FILM index
FTH
Sun 4th Feb
Fantasia (U) 3:00pm Memento (15) 5:00pm The Wings
of the Dove (15) 7: 75pm Wed 7th Feb
Purely Belter (15) 7:30pm
Mon 72th Feb
Chuck and Buck (15) 7:30pm
Tickets and further information from The Steeple Box office
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or on the day from the hall
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Production Award Scheme
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The Film and Video Access Centre on: 0131 220 0220 deadline: 16th February 2001.
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FILM INDEX continued
High Fidelity (15) *itir (Stephen Frears. US, 2000) John Cusack, lben Hjejle, Jack Black. 113 mins. Nick Hornby's story of a vinyl junkie who's more interested in his music collection than his relationships with women is practically a British institution. Yet. Cusack — and co-writer/producer pals D.V. DeVinccntis and Steve Pink — have drawn on their own pasts to make a film that's as funny and profound as the book. But the great script, cast and music wouldn't have meant a thing without a filmmaker of Frears' calibre taking charge. Vikingar Cinema, Largs.
House Of Wax (18) think (Andre De Toth, US, 1953) Vincent Price, Phyllis Kirk, Frank Lovejoy. 88 mins. There's something about wax museums that makes them tailor- made for horror movies, particularly if they've got Vincent Price as proprietor. Wonderfully atmospheric period piece that isn't let down by its 3-D effects. St Bride's Centre, Edinburgh.
lmmigrants' Memories (Memoire d'lmmigre) (PG) (Yamin Benguigui, Algeria, 1997) 160 mins. Part of Cinemamed, see preview. Filmhouse, Edinburgh.
Into The West (PG) *vktvk (Mike Newell, Eire/UK, 1992) Gabriel Byrne, Ellen Barkin, Ciaran Fitzgerald, Ruaidhri Conroy. 102 mins. Following the death of his wife, a former traveller (Byrne) sets up home with his two sons in a Dublin slum. But when a mystical white horse appears and the boys head off into the Irish countryside with it, he is forced to come to terms with his present life and past culture. A wonderful piece of family storytelling, blending ancient and modem myths. The Lumiere, Edinburgh. Jane Eyre (PG) iii (Franco Zeffirelli, UK/ltaly, 1996) William Hurt, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Joan Plowright. 113 mins. A decent enough adaptation of Charlotte Bronte's literary classic which features weighty acting from Hurt and the British thesps in support. The atmosphere is effective, if not entirely remarkable, as Zeffirelli manages to tune into the darker, more brooding aspects of the novel. Odeon, Avr.
The Killing (PG) *‘ktt (Stanley Kubrick. US, 1956) Sterling Hayden, Coleen Gray, Vince Edwards. 83 mins. Kubrick's partially abstract vision of Jim Thompson's novel creates classic film noir is perfectly cast with a raw vivid depiction of greed and corruption. An ex-con recruits the help of small time crooks to rob two million from a race track, and the tightly structured narrative follows the ensuing chaos as the plan falls apart. A harsh, clinical piece that did the director's growing reputation no harm at all. Cameo, Edinburgh.
Land Of Fear (Ard al-Khof) (18) (Daoud Abdel Sayed, Egypt, 1999) 140 mins. Part of Cinemamed, sec preview. Eilmhouse, Edinburgh.
The Little Vampire (U) iii (Uli Edel, UK, 2000) Rollo Weeks, Richard E. Grant, Jonathan Lipnicki. 95 mins. Tony (Lipnicki), fresh from the orange groves of California, moves with his family to beautiful Scotland. He quickly becomes the most unpopular kid in his class. but finds a playmate when a ten- year-old vampire conveniently falls down his chimney. Can Tony join in the quest for the missing amulet and help the fanged Rudolph and his family become human? Despite its Hollywood re-vamp, Angela Sommer-Bodenburg's well-loved novel emerges with its sense of fun intact. However, while this film certainly doesn't suck, ultimately, it lacks real bite. Selected release.
Extreme Screen: Everest and The Living Sea (U) iii 40 mins. 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.
Jane Austen meets Bruce Lee in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, a martial arts period drama par excellence
Lost Souls (15) it (Janusz Kaminski, US, 2000) Winona Ryder, John Hurt, Ben Chaplin. 97 mins. Poor Maya (Ryder with terribly pallid skin and haunted eyes) has had a rough life which has left her with a nose for the supernatural. With the assistance of llurt's priest, she experiences some hair-raising visitations, but this is merely the starter; Maya attains heroic status through her efforts to save the world from the anti-Christ's arrival. Lost Souls becomes increasingly one-dimensional after Satan's vessel is located; the faithlessness of Ben Chaplin's successful crime writer promises an interesting conflict of truth-claims, but none is delivered. The Circuit Cinema, Livingston.
Love At The Pyramid's Foot (AI-hubb fawqi hadabit al-haram) (PG) (Atef al- Tayeb, Egypt, 1984) 125 mins. Part of Cinemamed, see preview. Filmhouse, Edinburgh.
Magnificent Obsession ***** (PG) (Douglas Sirk. US, 1954) Rock Hudson, Jane Wyman, Barbara Rush. 108 mins. Driven by guilt. Hudson gives up his playboy lifestyle to study medicine and operate on the widow he indirectly blinded. Love also blossoms, although he must assume another identity. Classic melodrama from the master of the genre. Filmhousc, Edinburgh.
Meet The Parents (12) *** (Jay Roach, US, 2000) Ben Stiller, Robert De Niro, Blythe Danner. 107 mins. It‘s everyone's idea of a nightmare weekend. Having fallen in love, you are forced to spend time of varying quality with your potential in-laws. This is the tricky task which faces Stiller as he prepares for the company of De Niro's Cold War secret agent, his daunting wife and a plethora of friends and family you'd go to the ends of the earth not to have to choose. The beauty or beastliness about Meet The Parents is the safe predictability of the gags. De Niro's performance is somewhat flat, but Stiller’s edgin fatalistic performance is a joy. General release.
Memento (15) ***** (Christopher Nolan, US, 2000) Guy Pearce, Carrie-Ann Moss, Joe Pantoliano. 116 mins. Beginning where most other films would end with an act of vengeance, writer-director Nolan tells his story by gradually working backwards in time. Leonard Shelby (Pearce) is obsessed with avenging his wife's rape and murder. Trouble is Leonard suffers from a condition of short-term memory loss, and so he relies on an elaborate system of mementoes — maps, polaroids, body tattoos - to piece together the clues in his investigation. A compelling, elliptical reconstruction of the revenge thriller, which skilfully examines the connections between memory. identity and perception. Selected release.
Merlin The Return (PG) it (Paul Matthews, UK/US, 2000) Rik Mayall, Craig Sheffer, Patrick Bergin, Tia Carrere. 88 mins. Mayall's Merlin has banished the evil sorcerer Mordred (Sheffer) to the depths of the earth and put King Arthur (Bergin) and his Knights into a deep sleep. When Mordred threatens to surface again thanks to the experimental efforts of scientist babe Joan Maxwell (Carrere), these 12th century men awake to find themselves in a modern world. forced to do battle with oil tankers rather than dragons. While the action jumps in and out of the dimensional time gate, the plot becomes muddier and muddier. Mayall and co do their best to inject some humanity into the film, but end up strangled by an
unwieldy script and poor special effects. The Circuit Cinema. Livingston.
A Night At The Opera (PU) *tttt (Sam Wood, US, 1935) The Marx Brothers, Margaret Dumont. Kitty Carlisle. Allan Jones, Walter Woolf King. 90 mins. The Brothers (minus Zeppo) were at the height of their comic powers when they made this masterpiece. This time they're helping an opera company get back on its feet, but not before they've had a hand in wrecking it in the first place. Grosvenor, Glasgow. Nosferatu (PG) ***** (l-‘W Murnau, Germany, 1922) Max Schreck, Alexander Granach, Gustav von Wangenhcim. 72 mins. Schreck is a truly terrifying figure as Bram Stoker's famous vampire, looking more like a skinned bat than a human being. A wonderfully visual movie, with twisted shadows and sexual undercurrents placing it well above the Kinski/Herzog remake. Gl’l‘, Glasgow.
0 Brother, Where Art Thou? (12) that (Joel Coen, US, 2000) George Clooney, John Turturro, Tim Blake Nelson. 107 mins. Preston Sturges' Sullivan 's Travels and Homer's The ()rlvnssqv are the starting points for this 305-set screwball comedy. Smooth- talking Everett Ulysees McGill (Clooney). simpleton Delmar (Nelson) and maladjusted Pete (Turturro) are members of a chain gang on the run looking for buried loot. Their journey up and down the state of Mississippi brings them into contact with assorted eccentrics based on Homer's mythological figures. A lighter work for the Coens. more Raising Arizona than Fargo, but it's still a rare treat. A truly captivating confederacy of dunces. ()deon. Glasgow.
102 Dalmatians (U) tint (Kevin Lima, US/UK, 2000) Glenn Close, Gerard Depardieu, loan Gruffudd. 90mins. Cruella's back. And this time she's Ella. Thanks to a shot of mind-altering Pavlovian treatment during her stay at Her Majesty's Pleasure, the larger than life baddie is released into the community as an animal- Ioving philanthropist. Only when Big Ben strikes twelve does the spell snap, letting her revert to character, her passion for Dalmatian fur renewed. 102 is a generation on from the original cute canines, but the shape of the story is virtually identical, while the script's too caught up in the machinations of the human world to give the dogs enough of a look in. General release. Paradise Of The Fallen Angels (Gannat al Shayateen) (18) (Ossawa Fawzi, Egypt, 1999) 80 mins. Part of Cinemamed, see preview. Filmhouse, Edinburgh.
Pay It Fonivard (12) iii (Mimi Leder. US, 2000) Kevin Spacey, Helen Hunt, Haley Joel Osment. 123 mins. 'Ihis ‘heartwarming' drama begins with a cynical journalist stumbling across a series of apparently random acts of kindness, which turn out to be orchestrated within a structure similar to
g a chain letter, traceable back to Las Vegas ' school kid Trevor McKinney (Osment).
; Trevor’s life isn't an easy one. His mother ; Arlene (Hunt) is an alcoholic go-go bar
waitress and his abusive father (Jon Bon
Jovi) is absent, but in new teacher Mr Simonet (Spacey), the boy finds a surrogate parent whose class project prompts Trevor to conceive ‘pay it forward'. Leder handles the storytelling confidently and allows her stars to shine, but there's a horrible sense that this sentimental film was conceived and executed with Oscars in mind. General
release. Pokemon The Movie 2000 (PG) tit