FILM INDEX
man completes his military service and plans to wed his fiance. While looking for work. he shares a flat with a glamorous older woman (Abril) who offers him more than a roof over his head. Abril carries the movie. which has a straight melodrama plotline that Almodovar would have camped up to high heaven. but it‘s still a treat oftruly trashy proportions. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I the Mambo Kings (15) (Arne Glimcher. US. 1991 ) Armand Assante. Antonio Banderas. Cathy Moriarty. 111 mins. Musician brothers in mambo melodrama! Swinging siblings in seduction stand-off! Forget the plot ~ it just trots out some tried and tested notions of fraternal rivalries (Fabulous Baker Boys) and big band wannabees(The Commitments) » and enjoy the colour. the congas. those hot beats and super-sexy. Almodovar regular Banderas in his English dialogue debut. Central: MacRobert.
I The Manchurian Candidate ( 15) (John Frankenheimer. US. 1962) Frank Sinatra. Laurence Harvey. Angela Lansbury. Janet Leigh. 126 mins. In his most convincing screen role. Harvey plays a Korean war hero brainwashed by the communists. who becomes a pawn in the sinister mission planned for him on his return home. Brilliant political satire-cum-thriller. with the cast in great form and a staggeringly inventive plot clearly and grippingly unravelled. it damn well works and surprises in a way that so few films do anymore. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I Matador ( 18) (Pedro Almadovar. Spain. 1986) Assumpta Serna. Antonio Banderas. Nancho Martinez. Eva Como. 96 mins. Less uproarious than the works that established his commercial reputation. this is Almadovar at his most intensely dark and ecstatic. Themes of sex and death merge around a pervy ex-bullfighter. his sexually confused pupil and the latter's murderous defence lawyer. Quite deliriously amoral. Central: MacRobert.
I Mauvals Sang The Night is Young ( 18) (Leos Carax. France. 1986) Denis Lavant.Juliette Binoche. Michel Piccoli. 109 mins. Never mind the rather asinine plot (rival gangs in pursuit ofthe serum to an AIDS-like virus) but delight in the young director's exuberant sense of cinema. His feeling for colour and movement. affection for his ragamuffin characters and sheer belief in the power of visual imagery to captivate the audience are exhilarating and intoxicating. Glasgow: (EFT. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I Monsieur iiuiot's Holiday (PG) (J acquesTati. France. 1953) Jacques Tati. Nathalie Pascaud. Michelle Rolla. 91 mins. M. Hulot. the bachelor with the accident-prone touch. arrives at a jaunty
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coastal resort and devastation very soon ensues. Comic timing at its most irresistible. asTati gets away with a number of memorable. slow-burning gags. all undercut by the stabbing notion that we all have an uncle exactly like Hulot. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I My Cousin Vinny (15) (Jonathan Lynn. US. 1992) Joe Pesci. Marisa Tomei. Fred Gwynne. 119mins. Two New York students visiting the Deep South are charged with a murder they most certainly didn‘t commit. Enter rookie lawyer Vinny
Gambini (Pesci). and it‘s a test ofcan-do
Italian-American guile against the old-fashioned
Southern gentility of Fred Gwynne‘s
currnudgeonly judge. A howlingly funny character comedy that at last lets Pesci carry a movie on his own. Thoroughly recommended.
(ilasgow10deon. Edinburgh: UCI. Strathclyde: UCI Clydebank.
I My Own Private Idaho (18) (Gus Van Sant. US.
1991) River Phoenix. Keanu Reeves. William
9 Richert. 105 mins. Shakespeare‘s Henry lVParts land2 are given a sleazy. contemporary twist in Van Sant‘s follow-up to the admirable Drugstore ('owboy. Screen heart-throbs Phoenix and Reeves make brave career moves by playing a rent boy and the preppie layabout object ofhis affections. but to good effect. A compelling.
j idiosyncratic. left-field gem. Central: MacRobert. I Naked Lunch (18) (David Cronenberg. US.
I 1992) Peter Weller. Judy Davis. Ian Holm. Roy
' Scheider. 121 mins. Body horror maestro takeson I the near impossible task of filming William
I Burroughs‘ controversial novel The Naked Lunch
l
and comes out with a cinematic masterpiece. Elements from Burroughs‘ own life merge with a surreal narrative and the book‘s bizarre. drug-induced sexual imagery. leavinga bewildered. but impressed. audience in their wake. By no means easy watching. but well worth the effort. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I A NightAt The Opera (PG) (Sam Wood. US. 1935) The Marx Brothers. Margaret Dumont. Kitty Carlisle. Allan Jones. Walter Woolf King. 90mins. The Brothers (minus Zeppo) were at the height of their comic powers when they made this masterpiece. This time they‘re helping an opera company get back on its feet. but not before they‘ve had a hand in wrecking it in the first place. Glasgow: GF'T.
I Night On Earth ( 15) (Jim Jarrnusch. US. 1992) Winona Ryder. Beatrice Dalle. Gena Rowlands. Giancarlo Esposito. 129 mins. Los Angeles. New York. Paris. Rome. Helsinki. Five cities. five taxi rides. five chance encounters. The director of Mystery Train and Down By Law pushes aside narrative and goes instead for visual uniformity in a claustrophobic setting. Character studies with a mildly philosophical aftertaste. Edinburgh: Cameo. I Patriot Games ( 15) (Philip Noyce. US. 1992) Harrison Ford. Sean Bean. Anne Archer. Patrick Bergin. 121 mins. Follow up to The Hunt For Red October finds Tom Clancy‘s hero Jack Ryan being tracked down by the brother of an Irish terrorist he killed while on holiday in London. Some good. tense set pieces — particularly the hi-tech ‘kill by satellite' sequence — but its meddling use of Irish politics and unwillingness to condemn the IRA make it of slightly dubious merit this side ofthe Atlantic. See review. General release.
I Peter Pan (U) (Hamilton Luske/Clyde Geronimi/WilfredJackson. US. 1953) With the ‘ voices of Bobby Driscoll. Kathryn Beaumont. } Hans Conried. 76 mins. Disney version ofthe J.M. Barrie story flies through the air in a i well-timed holiday release. Good enough for a i cartoon. poor as a version of Barrie. Those who lauded it while condemning Spielberg‘s Hook may well have to eat their words. I suspect. General release.
I Platoon (Oliver Stone. US. 1987) Charlie Sheen. Willem Dafoe. Tom Berenger. 120mins. Vietnam veteran writer/director Stone‘s movie won four deserved Oscars. vividly portraying the experience of the ordinary infantryman on combat duty around the turn of 1967—8. Private g Sheen is a university dropout. who finds his ideals crushed by survival instinct in the sweat. blood and fear 0f battle. Strathclyde: UCI East Kilbride.
Ii'he Playboys ( 12) (Gillies Mackinnon. UK.
2 1992) Robin Wright. Aidan Quinn. Albert
i Finney. 108 mins. A young woman causes scandal
in her small Irish village when she refuses to name
the father of her newborn son; events only get
worse when a troupe of travelling actors pitches its
5 tent and she falls for the leading man. Tenderly
acted by a uniformly magnificent cast and handled
with care by the Scottish director of acclaimed TV
f films The Grass Arena and Conquest of the South
1 Pole. Glasgow: GFT. Fife: Adam Smith.
’ I the Player ( 15 ) (Robert Altman. us. 1992)Tim
1 Robbins. Greta Scacchi. Fred Ward. Peter
Gallacher. 124 mins. Altman‘s satire on the
i wheeling and dealing of modern day Hollywood is
i more than just an excuse for cineastes to play trainspottcr with the famous faces in cameo roles.
‘ It is also a terrific thriller about a studio exec
receiving death threats from a spurned writer. Tim Robbins is magnificent in the lead role . while
Altman manages to grin as he bites the hand that feeds him. Easily the best movie of the year. if not of the decade so far. Glasgow: Odeon. Edinburgh: Odeon. I The PowerOi One (12) (John G. Avildsen. US. 1992) Stephen Dorff. Armin Mueller-Stahl. John Gielgud. A young Afrikaaner boxer begins teaching English to underprivileged township kids and becomes a thorn in the side of the white regime. Hollywood crassness hits an all-time high as Rocky meets Cry Freedom. Fife: Glenrothes.
I h Private Function (15) (Malcolm Mowbray. UK. 1984) Maggie Smith. Michael Palin. Bill Paterson. 93 mins. Royal Wedding celebrations in ration-restricted post-war Yorkshire prove the ideal breeding ground for all-out class warfare. Engaging comic crossbreed combining the Ealing tradition with the cheerfully rude humour of writer Alan Bennett. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I The flocseteer (PG) (Joe Johnston. US. 1991) Bill Campbell. Jennifer Connelly. Alan Arkin. Timothy Dalton. 109 mins. After discovering a stolen experimental rocket pack. out-of-luck pilot Cliff Secord (Campbell) finds himselfassuming the role of mystery flying figure The Rocketeer in order to save his girlfriend. battle Nazis and save
I the civilised world. roughly in that order. Great.
old-fashioned. matinee-style adventure. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I Septemhu(PG) (Woody Allen. US. 1987) Mia Farrow. Dianne Wiest. Sam Waterston. Elaine Strich. Denholm Eliott. 83 mins. Returning tothc more serious drama he attempted with Interiors. Allen made this exercise in family conflict and romantic tensions. characterised by the kind of confrontation with the past that marks the work of Miller and O‘Neill. Set entirely in a summer home in Vermont. the narrative concerns Farrow‘s attempts to recover from personal crisis by looking for a new relationship. As one might expect with this cast. the performances are uniformly excellent. but Allen‘s writing does occasionally strain for dramatic impact. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I Soaodish (12) (Michael Hoffman. US. 1991) Sally Field. Kevin Kline. Robert DowneyJ r. Whoopi Goldberg. 96 mins. Undemanding entertainment is both the subject and nature of this comedy set in a TV studio producing a soap opera. Sally Field plays actress Celeste Talbot facing a reunion with her ex-boyfriend Kline. both on screen and off. Limp. Glasgow: GFI'.
I Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country(PG) (Nicholas Meyer. US. 1991) William Shatner. Leonard Nimoy. DeForrest Kelley. James Doohan. 109 mins. The usual bunch ofold codgers boldly go in search of new plotlines but instead come up with an intergalactic variation on our own superpower peace talks. Throw in a renegade Klingon or two and the old mutual mistrust and tacky dialogue hits ham factor eight. . . and rising. Forget the grandiose aspirations and enjoy as a piece of undemanding pantomime. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I Saloon (18) (Tom Kalin. US. 1992) Daniel Schlachet. Craig Chester. Ron Vawter. 82 mins. Visually splendid monochrome retelling ofthe murder of a young boy in 1924 Chicago by two wealthy Jewish students and their subsequent trial in which their homosexuality was brought to the fore. Kalin uses the episode to examine how history — here the demonisation of homosexuals — was written. but restrains from excusing their brutality. See review. Glasgow: GFT.
I Tea For ‘I’wo (U) (David Butler. US. 1950) Doris Day. Gordon Macrae. Eve Arden. 97 mins. An amusing light musical about centring on an almost bankrupt financier‘s bet with his niece that she can‘t say no to every question for 24 hours. Edinburgh: St Brides.
I That Obscure Ohleet oi Desire ( 15) (Luis Bunuel. France/Spain. 1977) Fernando Rey. Carole Bouquet. Angela Molina. 103 mins. A rich businessman‘s desires for his maid are continually frustrated. Bunuel. in his last film. cast two actresses as the lead female and. although confusing at first. this decision allows us to see two sides to the character which the man failsto notice. Glasgow: (El-'1".
I Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! ( 18) (Pedro Almodovar. Spain. 1990) Antonio Banderas. Victoria Abril. Francisco Rabal. 101 mins. It‘s women on the verge ofexploitation time as Almodovar reveals his most provocative confection to date with a bare outline that reads like sexist trash: male loony Banderas kidnaps porno queen Abril. ties her to the bed. pumps her full of drugs and. lo. they fall in love. Look beyond the sordid details. however. and the film creates its own moral logic based on mutual need between two very damaged characters. 1n the end. Almodovar manages creditany to wring moments ofemotional resonance out ofthe most unpromising material. Glasgow: GF'T.
I To Be Or Not To Be (U) (Ernest Lubitsch. US. 1942) Jack Benny. Carole Lombard. Robert Slack. 99 mins. Audacious wartime satirical comedy that criticises the Nazis. not so much for their politics as for their appalling bad manners. Benny and Lombard ham it up as the husband and
wife stalwarts of a Warsaw theatre-and-resistance group. Glasgow:GF1‘.
I Total Recall ( 18) (Paul Verhoeven. US. 1990) Arnold Schwarzenegger. Sharon Stone. Michael Ironside. 109 mins. In Verhoeven‘s hugely expensive rollercoaster of violence. Arnie playsa construction worker whose vacational fantasy (implanted by Rekall Incorporated) is to pitch him into a netherworld of assassins and [moms fatales before unleashing the full truth about his nightmares of life on Mars. The crazy Dutchman‘s Martian chronicle. teeming with sicko incident. is powered along by bursts of gce~ain‘t-this-fun-brutality. but scores points for the playful ingenuity of the plotting. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I 2N1: A Space Odyssey (U) (Stanley Kubrick. US/UK. 1968) Keir Dullea. Gary Lockwood. 141 mins. Celebrated visionary epic about the history and future of the human race. superbly crafted and directed by Kubrick. It needs the big screen to do real justice to the famous sequences on the development of man and the landing of the mysterious monolith. One of the great classics of modern cinema. Strathclyde: Paisley Arts Centre. I 02: Battle And iiurn (Phil Joanou. US. 1988) Bono. The Edge. Adam Clayton. Larry Mullen. 90 mins. U2 on their worldwide Joshua Tree tour find themselves exploring the great tradition of American popular music as they record with BB.
King and a Harlem Choir. before taking a tripto l the Sun Studios in Memphis where Elvis first recorded. Intriguing mix of stirring live footage and intimate documentary. capturing a band in transition. though perhaps just a little too much of the concert material. UCI East Kilbride. I The Unbearable tightness oi Being (18) (Philip Kaufman. US. 1987) Daniel Day-LewisJuliette Binoche. Lena Olin. 167 mins. Ambitious adaptation of Milan Kundera‘s complex novel about a womanising Czech brain surgeon who falls in love for the first time with a doe-like small-town beauty at the time of the Russian invasion of 1968. A dawdling and rather austere narrative is given some spice and interest by an overwhelming eroticism. a beautifully judged evocation of Prague and gorgeous photography. Edinburgh: Filmhouse. I Uaioruiven (15) (Clint Eastwood. US. 1992) Clint Eastwood. Gene Hackman. Morgan Freeman. 123 mins. Clint returns to the saddle as a former killer. tamed by his late wife. but pressed into joining a bounty hunt which takes him to the town of Big Whiskey and into the presence of its sadistic sheriff (Hackman). A darkly disturbing western which destroys the genre‘s traditional notions of clear-cut good and evil. instead presenting violent acts as physically and psychologically painful for victim and perpetrator alike. General release. I Until the End of the World (15) (Wim Wenders. Germany/US/Japan/Australia. 1992) Solveig Dommartin. William Hurt. Sam Neill. 158 mins. After having been chased across the world by various nefarious types. Claire Toumeur (Dommartin) and lover Trevor (Hurt) end up in an Aussie underground lab. with nuclear armageddon around the corner. The sci-fi and ‘female Peer Gynt‘ elements don‘t gel. but Wender‘s flawed rock‘n‘roll-powered odyssey does have its own kind of fascination. Central: MacRobert. I Waiting (15) (Jackie McKimmie. Australia. 1990) Noni Hazlehurst. Debona-Lee Fumess. Frank Whitten. A surrogate mother awaits the delivery of her child in an isolated farmhouse. surrounded by girlfriends and hangers-on. What on the suface may seem to be a familiar post-feminist treatise on pregnancy becomes a fine slice of comic realism in the hands of McKimmie. Edinburgh: Filmhouse. I Waterland (15) (Stephen Gyllenhaal. UK/US. 1992) Jeremy Irons. Sinead Cusack. Ethan Hawke. 95 mins. An English schoolteacher on the verge of a nervous breakdown confronts his troubled past by turning it into a history lesson for his teenage pupils. Gyllenhaal's version nrshes the pace of the story a little too quickly but. by remaining true to the broader intentions of Graham Swift‘s much acclaimed novel. it should intrigue newcomers without insulting the original‘s many fans. Edinburgh: Odeon. I White Sands (15) (Roger Donaldson. US. 1992) Willem Dafoe. Mickey Rourke. Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio. 101 mins. A deputy sheriff in New Mexico finds a corpse beside a suitcase containing half a million dollars. and the only way to solve the case is for him to assume the dead man's identity and participate in a covert FBI operation. Watchable stuff from stylish performers. Strathclyde: UCI Clydebank. I Without You l'l'li Nothing (18) (John Boskovich. US. 1991) Sandra Bernhard. 90 mins. The filmed version of Bernhard's 1990 stage show will be greeted with open-mouthed bewilderment as she embarks on a series of satirical monologues. interspersed with her own renditions of soul classics and go-go dancing interludes. Easily one of the most original comic talents of the past decade. Glasgow: GFI‘. Fife: Adam Smith.