Films screening this fortnight are listed below with certificate. credits. brief review and venue details. Film index compiled by Miles Fielder.
ABCD (15) (Krutin Patel, US/India, 1999) Madhur Jaffrey, Sheetal Sheth, Farhan Tahir. 105 mins. The problems of growing up without a fixed cultural identity is examined in this emotionally charged observation of first generation Indians in America. Nina scores with white men who find her exotic, but her mum, although she believes in the American Dream, wants her children married off to Indian families. Part of the London Film Festival on tour. Glasgow: Odeon.
All About My Mother (15) (Pedro Almodovar, Spain, 1999) Cecilia Roth, Penelope Cruz, Antonia San Juan. 101 mins. Almodovar’s new film is without a doubt his best to date. When Madrid hospital worker Manuela‘s son is killed in a car accident the grief-stricken woman sets out to fulfil her son's last wish to know his father, and goes to Barcelona to find the transvestite she ran away from eighteen years earlier. Edinburgh: Filmhouse. Falkirk: FI‘H Cinema.
All For One (15) (Bruno Bontzolakis, France, 1998) 105 mins. A life of ease for two young army recruits, Nicolas and Thierry, is cut short when their base closes and they are unable to re-enlist. So, instead of chasing young girls and ducking training, the pair relocate for the summer to a seaside camp and attempt to continue their hedonistic lifestyle. Part of the French Film Festival. Glasgow: GFT. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
American Pie (15) (Paul and Chris Weitz, US, 1999) Jason Biggs, Eugene Levy, Chris Klein. 96 mins. The latest in 1999's bumper crop of teenage comedies turns out to be a surprisingly sweet-natured account of adolescent sexual frustration. Jim (Biggs), a Michigan high school student, desperately wants to get laid by Prom night. But when he is caught by his dad in flagrante with mom’s apple pie, his prospects in the contest look bleak. What disappoints is American Pie’s ultimate conventionality. General release.
Analyze This (15) (Harold Ramis, US, 1999) Robert De Niro, Billy Crystal, Lisa Kudrow. 104 mins. A tough Mafioso is struggling to hold it all together and in desperation, decides to seek out a therapist. The Sopranos has nicked its thunder, but Analyze This is mainly an excuse for Crystal and De Niro to ham their way through the motions and its undoubtedly fun for a while but is finally simply too, too familiar. Glasgow: Odeon At The Quay. Paisley: Showcase.
Augustin. King Of Kung Fu (12) (Anne Fontaine, France, 1999) Jean-Chrétien Silbertin-Blanc, Maggie Cheung. 84 mins. In order to realise his desire to be cast in martial arts films, a bit part actor moves to Paris’s French Chinatown. There, kung fu lessons take their tool on the thesp and he seeks treatment from acupuncturist Cheung. Weird and wonderful. Part of the French Film Festival. Glasgow: GFI‘. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
Austin Powers: lntemational Man Of Mystery (15) (Jay Roach, US, 1997) Mike Myers, Elizabeth Hurley, Michael York. 94 mins. Austin Powers, the 605' silliest superspy, is brought out of suspended animation and pitted him against his old nemesis. But the world has moved on three decades, so his un-PC catchphrases and behaviour create a bit of a comic time-clash. Written by and starring Wayneis World’s Mike Myers, Austin Powers has perfect detail, spot-on casting and a hilarious mix of clever pastiche and toilet gags. Edinburgh: Cameo.
Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (12) (Jay Roach, US, 1999) Mike Myers, Heather Graham, Elizabeth Hurley. 96 mins.The Spy Who Shagged Me doesn't really make any advances in what is surely, by now, a new film franchise -Austin Powers 3: Live And Let Shag, perhaps? Edinburgh: Cameo.
An Autumn Tale (U) (Eric Rohmer, France, 1999) Beatrice Romand, Marie Riviere. 111 mins. Rohmer once again, quite stunningly, accesses the thoughts and feelings of his characters. Patience is the key to his work: if you can empathise with these vacillating people, you are richly rewarded. Stirling: MacRobert.
Baby's Day Out (PG) (Patrick Read Johnson, US, 1994) Joe Mantegna, Lara Flynn Boyle, Brian Haley. 98 mins. Talk about regression! After HomeAIone and Dennis, writer John Hughes now has a drooling toddler on the loose in the big city after he escapes from his kidnappers, led by man-with-no-shame Mantegna. Saccharine sweet storytelling which diabetics would be well advised to steer clear of. Edinburgh: Odeon. Kilmamock: Odeon.
Beautiful People (15) (Jazmin Dizdar, UK, 1999) Charlotte Coleman, Edin Dzandzanovic, Danny Nussbaum. 107 mins. Tackling the legacy of faraway war in Bosnia and the break-up of domestic bliss among the English professional classes makes for a film that's far from unambitious. Dizdar has a keen eye, an eye trained on an often precarious British social scene. Drug-takers, racists, snobs, alternative therapists, liberals, forlorn housewives, lone fathers, even BBC executives all feature kicking at life with varying degrees of hate and savagery. Dizdar’s cleverness comes in taking a diseased rump of British insularity and throwing in a good hand of common humanity. Edinburgh: Lumiere. Being John Malkovich (15) (Spike Jonze, US, 1999) John Cusack, Cameron Diaz, John Malkovich. 112 mins. Genius music video director Jonze‘s bizarre feature tells the story of a unemployed puppet master and his pet shop owner wife who find a portal that leads right into the head of Hollywood star John Malkovich. There '5 money to be made from those wanting to spend a few minutes wandering around inside. Part of the London Film Festival on tour. Glasgow: GFI‘.
Bicycle Thieves (PG) (Vittorio De Sica, Italy, 1948) Lamberto Maggiorani, Enzo Staiola. 89 mins. An unemployed Italian workman has his bicycle stolen, but badly needs it for a new job, so he and his small son search the busy streets of Rome for it. The epitome of Italian neo-realism, with the Roman setting vividly sketched and the performances compellineg natural. Edinburgh: Lumiere.
Big Daddy (12) (Dennis Dugan, US, 1999) Adam Sandler, Joey Lauren Adams, Jon Stewart. 93 mins. Sadly not an homage to the late wrestling great, but the new comedy vehicle for Adam Sandler’s similarly unsubtle comedy talents. His abrasive screen persona is a full time slob who becomes the unwilling father to a sweet five-year-old. Silly it may be, but despite the lack of ambition it’s occasionally funny. Glasgow: Showcase, UCI. Edinburgh: UCI. East Kilbride: UCI. Greenock: Waterfront. Kilmamock: Odeon. The Big Tease (15) (Kevin Allen, UK, 1999) Craig Ferguson, Francis Fisher, Chris Langham. 88 mins. The American Dream comes to Scotland in this tale of Crawford McKenzie (Ferguson), a Glaswegian hair- stylist cutting and crimping his way to the top of the hair hierarchy. Shot in semi-mock documentary style, the film follows his endeavours to take on all comers at the World Freestyle Hairdressing Championships in LA. A premier league feelgood movie. Edinburgh: Lumiere. Black Beauty (PG) (James Hill, UK, 1971) Mark Lester, Walter Slezak, Patrick Mower. 106 mins. An untameable wild horse suffers a variety of misfortunes before being reunited with its young master. Ho-hum version of the Anna Sewell children's classic, with the nauseating Lester as would- be cute as usual. One for the gymkhana types perhaps. Edinburgh: Odeon.
The Blair Witch Project (15) (Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez, US, 1999) Heather Donahue, Josh Leonard, Michael Williams. 90 mins. Myrick and Sanchez’s terrifying docu-horror movie purports to be an edited version of the film and video footage that three students shot in the days before they disappeared in the woods. While you're watching you're too sacred to think; but, on reflection, it's the subtle artifice that sustains the illusion of unfiltered reality. General release.
Bowfinger (12) (Frank Oz, US, 1999) Steve Martin, Eddie Murphy, Heather Graham. 97 mins. Ecstatic after reading a ’great script’, Martin, the proprietor of the low budget Bowfinger International Pictures, begins the farcical attempt to make a movie with Hollywood’s flavour of the month, Kit Ramsey (Murphy), as its unwitting star. Exposing Hollywood’s neurotic underbelly, but sadly all too briefly, the plot then develops into double trouble for Murphy, who takes two roles. General release.
Brokedown Palace (12) (Jonathan Kaplan, US, 1999) Claire Danes, Kate Beckinsale, Bill Pullman. 100 mins. Travelling in Thailand, Beckinsale and Danes fall victim to a conrnan and find themselves facing 33- year sentences for drug smuggling. The jailers and Thai officials are cartoon baddies more suited to a Bond film and the Thai wife of the girls’ American lawyer is blankly played. In the end, it plumps for Hollywood test of friendship over social comment. Glasgow: Odeon, Odeon At The Quay, Showcase Cinema. Edinburgh: UCI, Virgin Megaplex. Kilmamock: Odeon. Paisley: Showcase.
A Brother (18) (Sylvie Verhyde, France, 1997) Emma de Caunes, Jeannick Gravelinnes. 90 mins. Sharing a Parisian apartment where parents are very absent, Lo'ic fills the roles of, alternately, father, brother and jealous lover for his innocent sister, Sophie. But when the girl matures, Lo‘ic's life is redefined. Part of the French Film Festival. Glasgow: GFI‘. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
Buena Vista Social Club (U) (Wim Wenders, Cuba, 1999) Ry Cooder, Ibrahim Ferrer, Ruben Gonzalez. 104 mins. Cuba looks a little like the land that time forgot. A theme Wenders brings out both in the over- exposed images of Havana and also in the musical brilliance of these octogenarian and nonagenarian musicians who have for so long been neglected. Edinburgh: Cameo. Carrie 2:The Rage (18) (Katt Shea, US, 1999) Emily Bergl, Jason London. 104 mins. Stephen King‘s teenage telekinetic terror is revisited, but it’s neither a knowing homage nor an effectively scary movie. Goth outcast at school, Rachel unleashes mass destruction when she's humiliated at a sports jock's party. The climactic scene has a few interesting touches, but against recent horror movie innovations, The Rage is merely a temperate tantrum. General release.
Casper (PG) (Brad Silberling, US, 1995) Christina Ricci, Bill Pullman, Cathy Moriarty. 100 mins. Everyone ’s favourite friendly ghost has been living with his three bad-tempered uncles in an abandoned mansion. When it’s bequeathed to a money- grabbing heiress who thinks it’s filled with hidden treasure guarded by unquiet spirits, Casper comes into contact with ghost psychologist Pullman’s tomboy daughter (Ricci). A very messy amalgam of Ghostbusters eflects, Addams Family gothic humour and the sort of overblown feelgood Spielbergiana that revels in funny gadgetry and family values. Glasgow: GFT. Children Of The Century (15) (Diane Kurys, France, 1999) Juliette Bincohe, Benoit Magimel. 135 mins. Epic, lavish period drama (costumes Christian Lacroix) about the turbulent love affair between writer George Sand (Binoche) and Alfred de Musset. Under her pen name, Binoche's aristocrat’s writing on sexuality causes a sensation in Paris. But Sand meets her match in the carousing Musset. Part of the French Film Festival. Glasgow: GFI‘. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
Citizen Kane (PG) (Orson Welles, US, 1941) Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten, Agnes Moorehead. 119 mins. Stunnineg successful biographical mosaic centring on a Hearst-like media tycoon. Welles' first film remains scintillating viewing for its sheer technical verve, narrative confidence and spellbinding performances. The best film ever made? Who's arguing? Edinburgh: Cameo. Dunferrnline: Carnegie Hall.
A Considerable Disturbance (15) (Bernard Stora, France, 1999) 110 mins. An amateur football player living in Normandy sees stars in his eyes when he is given the chance to join a professional club. Doted on by his mother and half-Arab stepbrothers, he
index FILM
never strays from his sporting goal until he falls for an attractive female sportswriter. Part of the French Film Festival. Glasgow: GFT. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
Cookie's Fortune (12) (Robert Altman, US, 1999) Glenn Close, Julianne Moore, Patricia Neal. 118 mins. Neither a masterpiece like Short C tits, nor a piece of studio hack work like The Gingerbread Man, Robert Altman’s latest is a likeable, very minor slice of Americana. However, Altman’s inquiring visual style fails to find characters of any substance. Edinburgh: ABC, Odeon.
Deep Blue Sea (15) (Renny Harlin, US, 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 entertaining 'smart shark' movie pulls out all the stops, making maximum use of post- Jaws improvements in animatronic effects and CGI technology. General release.
Le Derriere (15) (Valerie Lemercier, France, 1999) 110 mins. Cheekily titled film in which a daughter goes to rather extreme lengths to spend time with her long lost father. After mum dies, Frederique goes to Paris and, rejected by daddy, follows him (in drag) into the gay clubbing scene. Part of the French Film Festival. Glasgow: GFT. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
Don't Let Me Die On A Sunday (18) (Didier Le Pécheur, France, 1998) Jean-Marc Barr, Elodie Bouchez, Patrick Catalifo. 86 mins. Bizarre fantasy in which two morgue attendants pass the time with the stiffs watching porn videos. When the corpse of a beautiful girl (Bouchcz) who died partying arrives, one of the immoral young men (Barr) makes love to the her. Later, the body rises from the dead and goes to find out more about her saviour. Part of the French Film Festival. Glasgow: GFT. Edinburgh: Filmhouse. Doug’s 1st Movie (U) (Maurice Joyce, US, 1999) 77 mins. The animated adventures of quirky adolescent Doug Funnie graduates from its popular Saturday morning slot on American television to big screen glory, courtesy of Disney. Movie no. 1 sees the twelve-year-old torn between taking action against environmental pollution and taking his beloved Patti Mayonnaise to the high school dance. Greenock: Waterfront.
Dr Dolittle (PG) (Betty Thomas, US, 1998) Eddie Murphy, Ossie Davies, Oliver Platt. 85 mins. A turkey with Rex Harrison in its original form, and still pretty dire this time round. This wild family adventure offers crude bottom humour for the Babe audience, but the talking animals gimmick battles with cheesy morality and nothing comes together. Ayr: Odeon. Kilmamock: 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. Edinburgh: Lumiere.
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STUDIO ONE:
STAFFORD STREET ’ EDINBURGH
OPEN 7 DAYS
18 Nov—2 Dec 1999 THE U87 31