FILM index
FILM INDEX continued
The Near Roomt l8) (David Hayman. UK. I995) Adrian Dunbar. David O'Hara. Julie Graham. 89 mins. Enter a vision of Glasgow where Mr Happy never smiles better and washedcup newspaper hack Charlie (Dunbar) realises that the young girl he is searching for in a sewer of corruption and child pornography is his own long-IOst daughter. Robert Murphy's screenplay throws a tight net over the characters. creating a world where the past hunts everyone down with a relentless. merciless inevitability. Glasgow: GET.
The Negotiator ( l5) Samuel L. Jackson. Kevin Spacey. IT. Walsh. I40 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. Largs: Barrlields.
The New Sorrows Of Young W (Eberhard ltzenplitz. Germany. l975/76) ll2 mitts. A idealistic. non-conformist youth living in the GDR in the l97()s comes across a copy of Goethe's The Sorrows Of Young Werther and finds parallels between his own life and that of the tragic hero. Playing with the short film Gael/re Walking At'rnszv A Lawn. Glasgow: Goethe Institttte.
Night On Earth ( l 5) (Jim Jarmusch. US. I992) Winona Ryder. Beatrice Dalle. Gena Rowlands. Giancarlo Esposito. I29 mins. Los Angeles. New York. Paris. Rome. Helsinki. Five cities. five taxi rides. five chance encounters. The director of Mystery Train and Down By Law pushes aside narrative and goes instead for visual uniformity in a claustrophobic setting. Character studies with a mildly philosophical aftertaste. Edinburgh: Cameo. Nightwatch (l8) (()le Bornedal. Denmark. I994) Nikolai Waldau. Ulf Pilgaard. Kim Bodnia. I04 mins. A law student. moonlighting as a nightwatchman in a hospital morgue. becomes involved in a sex killer case. 'lightly scripted. with jttst a drop of wicked black humour. Nig/nwart'h delivers creepy hints of necrophilia. visceral shocks and heart-racing suspense. Superior genre movie-making that leaves the little- seen Ewan McGregor remake standing. Edinburgh: Lumiere.
Notorious (PG) (Alfred Hitchcock. US. I946) Cary Grant. Ingrid Bergman. Claude Rains. IOI mins. World War Two. Cynical intelligence agent Grant enlists playgirl Bergman to help him uncover a Nazi atomic plot in Rio de Janeiro. She marries suave plotter Rains and then finds her life in alarming danger. 'l'aut. classic thriller. with a fine Ben Hecht script that effectively blends romance and suspense. Stirling: MacRobert. Old Glasgow On The Green (U) Approx. 90 mins. A selection of films from the Scottish Film & Television Archive reflecting life dttring the first half of the century. Glasgow: GILT.
The Opposite Of Sex (Don Roos. US. I998) Christina Ricci. Martin Donovan. Lisa Kudrow. l()5 mins. Dedee Truth. 21 sixteen-year-old super-bitch. runs away from Louisiana to live in Indiana with her half-brother Bill. swiftly steals his new dishy-but-dim boyfriend. announces her pregnancy and flees the state with Sl().0()0 of her brother's money. A dark comedy flawed by a wilfully tin-PC treatment of sexual politics and unneccessary dallying with postmodern narration. Glasgow: Odeon Quay. Edinburgh: Cameo.
Out Of Sight ( l 5) (Steven Soderbergh. US. I998) George C looney. Jennifer Lopez. Ving Rhames. I23 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. Kirkcaldy: Adam Smith.
The Parent Trap (U) Dennis Quaid. Natasha Richardson. Lindsay Lohan. I25 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
28 THE usr '18 Feb—4 Mar 1999
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truth at summer camp. Never having met the i film is nicely unsentimental. lidinbttrgh:
other parent. American Hallie and English Annie agree to swap identities. Sweet natured. well meaning story containing elements of farce and slapstick. General release.
Passage To Marseille (PU) (Michael Curtiz. US. l9-l-l) Humphrey Bogart. Michele Morgan. Claude Rains. lI() mins. Follow-up to Casablanca in which jaded journalist Bogart is converted to self- destructive French patriotism after an encounter with Sidney Greenstreet's fascist. Glasgow: Grosvenor.
Paulie: A Parrot's Tail (PG) (John Roberts. US. I998) Jay Mohr. 'I'ony Shalhoub. Gena Rowlands. 9] mins. Caged in a research institute. Paulie the parrot relates his life- story: from helping a little girl with a stutter to a series of adventures with various adults. Jay Mohr's vocal talents give the parrot a streetwise sense. while the mix of live action and animatronics is always realistic. Glasgow: UCI Clydebank. liast Kilbride: UCI.
Pecker (I5) (John Waters. US. I998) Edward Furlong. Christina Ricci. l.ili 'I'aylor. 86 mins. Narrative logic very rarely crops up in this rags-to-riches-antl-back-to- rags story of a young Baltimore photographer. who briefly becomes the darling of the New York art set until he rejects it all for his hometown. family and friends. Otin the sheer fun of it all rather than any notion of insight or depth. will probably keep this l’t't'kt'r tip. (ilasgovv: GI’I‘. Edinburgh; l’ilmhouse.
Pepe Le Molto (PG) (Jttlien Duviviet'. France. I936) Jean Gabin. Mireille Balin. Line Noro. 93 mins. A Parisian gangster hides out in the Algerian casbah. but love tempts him out of his hideavs ay with ultimately tragic results. Gorgeous romantic melodrama. with a typically lirench doomy poetry remaking a Hollywood genre. and Gabin at the peak of his powers. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
Perdita Durango ( I 8) (Ales de la lglesia. US/Spain. I998) Rosie Pet'e/ . Javier Bardem. l22 mins. With ll'ilt/At Heart and Lost Highway. novelist Barry Gifford and director David Lynch tvs ice collaborated to bring disturbineg protean worlds to the big screen. When (iifford‘s characters fall into the hands of Spain‘s de la Iglesia however. they're badly served by a filmmaker whose blatant misogyny and incompetent handling of narrative momentum were evident in Action Mttlanlt' anti I)a_\ ()f'l'ltt' Ilt'as‘l. See review. Edinburgh: l-‘ilmhouse.
ll Postino (U) (Michael Radford. Italy. I995) Massimo 'l'roisi. Philippe Noiret. Maria Grazia Cucinotta. I()8 mins. When exiled Chilean poet Pablo Neruda (Noiret) arrives on a remote island off the Neapolitan coast. he aids local postman Mario ('l'roisi) to woo the village barmaid. Gently paced and full of Mediterranean sun. Ratlford‘s
l-‘ilmhouse.
Practical Magic ( l 2) (Griffin Dunne. US. I998) Sandra Bullock. Nicole Kidman. Dianne Wiest. Stockard Channing. l07 mins. ()rphaned ()wens sisters Bullock and Kidman are raised by tlotty aunts Channing and Wiest. bttt are ostracised by their small (own community for practising the family's heriditary witchcraft Worse still. an ancient famin curse spells death for any man an ()vven woman falls in love with. Unevenly paced. Practical Magic nevertheless boasts spirited performances. General release. Primary Colors ( l5) (Mike Nichols. US. I998) John 'l‘ravolta. Iimma 'I‘hompson. Adrian Lester. l-I3 mins. Despite knowing all there is to know about President Clinton‘s sexual proclivities. there is still a fair amount of satirical bite in this fictional portrayal of a Southern politician whose rampant libido continually threatens to scupper his pursttit of the presidency. lidinbttrgh: Lumiere.
The Prince Of Egypt (U) (Brenda Chapman. Steve Hickner. Simon Wells. US. I998) Voices of \'al Kiltner. Ralph l‘iennes. Sandra Bullock. Michelle Pfeiffer. 99 mins. 'l’he lisodus story. animated for the big screen. With some artistic licence. it follows Moses from his discovery as a baby by Pharaoh's vs ife. through his formative years as a Royal Prince to his fall from grace when he discovers his true Hebrew background. General release.
The Red Shoes (U) (Michael Powell. limeric I’ressburger. UK. I948) Moira Shearer. Anton Walbrook. Marius Goring. I33 mins. Ballerina Shearer is torn between an autocratic impressario and a starving young composer as she dances her way towards madness. Remarkably serious treatment of the subject matter is helped by superlative design and cinematography. lidinbttrgh: Lumiere.
The Rocky Horror Picture Show ( I8) (Jim Sharnian. UK. I975)'I‘im Cttrry. Susan Sarandon. Barry Bostvvick. Meat Loaf. l()() mins. 'I'lit' cult film to end all others. this rock spoof on old horror movies has created a breed of Rocky Horror crazies. and packs them in at late shovv s es erywhere. 'I‘he Iilm has its moments. and Curry is splendidly camp as the bisexual Iirank N. I'lll'ICl‘. Stirling; MacRobert.
Saturday Night Fever ( l8) (John Badham. US. I977) John 'li'avolta. Karen Lynn (iot'ney. Julie Bovasso. I I9 mins. Nostalgia rules again with the revival of this rather ordinary teen rebellion/dance mini-classic in which an ordinary working-class youth finds the only meanng in his life during his energetic peregrinations on the weekend dance floor. Glasgow: (irosvenor.
Saving Private Ryan ( IS) (Steven Spielberg. US. I998) Tom Hanks. Ion) Si/emore. Matt Damon. I7(l mins. Saving I’I'Il‘tllt‘ Ryan focuses its attention squarely
Sleepless in cyberspace: Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks in You’ve Got Mail
on the brutalities endured by American soldiers in World War II. 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 sees Hanks sent off with the remnants of his unit to locate the eponymous Ryan. Edinburgh: Lumiere. Shakespeare In Love ( IS) (John Madden. UK. I998) Joseph Fiennes. Gwyneth Paltrow. Rupert Everett. I20 mins. Fiennes. a pair of breeches and a few moody verses and a league of women will leave the cinema wondering why they never figured it out at school: Shakespeare is sex on legs. 'l’om Stoppard's script is exuberantly confident. irreverent and witty; all the characters are sent up and Will is the butt of so many jokes. it's a wonder he retains his romantic gloss. General release.
The Siege (I5) (Ed Zwick. US. I998) Denzel Washington. Annette Bening. Bruce Willis. ll6 mins. FBI agent Washington attempts to get to the bottom of a series of mysterious (CITOI‘ISI attacks in New York City. but the indignant US government declares Marshall law and General Willis moves in with his tanks. The gung-ho nature of it all is unintentionally amusing and not anti-Arab. as the controversy surrounding it has suggested. Glasgow: Showcase. Edinburgh: ABC Multiplex. Paisley: Showcase.
Small Soldiers (PG) (Joe Dante. US. I998) Kirsten Dunst. Gregory Smith. Denis Leary. I l0 mins. Dante plunders his anarchic live action cartoon tale. Gremlins. substituting toys for little devils and adding state-of-the- art computerised effects. Unfortunately. Small Soldiers displays none of the sadistic mischief. nor the knowing Capra-esque whimsy of its antecedent. Sanitised. bland and banal. Edinburgh: Odeon. Ayr: Odeon. Smilla's Feeling For Snow (IS) (Bille August. Germany/Denmark/Sweden. I997) Julia Ormond. Gabriel Byrne. Richard Hatris. 120 mins. When Greenland native Smilla (Julia Ormond) investigates the death of her neighbour’s child in a fall. her highly developed 'sense of snow' convinces her it was murder. An Arctic conspiracy of iceberg-sized proportions unravels in August‘s version of Peter Hoeg's bestseller. Edinburgh: Lumiere. .
The Sound Of Music (U) (Robert Wise. US. I965) Julie Andrews. Christopher Plummer. Richard Haydn. Eleanor Parker. Peggy Wood. I73 mins. In the late I930s. vivacious nun Maria (Andrews) introduces the Von 'l‘rapp children to the joys of music. and their widowed father (Plummer) to the
joys of love as Nazism begins to sweep
Austria. ()ne of the great screen musicals. completely uncynical. and boasting a host of memorable songs and charm—sodan moments. And it's all based on a true story. Stirling: MacRobert.
The Spy In Black (PG) (Michael Powell.