FILM index
FILM INDEX continued
Purely Belter (15) *tit (Mark Herman, UK, 2000) Chris Beattie. Greg McLane, Kevin Whatley. 98 mins. Based on Jonathan Tulloch's novel The Season Ticket, about two broke Geordie teenagers. Gerry (Beattie) and Sewell (McLane). who attempt to scrape together enough cash for two season tickets to their beloved Newcastle United's St James Park. Their increasingly hair-brained schemes create a number of hilarious set pieces. but Herman's (Brassed Ofl) film also has more than its fair share of bittersweet realism. The thing that really makes this film, however, is the excellent performances from the two unknown kids, plus a delightful supporting cast. MacRobert, Stirling.
Raging Bull (18) *tttt (Martin Scorsese. US, 1980) Robert de Niro, Cathy Moriany. Joe Pesci. 129 mins. Middleweight boxing champ Jake La Motta finds it difficult to sustain his early success and as his career fades, he declines into a travesty of his former self. Dc Niro's stunning physical presence dominates Scorsese 's savagely bleak study of self- destructive machismo. GET. Glasgow.
The Road Home (U) tit (Zhang Yimou, China, 2000) Zhang Ziyi, Sun Ilonglei, Zhao Yuelin. 100 mins. City businessman Luo returns to his home village in Northern China for the funeral of his father, the local schoolteacher. With his weeping mother adamant that her husband's corpse be carried by hand rather than driven back from hospital, Luo recalls the story of his parents' courtship several decades earlier. Shifting from black and white (the present) to colour (the past). the bulk of the film consists of a rather sentimental recreation of the love- affair between Luo's parents, told from the perspective of the female character. Though in the radiant Ziyi, Yimou has perhaps unearthed a muse to rival his favoured actress Gong Li. See review. Filmhouse, Edinburgh.
The Road To El Dorado (U) tit (Eric ‘Bibo' Bergeron, Don Paul, US, 2000)
STEVEN MACKINTDSl-I .
Voices of Kevin Kline, Kenneth Branagh. 90 mins. DreamWorks' animated travelogue moves from ancient Egypt to 16th-century Latin America for this enjoyable if safe musical comedy adventure. Uber-thesps Kline and Branagh provide the voices for Tulio and Miguel, two Spanish ne'er-do- wells who end up in possession of a map revealing the location of El Dorado, mythical city of gold. Ransacking Aztec and Mayan culture for visual ideas and themes, the co-directors introduce lots of bold colour and rich design into the tale. Vikingar
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Charles Berling and Emmanuelle Béart find all too fleeting happiness in love in Oliver Assayas' French period drama Les destinées sentimentales
Cinema, Largs.
Romeo Must Die (15) ** (Andrezej Bartkowiak, US, 2000) Jet Li, Aaliyah, Isiah Washington. 115 mins. Tagged as an urban Romeo And Juliet, here '5 Shakespeare as obscured by hip-hop and kung fu. When two warring crime families (one black, one Chinese) are hit by tragedy, the surviving offspring (Li and R&B star Aaliyah) team up to avenge their brothers' deaths. This is basically a martial arts display attached to a vaguely flirtatious friendship. It's a shame that Li’s first starring role in an American
NATASHA LITTLE
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film (following a supporting part in Let/ml Weapon 4) is so disappointing. Cameo, Edinburgh.
The Santa Clause (U) tit (John Pasquin, US, 1994) Tim Allen. Judge Reinhold, Wendy Crewson. 98 mins. When he unknowingly dons that famous red suit. divorced toy company executive Scott Calvin discovers a clause that means he's legally bound to be Santa from that moment on. TV star Allen (Home Improvement) is a competent lead in this upbeat festive tale that tries hard to appeal to the widest
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44 THE IJST Elan-18 Jan 2001