FILM index
FILM INDEX continued
Suspicion (I’( if t t t * (Alfred Hitchcock. l'S. l9-fl ) ('ary (irant. Joan Fontaine. ('edric Ilardw‘icke. 99 mins. Rougish (irant marries the rich htit easily overpowered Fontame. hut his dingy past and shady present are called into question when his friend Nigel Burce dies. ('lassic ‘is he or isn‘t he‘." stuff. with the suave (irant on fine form and the director only letting tis down at the very end. Filmhouse. fidinhurgh.
Suzhou River ( i2) 1H:er (Lou Ye. (‘hina. 2000) '/.hou Xun. Jia flongsheng. Yao Anlian. 83 itiiiis. Sic/mu River is the Asian Vertigo. hut don't expect Hitchcock- style cameravvork in Ye‘s film. In the vanguard of('liina's new ‘(ith (ieneration' filmmakers. Ye‘s style is shaky hand-held camerawork representing the video diaries of a lotiely videograplier (a cipher for (‘hina's disillusioned yottlli'.’). who lives on the eponyttious Shanghai waterway. The plot. however. riffs on Hitchcock's classic ahout ohsession and mistaken identity. For cinefiles and social ohservers alike. this is a clever. contemporary film which hodes well for the ()th (ieneration. (if’l‘. (ilasgow'. There's Something About Mary i 15) **** (Peter and Bohhy Farrelly. I'S. I998) (’ameron Dial. Matt Dillon. Ben Stiller. 118 mins. The third Farrelly hrothers movie. following their supremely fuii. hut dumh dehttt. Dumb And Dumber and had taste extravaganza. Kingpin. with an even more outrageous comedy . . . ahout stalkers. The conceit says it all: Stiiall town geek Ted never itiakes it to the Iiiin school prom with gorgeous Mary. because he 'zips himself up'. Years later and all healed and grown tip. Ted remains ohsessed with the date that never was. Vikingar Cinema. I.args.
Thomas And The Magic Railroad (t') ** (Britt Alleroft. l'K/l'S. 2000) Voices of Alec Baldwin. Peter Fonda. Michael Ii. Rodgers. 79 mins. This adaptation of the Reverend Wilhur Awdry hooks is aimed squarely at under tens. Whilst children will he lapping up the tale of'l'homas The Tank Iingine aiding The (‘onductor (Baldwin)
The Small Wonders
Production Award Scheme £2000 to make your film! Supported by FVA filmmaker- in-residenee: Amy Hardie Encouraging new talent - Documentary/Animation/ performance/Fietioii contact:
The Film and Video Access Centre on: 0131 220 0220 deadline: 16th February 2001.
°€DINBVRGH°
- '-l(I'v o'lmuus-(oultlt
Sun 78th Feb
Chopper (18) 5 :00pm The Golden Bowl (12) 7:00pm Mon 79th Feb
The Golden Bowl (12) various
Thurs 22nd Feb
In The Mood For Love (PG)7:30pm
Sun 25th Feb
Harry, He's Here to Help (15) 5:00pm
East-West (12) 7: 75pm
Tickets and further information from The Stee le Box office
(Tel: 01 24 506850) or on the day from the hall
40 THE lIST IS Feb—l Mar 2001
against the evil I)iesel train. accompanying guardians will he wondering what happened to Allcroft's classic series narrated by Ringo Starr. Surely it was never this juvenilel ()deon. Dunfermline.
Thrill Ride (no cert) (Ben Stassen. IS 200) ) A mix of computer graphics and live action. providing a scientific. hut ftiii look at the history of rides. from their early origins iii 17th century RUssia to today's ride simulators. IMAX Theatre. (ilasgow.
Time Code ( )8) hit (Mike Iiiggis. t'S. 2000) Saffron Burrow s. Salma Hayek. Stellan Skarsgard. Jeanne Tripplehorn. 97 mins. Another audacious. experimental feature from Figgis. interweaving four iinprov ised stories shot in real time and projected or) to a split- screen simultaneously. The characters‘ lives criss-cross iii time arid space. as they enter and leave different locations. interact face-to- face or on the phone. and slowly converge upon the office of Indie film production company Red Mullet Inc.. where a tyrannical director is in the final stages ofcasting his new movie. lntelleetually' invigorating. technologically hold and perhaps itiost surprisingly given the technical nature of the project « always emotionally involving. Filmhous'e. Iidinhurgh.
Titan A.E. ( l2) **** (Don Bluth/(iary (ioldman. [S 2000) Voices of Matt Damon. Bill Pulman. Drew Barrymore. 95 itiitis. fiarth has just been creamed hy the unspeakath evil alien Drej. Humankind’s fate rests (literally) in the hands of humhle astro-mechanic (‘ale Tucker (Damon) who is part of the small numher of human refugees sprinkled ahout the universe. A rip-roaring space adventure like they certainly never used to make ‘em. 'l'iiun (fl-j. (After fiarth) is animation imitating live action. and is markedly post-.-Irniugeiltlon arid Indqwndenee Dav both in look and outlook. L'CI. Glasgow.
To Live In Paradise (Vivre au Paradis) ( IS) (Bourlem (iuerdjou. Franee/Norway/Belgium. I997) I05 itiiiis. Tale of a poor immigrant set at the end of the Algerian war of independence. Part of ('inemamed Arah N'Iediterranean Film Festival. Filmhouse. fidinhurgh.
To Live ( l2) *i'tt (Zhang Yiiiioti. Iloiig Kong/China. I994) (ie You. (iong I.i. .\'iu Ben. l25 mins. With a gentle injection of humour alongside the tragedy. [hang returns to the epic scope of iris earlier films. following the effects of history on an unimposing family. The ironies thrown up by political changes. taking in the (ireat Leap Forward and (‘ultural Revolution. may have bizarrely comic consequences. but they also inflict pain at a grass-roots level. (ie You is a magnificent lead. Filmhouse. Iidinhurgh. Tomorrow I Burn (Ghodoua, nahrek) ( 13) (Mohamed Ben Smail. Tunisia. I998) 95 mins. Deported from France. a man wanders through Tunisia meeting dwellers on the fringe of society. Part of ('inemamed Arah Mediterranean Film Festival. Filmhouse. Iidinhurgh.
Toy Story 2 (l7) *ittt (John Lasseter. [S 2000) Tom Hanks. Tim Allen. Joan ('usack. 95 itiitis. The new film expands on the original settings and themes: When Woody is not taken to ('owhoy (‘amp by his owner Andy. he hegins to question the meaning of his ‘life'. Wheii he‘s suhsequently' stolen by a collector 7 who plans to sell him to a Japanese toy museum — Buzz and the gang travel across town to rescue their pal. The emotive range of the animated characters is extraordinary: they say that computer generated images will never replace the real thing. hut 'lov Story 2 makes you wonder. Vikingar Cinema. Largs.
Traffic ( [8) *ti* (Steven Soderhergh. ['S. 2000) Benicio Del Toro. Michael Douglas. (‘atherine Zeta-Jones. I47 itiiiis. This amhitious. multi-layered epic drama exposes the confusion. hypocrisy and sheer futility of America's war on drugs. Three interwoven storylines — involving decent cop Del Toro. conservative ()hio judge Douglas. the country’s newly appointed new drug war. and well-heeled society wife Zeta-Jones - show
how the drug trade touches and corrupts every
level of society on both sides of the US- Mexico border. Using different film stocks and techniques. Soderhergh provides each of these storylines with a distinct look while linking them with persistent Use of hand-held cameras. which gives the film an air of documentary authenticity and gripping
Ring 2, the second instalment of the Japanese horror film phenomenon develops the tale of a deadly urban myth in a rather confusing manner, but the scares are still pretty effective
immediacy. Intelligent and provocative. Traffic avoids sermonismg. hut in scene after scene. the message gets through. (ieneral release.
Tricky Germany (no cert) 1 Various. (iermany. Various) (ierman short films. (ioetlie Inslflul. (ilasgovv.
Unbreakable ( )2) *ttt i.\t. Night Shyaiiialan. IS. 2000) Bruce Willis. Samuel 1.. Jackson. Rohin Wright Penn. “in mins. Dav id Dunn (Willis) crawls from the wreckage of a trait) crash. the sole survivor of the l lh‘ passengers. Dunn‘s miraculous escape is the catalyst for three events: him and his estranged wife Audrey (Penn) re-think their impending split: eccentric art collector and sufferer of a dehilitating hrittle hone condition Iilijah Price (Jackson) pesters Dunn ahotit his medical history; and Dunn's son Joseph (Spencer Treat (’Iark) takes hero worship a little too far. Once again Shyamalan ITIH’ Sixth Sense) takes a preposterous story ftill of crazy rev elatioiis and grounds it with low key plotting and a spare style. making a Ilolly wood hlockhuster iii the style of an art house film. (ieneral release.
Vertical Limit ( l2) tit (Martin ('amphell. IS. 2000) (‘hris O'Donnell. Rohiti Tunney. Bill Paxtoti. l2-I mins. It's vapid. vertiginous thrills all the way tip thisjoin-the-dots iiiotintain-cliitihing movie. Still haunted hy the death of his father in a climhing accident. ()‘Donnell is forced hack into crampons when his sister ('I‘unney ) gets huried hy an avalanche during an assent of K2. Accompanying O'Donnell on his t'oolhardy rescue mission are wild-haired mountain man Scott Glenn and a few disposahle extras. The clock is ticking hecause they iiitist reach the stranded climhers hefore hy potheritiia sets in. Preposterous tosh of the highest order. this nevertheless has its hreathless. seat-grahhing moments. (ieiieral release.
The Way OfThe Gun ( is) **** ((‘hristopher McQuarrie. IS. 2000) Ryan Philippe. Benicio del Toro. James (‘aan. I I9 mins. Parker (Philippe) and Longhaugh (del Toro) are a couple of drifters who kidnap a heavily pregnant woman. Rohin (Juliette Lewis). who is acting as a surrogate mother for the millionaire tycoon. who promptly dispatches veteran 'adjudicator' Sarno ((‘aaii ). to retrieve Rohin from her captors. .»\s the kidnappers head down into Mexico. the stage is set for a fatal showdown. allowing McQuarrie (writer of The l'vuul Suv/n'civ) to reveal the ambiguity of his characters' itiotiv'ations and the deceptiveness of their personal agendas. Peckinpah appears to he a key influence. ('ameo. lidinhurgh.
What Lies Beneath ( IS) tttt (Rohert Zemeckis. IS 2000) Michelle Pfeiffer. Harrison Ford. Miranda ()tto. James Remar. I29 mins. .»\ suspense thriller that plays teasingly hetween genres. though soon everything hecomes clear: the film is haunted by the ghost of Alfred Hitchcock. Pfeiffer's (‘Iaire Spencer lives with her genetics professor hushand Norman (Ford) in an idyllic lakeside house in Vermont. But all is not well in their ideal home: where she's trouhled by things that go hump in the night. Zemeckis turns the screw of suspense with at) expert hand. huildiiig tension with a canny
mix of :\lan Silvestri‘s eciie score and even more ominous silences. while l’feiftei' involves its in every stage of (‘lairc‘s mental unravelling ('ameo. l:dmhurgh.
What Women Want ( )3) t i 1: (Nancy Meyers. l'S. 200l ) Mel (iihson. Ilelen lltiiit. 122 mins. (iihson‘s divorced. playhoy
adv crtisitig executive is a testosterone-fuelled chauv mist whose hrand of tits 'n' .iss ad catiipaigns have lotig exceeded then sell hy dale. Ilis company. however. wants to reach female consumers atid has given the top ioh to a woman (llimt I. But. follow mg an accident. the exec wakes tip to discover lie‘s ahle to hear women‘s unspoken thoughts. a gift which scores liim hrovv nie points all round. (iihsoii tw mkles i'oguislily m the lead role and handles the film's scenes of
screw hall farce well. But he's let dovv n hy a lack of chemistry with his co star. (ienei'al release.
Wind 0f Aures (Rih al-awras) if’( i) (Mohamed l.aklidai' flamma. Algeria. |9(v7) 95 mins. Rare screening of a post- mdependetice Algerian classic. Part of ('inemaitied :\rah Mediterranean Film Festival. Filmhouse. Iidmhui‘gli.
Woman On Top ( l5) it il‘ma 'l'ori‘es. IS. 2000) Penelope ('ru/. Murilo Benicio. llarold Perrmeau Jf'. 9| flfllis. lsahclla ((‘i'u/i and hushand .Ittfflfflit) ( Benicio) own a small restaurant on a Bra/than heach. .-\II is well. except that lsahclla suffers from motion sickness so hadly that she must always he in the driving seat even in hed. Which drives Toniiiho into the arms of another woman. Discovering them together. lsahclla tips atid flies to San Francisco to join her sassy hisexual friend Monica (Perrtiieau. Jr) and find fame as a TV cook. For all its chillies. Woman On 'Io/i is coiispicuously lacking in spice. ('ooked up especially fora woman's palette. it is definitely not the way to a man's heart. and more likely the way to send him to sleep. Vikingar (inc-ma. I.args.
Women's Wiles (l') (l'arala Benly'a/id. Morocco. I‘N‘H 90 mins. light-hearted fahle that packs a punch ahout a woman who
outvv its a powerful Sultan. Part of (‘inemaiiied x\rah Mediterranean I'lllll Festival. I'Illflllolfse. Iidinhurgli.
Wonder Boys ( l5) *tii ((‘iirtis Hanson. IS. 2000) Michael Douglas. 'I'ohey Maguire. Rohert Dow ney Jr. l l l mins. (irady Tripp (Douglas i. one time celehrated iiov elist. now cynical creative writing professor is hav mg a rough weekend. llis third wife has just left him. his mistress. who also happens to he the ('ollege ('hancellor's wife. is pregnant. manic depressive ptipil James I.eer ( Maguire) has latched onto him and Tripp‘s perverse agent. Terry (‘rahtree (Dow ney Jr). is coming with the sole aim of proofing Tripp‘s (unfinished) new novel. Douglas is a revelation in this sophisticated comedy examining the chaos that ensues when intellectually stifled lives hegin to move on again. Yet again Hanson il--f (‘on/ii/t-niiuli proves himself to he a dynamic filmmaker with powerful feeling for pace. style. rhythm and form. Lumiere. fidinhurgh.
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