FILM listings FILM LISTINGS continued
Never Been Kissed (12) (Raja Gosnell, US, 1999) Drew Barrymore, David Arquette, Michael Vartan. 107 mins. As journalist Josie Geller, Barrymore is given her first undercover reporting assignment: to go back to high school as a student to find out about modern education from the inside. Needless to say Jessie has some problems adjusting to the priorities of her new life and, at school first time around, Josie was far from Miss Popular. Capitalising on the considerable charm of its star, Never Been Kissed is a cheery, upbeat affair, enjoyable enough for the popcorn cinema audience. General release.
Nishant (Night’s End) (12) (Shyam Benegal, India, 1975) Girish Kamad, Shebana Azmi. 144 mins. A poor schoolmaster and his wife move to a village dominated by four villainous brothers. When they abduct and rape his wife, the schoolmaster attempts to motivate the villagers to challenge their oppressors. Based on a play, in turn inspired by a true story. Glasgow: GF'I‘.
Notting Hill (15) (Roger Michell, UK, 1999) Hugh Grant, Julia Roberts. 110 mins. Screenwriter Richard Curtis’s eagerly awaited follow-up to Four Weddings And A Funeral has Grant playing William Thacker, the divorced owner of a travel bookshop into whose life walks Hollywood megastar Anna Scott (Roberts) and, before you know it, they kiss. General release.
Odd Man Out (PG) (Carol Reed, UK, 1947) James Mason, Robert Newton, Robert Beatty. 116 mins. One of the finest British post-war movies finds Mason as a wounded IRA man on the run, staggering through a murky, expressionistic world. Haunting and lyrical, with a noir-ish plot and an inspired central performance. Edinburgh: Filmhouse. Out Of The Present (U) (Andrei Ujica, Russia, 1995) 96 mins. Timely screening of this fascinating documentary about life aboard the Mir space station. Spaceman and woman life is captured on film in all its wondrous detail including a zero G haircut. Falkirk: FFH.
Paulie: A Parrot’s Tail (PG) (John Roberts, US, 1998) Jay Mohr, Tony Shalhoub, Gena Rowlands. 91 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. Neither as immediately cute nor as bizarrely inspired as Babe, Paulie nevertheless marks a step in the right direction for the DreamWorks studio. Jay Mohr’s vocal talents give the parrot a Streetwise sense, while the mix of live action and animatronics is always realistic. Glasgow: Grosvenor.
A La Place Du Coeur (15) (Robert Guediguian, France, 1999) Ariane Ascaride, Jean-Pierre Darroussin, Gerard Meylan. 112 mins. Guediguian’s follow-up to Marius Et Jeanette once again focuses on Marseilles’ underclass. Childhood sweethearts Clim and Bébé live out a blissful existence until a racist policeman imprisons Bébé - because he’s black — on a trumped-up rape charge, at which point two families unite in their efforts to free him. What ties these folk together is their beautiful humanity and it’s this that provides Guediguian’s film with its feelgood factor. Who said social realism has to be all doom and gloom? See review. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
Place Vendome (15) (Nicole Garcia, France, 1999) Catherine Deneuve, Jean- Pierre Bacri, Jacques Dutronc. 118 mins. This sleek thriller has some of the same pleasures as last year’s L'Appartement: an intricate narrative, criss-crossing relationships and an iconographic use of Paris. Garcia’s film, though, has a bit more emotional resonance, courtesy, perhaps, of the characters' seniority here - Deneuve as a woman in her fifties whose life has fallen apart; whose husband is suicidal. There’s plot enough here for Garcia to rollercoast, but the director’s more interested in character study. Edinburgh: Filmhouse. The Prince Of Egypt (U) (Brenda Chapman, Steve Hickner, 1998) Voices of Val Kilmer, Ralph Fiennes, Sandra Bullock, Michelle Pfeiffer. 99 mins. The Exodus story, animated for the big screen. With some artistic licence, it follows Moses from
24 THE U37 9—23 Sep 1999
his discovery as a baby by Pharaoh’s wife, through his formative years as a Royal Prince to his fall from grace when he discovers his true Hebrew background. The familiar tale is told in an imaginative and inventive fashion, yet in aiming for such a bold, epic approach the human focus is lost. Largs: Barrfields.
Proces De Jeanne D'Arc (The Trial Of Joan Of Arc) (PG) (Robert Bresson, France, 1962) 65 mins. Luc Besson is unlikely to copy the old master Bresson with his new version of the Joan of Arc legend. Bresson's take on the story is both sadomasochistic and voyeuristic, juxtaposing the woman’s humiliation at the hands of her captors with her serene beauty. Glasgow: GFT. Ravenous (18) (Antonia Bird, UK/US, 1999) Guy Pearce, Robert Carlyle, Jeffrey Jones. 99 mins. Bird's comic, gruesome horror western opens in 1847 with war- traumatised Captain Boyd (Pearce) banished to a remote army outpost in the icy Sierra Nevada mountains. Wandering into this camp of misfits comes Robert Carlyle’s half-starved stranger, Colqhoun, who tells a terrible tale of stranded settlers and cannibalism and before long . . . There is much to recommend here: the charismatic leads, the superb soundtrack by Damon Albam and Michael Nyman, the chilling (in both senses) location photography and the raw meat ‘n’ gristle gore. See preview and review. General release.
Regeneration (15) (Gillies Mackinnon, UK/Canada, 1997) mins. Jonathan Pryce, James Wilby, Jonny Lee Miller. 113 minutes. Faithful to Pat Barker’s source novel, Mackinnon’s film touches on trench life during WW1, but is mostly confined within the walls of Edinburgh’s Craiglockhart Hospital, where psychiatrist Dr Rivers (Pryce) nurses the shell-shocked back to mental fitness. It’s a sober, mournful work, and most of the fireworks comes from the actors, all of whom excel. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
Repulsion (18) (Roman Polanski, UK, 1965) Catherine Deneuve, lan Hendry, John Fraser. 105 mins. Left on her own in her sister’s flat for a few days, a sexually repressed young woman gradually deteriorates towards complete mental breakdown. Polanski’s first English language movie remains one of his best, a genuinely disturbing exploration of intense paranoia and claustrophobia that unflinchineg picks at the audience's deepest neuroses. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
The Rugrats Movie (U) (Norton Virgien/ Igor Kovalyov, US, 1998) Voices of: E.G. Daily, Christine Cavanaugh, Kath Soucie. 80 mins. The weekly animated adventures of the un-cutesy, irritatingly voiced Pickles family is big among kiddies and adults in the States, but the movie is definitely more of a junior entertainment. The film’s message is well intentioned, and it might keep the little ones quiet for a while. Edinburgh: Odeon, Lumiere.
Rushmore (15) (Wes Anderson, US, 1999) Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, Olivia Williams. 93 mins. Bright, bespectacled and geeky, Max Fischer, scholarship boy at the
Up shit creek: James Van Der Seek and Jon Voight in Varsity Blues
exclusive Rushmore Academy in Houston, is irritating and endearing in equal measures, while his self-belief is awesome. In Bill Murray’s self-loathing millionaire steel tycoon, Max finds a soul mate, but when they both fall in love with the new teacher Miss Cross (Williams), their friendship turns sour. Wes Anderson's quirky, original comedy puts most of Hollywood ’5 recent output to shame. Murray gives his best performance in years, while film debutante Schwartzman is simply astonishing. Glasgow: Odeon Quay. Edinburgh: Cameo.
Sabotage (PG) (Alfred Hitchcock, UK, 1936) Sylvia Sidney, Oscar Homolka. 102 mins. Free adaptation of Conrad’s novel about an anarchist bomber loose on the streets of London. Typically smart set pieces from Hitch include the bombing of a London bus. Glasgow: GF'I‘.
Saboteur () (Alfred Hitchcock, US, 1942) Priscilla Lane, Robert Cummings, Otto Kruger. 108 mins. Another of Hitch ’5 excellent wartime thrillers, with Cummings on the run as a suspected saboteur eager to clear his name. As with the director's best work, the film revolves around brilliant set- pieccs — the train filled with circus freaks and the Statue of Liberty fight finale. You’ve got to admit, the man was a master. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
Saturday Night Fever (18) (John Badham, US, 1977) John Travolta, Karen Lynn Gorney, Julie Bovasso. 119 mins. Remember the Bee Gees music, the white suits, the days when Travolta was a promising young talent? 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 meaning in his life during his energetic peregrinations on the weekend dance floor. Stirling: MacRobert.
Screenworks 99 (12) (Various, UK, 1999) 100 mins approx. The fruits of Glasgow Film and Video Workshop's award winning production scheme. This year's crop of top films include: Hanne Schmeichel’s The Last Ride, Zoe Tumer’s Boy's Own, Richard Weeks’s Blue Bones, Blue Tones, Sharon Green’s Mama Puddy, Simon Richardson’s Loop-Hole, Torsten Lauschmann's Experimental Truth and Claire Pencak’s Openwork. Plus Gillian Steel’sA Cartographer’s History and work by Finnish documentarist, Marika Orenius. Glasgow: GF'I‘.
Shadow Of A Doubt (PG) (Alfred Hitchcock, US, 1943) Joseph Cotton, Teresa Wright, Hume Cronyn, Macdonald Carey. 108 mins. Quiet small-town American life is disrupted when Charlie (Wright) comes to realise that her favourite uncle is the infamous Merry Widow murderer. A subtle psychological thriller from the master. Glasgow: GFI‘. Edinburgh: Filmhouse. Shakespeare In Love (15) (John Madden, UK, 1998) Joseph Fiennes, Gwyneth Paltrow, Rupert Everett. 120 mins. Joseph 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.
Tom Stoppard's script is exuberantly confident, irreverent and witty. All the characters are sent up and Will Shakespeare is the butt of so many jokes, it’s a wonder he retains his romantic gloss. Glasgow: Odeon. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
Short Cuts (18) (Robert Altman, US, 1993) Andie MacDowell, Tim Robbins, Lily Tomlin, Tom Waits, et al. 187 mins. Long and absorbing, Altman’s patchwork approach shifts Raymond Carvcr's short stories to Los Angeles, a city socially and geologically on the point of falling apart. The stories cross over, character's lives rub together, threads are picked up after receding for a while - this is classy soap opera at its best, with flawless acting and construction. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
South Park: Bigger, Longer And Uncut (15) (Trey Parker, 1999, US) Voices of: Trey Parker, Matt Stone, Isaac Hayes. 80 mins. The premise reeks of the kind of smug self- referentiality you'd expect from hypemeisters Parker and Stone: the influence of a movie starring fiatulent Canadians Terrance and Philip ups the little fellas’ foulmouthery; their clean-minded parents spearhead a bloody attack upon Canada; a few audacious leaps of credulity later, humanity is at the brink of destruction. Along the way there’s enough profanity, perversion and scatology to make Bernard Manning blush — plus an alarming foray into hi-tech animation, and a glimpse of Kenny sans hood. See review. General release. Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace (U) (George Lucas, US, 1999) Ewan McGregor, Liam Neeson, Natalie Portman. 132 mins. On the surface, the plot structure isn't a million light years away from the original Star Wars. In visual terms, The Phantom Menace stands alone in the cinematic universe. At times you’d think there was more animation than live action on screen - and maybe it’s this toning down of the human element that has left the film lacking soul. General release.
Stop Making Sense (PG) (Jonathan Demme, US, 1984) 88 mins. There's plenty of quality in Stop Making Sense, the film of Talking Heads' 1984 stage show. The songs, the band’s original musicians enjoying themselves tremendously and Demme, who has a radar-like eye for the little smiles and exchanges between band members. But the element of Stop Making Sense that arrests the attention from beginning to end and makes this film unforgettable is the scintillating, mesmeric David Byme. Edinburgh: Cameo.
The Tango lesson (PG) (Sally Potter, UK, 1997) Sally Potter, Pablo Veron. 102 mins. Orlando director Sally Potter plays herself, a filmmaker distracted from writing a script by her obsession with the magic and passion of the tango. Travelling to Latin America to experience the dance first hand, her relationship with sexy Argentinian dancer Pablo Veron spills over into their private lives. Rhythmic and passionate, The Tango Lesson tenderly expresses the choreography of modern love. Edinburgh: Cameo.
Tango (12) (Carlos Saura, Argentina, 1999) 117 mins. Apart from virtuoso