Video/DVD
video@list.co.uk
THRILLER HANNIBAL (18) 125 mins on
Silence Of The Lambs' producers wait for a decade for Thomas Harris to write his sequel. then lop of the macabre ending and allow Anthony Hopkins to play the late 20th century's most infamous monster like your cuddly old grandad. The interesting villainous duties are left to millionaire Mason Verger (Gary Oldman). Lecter's sole surviving victim who had his face peeled like a grape by the doctor. Verger lures Lecter out of retirement in Florence by threatening the well- being of his beloved Agent Starling, now played as cold FBI career woman by Julianne Moore. It's all very melodramatic and though not very scary. Ridley Scott directs with his customary visual perfection. (Universal VHS rental) (Miles Fielder)
DRAMA FAITHLESS
(15) 148 mins me A devastating, slow- burning tale of the destruction of a marriage, directed by Ingmar Bergman's personal and professional leading lady Liv Ullman. An elderly writer (Erland Josephson) hears Marianne's (Lena Endre) tale of amour fou and marital breakdown as she leaves her wealthy conductor husband Marcus (Thomas Hanzon) for his best friend David (Krister Henricksson), a petty. paranoid theatre director. Subtle, reflective and claustrophobic, this contains references to everyone from Tarkovsky to Ibsen, plus Bergman's own Scenes From A Marriage. Deeply mesmerising, this timeless, long, haunting tragedy is an abject lesson in tender, painful yet exquisite storytelling. Metro Tartan is also
releasing the Bergman
back catalogue starting in September with The
Seventh Seal. (Metro
Tartan VHS and DVD ’ retail) (Paul Dale)
COMEDY STATE AND MAIN
' (15)112mins””
: Hollywood's not famed for its subtlety. Here, in
David Mamet’s Capra- esque comedy, movie town tactics are revealed
‘ in all their shallow gIOry
in a tale about a film crew ravaging the small American town of Waterford, Vermont. The dialogue, as you'd expect from the man who laid bare the property sales trade in Glengarry Glen Ross, is razor sharp and right on the money, and the cast members, including Mamet mainstays William M. Macy and Philip Seymour Hoffman (superb as the idealistic screenwriter) do it able justice with their fine performances throughout. (Warner/Helkon VHS rental; DVD retail) (Catherine Bromley)
.5”?!
three trailers Armageddon
effects and trailers Brother
biographies State at Main
the cast & crew In The Line Of Duty
features Hannibal
and galleries Finding Forrester
trailers Proof Of Life
Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid
The classic Western gets the DVD treatment makeover — includes a documentary, interviews with Newman and Redford. an audio commentary and
Double DVD re-release of the Bruckheimer/ Bay blockbuster — features includes commentary from Bruce Willis, deleted scenes, analysis of special
Classic violent thriller starring the legendary Takeshi Kitano — extras include a documentary on Beat Takeshi, location footage and cast & crew
Comedy drama from David Mamet starring the fantastic William H Macy — DVD includes audio commentary from the main stars and interviews with
From the action director of Crouching Tiger comes a ; Hong Kong legend — extras feature audio commentary. sound dubbing option and martial arts
The Lecter sequel is unleashed on a special 2 DVD set — features audio commentary from Ridley Scott, 15 deleted or extended scenes, alternative endings
Coming of age drama from Gus Van Sant starring Sean Connery — includes feature on the actors, 8min of deleted scenes, filmographies. making ofs and
Decent action thriller starring Russell Crowe and Meg Ryan — DVD includes audio commentary with Taylor Hackford and HBO first look documentary
DOCUMENTARY FIRST PERSON Channel 4, Tue 21 Aug, 11.35pm ooooo
Being in the company of someone you'd cross oceans to avoid yet sitting transfixed for a full half hour. listening to their story is First Person ’3 greatest triumph. It also surely confirms Errol Moms as one of the greatest filmmakers working today.
Not that the people in the series are bad, just that their stories are so queasy. There is the woman who set up in business to help clean up suicides after finding her son's dead body. And in this first one, we had the tale of Gary Greenberg, a budding writer whose method of getting a publishing deal was to befriend the imprisoned Unabomber, the one-man killing machine who sent parcel bombs to airline presidents. computer boffins. Californian geneticists: those he saw as oppressing him through technological advancement.
A high octane
experience, aided by Errol Morris’ frenzied questioning and excitable reactions helps make this series one of the unique TV moments of the year.
(Brian Donaldson)
DOCUMENTARY SCENE BY SCENE: DENNIS HOPPER
BBC2, Mon 20 Aug, 11.20pm on
Now in his 65th year, a rather stately, healthy— looking Dennis Hopper sits in a viewing room trying to catch the soft patter that dribbles from Mark Cousins’ mouth. Unfortunately, it's nothing we haven’t heard before: authorship of Easy Rider, drink, drugs and then it’s come back to the five and dime Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean.
The concessions here are a short discussion about two under-rated films The Last Movie and Henry Jaglom’s Tracks in which Hopper plays a berserk veteran, plus an inevitable conversation about that scene with Isabella Rossellini in Blue Velvet.
Otherwise it's fairly routine stuff, except old Dennis lets it slip he's a Republican and that he did the Ford Coogar advertisement simply because he thought it was a great idea. What would have been great would have been to hear of the truly remarkable films he made in the 703 and 808: Out Of The Blue, Colors and The Hot Spot. (Paul Dale)
COMEDY
TAXI FOR OOWAN
8801, Mon 20 Aug, 9.30pm 0000
Despite looking like the bloke that should run your local butchers, Tam Cowan — Scottish football punditry's answer to Anthony Worral Thompson — has branched out from radio and newspaper diatribes to present this six-part travelogue. taking him round parts of Scotland in the back of a minicab.
His first trip is Rothesay on the Isle of Bute. where he attempts to retrace the steps of the family holidays he spent on the island as a child. Not exactly the most informative of tour guides, Cowan plays the loud cheeky tourist to a tee. endearing himself to the locals with a caustic one-liner and even a painful rendition of ‘Spanish Eyes' at points.
As nostalgia trips go, this will get many of Cowan's generation dewy eyed, but is still worth watching it you're not of that era. If only to note the sad demise of the Scottish seaside resort and marvel at Cowan's acerbic banter. (Mark Robertson)
Enter the comedy cab with Tam Cowan
16-23 Aug 2001 THE LIST 43
TV