FILM listings
FILM LISTINGS continued
Dancer In The Dark (15) **** (Lars von Trier, Denmark/Sweden.GermanyfFrance, 2000) Bjork, Catherine Deneuve, David Morse. 137 mins. llaving founded the Dogme school of back-to-basics filmmaking, von Trier's now turned his back on it with this digitally-shot homage to the Hollywood musical. Set in (10s America, it's the story of Czech immigrant Selma (played by Bjork, whose extraordinary performance takes naturalism to its extreme). a single mother whose only escape from her dreary factory work life are her daydreams which transport her into a Hollywood-style musical. As with Breaking The Haves, the drama revolves around a naive young woman who becomes the victim of circumstance. and the ensuing protracted tragedy gives the film astonishing emotional clout. See review and Music review. Edinburgh: Cameo.
Dogma (15) it (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. Edinburgh: Lumiere.
The End Of The Affair (18) **** (Neil Jordan, UK'US, 2000) Ralph Fiennes, Julianne Moore, Stephen Rea. 101 mins. This is a diary of hatc,‘ 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. Edinburgh: Cameo.
Erin Brockovich (15) *‘k‘k‘k (Steven Soderbergh, US, 2000) Julia Roberts, Albert Finney, Aaron lickhart. 133 mins. Unemployed single mother Erin (Roberts) shoehorns her way into a filing clerk position with Finney's California law firm. There she accidentally uncovers a conspiracy to conceal the poisoning of the local community, which leads to the largest direct action lawsuit in American history. This might sound like a cliched John Grisham thriller, but it‘s based on a true story and Soderbergh's direction and Roberts' performance are faultless — together they prove that mainstream American cinema can be something truly great. Edinburgh: Dominion, Lumiere. Extreme Screen: Everest 8: The Living Sea (U) ink 40 mins each. Although the lwerks experience impresses on a technical level. neither of these films transcend entertainment as lumbering fairground attraction. [Sverest is a dry-as-sand account of a recent expedition up the big yin. Filmed in the style of a Sunday afternoon doeudrama, 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: UGC Cinemas.
The Filth And The Fury (15) *i* (Julian Temple, UK, 2000) 107 mins. In his second attempt at defining the Sex Pistols story, Temple has adopted a revisionist stance with the intention of dispelling the notion that the group were the stooges of an art school movement masterminded by self-proclaimed svengali Malcolm Mclaren. Splicing TV ads and stock footage into interviews with the band and previously unseen live footage, Temple wants us to see the group as a genuine explosion of fury at the state of Britain towards the end of the 1970s. Ultimately, The Filth/1nd The Fury is eye candy that manages to tacitly confirm the Mclaren/M’estwood aesthetic vision. Edinburgh: ABC, Lumiere.
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** (Brian Levant, US, 2000) Mark Addy, Stephen Baldwin. 91 mins. This prequel shows Fred (Addy) and Barney (Baldwin) in their bachelor days when they first court Wilma (Johnston) and Betty (Jane Krakowski). They are abetted in this by a little green alien called Gazoo (Alan Cumming), but are hampered by the rival attentions of Wilma's slimy aristocratic chum Chip Rockefeller (Thomas Gibson). And they all live happily ever after, without a trace of originality, zip or zest. General release.
The Flintstones (U) ** (Brian Levant, US, 1994) John Goodman, Rick Moranis, Elizabeth Perkins, Rosie O’Donnell. 92 mins. Fred is promoted to an executive post at the quarry, but only as a Stooge for his boss's corporate rip-off; nevertheless, money and power go to the Flintstones‘ heads, causing friction with the Rubblcs. The movie keeps to the TV series' prehistoric parody of modern suburban life, adds bright and chunky sets and a post-yuppie morality tale on greed that doesn‘t quite sit right, and comes out a little plot-heavy. The one-liners will be picked up by adults, kids will get bored. But it's no the yabba-dabba dodo it could have been. Glasgow: Showcase. Gendernauts (18) tit (Monika Treut, US, 2000) Sandy Stone. 86 mins. Transvestites, transsexuals and hermaphrodites have long been the staple diet of US chat shows, but what of those who refuse any kind of gender labelling? Monika Treut's fascinating documentary explores the phenomenon of gender ambiguity amongst a small group of people living in the Bay Area of San Francisco. Linked by Sandy Stone, the self proclaimed ‘Goddess of Cyberspacc’, we are introduced to a selection of gender mixers and sexual ‘cyborgs' (people who alter their bodies using new technologies and hormones). Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
Ghost Dog: The Way Of the Samurai (15) ** (Jim Jarmusch, US/Japan/France/ Germany, 2000) Forest Whitaker, John Tormcy, Cliff Gorman. 116 mins. Jim Jarmusch's latest foray into nowhere sees Whitaker‘s New York street urchin as a professional Mob assassin who lives by an ancient Eastern code of honour. But when a hit goes wrong, the mob are after Ghost Dog and gangster friend Louie (Tormey) is caught between loyalties. It's taken the radical auteur an awful long time to miss the particular boat of sending up the mob. Jarmusch should probably stick to making throwaway movies about ageing rockers, Helsinki cabbies and Japanese Elvis fans instead of attempting the grand spiritual narrative. Edinburgh: Cameo, Odeon.
Gigi (PG) *** (Vincente Minnelli, US, 1958) Leslie Caron, Louis Jourdan, Maurice Chevalier. 119 mins. Caron is the coqucttc allied to Jourdan's rake; they are watched over by an extravagantly French Chevalier and the rest offin (1e siecle Paris. This is a lavish musical from the golden days of MGM, adapted from Colette’s novel by Lerner and Loewe. As Oscar-winner in its day, now best remembered for songs like Thank Heavens For Little Girls. Edinburgh: Lumiere.
The Girl On The Bridge (15) *‘k‘k (Patrice Leconte, France, 2000) Daniel Auteuil, Vanessa Paradis. 90mins. Gabor (Auteil), a middle-aged knife-thrower, rescues a
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suicidal young woman Adele (Paradis) from drowning and whisks her off to the South of France, where she proves a willing target in his stage act. At last, good fortune appears to be favouring the protagonists, but can their relationship remain on a purely business footing? An enjoyany playful modern fairytale, which coasts along on the strength of its two lead performances, some witty dialogue, and the verve of Leconte's direction. Edinburgh: Lumiere.
Gladiator (15) iii (Ridley Scott, US, 2000) Russell Crowe, Richard Harris, Joaquin Phoenix. 150 mins. Just before dying Caesar Aurelius (Harris) charges General Maximus (Crowe) with cleaning up his beloved, but politically corrupt Rome. Aurelius' son, Commodus (Phoenix), doesn‘t take kindly to this and has his rival executed. But Maximus survives and, as a gladiator, works his way back to Rome intent on revenge. Parallels must be drawn with Sparticus and Ben Ilur; we ’ve not seen a Roman epic in a long time. Scott‘s is a handsome spectacle and exciting enough, but that's all it is. General release.
Gone In 60 Seconds (15) *t (Dominic Sena, US, 2000) Nicolas Cage, Angelina Jolie, Vinnie Jones. 118 mins. A re-working of 11.8. Halicki's 1974 cult car-chase movie which, despite its flashy paint-job and hip- hop in-car stereo soundtrack, lacks grunt and growl beneath the hood. Forced out of retirement when his kid brother, Kip (Ribisi), crosses some heavy duty criminals, legendary car thief ‘Memphis' Raines (Cage) must reunite his old crew and steal fifty cars in one night, or kiss his sibling’s ass goodbye. The original had too many car chases and not enough plot or characterisation; this has too much plot, too many characters and not enough metal- crunching, tyre-squealing action. General release.
Gossip (15) *** (Gregory Poirer, US, 2000) Lena Headey, James Marsden, Norman Reedus. 91 mins. Three college media students (Headey, Marsden and Reedus) try and enliven their dull, privileged lives by spreadingjuicy gossip about their campus. Harmless college japes turn nasty, though, when an idle rumour leads to a rape charge. Gossip takes the sexual tensions and shifting allegiances of the threesome from Shallow Grave, the bitter college rivalry from Heathers, the neat plot twists and turns from the Scream trilogy to create a fairly decent mystery thriller. General release. Gregory's Girl (PG) ***** (Bill Forsyth, UK, 1981) Gordon John Sinclair, Dee Hepburn, Clare Grogan. 91 mins. Winning comedy from Cumbernauld with Sinclair eventually finding romance after his heart is set aflame by the latest recruit to the school football team. Seminal piece of Scottish cinema, its universal appeal demonstrating that home-grown talent can compete with Hollywood's finest in the entertainment stakes. Glasgow: GET. Gregory's Mo Girls (15) tank (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 Cumbernauld. Forsth cleverly develops the film's two plot strands to play on Gregory's emotional immaturity and innocence. In one Gregory avoids the