Film index
Blade Runner: The Director’s Cut (15) 00000 (Ridley Scott. CS. 1982) Harrison Ford. Sean Young. Rutger Hauer.
1 l6 mins. Out go the pseudo-noir rtarratiort and the tacked-on happy ending; in corttes a more defined sense that Deckard hintself may be a replicant. The look and feel rentain as powerful. and the acting is superb. A flawed masterpiece is now a restored masterpiece. L'GC Cinemas. Edinburgh. Blood Wedding (Bodas De Sangre) (PG) 0... (Carlos Saura. Spairt. l98l) Antonio Gades. Cristina Hoyos. Juan Antonio. 7] mins. The ritost popular of Saura's celebrated dance films. Blood Wedding is choreographed by Flamenco legend Gades from the novel by Lorca. Beautifully shot. it tells a classic story of honour and revenge. Part of the gVival Spanish Film Festival. OFT. Glasgow; Filmhouse. Edinburgh.
Born Romantic ( IS) 000 (David Kane. CK. 2001 ) Craig Ferguson. Catherine McCormack. Jarte Horrocks. ian Hart. Olivia Williams. David Morrissey. I00 ntins. Scottish writer-director Kane's follow-up to This Year's Love is another bittersweet romantic comedy with a large ensemble cast. Three couples — their fates lirtked by a Lortdon salsa club and Adrian Lester's seerttingly omniscient taxi driver — are caught in a recurring. tormented dialectic of pursuit and flight. Born Romantic is undeniably slight. but the cast turrt iit winning performances. there are some good jokes and best of all. a highly infectious salsa beat. General release.
Cast Away ( 12) 000 (Robert Zemeckis. US. 2000) Tom Hanks. Helen Hunt. Christopher Noth. 143 mins. in this solidly told tale of a modern-day Robinson Crusoe. Hanks' FedEx systems engineer Chuck Noland. a flag-bearer for CS capitalism and can-do kinda guy. is marooned on a deserted island irt the South Pacific after his Christmas Eve flight crashes during a ferocioUs storm. At a stroke. he's stripped of all the accoutremettts of modern civilisation and returned to the Stone Age. But like Defoe‘s hero. Chuck is an Everyman who embodies the values of his age. here: energy. resourcefulness and consummate problem solving. General release.
Chariots Of Fire (PG) 000 Hudson. UK. 1981) Ben Cross. lan Charleson. Nigel Havers. l23 mins. Worryineg jingoistic vision of the 1924 Paris Olympics and the exploits of runners Harold Abrahartts and Eric Liddell that. lit its numerous slow-motion races. is to blame for Vangelis soundtracks becoming synonymous with athletics. Nevertheless. it won a fair few Oscars. although writer Coliit Welland‘s legendary ‘The British are coming' warning to Hollywood proved about as prophetic as Manchester‘s bid for the 2000 Olympics. Pavilion. Galashiels. Charlie‘s Angels ( t5) .0. (McG. CS. 2000) Cameron Diaz. Drew Barrymore. Lucy Liu. 90 mins. This update of the TV series has three chief attractions which are so pleasing on the eye it almost gets away with everything else: the gorgeous trio of Diaz. Barrymore and Liu. the outfits and action sequences. There's nothing believable about these three crime fighters — and that’s why girls needn‘t get excited about this being a rare action filrtt lead by women — but the lack of realism is also one of the film‘s strengths; its thrills and spills have a cartoonish. laws of nature-defying brilliance. On the other side of the coin. the plot is pants. the characters are wafer-thin and the jokes aren‘t half as funny as they ought to be. New Picture House. St Andrews.
Chicken Run (U) 0000 (Nick Park/Peter Lord. CK. 2000) Voices of Mel Gibson. Julia Sawalha. Miranda Richardson. 85 mins. For their first feature Aardman studios have re-written the WWII P.O.W. experience as an Orwellian satire. albeit with laughs. So. Stalag 17 becomes a battery fartn and the camp commandant farmer Tweedy‘s domineering wife. while in the hutches. Ginger rallies her fellow hens to fly their coop. Though the characters aren't as established as Wallace and Grorttit and the
(Hugh
32 Till LIST 15-29 Mar 2001
feature length running time slows the action. Aardntan continue to work real wonders with their familiar Plasticine animation. ()deon. Dunfermline.
Chocolat ( l2) .0 (Lasse Hallstrom. L'S. 200i ) Juliette Birtoche. Johnny Depp. Judi Dench. Ill mins. Adapted front Joanne Harris's novel. Chum/u! unfolds ‘once upon a time' in a tranquil French village where sexy unwed single mother V'ianrte (Binoehe) opens up a chocolaterie durirtg Lcrtt. Her magical confections are soon hay iitg a liberating effect on various locals. though her actions incur the wrath of the rcigrtirtg count (Alfred Molina). who fears that the traditional order ntay be irrevocably damaged. Unfortunately. llallstrom's (The Cider House Rules) feelgood fairytale relies on its calculatedly cosrttopolitatt cast and glossy production values to disguise its lack of substance. General release.
Chocolat ( 15) .00. (Claire Denis. France. 1988) Mireille Perrier. lsaach de Bankole. Giulia Bosclti. Francois ('lu/et. 105 mitts. Returning to the remote part of the Cartieroorts where she spent her childhood. the daughter of a colonial civil servant recalls scenes frortt those early years. including the attraction between her mother attd their native martscrvartt. This accomplished debut feature is a nostalgic and gentle mosaic of colonial life. offering a perceptive look at the liuropeans‘ varying attitudes towards the Africans. Circuit Cinema. Livingston.
Chopper ( ix) eeee (Andrew Dominik. Australia. 2000) Eric Bana. Sirnort Lyndon. David Field. 93 mins. Based on the life of Mark ‘Chopper‘ Brandon Read. Australia's self-proclaimed gangster number i. Chopper is a savagely furtny voyage through the rationale of a criminal mind. Dominik questions the myth of a man who gained notoriety by chopping off his owit ears iit prison to escape a rival gang. arid later removed fingers arid toes of others. The considerable explicit violence slides uncomfortably along a razor edge between realism arid fantasy and raised a round of critical assaults. Aitd central to the film is a beguiling performance by top AUstralian comedian Bana as Chopper. a mischievous piece of castirtg that really piles on the irony. Odeort. Glasgow.
Chuck And Buck ( t5) eeee (Miguel Arteta. CS. 2000) Chris Weill. Mike. 95 mitts. Chuck (Weill) aitd Buck (White. also scriptwriter) used to suck artd fuck each other. when they were kids. As the years pass they drift apart. Chuck moves to Los Angeles and becomes a successful music industry executive while Buck stays at home with his mother. living iii a state of perpetual childhood at 27 years-of-age. But the death of Buck‘s ittortt brings the boys back together. ntuch to Buck‘s delight and Chuck‘s chagrin. You‘ll find Chuck And Buck either irritating or endearing. but it‘s an American indie movie that makes a truth of those much overused adjectives: quirky. offbeat and oddball. Adam Smith Theatre. Kirkcaldy.
Chungklng Express ( 12) 0000 (Wong Kar-Wai. Hong Kong. l99-i) Brigitte Lin. Takeshi Kaneshiro. Tony Leurtg. Faye Wang. 97 mitts. Such a glorious concoction of humour. energy. style and kookiness rarely cotttes our way. The two loosely overlapping stories are set around a fast food stall in Hong Kong. with mismatched romance and indulgent heartaclte the rttertu for today. The second segment is the stronger. but the film is so fresh arid unusual that it ntore than survives this slight imbalance. A Bout [)e Sordile for our times. GFT. Glasgow.
Coyote Ugly ( I2) ee (David McNally. CS. 2000) Maria Bello. Piper Perabo. John Goodman. l0l mitts. Presurttably the high concept pitch for this latest slice of wish fulfilment was
‘F Iushdmiee meets Coekiuil'. The title refers to a New York drinking spot. where the drop-dead gorgeous (female) bartenders dance suggestively on the bar aitd pour shots down the customers' throats. The latest recruit to this ‘lively' environment is young Violet (Perabo). a girl front New Jersey who dreams of making it iii the Big Apple as a
A detained Russian refugee (Dina Korzun) and a cocky English lad (Paddy Considine) become unlikely friends in the superb social realist drama Last
singer-songwriter. Ignore tlte claims that this is a tale of female criipow current: the film is a tease. titillating its male y iewers w Illt its images of iitidr'iff-baririg babes in halter tops and tigltt leather trousers. before retreating behind its I3 cct'tilicatc. .\lo\ icliotisc. Mothci'well.
0 Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon ( I2) eeeee (.’\ng l.cc. China/LS. 2000) Michelle Yeoh. (‘liow ltlll Fat. Zhang Ziyi. (‘ltang (‘heri l20 mins. Jane Alister) meets Bruce Lee in .-\ng .Srrisr And Sensibility Lee's astonishing martial arts period drama. lit a lictroiialised yer'sroii of early l‘)th century China. a world of lteroic warriors and deep philosophical \al ties. Lee seamlesst interweates the \lttt'lcs of two sets of lot as and a revenge tale with a feminist twist. The fight scenes are groundbreaking. as chorer)gi‘aphed by expert Yucn Wt) Ping. .-\t once breathtaking .rrid beautiful. ('miii*hi/ie'lieer's also a cinematic landmark: its fusion of the best elements from liast arid \Vest cinema has created soiiietlting wholly new. (iener'al i'clcasc. Dancer in The Dark ( 15) 0000
(Lars von Trier. Denniar'k/Sweden/( iei'rnany/
France. 2000) Biork. ('atherine [)entieye. David Morse. I37 mins. llayrng founded the Dogttte school of back-to-basics lilntntaking. vort 'l'rier's now turned his back on it will) this digitally -sliot homage to the Hollywood musical. Set iit (ills :\lllc‘l'lc.t. it‘s the story ofC/eeh immigrant .Selrria (played by Bjork. whose extraordinary performance takes itaturalism to its estreme). a single mother w hose only escape from her dreary factory work life are lter daydr'earris which transport ltcr into a llolly wood-sty le iiitisical. As w ill) Brett/sine //t(‘ iii/res. the drama revolves around a move young woman who becomes the \ rctrrn of circumstance. and the ensuing protracted tragedy giyes the film astonishing emotional clout. Cameo. Edinburgh.
0 Dark Days ( IS) 0... t.\lat‘c Singer. LS. 2001) 82 mins. l‘ilrned ()yct' two years iii the labyrinthine underground llllt' ncls of New York City. using a crew coin- prised erttirely of homeless people strug- glirtg to suryiye there. young British direc» tor Singer's debut marks a new standard of excellence arid integrity tlt documentary filmntaking. Wise-ass humour is iustaposed \sith tragic anecdotes iit this deeply human portrait of subterranean people; it giyes dig nity to a section of society prey rously denied it. Finally. [)J Shadow's soundtrack is superb. Cameo. Fdinburgh.
Les destinees sentimentales ( 12) O... (()|iyer Assayas. France. 3000) Charles Berling. limntanuelle Heart. Isabelle Huppert. ISO tttitis. .-\ssayas seems one of the most contemporary of french
lilirriiiakers. odd sllt‘lss' then this trrrrr oi the century period ill.ttli.i about the rise and tall. lilc aiid lo\e ol irriptilsrye learr liaiiieiy Harrieiy sepaiatcs lioiri his rte llltippeit) arid dc\otcs himself to ( iod their ,'ryes tip the cloth lot a lairiily brisrrress alter lalliiiz' lor licait l|\ ed how cyei torrttrsedly. iatlr than the \ssa their shorter tiiiic spans and sparei itattali\cs \daiii Siiiith Ilieatic. l\iil.t.rldy Digital Monsters: Digimon The Movie l’( it 0.. t|.rl.aal.i \arrrashrta. llishashi \akataiiia. \lasashiro \I/.i\‘..t. .lapatil S, .Tillll SS iiiiiis lirg'iriioris at." Hot iclatiyes of l’ol.eiiioiis btit do share some
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trails. being odd ltlttlslll‘.‘ and lli'llllll‘.‘ when requested by pre teen iriasteis I'sserrtrally Ills/innit otters a bez'iiiireis z'tiitle iii tlaee parts. It csplairis how the little rriorrstuis came about ttlieyie iron) the (Irvrtal woiltlr. describes a world or web threatening adyciittiie and finishes w llll the personal stoty of one boy and his llli'llltttll _;'oric iogiie \ll lll glorious lapaiicse arrririatrori with Iotid rot l. lllll\lt and a battle cry liltcer) iiiiiitites \drilt brains are kept aliye with asides like. '\laybc we should call Ilill (fates. and erriail account lioidiiiz'. mobile phone yt.ieldiii_~.: tinder llt's '-‘.lll be iii their s'lt'lllt‘lll (it‘llt'ldl lt'ls'dSL'
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