INDEX FILM
FILM Im-
Films screening this fortnight are listed below, with certificate, credits. brief review and venue details. Full-length reviews of ' selected new releases can he found close to the appropriate entry. Programme details appear in the Listings section which follows. Film Index compiled by Alan Morrison.
I The Adventures Dl Milo And Otis (U) (Masanori Hata, Japan. 1990) A cat, a dog, a bear. several chickens and the voice of Dudley Moore. 80 mins. After early adventures on the farm. puppy Otis and kitten Milo get caught up in the adventure of their lives when the mischievous cat is accidently washed downstream. Cuter-than-cute school hols fodder, proving that even baby animals have their say in the buddy movie genre. Edinburgh: Cannon, UCI, Strathelyde: Odeon Ayr, UCI Clydebank, UCI East Kilbride, WMR Film Centre. I American Friends (PG) (Tristram Powell, UK, 1991) Michael Palin, Connie Booth, Trini Alvarado, Alfred Molina. 95 mins. The semi-fictional story ofPalin‘s great-grandfather Edward, an Oxford don who fell in love with a pretty young Irish-American girl, Elinor (Alvarado), whom he met while walking in the Swiss Alps. The story of their romance is complicated, however, by the social constraints of Academe, by the college philanderer Oliver Syme (Molina) and by Elinor‘s Aunt Caroline (Booth), who also has designs on Palin. Whimsical, archetypally Palin-esque and rather bland. The sort of film you can see with your elderly relations on a Sunday afternoon. Edinburgh: Filmhouse. I Arachnopltobla (PG) (Frank Marshall, US, 1990) Jeff Daniels, Julian Sands, Harley Jane Kozak, John Goodman. 110 mins. In rural retreat on the California coast, the Jennings family are unpleasantly surprised when they meet their new neighbours, a particularly venomous breed of spiders, which are to terrorise the village of C anaima, not least through the surgery of arachnaphobic Dr Jennings (Daniels). Produced by Steven Spielberg and billed as a ‘thrillomedy‘, this feast of humorous horrors is guaranteed to appeal to sick-minded punters who enjoy either nightmares or close contact with our eight-legged friends. Edinburgh: Filmhouse. I Asterix and The Big Fight (U) (Keith 1 lngham, UK, 1989) With the voices ofBill Oddie, Michael Elphick, Andrew Sachs. 82 mins. Asterix celebrates his thirtieth anniversary with this new animated feature in which he and his band of plucky I Gallic mates take on the might ofthe Roman army. Glasgow: GFT. I Blade Runner ( 15) (Ridley Scott, US. 1982) Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young. 117 mins. A tough cop tracks down a group of malfunctioning androids in this gritty hi-tech retread of Raymond Chandler, executed with Scott‘s customary visual flair, and with strong performances, especially from Ford and Hauer. But try following the confusing plot first time around. Edinburgh: Cameo. I Blue Steel (18) (Kathryn Bigelow, US. 1990) Jamie Lee Curtis, Ron Silver. Clancy Brown. 106 mins. Curtis stars as an - ill fated rookie cop, who kills a gun-toting hood on her first night on the beat, landing herself in terrible trouble when Silver‘s yuppie absconds with the .44-calibre evidence. and prepares to do some killing of his own. There are shades of Sea Of Love when he ominously begins dating her, but the film as a whole is an original,
fast-paced and stylish thriller with a pinch of feminism thrown in. Glasgow: GFT.
I Bye Bye Blues (15) (Anne Wheeler, Canada, 1989) Rebecca Jenkins, Luke Reilly, Stuart Margolin. 1 16mins. Warming tale of a housewife keeping up her spirits during the depressed World War Two years by joining a touring dance band as singer and piano player. The film was a deserving audience winner at the 1989 London Film Festival and is further evidence of the breadth of talent currently working in Canada. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I C'Est La tile (12) (Diane Kurys, France , 1990) Nathalie Baye, Richard Berry,
Zabou, Vincent Lindon, Julie Bataille, Candice LeFranc. 100 mins. Kurys‘ latest movie is another instalment in her serialised semi-autobiography, which also includes Diabolo Menthe and Coup De Foudre. Set in the summer of 1958 at the holiday resort of La Baule-les-Pins, the story explores the effects on two children (Bataille — 13 and LeFranc— 6) oftheir parents‘ deteriorating relationship. Sensitive, sometimes harrowing, but not without humour, this is a stirring and affecting movie. Edinburgh: Filmhouse. I Cinderella (U) (Wilfred Jackson/Hamilton Luske/ Clyde Geronimi. USA, 1949) With the voices of llene Woods, Eleanor Audley. Verna Felton. William Phipps. 75 mins. The classic Disney version of one of the world‘s most popular fairy tales makes for a welcome school holidays re-release. Treated as little more than a slave by her cruel stepmother and stepsisters, Cinderella‘s life is transformed when her Fairy Godmother grants her three wishes. Magical animation and fun songs make for a film to be enjoyed over and over again. Glasgow: Cannon Clarkston Road, Cannon The Forge, Odeon, Salon. Edinburgh: Dominion, Odeon, UCI. Central: Caledonian, Cannon, Regal. Strathelyde: Cannon, Odeon Ayr, Odeon Hamilton, La Scala, UCI Clydebank, UCI East Kilbride. WMR Film Centre.
I Cinema Paradiso (PG) (Giuseppe Tornatore, Italy/France,1988) Phillipe Noiret, Jacques Perrin. Salvatore Cascio. 123 mins. Tornatore‘s vision ofhis movie-mad childhood is a wonderful love letter to the cinema itself. Told largely in flashback, it traces the young Salvatore‘s infatuation with his village cinema, and his growing friendship with its projectionist (played to perfection by Noiret). Essentially, it’s Tornatore‘s lament for the joyous movie-going experience of his youth and a recognition of the price we pay for our maturity. 1990 Oscar winner for Best Foreign Film. Glasgow: GFT.
I Citizen Kane (PG) (Orson Welles, US, 1941) Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten, Agnes Moorehead. 119 mins. Stunningly successful biographical mosaic centring on a Hearst-like media tycoon. Welles’ first film remains scintillating viewing for its sheer technical verve, narrative confidence and spellbinding performances. The best film ever made? Who‘s arguing? Edinburgh: Filmhouse. I Cyrano De Bergerac (U) (Jean-Paul Rappeneau, France, 1990) Gerard Depardieu, Jacques Weber, Anne Brochet, Vincent Perez. 135 mins. A stirring adaptation of Rostand‘s classic, romantic tragi-comedy. Full of grandly mounted, bustling crowd scenes (Ezio Frigerio and Franca Squarciapino won a Felix for their production design), it revolves around typically superb performance from Depardieu as the large-nosed hero. Although performed in rhyming verse throughout (with somewhat dodgy subtitles by Anthony Burgess), and a touch overlong, the film‘s dramatic and cinematic qualities are outstanding. Glasgow: GFT.
I Dances With Wolves ( 12) (Kevin Costner, US. 1990) Kevin Costner, Mary McDonnell. Graham Greene. Rodney Grant. 179 mins. Costner’s debut as
director and co-producer, in which he also stars, has already been widely praised for its epic scale and its sympathetic depiction of Red Indian culture in the 1860. Itwon seven Oscars including Best Film and Best Director. with no less than twelve nominations. Set at a remote outpost during the American Civil War, a time of violent struggle between pioneering Yankees and Sioux Indians, it offers a sensitive and intense analysis of both factions, and of a man caught between two different cultures. Glasgow: Cannon Sauchiehall Street. Edinburgh: UCI. Strathelyde: UCI Clydebank, UCI East Kilbride.
I Desperate liours ( 15) (Michael Cimino,
US. 1990) Mickey Rourke, Anthony Hopkins, Mimi Rogers, Lindsay C rouse, Kelly Lynch, Elias Koteas. 105 mins. On escaping from police custody, Michael Bosworth (Rourke) needs a place to hole up for a few hours before hopping overthe border to Mexico. Where better than the home bourgeoise home of Nora and Tim Cornell (Rogers and Hopkins)? With the FBI and his wronged girlfriend (Lynch) on his tail, Bosworth pitches psychological battle against his terrified hostages, but can he hold out? Tense remake ofWilliam Wyler’s 1955 original, from the director of The Deer Hunter and Heaven ’5 Gate. Glasgow: Grosvenor.
I Dick Tracy (PG) (Warren Beatty, US. 1990) Warren Beatty, Madonna, Al Pacino, Dustin Hoffman. 113 mins. Producer/director/star Beatty resurrects Chester Gould‘s vintage cop comic strip with original primary colours intact and engagingly misshapen crew of rubberised villains faithfully preserved. Madonna‘s brash fioozy and Pacino‘s hammy megalomania enliven things from time to time, but the material remains so fossilised it‘s hard for all concerned to work up much of a head of steam. Full marks for the kitsch period trappings, though. Strathelyde: UCI East Kilbride. I Do The FlightThing (18) (Spike Lee, US. 1989) Spike Lee, Danny Aiello, Ossie Davis, John Turturro. 119 mins. New York‘s deprived Bedford-Stuyvesant district on the hottest day of the summer, and racial tension escalates between Italian-American Sal (Aiello). his two sons and the mainly black local community who make up the bulk ofhis customers. As the situation worsens and violence looks a possibility, Sal‘s black delivery boy Mookie (Lee) ponders how to do the right thing. A forceful exploration of the socioeconomic and cultural causes behind white racism, Lee‘s film also operates as a tightly controlled multi-character drama. Glasgow: GFI‘. I Dogs in Space (18) (Richard Lowenstein, Australia, 1986) Michael Hutchence, Saskia Post, Chris Haywood. 109 mins. The young and infuriatingly talented director of Strikebound returns with something completely different; a punk-era version of Nashville brimming with raw energy, a multiplicity of characters and the expected interlocking stories. The ramshackle plot centres around Sam. the lead singer in a punk band, and his girlfriend Anna, who are two inhabitants of a drop-in-anytime house populated by punks, vegetarians, students and anyone else interested in parties, gigs, TV, random discussions and loadsa drugs. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I Drugstore Cowboy (18) (Gus Van Sant Jr. . US, 1989) Matt Dillon, Kelly Lynch, James Remar. William S. Burroughs. 100 mins. A gang of dope fiends blithely ripoff a series ofdrugstores headed by our Matt who gives his best performance to date in Gus Van Sant‘s recreation of 1971 Oregon. Complete with its halucinatory visions of flying cows the film created astir stateside for presenting the theft and use of narcotics as an alluring pastime. It marks a new and more creditable milestone in Hollywood drug movies. Glasgow: GET.
I Open Doors(15) Acclaimed European courtroom drama concerns the efforts ofa liberal judge trying to save a killer from the death i penalty decreed by the fascist regime ofpre-war Sicily. See review. Opens Wed 17.
I Riff Ratl(15) A combination ofexcellent ensemble acting and a remarkable screenplay by the late Bill Jesse sets this award-winning film about a young Glaswegian on a London building site well above its Channel 4 origins. See preview. Opens Fri 12.
I Robin Hood: Prince 0i Thieves ( 12) Hollywood golden boy Kevin Costner Ls Robin Hood in this year‘s second retelling of the legend. Very mucha medieval Indiana Jones, with 30 seconds of Sean Connery thrown in for good measure. See review. Opens Fri 19.
I Secret Wedding(15) Bitter-sweet tale ofa political prisoner struggling to be rebuild his life and gain acceptance in his Argentinian home village. Opens Mon 15.
I Thelma a Louise (18)
The well-worn buddy and road genres receive a
breath of fresh air as the aforesaid female duo burn 1 up America on an
anti-male spree. These girlsjust wanna have fun in what is sure to be the sleeper hit of the summer. See feature. Opens Fri 12.
The List l2~ 25 July l99l 21