latter's girlfriend. A bold, unpredictable film that has plenty to say about notions of personal and sexual identity. lfonly all British movies were as good as this. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
The Daytrippers (15) **** (Greg Mottola, US, 1997) Hope Davis, Liev Schreiber, Parker Posey. 87 mins. Strained as a family unit, the Malones pull together when daughter Eliza suspects her husband is having an affair. So begins a chaotic and disputatious trawl through New Yrrk in a station wagon. Mottola's script is as painfully incisive as it is funny and compassionate. That it succeeds as a film is thanks to its talented cast, who revel in the psychological subtleties of their parts. Edinburgh: Edinburgh Film Guild at the Filmhouse.
Dogma (15) ** (Kevin Smith, US, 1999) Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Alan Rickman. 130 mins. Smith, creator of Clerks and himself a devout believer, confronts the conflict between personal faith and the institutionalised religion of the Catholic Church. Meanwhile slacker prophets Jay and Silent Bob provide the usual casual Obscenities. Dogma is vulgar and irreverent, and features a ‘poop monster' and Alanis Morrisette as God. It‘s also undisciplined, shambolic and boring. As a satire, it doesn't have a prayer. Glasgow: Grosvenor. St Andrews: New Picture House.
Double Jeopardy (15) ** (Bruce Beresford, US, 1999) Tommy Lee Jones, Ashley Judd,Annabeth Gish. 105 mins. Double Jeopardy is The Fugitive with a female lead. Not only does it rip off the earlier film's basic premise — innocent hero(oine) gets wrongly convicted for murdering a spouse and goes on the run, pursued by a dogng officer of the law — it even boasts the same co-star (Jones). But while The Fugitive was gripping and well- crafted. Double Jeopariiv is formulaic pap. General release.
Dr Dolittle (PG) ~k (Betty Thomas, US, 1998) Eddie Murphy, Ossie Davies, ()liver Platt. 85 mins. A turkey with Rex Harrison in its original form, and still pretty dire this time round. This wild family adventure
Imagine that you get Up one morning, go out into the street
and find that
no one is there. You’re all alone
offers crude bottom humour for the Babe audience, but the talking animals gimmick battles with cheesy morality and nothing comes together. Edinburgh: Odeon.
East Is East (15) ***** (Damien O'Donnell, UK, 1999) Om Puri, Linda Bassett, Jordan Routledge. 96 mins. Based on Ayub Khan-Din‘s play, East 15 East draws its perfectly balanced mix of belly laughs and tears from the conflict within a multi-racial family living in Salford in the 70s. 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. Glasgow: Odeon At The Quay. Showcase. Paisley: Showcase. Stirling: MacRobert.
The End Of The Affair (18) *it* (Neil Jordan, UK/US, 2000) Ralph Fiennes, Julianne Moore, Stephen Rea. 101 mins. 'Ihis is a diary of hate,’ explains narrator Bendrix (Fiennes), as he attempts to piece together the memories of his war-time affair with Sarah (Moore), the wife of high- ranking civil servant Henry (Rea). Jordan captures the rancorous tone and bitter intensity of Graham Grahame Greene's source novel in this potent adaptation, the impact of which is compounded by a trio of commanding performances. General release. Ermo (PG) *** (Zhou Xiaowen, Hong Kong/China, 1994) Alia. Ge Zhijun, Liu Peiqi. 98 mins. Jealous of her neighbour‘s television, Ermo becomes obsessed with an impressive 29‘ set and dedicates her working life to saving for it. Her determined quest will strike a chord in our own status symbol oriented culture, and although the film is shot and performed in a low key style and moves at an extremely slow pace, it impressively makes the most of its slender means. Edinburgh: Lumiere.
Extreme Screen: Everest 8r The Living Sea (U) it ~10 mins. Although the lwerks experience impresses on a technical level. neither of these films transcend entertainment as lumbering fairgrtiund attraction. Everest is a dry-as-sand account of a recent expedition up the big yin. Filmed
' inthe world.
STARTS lOth MARCH
in the style of a Sunday afternoon docudrama, it also has the dubious honour of rendering a remarkable adventure mundane. A much better bet is the visually wondrous The Living Sea, an ‘edutaining' look at mankind‘s relationship with the sea (with voice-over from Meryl Streep). Edinburgh: Virgin Megaplex.
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. Felicia is a young lrish girl who journeys across the sea to England to find the father of her unborn child. Arriving in Birmingham, the naive girl accepts the help ofAmbrose Hilditch, a seemingly benign middle-aged bachelor who has more than one skeleton in his closet. Glasgow: Grosvenor. Stirling: Carlton.
Fight Club (18) *it* (David Fincher, US, 1999) Brad Pitt, Ed Norton, Helena Bonham Carter. 135 mins. Masculinity is in a mess and consumerism is to blame. Men have become docile spectators of life according to Fight Club, Fincher's controversial adaptation of Chuck Palahniuk's novel. In reckless response to this late twentieth century malaise, Norton's docile spectator teams up with Pitt's mischievous Tyler Durden to form an arena for men to beat each other to a pulp and thus reconnect with the world. It's hit and miss, but enough of the punches connect to startle even the most docile of viewers. Stirling: Carlton. Ghost In The Shell (15) *** (Mamoru ()shii, Japan, 1995) 85 mins. It’s 2029, and secret service cyborgs are battling with a megalomaniacal super-hacker. The philosophical tracts and techno jargon are a bit of a problem, but the visuals are undeniably impressive. The most expensive feature-length adaptation of a mango comic ever, it’s worth catching on the big screen. Edinburgh: Cameo.
A Goofy Movie (U) *tt (Kevin Lima, 08, 1996) With the voices of Bill Farmer, Jason Marsden. Jim Cummings. 74 mins. After a
listings FILM
school prank backfires, Goofy decides to take troublesome son Max off on a bonding fishing trip. Max is trying his best to be cool, but that isn’t easy when your dad’s this particular Disney star. An incident-packed journey provides plenty of laughs which should keep restless kids and accompanying adults amused. Glasgow: Grosvenor.
La Grande Illusion (PG) **** (Jean Renoir, France, 1937) Jean Gabin, Pierre Fresney, Erich von Stroheim, Marcel Dalio. 117 mins. Renoir's classic prison camp escape story is more than the strong anti-war statement that won it praise at the time of its release; it is also an ironic social analysis highlighting class differentiation. Edinburgh: Lumiere.
The Green Mile (18) *** (Frank Darabont, US, 2000) Tom Hanks, Michael Clarke Duncan, David Morse. 189 mins. Darabont follows one Stephen King prison drama, The Shawshank Redemption, with another about life on death row at Cold Mountain Penitentiary in the 19305. Despite its lengthy running time, Darabont's careful, even pacing works at this length. Only towards the end, where the strong storylines are resolved with a somewhat whimsical paranormal occurrence, does this sturdy piece of filmmaking waver. See preview and review. General release.
Gregory’s Two Girls (15) *** (Bill Forsyth. UK, 1999) John Gordon-Sinclair, Maria Doyle Kennedy, Carly McKinnon. 104 mins. Gregory Underwood is still the endearing. awkward, immature boy of 1979, although by 1999 he's a teacher at his old school in Cumbemauld. Forsyth cleverly develops the film’s two plot strands to play on Gregory ‘5 emotional immaturity and innocence. In one Gregory avoids the attentions of Kennedy‘s fellow teacher while fantasising about McKinnon's school girl; in the other he is reacquainted with old school pal Fraser Rowan (Dougray Scott), an entrepreneur involved in highly unethical business dealings. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
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Jr
A HLMBY ALEJANDRO AMENABAR
EDUARDO NORlEGA
abre.los (DIG: .
PENELOPE CRUZ
[open your eyes]
2—16 Mar 2000 THE LIST 27