Films screening this fortnight are listed below with certificate. credits, brief review and venue details. Film index compiled by Miles Fielder.
Air Bud (PG) (Charles Martin Smith. US. I997) Kevin Zegers. Wendy Makkena. Bill Cobbs. 98 mins. Poor \‘y'ashington State hiin school kid Josh is having a hard time contending svitli a new town. school and friends after the loss of a parent. 'l'hings change for the better with the arrival of a new companion. a Golden Retriever named Btiddy sslio can do fancy tricks svitli a basketball. Shame the film doesn't concentrate more on the super dog. as the sequel did. Irvine: Magnum.
American History X ( Is‘i (lolly Kaye. US. I998) lidward Norton. I‘:tl\\tll'tl l’tii'long. l I7 mins. .'\ fierce. uiicoiiiproiiiisiiig study of racism amongst white working-class youths. /llll(’l'l(‘tlli History X is as pi'ovocatiye as it is visually arresting. Dasid McKeiiiia's script ptills no punches in its depiction of racist violence. btit explores more fully the origins of bigoted attitudes that inform it. Glasgow: Gl’ll Showcase. ()deon ()tiay. lidinbui'gli; l-‘iliiihouse. UCI.
Animation — How Do They Do That? 80 miiis. Compilation of animated short films featuring new work by young British animators as well as old fayotirites. Screening is followed by a discussion and is suitable for 8—] 2 year olds. Iidinburgh: Filiiihouse.
Antz (PG) (lii‘ic Darnell/lint Johnson. US. l‘NS) 'I‘lte \ oic‘es of \Voody .>\Ilen. Sharon Stone. Gene Hackiiian. 83 mins. When worker ant [-4 I 95 (Allen) meets Princess Bala. he falls completely in lose. but. while trying to prose himself as a soldier. he uncos ers a dastardly plan to flood the colony. Brightly coloured and lllll of gags with slick computer animation. .v\y r: ()deon. Kiliiiarnock: ()deon. Kirkcaldy: Adam Smith.
Aprile ( I5) (Nanni Moretti. Italy. I998) Nanni .‘yloretti. 7S miiis. Between the March I994 general election that brought right- wiiig media mogul Silvio Berluscoiii to power and the April I996 election of Italy ‘s first left-wing goseriiinent and the birth of his first son. Moretti wayers between making a doctiiiieiitai'y on the state of Italian politics and realising an old dream -- a film musical set in the 50s about a 'l‘i'otskyist pastry chef. Glasgow; (il’l'. lidinburgh: Iiilllllltmsc.
Arlington Road ( I 5) (Mark Pelliiigton. US. I998) Jeff Bridges. "liiii Robbins. Joan (Iiisack. ll7 inins. Pellington's second feature goes a Ioiig way towards res llttlls‘lllg the paranoia thriller genre. draw ing on the Oklahoma ('ity bombing and the Waco siege. Single parent. widower and university lecturer in .»\iiierican terrorism Bridges becomes suspicious of neighbours Robbins and (‘usack when he discos Cl‘s a worrying. hidden past. General release.
Bedrooms And Hallways ( t 5) (Rose 'l‘roche. UK. I999) Kevin McKidd. It)!“ Hollander. James Purefoy. 9o inins. like other recent bright and bree/y London romantic comedies. these Bt’t/I'IHIHM rlllt/ Ilulluui'v are populated by pretty. professional. loved-up or east-down twenty and thirtysomethings. In this case they also happen to bC .L‘ay. ’I'he ensemble cast works wonders. establishing credible characters within the framework of a classic British farce. which 'l‘roclie mises ss lift a more liberated attitude towards sexuality (homo and hetero) coming up trumps. See preview and res iew. Glasgow: ()deon Quay. lidiiiburgh: ('ameo. I.'('l.
Blast From the Past ( I 3 l ( ttugh \y'ilson. IFS. I999) Christopher Walken. Sissy Spacek. Brendan l’i’asei'. l()9 niiiis .'\s the Cuban Missile (‘i'isis mounts. paranoid Cals iii Webbei' (\‘y'alkeiii takes his family below ground to a fall-out shelter. where they stay sealed for 35 years. The Webber boy .-\daiii (I-i'aser) grow s up to become a perfect. upstanding and polite America citizen. circa I962 r- and so sticks out like sore thumb when he ventures out into l99()s l..-\. Predictable but w inning entertainment. See review. General release
26 THE LIST t—i‘n‘spt I999 '
Bride 0f Frankenstein it’(i) (James Whale. US. I935) Boris Karloff. Colin ('live. lilsa l.anchester. l‘irnest 'l'hesigei'. 75 niiiis. Mai'vellously dry comic horror as 'l'hesiger's gin-soaked Dr Praetorious persuades Clise's good Baron l-‘rankeiisteiii that his monster needs a mate. setting the scene for the hilarious climactic creation sequence w here the stern I.ttllc‘llt‘SlCl'Jthls Karloff iii the ranks of the In mg undead. Virtually remade by Mel Brooks as lining /-‘rtiiikt'iislt'iii and badly abused by l‘l'tllls‘ Roddaiii's disastrous 'I’lu' Ii’rit/t'. nothing can quite match the outrageous piquancy of the original. lidinbui‘gh; liiliiihouse. .
A Bug's Life (II) (.loliii l.;issclet‘. PS. 1993’) Voices of Dasc I’oley. Key iii Spacey. Das id Hyde Pierce. 95 Itiiiis. .-I lift: is /.I,’t' takes its to :\nt Island. where the colony is being oppressed by a gang of menacing grasshoppers. When insentise but clumsy worker ant lilik incurs the wrath of gang leader Hopper. he heads off to find help heavyweight help in the battle against his oppressors. General release
Central Station ( l5) (Walter SaIIes. Bra/.tl. I998) Villlt‘ltts de ()liseira. I‘ei'iianda Montenegro. I Ill iiiiiis. Sugar-coated neo- i'ealism or a film that stares posei'ty in the eye'.’ Salles‘s international hit is the story of a young Rio de Janeiro street urchin and a former schoolteacher who go on the run together iii a film esplores that I.atiii American iiiaiiistay'. the search for a missing los ed one. Glasgow: (il’l‘. lidinbui‘gh: Cameo.
A Civil Action t l5) (Stese /.al|iaii. IFS. I998) John 'l‘rasolta. Robert Dusal. James Gandolfini. IIF miiis. Skill/aller's l.isi screenwriter '/.allian directs a fabiilotIs cast -— also including Dan lledya. .Iolin l.ithgoss. William H. Macy. Stephen I'l'}. It‘ll} Sliallioub and Kathy Bates in this courtroom drama. 'Ii'ay olta's lassyer takes a hiin profile defending eight families whose children died of leukaemia after a nuclear facility dumped waste into a local water supply. Glasgow: .-\B(' .‘yliiii'end. ()deon Quay. U(‘l (‘Iydebaiik lidiiiburgh. .-\B(‘ Multiples. III.
The Confessional ( IS) I Robert l.epagc. Canada/[fK/l'i‘ance. I995) I.othairc Bluteau. Patrick (ioyette. Kristen Scott-'l'honias. Illll mins. Acclaimed theatre director l.epage makes his film directorial debut with a coiiiplcs. but mars ellotisly visual tale that clashes past against present. Pierre (Bluteau) returns to Quebec and his quest for identity merges ss itli flashbacks to the time Hitchcock came to toss ii to shoot / (‘on/t'ss. Glasgow, (El-“Ii. Iidiiibui'gh: l‘ihiihouse.
The Creature From The Black Lagoon (PG) (Jack Arnold. IFS. I954) '79 iiiiiis. Witness the terror of the gill man iii fabulous 3D? :\ group of egg Iiead scientists take a trip down the Amazon and get more than they bargained for during the course of the field trip. lidinburgli: Cameo.
Dear Diary ( I5) (Naiiiii Moretti. Italy. I994) Nanni .‘yloretti. Renato ('ai'peiitieri.
4»‘Q\t;g.
|()() niiiis. .-\n intimate journal. captured with boil) narratise and technical freedom. Moretti's Cannes award-winner sees him zip around Rome on his Vespa. visit the Aeolian island home of a friend. and come up against the doctors who are having problems diagnosing his possibly malignant illness. What may seem loose and unordered is actually sei'y carefully structured. with a lesel of intimacy rarely achieved in the cinema. Glasgow: GI7I".
Dialogues With Madwomen I IS) (Allie Light. l'S. l99.‘~)'l‘he life stories of seven women. including the director. who have espei'ienced multiple personalities. manic depression. schizophrenia and/or euphoria among other symptoms of insanity. Although a documentary. Light employs fiction film techniques to recreate the woniens' experiences. Iidiiiburgh: l‘iliiihoiise.
Doctor Strangelove (Or How I Stopped Worrying And Learned To Love The Bomb) (PG) (Stanley Kubrick. UK. l9(i3) Peter Sellers. George C. Scott. Sterling Hayden. 93 mins. Devastating black comedy on the lunacy of the nuclear age with Sellers ideally cast in three roles (US President. lolly Brit captain. and demented teutonic boffin) and Slim Pickens the good ole boy heading for oblis ion to a chorus of ‘We'll Meet Again’. Still alarmingly relesant. lidinbui'gh: lillllilltillsc (l-ilm Guild).
The Exorcist ( IS) (William lii‘iedkin. US. I973) Linda Blair. Iilleii Btirstyn. Mas Von Sydow. I I() mins. 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. lidiiibui‘gh: ()deon.
The Faculty t [5) (Robert Rodriguez. US. I998) Elijah Wood. (‘Iea Dusall. Salma Ilayek. Ill-I iiiiiis. The I’m II/I\ fits neatly iiito the niche ss e's'e come to expect from Key in ‘St rmm‘ \\'illi;iiiistiii's pen; lots of great-looking young actors. a tightly packaged rock soundtrack and plenty of nods to past mos ies for those in the know. 'lliis time. however. Williamson's ‘geiire- busting' goal is the sci-fi B-niovie. Director Robert Rodriguez (Desperado. l-‘mm Dink 'li.’/ Dunn) tips the gore count far beyond the ‘IS‘ certificate suggests and giyes us the best screen monster since Alien. Sec feature and review. General release.
Falling Down t I8) (.Ioel Scliuinacher. L'S. I993) Michael Douglas. Robert Duyall. Barbara Hershey. l I) lltltfs. .-\ sacked defence worker abandons his car in a traffic iam and goes on an escalating rampage across his ;\iigeles. No mere y igilante
mos ie this. but the [Cllgc‘lsl movie of the 90s. drinking deep of White Middle-Class .'\iiiei'ica's fears about its future. Actor Douglas and director Schumacher deliser their finest work to date Iidiiibtii‘gh: l'Illlllltitlsc.
Festen ( | 5) t'l‘homas \"iiitei'berg. Gei'iiiaiiy'. I998) lilo iiiiiis. All is not as it seems at a country house party given to celebrate the
Back on top form: Ally Sheedy and Radha Mitchell in High Art
60th birthday of rich patriarch Helge Klingenfeldt. Tensions surface before long and a disturbing family secret is revealed in Vinterberg's brilliant black. black comedy. The stripped down technique — hand-held cameras. no unnatural light — creates an intense and claustrophobic atmosphere. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
Frankenstein (PG) (James Whale. US. I93| ) Boris Karloff. 71 mins. Screening of the classic Hollywood horror movie tying in with the opening of (Jot/s Aiit/ Monsters. Whale‘s version of the myth takes liberties with its source material bttt is probably better known than Mary Shelley's novel. Karloffs nameless monster was so memorable tliat' audiences came to think of it. rather than its creator. as ‘Frankenstein'. lidinburgh: Cameo.
Fred, Gromit And Friends (U) Animation from Ardman Studios. originators of the Lancastrian cheese lover and his hound. Wallace and Gromit. whose adventures were chronicled in A Grand Day Out. The Wrong 'I'i'nust'rs and A Close S/ltll't’. Probably the funniest animation in the world. Glasgow: Gilmorehill Centre.
Gods And Monsters ( t 5) (Bill Condon. UK/US. I998) Ian McKellen. Brendan Fraser. Lynn Redgrave. I IS mins. Moving. lovingly crafted film following the last days of [English-born filmmaker James Whale. director oftlie I93l l-'i‘tirikeii.y'leili. In I957. while in retirement in Hollywood suffering from the side effects of a stroke that causes him to re-live episodes from his past life Whale strikes up a tentative. homoerotic friendship with his handsome gardener. Glasgow: G Ff. ()deon Quay. Edinburgh: l-ilmhouse. Galashiels: Pavilion.
Godzilla (PG) (Roland Emmerich. US. I998) Matthew Broderick. Jean Reno. Maria Pitillo. HO mins. Nuclear testing causes a lizard to grosv 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 lvlaiihattan. When a film like this fails to thrill with its effects it can only fall flat on its over-sized Hollywood ass. Ayr: ()deon.
La Haine ( IS) (Matthieu Kassovitz. France. I995) Vincent Cassel. Hubert Kounde. Said 'I‘aghmaoui. 85 mins. This edgy. black-and- white portrait of racial tension and police brutality on a run-down estate outside Paris won twenty-something Kassovitz the Director's Prize at the I995 Cannes Film Festival. 'l'hree ethnically mixed lads come up against the cops when one of their pals is hospitalised after a raid. Urgent. compelling filiiimaking that's as punchy as a blow to the head. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
Hideous Kinky ( l5) (Gillies Mackinnon. UK. I998) Kate Winslet. Said Taghmaoui. Bella Rita. Carrie Mullan. 99 mins. Winslet's young Ianlishwoman takes her two daughters to Morocco in I972. where she leads a carefree life until the girls demand some stability in their lives.