Fill INDEX
unsettled mistress lest she alert his wife of their affair, while the second thread has worthy documentary filmmaker Allen clashing with smug media tycoon Alda. The two narratives work towards a wise affirmation of life‘s impenetrable moral complexities. Edinburgh: Cameo. I Dead Again (15) (Kenneth Branagh. US. 1991) Kenneth Branagh, Emma Thomson. Andy Garcia. 101 mins. A notable shift away from the Bard for the golden boy ofBritish theatre in his first Hollywood outing. Branagh plays cynical. Los Angeles-based private detective Mike Church. an expert at tracing heirs and missing persons. His latest case involves discovering the identity ofa beautiful young woman who has no memory of her own. but relives the nightmares ofa murdered woman. Old-fashioned Hitchcockian thriller, carried off with much style. See feature. Glasgow: Cannon The Forge. Cannon Sauchiehall Street, Grosvenor. Edinburgh: Cannon. UCl. Central: Cannon. Strathclyde: Cannon. Odeon Ayr, Odeon Hamilton. UCl Clydebank. UCl East Kilbride. I Doc Hollywood (12) (Michael Caton-Jones. US. 1991) Michael J. Fox. Julie Warner, Bridget Fonda. Frances Sternhagen, Barnard Hughes. 104 mins. On his way to an obscenely lucrative position as a LA plastic surgeon. smug doctor Ben Stone (Fox) misses the interstate exit and ends up in mythical small-town America. where he is sentenced to eighteen hours community service for demolishing the localjudge’s fence. Good natured humour and tentative romance keep the movie bubbling along. but despite Fox‘s talents as a light comic actor. he doesn‘t quite puli this one off. Glasgow: Cannon Clarkston Road, Cannon The Forge. Cannon Sauchiehall Street. Salon. Edinburgh: Cannon. UCI. Central: Allanpark. Caledonian. Cannon. Strathclyde: Cannon. Kelbume. Odeon Ayr. UCI Clydebank. UCl East Kilbride. I Drop Dead Fred ( 12) (Ate de Jong. Us, 1991) Rik Mayall. Phoebe Cates. Marsha Mason. Carrie Fisher. 99 mins. When she isn’t seeing Gremlins. it seems that Ms Cates is conjuring up her imaginary childhood friend Drop Dead Fred (Mayall in his Stateside debut) despite the fact that she‘s now well into adulthood. iPuerile comedy that fails to be enlivened even by Mayall‘s manic performance. Glasgow: Cannon The Forge, Odeon. Edinburgh: Odeon. UCI. Strathclyde: UCl Clydebank. UCl East Kilbride. I Edward Scissorhands (PG) (Tim Burton. US, 1991)Johnny Depp. Winona Ryder. Dianne Wiest, Vincent Price. 105 mins. Burton follows up the excesses of Batman with this fairy tale for the 905, which works as a welcome return to the darker side of the genre. Depp is the unfinished creation ofThe 1nventor(Price). who lives alone in a crumbling mansion. unable to even scratch his nose without needing stitches. Discoverd by a friendly Avon lady, his talent for eoiffure and topiary makes him a neighbourhood favourite until tragedy strikes. Beautifully shot, tenderly acted and full of hidden depths. Edinburgh: UCl. Strathclyde: Odeon Ayr, UCI Clydebank. I Edward II (18) (Derek Jarman, UK. 1991) Steven Waddington, Tilda Swinton, Andrew Tiernan, Nigel Terry. 90mins. Christopher Marlowe‘s l6th century play was a tale of illicit love, jealousy and
~regicide. J arman‘s reworking of the script
makes the central themes more relevant to the present day, with particularemphasis on the repressed love between Edward and his friend Gaveston. See preview. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I Everybody's Fine (12) (Giuseppe Tornatorc, Italy. 1990) Marcello Mastroianni. Michele Morgan. Marino Cenna. 126 mins. Matteo (Mastroianni), a retired civil servant, decides to venture forth from the seclusion of his Sicilian
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City Stickers (12) (Ron Underwood, US, 1991) Billy Crystal, Daniel Stern, Bruno Kirby. Patricia Wettig, Jack Paiance. 114 mins. Now here’s an amazing thing: an American male-bonding-cum-buddy movie which manages not to leave you gagging and puking at the cringe-making awfulness of it all. This is partly due to a tightly woven script, inspired casting and direction, but is mostly down to a wonderfully funny performance from Billy Crystal as Mitch, an advertising salesman stuck in mid-life crisis.
0n tumlng 39 Mitch’s crisis deepens into a chasm. He loses his smile, is an embarrassment to his children and worse, hair begins to sprout from parts oi his anatomy where it should not be. So his two best pails Ed and Phil (Kirby and Stern) -who, being male and American, naturally have their own mid-life crises to attend lo-decide to take him off on a lortnight’s adventure holidaying on the cattle trail from new Mexico to Colorado.
And sure enough, it’s that same cattle trail they had in the Westerns, Jack Paiance is even there as the leathery trail boss. Joining ourthree
seekers-alter-lost-youth are a lather and son team of dentists, the ice-cream kings of America and Bonnie, the token
‘ woman. This eclectic company make
for plenty of round the fire philosophising, challenges to name the perfect ice-cream to round off any given menu and debates on the nature of baseball. Not that living under the stars is all easy. There's good ol’ fashioned life and death out there, a call called Norman, and loads of chances to get back to the Real Man.
If anything, Crystal is better here than in When Harry Met Sally, and in Underwood — directing only his second feature after Tremors — he has a perlect complement to his laconic but quirky manner. Occasionally it does begin to drag during some of the more protracted discussions on Life, but the whole will leave you laughing despite yourself. (Thom Dibdin)
From 1 Nov: Glasgow: Cannon The Forge, Odeon, Salon. Edinburgh: Odeon. Central: Allanpark, Cannon. Strathclyde: Kelbume, Odeon Ayr, UCI Clydebank. UCI East Kilbride. WMR Film Centre.
village and pay a series of surprise visits on his five children who are spread all over ltaly. But hefinds that the half-truthsthey have used to keep him at arm‘slength destroy his cosy fantasies. An unabashed weepie from the director of Cinema Paradiso. Edinburgh: Cameo. I The Fisher King (15) (Terry Gilliam. US. 1991) Robin Williams. JeffBridges. Amanda Plummer. Mercedes Ruehl. 137 mins. A suicidal former radio DJ (Bridges) and a drop-out former professor of medieval history go in search of the Holy Grail in contemporary New York. The visual splendour ofGilliam‘s previous movies— Time Bandits and Baron Munchausen — is more restrained here. but the blend of myth. satire and narrative gains new strength. After this showmg, Gilliam will be on hand for a question and answer session. Edinburgh: Filmhouse. I Fringe Film and Video Festival The seventh Festival of innovative and experimental film-making also includes video showings in the adjacent cafe-bar. lSee preview. Don't Believe Everything You See OrHeer The opening programme illustrates a wide range of talent and styles - humour. voyeurism, persecution — from Scottish based filmmakers. Parental Guidance A brave and challenging programme of works that examine controversial areas of sexual oppression.
incest and childhood memories. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I Ghostbusters (PG) (lvan Reitman. US. 1984) Bill Murray. Sigourney Weaver. Dan Aykroyd. 105 mins. Three wacky unemployed parapsychologists pursue a little private enterprise as exterminators in spook-infested Noo Yawk. Wildly over-rated comedy. Strathclyde: WMR Film Centre.
I La Grande Illusion (PG) (Jean Renoir. France. 1937) Jean Gabin. Pierre Fresney. Erich von Stroheim. Marcel Dalio. 117 mins. Renoir‘s classic prison camp escape story is more than the strong anti-war statement that won it praise at the time of its release; it is also an ironic social analysis highlighting class differentiation. Glasgow: GFT.
I Grease (PG) (Randal Kleiser. US. 1978) John Travolta. Stockard Channing. Olivia Newton John. 110 mins. The long-running broadway show arrives on screen dripping with Fifties‘ nostalgia, cheery tunes. a high camp value and the winsome charms of the plastic Newton-John and the toothy Travolta. A nice collection of old timers enhance the cast. Glasgow: Grosvenor.
I The Great Mr Handel (U) (Norman Walker, UK. 1942) Wilfred Lawson. Elizabeth Allan. Victor MacClure. 110 mins. Restored version ofbeautifully photographed biopic which mixes great
music with eolourfully costumed intrigues at the court of George 11. Central plot concerns the composer‘s struggle to complete The Messiah. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I The Halrdresser's Husband ( 15) (Patrice Leconte. France. 1990) Jean Roehefort. Anna Galicna. 90 mins. The romantictale of a young boy who resolves to marry a hairdresser. and — in eccentric middle age — does just that. Aecordingto director Leconte. the film ‘is not autobiographical. although it really ought to have been' . since the boy‘s resolution is one he himself made. but failed to keep. A witty. sexy and eccentric movie with dark ~ undercurrents from the director of Monsieur Hire. Glasgow: GFT. Strathclyde: UCI East Kilbride.
I Hamlet (U) (Franco Zeffirelli. US. 1990) Mel Gibson. Alan Bates. Glenn Close. Paul Scofield. Helena Bonham-(‘arter. lan Holm. 135 mins. A young man returns home from university to find his father dead and his mother marrying his uncle. Then ilamlet senior‘s ghost shows up. whispering to him of murder most foul. and it‘s all downhill after that. More than twenty years after Zeffirelli‘s Romeo A ndluliet comes this colourful and lively production of
. Shakespeare‘s greatest play. with a very
strong. mostly British cast and the best performance in years from Gibson in the title role. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I Heathers( 15) (Michael Lehman. US. 1989) Winona Ryder. Christian Slater. Lisanne Falk. 102 mins. An ultrablack parody of the high school teenflick. Lehman‘s first feature film managesto combine box office success with artistic merit. This cult hip hit of its year has Slater and Ryder starting a suicide craze to muscle in on the cliquey Heathers running the joint. Tune in. turn on. dropdead. Glasgow: Grosvenor.
I Homicide ( 15) (David Mamet. US.
1991 ) Joe Mantegna. William H. Macy. Natalija Nogulich. Rebbeca Pidgeon. 102 mins. See review. (’ilasgow: GF'T. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I l, The Worst of All (Maria Luisa Bemberg. Argentina. 1990) Assumpta Serna. Dominique Sanda. Hector Alterio. 105 mins. Set in 17th century Mexico. this film from Argentina's leading feminist director follows the life ofpoet. playwright. intellectual and nun. Sister Juana lnes dc la Cruz. Herprivileged position allows her to continue writing until the local archbishop conspires to end her work. Demanding. but ultimately rewarding. Glasgow: GET.
I An Innocent Witch ( 15) (l leinosukc Gosho..lapan. 1965) 100mins. A powerful depiction of the life ofa young girl sold into prostitution and brutally exploited by her family as well as her clients. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I Jacob's Ladder( 18) i( Adrian Lyne. US. 1990) Tim Robbins. Elizabeth Pena. Danny Aiello. 113 mins. Vietnam vet Jacob Singer is seeing some very strange things. like nurses with demons‘ horns and people with faces straight out of a Francis Bacon painting. As his grip on the reality of his present life begins to slip. he has recurring flashbacks to the night his platoon was wiped out during the war. The director of Fara/Attraction and the writer of Ghost combine to pull offone ofthe most terrifying. yet ultimately moving, paranoia thrillers of recent years. Glasgow: Cannon Sauchiehall Street. Edinburgh: Cameo. UCl. Strathclyde: UCI Clydebank.
I Jewish Festival: New British Shorts (15) (Various. UK. 1991) 110 mins.This programme of three films consists of Mark Jay‘s Invisible City. Brett Turnball‘s modern treatment of an old Yiddish folktale The Golem of Princelet Street and Suzanna White‘s Volvo City. a portrait of the Jewish community in Stamford Hill. Glasgow: GF'T.
I Julia Hes Two Lovers ( 18) (Bashar Shbib.
16 The List 25 October- 7 November 1991