FILM index
FILM INDEX continued
Holy Smoke (18) it (Jane Campion, US, 2000) Kate Winslet, Harvey Keitel. 114 mins. Winslet courageously throws herself into the role of Ruth, a spirited young woman who falls under the spell of a Guru in India, and then finds herselfconfronted by an American Exit Counsellor (Keitel) enlisted by her Australian family to lure her back home. Holy Smoke is packed with provocative ideas, but Campion's failure to explore them and, more damagingly, her heavy-handed attempts at comedy, wipe out any interest the film might hold. See feature and review. Selected release.
Hurly Early (18) tint (Anthony Drazan, US, 2000) Sean Penn, Kevin Spacey, Robin Wright Penn. 117 mins. Drug abuse, verbal abuse, abuse of women and soul searching form the basis for this screen adaptation of David Rabe‘s smart, cynical Off-Broadway drama about a couple of scuzzy Hollywood casting agents — Spacey and Penn — and their loser friends. Unsurprisingly, the play‘s sharp one-liners are in place, and although it remains stage-bound, this is a relentlessly compulsive (and convulsive) bout of wordplay. See review. Selected release.
The Hurricane (15) ** (Norman Jewison, US, 2000) Denzel Washington, John Hannah, Deborah Kara Unger. 140 mins. An engaging and wholly Oscar-worthy turn from Washington isn't enough to salvage Jewison‘s controversial biopic of the boxer Rubin Carter. The facts of Carter's triple murder case have been massaged into cinematic shape to the extent that gaping holes mar the film‘s narrative. a cowardly tactic that simplifies and finally discredits its message about institutionalised racism in America. The nuts and bolts of the case are glossed over in favour of a fawning glorification of Carter. who is painted as a quasi-mythic martyr saint. See preview and review. General release.
Ikinai *** (Hiroshi Shimuzu, Japan, 2000) Minoru Lizuka, Okouchi Toshinori Omi. 101 mins. The directing debut from Takeshi Kitano's assistant is worthy of ‘Beat' himself. Under pressure of life-long financial burden, a group of middle-aged workers plot a suicidal business fraud. Unfortunately. their plans, which involve taking a terminal coach trip, are complicated by the unexpected arrival of a gregarious young girl. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
The Insider (15) ***** (Michael Mann, US, 2000) Russell Crowe, Al Pacino, Christopher Plummer. 157 mins. Mann’s heist movie, Heat, boasted some electrifying set pieces, yet while The Insider contains virtually no “action' there‘s a terrific sense of dramatic urgency that drives the film. It all starts in the mid-90s with Jeffrey Wigand. the corporate man who blew the whistle on the American tobacco industry, triggering a $246 million lawsuit. The performances are excellent and not since All The President’s Men has fact and drama merged so powerfully on screen. General release.
Inspector Gadget (U) *** (David Kellogg, US, 1999) Matthew Broderick, Rupert Everett, Joely Fisher. 79 mins. Disney's take on the French kids' cartoon follows the part human, part gizmo Gadget's (Broderick) quest to become a proper, respected cop. Unfortunately, the dastardly Claw (Everett) has a scheme for world domination, which includes creating an evil doppclganger of the trenchcoated wonder. The inspector‘s many contraptions will delight younger viewers, and oldies will be amused by the plentiful self-referential moments. Glasgow: Showcase, UCI. Edinburgh: ABC, UCI. East Kilbride: UCl. The Iron Giant (U) *‘kfdri (Brad Bird, US, 1999) Jennifer Aniston, Harry Conick Jr, Vin Diesel. 86 mins. in this animated film adaptation of'l'ed llughes's classic children's story about a boy who befriends 50ft. robot from outer space, the action is transported from rural England to small- town America in the late 1950s. The resulting film is a fast-moving thrillfest featuring bongo-beating beatniks, a great rockabilly soundtrack and explosive destruction on a grand scale. This being a kids film, through, it's violence with a conscience. Glasgow: ()deon At The Quay, Showcase. Edinburgh: Virgin Megaplex.
30 THE LIST 3O Mar—13 Apt 2000
Galashiels: Pavilion. Paisley: Showcase. The Italian Job (PG) **** (Peter Collinson, UK, 1969) Michael Caine, Noel Coward, Benny Hill. 100 mins. Re-released for its 30th anniversary, this larf-a-minute caper movie ties in nicely with the sixties cockney kitsch sensibility that’s been infusing fashion, pop and film ever since Blur put out Park Life. Lock, StockAnd Two Smoking Barrels paid homage to The Italian Job with its scaled down cliffhanger ending, but the Michael Caine film is the grandaddy of caper movies. The centrepiece remains the mini cooper car chase across, atop and under the streets of Turin, while Caine’s closing line is top: "Ang on a minute lads, We got a great idea.’ Edinburgh: Virgin Megaplex.
James And The Giant Peach (U) that (Henry Selick, US, 1996) Paul Terry, Susan Sarandon, Simon Callow. 79 mins. From the director of Tim Burton ’5 The Nightmare Before Christmas comes a wonderfully colourful adaptation of Roald Dahl’s much- loved novel. Live action tops and tails the story, but for the most part, it‘s fun times with stop-motion puppets. By turns funny and scary, it stays true to Dahl’s surreal and whimsical vision. Edinburgh: Filmhouse. Jim Poole Short Film Award See Rough cuts. Edinburgh: Cameo.
Joan 0f Arc ( 15) *** (Luc Besson, France, 2000) Milla Jovovich, John Malkovich, Faye Dunaway. 148 mins. The heroine of this would-be international blockbuster is reinvented as the standard bearer of in a valiant endeavour to repel the forces of Anglo-American cultural imperialism. But made with English dialogue, the film has much in common with the gory spectacle of Brat'eheart. The uneven opening and closing parts - Joan's childhood, and imprisonment and trial - cannot efface the impact of the film’s central battle scenes nor the image of the armour- clad Joan in the midst of the carnage. Wishaw: Arrow Multiplex.
John Carpenter's Vampires ( 18) it (John Carpenter, US, 1999) James Woods, Thomas lan Griffith, Sheryl Lee. 107 mins. Based on the novel Vampires by John Steakley, it pitches the obsessive mercenary Jack Crow (Woods) and his Vatican-backed band of vampire slayers against Valek (Griffith), a 600-year-old blood-sucker. A few years back, the title John Carpenter's Vampires might have quickened one’s pulse. But this Vampire Western feels like a throwback to the bad old days of 19705 gore movies, it wastes Carpenter’s directing skills and Woods‘ considerable acting talent on a pedestrian plot littered with gratuitous female nudity and repellent violence against women. Edinburgh: Odeon.
Jurassic Park (PG) **** (Steven Spielberg, US. 1993) Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum. 127 mins. A group of scientists are invited to give their approval to a theme park filled with genetically engineered dinosaurs, but the giant reptiles are soon running amok. Unsurpassed computer effects ensure that the dinosaurs themselves are terrifyingly believable (more so than the PG certificate would suggest), but by the halfway point, it’s more or less a chase movie with superior technology. Glasgow: GET.
LA. Confidential (18) *‘k*** (Curtis Hanson, US, 1997) Kevin Spacey, Guy Pearce, Russell Crowe, Kim Basinger. 135 mins. Adapted from James Ellroy's neo-noir novel, the best American film of 1997 evokes a glitzy post-World War 11 Los Angeles underpinned by an all-pervasive, festering corruption. An intricate, drop-dead brilliant plot links bent cops, good cops, Hollywood star lookalike prostitutes and the mob. The dialogue crackles and the actors burn up the screen: one of the few films one would dare mention in the same breath as the definitive Chinatown. Kirkcaldy: Adam Smith.
Lake Placid (15) *‘k'kt (Steve Miner, US, 2000) Brendan Gleeson, Bridget Fonda, Bill Pullman, Oliver Platt. 82 mins. Big monster eating people in a lake in Maine. Local sheriff, game warden, scientist and hunter team up to kill it. Plenty of extras get munched. Doesn‘t sound particularly appetising — we’ve seen it all before in Jaws, Alligator, I’irahna. etc. — except Lake Placid has the smartest, funniest dialogue you're
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Goscinny and Uderzo's satirical comic strip gets the big screen live action treatment in Asterix And Obelix Take On Caesar, starring Christian Clavier. Gerard
likely to hear all year: ‘The sooner we catch this thing, Sheriff, the sooner you can get back to sleeping with your sister.’ Goes for cheap belly laughs and gets ‘em every time. See review. General release.
L'amante perduto (The Lost Lover) (15) (Robert Faenza, Italy, 1999) Ciaran Hinds, Juliet Aubrey, Stuart Bunce. 95 mins. Early ltalian Film Festival screening of Faenza’s adaptation ofA.B. Yehoshua's novel about a Tel Aviv garage owner (Hinds) who watches approvingly as his wife‘s (Aubrey) love for a French Jew (Bunce) breaks her psychological trauma. But when the lover vanishes and the wife slumps into depression, the husband goes searching for the younger man. Glasgow: GFT. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
The Land Before Time (U) *vdr (Don Bluth, US, 1989) 86 mins. Latest animated feature from Disney graduate Bluth follows the fortunes of orphaned Brontosaurus Littlefoot, who loses his mum to the claws of a nasty Tyrannosaurus Rex before teaming up with a gang of similarly parentless wee dinos to undertake the hazardous journey across country to the safety of the Great Valley. Classically drawn and chockful of edifying moral lessons, this is solid entertainment perfectly tailored to the demands of its target audience of very young children. Stirling: Carlton.
The Last Broadcast (18) **** (Stefan Avalso/Lance Weiler, US, 1998) 86 mins. The film that inspired Blair Witch? See Videos preview. Part of Dead By Dawn. See feature.Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
The Last Days (PG) *** (James Moll, US, 1999) 87 mins. Any Holocaust documentary is inevitably a footnote to Shoah, Claude Lanzmann‘s exhaustive 1986 study of guilt and the process of remembering. The Last Days takes a similar approach with its in-depth interviews, but its claim to have captured the truth, to have created a definitive record. is to be regarded with caution. Still, this Oscar-winning first release from Steven Spielberg‘s Shoah Foundation adds a further chapter to the dossier of testimonies; that ofthe Hungarian Jews, who were amongst the last to be rounded up by the Nazis and taken to the camps. Glasgow: GET.
The lighthouse (18) iii (Simon Hunter, UK, 2000) Kirsty McLeod, Leo Rook. 92 mins. Hunter (who will be in attendance) makes his directing debut with this Scottish horror film, which like many of its illustrious predecessors is an exercise in claustrophobic tension. When a prison ship runs aground, the inmates escape into the lighthouse. But they‘re far from free; one of the prisoners is a psychotic with a penchant for head hunting. Part of Dead By Dawn. See feature. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
Limbo (15) *ttt (John Sayles, US, 1999) David Strathairn, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Vanessa Martinez. 128 mins. Sayles isn't a filmmaker to toe the line, so when he goes to Alaska to shoot a film in which three individuals become marooncd in the wilderness, it’s unsurprising than what he comes up with is a well-crafted, solidly told tale that's less action adventure and more psychological/sociological study of people and place. And Sayles takes his time, easing us into the environment and the lives of the principal characters, before the forces of nature give the plot its dramatic twist.
Depardieu and Roberto Benigni
Kirkcaldy: Adam Smith.
The Limey (18) **** (Steven Soderbergh, US, 1999) Terence Stamp, Peter Fonda, Luis Guzman. 89 mins. Stamp's criminal cockney reject, Wilson is off his manor and in Los Angeles to avenge his daughter’s death in Soderbergh’s take on 605 cinema and the British crime movie. But this is no simple revenge caper, although the action thrills and the one-liners are smart. The casting 60s icons Stamp and Fonda as Wilson's nemesis, record producer Terry Valentine, is inspired. Glasgow: Odeon. Little Rascals (U) ** (Penelope Spheeris, US, 1994) Travis Tedford, Bug Hall, Brittany Ashton Holmes. 82 mins. After Beverly Hillbillies, director Spheeris does another TV remake, this time going for a bunch of smug brats who leave a trail of destruction behind them. Even kids who enjoyed the IIomeAlone level of mayhem might not take to the American sentiment and unnecessary low humour here. Glasgow: Grosvenor.
Lola & Bilidikid (l8) ** (Kutlug Ataman, Germany, 1998) Gandi Mukli, Erdal Yildiz. 90 mins. Lola (Mukli) is a Turkish drag queen in post-unification East Berlin. Disowned by his family but loved by his brutish macho pimp of a boyfriend, Lola’s life is hampered by a group of not-so-liberal German youths. Sloppily directed by Ataman from his self-penned unconvincing script, the film constantly lurches from cocksucking cliche (the German aristo and the immigrant oik) to queerbashing plot contrivance. A shame. See review. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
Longe Da Vista (Far From Sight) (15) (Joao Mario Grilo, Portugal, 1998) 90 mins. Linked by a marriage advert and an adopted identity, Eugenio, a 64-year-old Lisbonite, and Daniel, a 40-year-old truck driver in America, enter into correspondence. Groli’s film attempts to redress the imbalance that has seen the media overlook ‘small' stories such as Eugenio and Daniel‘s. Part of Sea Changes: New Portuguese Cinema. Glasgow: GFT.
The Lost World: Jurassic Park (PG) *‘k‘k (Steven Spielberg, US, 1997) Jeff Goldblum, Julianne Moore, Pete Postlethwaite. 129 mins. Goldblum and Co dr0p onto a second dinosaur-filled island, which is disrupted by a mixed bunch of capitalists and safari hunters, sending the carnavores on a rampage. Weaker than the original, it still makes for a thrilling adventure, with impeccable effects. Watch out for the certificate though: sustained scenes of terror suggest it should have been a ‘12'. Glasgow: Gl’l‘.
Love. Honour 8: Obey (18) H: (Dominic Anciano, Ray Burdis, UK, 2000) Ray Winston. Jude Law, Jonny Lee Miller, Kathy Burke. 97 mins. Written, produced, directed by and starring Anciano and Burdis, this gangster flick has a tightly structured. woefully generic plot that allowed the formidable cast to improvise their dialogue from moment to moment. When this works, the tone is at once darkly comic and frighteningly violent; but when it doesn't, the individual scenes fall fiat and the hell- for-leather plotting quickly loses momentum. See review. Selected release.
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