make a document of social history. Edinburgh: Cameo. Falkirk: FI'H.
Go (18) (Doug Liman, US, 1999) Sarah Polley, Desmond Askeu, Katie Holmes. 100 mins. Liman’s follow up to Swingers comprises three interlocking stories about slacker kids at work, play and getting into trouble in Los Angeles and Las Vegas. 00 may not have Swingers' Rat Pack jokery, nor Jon Favreau's quirky dialogue and borrows its structure from Tarantino’s film, but the cumulative impact of the story mixing is enormously entertaining. Right here, right now, Go is the movie equivalent of Big Beat music, much of which is featured on its great soundtrack. General release.
Gods And Monsters (15) (Bill Condon, UK/US, 1998) Ian McKellen, Brendan Fraser, Lynn Redgrave. 115 mins. Moving, lovingly crafted film following the last days of English- born filmmaker James Whale, director of the
~ 1931 Frankenstein. in 1957, 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. Dunferrnline: Carnegie Hall.
Gorillas In The Mist (15) (Michael Apted, US, 1988) Sigoumey Weaver, Bryan Brown, John Omirah Miluwi. 129 mins. The story of Dian Fossey, an American naturalist who went to central Africa in 1966 with no experience, but devoted two decades of her life to studying the mountain gorilla, and became ruthlessly determined to protect the species from poachers. Her uncompromising attitude to the gorillas’ welfare made her many enemies, and her murder in 1985 has still not been adequately explained. Priceless wildlife footage, shot in the Rwandan jungle, and Weaver’s rapport with the gorillas make for a unique and absorbing movie. Edinburgh: Dominion.
Greenwich Mean Time (18) (John Strickland, UK, 1999) Steve John Shepherd, Alec Newman, Chiwetel Ejiofor. 117 mins. On their last day of school, Charlie, Rix , Bean, Sherry, Lucy and Boddy are told by their teacher to ‘leave the confines of your existence and break free from the boundaries of South East London’. They do this by forming a band and, four years later, attempt to take the world by storm, fusing a (not really) ground breaking mix of jazz and jungle. However, the band’s burgeoning success is contrasted with various internal tensions. Unfortunately, GzMT is far too moralistic to capture the identity of British youth at the close of the Millennium; unlike Human Trafl'tc every efiort is made to identify drugs as the breeding ground of crime. See review. Glasgow: Odeon Quay. Edinburgh: ABC Multiplex.
Happiness (18) (Todd Solondz, US, 1998)
’ Cynthia Stevenson, Lara Flynn Boyle, Philip Seymour Hoffman. 139 mins. Three sisters, two small boys, one psychologist and a phone- harrassment specialist. Out of these unlikely elements Todd Solondz has wrought pure cinematic gold, which veers from belly laughter one moment to stark pathos in another. Stirling: MacRobert.
The Haunting (12) (Jan De Bont, US, 1999) Liam Neeson, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Lili Taylor. 113 mins. From Robert Wise’s classic 1963 ghost story, for some critics the best of its kind, De Bont starts his remake carefully and pretty successfully, then quite literally loses the plot, as his special efl'ects budget takes over from storytelling. Wise confirmed the aptness of his name by understanding that horror, like the erotic, is often most effective when it’s mostly left to the imagination. De Bont, to extend the analogy, prefers amateur gynaecology to a look in the eye. Here, the storyofaamallgroupofpeoplegatheredin and tested by an old dark house is finally treated for its spectacle value, rather than its atmosphere. See review. General release.
The iii-Lo Country (15) (Stephen Frears, US, 1999) Woody Harrelson, Billy Crudup, Patricia Arquette. 114 mins. Having successfully mastered the American crime movie with Grifrers, Stephen Frears tries his hand at the Western. Unfortunately, his latest film fails to transcend the clichés that litter a genre in which there now scents little new to say. The drama, solidly elegiac in tone, is set in the post-World War No New Mexico community of Hi-Lo, where two cattlemen defend the traditional ways of the cowboy in the face of encroaching mass
commercialisation. Edinburgh: Lumiere. Kirkcaldy: Adam Smith.
Hanan traffic (18) (Justin Kerrigan, UK/lreland, 1999) John Simm. Lorraine Pilkington, Danny Dyer. 95 mins. One of that rare breed - a good movie about contemporary dance culture. Set in Cardifi, although it could be anywhere, the film follows a gang of friends over a non-stop weekend of boozing, mobile phonecalls and drug-inpsired clubbing. Edinburgh: Cameo. Stirling: MacRobert.
The Idiots (18) (hrs von Trier, Denmark/France/Italy/Netherlands/Germany/S weden, 1999) Bodil J urgensen, Jens Albinus. 114 mins. In Lars von Trier’s follow up to Breaking The Waves, a bunch of ‘idiots’ run a little bit amok in their village, get thrown out of tea-rooms, make whoopee at the swimming baths and disrupt board meetings. But these misfits are as sane as you or I, with a simple aim to test society’s attitudes to the disabled. Appreciation naturally conquers enjoyment but The Idiots is a challenge well worth taking up. Edinburgh: Cameo.
The lnherltors (15) (Stefan Ruzowiysky, Austria, 1998) 95 mins. Fine ‘Alpine Western’ which premiered at the Edinburgh lntemational Film Festival a couple of years back and hasn’t been see enough since. The setting is a 1930s rural community where a rich farmer kicks the bucket and leaves his land to his loyal hands much to the consternation of the local and owners. Stirling: MacRobert.
Insomnia (15) (Erik Skjoldbjaerg, Norway, 1997) Stellan Skarsgard, Sverre Anker Ousdal, Bjorn Floberg. 97 mins. After a police detective commits manslaughter while attempting to catch a murderer he conceals his crime, but his troubled conscience keeps him awake at night. Director Skjoldbjaerg inverts the familiar genre conventions of film noir, replacing neo-lit city streets with a bleak, bright coastal landscape and mounting hysteria with an icy chill. One of the most original thrillers in years. Edinburgh: Lumiere. Instinct (18) (Jon Turtletaub, US, 1999) Anthony Hopkins, Cuba Gooding Jr. 123 mins. Dr. Ethan Powell (Hopkins), stationed in Africa to study apes, is found two years after his disappearance in the jungle. Upon his discovery, he savagely kills three men and injures two more, but is ultimately imprisoned. Enter Dr. Theo Calder (Gooding Jr), a psychologist dedicated to the cause of getting Powell to break his cell-induced silence. All very uninspiring from 'liirtletaub, who found he could do nothing original with the romantic comedy (While You Were Sleeping), either. General release.
The Italiu Job (PG) (Peter Collinson, UK, 1969) Michael Caine, Noél Coward, Benny Hill. 100 mins. Re-released for its 30th anniversary, this larf-a-minute caper movie ties in nicely with the sixties cockney kitsch sensibility that’s been infusing fashion, pop and film ever since Blur put out Park Life. Lock, Stock And No Smoking ls paid homage to The Italian Job with its ed down cliflhanger ending, but the Michael Caine film is the granddaddy of caper movies. The centre piece remains the mini cooper car chase across, atop and under the streets of Turin, while Caine’s closing line is top: “Ang on a minute lads, I’ve got a great idea.’ Glasgow: Odeon Quay. Paisley: Showcase.
Kes (PG) (Ken Loach, UK, 1969) David Bradley, Lynne Perrie, Colin Welland, Brian Glover. 109 mins. in the run-down industrial north, a young boy learns some harsh lessons about life from the fate of his pet bird. Classic piece of British realism which showed that Loach’s television work could transfer to the big screen. A very humane sense of humour leavens what is in effect a tale of some desolation. See Frontiinea. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
A Kind Of Iiush (15) (Brian Stimer, UK, 1997) Harley Smith, Marcella Plunkett. Roy Hudd. 95 mins. Following in the tradition of Alan Clarke’s Scan: and early work by Ken Loach and Mike Leigh, comes this hard-hitting gritty tale about six teenage boys who become self-styled vigilantes in an attempt to come to terms with the abuse they sufi‘ered as children. A significant feature film debut for writer/director Brian Stimer, who excels in fusing raw physical violence with cheeky humour and the numbing ache of abuse. See review. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
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Shaw
ITIZEN THEATRE
Vinessa Julie
fiLMHQUSE
Fri Oct 1 88Lothian Road, Edinburgh 0131-2282688
index FILM
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The CIIIZBIIS' 0001030" nresents
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Clive Barker's
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