Films screening this fortnight are listed below with certificate. star rating, credits, brief review and venue details. Film index compiled by Miles Fielder.
The Adventures Of Elmo In Grouchland (U) *** (Gary llalvorson, US, 2000) Mandy Patinkin, Vanessa L. Williams, Kevin Clash. 72 mins. 'I‘hc pre-school, educational appeal of Sesame Street's cute furry red stalwart doesn't really transfer to cinema as well as his spiritual cousins, The Muppets. lilmo loses his security blanket down ()sear the Grouch‘s trashcan. Once inside. he is transported to the hellish (irouchland, where he must retrieve it from the hands of the land's most abhorrent resident lluxley (l’atinkin). Despite sturdy support from all the Street regulars: Big Bird, ()scar, Cookie Monster, Bert and lirnie, this is strictly for the littlest family members. General release.
Afterlife (PG) **** (llirokazu Koreeda, Japan, 1998) 'l'akashi Mochizuki, Shiori Satonaka, Satoru Kawashima. 118 mins. The after life of the title is a civil service bureaucracy that people go to when they die. We‘ve seen this before in A illaller Of Life.-tnt11)eat/i and the films of Frank Capra (which Koreeda acknowledges with the film's title in Japan — llbnderful Life), but here fiction is interwoven with documentary in the most imaginative way. Stirling: .‘ylacRobert.
American Beauty (18) ***** (Sam Mendes. US, 1999) Kevin Spacey, Annette Bening, 'I'hora Birch. 121 mins. Suburban husband and father Lester Burnharn (Spacey. giving a career best performance) hates his life, but a close encounter with his daughter's gorgeous school friend is the catalyst for big time self improvement: Lester quits his job, digs out his old rock albums and scores marijuana from the kid next door. And these teenage kicks return to Lester what's been missing from his life for years: pleasure and happiness. Caustic, touching and hilarious in all the right places — a modern classic. Glasgow: Showcase. (ialashicls: Pavilion. Isle ofArran: Brodick Cinema. Kirkcaldy: Adam Smith. Paisley: Showcase. Stirling: MacRobert.
American Psycho (18) *~k** (Mary llar'ron, US. 2000) Christian Bale, Chloe Sex igny, Willem 1)al'oe. 101 mins. llarron does away with the outward excesses — murder, torture, misogyny — of Bret iiaston iillis‘ 1991 novel about the previous money- obsessed decade and serves up the essence of the novel in a more palatable form. That doesn't mean her film is soft; it certainly isn‘t. But where lillis pushed his readers away, the director draws the audience in by encouraging us to collude with her satiric standpoint. (ieneral release.
An American In Paris (U) *inHr (Vincente Minnelli, US, 1951) Gene Kelly,
Hoods and cloaks and books and tomes and, yep, flaming cauldrons — the paraphernalia of the supernatural - all figure largely in Roman Polanski's diabolic
Leslie Caron, Oscar Levant, Nina Foch. l 13 mins. Splendid — if sometimes garish — romantic musical. with Kelly on top form as a would-be artist kicking up a storm in la belle cite. Glasgow: GF'I‘.
Antz (PG) **** (Eric Darnell, Tim Johnson, 1998) The voices of Woody Allen, Sharon Stone, Gene llackman. 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. Anlz is brightly coloured and full of gags, so adults will chuckle while kids are pulled in by the slick computer animation. Glasgow: GFI". Asterix And The Big Fight (U) an (Keith lngham, UK, 1989) With the voices of Bill Oddie, Michael Elphick, Andrew Sachs. 82 mins. Asterix celebrates his 30th anniversary with this new animated feature in which he and his band of plucky Gallic mates take on the might of the Roman army. Stirling: MacRobert.
Battlefield Earth (12) ** (Roger Christian, US, 2000) John 'I‘ravolta, Barry Pepper, Forest Whitaker. 118 mins. It's 3000 AD. Earth is a wasteland, humankind an endangered species enslaved by a conquering alien race. Science fiction author and scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard‘s post-apocalyptic vision of the future is brought to the screen by star, producer and scientologist Travolta. Between ()Os television shows (Star Trek) and 90s blockbusters (Independence Day) we've seen it all before. See review. General release.
The Beach (15) *t* (Danny Boyle, UK’ US, 2000) Leonardo DiCaprio, Guillaume Canet, Virginie Ledoyen. 119 mins. Like Alex Garland's source novel, The Beach has a sort of breathless, late—adolescent ‘What 1 did on my holidays’ quality; book and film share the ability to capture the exhilaration and chaos of travel. Screenwriter John llodge's adaptation replaces creeping paranoia and discontent with straight-ahead sexual jealousy as a catalyst for disaster. Although the film looks handsome and holds the attention, it finally seems a little hollow and unconvinced of its own purpose. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
Being John Malkovich (15) ***~k* (Spike Jonze, US, 2000) John Cusack, Cameron Diaz, Catherine Keener, John Malkovieh. 112 mins. Frustrated puppeteer Craig Schwartz (Cusack) takes a job as a filing clerk and discovers a portal into the actor John Malkovich's brain. What could have developed into a one-gag film, becomes a gender—bending extravaganza with a crazy network of love triangles, which climaxes with a lesbian relationship between two people of the opposite sex. A bewildering number of possibilities are added to the central premise and important questions about personal identity and self- fullilmcnt are raised. Glasgow: Grosvenor. Edinburgh: Cameo. lialkirk: le'l‘ll Cinema.
Continued over page
tale, The Ninth Gate
index FILM
Seeit
Hearit Feeln.
unn don Mo on - f _ tonne nnpon
Firsth tour - direct from Union moreoorapnu to topple Horrisseu and Heeliu Edmunds. plus new more from Ellen ilei - 'Foldino'
Weds 24 & Thurs 25 May Tickets from £8.00
imanmnwm
Mitchell
llireeled nu Moru Hetluslieu
5111 presents an edited version of Hoeoetn. incorporating elements or iodine uoutn culture
Fri 26 & Sat 2] May Tickets £7.50
l£i50 concessionsl
Mumnnhiddummp
. “an” Hllt Radio Scotland Presenter
Weds 31 May at 1pm l\ll tickets £3.00
In association with James Thin
inundationlotionoldnnestn entire order ions
Thurs l to Sat 3 June Tickets from £9.75
Hlds‘Pron-lroonlenolrers
Sat 3 June at 3pm Tickets: Adults £8.00 Children £4.00
inltis no nu Giuseppe Verdi
Weds 7 & Fri 9 June at 7.15pm
idlflflll
llll Hltlldlfl 500053 Thurs 8 8 Sat 10 June at 7.15pm
Tickets From £9.50 I. i f
Box office 0131 52 no Groups 0131 533 5005
sermon on '€D_'.NJ3.YRG.H'
11—25 May 2000 THE usr 51