own decadence boasts highly impressive sequences like the Night of the Long Knives massacre, but is finally just too languorous for its own good. Lumiere, Edinburgh. Dead 0T Night (PG) ***** (Robert llammer, Basil Dearden, Charles Crichton, Alberto Cavalcanti, UK, 1945) Michael Redgrave, Mervyn Johns, Googie Withers. 102 mins. Iialing gathered together the best of war-time British talent to make this superb portmanteau style horror film that is still really creepy after all these years. Five separate ghost stories are told in the context of a country house party, the host of which is experiencing a worrying bout of déjfi vu. Filmhouse, Edinburgh.
Dinosaur (PG) the (Eric Leighton, Ralph Zondag, US, 2000) Voices of: DB. Sweeney, Julianna Margulies, Joan Plowright. 82 mins. This latest computer animated offering from Disney follows the journey of Aladar the lguanadon as he flees across the meteor-ravisth wasteland of prehistoric Earth alone after being separated from his family. Initially, the excitement is contagious; the CGl scenes are so realistic it's not that hard to believe what you are watching could be real. Then tragedy strikes; the lemurs talk. And talk. Yet as the predictable and, ultimately, boring storyline of Dinosaur unfolds, that winning Disney formula is guaranteed to keep any dinosaur crazy four-year-old pinned to his or her seat without scaring them too much. General release.
Disney's The Kid (PG) *** (Jon 'l‘urteltaub, US, 2000) Bruce Willis, Spencer Breslin. 104 mins. This Kid bears great similarity to the body swap films of the mid 80s (Big, lieu l'ersa), where characters got the chance to re-evaluate their lives by seeing the world through their own younger eyes. For career driven image consultant Russ Duritz (Willis) this is an unexpected twist in his otherwise careful planned life, as he comes face-to-face with his podgy, rather gauche eight-year-old self, Rusty (Breslin). Old-fashioned entertainment that passes the time and raises a smile or two along the way. General release.
Doctor Zhivago(1’G) *** (David Lean, US/UK, 1965) Omar Sharif, Julie Christie, Geraldine Chaplin. 193 mins. Big screen romance in the Gone With The Iii/1‘12 style, rather than a genuine adaptation of the Pasternak novel, with Sharif and Christie as lovers caught up in World War One and the Russian Revolution. Notable mainly for its lush, picture postcard photography. Grosvenor, Glasgow.
Dolphins (U) The producers of the most successful [MAX movie ever, Everest, take us undersea into the aquatic home of dolphins. With narration by Pierce Brosnan and music by Sting. IMAX, Glasgow. Duets (15) *** (Bruce Paltrow, US, 2000) Gwyneth Paltrow, Iluey Lewis, Mario Bello. 114 mins. This screenplay, about the American karaoke scene (jeez), has been kicking around llollywood since the early 705, and the only plausible explanation as to why it has now been made is that the writer- director's daughter blossomed into Gwyneth Paltrow. Their film follows six sad characters - suffering from broken dreams, wasted lives. etc. — who pair up and head for the S5000 Grand Prize Karaoke Contest in Omaha. But as with nights in Karaoke bars, where the expectation of the singing standards is low, Duets surprises like the occasional singers who can actually hit a note. See review. Selected release.
Earth (U) ***** (Alexander Dovzhenko, USSR, 1930) Semyon Svashenko, Stepan Shkurat, Mikola Nademsky. 73 mins. Semyon Svashenko, Stepan Shkurst, Mikola Nademsky. One of the last silents, a rarely equalled lyrical evocation of a land and its people by one of the poets of celluloid. Edinburgh Film Guild at the Filmhouse, Edinburgh.
Ed Wood (15) *tti (Tim Burton, US, 1994) Johnny Depp, Martin Landau, Patricia Arquette. 123 mins. Burton's fondly atmospheric homage to the so-callcd ‘worst director of all time' is his best film to date. It's more than a biopic pastiche, however: the emotional heart of the film is found in the genuinely caring relationship between Wood and the dying, drug-addicted Bela Lugosi (a marvellous Martin Landau). Depp plays Wood as a bundle of energy and
innocent romanticism, capturing the spirit of dogng determination that makes the subject such an appealing character. Lumiere, Edinburgh.
EdTV (12) *‘k (Ron Howard, US, 1999) Matthew McConaughey, Ellen DeGeneres, Woody Ilarrelson. 123 mins. DeGeneres plays a TV executive whose inspiration for improving ratings comes in the shape of no- hopcr Normal Guy, Ed (McConaughey). In what amounts to The Truman Show with a consenting protagonist, Ed‘s every waking moment is beamed across the nation on its own channel as a real life soap opera. But the entire premise becomes a mere vehicle for some unoriginal ‘fame is empty, TV more so' satire, and a lethargic love story with which to pad it out. Lumiere, Edinburgh.
Eeny Meeny (18) See Rough cuts. (517T, Glasgow.
Enchanted Interlude (La parenthese enchantée) (15) (Michel Spinoza, 1998) Clotilde Courau, Vincent Elbaz, Geraldine Paihas. Back in the summer of 1969 two childhood friends on holiday meet two attractive young women and pair off. But things don't work out as intended, as we see following their lives through the 705. Part of the French Film Festival. Gl’l', Glasgow; Filmhouse, Edinburgh.
L'ennui (18) *it* (Cedric Kahn, France, 1999) Charles Berling, Sophie Guillemin. 120 mins. In this suggestive, quirky study of amour fou, dissatisfied philosophy professor Martin (Berling) loses sight of himself in the warm and fatty folds of the teenage Cecilia (Guillemin). Of course, older man falling in love with mysterious younger woman is the subject of much French cinema, and is at the heart of film noir. But Kahn's achievement is to play it less as tragedy than indeterminate irony, asking us to look inside Martin's head rather than simply at the leading lady's figure. Lumiere, Edinburgh. Essex Boys (18) it (Terry Winsor, UK, 2000) Sean Bean, Charlie Creed-Miles, Alex Kingston. 102 mins. ‘Kin ‘ell, another gangster film. Creed-Miles' young gun tells the story of his involvement with Bean's villain out of prison and setting himself up to lord over the manor. Taking as its starting point the ‘Essex Range Rover murders', this is, aside from some decent performances, an uninspired addition to a bad run of British films. Odeon, Dunfermline.
Extreme Screen (U) hit 40 mins each. Although the lwerks experience impresses on a technical level, neither of these films transcend entertainment as lumbering fairground attraction. Everest is a dry-as- sand account of a recent expedition up the big yin. Filmed 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). UGC Cinemas, Edinburgh.
First Of The Name (Le premier du nom) (15) (Sabine Franel, 2000) 112 mins. Franel creates a fascinating history of French Jewry with her film about the gathering of 100 people who share a common ancestor, Mose Blin, a 18th century Jewish pedler. The gathering, where Blin spent his days, was organised by two relatives who share a common interest in genealogy. Part of the French Film Festival. GF'I‘, Glasgow; Filmhouse, Edinburgh.
Flawless (15) skirt (Joel Schumacher, US, 2000) Robert De Niro, Philip Seymour Hoffman. 106 mins. The best thing about Flawless are the leads. De Niro plays bigoted ex-cop Walt Koontz, lloffman drag queen Rusty. They share the same apartment building and mutual hatred of each other, but when Koontz suffers a debilitating stroke while attempting to help a neighbour the odd couple are thrown together as patient and carer. But why is De Niro‘s character a cop'.’ Why does a fouled up drug deal go down in his apartment building? So that we get a bit of action in, that's why. This is a two-header character piece; had Schumacher left it that way it might have lived up to its title. See review. General release.
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