Incredibly intense dissection of a separation. conveyed with Cox‘s usual subtlety and detachment. so L that the emotional suffering contained in
40 The List 3— 16 Ma; i991
Perfectly Normal (TBC) (Yves Simoneau, Canada 1991) Robbie Coltrane, Michael Riley, Deborah Duchene, Kenneth Welsh. 105 minutes. In these days of slick production values, niche marketing and relentless commercialism, it’s almost a pleasure to meet something as haphazardly hit-and-miss as Perfectly Normal. It's almost refreshing to find a film that is unsure whetherto be gritty small-town social commentary, wacky comedy, heartwarming schmaltz, ortransvestite ; opera. ‘Almost’ is the operative word though, for Simoneau’s confusion I about what he is doing rapidly affects ‘ the viewer with a similar degree of ! confusion about what they are meant to : be watching. The mysterious Alonzo Turner (Robbie Coltrane) blows into a small blue-collar town on the Greyhound and begins to change the life of shy local brewery-worker Renzo Parachi (Michael Riley), a guy with the presence and charisma of John Major, and a distinctly quieter social life. Turner persuades Renzo to invest a windfall in a preposterous business venture, a theme restaurant called ‘La Traviata’, where the waiters sing opera, and there’s a floor-show with a difference. Under Turner’s influence, Renzo begins to come out of his shell, to the extent of plucking up courage to date the pop-corn girl at the ice-rink
v PERFECTLY NORMAL“
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where he keeps goal for the work's hockey team.
The mid-section has a warm and humorous ‘Life Is Sweet' feel to it, even down to the restaurant-as-doomed-dream motif. Riley does a fine job of showing Parachi's development from introverted greyness, to a man who is beginning to live out his fantasies, and Coltrane (looking hugerthan ever) is fine as the idealistic con man with a heart. Nevertheless Simoneau doesn’t pursue this promising thread, instead preferring to throw in cruder comedy in the shape of ‘Hopeless’ a mean-spirited Neanderthal who specialises in mayhem on the ice-hockey rink, and heading the puck into the net. He’s trying to tell us that for every idealistic dreamer, there's a clad-headed nerd to balance him out, but it’s crudely done, and spoils the atmosphere.
There‘s some very cute moments, excellent ensemble playing, and a quirky originality about Perfectly Normal that makes it evident there's plenty of talent on display, with an attention to detail and nuance that is rare. Unfortunately the individual parts never meld into a coherent whole, and the film never really decides what it wants to be. As it is, it’s a shambles. (Tom Lappin)
From Fri 10 May. Edinburgh: Cameo.
the story (compose r‘s wife and daughter dcpartwith choir singer. leaving him ‘ desolate) is communicated with raw potency undiluted by sentimentalism or Cliche. Glasgow: GFT. I The Name ofthe Rose ( 18) (Jean-Jacques . Annaud, W. Germany/Franee/Italy.
1986) Sean Connery. F. Murray
Abraham, Christian Slater. 131 mins. Marvellous medieval mystery with the masterful Connery as a Sherlock Holmes-like sleuth on the trail ofa murderer in the monastery. Adapted from t Umberto Eco‘s best-selling novel, the film overlooks its questing. intellectual elements. Nonetheless. a convincing historical atmosphere and a BAF'TA-winning performance from Sean Edinburgh: Cameo.
I The Neverendlng Story 2: The Next Chapter(L') (George Miller. US. 1990) 3 Jonathan Brandis. Kenny Morrison. Clarissa Burt. John Wesley Shipp. 90
mins. Returning to the mysterious landof Fantasia via the magic book preserved in Mr Coreandcr‘s bookshop, Bastian Balthazar Bux (Brandis) meets up with friends old and new. and when imagination comes under threat, he once again participates in the struggle between good and evil. Lots of special effects and philosophical intricacies make this an entertaining and absorbing follow-up to the 1984 original. Edinburgh: Filmhouse. Central: (.‘annon. Strathclyde: Odeon Ayr.
I New UK Avant-Garde Film-Makers ( IS) A screening of four recent experimental shorts for the Filmhouse‘s International A rant-(iarde Films season . which incorporates ‘Sermon‘ by Nick Gordon-Smith. ‘Stabat Mater‘ by Nina Danino. ‘Swamp‘ by Simon Cassell and "Three Places'. Edinburgh: Filmhouse. I On The Black Hill (15) (Andrew Grieve, UK. 1987) Mike Gwylim, Robert
Gwylim, Bob Peck, Gemma Jones. 117 j mins. Visually rich adaptation of Bruce Chatwin‘s novel following four generations ofa Welsh farming family, which centres on the developing bond between twin brothers. Grieve‘s synoptic approach leaves the characterisation a little on the sketchy side, but fine cinematography and a few memorable scenes make this ambitious British film one to commend. Edinburgh: Filmhouse. I Perfectly Normal (15) (Yves Simoneau. Canada. 1990) Robbie Coltrane, Michael Riley. Deborah Duchcne, Kenneth Walsh. 105 mins. See revrcw. Edinburgh: Cameo. I Peyton Place (15) (Mark Robson. US, 1957) Lana Turner, Arthur Kennedy, Hope Lange, Russ Tamblyn. 157 mins. Sex,1ies and violence lurk beneath the surface of a typical small New England town. Sounds like a precursor to David Lynch and — lo and behold! — there‘s baby-faced Russ Tamblyn in the days before he donned coloured glasses as Dr Jackoby in Lynch‘s Twin Peaks. A stylish expose of hidden secrets. based on a scandalous best-seller. Strathclyde: WMR Film Centre. I Pop Gear(U) (Frederic Goode. UK, 1965) Matt Monro, Susan Maugham,The Animals. Herman's llermits. BillyJ. Kramer and the Dakotas, Jimmy Savillc. ()8 mins. Top Of The Pops-style collection of live appearances by the chart-toppers of Christmas 1964. plus Beatles clips to keep the bewildered-looking youth happy while they‘re herded around with electric cattle prods. Plus ca change. . . Glasgow: GFT. I Predator2 ( 18) (Stephen Hopkins, US, 1990) Danny Glover, Kevin Peter Hall, Gary Busey. Maria Conchita Alonso, Ruben Blades. 108 mins. The chameleon-like monster first encountered by Arnie in the Vietnam jungle is back, but this time its hunger for human flesh has brought it to Los Angeles, where the Police Department begins to receive unexpected assistance in its struggle against the ganglcadcrs. Glover is the new star. a cop who finds his new ally tobe even more dangerous than his old enemies, and the cat ‘n’ mouse gore-chase which (let‘s face it) was good fun in part one is soon to follow. . . Competentand sporadically thrilling sequel. Glasgow: Cannon The Forge, Odeon. Edinburgh: Odeon. UCl. Central: Allanpark. Strathclyde: Cannon. Kelburne, Odeon Ayr.Odcon1{amilton, La Scala. UCl Clydebank, UCl East Kilbride. I 0 8: M18) (Sidney Lumet, US. 1990) Nick Nolte, Timothy Hutton, Armand Assante. Patrick O‘Neal, Jenny Lumet. 132 mins. Following the death in a New York shoot-out of a crook called Vasquez. the much-admired cop responsible for his killing (Nolte) is hauled up before agrand jury. The DA (O’Neal) instructs his assistant Al Reilly (Hutton) that it’s an open-and-shut case ofjustifiable homicide, a simple case of filling in a Q & A record of what happened. But when Reilly digs deeper. he realises things are more complicated than that. Typically assured. hard-bitten and suspenseful thriller, written and directed by Lumet with the authority ofexperience. See preview, page 34. Glasgow: Cannon Sauchiehall Street. Edinburgh: UCI. I Quick Change ( 15) (Howard Franklin & Bill Murray, US, 1990) Bill Murray, Geena Davis, Randy Quaid, Jason Robards. 89 mins. Robbing a bank, as anyone will tell you, is easier than getting out of New York City, and that‘s the central premise on which this moderately enjoyable Murray vehicle hinges. Together with his partners in crime (Davis and Quaid), and with Police Chief Robards on his tail, Murray undergoes a number of NYC-style traumas (the taxi driver doesn‘t speak English. etc. , etc.) and comes out with an abundance ofeasy charm and dry wit. But overall he doesn't take enough risks to make Quick Change __J