maverick LA cop Tucker suffering delusions of competence. It’s the kind of mindlessly enjoyable, action-packed romp that you might wish the Lethal Weapon films still were. Bathgate: Regal.

Rushmore (15) (Wes Anderson, US, 1999) Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, Olivia Williams. 93 mins. Bright, bespectacled and geeky, Max Fischer, scholarship boy at the 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’s recent output to shame. Murray gives his best performance in years, while film debutante Schwartzman is simply astonishing. Edinburgh: Cameo.

The Secret Garden (U) (Agnieszka Holland, US, 1993) Kate Maberly, Maggie Smith, John Lynch. 102 mins. The unusual combination of the director of Europa Europa and the writer of Edward Scissorhands conspires to create an authentic and affecting version of the children’s classic novel. Shipped back from India, lonely orphan Mary makes friends with a local lad and her sickly cousin, exerting a magical recuperative process on the latter and a hidden walled garden. Touching and uncontrived. Stirling: MacRobert.

The Secret Of Roan Inish (PG) (John Sayles, US/Ireland, 1994) Jeni Courtney, Eileen Colgan, John Lynch. 103 mins. Master filmmaker Sayles delivers a wonderfully wistful Celtic fantasy that should appeal to older and younger viewers alike. Capturing the mood of rural Ireland and the legend of the half-human, half-seal selkies, he spins a rich tale of everyday magic which taps into the cultural identity of the setting without a hint of condescension. Stirling: MacRobert.

The Seventh Voyage 0t Sinbad (U) (Nathan Juran, US, 1958) Kerwin Mathews, Kathryn Grant, Richard Eyer, Torin Thatcher, Alec Mango. 87 mins. Above- average adventure yarn, in which our hero undertakes a quest for the roc‘s egg which will restore his princess to full size after a magician shrinks her to a midget. The special effects, in stop-motion Dynamation, were a pioneering triumph for Ray Harryhausen. Glasgow: GET.

sex, lies and videotape (15) (Steven Soderbergh, US, 1989) Andie McDowell, Laura San Giacomo, James Spader, Peter Gallagher. 101 mins. The sex: John (Gallagher) is conducting a steamy affair with his sister-in-law Cynthia (San Giacomo). The lies: they neglect to tell his wife, Anne (McDowell). The videotape: John's buddy Graham (Spader) gets his kicks by filming women’s sexual confessions. 26-year-old Soderbergh’s first feature is a strikingly assured, funny and thoughtful piece of work, forcing us to examine our own attitudes toward sex, and won the Palme d’Or at Cannes. Edinburgh: Cameo.

Short Sharp Shock (Kurz 0nd Scherzlos) (18) (Fatih Akin, Germany, 1997) 100 mins. After serving time in prison, Gabriel, 3 Turk, is reunited with his old gang pals, Costa, a Greek and Bobby, a Serb. However, times have changed and while Gabriel has done some growing up inside, his pals are still hell-bent of a life of petty crime. Glasgow: GET. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.

South Park: Bigger, Longer 8: 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 flatulent 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 iii-tech animation, and a glimpse of Kenny sans hood. 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.

Strangers On A Train (PG) (Alfred Hitchcock, US, 1951) Farley Granger, Robert Walker. 101 mins. Hitch‘s appropriation of Patricia Highsmith‘s novel, the conceit for which is two strangers who get chatting aboard a long train journey and both admit to people they would like to kill one is joking, the other is deadly serious. With it’s climax aboard an out-of-control fairground ride and two superb central performances, this is one of llitchcock’s best. Kirkcaldy: Adam Smith.

Tartan Shorts (15). 75 mins. The award- winning (in fact, Oscar-winning) series co- funded by Scottish Screen and BBC Scotland presents its latest three short films from Scottish-based filmmakers. This year, the female quotient is high. Lynne Ramsey offers Gasman, Hannah Robinson charts fairground love in Candy Floss and Kate Atkinson's script for Karmic Mothers plays out in a maternity ward. Kirkcaldy: ABC. Tarzan (U) (Kevin Lima and Chris Buck, US, 1999) Minnie Driver, Glenn Close, Nigel Hawthorne. 88 mins. Disney has finally turned its attention to the second most filmed character in Western cinema (Dracula is the first) and has created some astonishing images. Storytelling-wise, Tarzan remains reasonably faithfully to Edgar Rice Burroughs original. Shipwrecked on a tropical island, baby Tarzan looses his human parents to a terrifying tiger and is adopted by an ape clan. All grown up, the Ape Man is reunited with man and womankind when a trophy hunting] anthropological expedition arrives and Tarzan meets Jane. See review. General release.

Taxi Driver (18) (Martin Scorsese, US, 1976) Robert De Niro, Cybill Shepherd, Jodie Foster. 114 mins. An alienated taxi driver in New York is so repelled by the squalor and the moral decay around him that he is driven to terrible violence. One of the key films of the Seventies with the Scorsese-De Niro partnership at its peak. Glasgow: Grosvenor. Tea With Mussolini (PG) (Franco Zeffirelli, Italy/UK, 1999) Cher, Joan Plowright, Maggie Smith. 117 mins. Zeffirelli‘s film is partly autobiographical, partly fictitious, and concerns the effect on his own upbringing and education by a group of English ladies living in Florence at the time of II Duce's rise to power. This particular brew by Zefferelli and John Mortimer has a melange of flavours and is deftly poured in the most idyllic of settings, yet it seems oddly lacking in zest. Glasgow: Grosvenor.

Things To Come (PG) (William Cameron Menzies, UK, 1936) Raymond Massey, Ralph Richardson, Margaretta Scott. 113 mins. Silly but visually impressive early British sci-fi film (based on Wells' The Shape of Things to Come) aims for a philosophical ‘science vs art' plotline. Wonderful ultra-modernist sets by Vincent Korda. Glasgow: GFI‘.

The Third Man (PG) (Carol Reed, US/UK, 1949) Joseph Cotton, Orson Welles. 100 mins. Set in an unstable post-World War II Vienna, Holly Martins has been invited to the city by his old chum Lime, who is now in the grand- scale drug-dealing business, only to discover that he is dead. Except, he isn’t of course, and a multi-layered cat and mouse scenario is triggered. So, what’s so good about it? Well, you have a stirring zither score by Anton Karas, the ferris wheel and the ‘cuckoo clock' speech yet possibly it’s greatest triumph is to cram so much wonder into so little time. Glasgow: GET. Edinburgh: Lumiere.

This Is The Army (U) (Michael Curtiz, US, 1943) George Tobias, Alan Hale, Charles Butterworth. 121 mins. Propoganda piece about Army recruits putting on a musical revue, which gives Jack Warner and his gang at Warner Bros the excuse to mount another spectacular musical. Watch out for an appearance by president-to-be Ronald Reagan. Edinburgh: St Bride’s Centre.

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