MW
tricks and the director’s personal brand of poetry. Edinburgh: Filmhouse. I Dssessione (15) (Lucino Visconti.1taly. 1942) Clara Calamai. Massimo Girotti. Juan De Landa. Dhia Cristani. 139 mins. Visconti's first feature pre-empted the Italian neo—realism movement with its steamy story of crime passionel — The Postman Always Rings Twice set in the Po Delta. Seductive but controlled. it was an early indicator of the auteur’s intelligence and intensity. Edinburgh: Filmhouse. I Othello (PG) (Orson Welles. US/France. 1951) Orson Welles. Michael MacLiammoir. Fay Compton. 91 mins. Shakespeare's moor as interpreted by ’elles. on a miniature budget and in various European locations. over several years. Technical quality very variable. but set- pieccs like the murder in the Turkish bath show flashes of brilliance. Glasgow: GET. I The Pagemaster (U) (Joe Johnstone/Maurice llunt. US. 1994) Macaulay Culkirt. Christopher Lloyd. 83 mins. Child-nerd Richard Tyler (Culkin) bumps his head in the local library and finds himself transported into an animated adventure with a trio of book friends - Adventure. Fantasy and Horror — to keep him company. The moral is that discovering a role for yourself in fiction helps you confront real life. Luckily. the plot episodes come and go at a pace that suits the skimpiest concentration span. but that doesn't hide the fact the animation is particularly dull. Strathclyde: Cannon. I Peter Mullan Shorts 90 mins. Over the past two years. actor Peter Mullan has written and directed three of the best shorts to come otrt of Scotland. Close tells ofa new father’s psychotic attempts to ‘clean up' his tenement; Good Day For The Bad Guys is a dark look at the joys and jealousies behind the scenes of a panto: and Fridge. a genuine masterpiece of short filmmaking. finds hope in desperation as two homeless alcoholics try to save a boy trapped in an abandoned refridgerator. Mtrllan will discuss his work a; the screening. Glasgow: GET. I Pocahontas (U) (Mike Gabriel/Eric Goldberg. US. 1995) With the voices of Mel Gibson. lrene Bedard. Billy Connolly. 81 mins. The true story of Pocahontas is given a splash of Disney colour. reducing her from heroine to lovesick bimbo as she falls madly in love with white settler Captain John Smith. The cliched beauty of the leads. the cutesy animals and talking tree make it a travesy. and even the songs are tuneless warbling ballads. Only the animation is wonh a mention. General release. I ll Postino (U) (Michael Radford. Italy. 1995) Massimo Troisi. Philippe Noiret. Maria Grazia Ctrcinotta. 108 mins. When exiled Chilean poet Pablo Neruda (Noiret) arrives on a remote island off the Neapolitan coast. he aids local postman Mario (Troisi) to woo the village bannaid. Gently paced and full of Mediterranean sun. Radford's filrn is nicely unsentimental. Sadly. 'Troisi died the day after shooting was completed. but he couldn't have left a finer legacy. Edinburgh: Cameo. I Pulp Fiction ( 18) (Quentin Tarantino. US. 1994) John Travolta. Samuel Jackson. Lima Thurman. Bruce Willis. 150 mins. Much more ambitious than Reservoir Dogs. the most awaited second feature of the 90s has many scenes that crackle with Tarantino wit. and a few others that fall flat as the writer-director bravely experiments. interlocking stories in the pulp crime manner concern hitmen. ailing boxers. gang bosses and their molls. drtrg fiends. and assorted riff-ruff. A surprise Cannes Palme d'()r winner is a trip. all the way. Edinburgh: Cameo. 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. Edinburgh: Cameo. I The Right Stuff (15) (Philip Kaufman. US. 1983) Sam Shepard. Scott Glenn. Ed Harris. Dennis Quaid. 193 mitts. Tom Wolfe's book about the early days of space flight treats the first test pilots-curn-astronauts as modem day cowboys crossing a new frontier. The myriad plot-lines are well dove-tailed and the flying scenes are memorably impressive. but for all the film's expansiveness its abrupt swings of mood somehow militate against the kind of involvement that would have made it a truly great movie (instead ofjust a rather good one). Edinburgh: Filmhouse. I Rob Roy (15) (Michael Caton-Jones. US/UK. 1995) Liam Neeson. Jessica Lange. Tim Roth. 130 mins. When he is betrayed by the Marquis of Montrose (John Hurt) and a maliciously psychopathic Englishman (Roth). Rob Roy MacGregor is determined to win back the honour of his name. Alan Sharp's script is rich. witty and literate: Caton-Jones's direction injects a little action. but doesn't pander to Hollywood;
and all the performances are wonderful. A stirring epic which refuses to compromise. making it one of the best films about Scotland and the Scottish psyche ever made. Glasgow: MGM Parkhead. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I The Santa Clause (U) (John Pasquin. US. 1994) Tim Allen. Judge Reinhold. Wendy Crewson. 98 mins. When he unknowingly dons that famous red suit. divorced toy company executive Scott Calvin discovers a clause that means he‘s legally bound to be Santa from that moment on. TV star Allen (Home Improvement)
tries hard to appeal to the widest possible audience. See review. General release.
I The Scarlet letter ( 15) (Roland Joffe. US. 1995) Demi Moore. Gary Oldrnan. Robert Duvall. 135 mins. A woman who has a child outside of marriage is forced out of her 17th century Puritan community and made to wear a scarlet letter ‘A' for adultery. Period truths are chucked out of the window in favour of a crass bodice-ripper that shames the talents of those involved. it should have been something special. it isn't. Edinburgh: Odeon.
I Schindler's list (15) (Steven Spielberg. US. 1993) Liam Neeson. Ralph Fiennes. Ben Kingsley. 195 mins. During WW2. Gennan industrialist and Nazi Party member Oskar Schindler saved the lives of over a thousand Jewish employees by demanding they work in his factory rather than be sent to Auschwitz. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I Scott Di The Antarctic (U) (Charles Freud. UK. 1948) John Mills. James Robertson Justice. 1 11 mitts. A celebrated account of Scott's ill- fated expedition to the South Pole. which brims over with that peculiar brand of British bravery. Jack Cardiff's cinematography and Vaughan Williams' score are additional highlights. Glasgow: GET.
I Screenworlts 95 (18) 75 mins. A strong selection of short drama. documentary. animation and experimental works produced under the Glasgow Film and Video Workshop‘s Screenworks scheme. For details of programme content. see Scottish Film. Glasgow: GET.
I the Seventh Voyage 0i Sinhad (U) (Nathatt Juran. US. 1958) Kerwin Mathews. Kathryn Grant. Richard Eyer. Torin Thatcher. Alec
in which our hero undertakes a quest for the roc's egg which will restore his princess to full size after a magician shrinks her to a midget. The special effects. in stop-motion Dynamation. were a pioneering triumph for Ray llanyhausen. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I Shallow Grave ( 18) (Danny Boyle. UK. 1994) Kerry Fox. Ewan McGregor. Christopher liccleston. 90 mins. Three Edinburgh flatmates find their new co-lrabitant dead with a stack of money under his bed. so after performing a little DlY on the corpse. they reckon all their won‘ies 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:
: ('ameo.
I Shanghai Triad (15) (erang Yirnou. llong
E Kong/China/France. 1995) Gong Li. Wang Xiao Xiao. Li Baotian. 108 mins. A young boy
becomes a triad boss's underling and witnesses
: the ongoing conflict between the gangs as well
as the ternpestuous romance between the
godfather and his quick—tempered moll. There's
3 plenty of gloss. btrt not a lot going on underneath the superficial sparkle. it's certainly watchable.
. but Zhang is rather in need of a new direction.
See review. Glasgow: GET. Edinburgh:
| Filmhouse.
i I Species ( r 8) (Roger Donaldson. us. 1995)
i Ben Kingsley. Michael Madsen. Natasha
1 llenstridge. 108 mins. The offspring of alien and
1 human DNA escapes from a US govemment lab
and sets out to mate in modern America. Btrt
right away a mismatched learn is assembled to
track her down - and kill her. The whole drive of
the plot takes an easy. rnisogynistic line. playing
on male fears of the female power to reproduce.
adding a serious complaint to basic moans
against this unorigina1.non-scary piece of trash.
Glasgow: Odeon. Edinburgh: L'Cl. Strathclyde:
l'Cl Clydebank.
I To Die For (15) (Gus Van Sant. 1995)
Nicole Kidrnan. Matt Dillon. Joaquin Phoenix. 107 mins. Obsessed with TV fame. Suzanne
(Kidman) takes ajob as a weathergirl with her
local cable station. but uses her position to begin
a documentary on modem youth. And uses her
subjects to knock off her husband (Dillon). a
ball-and-chain around her ambitious ankles. Van Sant's ultitnately tragic satire on the psychological power of US media isn't a new subject. but his treatment is enlivened
considerably by an excellently judged performance by Kidrnan. who's beginning to
is a competent lead in this upbeat festive tale that
Mango. 87 mins. Above-average adventure yarn.
show her true potential. Glasgow: Grosvenor. MGM Film Centre. Edinburgh: MGM. Edinburgh: MGM. Strathclyde: Magnum. I To Wong Foo (PG) (Beeban Kidron. US. 1995) Patrick Swayze. Wesley Snipes. John Leguizamo. 107 mins. Three extravagant drag queens find themselves in a one-horse town. pursued by a homophobic cop. Without the upbeat musical bounce or thematic concerns of Priscilla. 7o Wong Foo comes over like low camp for narrow-minded Americans who want to treat drag queens as entertainers without mention of homosexuality. Trite and dumb. and only Leguizamo looks remotely the part. Edinburgh: UCl. Strathclyde: UCl Clydebank. I Tokyo Drifter (18) (Suzuki Seijun. Japan. 1966) 83 mins. Classic Suzuki. as an ‘honourable' yakuza finds himself at odds with the corporate comrption of the modern age. Edinburgh: Cameo. I Tommy Boy (PG) (Peter Segal. US. 1995) Chris Farley. David Spade. Rob Lowe. 97 mins. The popular but woefully inadequate Tommy Callahan (Farley) tries to save his dad's auto parts firm from his weasell y stepbrother and the banks. There's some amusing interplay between Farley and straight-man Spade. but this is the lamest Saturday Night Live spin-off yet. All UCls. I A Touch of Zen (18) (King llu. llong Kong. 1969) llsu Feng. Shih Chun. Pai Ying. 180 mins. Epic tale of a young couple on the nrrr and their various ruses to keep the enemy at bay. which include the simulated haunting of a mysterious fortress. before a group of Zen Buddhist monks ttrrn the situation into a final. highly stylised conflict. Varioust mystical. exciting. and decorative costume saga. whose breathtakingly choreographed mid-air fight sequences are the mark of a highly skilled director at work and won a prize at the Cannes film festival for ‘superior technical achievement'. Edinburgh: Filmhouse. I Under Siege 2 (18) (Geoff Murphy. US. 1995) Steven Seagal. Eric Bogosian. Katherine lleigl. 99 mins. Seagal retums as fonner Navy SEAL and gounnet chef Casey Ryback. this time finding himself taken hostage on a train by a mad computer genius and a bunch of mercenaries. Bogosian is a totally charismatic nutter. who has captured a secret satellite with explosive powers and has set his sights on Washington. so it's up to our hero to save the free world. The soft-spoken Seagal is no great actor. but the film has plenty of action. and a satisfyineg explosive climax. Delivers the
goods. Edinburgh: UCl.
I The Unknown Soldier (15) (Edvin Laine. Finland. 1955) 181 mins. Perhaps the most celebrated epic in Finnish cinema. this gripping version of the Vaino Linna novel follows a group of young men struggling to survive the war against the Soviet Union during the 1940s. One of the most dignified accounts of the effects of war ever made. Glasgow: GET.
I The 11ml Suspects (18) (Bryan Singer. US. 1995) Gabriel Byme. Kevin Spacey. Stephen Baldwin. 106 mins. There's a good sense of noir fatalism hanging over The Usual Suspects. which is guessing game cinema at its best. A perfectly matched team of crooks discover that their chance meeting wasn't so random after all: they're being used in an intricate vendetta by legendary gangster boss Keyser Sose. So stylish. it sends a tingle down the spine: but the ludicrous use of Pete Postletwaite's character almost undennines it all. Glasgow: Odeon. Edinburgh: Filmhouse. Odeon. Borders: Roxy. Strathclyde: East Kilbride Arts Centre. Odeon Ayr. WMR.
I A Walk In The Clouds (PG) (Alfonso Arau. US. 1995) Keanu Reeves. Aitana Sanchez- Gijon. Anthony Quinn. 102 mins. A young woman returns to her Mexican grape-harvesting family pregnant. but along the way has convinced already married Gl Keanu Reeves to pose for a while as her husband. The director of Like Water For C hocolate saturates each scene in orange and glowing smiles; this is celluloid honey. a film for the senses not the mind and. in that resrxct. Reeves is a pleasure to watch. Glasgow: Odeon. Edinburgh: Odeon. UCl. Borders: Roxy. Strathclyde: UCls.
I Waterworltl (12) (Kevin Reynolds. US. 1995) Kevin Costner. Dennis Hopper. Jeanne Tripplehom. 135 mins. Forget all the pre- judgemental hype about a production disaster: this is adventure on an immense scale. The polar ice caps have melted and society survives on man-made atolls. A bunch of biker-like pirates storm one of these floating fortresses to kidnap a young girl whose back shows a tattooed map to the mythical Dryland. Only The Mariner (Costner) can save her from the clutches of self- styled tyrannical messiah. The Deacon (Hopper). The action set-pieces are amongst the most spectacular ever put on film. Edinburgh: Cameo. I The Year Of The Hare (PG) (Risto Jarva. Finland. 1977) 128 mins. An infectiously enjoyable film about an advertising executive who makes friends with a hare in the woods. Way ahead of its time. Glasgow: GET.
FREE SCREENING
r} a“ Saturday 2. between 11am and 9pm.
The Brothers McMullen
Edward Burns directed this gentle. romantic comedy that follows the lives and loves. or lack thereof. ofthree Irish American brothers in their twenties and thirties. Shot on a low budget by independent filmmakers. the movie created such a stir that it was picked up by Twentieth Century Fox and released through them.
Thanks to Twentieth Century Fox we can offer List readers in Glasgow and Edinburgh a chance‘to see the film for nothing. Both the Cameo in Edinburgh and the MGM in Sauchiehall Street will be having a preview showing of the movie on Sunday 3 December. Tickets 1. ~ " can be picked up from the MGM box office on Thursday 30. Friday 1 and for the Glasgow screening. Tickets for the Edinburgh screening can be picked up from the Cameo box office on Saturday 1. from 12.30pm. Take this ad with you to claim your pair of tickets. The Edinburgh screening starts at 11.30am while the Glasgow one begins at llam.
As if that Wasn't enough. we also have five Brothers McMullerr checked shins and black car ; to give away to the readers who can answer this:
At which festival did The Brothers McMuIIen win the Grand Jury Prize?
To get the goodies send us the answer by Friday 8 December. Address it: BROTHERS COMP, The List, 14 High Street, Edinburgh, EH1 1TE.
The List 1-14 Dec 1995 29