FILM index
FILM INDEX continued
Bits And Pieces (l5) (Antonello Grimaldi. ltaly. 1996) Asia Argento. Daniele Lucchetti. lvano Marescotti. l07 mins. A bitter-sweet snapshot of 24 hours in the lives of a cross-section of Rome's inhabitants. Grimaldi aims for the type of filmmaking embodied in Altman's Short Cuts. but finds his own originality. Asia Argento (seen in La Reine Margo!) is the daughter of horror director Dario. who also has a role in the film. East Kilbride: Arts Centre.
Casper (PG) (Brad Silberling. US. 1995) Christina Ricci. Bill Pullman. Cathy Moriarty. lOO mins. Everyone's favourite friendly ghost has been living with his three bad-tempered uncles in an abandoned mansion. When it's bequeathed to a money- grabbing heiress who thinks it‘s filled with hidden treasure guarded by unquiet spirits. Casper comes into contact with ghost psychologist Pullman's tomboy daughter (Ricci). A very messy amalgam of Ghosfbuslers effects. Addams F amin gothic humour and the sort of overblown feelgood Spielbergiana that revels in funny gadgetry and family values. Glasgow: Odeon Quay. Clerks (18) (Kevin Smith. US. 1993) Brian O‘Halloran. Jeff Anderson. Marilyn Ghigliotti. 90 mins. Just when you were sick of the very sight of the word 'slacker'. along comes Clerks and gives the whole commercialisation of the Gen X lifestyle a good hard kick up the backside. Kevin Smith's hilariously foul dialogue peps up the exchanges on life. sex and everyday living between bored convenience store check-out assistant Dante and equally bored video store manager Randal. Edinburgh: Cameo. Con Air (15) (Simon West. US. l997) Nicolas Cage. John Malkovich. John Cusack. H2 mins. Sit down. strap yourself in. stick your head into the roar of the jet engine of this noisy. stretch-the-credibility movie. Cage plays a manslaughter parolee whose prison plane ride home is hijacked by vicious convict Malkovich. so he draws on his military training and strong sense of honour to save the innocents in the air from certain death. A constant attack of big bangs. action set-pieces . dry one-liners and illogical plot hiccups. Stirling: MacRobert. Conspiracy Theory ( l5) (Richard Donner. US. 1997) Mel Gibson. Julia Roberts. Patrick Stewart. I40 mins. Humble New York cabbie Mel Gibson has a paranoid theory about everything. but when he‘s picked off the streets by men in long coats. his delusions seem to have foundation. Mixed up in all this is attorney Julia Roberts. who has dedicated years to investigating the murder of her federal judge father. Glossy and overlong. this collection of post-Vietnam cliches and sinister governmental operations which passes for a plot isn't even made interesting by star power. See review. General release.
Event Horizon (l8) (Paul Anderson. US/UK. l997) Laurence Fishburne. Sam Neill. Joely Richardson. 9] mins. The crew of a rescue ship discover that hell has been unleashed inside a missing craft that reappears near Neptune. as their deepest fears begin to terrorise them in physical form. Effectively a haunted house movie set in space. Event Horizon boasts stunning ‘Techno Medieval‘ design; but tight editing leaves the characterisation and story stripped to within an inch of their lives. General release.
Frantz Fanon: Black Skin White Mask (tbc) (Isaac Julien. UK. 1996) Colin Salmon. Al Nedjari. John Wilson. 7| mins. Julien‘s high-brow documentary examines the life and ideas of premier black intellectual Fanon. a Martinique-born psychiatrist who penned critiques of colonialism. Mannered reconstructions compete with one talking head after another. but Fanon manages to emerge as a genuinely interesting figure. See review. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
From Dusk Till Dawn (18) (Robert Rodriguez. US. I996) George Clooney. Harvey Keitel. Quentin 'I‘arantino. 108 mins. For its first third. this 'l‘arantino~scripted movie is a suspenseful kidnap thriller as two killers on the run (Clooney and Tarantino) hole up with three hostages in a Mexican strip club. Then the tone changes into an sfx-heavy vampire western as the clientele
28 THE usr 29 Aug —11 Sep 1997
spring fangs. Repetition abounds in a messy. tedious affair that's neither scary nor funny. Edinburgh: Cameo.
The Full Monty ( l 5) (Peter Cattaneo. UK. l997) Robert Carlyle. Tom Wilkinson. Mark Addy. 92 mins. Carlyle plays Gary. an unemployed Sheffield steelworker who. along with an odd mix of former colleagues. decides to go one better than the Chippendale troupes that fill the local halls. Cattaneo's laugh-out-loud film comes from the same tradition as Brussal Off. mixing comedy with a strong social conscience and showing unemployment as an emasculating experience. It's the ordinariness of these blokes that gives the film both its humour and its depth. See review. General release. Germany In Autumn (I8) (Various directors. W. Germany. I978) 134 mins. A dozen West German film-makers contribute pieces assessing the current state of the nation in the wake of the 1978 kidnapping and murder of a prominent industrialist. Highlights include Rainer Werner Fassbinder's laceratingly honest self- portrait. and Heinrich Boll‘s rant against German 'l‘V‘s refusal to broadcast Sophocles‘ Antigone on grounds of its political sensitivity. Edinburgh: l-‘ruitmarket. Grosse Pointe Blank ( l 5) (George Armitage. US. I996) John Cusack. Minnie Driver. Alan Arkin. IUS mins. Depressed freelance hitman Martin Q. Blank (Cusack) returns to his home town fora high-school reunion. but finds his past private life and current profession are about to overlap. Armitage turns in a fair post-Woo action sequence here and there. while Cusack
The blonde leading the blonde: Lisa Kudrow and Mira Sorvino in Romy 8. Michele‘s High School Reunion
positively inhabits Martin. switching from comic/romantic lead to focused killer effortlessly and believably. Glasgow: ()deon Quay. Showcase. Galashiels: Pavilion. Paisley: Showcase.
Harriet The Spy (PG) (Bronwen Hughes. US. I996) Michelle 'l‘rachtenberg. Rosie O‘Donnell. Gregory Smith. [02 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. 'l‘rachtenberg gives a fresh. sparky performance. but the teacherly tone won't amuse accompanying grown-ups. Edinburgh: Odeon.
Intimate Relations ( l 5) (Philip (ioodhew. UK. l997) Julie Walters. Rupert Graves. Laura Sadler. 99 mins. With an appropriate choice of title for a tale about sidestepping the offensive. this black comedy charts the dangers of keeping up appearances. Middle- aged Walters's strict adherence to family values begins to falter when she takes in the handsome Graves. Stealing the screen. Walters is perfect as a manipulative woman who unwittingly whips tip a domestic cocktail of repressed emotions. Claustrophobic and dark. but laced with a humorous frill. lidinburgh: l’ilmhouse. Stirling: MacRobert.
Irma Vep (15) (Olivier Assayas. France. 19%) Maggie Cheung. Jean-Pierre Leaud. Natalie Richard. 98 mins. l-‘ictional film director Rene Vidal hires real-life Hong Kong actress Maggie Cheung for a remake of pulp crime drama lrniu Vep. but he loses
interest in his film and instead becomes increasingly obsessed with his oriental star. The film's real drama is an expose of filmmaking. which is far more cynical than. say. Living In Oblivion. The observations are assured and full of insight. which makes for fascinating viewing —- great filmmaking about awful filmmaking, Stirling: MacRobert.
Jump The Gun ( l 5) (Les Blair. UK/South Africa. 1996) Lionel Newton. Baby Cele. Michele Burgers. 126 mins. A slice-of-lifc comedy about five working-class people in post-apartheid Johannesburg. Jump The (Inn is episodic and a tad samey. British improvisational director Blair (Burl Behaviour) prefers people to plots. and sidelines both drama and political correctness. It may not please all tastes. but it's an amusing and insightful view of a South Africa which is ‘becoming African'. See preview and review. Glasgow, (ii-'1'. lidinburgh: l‘ilmhouse.
Kes (PG) (Ken Lunch. UK. I969) David Bradley. Lynne l’errie. Colin Welland. Brian Glover. l()9 mins. In the run-down industrial north. at young boy learns some harsh lessons about life from the fate of his pet bird. Classic piece of British realism which showed that l.oach‘s television work could transfer to the big screen. A very humane sense of humour leavens what is in effect a tale of sortie desolation. Glasgow: Gl’l‘. Lady And The Tramp (U) (Hamilton Luskc. US. I955) With the voices of Peggy Lee and Bill 'liiompson. 75 mins. Disney's first animated feature in cinemascopc has mongrel Tramp helping pedigree pooch