FILM INDEX
Rene Russo. ll() riiins. Loan shark (‘hili l’almer (Travolta) shifts from Miami to LA attd. being a
With its sharp dialogue. quirky characters arid offbeat humour. this is probably the best adaptation yet of art lilmore Leonard rtovel. 'l'ravolta shows his true star quality —— he's as cool as rttrlk arid as deadly as a rattlesnake. lidirtbirrgh: ('anteo.
I A Booty Movie (llrtKevin Lima. l‘S. l‘)‘)(il With tlte voices of Bill Farmer. Jason Marsden. Jim (‘irnimrngs 74 mins. After a school prank backfire-s. (ioofy decides to take troublesorite sort Max off on a bonditig fishing trip. Max is trying his best to be cool. but that isn't easy when your dad's this particular Disney star. Art incident-packed journey provides plenty of laughs wlticlt should keep restless kids artd accompanying adults amused. (ilasgow: ()deon. lidinbui'glt: l'('l. Strathclyde: l'(‘ls.
I Ileat ( IX) (l’atil .‘vlon‘issey. l’S. I973) Sylvia .Miles. Joe Dallessartdro. Andrea l'eldnian. l()() mitts. Junkie stud Dallessandro takes up witlt fadirtg Hollywood actress Miles iit this most accessible instalment of the Warhol-spoitsored Mon'issey sleaze cycle. notorious at the time for its explicit treatment of male sexuality. 'l'he bastard sort Sunset Burr/emu] never krtew it had. Glasgow: (il’l'.
I "eat ( l5) (Michael Mann. LS. 1005) Al Pacino. Robert De Niro. Val Kilmer. I70 mitts. Mann's star package cops-and-robbers tale is head and shoulders above the rest of the genre. thanks to an action-packed screenplay that fully explores its themes and gives depth to its char'cters. l’acino is the dedicated detective whose home life is irt ruins; De .\'ii'o is the reclusive criminal mastermind. The two men‘s finely balanced sense of honour arid mutual respect is well dissected. and the shoot-out set pieces are heart-stopping. lidinburgh: Cameo, I lShot Andy Warhol ( l8) (Mary llarron. l'S/L'K. IQOS) l.ilr Taylor. Jared llai'ris. Stephen Doi'ff. l0} mitts. Radical lesbian feminist Valerie Solanas is an unlikely candidate for a biopic and. were it not for 'l‘aylor's astonishingly ertergetic and witty performance. she might have rentained so. The period backdrop and Warhol's Factory crttourage are presented as a decadent but decidedly iinglamoi‘oiis lot (which is probably close to the truth). while the director's battery of filttt techniques mirrors the central character’s sltiftirtg mental torment. (ilitsgow: (il~'l'. lidinburgh: Cameo.
movie buff. decides to get irtto the film business.
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I In The Bleak Midwinter ( I St (Kenneth Branagh. l.'K. NOS) Micltael Maloney. Jrrlra Sawalha. Richard Briers. 9‘) mins. A group of actors undergo individual \oy ages of self- discovery while rehearsing a low budget version of Hum/(’1. lt souttds like luvy ie hell. biit tlrete are some poignant moments and plenty of one- liners to wirt over the trtost hardened Branagh cynic. lidinburgh: ('anteo.
I In The Realm Of The Senses xii .vu ('m-m/a (l8) (Nagisa ()shima. Japan. I‘l'ltir 'l'atsuya l-uji. liiko Matsuda. 105 mins. lit the militarrst Japan of I936. a couple crtclose themselves in their owrt sensual world. their passion escalating until only death cart provide the next orgasm. Masterly though necessarily estrertiely explicit look at the power of sexual arousal. w lticlt has attracted controversy throughout the world. (ilasgow: (il’l‘.
I The Incredibly True Adventure Of Two Girls In love ( l5) (Maria Maggerttr. l'S. l‘)‘)-l) Laurel llolloman. Nicole l’aikcr. Maggie .Moorc. ‘lS' mitts. 'l‘he affair between a white girl front air all-lesbian working-class family arid a black girl liv ittg w itlt her llll(l(lle‘l;l\S single mother is. ultimately. a little too cute for the cynic. although the two lead performances are engaging. Despite the irtappropriatcly hysterical camp comedy. Maggetttr handles her debut feature well. rrtaking worthy points about race. class arid sexuality. See preview and icy rew. (ilasgow: (il-‘l‘.
I Independence Day ( l3) (Rolartd liriiiitei'ich. l7S. l‘)‘)(i) Will Smith. Jeff (ioldblrim. Bill Pullman. lSO mins. Day One: alien ships hover over the w or‘ld's rtrajor cities. Day 'l'w o: they attack. Day Three: mankind goes into liokiim overdrive and gears up to kick some alien ass. A SOs-style invasion lJ-rrioy ie w itlt 90s state-of-the art effects. Independence Day is popcorn \ alirc- for-money at its very best. A gripping scare scenario that doesn't take itself too seriously. throws irt some conspiracy theories and rotrrrds it off with the most devastating disaster scenes ever ptrt on film. (ilasgow: ()deon Quay. lidinbriigh: l'(‘l.
I It’s A Wonderful Life (l’(i) (l'rank ('apra. l'S. l‘)-l(i) Jarrtes Stewart. Donna Reed. llenry 'l‘iaveis. 'l‘homas Mitchell. IZ‘) mrris. Small- towrt boy Stewart runs irtto financial difficulties attd is on the brink of suicide when art elderly artgel descends to earth to show him all the good his life has done for those arourtd liltll. Archetypal ('apra sentirtientality with a superbly detailed fantasy fratitewoik artd one of Stew art's
4x
most lovable performances. One to warm evert the rrtost glacial heart. lidinburgh: liilmhorise. I Jaclt (PG) (Francis Ford (‘oppola. l'S. l‘l‘)(ii Robin Williams. Diane Lane. Bill (‘osbyg ll.‘\ mins. Again playittg a kid-inqulult‘s-body. Williarits is this time tltwarted by the trim re‘s appalling central concept‘ the agerrtg disease suffered by Iris ten-year-old means he'll die when barely out of his teens. l‘llllllt‘l implausibrlity is added by the way lte w his his classmates onto his side. Well rtteartutg but erribariassittg arid seritirrtental piece from ('oppola which rttigltt disturb young viewers arid will irritate older audiences. Borders: Roxy. I Jane Eyre (PU) (liranco Xeffirelli. l'K.’ltaly. l‘)‘)(i) Williartt llurt. (‘liailotte (iarrtsboiirg. Joan Plow-right. l 13 mitts A decent enough adaptation of (‘ltarlotte lirontc's literary classic which features weighty acting from Hurt and tltc British thesps in support. ‘l'lie atritosplieie ls effective. if riot entirely remarkable. as Zeffuelli manages to tune into the darker. more brooding aspects of the novel. (ilasgow: (ill. I Jeanne la Pucelle (Pm (Jean Riycttc. lirance. FMS/()4) Sandiine Boriitaire. l2()/l3() mitts. Rtvette's account of tire Joan of Arc legend falls neatly into two ltet'tly cliiiitks. A sirttple country girl responds to her heavenly calling to lead soldiers iii a war of liberation. at all (runs she is persecuted for her beliefs. Bonnaiie's performance eritphasrses the youth arid lttrrnartity of a figure more usually lost irt hazy myth. while Rivette takes lir'essoii's eritotionally detailed. neo.realist approach to history. lidirtburgli: I‘iliiilt(irise. I Jingle All The Way (l’(i) (Brian Levant. l'S. l‘)‘)(i) Arnold Schwarzenegger. Sinbad. Phil Hartman. ‘)() miris. llavirig failed to learn his lesson is rtli Kindergarten ('o/i. Arnie again tries for a broad comedy w itlt children in this attempt at a 'heartw arming‘ (‘hristmas movie. tackling tlte Yuletide shopping crowds in search of Minnesota's last remaining 'l‘uiho Man toy. Running gags are rtrri rrtto the ground. the slapstick is lrimpert arid the spurious ntoral sentiments hypocritical. A real seasonal turkey (iener‘al release. I Jude ( lb’) (Michael Winterbottom. l'K. l‘)‘)(i) ('hiistopher liccleston. Kate Winslet. Rachel (iirffiths. l2(l mitts. Based on Thomas Hardy 's uncomproritisingly bitter firral novel. this tieiiiettdoiisly powerful adaptatiort shares the novel's romantic tragedy betw eeii its two central characters. Determined and honest Jude (licclestonr rs snubbed by Victorian society as he
strives for a university education. but worse is irt store when lte falls iii love with his cousin (Winsletl. llatd-hrtting acting. a director artd writer who truly understand Hardy's themes. and stunning photography elevate this to classic status. (ilasgow' (il-‘l‘. lidinburgh: Cameo. I Kansas City ( lSr (Robert Altman. l‘S. l‘)9(ir Jennifer Jason Leigh. Mrrarrda Richardson. Harry Belafonte. I IS mitts. What he did for country music in \‘rislivrllr. Altman doesn't quite do within/1 iii Kuuuis ('ttv. althouin the musical elements of this nostalgic journey to the director 's childhood are its strongest. What lets the lilrtt dow it are the ov etplayed pei‘foi'irtanccs of Leigh and Richardson as. respectively. krdrtapper and politician's w rfe iii the dramatic plot that lies over a richly atriiosphei‘ic portrait of the city of sw irtg in the l‘)3(ls. Edinburgh: l-‘ilrttliotise. I King 0! Comedy (l’(il (Martin Scoi‘cese. (TS l‘lh‘R) Robert de .\'iro. Jerry few I\'_ Sandra Bernhard. lll‘) mins. i'illllllllC scltmuck Rupert l’upkiri (dc .\’it‘o) dearly wants to be a successful television entertainer. so he pirts together a plan to kidnap glum chat show host Less is and force his way onto the bov Desperate comic capers. w itli a brttcr edge to de .\'iro's manic. hilarious and somehow involving twrformance (‘rrmirially under-rated. this slices to the core of America's cultural eiiiptrness. lidinbiirgh: (‘ameo. I The Last Of The High Kings ( IS) (David Keatirig. lrclarid. [0%) Jared |.eto. (iabriel Byrne. (‘atherine ()‘llara. NH mitts. During the school holidays in Dublin‘s summer of l‘)77. l‘r'ankie learns the ways of the world even though the girls remain unobtainable arid his actor dad ( Byrnet is a fleeting presence. Yes. it's another iitcs-otlpassage tale. but better than rtiost due to its sure sense of territory arid sharp wit. A wee iewel. (ilztsgow: ()deon Quay. lidinburgh: (‘ameo. l'(‘l. I leaving Las Vegas ( IS) (Mike t-‘iggis, (IS. NOS) Nicolas (‘age. lilisabeth Shire. Jiiliari Sands. ll() mrns. Sacked front his job. Bert ((‘agcr drives to l..'is Vegas with the sole intention of drinking himself to death. but during his descent comes across hooker Sela (Shire). artotlter lost soul. l'rggis’s ricortrdrenched movie captures the irresponsible euphoria and mental pain of alcoholism front a subjective viewpoint. w hrle the astonishing perforrrtartces by the leads help it transcend the surface tawdriness and (lelye deep irtto under lying emotions. lidirrbiir'gh: liilmhouse.
Lili Taylor
Glasgow Film Theatre Ol4l 332 8|28
‘A small masterpiene’
‘lili raytni- gives a great, funny, flll'illllsw alive nflrtflrmanflfl.’
IV Trees
& Cameo Edinburgh Ol3l 228 93| |
36 The List 13 Dec l996-9 Jan I997