emotional depth into the performances by the two leads. General release.
The Frighteners ( I 5) (Peter Jackson. New Zealand/US. I996) Michael J. Fox. Trini Alvarado. Peter Dobson. l09 mins. Director Jackson follows up Heavenly Creatures with a sfx-saturated scare-fest that shifts from slapstick horror comedy into something much darker and more disturbing. Fox plays a charlatan parapsychologist whose offer to rid a town of its ghosts backfires when he rckindles an old serial killer case. More complex than it first appears. Glasgow: City Centre Odeon. Showcase. UCl Clydebank. Edinburgh: UCI. Strathclyde: East Kilbride UCl. Greenock.
The Ghost And The Darkness (15) (Stephen Hopkins. US. I996) Michael Douglas. Val Kilmer. Bernard Hill. l09 mins. Young colonial Kilmer arrives in Africa to build bridges. but when two vicious lions get a taste for human meat. he determines to kill the beasts with the help of hunter Douglas. The natives. however. reckon these are no mere big cats but evil spirits. Needlesst racist and devoid of intelligence. humour or emotion. this unexciting actioner lacks suspense. Strathclyde: Irvine Magnum.
Glengarry Glen Ross (15) (James Foley. US. I992)AI Pacino. Jack Lemmon. Ed Harris. Alan Arkin. I00 mins. The combination of Foley's camera and Mamet‘s dialogue makes for verbal choreography in this hard-hitting. word-heavy account of the bonding and back-stabbing in a US real estate office. The cast are magnificent. Pacino and Lemmon outstanding. Underrated director Foley does wonders to break out of the stageplay format. Not easy going. but an unforgetable achievement. Edinburgh: Cameo.
The Godfather ( l 8) (Francis Ford Coppola. US. l97l) Marlon Brando. Al Pacino. James Caan. I75 mins. Malia epic that follows the collapse of the Corleone empire under the old Don (Brando) and the struggle for power this causes between rival families and his own sons. Al Pacino is magnificent as the good son who has to turn bad in order to regain family honour. Huger enjoyable. violent movie is a landmark in American filmmaking. Edinburgh: Film Guild.
A Goofy Movie (U) (Kevin Lima. US. l996) With the voices of Bill Farmer. Jason Marsden. Jim Cummings. 74 mins. After a school prank backfires. Goofy decides to take troublesome son Max off on a bonding fishing trip. Max is trying his best to be cool. but that isn‘t easy when your dad's this particular Disney star. An incident-packed journey provides plenty of laughs which should keep restless kids and accompanying adults amused. Glasgow: Virgin. Fife: Glenrothes. Strathclyde: Ayr. Irvine Magnum.
Grace Of My Heart (l5) (Allison Anders. US. I996) llleana Douglas. John 'l‘urturro. Matt Dillon. I IS mins. Loosely inspired by the life Carole King. Grace Of My Heart is no standard biopic. but a heartfelt statement about a woman‘s determination to find her own voice within a male-dominated environment. llleana Douglas glows with personality as she takes singer-songwriter Denise Waverly through a tempestuous decade of personal and professional heartache and triumph. The period design and songs are superb. adding to a film that has the scope of an old-fashioned epic. but an independent‘s sensibility. See preview and review. Glasgow: Showcase. Edinburgh: UCI.
Gregory's Girl (PG) (Bill Forsyth. UK. l98l ) Gordon John Sinclair. Dee Hepburn. Clare Grogan. 9| mins. Winning comedy from Cumbernauld with Sinclair eventually finding romance after his heart is set aflame by the latest recruit to the school football team. Seminal piece of Scottish cinema. its universal appeal demonstrating that homegrown talent can compete with Hollywood's finest in the entertainment stakes. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
Hamlet (U) (Kenneth Branagh. UK. I996) Kenneth Branagh. Julie Christie. Kate Winslet. 238 mins. Four hours long (with interval). but strong performances. visual delights and hearty ponions of sex. violence. horror and intrigue all combine to make Branagh‘s Hamlet worthy of its extreme duration. 'Ihe story of the paranoid prince‘s
revenge on his murderous uncle is freshened by its updating to the I9th century. while the glorious widescreen photography and succession of clever cameos also keep the audience on their toes. Edinburgh: Dominion.
Harriet The Spy (PG) (Bronwen Hughes. US. I996) Michelle Trachtenberg. Rosie O‘Donnell. Gregory Smith. l02 mins. Precocious schoolgirl Harriet. convinced she has a future as a writer. notes down the minutae of daily life in herjournal; but when her classmates discover her criticisms of them. she has to work hard to win back popularity. Trachtenberg gives a fresh. sparky performance. but the teacherly tone won't amuse accompanying grown-ups. General release.
His Girl Friday (U) (Howard Hawks. US. I940) Cary Grant. Rosalind Russell. Ralph Bellamy. 92 mins. Hawks‘s dynamic comedy is one of the best Hollywood ever made. Grant and Russell are simply fantastic as the sparring newspaper editor and top reporter drawing battle lines in their professional and personal lives. Hecht and MacArthur‘s script. from their original play The anl Page. spits out a series of rapid-lire quips and cross-cutting gags. but allows the supporting characters to have their scene- stealing moments too. Don't miss it. Glasgow: GFT. Edinburgh: Filmhouse. Howard Hawks: American Artist ( PG) (Kevin Macdonald. UK. I996) 53 mins. Scottish documentary filmmaker and writer Kevin Macdonald presents his film about one ofAmerica's greatest directors. Hawks‘s career is. on the surface. incredibly diverse - ranging from screwball comedies to westerns to noir dramas to gangster flicks — but Macdonald follows the thread that links them. With a screening of the original I945 cut of The Big Sleep. Glasgow: (il’l’. Edinburgh: Filinhouse.
I Shot Andy Warhol (l8) (Mary Harron. US/UK. I995) Lili Taylor. Jared Harris. Stephen Dorff. l03 mins. Radical lesbian feminist Valerie Solanas is an unlikely candidate for a biopic and. were it not for Taylor‘s astonishingly energetic and witty performance. she might have remained so. 'lhe period backdrop and Warhol‘s I-‘actory entourage are presented as a decadent but decidedly unglamorous lot (which is probably close to the truth). while the director‘s battery of film techniques mirrors the central character's shifting mental torment. Fife: Adam Smith.
In Love And War (I5) (Richard Attenborough. US. I996) Chris O‘Donnell. Sandra Bullock. Emilio Bonucci. 1 l5 mins. lfever a film was killed by its casting. this is it. O‘Donnell plays the young Ernest Hemingway. falling in love with American nurse Agnes Von Kurowsky (Bullock) in Italy during WWI. Bullock's face doesn't fit the period. and O'Donnell turns the writer's macho passions into spoilt brat arrogance - meaning there‘s no sense of romantic tragedy when they don't get it together. The true Story that inspired A Farewell To Arms. it‘s devoid of irony or wit. Glasgow: Odeons. Showcase. UCI Clydebank. Virgin. Edinburgh: Odeon. UCI. Strathclyde: Ayr. East Kilbride UCI. .
In The Realm Of The Senses Ai Nu Corrirla (l8) (Nagisa Oshima. Japan. I976) 'l‘atsuya Fuji. Eiko Matsuda. I05 mins. At last deemed fit for certification. Oshima's shockingly erotic film can now be publicly screened. In the militarist Japan of I936. a couple enclose themselves in their own sensual world. their passion escalating until only death can provide the next orgasm. Masterly though necessarily extremely explicit look at the power of sexual arousal. which has attracted controversy throughout the world. Central: MacRobert. Independence Day (12) (Roland Emmerich. US. I996) Will Smith. Jeff Goldblum. Bill Pullman. I50 mins. Day One: alien ships hover over the world's major cities. Day Two: they attack. Day Three: mankind goes into hokum overdrive and gears up to kick some alien ass. A 50s- style invasion B-movie with 90s state-of-the art effects. Independence Day is popcorn value-for-moncy at its very best. A gripping scare scenario that doesn't take itself too seriously. throws in some conspiracy theories and rounds it off with the most devastating disaster scenes ever. Edinburgh: UCI.
index FILM
O’netLL’s. . It’s IRle
FOR gneat
been, gneat
l peopLe
' GDO gneat I
CRGIC.
i The new O'Neill's embodies everything
l that's good about a real Irish bar. Great ‘ atmosphere. great people. great tasting Guinness
and. as we say in Ireland. great "craic" all round.
(III/Lt
III,
. @ . I oneiLLs @
157 Queen Stneet, 'GLasgow (:1 SB}. TeLephone: 0141 221 8639.
21 Feb-6 Mar 1997 'I'IIEIJS'I’”