Films screening this fortnight are listed below with certificate. credits, brief review and venue details. Film index compiled by Miles Fielder.
The Adventures Of Pinocchio (U) (Steve Barron, US, 1996) Martin Landau, Jonathan Taylor 'Ihomas, Udo Kicr. 96 mins. More faithful to the original novel than the Disney cartoon, this mix of animatronics, computer animation and live action still falls short of the mark. Iandau is a sympathetic Geppetto and the period detail gives a nice fairytale mood, but the sentimentality and moralising (and the shoddy cricket animation) undermine its good elements. Edinburgh: Lumiere.
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. What disappoints is American Pie's ultimate conventionality. Entertaining, but hardly in the comic league of There's Something About Mary. General release.
Anastasia (PG) (Anatole Litvak, US, 1956) Ingrid Bergman, Yul Brynncr, Helen Hayes. 105 mins. Bergman returned to Hollywood after her notorious Italian dalliancc with Rosselini and won herself an Oscar in this story of a woman picked out of the crowd to impersonate the lost daughter of the last Russian Czar. Well mounted Hollywood super-production. Glasgow: Grosvenor. Anna And The King (12) (Andy Tennant, US, 1999) Jodie Foster, Chow Yun Fat, Bai Ling. 151 mins. Another remake of The King And I's improbable romance between a Western governess and an Eastern king. This time round Yul Brinner is replaced with lush period detail and historical sweep of the kind seen before in The Last Emperor. Foster gives a gratineg worthy performance, while Fat pr0ves he‘s better with the llong Kong bullet ballets that made him famous. See review. General release. Antz (PG) (Eric Darnell, Tim Johnson, 1998) The voices of Woody Allen, Sharon Stone, Gene Hackman. 83 mins. When worker ant 2-4195 (Allen) meets Princess Bala (Stone), he falls completely in love; but, while trying to prove himself as a soldier, he uncovers a dastardly plan to flood the colony. Antz is brightly coloured and full of gags, so adults will chuckle while kids are pulled in by the slick computer animation. Irvine: Magnum Theatre. Anywhere But Here (12) (Wayne Wang, US, 1999) Susan Sarandon, Natalie Portman. 114 mins. Teenager Ann August (Portman) is embarrassed by her wild-at- heart her mother, Adele (Sarandon), but when Adele drags her away from stable family life in Wisconsin to the bright lights of LOS Angeles, embarrassment becomes hate. Wang's (Dim Sum, The Joy Luck Club, Smoke) shot at the genre strips it down to its basics: raw emotion, moments of light relief and a pair of very accomplished lead performances. Glasgow: Odeon. Edinburgh: Virgin Megaplex.
Asterix and The Big Fight (U) (Keith lngham, UK, 1989) With the voices of Bill Oddie, Michael Elphick, Andrew Sachs. 82 mins. Asterix celebrates his thirtieth anniversary with this new animated feature in which he and his band of plucky Gallic mates take on the might of the Roman army. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
The Big Heat (18) (Fritz Lang, US, 1953) Glenn Ford, Gloria Grahame, Lee Marvin. 90 mins. Muscular thriller as ex-cop Ford tries to track down his wife's killer and nab a crime ring with the assistance of Grahame‘s sympathetic moll. Marvin is a blisterineg vicious villain, stubbing out cigarettes on a human ash-tray and scalding Grahame with the contents of a coffee pot. Edinburgh: Cameo.
Blade Runner: The Director's Cut (15) (Ridley Scott, US, 1982) Harrison Ford, Sean Young, Rutger Ilauer. 116 mins. Out go the pseudo-noir narration and the tacked- on happy ending; in comes a more defined sense that Deckard himself may be a
replicant. The look and feel remain as powerful, and the acting is superb. A flawed masterpiece is now a restored masterpiece. Edinburgh: Cameo.
Blade (18) (Stephen Norrington, US, 1998) Wesley Snipes, Stephen Dorff, Kris Kristofferson. 121 mins. Young Brit director Norrington's techno-vampire movie — based on the Marvel Comics character — is marred by weak storytelling and flashy computer- game visuals. One hoped for sustained atmospherics and coherent mythology: instead, this fashionably updated take on vampire lore squanders its innovative ideas on a series of disjointed set-pieces. Glasgow: Odeon At The Quay.
The Blair Witch Project (15) (Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez, US, 1999) Heather Donahue, Josh Leonard, Michael Williams. 90 mins. Terrifying docu-horror movie that purports to be an edited version of the film and video footage that Donahue, Leonard and Williams shot in the days before they disappeared in the woods around Burkittsville, Maryland. While you’re watching you‘re too sacred to think about the clever tricks with your mind. Paisley: Showcase. Rothesay: Winter Garden.
Blue Streak (12) (Les Mayfield, US, 1999) Martin Lawrence, Peter Greene, Luke Wilson. 94 mins. In a comedy crime caper of the type that Eddie Murphy used to master, Lawrence impresses as a thief forced to masquerade as a Los Angeles cop in order to recover a bag of diamonds buried the LAPD‘s headquarters. It’s all good fun, with crisp direction from Mayf'ield and a nice balance of comic shtick and stunts. See review. General release.
Bowfinger (12) (Frank 02, US, 1999) Steve Martin, Eddie Murphy, Heather Graham. 97 mins. Ecstatic after reading a ‘great script’, Martin, the proprietor of the low budget Bowfinger lntemational Pictures, begins the farcical attempt to make a movie with Hollywood's flavour of the month, Kit Ramsey (Murphy), as its unwitting star. Exposing of Hollywood‘s neurotic underbelly, but sadly all too briefly, the plot runs out of steam. Glasgow: Odeon At The Quay, UCI. Greenock: Waterfront. Rothesay: Winter Garden.
Bringing Up Baby (PG) (Howard Hawks, US, 1938) Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn, Charles Ruggles. 102 mins. Zany gal Hepburn causes timid zoology professor Grant to lose a valuable dinosaur bone and mislay a pet leopard within the course of one screwball evening. Archetypal Thirties crazy comedy with one outlandishly hilarious scene following another within the progression of an unerringly logical narrative. Both stars at their charismatic best. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
Buena Vista Social Club (U) (Wim Wenders, Cuba, 1999) Ry Cooder, Ibrahim Ferrer, Rubén Gonzlez. 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
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Winter guest: Simone Simon in The Curse Of The Cat People
musical brilliance of these octogenarian and nonagenarian musicians who have for so long been neglected. And it‘s ironically thanks to an American, Wenders‘ regular musical collaborator Ry Cooder, that their careers have been resurrected. Glasgow: GET. Edinburgh: Filmhouse. Stirling: MacRobert.
Captain Jack (PG) (Robert Young, UK. 1998) Bob Hoskins. 90 mins. lloskins is perfectly cast as the loveable old rogue of a sea captain who attempts to emulate his maritime hero, Captain Scoresby by undertaking a trip from Whitby to the Artie. More pathos, sentimentality and cheery good humour than you haul round a keel. Glasgow: GF'T.
Casper (PG) (Brad Silberling, US, 1995) Christina Ricci, Bill Pullman, Cathy Moriarty. 100 mins. Everyonc'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 effects, Addams Family gothic humour and the sort of overblown feelgood Spielbergiana that revels in funny gadgetry and family values. Irvine: Magnum Theatre. Cat People (PG) (Jacques Tourneur, US, 1943) Simone Simon, Kent Smith, Tom Conway. 71 mins. Writer/producer Val Lewton showed that horror was'a matter of the mind. The 1943 original sees Simon haunted by legends of her homeland, leading her to believe that she is about to metamorphose into a panther. You could read a misogynist subtext into the films, but for all the fiber-melodrama and shaky dialogue, there is a dark intelligence and restraint which marks it out as superior B- movie nonsense. Edinburgh: Filmhouse. The Children Of The Marshland (PG) (Jean Becker, France, 1999) Jacques Villeret, Jacques Gamblin, Michel Serrault. 115 mins. Set in France's RhUnc-Alpes region where Riton (Villeret) and Garris (Gamblin) scrape a living any way they can. The story eschews narrative focus for a series of privileged moments, narrated by Riton's daughter and the film‘s immediacy is always secondary to its clegiac tone. Glasgow: GET. Edinburgh: Filmhouse. Comes A Horseman (PG) (Alan J. Paluka, US, 1978) Jane Fonda, Jason Robards, Richard Famsworth. 118 mins. Farnsworth picked up an Oscar for his performance here and he might do so again with his new film, The Straight Story. Otherwise, we‘re in modern (19405) Western territory where Montana ranchers have a hard time holding their own against Progress in the form of a greedy cattle baron. Edinburgh: Filmhouse. Cotton Mary (15) (Ismail Merchant, UK, 1999) Madhur Jaffrey, Greta Scacchi, James Wilby. 124 mins. Merchant's his third film as a director is a drama set in the post-
colonial India of the 195(ls about an Anglo- Indian nurse caught uneasily between two cultures. The eponvmous (‘otton Mary (Jafl‘rey) increases her standing with the expatriate British when she provides a wet- nurse for l.in Macintosh (Scacchi), who finds herself unable to breast feed her prematurely born baby. Jaffrey's performance is excellent, but the script's clumsiness and Merchant's hesitant direction, prevent the film from wringing the pathos the subject deserves. See review. Glasgow: Showcase. lidinburgh: Virgin Megaplex.
The Cup (PU) (Khyentse Norbu, Australia, 1999) ()rgyen ’I'obgyal, Netcn (fhokling, Jamyang I.odro. "3 mins. The (fup scores a hat trick of firsts: first film directed by a lama, in the Tibetan language with a cast solely comprised of monks. And it's about football, specifically the footy fever that grips the monks of (Thokling Monastery during the 1998 World Cup. Eliciting spirited performances from his cast, Norbu achieves his goal in creating a simple, humorous. humane film. See preview and review. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
Curse Of The Cat People (PU) (Robert Wise/Gunter V. Fritsch, US, 1944) Simone Simon, Kent Smith. Jane Randolph. 70 mins. \V'rilcr/producer Val Lewton showed that horror was a matter of the mind. In the follow-up to the 1943 original, Simon's spectre returns to take control of a young girl. You could read a misogynist subtext into the films, but for all the iibcr- melodrama and shaky dialogue, there is a dark intelligence and restraint which marks it out as superior B-movie nonsense. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
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Falker Town Hall lntllsirk ( ~mum il
Tues 21 & Thurs 23 Dec, 7.30pm Wed 22nd Dec, 1 tam It’s A Wonderful Life to)
Wednesday 22nd Dec, 7.30pm Last Night (15)
Thurs 23rd Dec, 2.30pm Miracle on 34th Street to)
Closed for Xmas/New Year Re-open on 16th Jan Merry Christmas!
Tickets and further information from The Steeple Box office (Tel: 01324 506850) or on the da from the hall
16 Dec 1999—6 Jan 2000 THE U31 33