FILM INDEX
Robert de Niro. Cathy Moriarty. Joe Pesci. 129 mins. Middleweight boxing champ Jake La Motta finds it difficult to sustain his early success and as his career fades. he declines into a travesty of his former self. De Niro's stunning physical presence dominates Scorsese's savagely bleak study of self-destructive machismo. Central: MacRobett.
I Reservoir Dogs ( 18) (Quentin Tarantino. US. 1992) Harvey Keitel. Tim Roth. Michael Madsen. 100 mins. A gang of hoods. known only to each other by colour-coded nicknames. meets at an abandoned warehouse to figure how out their rigorously planned heist went so drastically wrong. The best debut in years from writer-director Tarantino. whose stylish violence seduces the audience into complicity. Brilliant in every sense of the word. Glasgow: GFT. Odeon. Edinburgh: Cameo. Odeon. Central: MacRobert. Strathclyde: Magnum.
I The River Wild (15) (Curtis Hanson. US. 1994) Meryl Streep. Kevin Bacon. David Strathaim. 108 mins. While on a rafting holiday with her husband and son. former river navigator Gail (Streep) finds her trip dismpted by a couple of armed robbers who force her to take them all through dangerous waters. The actors add a realistic dimension to the characters. bttt otherwise Hanson's outdoor suspense thriller is less a white water rollercoaster and more an acquatic log-ride. Glasgow: MGM Film Centre. Edinburgh: Dominion. UCl. Borders Roxy. Strathclyde: UCls.
I Renee and Juliet (PG) (Franco Zeffirelli. UK/ltaly. I968) Olivia llussey. Leonard Whiting. Milo O'Shea. Michael York. John McEnery. 152 mins. An effective treatment of Shakespeare's Nol weepie. made all the more accessible by the casting of teenage leads. Unfortunately. it‘s difficult to keep a straight face now that the soundtrack has been hi-jacked by Radio 1's Our Tune spot. Central: MacRobert.
I Lee lleseaux Salvage: ( 15) (Andre Techine. France. 1993) Frederic Gorny. Gaol Morel. Elodie Bouchez. 113 mins. Lauded at the French Cesars. Techine's follow-up to Mu Suiaon Preferee is a touching and beautifully observed ensemble portrait of French provincial adolescence in 1962. Set at a time of political unrest due to evean in Algeria. the film sensitively handles its young characters with unforced mastery. See review. ~Glasgow: GFT.
I Rudyard Klpllng'e The Jungle Book (PG)
(Stephen Sommers. US. 1994) Jason Scott Lee. Lena Headey. Sam Neill. 112 mins. Disney‘s new live action version of Kipling's well-loved ston'es doesn't have the appealing talking animals or songs of the 1967 animated version. but it's a great matinee-style wheeze - imagine an early Tarzan movie crossed with an Indiana Jones adventure. Jungle boy Mowgli meets up again with the British amty regiment for whom his father was a guide. but finds himself forced to reveal to a group of soldier cads the whereabouts of some hidden treasure. Great fun. General release.
I Sahoteur (Alfred Hitchcock. US. 1942) Priscilla Lane. Robert Cummings. Otto Kruger. 108 mins. Another of Hitch's excellent wartime thrillers. with Cummings on the run as a suspected sabotcur eager to clear his name. As with the director‘s best work. the film revolves around brilliant set-pieces - the train filled with circus freaks and the Statue of Liberty fight finale. You‘ve got to admit. the man was a master. Glasgow: GFT.
I le Samurai (PG) (Jean-Pierre Melville. France/Italy. 1967) Alain Delon. Francois Perier. Nathalie Delon. 105 mins. The classic French film noir. re-issued with. for the first time. subtitles rather than the appallineg dubbed version that did the rounds years ago. Delon is Jeff Costello. an enigmatic hired killer who becomes obsessed with the beautiful pianist who witnessed a hit but refuses to testify against him. Minimalist dialogue and perfect attention to detail make this the director's masterpiece. Edinburgh: Film Guild.
I Saturday Night Fever (18) (John Badham. US. 1977) John Travolta. Karen Lynn Gorney. Julie Bovasso. 119 mins. Remember the Bee Gees music. the white suits. the days when Travolta was a promising young talent? Nostalgia rules again with the revival of this rather ordinary teen rebellion/dance mini-classic in which an ordinary working-class yoth finds the only meaning in his life during his energetic peregrinations on the weekend dance floor. Glasgow: GFT.
I The Scent Of Green Papaya (U) (Tran Anh Hung. France. 1993) Yen-Khe Tran Nu. Man San Lu. Thi Loc Truong. 104 mins. A young girl arrives in Saigon to become servant to a middle- class family whose house is filled with undercurrents of tension. Likewise. beneath the film‘s cloak of shimmering beauty lie valleys of emotion: this is definitely one worth slowing
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I Scottish Student Video Festival Two days of screenings (Sat l-Sun 2) follow on from a delegates reception as the showcase of student work comes to Stirling University's MacRobert Arts Centre. Tickets from the box office; funher details from the coordinators on 0786 464496. Central: MacRobert.
I Shallow Brave (18) (Danny Boyle. UK. 1994) Kerry Fox. Ewan McGregor. Christopher Eccleston. 90mins. Three Edinburgh flatmates find their new co—habitant dead with a stack of money under his bed. so after performing a little DIY on the corpse. they reckon all their worries are over. But the cops are closing in. there are two thugs after the money. and the psychological tension is beginning to show. Filled with dark humour and cynical one-liners. this Scottish thriller is bloody and intelligent enough to please the cult audience while remaining accessible enough to be a mainstream hit. Edinburgh: Cameo. UCl. Fife: Adam Smith. Strathclyde: L'Cl Clvdebank.
I The Sitawshank Redemption (15) (Frank Darabont. US. 1994) Tim Robbins. Morgan Freeman. Bob Gunton. 143 mins. Banged tip for a crime he didn't commit (ain't they all?) quiet man Robbins plans a slow but effective revenge on the unnecessarily harsh prison regime. Freeman excels as the fellow con with an uncanny knack for procuring desired items. The film is certainly overlong. but the apocryphal feel to the storytelling and the period detail are well handled in what is. ultimately. a very fine movie indeed. Glasgow: Odeon. Edinburgh: (")deon. 11(‘1. Strathclyde: UCls.
I Sleep With Me (15) (Rory Kelly. US. 1994) Eric Stoltz. Meg Tilly. Craig Sheffer. 94 mins. Co-written by the directorial team behind The li’uterrltrm‘r’ and Bodies. Rest & Motion. this is another independent American movie that concentrates on contemporary twentysomething relationships. Quentin Tarantino makes an odd appearance. spouting his new reading of the homoerotic subtext of Top Gun — a reassessment to rival the Madonna speech in Reservoir Dogs. Glasgow: Grosvenor.
I Sleepless In Seattle (PG) (Nora Ephron. US. 1993) Meg Ryan. Tom Hanks. 105 mins. One of the most warm-hearted romantic comedies to emerge from Hollywood in years. again proving the talent of Nora Ephron. who wrote When Harry Met Sally. Newspaper reporter Ryan hears a radio talk show which features recently widowed architect Hanks. She‘s sure they are made for each other. but the whole of the United States lies between them. Strathclyde: Magnum. I Stalingrad (15) (Joseph Vilsmaier. Germany. 1993) Thomas Kretshmann. Dominique llorwitz. Joachen Nickel. Sebastian Rudolph. 137 mins. A convincingly hard-edged account of the seige of the titular city during WW2. seen from a German perspective. lacks the extra emotive dimension that would result in a genuinely heartfelt viewer response. However. the production values are stunning. giving the film an enveloping veracity even if the sentiments do stay at the war-is-hell level. Borders: Roxy.
I Star Trek Generations (PG) (David Carson. US. 1994) Pauick Stewart. William Shatner. Malcolm McDowell. 117 mins. A contrived plot brings together Captains Picard and Kirk in order to save millions of lives at the hands of the demented McDowell. Forget the time warp tosh and cn'nging references to the joys of the family: enjoy instead the self-referential jokes of the seventh Trekkie movie which clearly shows that the Next Generation crowd make for better sci-fi than the original pantomime team. And the effects are indeed spectacular. Glasgow: MGM Film Centre. Edinburgh: MGM. UCl. Central: Allanpark. Strathclyde: Cannon. UCls.
I Stargate (PG) (Roland Emmerich. US. 1994) Kurt Russell. James Spader. Jaye Davidson. 122 mins. Was Earth visited centuries ago by aliens. Seems like it. particularly when Egyptologist Spader solves the key to a huge engraved circle found at the pyramids and unlocks a doorway to another planet. Along with a military team led by Russell. he encounters totalitarian space god Ra (Davidson) and reverses US foreign policy by helping the locals. Big budget science fiction with gleefully ridiculous story and brilliant effects. Edinburgh: UCI. Strathclyde: UCI Clydebank.
I Straw 0093(18) (Sam Peckinpah. UK. 1971) Dustin Hoffman. Susan George. David Warner. 118 mins. An mild-mannered American brings his English wife back to her home village. only to have violence flare in this inbred Comish community. Long tarred with the ‘gratuitous' brush. Peckinpah's contemporary horror/thriller still retains its power. Glasgow: GFI‘.
I Taxi Dover (18) (Martin Scorsese. US. 1976) Robert De Niro. Cybill Shepherd. Jodie Foster. 114 mins. An alienated taxi driver in New York is so repelled by the squalor and the moral decay around him that he is driven to terrible violence. One of the key films of the Seventies with the
Scorsese-De Niro partnership at its peak. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I Terulnater thrice-em Day (IS) (James Cameron. US. 1991) Arnold Swarzenegger. Linda Hamilton. Edward Furlong. Robert Patrick. 136 mins. The most expensive film ever made. In a reprogrammed role that says much about his changed image since the first movie. Arnie becomes the underdog fighting to protect mother and child from another more advanced cyborg. With an element of uncontrived human compassion lurking throughout the gloriously expensive action sequences. as Swarzenegger's cyborg develops human feelings. this is more than just a $100 million fairground n'de. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I The 11!!) Eyes of Dr “abuse (PG) (Fritz Lang. W. Gemiany/France. 1960) Dawn Addams. Peter Van Eyck. Gert Frobe. 103 mins. Lang's last film is more of an update than a sequel to his earlier silent Dr Mohuse. The Gambler. Here. a police detective investigates criminal activities that lead to the Luxor Hotel. where Mabuse's closed circuit cameras scrutinise the guests' every move. Typically stylish Lang effort evoking an anti-realist atmosphere that recalls the world of the comic strip rather than the tough thrillers he was making in Hollywoodjust a few years previously. Edinburgh: Film Guild.
I Three Coleus: Red (15) (Krzysztof Kieslowski. France/Switz/Poland. 1994) Irene Jacob. Jean-Louis Trintignant. 96 mins. Kieslowski's tricolour trilogy comes to a close with what may be his greatest masterpiece. A Swiss model (Jacob) discovers that a retired judge (Trintignant) is listening in to his neighbours' phone conversations; but instead of denouncing him. she too opens up her innermost secrets. Superficial details are stripped away as the director concentrates on parallel lives and interwoven destinies. ~Central: MacRobcrt.
I Threesome ( 18) (Andrew Fleming. US. 1994) Josh Charles. Lara Flynn Boyle. Stephen Baldwin. 93 mins. A serious. shy gay student and a slacker jock find themselves sharing a college domi with a girl whose name has caused a bureaucratic en'or. Pretty soon. they're working out their incompatible triangular desires behind closed doors. A film that dares to challenge. but barely rocks the boat. Threesome stumbles through some incredibly patronising scenes before finding a little more complexity. Far from psychological truth. however. Central: Allanpark.
I Tintecop (18) (Peter llyams. US. 1994) Jean- Claude Van Damrne. Ron Silver. Gloria Reuben. 98 mins. Van Damme and partner Reubens are cops keeping an eye on time itself; when the duo travel back to 1994 to investigate the mystery sun‘ounding a powerful senator. personal agendas emerge. Hyams. director of 20/0 and ()utluml. cart handle the sfx of large-scale sci-fi. but the narrative and performances tend to be dwarfed by the design. Nevertheless. one of the few genuinely robust sci-fi movies around. Strathclyde: Odeon Ayr.
I The Tin Drum [)ie Bleehtnmtme/ ( l8) (Volker Schlondort'f. W.Gennany. 1979) David Bennent. Mario Adorf. (‘liarles Aznavour. 141 mins. Compelling screen version of the Gunter Grass novel about a young boy who refuses to grow up as the Nazis rise to power in Germany. Glasgow: Gl’f.
I 21111: 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 modem cinema. shown in an inspirational double bill with Aardman's A Grand Day Out. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I When A Man loves A Woman (15) (Luis Mandoki. US. 1994) Meg Ryan. Andy Garcia. Ellen Burstyn. 126 mins. Casting Ryan against type as an alcoholic mother going through rehab hell and piecing together her domestic life does add welcome friction to Mandoki's follow-up to Born Yesterday. but otherwise it's a rather typical piece about forgiveness. inner suength and reinforced family values. The romantic :ontent and emotional manipulation. however. will please the hankie carriers in the audience. Strathclyde: Magnum.
I Who Franed Roger Rabbit? (PG) (Robert Lenteckis. US. 1988) Bob lloskins. Joanna Cassidy. Christopher Lloyd. 92 mins. In 1949 '.A. the humans live alongside the Toons. :artoon characters working in movies. Animated ttar Roger Rabbit hires private dick Hoskins to (eep tabs on his wife. but he uncovers a :onspiracy that threatens the future of Toontown tself. An amazing technical achievement for the nteraction of cartoons and live action. this box )ffice winner spoofs thefilm nor'r genre while milking the Tex Avery-style cartoon violence for all it's worth. Glasgow: Cannon.
28 The List 24 Mar-6 Apr 1995