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Films screening this fortnight are listed below with certificate, star rating, credits, brief review and venue details. Film index compiled by Miles Fielder
C9 Alphaville (15) see. (Jean-Luc (iodard. France. 1905) liddic Constantine. Anna Karina. Howard Vernon. 98 mins. linjoyable mid-60s (iodard caper which turns contemporary Paris into Alpha ()0. a chilly city of the future from which such concepts as love and tenderness have been banned. [inter (‘onstantine's gri/lled gumshoe Lenuny (‘aution and we‘re set for an extended and highly idiosyncratic homage to comic strip heroism. (ii-'1‘. (ilasgow; Filmhouse. lidinburgh.
Angel Eyes ( 15) 0.. (Luis Mandoki. US. 2001 ) Jennifer Lopel. Jim (‘avie/el. Sonia Braga. 102 mins. Angel [fives follows in the vein of all those supernatural romances that have come and gone since (iliosl. Lope/'s hard. lonesome policewoman Sharon l’ogue is single and terrified of intimacy. One day she chases sotne drive-by gumncn and. at the point of being shot. is saved by a mysterious man ((‘avie/el). He turns out not only to be the man she encouraged to stay alive (did he or didn't be?) after a crash. but also the Right One to heal her fear of intimacy. A surprisingly warm lilm. affirming the healing power inherent in love. (icneral release.
Art Museum By The Zoo (the) (Lee
Jeong-Hyang. South Korea. 1098) 108 mins.
An idiosyncratic rom-com with shades of Wong Kar-Wai in which a young fellow on leave from the army returns to find his fiancee gonc. But a wannabe screenwriter has. almost literally. taken her place. Filmhouse. Fdinburgh.
Babe: Pig In The City (PG) .00 (George Miller. LS. 1098) Jatnes (‘romwelL Magda S/ttbanski. 0‘) mins. Just as prectx‘ious as before. young Babe accidentally injures Farmer Hoggett and puts the farm in jeopardy . ln desperation Mrs H and Babe set off to make a fee- paying appearancc at a State Fair. But fate is not smiling upon the farmer's wife and her innocent pig. as their adventures in the big city begin. A darker film than the original. Ito/w: I’ig In Thi’ (‘ilv is nevertheless entertaining. (‘ineworld. Falkirk.
Bande a Part (1’0) .000 (Jean-Lttc (iodard. France. 190-1) Anna Karina. Sami Frey. (‘laude self-conscious take on the heist movie as Frey and Brasseur persuade Karina to hpr them break into her employer's house. Yet such arclmcss curiously doesn't result in a smug movie. We're turned not into knowing viewers so much as sensitive. unsure spectators. as (iodard here creates a meaningful film out of undermining Brasscur. ()5 mins. It's been said of (iodard that he enjoys such critical favour because he turns viewers into critic‘s. It‘s certainly a valid comment in this specific. casin consumable slick meaning. (ircat stuff. Cameo. lidinburgh.
Blade Runner: The Director’s Cut (15) CO... (Ridlcy Scott. LS. 1982) Harrison Ford. Sean Young. Rutger Hauer.
I 16 mins. ()ut go the pseudo-noir narration and the tacked-on happy ending; in cotnes a more defined sense that Deckard himself may be a rcplicant. The look and feel remain as powerfttl. and the acting is superb. A llawcd masterpiece is now a restored masterpiece. Filmhouse. Fdinburgh.
Blow I 18) 00. (Ted liemmc. l'S. 2001 ) Johnny Depp. Penelope (‘ru/. Franka l’otentc. l33 mins. The story of lltL‘ rise and fall of drug smuggler (ieorge Jung (played by Depp), who progresses from smuggling marijuana in the late-(ills to importing cocaine on an industrial scale in the 7()s. It's a time of high jinks in more than one sense
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STEPHEN O'BRIEN 12 September 7.30pm
HORSE 13 September 8.00pm
NATIONAL YOUTH CHOIR OF SCOTLAND _15 September 7.30pm
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MASTER RECITALS PRESENTS CRISTIANO BU RATO 26 September 7.45pm BRITISH HEART FOUNDATION CELEBRITY CONCERT
PROKOFIEV’S PETER AND THE WOLF 28 September 7.45pm
THE EDINBURGH PALM COURT ORCHESTRA 30 september 2.30pm
BATTLEFIELD BAND 5 October 8.00pm
26 THE LIST (5 Sop 1’0 Sop 1’001
and Demme finds a style to match. employing free/e framing and lurching moms. We could be in an episode of The Mon/tees. If Blow is intended as a modern morality play. however. then its ethics remain unclear. We never see the social costs of his freebooting entrepreneurship: l)emme fails to give us the wider picture. Adam Smith Theatre. Kirkcaldy. Blue Planet (U) (2001 ). An awesome trip around. above and beyond our planet on the IM AX giant screen which prompted the Hits/tinglon Post to write: ‘If a picture is worth a thousand words. one image from Blue I’limcl is worth a zillion'. IMAX Theatre. (ilasgow. Bridget Jones’ Diary ( 15) 000. (Sharon Maguire. US/UK. 2001) Renee Zellweger. Hugh Grant. (‘olin Firth. 96 mins. Bridget Jones '.v Diary is that rare thing. an adaptation that vastly improves on an over-rated original. in this case Helen Fielding‘s bestselling newspaper 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 abotit the modem male. she entangles herself with nasty boss [)aniel (‘leaver ((irant). before taking tip with nice Mark Darcy (Firth). On paper. Jones was a snivelling. neurotic wreck. on film she's a snivelling. neurotic wreck who also happens to be consistently hilarious. And Yellweger adds a touch of warmth to what is essentially a wholly unsympathetic. brittle character. Selected release. Captain Corelli’s Mandolin ( I5) .0. (John Madden. U K/US/France. 2001) Nicolas Cage. Penelope Cruz. John Hurt. 120 mins. This adaptation of Louis de Bernicres' bestseller sees (ireece taken by the Italian Artny during World War ll. (‘aptain (‘orelli and his squad of opera enthusiasts arrive on the island of (‘ephallonia. causing much uproar. And when the (‘aptain is billcted to Dr lannis‘ (Hurt) house. (‘orelli and the Doctor's beautiful daughter. l’elagia ((‘ni'l.). fall in forbidden love. Madden has stuck to his guns and made a movie at once distinctly Furopean and likely to appeal to American audiences. (‘ommerciaL unfaithful to the book. but still head and shoulders above any of the eye candy Hollywood has to offer. Selected release. Cats And Dogs (PG) 000 (Lawrence (iutcrman. US. 2001) Jeff (ioldblum. Elizabeth Perkins. Miriam Margoyles. 87 mins. 'liiis refreshing approach to cute talking pets films is a kind of subversive lussic meets Mission: [III/7(I.\'.\‘fh/(’. These dogs don't just talk. they use surveillance equipment and have a
l
Helen Mirren fingers murderer Clive Owen in the pointless Greenfingers
solemn mission to protect scientist (ioldblum as he invents a cure for dog allergies. The cats are evil. hell-bent on conquering the world; their special agents have deadly ninja skills and vicious weapons. The animatronic effects are of a pretty high standard. but it's the animal trainers you're in real awe of. The occasional wander into sentimental territory and slowing tip of pace cati be forgiven by the madly original idea. lively action sequences and knockabout humour. General release.
The Claim 1 15) mo (Michael Winterbottom. UK. 2001) Peter Mullan. Milla Jovovich. Nastassja Kinski. Sarah Polley. 120 mins. The prolific Michael Winterbottom's (Welcome 7;) Sumjro. Wonderland) most ambitious directorial venture to date is a post-gold rush drama. which is loosely inspired by Thomas Hardy's The Mayor ()f ('usterbridgi'. The principal setting is the mining community of Kingdom Come. a remote output effectively owned and run by Irish immigrant Dillon (Mullan). who harbours the guiltiest of secrets conceming his wife Elena (Nastassja Kinski) and daughter Hope (Polley). Anchored by Mullan‘s typically powerful central performance. this relentlesst sombre tale stands proudly in the tradition of revisionist Westerns like Robert Altman's M(‘( 'aln' And Mrs Miller. The Lumiere. Edinburgh.
Close Encounters of the Third Kind: Special Edition (PG) .0000 (Steven Spielberg. US. 1977) Richard [)reyfuss. Francois Truffaut. Teri Can. 132 mins. There may be additional effects and an extended ending inside the alien spacecraft. bill the Special [Edition isn't overlong. mainly because Spielberg tightened the central section detailing [)reyfuss‘ growing obsession with Devil's Tower. A magnificent movie. the master at his best. Filmhouse. Edinburgh.
Code Unknown (15) 0.... (Michael Haneke. France. 2001) Juliette Binoche. ()na Lu Yenke. Luminita (iheorghiu. I [6 mins. Haneke (Funny Games) asks how can we stan to think and feel more about others and a less about ourselves? He answers by showing us semi-atomised modem living in modem day Paris. focusing on a handful of characters whose actions have chain reactions btit who are oblivious of their effect on others. But he provides no easy answers for his audience. instead Haneke presents a series of perfectly realised but unfinished dramatic scenes - ‘incomplete joumeys' he calls them - which leave us to draw conclusions for ourselves. Extraordinary. Cameo. Edinburgh.