FILM INDEX
I the Maker Proxy (PG) (Joel Coen. US. 1994) Tim Robbins. Jennifer Jason Leigh. Paul Newman. lll mins. When Hudsucker Industries' boss takes a dive from an upper storey boardroom window. mailroom boy Norville Barnes (Robbins) finds himself catapulted to executive status. But pretty soon he‘s forgotten his roots and is becoming as heartless as his manipulative mentor. played by Paul Newman. A winning blend of 40s screwball comedy. 50s consumer quirks and satire on 80s corporate greed. the Coen brothers' latest is cinematic fantasy in its purest fonn. Glasgow: OFT.
I I I. The Rabbit (l5) (Kurt Maetzig. East Germany. l965/89) 110 mins. A nineteen-year- old waitress is not allowed to go to prison because her brother is a political prisoner. In her attempt to win a pardon for him. she unwittingly becomes the lover ofajudge. Despite the fact that director Maetzig was one of his country‘s leading filmmakers and a former Director of the Film Academy. the film was banned for ‘nihilistic propaganda'. Glasgow: GET.
I I love Trouble (PG) (Charles Shyer. US. 1994) Julia Roberts. Nick Nolte. Saul Rubinek. I23 mins. Guy and girl rival reporters fight over the big story while resisting their obvious attraction for each other. A curiously old- fashioned hybrid that seems to be a screwball comedy languishing out of time. this Roberts' vehicle is exactly the infuriating. smug stuff you'd expect from the makers of Baby Boom and Father Of The Bride. Edinburgh: UCl. Borders: Roxy. I "(18) (Lindsay Anderson. UK. 1968) Malcolm McDowell. David Wood. Richard Warwick. ll 1 mins. The kids are alright as anarchy and rebellion erupt with all the passion of an explosion at a stuffy English public school. Symbolic. allegorical stuff about the breakdown of society which didn't seem that far off twenty years ago. The final moment of machine-gun fire at prize day is not too dissimilar to contemporary events in Paris. Edinburgh: Cameo. I It The lane or The Father(15) (Jim Sheridan. US/Eire. 1993) Daniel Day-Lewis. Pete Postlethwaite. John Lynch. 133 mins. Writer-director Sheridan manipulates the facts concerning the wrongful arrest and eventual acquittal of Gerry Conlon. one of the Guildford Four; but the deep. disturbing truths of this miscarriage ofjustice remain constant. Day- Lewis and Postlethwaite give career-best
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performances as Gerry and Guiseppe Conlon. the father and son whose relationship provides the emotional core of the movie. Brave. powerful stuff. Fife: New Picture House.
I It Could llappen To You (PG) (Andrew Bergman. US. I994) Nicolas Cage. Bridget Fonda. Rosie Perez. 101 mins. New York cop Cage hasn't enough change to tip waitress Fonda. so he promises to split his winnings if his lottery ticket comes up. . . and it does. But wife Perez doesn't think that honesty is the best policy. Having junked its working title (Cop Git-e ll’uirress $2 Million 'Iip) for a snappier wish-fulfilment moniker. this warm-hearted comedy is the best adult fairytale since Sleepless In Seattle. General release.
I It's A Wonderful life ( PG) (Frank Capra. US. I946) James Stewart. Donna Reed. Henry Travers. Thomas Mitchell. I29 mins. Small- town boy Stewart runs into financial difficulties and is on the brink of suicide when an elderly
angel descends to earth to show him all the good
his life has done for those around him. Archetypal Capra sentimentality with a superbly
detailed fantasy framework and one of Stewart‘s
most lovable performances. One to wann even the most glacial heart. Edinburgh: Filmhouse. I Junior (PG) (lvan Reitrnan. US. I994) Arnold Schwarzenegger. Danny DeVito. Emma Thompson. 1 10 mins. The Twins team are back and. like it was first time around. they're trying to pass off a single joke as an entire movie. Scientists Schwarzenegger and DeVito have their funding pulled. but decide to test their fertility drtrg on a human being — hey presto! Amie‘s pregnant! Little to laugh over. however. until he gets into the frocks and tries passing himself off as female. Otherwise there's just a
whiff in the air that this surefire moneyspinner is treading in sortie morally dttbious areas. See
review. General release.
‘ I Leaving Lenin (12) (Endaf Emlyn. Wales.
1993) Sharon Morgan. Wyn Bowen Harris. Shelley Rees. 90mins. A group of Welsh sixth- for‘mers are accidentally left to fend for themselves in St Petersburg. Strangers in a strange land. they begin to define their emotional independence in a city that‘s also buzzing with a
sense of discovery. A witty and compassionate
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study of everyday people facing extraordinary circumstances that is much more than a native tongue novelty item. Edinburgh: Filrnhouse. I Life OI Brian ( lSX'l‘en'y Jones. UK. 1979) Graham Chapman. Terry Jones. John C leese.
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Michael Palin. Eric Idle. 93 mins. The Gospel According to Monty Python offended a whole host of religious dorninations upon its initial release. which rather obscured the fact that behind the controversy lay their most sustained humour to date. A host of very funny setpieces and smart cameos from all the team climaxes in a rather fetching musical crucifixion. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I The lion King (PG) (Roger Allers/Rob Minkoff. US. I994) With the voices of Matthew Broderick. Jeremy Irons. Robert Guillaume. 88 mins. The first Disney animated feature to be based on an original story rather than a traditional folk or fairy tale. The Lion King retains all of the studios markers: impeccable animation. jolly songs. colourful characters and a strong moral guideline. Startling family fare. General release.
I Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (15) (Kenneth Branagh. US/UK. I994) Robert De Niro. Kenneth Branagh. Helena Bonharn Carter. l20 mins. Ambitious medical student Victor Frankenstein discovers the means of regenerating dead tissue. but so horrified is he with his success that he abandons his creation — bringing a terrible revenge upon his friends and family. Keeping close to Mary Shelley's book. Branagh departs from it only to clarify and expand upon her aims. The scope is immense. the themes deep and literate. the acting and design first class. General release.
I The Mask (PG) (Charles Russell. US. 1994) Jim Caney. Cameron Diaz. Peter Reigett. 95 mins. A timid bank clerk finds an ancient mask that allows him to fulfil his innennost desires as a suave channer and crime-fighting whirlwind. An amalgam of 20s. 30s and 40s decor. The Mask has a skimpy plot. but its rousing musical set-pieces and eye-popping computer-generated effects (like a live action Tex Avery cartoon) make it the surprise hit of the summer. Glasgow: MGMs. Edinburgh: UCl. Fife: Cannon.
I Maverick (PG) (Richard Donner. US. 1994) Mel Gibson. Jodie Foster. James Garner. l27 mins. Romantic gambler Bret Maverick has got to get up a big enough pot to enter a poker game with a stake of half a million dollars. but encounters various loose and at times unconnected adventures on the way. A card-con movie with western trappings. Maverick showcases the ‘unpredictable' quirks of Gibson's screen persona. the kind of thing that he gives a lunatic edge in the Lethal ll’errpon series.
| Rollicking. pre-packaged entertainment that slips
into the sharnbolic. Central: MacRobert.
I Miracle On 34th Street (PG) (Les Mayfield. US. I994) Richard Attenborough. Elizabeth Perkins. Dylan McDennott. “0 mins. Kriss Kringle (Attenborough) is a department store Santa who goes one better and claims he's the genuine article. Only by winning a court case - and convincing one cynical little girl (Mara Wilson) can he put the joy and magic back into the festive period. A fairly unnecessary remake. but this secular fable still sparkles with charm. See review. General release.
I Monkey Trouble (U) (Franco Amun‘i. US. I994) Thora Birch. Harvey Keitel. Mimi Rogers. 96 mins. Birch is a weeny with family trouble. who happens on a rogue capuchin monkey as a pet. Problem is. it's a trained thief belonging to strange-accented European gypsy Keitel. Unimaginative. sentimental tale with an insufferable Hollywood mix of group hugs and cute furballs. Glasgow: Film Centre. Edinburgh: MGM. UCl. Strathclyde: Cannon. UCls.
I Naked (18) (Mike Leigh. UK. I993) David Thewlis. Katrin Cartlidge. Lesley Sharp. I26 mins. Johnny. a cynical drifter. wanders around the homeless of London spouting a bitter philosophy. An episodic. bleak. but bitingly funny portrait of 90s Britain that suffers from a few characters who could only exist in a Mike Leigh world. Scenes of sexual violence may be difficult for some audience members to sit through. but the virtuoso performance from Thewlis is one of the best of the year. Glasgow: Grosvenor.
I The Nightmare Before Christmas (PG) (Henry Selick. US. 1993) With the voices ofChris Sarandon. Danny Elfrnan. Catherine O‘Hara. 76 mins. Jack Skellington. the skinny trickster king of llalloweentown. is restless with success and needs a new challenge. so he hatches a plot to kidnap Santa and create a mixed-up Yuletide isn't quite what the kids of the world expected. Produced and based on a story and characters by Tim Burton. this is a real imaginative treat — deliciously dark stop-motion animation on the big screen. See feature. General release.
I Othello (PG) (Orson Welles. US/France. l95l)Orson Welles. Michael MacLiammoir. Fay Compton. 91 mins. Shakespeare's moor as interpreted by Welles. on a miniature budget and in various European locations. over several years. Technical quality very variable. but set- pieces like the rnurder in the Turkish bath show flashes of brilliance. Glasgow: GET.
I The Philadelphia Story (PG) (George (.‘ukor
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32 The List 2—] 5 December 1994