FILM INDEX
i. y.
I All I Want For Christmas (PG) Leslie Nielsen stars
: as Santa Claus. helping
two children achieve their Christmas wish of bringing their divorced
i parents together. Sugary ‘ yulctidc comedy.
' I Black Sunday 61/2
Britain's best horror/fantasy film festival brings a package of five films— including Texas Chainsaw Massacre and the world premiere of Revenge of Billy the Kid — to Edinburgh‘s Filmhouse on Sat 30 Nov. Tickets and info from Dave Bryan on 0617662566. Seeindex. I Hangin’ With The Homeboys ( 15) Four young New Yorkers get together on a Friday night and. . .hangout. basically. Hip and very funny look at an atypical boys‘ night out. See review.
I MonsterlnABoxUz) Monologuist Spalding Gray carries on where Swimming To Cambodia left off. with a few anecdotes pertaining to his great unfinished novel See review.
I Omen IV: The Awakening. (15) Dull and pointless addition to the devil child trilogy has the daughter of Damian up to similar. but remarkably unscary. games with nannies and unfortunate private investigators.
I Point Break ( 15) Superior action thriller with Keanu Reeves as new FBI recruit on the trail of surfer bankrobbers. Wave action and sky-diving aplenty.
I Switch (15) Womaniser Steve Brooks is reincarnated as a man in Ellen Barkin‘s body and sets out to find one woman who will admit to liking his former self. Mostly lame comedy from Blake Edwards. See review.
« IToloThe ilero(15)
Wonderful Belgian film
1 that won the Chaplin
Award at this year‘s Edinburgh Film Festival. Elderly Thomas reflects on the life that should have been his. convinced he was swapped with his
§ n'ch neighbour at birth. ’. See preview. _
FILM
14 The List 22 November — 5 December 1991
Films screening this lortnight are listed
below, with certilicate. credits, brief review f
and venue details. Full-length reviews of
selected new releases can be found close to ;
the appropriate entry. Programme details appear in the Listings section which iollows. Film Index compiled by Alan Morrison.
I Accattone (15) (Pier Paulo Pasolini, Italy. 1961) Franco Citti. Franca Pasut. Roberto Scaringella. Adriana Asti. 120 mins. Early Pasolini, set in the sleazy underworld of Rome. where Citti‘s Aceattone struggles with the dilemma of
poorly paid work or an easier life ofcrime.
intelligent and subtle exploration ofa world the director knew all too well. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I The Adventures 0i Milo And Otis (U) ‘ (Masanori Hata. Japan. 1990) A cat. a dog. a bear. several chickens and the voice 3 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: f Filmhouse.
I All I Want For Christmas (U) (Robert Lieberman. US. 1991) Harley Jane
Kozak. Jamey Sheridan, Leslie Nielsen. Lauren Bacall. 94 mins. Not content with ' Barbie dolls and Nintendo games. New ' York kiddies Ethan and Hallie devise a plan to get what they really want for the holiday season — a family Christmas that will bring their divorced parents together again. Heartwarming yulctidc comedy or sentimental American crap. depending on how you look at it. although we tend towards the latter view. Cannons and ; UCls(2nd Week). IBBckdrail(15)(RonHoward.US.1991) : William Baldwin. Kurt Russell. Scott Glenn. Robert De Niro. Donald Sutherland. 136 mins. Chicago‘s finest firefighting men receive the Hollywood 5 treatment in the film that burned up the US box office charts. Baldwin and = Russell‘s sibling rivalry plays against a 5 backdrop of stunning fire effects and big : screen action as the Fire Department and ‘ De Niro‘s arson investigator search for clues amongst the charred remains of several victims with links to the forthcoming civic elections. Strathclyde: La Scala. I La Belle at La Bela (PG) (Jean Cocteau. : France. 1946) Jean Marais. Josette Day. j Marcel Andre. 92 mins. Sombre. magical ; and extravagant rendition of the fairytale i with Day as Beauty and Marais as her 5 shepherd lover and the Beast. A haunting fantasy. Glasgow: GF'T.
I Betty Blue (18) (Jean-Jacques Beineix. France. 1986) Jean Hughes Anglade, Beatrice Dalle. 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: Grosvenor.
Edinburgh: Cameo.
I Black Narcissus (PG) (Michael Powell. UK. 1947) Deborah Kerr. Sabu.Jean Simmons. 100mins. Kerr‘s colony ofnuns i intheHimalayasfindtheirfaithtestedby the desires ofthe flesh. An unlikely ‘ subject matter. astonishingly evocative studio settings and affectingly controlled . performances are combined in a beautiful. unique film. Glasgow: GF’I‘.
I Black Sunday 6V2 Britain‘s best and most hard-working horror/fantasy film festival
' takes a foray north of the border fora
night of new and classic gore starting at 11pm on Sat 30 Nov. The inspiringly depraved programme features the world premiere of British indie The Revenge of Billy the Kid, the sequel to the infamous Nekromantik. and past favourites Society. I BoughtA Vampire Motorcycle and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Tickets (@ 10) from Black Sunday. 51 Thatch Leach Lane. Whitefield. Manchester. M25 6EN (061 766 2566). Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
f I Blue Velvet ( 18) (David Lynch. US.
1986) Kyle MacLachlan. Dennis Hopper.
lsabella 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 terrifyingwhich
blends kitsch and nightmare. B-movic detection and brutal sex to deconstruct our complacent vision of normal society. This is film-making of remarkable imagination and skill. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I The Blues Brothers (15) (John Landis. US. 1980) John Belushi. Dan Aykroyd. Carrie Fisher. 130 mins. Bloated.
= overlong anarchic Chicago comedy with
the two stars on a mission from God to
. salvage the imperillcd fortunes ofan
orphanage. Lots of guest stars. musical numbers and automotive destruction in a
: typical product of over-emphatic contemporary American humour.
Glasgow: Grosvenor.
I Boyz N The Hood(15) (John Singleton. US, 1991) Cuba Gooding Jr. Larry Fishburne, Ice Cube. Morris Chestnut. 112 mins. A poignant depiction of life in the rundown suburbia of South Central Los Angeles by debut director Singleton. A group of teenage friends try to keep their heads above the never-ending flood of reprisal killings. but find that it is alltoo easy to get sucked into the violence. Ultimately moving and emotionally harrowing. Edinburgh: UCI.
I Carry On Doctor (U) (Gerald Thomas. UK. 1967) Kenneth Williams. SidJames. Joan Sims. Kenneth Connor. et al. 95 mins. Hospital farce overflowing with innuendo and rather naughty puns— the kind of comedy where a jab with asyringe is only a little prick. Edinburgh: Cameo. I Carry On Up The Khyber (U) (Gerald Thomas. UK. 1968) Kenneth Williams. Sid James, Charles Hawtrey. et al. 87 mins. The usual team showing their part (ooh-er!) in the end (titter!) ofthe British Empire. An embarrassing British entry (nudge. nudge) in the width and breadth of world cinema. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I City SlicIters ( 12) (Ron Underwood. US. 1991) Billy Crystal. Daniel Stern. Bruno Kirby. Helen Slater. Jack Palance. 114 mins. Funny man Crystal stars as a fortysomething advertising salesman who faces up to the mid-life crisis by joininga two-week cattle drive with his pals. Moderately amusing second feature from the director of Tremors. General release. I City Of Hope (15) (John Sayles. US. 1991 ) Vincent Spano. Tony Lo Bianco. Joe Morton. 129 mins. Eleven years after The Return of the Secaucus Seven . John Sayles is still at the forefront ofthe American independent film movement. His latest work examines the urban dynamics ofa 19905 working-class community. centring on the civic corruption and old-style blue-collar honesty that surrounds the construction industry. Glasgow: GFT. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I The Commitments (15) (Alan Parker. UK. 1991) Robert Arkins. Michael Aherne. Angeline Ball. Maria Doyle. 118 mins. Sod U2 - when would-be manager Jimmy Rabbitte (Arkins) puts together The Commitments. soul comes to Dublin and the band become the force to really put Irish music on the map. Alan Parker delivers a hilarious. down-to-earth, close-to-home movie. stuffed full of good music and with some relevent social
comment to boot. Easily one of the films ofthe year. General release.
% I Dances With Wolves ( 12) (Kevin 9 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
I of Red Indian culture inthe 1860s. ltwon
seven Oscars including Best Film and Best
5 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 lndians. it offers a sensitive and intense analysis ofboth factions. and of a man caught between two
different cultures. Central: Caledonian.
. I Dead Again ( 15) (Kenneth Branagh. US. ' 1991) Kenneth Branagh. Emma
: Thomson. Andy Garcia. 101 mins. A
notable shift away from the Bard forthe
. golden boy of British theatre in his first } Hollywood outing. Branagh plays cynical.
Los Angelcs-bascd private detective Mike Church. an expert at tracing heirs and
. missing persons. His latest case involves
i discovering the identity ofa beautiful
young woman who has no memory ofher own. but relives the nightmares ofa
murdered woman. Old-fashioned
llitchcockian thriller. carried offwith
: much style. Glasgow: Cannon Sauchiehall
Street. Edinburgh: Cannon. Dominion. All UCls.
? I Doctor Petiot ( 12) (Christian de Chalonge. France. 1990) Michel Serrault. i Pierre Romans. Zbigniew Horoks. 102
mins. Based on the true story ofawartime doctor who tricked Jews into believing he
1 would help them escape from Occupied j France before proceeding to give them a lethal injection and burn their remainsin : his basement. More macabre opportunist
than anti-Semitc. Petiot inhabits a world of German Expressionist angles and
. shadows where. ultimately. historical
comment and narrative drive are sacrificed for (admittedly wonderful) visual style. Glasgow: GFT.
I The Draughtsman’s Contract ( 15) (Peter Grccnaway. UK. 1982) Anthony Higgins.
JanetSuzman. 103 mins. Sumptuous.
; seductive enigma in which a young artist
' accepts a commission from a country
manor and also accepts payment in sexual favours. But is there more to thisthan
meets the eye? Edinburgh: Cameo.
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 Catcs 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. Puerile comedy that fails to be enlivened even by Mayall's manic performance. Glasgow:
' Odeon. Strathclyde: Odeon Ayr. All
UCls.
I The Duel Against Yagyu ( 15) (Tomu Uchida. Japan. 1963) 110mins. Basedon a popular pre-war historical novel about swordsman Miyamoto Musashi, this and the other films in the series are more critical than most of the Samurai way of life. Here. the hero challenges the greatest
surviving Master Swordsman, but ends up
fighting a host ofthe latter‘s disciples and his own greatest rival. Glasgow: GFT.
I Edward Scissorhands (PG) (Tim Burton. US. 1991) Johnny Depp. Winona Ryder. Dianne Wiest. Vincent Price. 105 mins. Burton follows up the excesses ofBatman 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 inventor (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 coiffure and topiary makes him a neighbourhood favourite until tragedy strikes. Beautifully shot. tenderly acted and full ofhidden depths. Edinburgh:
Filmhouse. Strathclyde: Odeon Ayr UClsj