FILM listings FILM LISTINGS Continued
Mystery Men (PG) tit (Kinka Usher, US, 1999) Ben Stiller, William H. Macy, Janeane Garofaio. 122 mins. Although it’s a spoof, Mystery Men is more knowing about the conventions of American comic book superheroes than other comic adaptations - that's largely down to Mystery Men ’5 origins in Bob Burden’s Dark Horse Comic, Flaming Carrot. Caped crimefighter Captain Amazing has been kidnapped by super villain Casanova Frankenstein and it’s up to underachiever heroes: the Mystery Men to save the day. Kilmamock: Odeon.
Natural Born Killers (18) *«ktt (Oliver Stone, US, 1994) Woody Harrelson, Juliette Lewis, Robert Downey Jr. 119 mins. Stone's visual and aural assault makes for one of the most remarkable cinematic experiences in years; his attempts to marry style with content, and provide a damning expose of the media adulation of serial killers is less successful, let down by his trademark overstatement. Violent, mesmerising, hallucinatory and bold in its use of various film formats, NBK is a landmark in MTV-influenced filmmaking. Edinburgh: Cameo.
The Night Of The Hunter (PG) ***** (Charles Laughton, US, 1955) Robert Mitchum, Shelley Winters, Lilian Gish. 93 mins. Mitchum is unforgettable in this atmospheric tale (sadly Laughton’s only film as director) in which he plays a psychotic priest chasing two children for the money stolen by their father. James Agee’s script and Laughton’s stark monochrome visuals mark out an allegorical conflict between good and evil but there’s plenty haunting imagery to make this a mesmerising cinematic experience. Edinburgh: Edinburgh Film Guild at the Filmhouse. 101 Dalmatians (U) *ti (Stephen Herek, US, 1996) Glenn Close, Joely Richardson, Jefi' Daniels. 103 mins.
Disney turns one of its favourite animated films into a live action pantomime with spodges of Home Alone bufi'oonery, making sure there are plenty of dogs to make the kids go ‘aaahhh'. The story remains pretty much untouched - vile villainess Cruella De Vil (Close) kidnaps enough spotty pups to make a stunning coat, but the animal world gets the better of her - and so does the old-fashioned morality, which stresses the sanctity of marriage and that a woman's place is by her man's side. Motherwell: Moviehouse.
One More Kiss (12) think (Vadim Jean, UK, 1999) Valerie Edmond, James Cosmo, Gerald Butler. 97 mins. Edmond plays the dynamic Sarah, whose cancer diagnosis drives her to rebuild burnt bridges. Returning to her hometown of Berwick-Upon-“veed, she attempts a reconciliation with both her distant father (Cosmo) and her first love, Sam (Butler). An emotional minefield for the characters, then, but also for the filmmakers. Thankfully, sentimentality is downplayed in favour of powerful characterisation and a genuinely afiecting atmosphere of building tension and impending tragedy. Galashiels: Pavilion.
Onegin (12) **** (Martha Fiennes, UK, 1999) Ralph Fiennes, Liv Tyler. 106 mins. Alexander Pushkin’s epic poem, Evgeny Onegin, is the source of Fiennes’s impressive debut film, which hurls its characters through an intensity of passion, betrayal and unbearable loss within the thoroughly elegant and codified context of the Russian aristocracy of the 1820s. Ralph Fiennes's Onegin is an initially arrogant, cynical man who learns his own heart when tragic circumstances force him to re- evaluate his feelings for a woman. Edinburgh: Cameo, Filmhouse.
Open Your Eyes (15) ** (Alejandro Amen-bar, Spain, 2000) Eduardo Noriega, Penelope Cruz, Chetc Lera. 117 mins. Smooth looking, three car owning,
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inheritance spending César (Noriega) has the sort of Madrid life many would dream of. He even gets the best looking girl, the stunning Sofia (Cruz). However, schadenfraude demands a turn for the worst, and sure enough, there it is literally round the corner. Amen-bar’s second feature seems caught between the light comic touch of Aimodovar and the pensive subtleties of Medem. See review. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
The Parent Trap (U) *** (Nancy Meyers, US, 1998) Dennis Quaid, Natasha Richardson, Lindsay Lohan. 125 mins. This updated version of the Hayley Mills original casts Lohan in the dual role of identical twins completely unaware of each other’s existence until they discover the truth at summer camp. Never having met the other parent, American Hallie and English Annie agree to swap identities. It makes for a sweet natured, well meaning story that trades on elements of farce and the odd bit of slapstick. Edinburgh: Lumiere. Paulie: A Parrot’s ‘rail (PG) rhea (John Roberts, US, 1998) Jay Mohr, Tony Shalhoub, Gena Rowlands. 91 mins. Caged in a research institute, Paulie the parrot relates his life-story: from helping a little girl with a stutter to a series of adventures with various adults. Neither as immediately cute nor as bizarrely inspired as Babe, Paulie nevertheless marks a step in the right direction for the DreamWorks studio. Jay Mohr's vocal talents give the parrot a Streetwise sense, while the mix of live action and animatronics is always realistic. Edinburgh: Lumiere.
Peeping Tom(18) ***** (Michael Powell, UK, 1960) mins. Karl Boehm, Moira Shearer, Anna Massey. A movie studio focus puller equips his camera with a spike and sets out to murder young women while filming the fear on their faces. Utterly reviled upon its initial release, Powell’s daring examination of voyeurism as a metaphor for the cinema itself is now regarded as one of the most intelligent British films ever made. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
Plein Soleil (15) tanks: (Rene Clement, France, 1960) Alain Delon, Maurice Ronet, Marie Laforet. 118 mins. Clement’s lushly filmed reworking of a Patricia Highsmith story hooks viewers into its skewed moral universe. Ripley (Delon) nurses a grudge against a friend with girl trouble and hatches a plan to kill him on a yachting trip. The film - clumsy in places, over-long in others - becomes an absorbing exercise in careful
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plotting and spooky emotional manoeuvring. Edinburgh: Lumiere.
The Prince Of Egypt (U) *** (Brenda Chapman, Steve iiickner, 1998) Voices of Val Kilmer, Ralph Fiennes, Sandra Bullock, Michelle Pfeiffer. 99 mins. The Exodus story, animated for the big screen. With some artistic licence, it follows Moses from his discovery as a baby by Pharaoh‘s wife, through his formative years as a Royal Prince to his fall from grace when he discovers his true Hebrew background. The familiar tale is told in an imaginative and inventive fashion, yet in aiming for such a bold, epic approach the human focus is lost. Glasgow: Grosvenor.
Pulp Fiction (18) ***** (Quentin Tarantino, US, 1994) John Travolta, Samuel Jackson, Uma Thurman, Bruce Willis. 150 mins. Much more ambitious than Reservoir Dogs, the most awaited second feature of the 90s has many scenes that crackle with 'i'arantino wit, and a few others that fall flat as the writer-director bravely experiments. interlocking stories in the pulp crime manner concern hitmen. ailing boxers, gang bosses and their molls, drug fiends, and assorted riff-raff. A surprise Cannes Palme d'Or winner is a trip. all the way. St Andrews: New Picture House. Pushing Tin (15) *** (Mike Newell, US, 1999) John Cusack, Billy Bob Thornton, Angelina Jolie, Cate Blanchett. 124 mins. Cusack is Nick Falzone, the hot shot aircraft navigator at New York‘s busiest airport. The arrival of Russell Bell (Thornton) brings out cracks in Falzone’s once unflappable exterior. Bell's pouting wife (Jolie) provides further distraction for Falzone, despite the attentions of his own caring, but kooky spouse (Blanchett). The two men confront each other after Falzone's paranoia peaks and thereafter the film spirals sadly downward, and, considering how close it often veers towards buddy movie territory, Pushing Tin is resolved in a rather peculiar and unsatisfying way. Glasgow: Grosvenor. Stirling: Carlton. Rateateher (15) ***** (Lynne Ramsay, UK, 1999) William Eadie, Tommy Flanagan, Mandy Matthews. 93 mins. Seen through the eyes of twelve- year-old James Gillespie, a sensitive boy haunted by the drowning of a neighbour‘s son, Ratcatcher paints a bleakly realistic picture of Glasgow family life. Ramsay uses meticulous framing, unusual camera angles and atmospheric images to capture the subtle textures of everyday life. as well as