Films screening this fortnight are listed below with certificate, credits. brief review and venue details. Film index compiled by Miles Fielder.
The Adventures of Robin Hood (U) (Michael Curtiz. US. 1938) Errol Flynn. Olivia De Havilland. Basil Rathbone. 102 mins. Sparkling. Oscar- winning excitement as Flynn and his merry men fight the evil Prince and the wicked Rathbone to help the poor and capture the hand of the fair De Havilland. Peerless sword-play and an infectious sense of high spirits. Kirkcaldy: Adam Smith.
Alien (l8) (Ridley Scott. US. 1979) Sigoumey Weaver. Ian Holni. John Hurt. 116 mins. Agatha Christie in outer space as a freighter lands on a mysterious planet and is ingeniously invaded by a ravenous intruder which proceeds to chomp its way through the cast list. Edge-of-the-seat suspense thriller with a strong cast and ghastly special effects. Edinburgh: Cameo. An Angel At My Table (PG) (Jane Campion. New Zealand. 1990) Kerry Fox. Alexia Keogh. Karen Fergussson. 158 mins. Campion's follow-up to her remarkable debut Sweetie is a lengthy treatment of her compatriot Janet Frame's autobiographical trilogy of noveLs. originally made for television. Following Frame's life from awkward childhood and teenage years. through university (where she was diagnosed as schizophrenic) and bohemian travels in Europe. to her adult achievements as a writer. the film offers a subtle depiction of mental illness. Edinburgh: Filmhouse. Angels With Dirty Faces (PG) (Michael Cuniz. US. 1938) James Cagney. Pat O'Brien. Humphrey Bogart. 97 mins. The classic gangster movie and with a mesage to boot. Two slum kids - Cagney and O'Brien - grow up together. One becomes a hood. the other a priest. The local kids look up to Cagney's glamorous. violent ways. but his childhood friend is on his case. pushing him down the path of redemption. Glasgow: GFT. Apocalypse Now! (18) (Francis Coppola. US. 1980) Martin Sheen. Marlon Brando. Robert Duvall. Dennis Hopper. 153 mins. Vietnam as The Ultimate Trip. We follow US Army assassin Sheen downriver and deeper into the Heart of Darkness ruled over by Brando‘s mad Colonel Kurtz Altemately pretentious and visually overpowering (the Valkyries helicopter attack. for example). its grandiloquent folly somehow pierces tight to the bone of the conflict. Edinburgh: Cameo. l‘Appartement (15) (Gilles Mimouni. France. 1996) Vincent Cassell. Romane Bohringer. Jean- Philippe Ecoffey. 116 mins. Young exec Max (Cassell) finds himselfdrawn into the mystery of his own past when a chance encounter in a cafe sends him hot on the trail of the girl he loved and lost. Mimouni marshals the switchback between past and present with effortless élan - it's all very Hitchcockian. but the film‘s emotional component stops it from being mere pastiche. Quite possibly the coolest French debut since Diva. Edinburgh: Cameo. Armageddon (12) (Michael Bay. US. 1988) Bruce Willis. Billy Bob Thornton. Steve Buscemi. 144 mins. Billed as The Dirty Do:en in space'. Michael Bay's sci-ti movie delivers what this year‘s other event movies - Deep Impact. Godzilla. inst In Space - only promised: $125 million worth of relentless. retina-scorching. high-testosterone action. Bnice Willis leads a team of roughneck oil drillers who must save the world from an asteroid the size ofTexas that‘s on collision course with Earth. We are not talking reality here; we are talking superior formula film-making. General release.
Barney's Great Adventure (U) 72 mins. A kids' TV phenomenon. Barney the purple dinosaur's big screen debut finds him down on a farm with a trio of kids in search of a magic egg. The all singin'. all dancin’ Barney struts his way through the simple story with regular singalongs. making the film perfect for under-fives. Edinburgh: UCl.
Bean (PG) (Mel Smith. UK. 1997) Rowan Atkinson. Peter MacNicol. Pamela Reed. 97 mins. Bean the movie makes an attempt to broaden the range of Atkinson‘s tremendously successful TV sight-gag character by sending him off to California to be mistaken for an an expert. Most gags are agreeably daft: several are tiresomely lavatorial'. eventually. however. the film upholds family values and true blue American schmaltz. You'll like it if you like the TV show. Real grown-ups should stay away. Kilmamock: Odeon.
Beyond Silence (12) (Caroline Link. Germany. 1996) Sylvie Testud. Emanuclle Laborit. Howie Seago. 105 mins. A nominee for Best Foreign Film.
Link's debut feature concerns a child of deaf-mute parents whose life changes when she is given a clarinet. As young Lara strives to make it as a musician. the gap between her and her father widens. Glasgow: GFT. Edinburgh: Filmhouse. The Big lebowslti (18) (Joel Coen. US. 1997) Jeff Bridges. John Goodman. Steve Buscemi. 113 mins. The Coen brothers give their unique twist to a Chandler-esque LA noir. as 705 hippy throwback Jeff ‘The Dude' Lebowski (Bridges) is drawn into the sordid affairs of his millionaire namesake. Suddenly he has to sleuth his way through disorganised crime. Trademark oddball characters. surreal imagery and excellent performances grace this virtuoso comedy. Edinburgh: Cameo.
Blade Runner - Director's Cut (15) (Ridley Scott. US. 1982) Harrison Ford. Rutger Hauer. Sean Young. 117 mins. A tough cop tracks down a group of malfunctioning androids in this gritty hi-tech retread of Raymond Chandler. executed with Scott‘s customary visual flair. and with strong performances. especially from Ford and Hauer. The Director's Cut removes Ford's voice-over and the happy ending and suggests the cop maybe an android himself. Glasgow: GFT.
Bonnie and Clyde (18) (Arthur Penn. US. 1967) Warren Beatty. Faye Dunaway. Gene Hackman. Michael J. Pollard. 111 mins. This stylish and gritty account of the relationship and activities of two self- publicised bank robbers was a late-1960s milestone in making extreme screen violence curiously fashionable. Great performances from Hackman and Dunaway. a genuine sense of the thrill involved in their nefarious activities. and telling period detail make this one of Penn's best. Glasgow: GFT.
le Bossu (15) (Philippe De Broca. France. 1997) Daniel Auteuil. Vincent Perez. Fabrice Luchini) 128 mins. Originally written in the form of a nineteenth century serialised novel. Le Bosstt has an abundance of plot. with the action centering on the exposure of an aristocrat‘s dastardly bastard brother. and the restoration to wealth of an heiress. It‘s never easy to engage with characters who have less dimensionality than a Walt Disney cartoon - only an undemanding audience would let this go and be satisfied with the film overall. Stirling: MacRoben. The Boy Who Stopped Talking (PG) (Ben Sombogaart. Netherlands. 1996) 105 mins. When war threatens the lives of a young Turkish boy named Memo and his family. his father moves his family to a safe haven in Holland. However. Memo doesn‘t want to leave behind his village. friends and job and undertakes a decider non-verbal protest. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
Buffalo 66 (15) (Vincent Gallo. US. 1998) Vincent Gallo. Christina Ricci. Angelica Huston. 110 mins. Life for Billy Brown is so awful that he reconstructs himself from lies upon his release from a five year prison spell. Kidnapping a young girl named Layla. Brown concocts a story for his parents. whom. it turns out. bear very little love for their son. Gallo has a black sense of humour and finds absurdity in the lives of the film's lower-class American characters. it becomes clear that Buffalo 66 is a deeply life-affirming film. Edinburgh: Cameo. Bullitt (18) (Peter Yates. US. 1968) Steve McQueen. Robert Vaughn. Jacqueline Bisset. 114 mins. The movie with the famous car chase up and down the streets of San Francisco — the best of its kind in cinema history. Bullitt also shows McQueen at his coolest: the cop who can't be bought by corrupt senator Vaughn. but who finds time for love with hippy girlfriend Bisset. Glasgow: GFT. Casablanca (PG) (Michael Curtiz. US. I942) Humphrey Bogart. Ingrid Bergman. Dooley Wilson. 102mins. You must remember this . . . Bogart being impossibly noble. Bergman torn between two lovers. Claude Rains playing both ends against the middle. devious Nazis. a fogbound airport. a piano- player tinkling that tune . . . A wonderful hill of beans. Glasgow: GFT.
The Castle (15) (Rob Sitch. Australia. 1997) Michael Caton. Anne Tenney. Stephen Curry. 86 mitts. In this rough-and-ready but surprisingly engaging comedy. a naive Australian family take on the might of a faceless corporation when their suburban home is threatened by an airport development The film is dramatically awkward in places and runs out of steam before its admittedly brief running time is up. but the filmmakers' affection for their characters pulls it through. Kirkcaldy: Adam Smith.
Character (Karaltter) (15) (Mike Van Diem. Holland. l997) Fedja Van Huet. 124 mins. This Best Foreign Film Oscar winner is an unashamedly downbeat. joyless chronicle of misery on a Dickensian scale. set in l930s Rotterdam. Roben Downey Jr lookalike Huet plays Kaiadreuffe. the illegitimate son ofa bailiff who. it emerges is being held responsible for the bailiff ‘s murder. and so his story unspools in flashback. No masterpiece. then. but an intriguing example of a kind of mood and
drama that few filmmakers would dare to tackle. See review. Glasgow: GFT. Edinburgh: Filmhouse. Cool Runnings (PG) (John Turteltaub. US. 1993) Doug E. Doug. Leon. John Candy. 99 mins. Speculative comedy based on the firstever Jamaican bobsled team at the last Winter Olympics is harrnlessly amiable. but unfortunately cranks up too many moralistic messages complete with appropriate accompanying music. Still. audiences seem to like its easy-going nature. making it an
affectionate tribute to the late John Candy. Glasgow:
Grosvenor.
Cube (15) Vincenzo Natali. Canada. 1998) 92 mins. Six people awake in a cubic chamber with a door in each wall. They have no memory of how they got there. but quickly learn they are in a maze of similar cubes. many of which are booby-trapped with lethal devices. Should they attempt to escape? And how? The execution of Cube is as ingenious as its concept. it‘s also a fine example of creativity on a modest budget. Cold. calculating. mischievous fun. Glasgow: GFT. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
The Daytrippers (15) (Greg Mottola. US. 1997) Hope Davis. Liev Schreiber. Parker Posey. 87 mins. Strained as a family unit. the Malones pull together when daughter Eliza suspects her husband is having an affair. So begins a chaotic and disputatious trawl through New York in a station wagon. Mottola’s script is as painfully incisive as it is funny and compassionate. That it succeeds as a film is thanks to its talented cast. who revel in the psychological subtleties of their parts. Falkirk: FTH. Kirkcaldy: Adam Smith.
Deep Rising (15) (Stephen Sommers. US. 1998) Treat Williams. Famke Janssen. Kevin J O'Connor. 106 mins. The pitch: The Poseidon Adventure meets The Abyss meets Alien. What it means for the audience is a rather dull adventure in which a bunch of pirates do battle with yet more CGl mOnsters aboard a luxuary yacht. Glasgow: Odeon Quay. Edinburgh: Odeon.
Deliverance (18) (John Boorrnan. US. 1972) Burt Reynolds. Jon Voight. Ned Beatty. 109 mins. The city slicker‘s worst nightmare comes true for four businessmen taking a canoeing holiday in backwoods America. Homicidal locals. white trash poverty. poisoned environments - the unsettling atmosphere builds. going through great action moments and chilling images. Who can forget the banjo duel between Ronny Cox and that spooky blank-eyed boy? Glasgow: GFT.
Diamonds Are Forever (PG) (Guy Hamilton. UK. 1971) Sean Connery. Jill St John. Charles Gray. 120 mins. Connery's last Bond film before a one-film comeback in the 80s. Five films into the franchise and Connery and co are comfortable with the self- parody. of which 007 adventures are prime material. Gray makes a fine Blofeld. but it's the gay assassins. Mr Kid and Mr Wint who take top villainous prize. Stirling: Allanpark.
Divorcing Jack (15) (David Caffrey. UK. 1998) David Thewlis. Robert Lindsay. Laura Fraser. 1 l0 mins. The year is 1999 and the independent state of Northern Ireland is united around slick Prime Ministerial candidate Michael Brinn. The focus. however. is on joumo Dan Starkey and his failing marriage. his boozing and his infidelity with an art student who gets murdered. The puzzle extends to all quarters of the new state and ends in treachery and explosions. Glasgow: Odeon Quay. Edinburgh: UCl.
Dr Dolittle (PG) (Betty Thomas. US. 1998) Eddie Murphy. Ossie Davies. Oliver Plait. 85 mins. A turkey with Rex Harrison in its original form. and still pretty dire this time round. This wild family adventure offers cnide bottom humour for the Babe audience. but the talking animals gimmick battles with cheesy morality and nothing comes together. Overall. the film might have benefitted from a simpler. less snappy and more family orientated tale. while Murphy‘s comic judgement has again become decidedly questionable. General release.
Enter The Dragon (18) (Roben Clouse. US/HK. 1973) Bruce Lee. John Saxon. Shih Kien. Jim Kelly. 98 mins. First in a spate of kung-fu films that were to spawn playground imitators throughout the Seventies. Bruce infiltrates a martial ans crew converging on Hong Kong in the course of his inquiries into an opium ring. Hard-hitting and doubtless put on in time for Christmas choppers. Glasgow: GFT.
Ever After (PG) (Andy Tennant. US. 1998) Drew Barrymore. Dougray Scott. Angelica Huston) 120 mins. Why film a story synonymous with Walt Disney animation? Whn it purports to be the definitive one. The filmmakers invest the tale with some PC values. most obviously in a heroine who shows ‘girl power' independence and intellect. Barrymore manages to be both sweet and gutsy. but the surprise lies in Dougray Scott's engaging turn as the Prince. See feature and review. General release. The Exorcist (18) (William Friedkin. US. 1973)
index FILM
Linda Blair. Ellen Burstyn. Max Von Sydow. 110 mins. Earnest priest Von Sydow steps in to save poor little possessed girl in this hugely effective scarefest. Now re-released in remastered form. with a super stereo soundtrack (so you can hear those Obscenities in full). Dead good. dead scary. dead priest Falkirk: FTH. Kirkcaldy: Adam Smith.
The Fifth Element (12) (Luc Besson. France/US. 1997) Bruce Willis. Milla Jovovich. Gary Oldman. 127 mins. New York City in the 23rd Century. and cabbie Korben Dallas (Willis) picks up an unexpected passenger in the shape of Leeloo (Milla Jovovich) — an alien who holds the key to saving the world. Besson’s second English language film — following the excellent Leon - is a colourful jumble of camp designs (by Jean-Paul Gaultier). self- indulgent performances and genre rip-offs which plays for laughs as genuine sci-ti ideas run dry. Edinburgh: Cameo.
42nd Street (PG) (Lloyd Bacon. US. 1933) Warner Baxter. Ruby Keeler. Bebe Daniels. Dick Powell. Guy Kibbee. Ginger Rogers. 89 mins. Chance-of—a- lifetime musical comedy as chorus-girl understudy Keeler gets to play leading lady and save the show. Sizzling Berkeley production numbers and solo routines are the lifeblood of this monochrome extravaganza. which still shines despite the wealth of hammy cliches. Glasgow: GFT.
Fred. Gromit And Friends Flagship of the award- winning British animation studio. Aardman. Nick Park's master and dog team. lead the pack here in A Close Shave. Hot on their heels are four more animated shorts: The Cat Came Back. A Man And His Dog Out For Air. Bad lack Blackie and Famous Fred. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
Full Metal Jacket ( 18) (Stanley Kubrick. UK. 1987) Matthew Modine. Dorian Harewood. Lee Errney. 109 mins. Technically effective and narratively balanced depiction of raw Vietnam recruits as they endure basic training and the even greater horrors of the 1968 Tet offensive. One of the better Vietnam movies of recent years. Glasgow: GFT.
Gadjo Dilo (15) (Tony Gatlif. France. 1998) Romain Duris. lzidor Serban. Rona Hartner. 100 mins. Translating as ‘crazy foreigner', Gudjo Dllo is the term used by a community of gypsies to describe Stephane. a young Parisian on a personal mission to Romania in search ofa gypsy singer. Here he is introduced to the quirks and customs of the gypsy community and gradually falls in love with their world. The simple story of a man‘s enriching experience of a new and unusual culture. See preview and review. Glasgow: GFT.
The Gingerbread Man (15) (Robert Altman. US. 1998) Kenneth Branagh. Embeth Davidtz. Roben Duvall. 114 mins. The combination ofdirector Altman and writer John Grisham seems like an obvious mismatch. and the two masters do seem to get in each other's way. Branagh plays an emo:.onally naive lawyer who slides into a nightmare when he falls for vulnerable waitress Davidtz. Eccentric characters and improvised dialogue bring a looseness to the film which counters the forward momentum of the plot. and well before the end this has become a baggy thriller. Kirkcaldy: Adam Smith.
Godzilla (PG) (Roland Emmerich. US. 1998) Matthew Broderick. Jean Reno. Maria Pitillo. 140 mitts. Nuclear testing causes a lizard to grow to an enormous size. reproduce asexually and head to New York to lay some eggs. When the military take the offensive. it's time for the rampaging reptile to demolish Manhattan. Godzilla goes beyond insulting its audience and makes the grave error of forcing our sympathy away from the monster and onto the iion-descript humans. Glasgow: Odeon Quay. Virgin. UCl Clydebank. Edinburgh: L'Cl. lrvine: Magnum.
GoodFellas ( l8) (.‘vlanin Scorsese. US. 1990) Roben De Niro. Ray Liotta. Joe Pesci. Lorraine Braco. Paul Sorvino. 145 mins. Lioita plays Henry Hill. a real-life niajioso, with De Nito as his mentor in crime. And while the bullets. fists and caning knives fly. Scorsese brings us back to that unavoidable question — yes. it's glamorous and lucrative to live this way. but can anyone really live with the consequences? Winner of BAFTA awards for best film. director and screenplay. and a Best Supponing Actor Oscar for Joe Pesci. Glasgow: GET. A Goofy Movie (U) (Kevin Lima. US. 1996) 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 joumey provides plenty of laughs which should keep restless kids and accompanying adults amused. Edinburgh: Odeon. Ayr: Odeon.
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8—22 Oct 1998 THE LIST 31