reviews
RETAIL Accattone (15) 112 mins
There's no clo/ce vrta rn these Roman slums, as Prer Paolo Pasolrnr enters a world of prrnps, prostrtutes and layabouts Franco Crttr brrstles wrth attrtude as the trtle character, a lowlrfe who leeches off the women around him, cocky sc‘owl, sweater, gold charn he's Begbre's Italian cousrr: The non- professronal cast and on-locatron sets give Acc‘attone an authentrcrty that brOught ciondemnatron down on Pasolrnr's head, but as an unsentrmental portrart of an eternal underclass, rt stands the test of trme. Also avarlable rs Oedipus Rex. (Tartan £15 991 (NW
Downtime
(15) 86 mins r
Hrgh-rrse lrvrng rs not all rt's burlt up to be, part:c:ularly when you're berng terrorrsecl by psycho krds wrred on pot noodles and an ex-polrce psychologrst who bores hrs \vOLrld-be sUICIcle vrctrrns rnto not rumprng Paul McGann, a perfectly good actor, rs wasted rn thrs productron that trres to take Bleasdale- esgue drama :nto Dre Hard terrrtory and ends up lrttle more than Carry On Cracker. Best lrne of dralogue ‘You’ve been wanking srnce you were 12.7 You must be really knackerecl ’ rVCI/Frlm Four £12.99) IRE)
Lost In Space
(PG) 109 mins .
Another cult TV series gets the blockbuster rrtakeover treatment wrth predrctably urvnsprrrng results. The frfm manages to be srmu'taneOusly preclrctable and confusing, wrth an unnecessary t-mc-é-tr‘avel eiement tagged on to the spatral sherm'rrgans. The castrng process rs egually bafflrng, as erlram Hurt encounters lvldtl Le lanc 's 'smell the fart acting and we are asked
VIDEOS
to belreve that rndre fave Heather Graham shares the same gene pool as the really annOyrng one from Party of Five If you never see thrs, it’ll be no great loss rEntertarnment £14 99, 'RF
The Winner
(15) 85 Mins '-
Surcrdal Phrllrp hrts Las Vegas -- cue a wrnnrng streak. Lourse, lounge srnger and opportunist, sees hrrn as a means to end her debts whrle smalltrme, wannabe gangster Joey envrsages both a frrencl and some serious cash. Frnally, Phil's brother Wolf has hit town wrth the body lmrnus one hand) of therr murdered father. Desprte a strong effort from the cast, Alex Cox's thrrller falls rust a lrttle short of the bullseye. (VCI/Feature Frlrn Co £12.99r 1881
The Butcher Boy (15) 110 mins
Whrmsy and crudeness are the two thrngs whrch seem to excel when lrrsh minds are put to cultural endeavours In Nerl Jordan’s film based on the Patrrck lvlcCabe novel, both of these merge wrth engaging rf ultrrnately rrrrtatrng effect. Havrng chosen a lrfe of chrlclrsh fantasy rather than the harsh realrty of home, young Franc re Brady plays out hrs dreams to deep drsapproval and eventual estranc/rerrrent The blarney has become very wearing by the trrne Srnead O'Connor has descended from the heavens. (Warner £14.99) 1801
Secret Défense (PG) 170 mins
lacgues Rrvette’s frlrn rs a Greek tragedy relocated to contemporary France It deals wrth rssues of famrly loyalty and the way that blood sprllecl clelrberately will always frncl a deadly echo rn trme. Fearrng that her brother rs about to rrsk hrs lrfe rn order to avenge the murder of therr father, Sylvre attempts to take vengeance on
Shoot the loan: Homer goes gun crazy in The Simpsons - Too hot For TV (20th
Century Fox, PG, 88 mins, *****). Available to buy from Mon 8 Mar, priced £12.99
RETAIL Love Is The Devil (18) 90 mins r M
John Maybury made his name as an avant-garde filmmaker and artist working with the likes of Derek Jarman, Michael Clarke and Leigh Bowery. So. it seems fitting that he should be the one to put the life and works of Francis Bacon onto film. Unfortunately, though perhaps hardly surprisingly, Love Is The Devil works well as an exercise on soothing the eye, but less so when
it comes down to getting behind the
man and his motivation.
reviews VIDEOS
Love Is The Devil: Bacon and egos
Indeed, the film is as much about his model and lover George Dyer (Daniel Craig) whose life is sublimated to appeasing the whims of Bacon - maybe that is just, considering their first meeting came when Dyer attempted to burgle Bacon's flat. The storminess of their relationship never calms and while Bacon (played flamboyantly by Sir Derek Jacobi) is accepting plaudits as the greatest living painter from the Grand Palais in Paris, Dyer is back home swallowing a fistful of pills, washed down by champagne and
whisky.
Yet, you would hardly know that Francis Bacon was a painter — too much of the film is spent through a blurred lens at his Soho watering-hole and little devoted to any sense of the creative process. Then again, is the biopic genre there to show the artist or the art? In Love Is The Devil, the former is satisfied and the latter largely ignored. Perhaps, the majesty and importance of Francis Bacon as a 20th century icon was too much for any director to tackle head on. (Brian Donaldson)
. Available to buy on Artificial Eye at [15.99 on Mon 15 Mar.
hrs behalf What follows rs a downward sprral of revelatron and murder Sandrrne Bonnarre rs superbly angsty rn the lead, but the frlrn rs overlong rArtrfrcral Fye £15.99'1PRr
Gattaca
(15) 102 mins ~
Before hrs OSCch-tTOYT’TIITi‘riOd script for The Truman Show, Andrew Niccoi wrote and drrected the ever: more rrnagrnatrve Gattaca. It's futurrstrc nrghtmare scenario about genetic. science has become more relevant srnce the current food scandal broke Nrccoi dispenses wrth the scr-r’. trappngs, focusing instead on the rdea of a
soc :ety drvrded by genetrc engineering rnto Valrcl and lnvaird people r- the achrevement of the Aryan dream and the creation of a new system of slavery A chrllrng, expertly executed frlm. (Columbra Trrstar £12.99t tlylF
Fritz The Cat
(18) 75 mins
Not the cute rf tedrously dull srient era pussy but the crude, rude and lewd rnoggy invented by Robert Crumb, and brought to modern anrmatecl lrfe by Ralph Bakshr. ln thrs acclarmed cartoon, Frrtx gets wrecked, lard and beaten by the cops and its all wrrtten and frlrnecl rn the most unwholesome of fashrons Also avarlable are The Nine
lives Of Ffli/ The Cat and Heavy Traffic.
14 Front £5991 (BDr
Marius & Jeanette
(15) 97 mins
It's easy to see thrs as a French My Name Is Joe as two working class salts of the earth meet and fall tentatrvely rn love: there's even some house parntrng rnvolved rn the early stages of the courtship. Director Robert Guedrguran presents an rnvolvrng portrait of lrfe rn the lvlarserlles Suburbs, showrng a communrty bound together by
ad\.rersrty and a strong raclrcal tradrtron Worth seerng for the scene rn whrc h a concentration camp survrvor recalls usrng sex as an agent of resistance (Tartan £15.99 rRl-U
The Woodlanders
(U) 94 mins
Thomas Hardy has never been the simplest of authors to set to cellulorcl wrth much degree of success but documentarymaker Phrl Aglancl makes hrs frrst trrp rr‘.t() the movres a glorious vrctory Emrly Woof and Rufus Sewell take the leads as the lrfe-long lovers who can never truly be together due to soc ral status and crrc urnstance Vrsually lush and superny acted, the frlrn never threatens to be cast away by rts lrter‘ar'y shadow (Fox Pathe £14 991180.-
The Horse Whisperer (12) 168 mins
When the rrgnts to Nrc holas Evans' novel became the subject of a brclcrrng war rn the US, the frlrn was bouncr to generate great expectatrons Robert Reclford's pet protect both lrves up to and falls short of them The story, ‘1‘. which ernotronally challenged New York magazrne eclrtor Krrsten Scott Thomas takes her traumatised daughter and the chrld's horse on a curatrve trrp to the brg country to meet Redford's cov.b0y horse doc tor, :s rong, plodclrng and sentrmenta: An unasharrreclly olcl-fashroneci romantic eprc. (Buena Vrsta £15 9911tv1Fr
REVIEWERS THIS ISSUE:
Srmone Barrd, Brran Donaldson, Rociger Evans, Miles erlcler', Rob Fraser, Alan lviorrrson, Peter Ross
STAR RATINGS Unm'ssable Very good Worth a shot Below average You've been warned
.; '8 ">09 THE LIST 99