FILM index
FILM INDEX continued
Love Is The Devil ( 18) (John Maybury. UK. 1998) Derek Jacobi. Daniel Craig. Tilda Swinton. 90mins. By no means a documentary-style portrait of the artist. Love Is The Devil is concerned with the destructive relationship between Bacon and his lover George Dyer. Far more visual and experimental than most of what passes for British cinema these days. East Kilbride: Arts Centre. Falkirk: 17TH. Stirling: MacRobert.
Lucie Aubrac (12) (Claude Berri. France. 1997) Carole Bouquet. Daniel Attteuil. l 15 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 of quiet heroism in a tempestuous time. of love on the edge. It could possibly use 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 All/"'(lt' is a gentle and touching success. Kelso: Roxy.
Mary Reilly ( l 5) (Stephen Frears. US. 1995) Julia Roberts. John Malkovich. Glenn Close. 108 mins. Malkovich delves into the darker side of the human psyche as the Jekyll/Hyde dual personality while Roberts the housemaid watches from the wings. The doctors transformations merge with memories of her drunken father‘s abusive affections. grafting a disturbing but potent sexual edge to the story. Wonderfully atmospheric and thematically brave. bttt Roberts’s lack of acting ability is shown up for what it was all along. Supported by the short film [xi/fl! Fur/l Dark RUN/ll. Edinbttrgh: Lumiere.
The Mask Of Zorro (PG) (Martin Campbell. US. 1998) Antonio Banderas. Catherine Zeta Jones. Anthony Hopkins. 137 mins. As a piece of old-school matinee hokum. The Musk ()quri-u flashes its blade with the best of them. bttt it‘s also clever enough to draw iii a new audience by plundering every manifestation of the action-adventure formula. With the dark Lati'n looks of a romantic hero and a physical ability to pull off the film's acrobatic stunts and comedy. Banderas is perfectly cast — an Errol Flynn for the 90s. Swordfights haven't looked this good since Basil Rathbone last headed for the staircase. See feature and review. General release.
Ma Vie En Rose (12) (Alain Berliner. France/Belgium/UK. 1997) Georges Du Fresne. Michele Laroque. Jean-Philippe Ecoffey. 93 mins. Happy seven-year-old Ludovic loves cross-dressing and is convinced he will grow tip to become a girl. His parents hope it's a passing phase. bttt hostility from their neighbours causes problems. The child's eye world is visually striking. the message of accepting the ‘difference' of others worth repeating. the performances by all tremendous. A refreshingly honest look at a complex subject. Edinburgh: Cameo.
Memphis Belle (12) (Michael Caton-Jones. UK. 1990) Matthew Modine. Eric Stoltz. Harry Connick Jr. 106 mins. 1943. and the brave crew of the B- l 7 bomber Memphis~ Belle have one more mission to get through before they reach the target of twenty-five completed runs which will enable them all to return home as heroes. Yet there‘s still a lot of dangerous sky between them and their goal. Predictable. occasionally over- calculating return to the schoolboy heroics of another time. Edinbttrgh: Lumiere. Monty Python's Meaning Of Life (I8) (Terry Jones. UK. 1983) John Cleese. Graham Chapman. Michael Palin. Eric Idle. 103 mins. Ragbag of occasionally gross Python sketches loosely following this mortal coil from womb to grave. Watch out for the exploding Mr Creosote. Edinburgh: Cameo.
Mother And Son (U) (Alexandr Sokurov. Germany/USSR. I997) Gundrun Geyer. Alexei Ananishnov. 73 mins. In an old stone
cottage. a dying mother is tended by her son.
The converse and he carries her through the countryside. Sokurov's film owes more to landscape painting than cinema and it's images are all the more breathtaking for it. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
MouseHunttU) (Gore Verbinski. US. 1997)
42 THE 1.18T 3—17 Dec 1998
Nathan Lane. Lee Evans. Christopher Walken. 98 mins. Lane and Evans play hapless brothers who inherit a decrepit mansion. but when they decide to renovate and auction it. a resident rodent is not willing to be evicted. An excellent blend of Laurel and Hardy slapstick and black humour. MousthmI is sheer entertainment and has some real belly laughs. The tone and the pacing are spot-on throughout. and the sets and special effects are the icing on the cake. Ayr: Odeon.
Mulan (U) (Barry Cook. Tony Bancroft. US. 1998) The voices of Ming-Na Wen. Donny Osmond. Eddie Murphy. 89 mins. After Disney's tastin designed venture into Greek mythology with Hercules. the studio has brought its lens to bear on the rich and colourful possibilities of Chinese legend. Details of character. movement and expression are as fine as should be expected from the world‘s best known cartoon studio. but the stunning large-scale set pieces are truly astonishing. General release.
The Muppet Christmas Carol (U) (Brian Henson. US. 1992) Michael Caine. Steven MacKintosh. Meredith Braun. 86 mins. Caine is Scrooge. Gonzo is the narrator (Dickens). Kermit is Bob Crachit (married to Miss Piggy. of course) and Tiny Tim is a froglet on crutches with a cough. There's also an old curiosity shop called Micklewhite. Not a lot of people knew that. Glasgow: GFT.
My Name Is Joe (15) (Ken Loach. UK. 1998) Peter Mullan. Louise Goodall. David McKay. 105 mins. My Name Is Joe's blend of comedy. social drama. love interest and tense thriller makes for a more accessible movie than we‘d normally expect from Loach. Recovering alcoholic Joe Kavanagh (Mttllan) meets and falls in love with health visitor Sarah (Goodall). but his well intentioned scheme to get a young friend out of the grip of a vicious drttg dealer looks likely to backfire on everyone he cares for. General release.
The Negotiator (15) Samuel L. Jackson. Kevin Spacey. J.T. Walsh. 140 mins. When Danny Roman. the best hostage negotiator in Chicago. is framed for murder by his fellow boys in blue. he takes hostages and seals himself off in an office high-rise. As an extra safeguard. he demands that negotiations are handled by his peer from another precinct. Take a deep breath at the beginning. because you won't let it out until the final credits roll. General release.
On Connait La Chanson (PG) (Alain Resnais. France. 1998) André Dussolier. Agnés Jaoui. Jean-Pierre Bacri. 122 mins. Resnais. director of Last Year In Marten/furl. follows five characters in search of love and self-respect in modern-day Paris. The novelty here lies in how the characters express their emotions: the film is structured around song-snippets to which the characters mime. Dussolier asks. with the aid ofJohnny Halliday. ‘what's wrong with my mug': Azéma. clenching her fists. decides to ‘resist'. courtesy of one of France's biggest pop hits of the 80s. See review. Glasgow: GET. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
Out Of Sight (15) (Steven Soderbergh. US. 1998) George Clooney. Jennifer Lopez. Ving Rhames. 123 mins. This stylish adaptation of Elmore Leonard‘s novel teams Clooney's bank robber Jack Foley with Jennifer Lopez‘ chic. Chanel-wearing cop. Soderbergh catches perfectly Leonard's sly. deadpan wit. while infusing it with a wistful melancholy. Smart. sexy and deliciously bitter-sweet. General release.
The Parent Trap (U) Dennis Quaid. Natasha Richardson. Lindsay Lohan. 125 mins. This updated version of the Hayley Mills original casts Lohan in the dual role of identical twins completely unaware of each other‘s existence until they discover the truth at summer camp. Never having met the other parent. American Hallie and English Annie agree to swap identities. it makes for a sweet natured. well meaning story that trades on elements of farce and the odd bit of slapstick. See review. General release.
A Perfect Murder (18) (Andrew Davis. US. 1998) Michael Douglas. Gwyneth Paltrow. Viggo Mortensen. 107 mins. There is. quite simply. no one to touch Douglas when it comes to playing alienated. middle- class. middle-aged. white American males.
Who wants to be a millionaire: James Stewart and Cary Grant in The Philadelpia Story
Which is precisely why he's so perfectly cast as a manipulative. predatory ‘control freak' with a talent for exploiting human weakness in this entertaining and intelligent re-working of Hitchcock‘s dramatically flat 3-D thriller. Dial M For Mun/er. Glasgow: Odeon Quay. ‘
The Philadelphia Story (PG) (George Cukor. US. 1940) Katharine Hepburn. Cary Grant. James Stewart. 112 mins. Splendidly sophisticated Hollywood comedy with Stewart as a scandalsheet reporter covering the society wedding of recently divorced Hepburn. ex-hubby Grant lurking in the wings. and romance rekindling despite itself. Sparkling dialogue and charismatic performances all round make this one of the best of its kind. Edinburgh: Cameo.
Red Shoes (PG) (Michael Powell & limeric Pressburger. UK. 1948) Anton Wallbrook. Marius Goring. Moira Shearer. 133 mins. Ballerina Shearer is torn between an autocratic impressario and a starving young composer as she dances her way towards madness. Retnarkably serious treatment of the subject matter is helped by superlative design and cinematography in this classic piece of Powell/Pressburger expressionism. Edinburgh: Lumiere.
Ronin(15) (John Frankenheimer. US. 1998) Robert De Niro. Jean Reno. Natasha McElhone. 132 mins. A crack team of post- glusnnsi super-spies steal a Pandora‘s Box- like briefcase front the French for the Irish before it‘s sold to the Russians. 1t‘sa sign of the changing times that another post-Cold War film. Mission: Int/mvsible. squeezes Rmtnt's plot into its opening sequence. Worse still. the plot is fttll of holes and the whole affair unfolds with a total lack of irony. which swiftly becomes laughable and undermines the suspense. General release. Rounders (15) (John Dahl. US. 1998) Matt Damon. Edward Norton. John Malkovich. 118 mins. Gamblerholtc law student Mike loses all his tuition money in an illegal Russian mafia gambling den. However he is seduced back into the game by an ex-con poker genius who can't help cheating and using tricks to win the pot. Roma/en is a boys' movie not simply because it's about playing cards. but because it has a fascination with how things work. Edinburgh: Cameo.
Rush Hour (PG) (Brett Ratner. US. 1998) Jackie Chart. Chris Tucker . 97 mins. (‘han has surely US superstardom with this mismatched buddy movie. Chan ts Hong Kong cop Lee. sent to America to assist in the hunt for the kidnapped daughter of his friend. the Chinese consul. He is paired with maverick LA cop Tucker suffering delusions of competence. It's the kind of mindlessly enjoyable. action-packed romp that you
might wish the Lei/ml ll’eu/mn films still were. See preview and review. General release.
The Santa Clause (U) (John Pasquin. US. 199-1) 'lim Allen. Judge Reinhold. Wendy (.‘rewson. 98 mins. When he unknowingly dons that famous red suit. divorced toy company executive Scott Calvin discovers a clause that means he‘s legally bound to be Santa from that moment on. TV star Allen (Hume Int/n'nrenienl) is a competent lead in this upbeat festive tale that tries hard to appeal to the widest possible audience. Glasgow: UCI Clydebank. East Kilbride: UCl.
Saving Private Ryan (15) (Steven Spielberg. US. 1998) Tom Hanks. Tom Sizemore. Matt Damon. 17() mins. Like no film in recent memory. Saving Private Ryan focuses its attention squarely on the brutalities endured by American soldiers in World War 11. Central to this impact is the already legendary opening half hour. detailing with remorseless brilliance the carnage of the D-Day landings. The actual meat of the story. in which Hanks is sent off with the remnants of his unit to locate the eponymous Ryan. is built on rugged rather titan subtle lines. Glasgow: Showcase. UCl (‘lydebank Edinburgh: UCl. Paisley: Showcase.
The Singing Ringing Tree (U) (Francesco Stefani. East Germany. 1958) 73 mins. Imaginative adaptation of the Grimm Brothers‘ tale. in which Princess '1‘1tousandbeauty's suitor prince has the unenviable task of supplying her with said vegetation in order to win her hand. Glasgow: (ii-T.
The Sixth Happiness ( 18) (Waris Hussein. l'K/lndia. 1997) 97 mins. The story of the life of one liirdaus Kanga who grows tip in with a brittle bone disease in a Parsee community in Bombay. As he grows older. the focus shifts from the perspective of family and friends to Kanga‘s own and the tale becomes comic and more optimistic as the man comes to understand his life and body. Glasgow (ii-'1‘. Edinburgh: 1’ilttthouse.
Small Faces ( 18) (Gillies Mackinnon. UK. 1995) lain Robertson. Joseph McFadden. J.S. Duffy. HJS mins. Ctr-written with producer brother Billy. Gillies Mackinnon's itiarvellously detailed study about the growing pains of a boy caught in the fringes of Glasgow's gangland violence in the 60s emerges as a warm and accurate portrayal of working-class family life. Centring on three brothers. it avoids the pitfalls of the Glasgow hard man movie. instead becoming a superior rites-of-passage tale. Supported by the short film Shark. Edinburgh: Lumiere.