FILM REVIEW
THE omcx AND THE DEAD '
In The Evil I)(’(l(l. director Sam Raimi took the staple ingredients of the haunted house horror flick and revitalised a tired genre with a blend of eye-catching camera tricks. slapstick comedy and straightforward scares. He II hasn't exactly breathed new life into the ‘ U western with The Quick :lml The Dead. . l but he has created the coolest gunslinger movie for years. Not easy- target spoof. not reverential homage. but somehow botli and an entity all to itself.
There’s a long way from Forrest Gump’s park bench to the Apollo Just like (‘harles Bronson in oar-e
. , , . 3 , . l’porl .‘l lirilt' /It 'I-llt’ lli’sl. ifllen 13 Space Cdp‘SUIL’ but Tom Hanks (Sharon Stone. who brings a lilting
can 'dChiCVC ii in 21 single bOUHd. amount of fear and remorse to her - . ' . ‘ . ‘haracterl rides ilito town intent on a ) ' 3 n h Tl“ L”! kebps Its feet fillnly O revenge—driven showdown with the iCI'Ftl firma and FBVICWS the new psychotic John llerod ((ienc llackman. fihns Opening [his fortnight. another triag‘nilicent portrait of absolute ; evil). iiLlUtl s plctty much the king ill Redemption. taking 50 cents from every dollar that changes hands there.
I Apollo 13 (PG) ()n 13 the right place. See . btit he keeps his enemies on their toes '
Apr” 1970' 3'10We’0” mum-C; H or on under with an annual quick-draw
tank exploded on the I camngton ( 13) “10 . . . f .. I ,. .. .1 .- . H .i .
service module ofthc relationship bclwccn ltltlltlttltlctll til .I ltlgc gas 1 pit/c. .L s 3 It
APOHO l3 Spuccmlfi' I mommbury Group Wm“. never lost belorc bill this year. also iii '
leaving astronauts Jim t l.ytton Strachey (Jonathan “‘0 C("“lwm‘m‘ “W “'3 “WWW The important thing to remember is that ‘a western absolutely Lovell. Fred Haise and Pryce) and painter Dora "CCW‘P'lCC'lUf'W‘l‘l’WilChcr CW1 'l’lit' Quirk .-lilrl The Dual is a western in the European rather Jack Swigert stranded Carrington (limina (Russell (.‘l'owei. llailiboyant hitman “he-0mg} in im- [fumpcnn [other than than American some 200,000 miles from Thf’mpwnl “415 lllds‘s‘d Ace llanlon (Lance llenriksen). his mum-tum “mutton you nlmtm expect tradition , , _ it’s like homc' Their missmn m [inning-riflciply liming} 0W” 5"” Kid (Lu’l‘i'ld‘) [)K‘ill’fm “'10 the mouths of the town's gallery of a movie shot by I looks surprisingly like the female lead; gl-(,IL.\LIl,L.S m mow at u (“fix-ism.“ rule. Sergio Leone’s hip: plane teem mm nciionfin they went. in their “"‘1‘ “' V‘jl'l‘C' MIC”- . I lrom the words they're uttering. It's like hYPBTaCtIVC grandson both the command individualistic ways. A“ “W “N'lmlml UHNI‘CI'W“ ll” lht‘ a movie shot by Sergio Leone's hip.
module and NASA against the moral atld sill-\l. Rill'lll “lilllllilW ‘0 IN“ N” hyperactive grandson defiantly
headquarters in Houston. $00111 climate of the interest w illi an ever-How in? HUN“s cartoonish. with as lnalt)’ twisted
to conserve air and power “INC-*1 SII'HclIL‘)’ \Silf £111 chest of neat tricks and stylish moves, unutm‘ pm up” mums and “mom (Le-
supplics “"‘l ,brmg lhc “Cccl‘lr‘c guy puc.”N.‘ bl” “'5” h)‘ l’lllll'lé’ llls‘ “HHS “1 C'UWI‘ can be fitted in before hiin noon. (Alan
"1;" him Sillcly- . City-“1‘39” “NW—71w than?“ . around the final quartet. three of whom Mot-neon) i
ilileilm1L boliieliiiliinuiihiiiiiihgrh[iiho l “EC and Tic link." A IN iii the in“? Quid: ‘4’“! [7”: Dem] (/5) (Sum
background to the US l which she was thrust. ; U11“) incl“ “US WW9“ “0'” [ll _ i . Room. US. I993) Sharon Stone. (rem'
space programme — from i Christopher Hampton‘s ! “mu-“ml 5 in'S‘d'di‘h‘llly (“mi lil””l““’l‘)’~ liar/(mun. Russell ('roii't'. Leonardo
the high of Neil debut film as ‘ bl” that“ 5”” 1‘ grill" "l (’r'i—"ni‘l'ly m /)l('o/n'lo. /()r\‘ oil/1s. From I’rl 22.
Armstrong‘s giant leap for writer/director takes an “‘9 “WW [hill kccll‘ “‘9 Cka “CH”?- (iwlerol rt’lt'ust'.
mankind to the low of the episodic approach to their
fatal fire during an Apollo life together. letting the
1 launch test — to performances flourish. but
emphasise the mixture of providing some extremely M sheer danger and funny and literate one- r
exhilarating heroics that liners to lighten the
will take us through the moments when tragedy Updated from an actual incident in next 140 minutes. We are A looms. This is darker and ; 1934, tavemier’s second offering this
shown the rigorous more intriguing than the 3 year is anothe, portrait of the iniquiyy training undergone by the l typical British period ' of contemporary yomh. Middle class "’9‘: “"d “f, ff '3‘“? ,, . “W'f’f” !‘ “'2‘”. “m” also-tans Nathalie (Marie Gillain) and privy to the secret teats oi by presenting its . . . . .
their spouses. Once the ; intelligensia as a little too he! “Wmef'd Em: (Dinner S'tmk) have blast-off is complete. ' aloof. making audience ith's dumb "'93 that they can get to
we're crammed into the sympathy a bit of a I Amalica and open up a Chain 0i
cockpit with the three . struggle. See preview. 1 fashion stores to rival Nat Nat. All they ‘
leads. sweating with them even when we don‘t quite understand what all the
Jargon means. Apollo I] is a big. epic
I Chungking Express l need is the cash, which is where his (15) W0"? Kin-Wit} '5 “‘9 lshady pal Bruno (Bruno Putzulu) comes “"mc 0” m“ hp“ 0’ m'" , in with another dumb idea to use her
critics the length and . breadth of the country. i coma“ back as a means 0' genmg
adventure about American and with Chungking into fish guys, flats and (abbingothem- ' ‘ ‘ history. American Iii-press. it's easy to see I The three of them seem like ordinary i at the film is so tired, repetitive and , ‘the protagonists seem endeavours. American why. Such a glorious hard-pushed twentysomethings, but i unconvincing. The protagonists seem ; so downright stupid it’s Values Its slflncjc is , concoctinn 01' humour. before too long, without really 3 so downright stupid it’s hard to , hard to believe in #1:!le , :I:C)Lg);r‘:l3’:friltltf1 \ “ planning it, there’s innocent blood on : believe in them anyway, while 7 them . . .Tavernier, Spa‘ccyph0m}apl'w is W ‘ O‘U‘r Ethe carpet and.a moral statement to : Tavernier labours the issue by having one tears, is losing fantastic (m‘mc big overlapping storm m {a 'be wrung from it all. them go through the ‘bait’ process on ' his touch’ screen. and [he “ding as around a fast food m“ m There’s a moment where Tavernier several redundant occasions. The good as it gets. Them m Hong Kong with lgets it spot-on. Gillain is out in the paint, simple though it is, has been SOlllC drawbacks — inigtnguchcd ronmncc and hail, behind a door he! two made, but the has 8'58 to Howard overplays the indulgent heartache the {accomplices are beating the crap out Otter beyond solid naturalistic ‘supersiiiious‘ card. from menu for today. The lot some poor bastard who doesn’t performance. Bertrand, one tears, is "W “PC”. 40W” ‘0 8660'“ Segment is hill” even have a sale on the premises. She losing his touch. (Trevor Johnston) [j‘fw'l “ “2‘” "Wish" lb“. WW?“ m“ "‘9 “h” puts on her walkman to drown out the - The Bait (18) (Bertrand Tavernier; i firings” m an";fig:‘l‘gqi'Li’uflfflcg :sound and, hey presto, you’ve a ’ France, 1995) Marie Gillain, Olivier ' an overall experience. it's this slight imbalance. See iZigzgtafitgfiggif:frr;hoi:l'36ker i fgtgulshssmgobfgltzumg Bicfiarggerrl
reat entertainment. with review. ' u ’ 95- mm ’i - its 311-American hem in p engagement. A pity then that the rest Glasgow: EFT. Edinburgh: Filmhause.
20 The List 22 Sept-5 Oct [995
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