1999) Saffron Burrows, Samuel L. Jackson,
LL Cool J. 104 mins. With its ferocious
action, heart-stopping suspense and rib- "
shaking explosions, Harlin’s hugely H I I s entertaining ’smart shark’ movie pulls out all I l I the stops, making maximum use of post-
Jaws improvements in animatronic effects and CGI technology. General release. Detroit Roclt City (15) (Adam Rifkin, US, 1999) Edward Furlong, Giuseppe Andrews, Natasha Lyonne. 80 mins. In 705 Ohio, four teenagers look forward to an upcoming 1 concert in Detroit by their rock heroes, Kiss. Unfortunately, the tickets fall into the hands of drummer Jam's bible-bashing harridan of a mother. A hackneyed slice of teen nostalgia, Rifkin’s comedy mistakes period authenticity for humour. Waterfront.
lDon’t Go Breaking My Heart (PG) (Willi Paterson, UK, 1998) Jenny Seagrove, Charles Dance, Anthony Edwards. 94 mins. Suzanne (Seagrove) is a widow with two young children, surrounded by a group of loving friends who are — it seems - intent on fixing her up with a new man. Effortlesst watchable while hardly pushing the envelope of screen romance. Kilmarnock: Odeon.
Drop Dead Gorgeous (15) (Michael Patrick Jann, US, 1999) Denise Richards, Kirsten Dunst, Kirstie Alley, Ellen Barkin. 98 mins. Set in America‘s heartland of traditional values and Christian morality, this deliciously savage satire takes a bite out of an aspect of American life held most dear - the beauty pageant. Good girl Dunst begins to fear for her life when she goes up against bad girl Richards for the pageant queen title and fellow contestants start meeting with unfortunate accidents. Wishaw: Arrow Multiplex.
East Is East (15) (Damien O'Donnell, UK, 1999) Om Puri, Linda Bassett, Jordan Routledge. 96 mins. East Is East draws its perfectly balanced mix of belly laughs and tears from the conflict within a multi-racial family living in Salford in the 705. Head of the Khan household, George attempts to force his sons into arranged marriages in a belated effort to preserve tradition, but, born in England, the sons are having none of it. These domestic shenanigans have universal appeal and the filmmakers root out all the pain and hilarity to be found in two generations squashed into a two up, two down terrace house. Glasgow: Odeon At The Quay, Showcase Cinema, UCl. Edinburgh: Odeon, Filmhouse, UCl. Entrapment (15) (Jon Amiel, US, 1999) Sean Connery, Catherine Zeta-Jones. 112 mins. Former acc cat burglar Robert ’Mac‘ MacDougal (Connery) attracts the attention of sexy insurance investigator Gin Baker (Zeta-Jones). She is determined to find evidence connecting him with that opening sequence robbery, just as he is determined to not have that crime pinned on him. It’s all very To Catch/1 Thief, but not really in the same league. Edinburgh: ABC.
eXistenZ (15) (David Cronenberg, Canada/UK, 1999) Jennifer Jason Leigh, Jude Law, Willem Dafoe. 92 mins. An intriguing movie game about two fugitives on the run from reality, eXistenZ posits a future-now where groups of people participate in virtual reality games by literally plugging consoles that resemble foetuses into their bodies. Bizarre, magnetic and playfully grotesque. Glasgow: Grosvenor.
Eyes Wide Shut (18) (Stanley Kubrick, US, 1999) Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, Sidney Pollack. 159 mins. Had Kubrick chosen to stage his adaptation of Arthur Schnitzler's Dream Novel in its original fin de siecle Viennese setting, audiences might have found the whole primitive Freudian mess easy to stomach. Transposing the would-be decadent psychosexual shenanigans to contemporary Manhattan, however, proves disastrous. What makes Eyes Wide Shut just about watchable is the screen presence of its two stars. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
Felicia's Journey (12) (Atom Egoyan, UK/Canada, 1999) Bob Hoskins, Elaine Cassidy, Peter McDonald. 116 mins. After the sublime heights of the seductive Exotica and mesmerising The Sweet Hereafter, Atom Egoyan has fallen from grace with this clunking adaptation of William Trevor’s novel. Young Irish girl Felicia journeys to Birmingham, and accepts the help of a
The best films this fortnight.
- “5:4: . . a“ '
FIRST RUN
East Is East Hugely entertaining crowd-pleaser about the domestic shenanigans in a multi-racial household in 19705 Salford. See preview and review. Selected release.
Fight Club David Fincher’s absurdist comedy easily transcends controversy over its alleged glorification of violence. See feature and review. General release.
Journey To The Sun Movie polemic about the plight of the Kurds in Turkey which moves the emtions without spiralling into hysteria. See review. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
Ratcatcher Lynne Ramsay’s hauntingly beautiful evocation of childhood set in 1970's Glasgow, which headlined this year’s Film Festival. See feature and review. Glasgow: GFf,‘ Edinburgh: Cameo.
The Sixth Sense Supernatural thriller starring Bruce Willis that’s gripped American audiences and may prove to be the scariest film since, er, Blair Witch. See review. General release.
The Tichborne Claimant David Yates’s remarkably assured debut about a Victorian scandal is the tallest tale you’ll see all year. See preview and review. Selected release.
The Blair Witch Project The scariest film ever made. A bigger movie event than The Phantom Menace and The Spy Who Shagged Me combined. Selected release.
seemingly benign middle-aged bachelor who has more than one skeleton in his closet. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
Festen (15) (Thomas Vinterberg, Germany, 1998) 106 mins. Made under the banner of DOGME 95, a chief dictum of which filmic manifesto is that the inner lives of the characters must justify the workings of the plot, in this case the story of a country house party given to celebrate the 60th birthday of rich patriarch Helge Klingenfeldt. Tensions surface before long and a disturbing family secret is revealed. Edinburgh: Filmhouse. . The General's Daughter (18) (Simon West, US, 1999) John Travolta, James Woods, Madeleine Stowe. 116 mins. Travolta plays Brenner, an undercover detective in the US Army’s Criminal Investigation Division trying to get to the bottom of an explosive murder case on a military base in the Deep South. The General ’3 Daughter would like us to take its pulp prurience seriously, but remains empty- headed pap. Glasgow: Odeon At The Quay. Edinburgh: Lumiere. Paisley: Showcase.
Continued over page
listings FILM
.INGS
E D I N B U R G H MON I T0 SAT 6 NOV 0 TICKETS FROM £6.50
STAND 3v MAN
A musical of the life and times of Tammy Wynette
STARRING Helen llobson as Tammy
TUES 9 T0 SAT I3 NOV 0 TICKETS FROM £8-00 ROBERT C KELLY lIMITED PRESENT
IN rown TONIGHT
A spectacular variety revue STARRING
Joe longthorne
Bobby Crush, Brenda Cochrane and Dean Parlc
mon 15 10 SM 20 nov - TICKETS mom £7.00 ' IIIE OFFICIAI TRIBUTE TO _ TI'IE —
light
a n t" ° o O 9 "C '0" line smash Illl IllilSlttlI live on stage
SUN 2| NOV . TICKETS FROM £I2.00
DAVIDESSEX
In concert for one night only
TUES 23 T0 27 NOV . TICKETS FROM £6.00 EDINBURGH'S SCOUTS AND GUIDES PRESENT
GANG SHOW'”
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Opening Night
Heduchnn
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4 Nov—18 Nov 1999 TIIEUSTZO