reviews
: RENTAL
: Thank God He Met
; LlZZle
,’ (15) 97 mins H H
- Nice guy Guy seems to have met the
. woman of his dreams in gorgeous doctor Lizzie (a pre-E/izabeth Cate Blanchett). However, at their posh wedding the grass begins to look decidedly greener elsewhere as Guy
recalls his previous relationship with
i Jenny. Where Lizzie has their life‘s
i agenda all neatly planned out, life with
f Jenny was spontaneous joy. Australian
3 filmmaker Cherie Nowlan’s witty, funny
debut begins where most romantic
comedies sign off: with wedding bells. Thank god we met Cherie. (Fox Pathé)
(MF)
Titanic Town
; (15) 97 mins H t
' Like Some Mother’s Son, Titanic Town
deals with Ireland’s Troubles from a woman's perspective. Based on Mary Costello’s autobiographical novel, the
? film charts Berni's (Julie Walters) efforts
to obtain a ceasefire on a Catholic
housing estate in late 19705 West
Belfast. Dealing with IRA thugs and slippery British politicians is no cinch, but outrage at the conditions her
family and neighbours live in spurs her on. The cast do well, but this is a Walters’ tour de force. (Alliance) (MF)
The Siege (15)111mins * * * New York, some ’crazy’ Arab terrorists . and a fight for the American way. Formulaic? Well, no actually. This engaging urban thriller sees Denzel Washington (Mr FBI) and Annette Bening (Ms CIA) teaming up with uncompromising Army General Bruce Willis — just the man to call upon in these kind of emergencies — to catch some Big Apple bombers. It’s rescued f from being mere western propaganda by acknowledging that not everything emanating from the US is good, and all from the Middle East bad. (Fox Pathé) (DK)
Monk Dawson (18) 100 mins * it . 'Smoothly mounted and solidly played . . . an enjoyable ride,’ wrote one reviewer in an accurate description of what Monk Dawson isn’t. The trials
VIDEOS
: and tribulations of the eponymous
monk lurch from one badly acted, terribly scripted scene to another.
Beginning with Dawson’s school days, where homoerotic feelings earn him six
of the best, the wannabe do-gooder
3 jumps from one frying pan to another: : christening an illegitimate child, an ' indiscretion with a parishioner’s
daughter and a second career as tabloid hack. Dreadful. (Showcase)
? (MF)
1' Macarena
3 (15) 95 mins ‘k
f Baz Luhrmann showed how a no-star
cast, low-budget dancing film was a
sound idea with Strict/y Ballroom. ' Despite similar grounding, Macarena is not of the same Quality, charm or
direction. Instead, we get a cobbled
together collection of half stories robbed from a handful of other movies
- Porky’s, Fame and Green Card mainly.
2 If a copy of this comes your way, tape over it immediately or find an unsteady table to balance up. (Nu-Image) (MR)
. RETAIL : Tales Of The Taira Clan
f (U) 103 mins ** * i: In 12th century Japan, the political
tensions between the ruling family and the court set up by an ex-Emperor threaten to bring about civil war. The balance of power lies in the hands of a samurai family, who rise in stature as
- the film progresses. Meanwhile, young
samurai Kiyomori struggles to discover if his real father is an emperor or a priest — thereby embodying the conflict of the bigger picture. Kend Mizoguchi’s penultimate film is hugely impressive,
. containing some sublimely ; photographed scenes. (BFI £15.99) (AM)
The Apple
(PG) 84 mins it * ‘k
The feature debut of eighteen-year-old director Samirah Makhmalbaf centres on the real-life case of two Iranian girls whose parents imprisoned them indoors for eleven years, before neighbours took action. Rather than employing actors, Makhmalbaf chose
i to re-enact the events using the real
family involved. It’s a little disturbing to
’ see the children reliving their trauma - for the cameras; but hysteria is avoided
Heaven's mate: All things are bright and beautiful for Robin Williams in What Dreams May Come (Polygram, 15,113 mins. tint). Available to rent from Mon 28 Jun
and the story is handled with surprising
fl
reviews VIDEOS
RENTAL/RETAIL
TC (15) 80 mins *tt‘kt
Numb and number: Sean Gullette In 1:: Faith In Chaos
Mathematics may not be the new rock 'n' roll, but Darren Aronofsky's first film heralded him as one of the most outstandingly original voices working
; today in independent film - or any other kind of cinema, for that matter. . Shot in startling high contrast black and white, the look and feel of it
brought immediate comparisons to Eraserhead but Aronofsky owes just as many debts to Luis Bufiuel and German Expressionism as he does to David Lynch.
Max Cohen (Sean Gullette) is a brilliant mathematician who locks himself away in his New York apartment to unleash the secrets and patterns of the numbers trapped in his head. His aim is to uncover the system which
underpins the chaos of the stock market and everything appears to point
towards the figure 216 as providing a solution.
This number is also of intense interest to a sect of Hassidic Jews and both they and a shadowy set of Wall Street financiers try to drag the key from him. Feeling suffocated by the attentions of God on one side and Mammon on the other, Cohen’s severe headaches and surreal hallucinations get progressively more damaging and his mentor Sol Robeson (Mark Margolis),
; advises him to rid his mind of maths before he loses it completely.
With its ambient/drum 8: bass soundtrack from Clint Mansell and edgy
performances from all concerned, it is a startling assault on most of your . senses and a worthy recipient of the plaudits it received at Sundance. Get
yourself a slice of 1:. (Brian Donaldson) I Available to rent or buy on Fox Pathé from Mon 28 Jun, priced £ 74.99.
shot. (Artificial Eye £15.99) (HM)
Silent Shakespeare » (E) 88 mins * *‘k
5 Shakespeare had intrigued film-
makers. The silent era spawned many a tale of jealousy, lust, power, death and ribald comedy from the pen of our
Willie. Rescued from the archives in
' this compilation are a mercifully brief
King John, the colourised King Lear
and an evocative version of The
I Tempest. Naturally, the words' power is : lost but this remains a fascinating
; adventure for film buffs and
' Shakespearoes alike. (BFI £15.99) (BD)
3 Kurosawa and Brannagh, the works of
which Alain Resnais’ French musical frolic certainly isn’t. On Connait La Chanson is a tale of emotionally tangled up ParISIans - nothing unusual there. However, the use of musical numbers — well-known French pop songs — to drive the plot along is innovative. There is a nod to Dennis Potter with the lip-synching characters but Resnais plunders lines, not whole songs, to use as dialogue. For those who love musicals, this is a treat. (20th Century Fox £15.99) (MF)
City Of Angels
(12) 109 mins t it
Another Hollywood remake of a
European hit; another disappointment. Nicolas Cage overdoes his doe-eyed,
. doleful look as a celestial being in love
with disillusioned heart surgeon Meg
? Ryan, and this threatens to tip the
, snail-paced romance into
unintentionally comic territory. Only
when he takes human form and the
. story finds a tragic twist does it really hit home, but by then it’s too late. Far
inferior to Wim Wenders’ Wings Of
: Desire, but probably on a par with its
sequel, Faraway So Closel. (Warner £14.99) (AM)
lightness and humour. An ambiguous, unsettling curio, simply and beautifully
Even before the days of Welles, Olivier,
Painted Angels
(15) 108 mins H: *
Documentary maker Jon Sanders has chosen the Wild West for the location of his debut feature which centres around a group of prostitutes and tells of each woman’s struggle to cope with life's hardships. Ada’s (Anna Mottram) looks are fading, Eileen’s (Bronagh Gallagher) best friend dies and Nettie (Kelly McGillis) has to support her husband and child. Although ostentatiously costumed and beautifully shot, the film has such a slow pace that it mars what is
' CONTRIBUTORS THIS ISSUE: 3 Brian Donaldson, Miles Fielder, Dawn
; Kofie, Hannah McGiII, Alan Morrison, Mark Robertson
otherwise an intense but rewarding
affair. (Artificial Eye £15.99) (MR) STAR RATINGS . * * 1t * It Unmissable On Connait La Chanson 1;: 1w mt oaoghm (PG) 117 mins * i i: ,, , Below average The title translates as ‘same old song', * YOU ve been warned
l I I
24 Jun-8 Jul 1999 THE ll8T109