Traveller's tales:
child-keeper post and rekindle romance w ith the man of the house. Altliotigli the leads both look the part. there is no real passion between them. and the atmosphere of the film remains as washed otit as the pale. winter light. See prex‘iexx and rex iew. (ilasgoxx: Showcase. Flubber (l') (l.es Hayfield. l'S. I997) Robin Williams. Marcia Gay Harden. Christopher McDonald. 03 units. This remake of 1%] Disney faxotirite 77/UAI7xt'iil .llim/t't/ I’I'U/t'sxnr casts a subdued Williams as a scientist xx ho ll)\'L'llls a gravity defying goo. bill may well lose his fiancee in the process. ('onibining many of the worst. most annoy mg attributes of liliiix designed to have ‘family appeal'. ,‘fll/lflr'l' merely llops when it sliotild lly'. (ilasgow; (it'osxenor
Gang Related ( (Si (Jim Kouf. t'S. lWS) 'l'upac Shakur. James Belushi. Dennis Quaid.
l l l turns. The last film made by murdered rap star ‘l'upac Shaktir. this effective cop drama gixes iix a poignant glimpse of what might haxe been. In (iung Rt'ltilt'tl. he brings a degree of sympathy to Rodriguez. — a corrupt detectixe tll'l\'L‘ll to crime to pay off gambling debts. then desperately backtracking when things go aw ry'. Aside frotn tlte curiosity x‘altie gix'eii it by Shakur's death in a drix-e-by' shooting w which occurred Just days after principal photography ended -- (Jung Rt'ltllt’t/ follow s a tight dramatic course as it weax'es its way to a nicely ironic conclusion. See review. (ilasgow; Show case. Edinburgh: ABC Wesler Hailex.
George Of The Jungle (l') (Sam \\'eisman. l'S. I‘M?) Brendan l’raser. l.exlie Mann. Holland Taylor. 0| mins. l.oincloth-c|ad hero (ieroge (lirascr) sax ex San lirans‘ican socialite l'rsual (\lann). btit his trip to the urban jungle ix shortlix ed when he hears of the kidnap of his hairy sidekick. Ape (xoiced by John (‘lecse). The plot is the usual blend of humour. action. slapstick. adventure and. of course. romance. while the knowing and punchy script is easily up w itli the best of modern Disney. Edinburgh; ()deon.
Godzilla (PG) (Roland liminerich. l‘S. IWS) \latthexx Broderick. Jean Reno. .\laria Pitillo. l-ltl iiiins. Nuclear testing causes a hand to grow to an enormous si/e. reproduce asexually and head to New York to lay some eggs. When the military take the offensixe. it's time for the iaiiipagiiig ieplile to demolish Manhattan. (halal/tr goes beyond insulting its audience and makes tlte giaxe error of forcing our sympathy away from the monster and onto the non-descript humans. When a film like this fails to thrill xxitli its effects ~ it's Juruxxit' I’tirk all ox er again ll can oiin fall flat on its ox er-si/ed Holly wood ass. (ieneral release. Grease (P(i) (Randal Kleiser. L'S. I‘l7S) John 'l'raxolta. ()lix ia New ton John. Stockard Charming. lltl units. The colourful goings-on at Rydell High particularly the romance of square out-of-low ner Sandy and tough guy Danny - is the stuff of classic mox ic escapism. In addition to a plot w hich groans w ttli frustrated passion. bristles w ill) gang tensions and xxx ings xx itli teen xerxe. the songs are the soundtrack for a generation. Twenty years on. (Irt-tixt' is still the xx old. and still the way we are feeling. (ieneral release.
Harriet The Spy (P(i) (Bronwen Hughes. L'S. WOO) Michelle 'l‘rachtenlx'rg. Roxie O'Donnell. (iregory Smith. l0: itiiiis.
Marcello Mastroianni and Diogo Doria in Journey To The Beginning Of The World
Precocious schoolgirl Harriet. conx'inccd she has a future as a xx riter. notes down the mititrtae of daily life in her iournal; btit when her classmates discox'er her criticisms of them. she has to work hard to xx in back popularity. 'l‘raclitenberg gives a fresh. sparky performance. btit the teaclierly tone won't amuse accoiiipnaying grown-ups. Stirling: Allanpark.
Heidi Fleiss - Hollywood Madam ( IS) (.‘s'ick Brtxunfield. L'K. lWS) Heidi l’leiss. lxan Nagby. .‘xladam Alex. l()(i tiiiiis. Brooiiilield's typically intrusix'e (insensitive?) handling of his subject means that. like the tnore recent Ix’iirl Am/ ('oiirriit'i. he alienates potential interviewees — here the customers of prostitrite/madam to the Holly wood filmstars. Heidi HQ)“. The result is a facsinating. revealing. shocking portrait of the complex relations between the madam. her pimp and the filmmaker. (ilasgow: (il-‘I‘.
Home Alone 3 (PG) (Raja (iosnell. t'S. WU?) Alex I). l.in1.. ()lek Krupa. Rya Kihlstedt. 95 mins. Instead of Macaulay (‘tilkiiL here comes Alex I). l.in/. (Michelle Pfeiffer‘s kid iti ()Ill’ Fine Day ). btit this film ix not a patch on the tin-PC slapstick and reckless stunting of the original. Stuck at home with the chicken pox. Alex discox'ers a gang of hi-tech international criminals trying to locate a top secret microchip. so he sets tip increasineg elaborate and sadistic traps. Ayr: ()deon. Kirkcaldy: ()deott.
Journey To The Beginning 0f the World (L') (Manuel de ()lix‘eira. Portugal. IOU?) Marcello Mastroianni. Jean-Yx-es (iatrtier. 95 mitts. A nostalgic road moxie by renoxx ned 90- year-old Portuguese director de. Journey 7}) The Beginning 0/ Ill/14’ lliir/t/ xtarx acclaimed liuropeaii actor Marcello .\lastroianni. w ho died shortly alter the film was made. With a warm and philosophical tone. this iiiox-ie prox‘ides an appropriate tribute to boil) its director and the career of its star. The road lll()\'lC structure ix perfect for the series of fond recollections. See rex iew. lidinburgh; l‘iliiilititisc‘.
Kurt And Courtney ( IS) (Nick llrooiiilieltl. l'K/l'S. WW) ()3 units \\'as Nirxana mainman Kurt ('obain's death suicide or something more sinister .‘ ('ourtney |,oxe's lather reckons Courtney herself had a hand in her husband's untimely demise - and that allegation xx as enough to get Broomfield‘s documentary into a lot of hot xx ater on both sides of the Atlantic. Hoxxexer. the
interx ieweex are too drug-addled to be coherent. let alone conx incing and Brooiiilield seems too keen to get his own tanned iiitig into the shot. (ilasgow: (il’l'.
LA. Confidential ( lS) ((‘urtis Hanson. L‘S. IW7) Kevin Spacey. (itiy Pearce. Rtissell Crow e. Kim Basinger. IFS mins. Adapted from James lillroy 's neo-noir noxel. the best American film of 1097 exokes a glit/y post- WWB l.os Angeles underpinned by an all- perx'asix'e. festering corruption 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 tip the screen: one of the few films one would dare mention Ill the same breath as the definitive ('lii'nulmxn. lidinbtirgh: Cameo. The Little Mermaid (L'i (John .\lusker/Ron Clements. L'S. WSW S2 lllllls. Disney 'x ailing
fortunes quickly rexei'sed when this delightful animated feature first came otit in IUS‘). 'l'here's the unixersal appealling story of the mermaid Ariel's low for handsome Prince liric. ()scar-w inning songs. huniamsed animal sidekicks and some colourful set-pieces. Now with electronically cleaned-up colours and digital sound. (ieneral release.
Live Flesh ( IS) (Pedro Aliiiodox ar. Spain. IWT) Jax ier Bardem. l.iberto Rahal. l-‘rancesca Neri. l()() inins, Based on a Rtilli Rendell stol’}. Allttodoxar's tnost rounded attempt to enter the mainstream follow s the fate of a xx heelchair-bound policeman. the young man responsible for the bullet that put him there. and his wife. with whom the recently released conx ict is in low. Any message waiting to be read Is tll‘ow tlt'tl ll) lllx‘ brightest arid deepest of cinematographic
experiences. and the pleasures here are sex eial.
Biil there's a hint that the director has slipped into middle-ground mediocrity. l7a|kirkz I’l‘H. Kirkcaldy: Adam Smith.
Lost Highway ( IS) (l);l\'ltJ Lynch. l’S. IWO)
Bill Pullman. Patricia Arquette. Robert Loggia.
IRS mins. l‘urther otit than exert the celluloid xerxion of Tlt'lll l’t'ukx: I‘ill't’ llii/kx ll'illi .Jlt'. Lynch's latest radicalixation of the film IleI‘ traditions concerns (an saxman Pullman. his xx ife (Artruette). a my stery man (Robert Blake). a garage mechanic (Baltha/ar (ietty) and a crime kingpin (Loggia) v- btit in typically Lynchian non-linear plotlines that exist w ithin the logic of dreams. Haunting. prox-ocatix'e. and a genuinely personal undertaking. lidinbiirgh: l-‘tlmhotise.
Lost In Space (l’t‘ii (Stephen Hopkins. (‘8. NUS) William Hurt. (iary ()ldman. .\latt l.c Blanc. lll‘) turns. The cull TV series for the (ills gets a ()(ls make-ox er and. despite the state-ol-the-ai't special effects. it's may hit as cheesy as the original. Professor John Robinson (Hurt) and his family are sent to coloiiixe the distant planet of Alpha Prime. btrt an act of sabotage causes them to spin into the stratosphere. ('ertain performances are so irritating that most x iexxers will sy mpathise with ()ldman's cl'ax'en x-illain. (ieneral release. Mad City ( l5) ((‘osta-(iax ras. l'S. I‘M?) John 'l‘rax-olta. Dustin Hoffman. ll-l mins_ When
“III'ISYDII IJIlEll
JMES BELUSHI
' LELA
wnuCUP wan NEEDS
JAMES HUCHUN EARLJONES
index FILM
he‘s laid off. museum security guard Sam (‘l‘raxolta) tries to get his job back at gunpoint and causes a siege at his former place of work. Local TV reporter .\lax (Hoffman) turns the situation to his ow n adxantage. moulding Sam into a media celebrity. This may not be first- clasx Costa-(iax'ras (Z and State ()I'Sit'gt'). btit it‘s top-notch Hollywood filiiimaking. lidinbtii'gh: Cameo.
The Magic Sword (L’) (Hederik Du (.‘hau. l'S. IWS) With the x'oices of(iary ()ldman. Jessalyn (iilsig. ('ary lilxxes. SS mins. All is happy under King Arthur's rule until CVIJ Lord Ruber tries to steal lixcalibur. When the
xx ondrous weapon becomes lost in the l-‘orbidden l-‘orest. plucky young Kayley reckons she's brax-e enough to sax'e the day. This animated feature sticks to the Disney formula -- action. haw led-out ballads. kooky sidekicks -- btit the animation itself lacks Wall's grace. (ieneral release.
The Man In the Iron Mask ( l 3) (Randall Wallace. l'S. IW7) Leonardo DiCaprio. Jeremy Irons. (ierard Dcpardieti. l3] minx. When l’rance‘s dissolute young king ptits the country on the verge of turmoil. the .\ltiskeleers reform to rescue a mysterious prisoner languishing in the Bastille. The writer of IJI'tIl't’Ilt’tll'l makes his debut as director xx ith an adaptation of Alexandre Dutiias‘s rollicking period adxenture. but he can't direct a fight scene to xax'e his life. The [X'iformaiicex vary so xx ildly in tone. that the cast at times appear to be acting in different films. (ilasgow: (il-"l‘. Mimic ( IS) ((iuillermo Del 'l'oro. L'S. I‘NS) .‘xlira Sorx ino. Jeremy Northani. (‘harles S. Dtitton. l()5 inins. (ieiietically altered insects designed It) eradicate disease- cai’rying cockroaches hax'e mutated and bred in the tunnels beneath New York. While scientists and other humans wander around not always molding the razor-sharp legs and bone-crushing mandibles of the insect predators. Mexican director Del 'l‘oro iiixtaposes images of poetic beauty with scenes of stark (error. A superior big bu.L‘ niox'ie. Stirling .-\llanpark.
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