Film index
Starring Gerard Kelly as Smee
and Andy Gray as Captain Hook SAT 1 DEC 2001 T0 SUN 13 JAN 2002
This year's King's Pantomime
Edinburgh's Telford College
Maximum Velocity
The student's annual dance performance
FRI 8 & SAT 9 JUNE
0131 529 6005
supported by °€DINBVRGH°
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[SINGS
TICKETS £8.00 (£6.00)
EDINBURGH
32 THE LIST 7—21 Jun 2001
index continued
Blackboard: f l’(ir O... tSamrra Makhrnalbaf. lran. 200th Saeed Moharnadr. Behna/ Jafarr. Baham (ihobadr. S4 nuns. .-\ boldly uncomprornrsing portrait of life on the margins of lraniarr society. l'nfoldrng in the mountainous region between Iran and Iraq. Ii/trt'A/mtrr't/s follow s a group of rmpoy errshed. itinerant teachers who are looking for pupils. l’artly an allegory about national identity and statelessness. liltIt'L/roiirt/s also considers whether edtrcatron is a ltr\ur'y for those engaged in a prrmrtiye battle for sury ryal Makhrnalbaf creates moments of actitc tension alongside the dark humour. l~'trr'thermore. the non- professional cast acquit thernselyes admirably. whilst the striking cinematography demands to be e\perienced on the big-screen. Adam Smith ’l‘heatre. Kirkcaldy. Blade t ISI 0.. (Stephen .\‘orrington. l'S. I‘Nb‘) Wesley Snipes. Stephen Dorff. Kris Kristofferson. ill mins. Young Brit director Norrington's techno-yampire moy re based on the Mary el ('omics character is marred by weak storytelling and flashy computer-game y rsuals. ()ne hoped for sustained atmospherics and coherent mythology: instead. this fashionably trpdated take on \ampire lore sqttandet‘s its innoyatiyc ideas on a series of disjointed set- pieces. Cameo. lidinburgh. Blow t 13) 0.. (Ted Dernrrre. lb. 200] ) Johnny Depp. Penelope (‘ru/. l‘ranka l’otente. l23 mins. The story of the rise and fall of drtrg smuggler (ieorge Jung tplayed by Depp). who progresses from smuggling marijuana in the late-otfs to importing cocaine on an industrial scale in the 70s. It‘s a time of high jinks in more than one sense and Demme finds a sly Ie to match. employing free/e framing and lurehing looms. We could be in an episode of The .llmrkeey. lf Blow is intended as a modern morality play. howey'er. then its ethics remain trnclear. We never see the social costs of his freebooting entrepreneurshrp; Dernrne fails to give its the wider picture. (ieneral release. Breakfast At Tiffany’s t I5) 0000 (Blake lidwards. ['8. 1%! ) Audrey Hepburn. (ieorge Peppard. Patricia Neal. Buddy libsen. Mickey" Rooney. 1 l5 mins. 'How Do I look‘.P asks original waif Hepburn in the role of borderline schizophrenic Holly (iolightly. ‘\'er'y (iood. I must say I'm amazed' replies l’eppard in the role of frustrated writer and part—time gigolo Paul \'arjak. The iconic Hepburn has never made netrrosis look so good. and while the film may have numerous redeeming features (not least the exquisite cinematography by Fran/ l“. Plane and the swinging soundtrack by' Henry Mancini). it is she who remains responsible for making it such a well-loy'ed classic adapted from the novel by Truman ('apote. MacRobert. Stirling. Breaking Away (PG) 000. (Peter Yates. L'S. W79) Dennis Christopher. Dennis Quaid. Daniel Stern. flit) mins. A teenager from smalltown Indiana dreams of becoming a cycle champion -~ or more precisely. an Italian cycle champion. much to the irritation of his father. In the film's highlight. he and his friends challenge fellow students to a race. A brilliant comedy that’s unfairly forgotten today. The Lumiere. Edinburgh. Bridget Jones’s Diary t IS) 0... (Sharon Maguire. l'S/l'K. 2001) Renee Zellweger. Hugh (Brant. (‘olin Firth. 00 mins. Bridget Jones 's Diary is that rare thing. an adaptation that yastly irnproyes on an over-rated original. in this case Helen Fielding's bestselling new spaper column- cum-book. Jones has a rather nice job. and looks rather nice. but worries a lot about her appearance and career. In between weighing herself and ranting about the modern male. she entangles herself with nasty boss Daniel (‘leay'er (Grant i. before taking up with nice Mark Darcy tl’irthi. On paper. Jones was a sniy'elling. neurotic wreck. on film she's a sniy'elling. neurotic wreck who also happens to be consistently hilarious. And Zellweger adds a touch of warmth to w hat is
essentially a wholly unsympathetic. brittle character (ieneral release
Calamity Jane ill...‘ illay rd Butler. lb. l"5.‘~> Doris Day. Howard lscel. .-\llyn Mclerre. (ialc Robbins lttl mins When the Deadwood stage comes on met the hill bringing the wrong \delarde \danrs to the town's music hall. (‘alarntty 's in trotrble again. and \\ rld Hill Hickok ain't too happy either liouncy musical \\illi good songs. great laughs and an engagineg energetic perforrrrance from Day as the buckskrnned torrrboy (irosyenor. ( ilasgow Captain Corelli's Mandolin t IS 0.. iJohn \laddcn. [ls l S l rantc. Itltll i \rcolas ('age. l‘enelopc (‘ru/. .lohn lltrrt iltl turns [his adaptatrorr of 1 outs dc licr'nrer‘es' bestseller \ees (ircccc taken l‘.‘ the Italian \rrrry during \\orld \\ar ll ('aptarn ('orellr and his squad of opera enthusiasts arrryc on the island of ('ephallonra. causing rrrtrch uproar \nd when the (‘aptarn rs brlleted to Dr lannrs' tHurtt house. ('orellr and the Doctor's beautiful daughter. l’clagra it‘ru/t. fall in forbidden on e. Madden has stuck to his guns and made a nroy re at once distinctly l€trropean and likely to appeal to \rnerican audiences Commercial. unfaithful to the book. btrt still head and shoulders .tbo\c any of the eye candy Holly wood has to offer (iener'al release.
Cast Away t l :l tl{ttl‘t'll /.emeckrs. l'S. Itltltfi Tom Hanks. Helen Hunt. (‘hrrstopher \oth, HR nuns In this solidly told tale of a modern day Robinson ('rusoe. Hanks' l‘cdlis systems engineer ('huck Noland. a flagrbearer for l'.\‘ capitalism .rnd can-do kinda guy. is marooned on a deserted island in the South Pacific after his ('hrrstinas l'ye flight crashes during a ferocious storm. -\t a stroke. he's stripped of all the accotrtrcrncnts of rrrodern cry rlisatron and returned to the Stone ge But like Defoe's hero. (‘huck is an
liyery man who embodies the yalues of his age. here: energy. resourcefulness and consumrrrate problem soly irrg. Selected release.
Centre Stage 1 lli 00 iNic-tiolas llytner. l'S. Ziltil i:\fll.ttttla Schull. /.oe Saldana. Strsan May l’raft, I I5 nuns. Rarely since l-imre and I‘lmlri/rrrrr e back in the Hits. has a film focused so specifically on dance. ('eurrt'Srrree spotlights three deterrrrrned dancers. Jody. liya and Maureen. desperately try mg to get into the -\rrrerrcan Ballet (‘ollcge :\\ you'd e\pect. things don‘t go to plan: a lo\ e triangle. boy friends. bleeding ltK'\ illltl eating disorders. tl c'ittlltl get quite interesting. But it doesn't. The story lines are [no cheesy it) be taken seriously. and are interrupted by esceedrngly long dance scenes. The Lumiere. lidrnburgh. Chocolati l2) 0. t|.asse Hallstrom. l'S. Ztltil i Juliette Binoche. Johnny Depp. Judi Dench. Ill mins. Adapted from Joanne llttf'ris's noy el. ('lrm rt/rll llllltllth 'once ltpttft a time' in a tranquil l‘rench \ rllage where se\y unwed single mother Vianne tllrnochei opens tip a chocolaterie during l.ent. Her magical confections are soon haying a liberating effect on \ariotts locals. though her actions incur the wrath of the reigning count t.-\lfred Molinai. who fears that the traditional order may be rrreyocably damaged. l'nfortunately. Hallstrorn‘s t [In ('ulu- Home Rules) feelgood fairytale relies on its calctrlatedly eosttttrpoliltttt cast and glossy production mines to disguise its lack til. \llhslttltee. Selected release.
Cirque Du Soleil it'i Cool J l\‘.el'k\ li\treme Screen presentation. l'(i(‘ Cinemas. lidinburgh.
The Claim t t5» 0000 «Michael Winterbottom. l'K. ZtXJI r l’eter Mtrllan. Mila Joyoyich. Nastassia Krnski. Sarah Polley. 130 mins. 'l‘he prolific Michael Winterbottotrt's t lie/come I}! Saint/iv. llinrt/er'lmrt/i most ambitious directorial \enture to date is a post-gold rtrsh drama. which is loosely inspired by Thomas
llilftl) '\ 'I'lre .UtlirH' ()f (‘(I\I('l'/’I’IV(/L’¢'. The principal setting is the rnrnrng community of Kingdom ('ome. a remote otrtptrt effectiyely owned and run by Irish immigrant Dillon (Mullan). who harbours the guiltiest of secrets concerning his wife lilena (Nastassja Kinskri and daughter Hope