FILM listings
FILM LISTINGS continued
My Brother's Gun ( l8) (Ray Loriga. Spain. I996) 100 niins. A sisteeii-year-old oddball with a gun in his shoe gets involved in a road trip with a girl w ho's wrapped up iii her own soap opera world. A hip and elegant exploration of teenage boredom. Author and director Loriga will discuss his work after the screening. along with fellow writer arid l)avid Lynch collaborator Barry (iifford (see book preview). (ilasgow: (il‘l‘. lidinburgh: l-‘ilmhouse.
Nowhere ( IS) i( iregg Araki. L’S. I997) James l)u\al. Ryan Philippe. Rachel True. 82 mins. A group of impossibly beautiful friends go to parties. agoiiise oy er classroom crushes and exist iii a different world from their parents. Meanwhile aliens walk unnoticed through suburbia. ’l‘uriiing 80s Brat l’ack movies on their heads. Aiaki's pulp-fiction-sci-fi-soap- opera-horriir-comcdy is an outrageous glimpse of a teenage apocalypse. See review. lidinburgh: l‘ihiihtitisc‘.
Paws (l’( i) ( Kail /w'icky. Australia/l 'K. I997) Nathan Cavaleri. Linilie l‘rancois. voice of Billy Connolly. 83 mins. Clever (loggic l’C is on a mission to deliver it computer disc. but is being tracked down by the unpleasant baddie who killed his master. Befriending computer whi/l kid Zac. the mutt litiks tip to a voice simulator and starts talking with the broad twang of Billy Connolly. Some genuinely funny moments allow for a whole range of teenage crises to be dealt with in an uncringeworthy fashion. lidinbrirgh: ()deon.
Der Platz ( l8) (lfh M. Schtippel. (ierinany. I997) 53 mins. Acclaimed at the I997 lidinburgh film festival (five stars in The /.I\Il this poetic docutnentary iustaposes heavy machinery and the tranquil thoughts of the labourers during the rebuilding of Potsdainmer Plan in Berlin. Industry and nature. noise and peace collide, \\'ith shorts (‘oiiiil .Ur' ()iil arid I'lit' I'tll't' Hot/err lidinburgh: l’ilmhouse.
Pretty Village, Pretty Flame ( l8) (Ardiaii l)rago_ie\ ic. Serbia. l99b) IDS itiiiis Yugoslavia. I980: a Mrislim boy and a Serb watch a cciciiiony in their neighlmurhood lwelyc years later. the Mtislim lies minted in a hospital beside his Serbian enemies .\'ot a war film as such - although it includes footage of the burning of villages ~ this film has a sharp human perspective. perhaps because it‘s made from inside the war-torn country rather than by westerners Izdinbnrgh: Cairieo.
Prisoner Of The Mountains ( itsi (Sergei Bodrov. Russia/Ka/akhstaii. l99o) ()leg Menshikoy. Sergei Bodroy .lr. Through this simple. moving fable based on a story by 'llolstoy. Bodt‘oy sheds a clear light on the hitter war between the former Soviet L'nion and the independencc-sceking Chechens. A pair of captured Russian soldiers are used by a local chieftan to get his own son back. but complications Ctistic. .\ collision of
deep human need and the stark realities of war that garnered a deserved Oscar nomination. Kirkcaldy: Adam Smith.
The Real Blonde ( l5) ('l‘om DiCillo. L's. 1997) Matthew Modine. Catherine Keener. l)aryl Hannah. l 10mins. Struggling actor .loe appears in a Madonna video. while his girlfriend works in the modelling industry. A stylish and at times pointed moy ie. but one which ultimately slo-mos rather than fist-flies its punches. That said. it does hit many of the right spots in attacking the artifices of life. (ilasgow: City Centre ()deon. lidinburgh: ()deon.
Red Corner ( l5) (Jon Avnet. L'S‘. l997) Richard (iere. Bai Ling. l23 mins. (liven that this formulaic thriller stars Richard (iei'e (w ell known pal of'l'ibet's l)alai Lama). it's obvious the Chinese won’t come out of it looking very good. (iere plays an American businessman stitched tip for rape and murder in Beijing who faces a corrupt judicial system. The prison scenes are certainly horrific. btit the film cannot tnatch their authenticity elsewhere. The plot is simply absurd and the characters are too flat to care about. See
28 THE LIST 28 May—~11 Jtiii 1998
East comes West: Chow Yun-Fat in The Replacement Killers
review. (ieneral release
The Replacement Killers ( isi «Antonie liriqua. l’S. l99h‘) Chow Yun-l-at. Mira Sorv itio. Michael Rookcr. 87 mins. Hong Kong action star Chow Yun-lat's l'S debut delivers most of the thrills of his past work. brtt is still less than totally satisfying. He plays a professional assassin who becomes a marked man when he finds he can't pull the trigger on his last job. (ilossy. w ell mounted btit e\ceptionally routine stuff. See review (ilasgow: ()deon ()uay. ladiiiburgh: ABC Wester Hailes.
Scream 2 ( l8) iw‘es (‘i-aven. t‘S‘. l‘JUS) Neve Campbell. Courtney Cos. Leiv Schreiber. l2() mins. 'l'wo years after the \Voodsbot'o murders. Sidney l’i‘csctill (Catnpbell) is now a college student. trying to piece her life back together. But w hen an audience member is slashed to death during the pi'ciiiiere of horror iiioy ie Stu/i. the nightmare begins again. 'l’he film fails to fully integrate the tnany iii-iokey references to horror sequel conventions. btit it's still streets ahead of what passes for horror nowadays (ieneral release. Seven ( l8) (l)av id l-incher. l'S. l995) Brad Pitt. Morgan l‘rceman. (iwynetlt l’altrow. |27 mins. The outline is familiar - two cops track down a serial killer but Seven is a step ahead of its rt\a|s. l'rom its opening title sequence onwards. it's an e\tremely dark movie which w rnds through the most twisted recesses of human nature. liach death is a graphic interpretation of one of the seven deadly sins. giving Alien .t' director l-incher the material for an intense stylistic e\ercise iii horror. lidinburgh: Cameo.
Seven Years In Tibet ( l5) (Jean-Jacques Annaud. US. I997) Brad Pitt. l)ay id 'l'hewlis. Bl). Wong. l.‘~l mms Sporting Hitler Youth peroxide and spouting suitably strangled vowels. Pitt is ace climber Heinrich Harrer. w ho stray s across the Tibetan border and becomes a friend of the young l)alai Lama. Unfortunately. Brad seems to have very i
little purchase on the material. and we're left with fabulous landscapes in search of a tnovie. (ilasgow': (il-‘l‘.
Shall We Dance? (P( i) (Masayuki Suo. Japan. I997) Koii Yakusho. 'l‘amiyo Krisakari. HS tiiitis. The biggest Japanese hit ever at the US box office. this upbeat tiiovie might grab some of the mainstream crowd in the same way as // I’m/inn. Shoei leads a predictable life at work and at home until he is transformed by his new- hobby — ballrootn dancing. A real charmer. with a hidden sense of emotional maturity. lidinburgh: l‘ilmhouse.
A Simple Wish (l’(i) (Mieliael Ritchie. L'S. I997) Mara Wilson. Martin Short. Kathleen 'I‘urner. 9() mins. When she makes a wish for her singer-actor dad to land the lead in a Broadway musical. Mara Wilson (of .lltllf/(IU fatne) finds herself saddled with a bumbling fairy godfather in the shape of Martin Short. The magic world of the fairytale is updated to the 90s for a colourful but ultimately sickly sweet kids movie that features good effects. (ilasgow: L'Cl Clydebank. liast Kilbride: L'Cl.
Sliding Doors ( IS) (Peter How in. UK. I998) (iw y netlr Paltrow'. John Hannah. .lolui Lynch. 99 mins. Mousy-haired PR e\ecutive Helen gets fired and discovers her handsome Irish boy friend is a two- timer. Blonde PR woman Helen is more successful and dates a handsome Scot. 'l‘his sharply observed romantic comedy splits Helen‘s life in two when she misses/catches a tube train. L’tterly entertaining. and one of the best British iiioy ies of I998. (ieneral release. SpiceWorld: The Movie (PU) (Bob Spiers. CK. I997) The Spice (iit'ls. Richard li. (irant. Alan Cumming. 93 mms. 'A 90s l/un/ Um 'v Night. with a pinch of Spit/til flip and a little Speed thrown in.‘ says the publicity material. The story chronicles the hectic five days in the lead-up to the girls" first liye concert at the Royal Albert Hall and. on the way. crams in so many celebrity cameos. you
i get the sense this could be the big screen equivalent of Noe/ls Home Party. Of course. plenty of hit songs are included too. Ayr: ()deon.
Star Kid (PG) (Manny Colo. US. 1997) Joseph Mauello. Richard (Jilliland. Corinne Bohrer. 100 mins. Shy. bullied Spencer (Jurassic Park's Mazzello) discovers an alien Cybersuit a voice and personality of its own. Climbing inside. he gets back at his school nernisis. but finds himself up against a deadlier foe when he faces intergalactic tough nuts. the Broodwarriors. Clearly aimed at pre- adolesccnt boys who want to fill otit their underdog fantasies. Slur Kiri is a better than average kids iiioy ie. (ieneral release. Stella Does Tricks ( I 8) (Coky (ilelr()_\’C. UK. I996) Kelly Macdonald. Hans Mathieson. James Bolam. 97 mins. Kelly Macdonald takes on her first leading role after 'l'ruiitspoiiiiie. and proves to be the film's driving force. As one of a group of school-age prostitutes working iii London. fuelling themselves with drugs and fantasies to keep the harshness of their situation at bay. she colours her character's toughness with just enough loneliness and fragility. A.l.. Kennedy's screenplay voices the despair of a generation. lialkirk: Town Hall.
The Tango Lesson (PG) (Sally Potter. UK. I997) Sally Potter. Pablo Veron. l()2 mins. ()I'Itl/N/U director Sally Potter plays herself. a filmmaker distracted froin writing a script by her obsession with the magic and passion of the tango. 'l‘ravelling to Latin America to experience the dance first hand. her relationship with sexy Argentinian dancer Pablo Veron spills over into their private lives. Rhythmic and passionate. 'I‘lie 'Iimen Lesson tenderly expresses the choreography of modern love. lidinburgh: l‘ilmhotise.
Titanic ( l2) (James Cameron. US. I997) Leonardo DiCaprio. Kate Winslct. Billy Zane. I94 mins. Cameron tackles the story of the doomed ocean liner through a touching love story that isn't overwhelmed by the awesome special effects. Rich girl Rose (Winslet) is unhappin engaged to arrogant Cal (Zane) but falls for third-class passenger Jack (DiCaprio): love blossoms as the ship hits an iceberg in the North Atlantic. In all its on-sci'een glory. lilo/iii" does indeed look like the most expensive film ever made. conveying botli the scale of the disaster and the feeling of claustrophobia as the water rises. (ieneral release.
Toy Story (Hi) (John Lasseter. US. I995) With the voices of'l'om Hanks. Tim Allen. Don Rickles. 8| mins. It isn't just the state-of-the-art images that distinguish Disney's first compurer-generated animation feature. it's got a cracking adventure story too. A tale of friendship and self-belief combined with an exciting rescue and against-the-clock tension. 'Iiiy Story is sprinkled with comic asides. Don't be fooled into thinking these toys are just for the kids. Ayr: ()deon.
US Marshals ( 12) (Stuart Baird. US. I998) Tommy Lee Jones. Wesley Snipes. lrene Jacob. l3} mins . Tommy Lee Jones reprises his ()scar-winning role as relentless US Marshal Samuel (ierard in this half-decent sequel to The l-‘iieiiii-r'. This time. it’s CIA agent Stripes who has been framed for murder and is on the run. Snipes is a bit of a superman compared to his predecessor (who had to rely solely on his wits) and this lessens the drama somewhat. (ilasgow: Showcase. Paisley: Showcase.
Wag The Dog ( l5) (Barry Levinson. US. I997) Robert De Niro. Dustin Hoffman. Anne Heche. 97 mins. A spin doctor cooks rip a fictitious war to help a US President through a tricky and scandal-filled re- election campaign — all done-and-dusted well before Clinton‘s Monica Lewinsky scandal surfaced. Brit outside its frighteningly impeccable timing. this Mamet-scripted satire comes in heavy handed form. As one 'problem' after another is encountered and solved. the cool. ironic tone of the opening section is rapidly replaced by one of simple hysteria. (ilasgow: UCI Clydebank. Edinburgh: Cameo. liast Kilbride: UCI.
Washington Square (Pti) (Agnieszka