FILM index
FILM LISTINGS continued
Mrs Brown (PC) drink (John Madden, UK, 1997) Judi Dench, Billy Connolly, Antony Sher. 103 mins. Queen Victoria's obsessive mourning for Prince Albert is casting gloom over the entire country, so Highland ghillie John Brown is called down from Balmoral to shake up the stuffy English court. Madden’s film can't match the comic brio and visual panache of The Madness 0f King George, but his understated direction undeniably suits the story. The performances are uniformly splendid, with Dench and Connolly (both perfectly cast) giving the film a surprising emotional depth. Kilmamock: Odeon. Muppets From Space (U) *** (Tim Hill, 1999, US) Dave Goelz, Steve Whitmire, Frank 02. 88 mins. For their sixth big screen adventure, the focus of our Muppet attentions is Gonzo, that blue, hooked nosed . . . thing. No one is really sure what GonZo is, so when he gets a message which he believes is from space, the race is on to make contact with his extra terrestrial brethren. Mtippets From Space captures the spirit of the first movie and the original TV series where the subsequent films never did. Glasgow: Showcase. Edinburgh: ABC. Greenock: Waterfront. Irvine: Magnum Theatre. Kilmarnock: Odeon. Paisley: Showcase.
Mystery Men (PG) tit (Kinka Usher, US, 1999) Ben Stiller, William H. Macy, Janeane Garofalo. 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 ‘s 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. Edinburgh: Odeon.
Next Friday (15) *** (Ice Cube, US, 2000) Ice Cube, Tommy 'Tiny’ Lister, Jr, Mike lipps. 98 mins. it's four years since Craig (Cube) beat up local bully Debo
Welly, welly, welly well. Alex and his droogs pay their respects after 27 years out of the sinny in Stanley Kubrick's real
(Lister, Jr). When Debo breaks out ofjail Craig is sent to his uncle's house in the suburbs to hide out, where he creates havoc in the life of cousin Day-Day (Epps). Next Friday has more of everything — villains, girls, fights, marijuana and comedy gags —
than in the original. More is more. Glasgow:
Showcase. Paisley: Showcase.
Open Your Eyes (15) *i: (Alejandro Amen~bar, Spain, 2000) Eduardo Noriega, Penelope Cruz, Chete Lera. 117 mins. Smooth looking, three car owning, inheritance spending CFsar (Noriega) has the sort of Madrid life many would dream of. He even gets the best looking girl, the
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stunning Sofia (Cruz). However, schadenfraude demands a turn for the worst, and sure enough, there it is literally round the comer. Amenbar’s second feature seems caught between the light comic touch of Almodovar and the pensive subtleties of Medem. Glasgow: GFI‘.
Ordinary Decent Criminal (15) ** (Thaddeus O'Sullivan, UK, 2000) Kevin Spacey, Linda Fiorentino, Peter Mullan. 93 mins. Since lrish gangster Martin Cahill's life and crimes have been filmed twice already, as John Boorman's The General and David Blair's superior TV movie Vicious Circle, this third version is at best belated and at worst superfluous. Spacey is ludicrously miscast here as he struggles with both the Irish character and the local lingo and the tone is pitched somewhere between a cartoon caper and a knockabout farce. See review. General release.
Orphans (18) *t** (Peter Mullan, Uk, 1999) Douglas Henshall, Gary Lewis, Stephen McCole, Rosemarie Stephenson. 105 mins. Four orphans of varying ages attempt to come to terms with the death of their beloved mother during one dark, stormy night in Glasgow. Mullan's feature directing debut mixes emotional frankness with humour verging on the surreal to great effect. While individual set pieces and performances impress, the whole thing comes together remarkably. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
Our Man In Havana (PG) *tink (Carol Reed, UK, 1959) Alec Guinness, Nt'jel Coward, Burl lves. 112 mins. Sir Alec is a British vacuum cleaner salesman abroad in exotic Havana who allows himself to be recruited as a spy in this very, very fine stiff wry comedy adapted by Graham Greene from his own novel. Edinburgh: Filmhouse. Parama (15) *** (Aparna Sen, India, 1985) 138 mins. Bengali actress and director Sen attends the screening of her film, shot in Hindi with English subtitles. Parama explores a wife and mother's efforts to assert her own identity within the constraints of her socially defined roles. Touring as part of the Asian Women's Film Festival. Glasgow: GFI‘.
Pepe Le Moko (PG) meme (Julien Duvivier, France, 1936) Jean Gabin, Mireille Balin, Line Noro. 93 mins. A Parisian gangster hides out in the Algerian casbah, but love tempts him out of his hideaway with ultimately tragic results. Gorgeous romantic melodrama, with a typically French doomy poetry remaking a Hollywood genre, and Cabin at the peak of his powers. Edinburgh: Lumiere.
Perfect Blue (18) #ka (Satoshi Kan, Japan, 1998) 80 mins. The director of anime feature Rottjin Z tells the story of a former pop star whose grip on reality starts to slip when she becomes an actress in a daytime soap opera. Meanwhile, a series of murders
horrorshow A Clockwork Orange
appear to be linked to her new, raunchy image. Edinburgh: Cameo.
Ratcatcher (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, Rutcatc/ter paints a bleakly realistic picture of (ilasgow family life. Ramsay uses meticulous framing, unusual camera angles and atmospheric images to capttrre the subtle textures of everyday life, as well as complex: inner feelings. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
Rear Window (PG) **** (Alfred Hitchcock, US, 1954) James Stewart, Grace Kelly, Wendell Corey, Raymond Burr. 112 mins. Laid up with a broken leg, Slim Jim takes to neighbour-spotting with binoculars and camera at the ready. Before long, he's getting hot under the collar about the dirty deeds done across the yard. Is it murder“? ()r just naked voyeurism? One of llitch‘s darkest movies, with an intense, unrelenting claustrophobia derived from confining the lens to the apartment set. Edinburgh: Virgin Megaplex.
Run Lola Run (15) **** (’l‘om 'l'wyker, Germany, 1999) Franka Potente, Moritz. Bleibtreu. 80 mins. Young Berlin punk lola (Potente) has twenty minutes to raise 100,000 marks to save her stupid, btrt beloved boyfriend from murderous drug dealers. Not an easy task, but writer/director Tom Twyker gives Lola three chances and helps her pound the streets with a thumping, self-composed techno soundtrack. Using every style trick in the book, 'l'wyker astounds with an adrenaline rush of a movie. Glasgow: Grosvenor. Stirling: Carlton. Scarface (PG) **** (Howard Hawks, US, 1932) Paul Muni, Ann Dvorak. George Raft. 90 mins. The strbtitlc ‘Shame ()f'l'he Nation' and a tagged on moralin ending is evidence that, on its release, Haw ks's fictionalisation of the Al Capone story hit a chord with the campaigners who thought the burst of gangster movies coming out of Hollywood were too violent for their own good. However, this is a fine piece of filmmaking, with a classic plot structure. dark themes and a great look. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
Scarlet Street (PG) wk“: (l-‘ritz Lang, US, 1945) Edward G Robinson, Joan Bennett, Dan Duryea. 103 mins. Edward (i is the meek cashier whose obsession with prostitute Joan Bennett drives him to distraction. Fabulously bleak and psychologically twisted film noir front one of its masters. Edinburgh: Filmhouse. Show Me Love (15) *** (Lukus Moodysson, Sweden, 2000) Rebecca Liljeberg, Alexandra [)ahlstrom. 89 mins. A slight tale of two teenage girlsyfalling in low in the small Swedish tow a of .\m:“tl, Altllki'\\\t‘lll\ llilll t'i HILL. s .1 k: .i‘. l\ "311‘