FILM Irma:-
Fliuis screening this fortnight are listed below with certificate, credits, brief review and venue details. Full length reviewsofnewreieasescanbefound in the listings section wich follows. Flint index cornpiied by Alan Morrison.
I The Assassin (18) (John Badham. US. 1993) Bridget Fonda. Gabriel Byme. Dermot Mulroney. 108 mins. Scene-for-scene remake of 1990's Nikita. with emphasis on the action rather than moody contemplation. Fonda brings depth to her character (a teenage drug addict turned government killer). making this a Hollywood thriller with more emotional sympathy than most. In its own terms. easily as good a movie as the original: it‘s a case of same song. different singers. Glasgow: MGM Film Centre. Edinburgh: MGM. Fife: New Picture House. All UCls.
I I“ w (18) (Abel Ferrara. US. 1992) Harvey Keitel. Frankie 'l‘horne. Zoe Lund. 96 mins. A return to urban sleaze by master of the genre Abel Ferrara. A NYPD c0p (Keitel). in debt due to drugs. alcohol and gambling addiction. is intrigued by a big money reward in the case of a raped nun. Harsh. powerful. but filled with a religious orthodoxy. this is a reminder of the director at his best (Angel of Vengeance. Driller Killer) and should be picked up by Reservoir Dogs fans. Glasgow: GFT. Grosvenor. Strathclyde: UCi East Kilbride.
I M (U) (David D. Hand. US. 1942) 69 mins. Disney at his cutest. purest best. A baby fawn enjoys life in the forest with his friends (Thumper the rabbit is surely one of Disney's most memorable creations). grows up. has a run- in with Man. and becomes Great Prince of the Forest Nice animation. with touches of extreme tweeness. and a massive hankie count when Barnbi's mum dies. General release.
I I“! ‘ JO. (12) (Jeremiah Chechick. US. 1993) Johnny Depp. Mary Stuart Masterson. Aidan Quinn. 98 mins. This off-cenue romance between a mentally ill young woman and an eccentric who thinks he's wandered out of a silent comedy would have us believing that anyone with mental problems is a ‘loveable loony'. At times the film seems little more than an excuse to show off Depp's mime versitility. but by stressing kookiness instead of genuine confusion. it's patronising and misleading. Glasgow: MGM Film Centre. Strathclyde: Magnum. IluttylbeflhnquinteVerslenum (Jean- Jacques Beineix. France. 1986) Jean-Hugues Anglade. Beatrice Dalle. Gerard Dannon. 180 mins.Tbestoryremainslhesame-boy meets girl. girl flips out - but the extra 60 mins of unseen footage is a mixed bag. Some new scenes help give a creditable timescale to Betty's descent into insanity. while others are distracting. the cinematic equivalent of monstrous carbuncles on the face of a well-loved friend. Glasgow: GFT.
I “M (18) (Renny Harlin. US. 1993) Sylvester Stallone. John Lithgow. Michael Rooker. Stallone returns to top form as a guilt- ridden mountain rescue pro battling it out amongst the peaks in Colorado with a gang of hijackers. Spectacular vistas and stunt sequences ensure a white-knuckle. vertiginous experience from the comfort of your cinema seat. General
release.
I 6. ‘ a Illii (PG) (Henry Winkler. US. 1993) Burt Reynolds. Normal D. Golden ll. Ruby Dec. 97 mins. A kid who’s a material witness in an important case demands to live out his TV fantasies before he agrees to co-operate. So give him a badge. cuffs and Reyolds as a partner. Soggy programme filler that. if
HOT SHOTS PART DEUX
Every now and again, a new artistic force cornes into being, when theory merges cornpietely with practice. The liedaists tried their best. Artaud had a go with Theatre of Cruelty. And Wisconsin boys Jiw Abrahanis and David and Jerry Zucirer have managed it too, as shown in a body of work front Kentucky Fried Movie, through assorted Airplanes and Naked Guns, to Abrahuis’s solo effort ilot Shots. What do we call it, however? Cinelna of Parody? Cinema oi the Croanworthily Obvious? Cinerua oi the Passes an Hour and a liali, But That’s About It? ilot Shots Part Ileux fulfils all three v definitions but, to be fair, it’s a -; pleasant enough experience, - T '- . ~ paticulariy if you’re farnillar with the lief Shots Part ileux: ‘spned is the nae targetsthesearrows ofwitsoar “NM-0’ towards with varying aulounts of liarley (Charlie Sheen), now success. First tllne round it was flying kickhgxlng in backstreet betting rnovies, with Top Gun loouiing largest fights in Thailand. lieprlsing his ll "'0 “OMS- This "M "’3 5013’ M limbo role, in steps Richard Crenna action stuff - liarnbo and liavy Seals as the my emander who 0' 8|. With “Slim-OI '0" "MM. understands ‘I’opper’s inner tunnoil. and a host of other film references It’s to everyone’s credit that they’re you can catch it you’re quick enough. willing to send up their ‘flner’ like And speed is the name of the same. moments, especially Sheen: highlight with one-liners and (usually better) has hirn spouting Apocalypse low “8'81 9898 Hill! 8 ("VB 0|! and 0" nonsense while going down river on a the screen so fast that the next one is heat, which passes anotiier conllng mlflummmlasfluma theotherway,withdadMartinon wince in its ware. board. ‘loved you in Wall Street’ both President Tug Benson - lloyd Bridges call as they pass. (AM) in a bumbling role that Ronald lleagan "at M pan m (12) (u. made his owl-floods!!! with m, us, 1993) Charlie Sheen, Ill-Grim PM 0" 0' tho GI", 8“ lloyd Bridges, Valeria Collno. or nilns. fienhmvhomiomflomr FrowFrlZC.Ceneralreieese. anything. is worse than the synopsis sounds. I Ff.- TIIC POI. in Tb. M (15)
Strathclyde: Magnum.
I M (18) (Louis Maile. UK/France. 1992) Jeremy irons. Juliette Binoche. Miranda Richardson. Rupert Graves. 111 mins. A Tory MP. headed for high office. drops his parliamentary briefs in favour of his son's new girlfriend. David Hare's script is restrained and dispassionate. leaving the audience detached from the potential melodrama. A very English sexual repression pulled apart by French master Maile. Glasgow: Grosvenor.
I Deals (PG) (Nick Castle. US. 1993) Mason Gamble. Walter Matthau. Joan Piowright. 98 mins. He's blond. he‘s cute. he’s American. his dog isn't a fluffball with teeth. At least the stripey jumper remains the same. But. then again. the Dennis of the US cartoon strip never was related to The Beano's arch-menace. When Dennis's folks go off on business. the rnischevious little brat is left in the hands of his elderly neighbours: Home Alone scenario from the John Hughes stable. General release.
I FIJI] ilnwn (18) (Joel Schumacher. US. 1992) Michael Douglas. Robert Duvall. Barbara Hershey. 112 mins. A sacked defence worker abandons his car in a traffic jam and goes on an escalating rampage across Los Angeles. No mere vigilante movie this. but the zeitgeist movie of the 90s. drinking deep of White Middle-Class America‘s fears about its future. Actor Douglas and director Schumacher deliver their finest work to date. Glasgow: MGM Film Centre. Edinburgh: UCl.
(Germany/italy. 1987) 102 mins. Luca Corneria's archive footage from the beginning of the century is reworked. hand-tinted and slowed down to create a spectacular account of colonial psyche and domination. Glasgow: GFl‘.
I Cay (PG) (Harold Ramis. US. 1993) Bill Murray. Andie MacDowell. Chris Elliot. TV weatherman Phil Conners (Murray) finds himself in the back of beyond. trapped in an ever-repeating single day. Partying and babe- chasing leads to serious romancing as he goes after his producer (MacDowell). Murray's cuddly sarcasm stops the movie from becoming the kind of moralising mush that surrounds so many of his contemporaries. At last. a Hollywood comedy that is really funny. Edinburgh: Odeon.
I “MM” (12) (Jim Abrahams. US. 1993) Charlie Sheen. Lloyd Bridges. Valeria Golino. 87 mins. More cinema parody than Cinema Paradiso. this time it‘s boys' own action movies that are in the sights. as Charlie Sheen tries to rescue the POWs from the Gulf. The jokes race past so quickly that if one stumbles and falls. another hurdles it unmed' lately. If you‘re familiar with the targets. it's a satisfying enou h sitting. See review. General release.
I m (15) (Adrian Lyne. US. 1993) Demi Moore. Robert Redford. Woody Harrelson. 117 mins. Suave bastard Redford offers poverty-stricken yuppies Moore and Harrelson a million dollars if he can sleep with the lady and dilemma ensues. Killer base
material. but Lyne makes a towerineg abominable fiirn out of it. Cavemously empty stuff. a worse film than even The Bodyguard and likely to be every bit as successful. Glasgow: Odeon. MGM Parkhead. Edinburgh: UCl. Strathclyde: UCl Clydebank.
I H. M (U) (Wolfgang Reithennan. US. 1967) With the voices of George Sanders. Louis Prints. 78 mins. Growing up in the jungle. young Mowgii learns from the animals around him. Enjoyable Disney. a long way after Kipling. but the songs are wonderful. Fife: Glenrothes.
I m M (PG) (Steven Spielberg. US. 1993) Sam Neill. Laura Dem. Jeff Goldblum. A group of scientists are invited to give their approval to a theme park filled with genetically engineered dinosaurs. but the giant reptiles are soon running amok. Unsurpassed computer effects ensure that the dinosaurs themselves are terrifyineg believable (moreso than the PG certificate would suggest). but by the halfway point. it's more or less a chase movie with superior technol y. General release. ImmgfiIMMUSNLeslk Hanis. US. 1992) Ariyan Johnson. Kevin Thigpen. Ebony Jerido. 90 mins. The life and traumas of a Brooklyn fly-girl. and the first major feature by an African-American woman. The film is certainly brassy enough. but less sure of its moral dimensions. dialogue and narrative flow. as heroine Chantel juggles relationships on a daily basis. Glasgow: GFT.
I Lake (18) (Rafael Eisenman. US. 1993) Billy Zane. Joan Severance. May Karasun. 90 mins. A beautiful suburban housewife finds herself locked in a trailer owned by a lumberjack. and pretty soon the two of them are up to that ol‘ rumpy pumpy stuff. Glossier than similarly plotted top shelf video nonsense. the latest from the Zalman King stable (Mid Orchid. etc) plays directly to the 903 equivalent of the dirty coat brigade. Edinburgh: UCl. Strathclyde: UCI Clydebank.
I Th I‘ll Adi. M (15) (John McTreman. US. 1993) Arnold Schwarzenegger. Austin O'Brien. Charles Dance. 122 mins. Young Danny gets a magical movie ticket which catapults him into a screen world of villains and heroes. the world of Jack Slater. But when the ticket falls into the wrong hands. the real world comes under threat. A feisty parody of Amie's all-action heroics and self-referential as hell. this has summer blockbuster written all over it. General release.
I I.“ I m (12) (Richard Benjamin. US. 1993) Whoopi Goldberg. Ted Danson. Will Smith. 111 mins. When eighteen-year-old Zora raids the sperm bank's computer files to find her daddy. she uncovers a mix-up that brought her radical African-American mother and a crass cowboy car salesman together in a test tube. Completely unfunny ‘romantic comedy' that is undoubtedly one of the worst films of recent years. General release.
I W (15) (Gabriele Salvatores. italy. 1992) Diego Abatantuono. Claudio Bigagli. Guiseppe Cedema. 90 mins. A group of WW2 ltalian sailors find themselves stranded in the Greek village they were supposed to be ransacking. and settle down to an idyllic life with the locals. A tribute to the kinship of the Mediterranean peoples. this 1992 Oscar winner carries sentimentality and knowing humour in equal amounts. Glasgow: GFT. Fife: Adam Smith. Central: MacRobert.
I H by (PG) (Michael Gottlieb. US. 1992) Hulk Hogan. Sherman Hemsley. Austin Pendleton. 84 mins. Hulk Hogan follows the successful Suburban Commando with a film that owes something to Home Alone. This time he's a bodyguard roped into looking after two destructive kids who like nothing better than setting booby-traps for their nannies. For the kids onl . Fife: Glenrothes.
I P“ TM “I (15) (Alan Parker. UK. 1982) Bob Geldof. Christine Hargreaves. Bob Hoskins. 95 mins. An ambitious attempt by Parker and the Floyd’s Roger Waters to turn the band’s album The Wall into a visual. almost dialogue-less story. in which a schoolboy named Pink grows up to be an isolated rock star. The result did not match the ambition. Edinburgh: UCl.
82 The List 20—26 August 1993