FILM listings
FILM LISTINGS continued
From Dusk Till Dawn (18) (Robert Rodriguez. US. 1996) George Clooney. Harvey Keitel. Quentin Tarantino. 108 mins. For its first third. this Tarantino- scripted movie is a suspenseful kidnap thriller as two killers on the run (Clooney and 'l‘arantino) hole up with three hostages in a Mexican strip club. Then the tone changes into an sfx-lieavy vampire western as the clientele spring fangs. Repetition abounds in a messy. tedious affair that‘s neither scary nor funny. Glasgow: ()deon Quay.
Gattaca ( l 5) (Andrew Niccol. US. I997) Ethan Hawke. Urna Thurman. Jude Law. l06 mins. In the future. discrimination isn't based on the colour of a man‘s skin. but its genetic make-up. ‘Normally' born Vincent (Hawke) forms a pact with crippled Jerome (Law) to use his genetic identity in an attempt to become an astronaut. The photography is washed by coloured filters and the retro-future design is as distinctive as Blur/e Runner. Bold ideas develop at their own pace and. despite the intrusive ‘llollywood' moments. (Ia/lam emerges as a true individual in an industry ofclones. Glasgow: (irosvenor. lidinburgh: Cameo. I-‘alkirk: Town Hall. Kirkcaldy: Adam Smith.
The General ( l5) (John Boorman. UK. I998) Brendan Gleeson. Adrian Dunbar. Jon Voight. l2-I mins. Controversy and ambiguity surrounds the story of one of Ireland‘s most notorious gangsters. Martin Cahill. ()n one hand. he‘s a Robin Hood figure who shares out the spoils of his theft: on the other. he is vicious. brutal and amoral. Gleeson‘s performance is compelling. while the black and white photography hardens the edges of the Irish landscape by making very simple things star'k and beatrtiful. Sec preview and review. General release.
George Of The Jungle (U) (Sam Weisman. US. I997) Brendan liraser. Leslie Mann. Holland Taylor. 9| mins. Loincloth-clad hero Geroge (Fraser) saves San liransican socialite Ursual (Mann). but his trip to the urban jungle is shortlived when he hears of the kidnap of his hairy sidekick. Ape (voiced by John Cleese). The plot is the usual blend of humour. action. slapstick. adventure and. of course. romance. while the knowing and punchy script is easily up with the best of modern Disney. Galashiels: Pavilion.
Good Burger (PG) (Brian Robbins. US. I997) Kel Mitchell. Kenan Thompson. Sinbad. 95 mins. A spin-off from US cable channel Nickelodeon's daytime series All That. this kids comedy is likely to fall through unfamiliarity. Two blokes working in a burger joint fight off the advances of the fast-food chain across the road with their new sauce recipe. The next Big Night? I don't think so. ()deon: Edinburgh.
26 THE lIST 28 May—ll Jun 1998
Good Will Hunting ( l5) (Gus Van Sant. US. 1997) Matt Damon. Robin Williams. Minnie Driver. 126 mins. A young college janitor (Damon) with a history of abuse is given the opportunity to fulfil his potential as a maths genius by a kindly therapist (Williams). Hot-shot Damon and eo-star Ben Affleck won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. but it‘s Williams in an understated performance who steals the show. An insightful script. tenderly acted. Glasgow: ABC Film Centre. Edinburgh: Cameo. Dominion. Largs: Barrfields. Great Expectation5( l S) (Alfonso Cuaron. US. I997) Ethan Hawke. Gwyneth Paltrow. Anne Bancroft. l l() mins. Hollywood‘s free adaptation of Dickens‘s novel turns a dank. foggy tale into a dayglo romance incorporating art. sex and the media. Hawke plays a young artist who becomes the toast of New York. but can't get Paltrow out of his mind. Adding colour are Robert De Niro as a gruff convict and Anne Bancroft doing her version of Miss Havisham. It's at its best when faithful to the novel. but when the action shifts. the film dies a quiet predictable death. Edinburgh: Cameo. Gummo (l8) (Harmony Korine. US. I997) Jacob Reynolds. Nick Sutton. Chloe Sevigny. 89 mins. A combination of both beautiful and repulsive images. (innrnrn - from kids scriptwrt'ter Harmony Korine — is a jumbled collage of strange scenes. Two scrawney boys cycle around a dreary middle-American town killing stray cats. while two teenage girls and a solitary kid with pink rabbit ears crop up randomly throughout. Like a weird scrapbook of sometimes raw. sometimes poetic sketches. Gamma has the trendy feel of a youth generation movie. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
Hercules (U) (John Musker & Ron Clements. US. I997) With the voices of Tate Donovan. James Woods. Danny DeVito. 9l mins. British cartoonist Gerald Scarfe's designs marry his customary grotesquery with Uncle Walt's softer characterisations. Hades (a magnificently splenetic James Woods) wants to exact revenge on Zeus by destroying his son Hercules. but luckily our hero has Pegasus as his steed and Phil the grumpy satyr (Danny DeVito) as his coach. Classical purists might grumble. btrt this is one of the studio's most dynamic and entertaining features. Edinburgh: Odeon. The Ice Storm (l5) (Ang Lee. US. I997) Kevin Kline. Joan Allen. Sigourney Weaver. “2 mins. In Nixon era Connecticut. Kline‘s dying affair with neighbour Weaver pushes wife Allen further into a numbed frigidity. jtrst as both families' teenage children are making their first sexual forays. Lee's satiric eye may be acute but he has a compassionate vision of human weakness. and beneath the humour is a sense of profound unease. Scene after scene. deftly directed and beautifully acted by the cast. sends a chill
Dublin the odds: Angeline Ball in The Gene
into the heart. lidinburgh: ()deon. Cumbernauld: Theatre. Kirkcaldy: Adam Smith.
In And Out ( l2) (Frank ()1. US. I997) Kevin Kline. Matt Dillon. Tom Selleck. 9l mins. When an ex-student seemingly 'outs' him during an ()scar speech. Midwestern teacher Howard Brackett (Kline) has to reassess his life and sexuality - just days before his wedding. A funny. feelgood movie that is aimed squarely at a mainstream audience. In Am/ ()nt contains nothing to startle Middle America. Kline turns in a delightful comic performance. Kirkcaldy: Adam Smith.
In The Company Of Men ( IX) (Neil l.aBute. US. I996) Aaron Iickhart. Matt Molloy. Stacy Iidwards. 97 mins. The misanthropy of American commerce is right tip there on screen. fifty feet high. as Chad and Howard plan to date the same vulnerable woman and dump her without warning. It’s corporate America‘s strongest-will-survive ethos which is the real target in this powerful independent that's ftrll of sucker punches. l“alkirk: Town Hall. Stirling: MacRobert.
Jackie Brown ( | 5) (Quentin 'I‘arantino. US. I997) Pam Grier. Samuel l.. Jackson. Robert De Niro. I54 mins. 'l'arantino‘s blaxploitation homage is proof that the directorjust loves to hear his characters run their mouths off. However. the dialogue is pure pleasure in this sprawling. funky. triple-crossing heist movie about a l’eder‘al Agent sting to trap a gtru runner. A classic Hollywood thriller in the sense that it is about the enjoyment of the moment. rather simply finding out whodunit. lidinburgh: Cameo. Irvine: Magnum. WMR. Largs: Barrfields.
the James Gang ( IS) (Mike Barker. (3K. I997) Helen McCror'y. John Hannah. Jason I-‘lcmyng. 99 mins. Burnt out of her council flat by loan sharks. stoic lidinburgh mum Bernadette (McCrory) begins a crime spree. desperately trying to keep her family together. l)espite the strong social themes inherent in the story. there's more than a sprinkling of humour too. and some fine acting. notably from McCrory. Not great. but not that bad either. See preview and review.
Jane Eyre (I’G) (l’ranco Zeffir'elli. UK/Italy. I996) William Hurt. Charlotte Gainsbourg. Joan Plowright. l l3 mins. A decent enough adaptation of Charlotte Bronte‘s literary classic which features weighty acting from Hurt and the British thesps in support. The atmosphere is effective. if not entirely remarkable. as '/.effit'elli manages to (true into the darker. more brooding aspects of the novel. Iidirrbur‘gh: UCI.
Jumanji (U) (Joe Johnston. L‘S. I995) Robin Williams. Jonathan Hyde. Kirsten Durist. l()l mins. Trapped for 36 years in a jungle board game. Alan Parriin (Williams) is released orin when two modern-day kids throw the dice themselves. But they also unleash a
/
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stampede of monkeys. crocodiles. elephants. rhinos and other unfamiliar beasts into small town America. The story manages to get beyond its repetitive limits with a brilliantly original central idea and post-errssrr Park computer effects that make it state-of—the-art cinema spectacle. Iidinburgh: ABC.
Kids TV Compilation (U) 100 mins. The (ii-T celebrates the era when children‘s television stomped into the 70s. Mr Benn. Rain/mu". [Wit/lac! Belilim' 3' Party 7imc. Animal Magic. “sway . . . now this is more like it. Glasgow: (il’l‘.
Kundun ( l5) (Martin Scorsese. US. I997) l-I() mins. Scorsese's biography of the fourteenth Dalai Lama is also a painstaking record of a culture close to extinction. The beauty of Tibet and gentle nature of the people is disrupted by invasion by China. but the Dalai Lama remains true to the ideal of non-violence. A highly cinematic. though heavily wrought film. Knm/un also features a pulsating music score by Philip Glass. The first hour. while beautiful to watch. does seem to pass very slowly. but. by the end. it has a ctrrious calming energy all of its own. Glasgow: Gl’l‘.
LA. Confidential ( l8) (Curtis Hanson. US. I997) Kevin Spacey. Gtry Pearce. Russell Crowe. Kim Basinger. I35 mins. Adapted from James lillroy‘s neo-noir novel. the best American film of I997 evokes a glitzy post-World War II l.os Angeles underpinned by an all-pervasive. festering corrtrption. An intricate. drop- dead brilliant plot links bent cops. good cops. Hollywood star lookalike prostitutes and the mob. The dialogue crackles and the actors burn up the screen: one of the few films one would dare mention in the same breath as the definitive ('lrinarmrn. lidinburgh: Cameo.
Liar ( l8) (Joshua and Jonas Pate. US. I997) Tim Roth. ('liris Penn. Michael Rooker. l()2 mins. Arrogant rich boy Wayland (Roth) undergoes a lie detector test about the mtrrder of a prostitute by a heavyweight cop duo Braxton and Kennesaw (Penn and Rooker). Power struggles and plot twists swiftly ensue. but this is no Usual .S'rrspcrls. The tone is unremittineg rnisogynistic. the look and stnrcture annoying over-stylised. Terrific performances. thotrgli — btrt they're in a narrative vacuum. Glasgow: Gl’l‘.
The Little Mermaid (U) (John Musker and Ron Clements. US. I990) With the voices of Rene Auberjonois. Buddy Hackett. Kenneth Mars. 83 mins. Based on a Hans Christian Andersen fairytale. this Disney animated feature may not qtiite rank with the glories of Wall‘s distant past but displays an impressive attention to detail. bags of humour and a set of trtrly tacky songs. ()ur bikini-clad heroine might be a little too eager to fulfil her Barbie-doll destiny. but by and large it's embarrassingly enjoyable stuff. Glasgow: Grosvenor. Edinburgh: ABC Westcr Hailes. Cameo.
Live Flesh ( l8) (Pedro Almodovar. Spain. I997) Javier Bardem. Liberto Rabal. l-‘rancesca Neri. l()() mins. Based on a Ruth Rendell story. Almoddvar's most rounded attempt to enter the mainstream follows the fate of a wheclchair-bound policeman. the young man responsible for the bullet that ptit him there. and his wife. with whom the recently released convict is in love. Any message waiting to be read is drowned in the brightest and deepest of cinematographic experiences. and the pleasures here are several. But there's a hint that the director has slipped into middle-ground mediocrity. Glasgow: GI-‘l'. lidinburgh: I-‘ilmhouse.
Lucie Aubrac ( l 2) (Claude Berri. France. I997) Carole Bouquet. Daniel Auteuil. “5 mins. Based on the real-life story of a Resistance fighter who rescued her husband from the clutches of the Gestapo. Berri's film is a tale ofquiet heroism in a tempestuous time. of love on the edge. It could possibly trse a few more dramatic thrills to give it some pace. but as a picture of occupied France where the over-riding emotion among the people was a desire to get their ordinary lives back. Lucie Arr/mic is a gentle and touching success. Glasgow: ()deon Quay. Stirling: MacRobert.