The List: 9 Sep 1994 (23/84)

BACARDI BLACK

INDEX FILM

FILM mm-

Filnis screening this fortnight are listed below with certificate, credits, brief review and venue details. Film index compiled by Alan Morrison.

I Ace Ventura: Pet Detective ( 12) (Tom Shadyac. US. 1994) Jim Carrey. Sean Young. Courtney Cox. 86 mins. When Snowﬂake. mascot of the Miami Dolphins. goes missing. there‘s only one man for the job — Ace Ventura. a cross between Phillip Marlowe and Dr Doolittle. Another American TV comedian to successfully make the transfer to the big screen. Carrey's wacky persona doesn't outstay its welcome in this funny and bizarre movie. Edinburgh: Cameo.

I The Adventures Of lluclt Finn (PU) (Stephen Sornrners. US. 1993) Elijah Wood. Courtney B. Vance. Robbie Coltrane. Jason Robards. 108 mins. Woods. America's best male child actor. carries his role at the centre of this appealing Disney version of Mark Twain's classic. Teaming tip with a runaway slave. Huck heads down the Mississippi. meeting two riverfront rouges: The Duke (Coltrane) and The King (Robards). Fine entertainment for all the family. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.

I Baby’s Day Out (PG) (Patrick Read Johnson. US. 1994) Joe Mantegna. Lara Flytm Boyle. Brian Haley. 98 mins. Talk about regression! After "(llrlr’ Alone and Dennis. writer John Hughes now has a drooling toddler on the loose in the big city after he escapes from his kidnappers. led by titan-with-no-shame Mantegna. Saccharine sweet storytelling which diabetics would be well advised to steer clear of. General release.

I Barton Pink (15) (Joel Coen. (IS. 1991 ) John Turturro. John Goodman. Judy Davis. Michael Lerner. 1 17 mins. When socially-comrriitted playwright Barton Fink (ITH‘HII'I‘O) is consigned by the Hollywood machine to write wrestling ﬁlms. he slumps into a writer's block as large as his mysterious next-door neighbour (John Goodman). Unprecedented winner of best film. actor and direction awards at 1991's Cannes Film Festival shows the Coen's at their most menacing and absurd best. Followed by a talk by Rick lnstrell on the (‘oen Brothers' films. Sat 17 only. Glasgow: Gl’l'.

I Belle De Jour ( 18) (l.iiis Buntiel. France/Italy.

1967) Catherine Deneuve. Jean Sorel. Michel Piccoli. 100 mins. The beautiful btit bored wife of a surgeon spends her afternoons working in a brothel where she meets an odd assortment of characters. Bunuel's treatment of the bourgeoisie is typically cool btit unforgiving. and his blurring of the line between fantasy and reality so succesful that by the end. we are unsure if the whole movie could have been dreamt tip by the protagonist. Wonderfully amoral comedy of manners. Glasgow: GFI‘.

I Belle Epogue (15) (Fernando Trueba. Spain.

1992) Jorge Sanz. Fernando Fernan Gomez.

Ariadne Gil. Penelope Cruz. 109 mins. During

the Civil War. a young deserter ﬁnds himself

under the wing of an elderly libertine. enjoying

the pleasures of his four daughters — a lesbian. a

widow. a bride-to-be and a virgin. Sparkling.

feel-good. period comedy that revels in the joys of life and love. Glasgow: GFI‘.

I The Beverly Hillbillies (PG) (Penelope

Sphceris. US. 1993) Jim Vamey. Cloris

Leachman. Erika Eleniak. [)iedrick Bader. 103

mins. A bunch of backwoods natives strike oil.

become billionaires and move to Beverly Hills.

There are only a couple of almost wry moments

amid the excruciatingly bad puns. desperate

parodies and inane slapstick. and the writers seem to believe we need a stupid face or pose every ()0 seconds. That‘s a formula that might work on TV with constant commercial breaks. but not in a cinema feature. Strathclyde: WMR.

I Blood Sirnple (18) (Joel Coen. US. 1983) John

Getz. Francis McDormand. M. [Emmet Walsh. 99

mins. Auspicious debut frorn the Coen brothers'

direction/production team. Walsh excels as the seedy Sheriff investigating a simple murder whose devilish Texan chronicle of double- crossing is anything but simple. An enthusiastic attempt at contemporary ﬁlm noir. which keeps everyone guessing even after the ﬁnal frame.

Edinburgh: Cameo.

I Blown Away (15) (Stephen Hopkins. US. 1994) Jeff Bridges. Tommy Lee Jones. Suzy Amis. 121 mins. A psychotic terrorist blasts his way out of prison and leaves Ireland for America. where he discovers that a top bomb dis sal expert is really a former terrorist who

caused the death of his sister. Cat and mouse stuff with plenty of big bangs and high anxiety stress factors for audiences who like their palms clammy. Glasgow: MGMs. All UCls.

I Bram Stoker's Dracula ( 18) (Francis Ford Coppola. US. 1992) Gary Oldman. Winona Ryder. Anthony Hopkins. 128 mins. More gothic love story than out-and-out horror. Coppola's version is not the strict Stoker adaptation that many had hoped for. btit is a visual feast nonetheless. ()ldman taps his own dark. sexy. stormy self to create a powerful btit sympathetic monster. while the rest of the cast range from the ineffectual to the overbearing. A rich and substantial vampire movie for our times. Edinburgh: Cameo.

I Breakfast At Tiffany‘s ( 15) (Blake Edwards. ['S. 1961) Audrey Hepburn. George Peppard. Patricia Neal. Buddy Ebsen. Mickey Rooney.

l 15 mins. Truman Capote cleaned tip for a respectable audience. in this enjoyably light btit rather empty-headed romantic tangle set among the skyscrapers of Manhattan. Glasgow: GET. I Bringing Up Baby (PG) (Howard Hawks. ('5. 1938) Cary Grant. Katharine Hepburn. Charles Rtiggles. 102 mins. '/.any gal Hepburn causes timid zoology professor Grant to lose a valuable dinosaur bone and mislay a pet leopard within the course of one screwball evening. Archetypal Thirties crazy comedy with one outlandisth hilarious scene following another within the progression of an uneiringly logical narrative. Both stars at their charismatic best. Edinburgh: Cameo.

I Chasing The Deer (PG) (Graham Holloway. Scotland. 1994) Brian Blessed. Lewis Rae. Matthew '/.ajac. Jacqueline Pirie. The Jacobite rising of the first half of the 18 century set Scot

; against Scot. and this low-budget native feature

tells the tale through the story of litian and Alistair Campbell. a father and son who end tip on opposing sides. The religious and poltical background is roughly sketched. the acting — for

i the greater part — very amateurish. the dialogue 5 atrocious. A brave effort that will hopefully lead 5 to bigger and better things being made on borne

soil. See preview. Glasgow: ()deon. Edinburgh: ()deon. ['Cl. Fife: Robin's. Strathclyde: ()deon Ayr. I Citizen Kane (PG) (Orson Welles. L'S. 1941) Orson Welles. Joseph Cotten. Agnes Moorehead. 119 mins. Stunnineg 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: Filmhotrse. I Clear And Present Danger ( 12) (Philip Noyce. ['S. 1994) Harrison Ford. Willem Dafoe. James Earl Jones. l-ll mins. 1n the third and least exciting instalment in the series. Jack Ryan (Ford) is promoted to Deputy Director of the CIA and has to deal with high office treachery and South American drug lords. An clephantine btit not especially interesting narrative that might work better on the bestseller page. this is a new milestone iii big budget tedium. See review. General release. I Color at light ( 18) (Richard Rtisli. US. 1994) Bruce Willis. Jane March. Ruben Blades. 123 mitts. A New York psychologist heads to LA after the suicide of a patient. btit becomes involved iii a murder hunt when his buddy is stabbed to death. The killer is part of a therapy group. btit which one'.’ Who cares'.’ A triumph of cliche over content. with top-shelf sex scenes. this proves that it's not just Willis's acting that's flacid. See review. All ()deons. All UCls. Glasgow: MGM Pai'kliead. Fife: Robin's. I Cronos ( l8) (Guillermo del Toro. Mexico. 1993) 92 mins. Possibly the strongest feature to emerge from Mexico in recent years. alongside Like [liner For Chocolate. In ltish visuals. del Toro spans centuries in his tale of the human desire for an intricate mechanical device that prolongs life. A vampire movie like no other. Latin American Film Festival. Glasgow: Gl-T. I Dance at The Vampires The Fear/tux Vampire Killers (15) (Roman Polanski. US. 1967) Jack MacGowran. Roman Polanski. Alﬁe Bass. Sharon Tate. Ferdy Mayne. 107 mins. Peculiar Hammer-type spoof horror. with MacGowran as the eccentic professor and Polanski as his assistant. both staying in an isolated. east European castle infested with vampires. Though there are moments of pure Polanski genius. most of the movie misfii'es. arid it's remarkable mainly as an oddity. Edinburgh: Cameo. I Day For [light (15) (Francois Truffaut. France. 1973) Jacqueline Bisset. Jean-Pierre Leaud. Francois Truffaut. Valentina Cortese. 120 mins. Interesting and entertaining movie about rnoviemaking. with Truffaut as the hack director trying to steer cast and crew through a tacky love story. Won an Oscar for Best Foreign Film. Edinburgh: Cameo.

I Delicatessen (15) (Jean-Pierre Jeunet/Marc Caro. France. 1991 ) Dominique Pinon. Marie- Laure Dougnac. Jean-Claude Dreyfus. 99 mins. In a sepia wasteland somewhere in the future. a butcher feeds his neighbours with the juicy joints of his lodgers. But when former clown Louison (Pinon) arrives and falls for his daughter. an underground vegetarian resistance group come to the rescue. Hilarious blend of bizarre characters. slapstick and comic tension makes for the first true cult item of the ‘90s. Glasgow: Grosvenor.

I Demolition Man (15) (Marco Brambilla. US. 1993) Sylvester Stallone. Wesley Snipes. Nigel Hawthorne. l 15 mins. Cryogenically frozen in 1996. btit thawed out for a parole hearing 36 years later. mass murderer Simon Phoenix (Snipes) escapes and sets about creating rtiajor mayhem. The only man who can stop him is Sgt John Spartan (Stallone). the man who caught him ﬁrst time round and who is also undergoing the big freeze. Producer Joel Silver‘s trademark big bangs and some larnpooning of screen images by the stars enliven this excellent sci-ﬁ action movie that is laced with sharp social satire. Edinburgh: Cameo.

I The Exorcist (18) (William Friedkin. US. 1973) Linda Blair. Ellen Burstyn. Max Von Sydow. 110 mins. Earnest priest Von Sydow steps in to save poor little p0ssessed girl in this hugely effective scarefest. Dead good. dead scarey. dead priest. Glasgow: Odeon. Strathclyde: Odeon Ayr.

I Fausto ( 15) (Remy Duchemin. France. 1992) Ken Higelin. Jean Yanne. Francois Hautesserre. 81 mins. A teenage orphan gets a gig as an apprentice tailor with an old-school tradesman. comes tip with a series of fantastical couture designs and captures the heart of a winsome lass. The movie's undeniable btit slight chami isn‘t much to offer. btit it won’t make you unhappy. Glasgow: GFI".

I The Flintstones (U) (Brian Levant. US. 1994) John Goodman. Rick Moranis. Elizabeth Perkins. Rosie O'Donnell. 92 mins. Fred is promoted to an executive post at the quarry. but

only as a stooge for his boss's corporate rip-off;

nevertheless. money and power go to the Flintstones' heads. causing friction with the Rubbles. The movie keeps to the TV series' prehistoric parody of modern suburban life. adds bright and chunky sets and a post-yuppie morality tale on greed that doesn't quite sit right. and comes out a little plot-heavy. The one-liners will be picked tip by adults. kids will get bored. Btit it's no the yabba-dabba dodo it could have been. General release.

I Four Weddings And A Funeral (15) (Mike Newell. UK. 1993) Hugh Grant. Andie MacDowell. Kristin Scott Thomas. 117 mins. Sweet but stuffy [Englishman Charlie (Grant) is convinced that he is not the marrying sort. but when he keeps meeting the alluring American

Carrie (MacDowell) at an assortment ofchurch

ceremonies. he begins to doubt his resolve. The sort ofcharming British comedy that was destined to storm America. btit which adds a little grit to the glamour of the pretty settings thanks to Richard (B/at'karhler) Curtis‘s script. General release.

I Seminal (15) (Claude Berri. France. 1993) Renaud. Miou-Miou. Gerard Depardieu. 160 mins. A mining village in 19th century France strikes when management imposes an unjust wage cut. Zola's novel preﬁgures much of the unrest seen in the 1984 Miners' Strike in the 13K. and — while showing the ugly side of conflict between working-class communities — sows the seeds for trade unionism. Atmospherically shot with wide social scope and

intimate detail by the director of Jean De

Fla/wire. and well acted throughout. Fife: Adam Smith.

I The Getaway ( 18) (Roger Donaldson. US. 1994) Kim Basinger. Alec Baldwin. Michael Madsen. 115 mins. Much more of a star vehicle than the tougher Peckinpah original. this bank- roberry-revenge-cbase could do well to cut away from the leads and focus more on the weirdo subplot following double-crossed baddie Michael Madsen and loopy hostage Jennifer Tilly. The plot has interesting elements. but it's all a bit to glossy for a hard crime thriller. Glasgow: GET.

I Betting Even With Bad (PG) (Howard Deutch. [.‘S. 1994) Macaulay Culkin. Ted Danson. Glenne lleadley. 109 mins. Danson is a small- time crook doing one last job to help set him up in the straight world; Culkin is his estranged son who rumbles his dad's plan. takes the loot and blackrnails him into doing the bonding good— time thing. A hotch-potch movie. stirring elements of caper. heist. romance and travelogue into something that is not the sum of its pans. The gags are set tip well. but fall to the obvious at the punchline. Fife: Glenrothes.

I Golden Balls (18) (Bigas Luna. Spain. 1993) Javier Bardern. Maria De Medeiros. Maribel

The List: 9 Sep 1994 (Issue 236)