Film index
The ltalian Job (PG) 0000 (Peter (‘ollittsoiL l'K. l‘)(i‘)) Michael ('aine. Noel Coward. Betiny Hill. 100 mins. Rc-rcleased for its 30th anniversary. this larf-a-minutc caper movie ties iii nicely with the sixties cockney kitsch sensibility that's becii infusing fashion. pop and filtti ever since Blur but out Park Life. Lurk. Sine/v ."II(/ Tim Smoking Burro/v paid homage to The Italian Jul) with its scaled down cliffhanger enditig. btit the Michael ('aine film is the grandaddy of caper movies. The centrepiece remains the mini cooper car chase across. atop and under the streets of Turin. while (’aine's closing line is top: "Ang on a minute lads. I've got a great idea.‘ New Picture House. St Andrews.
Jadar Ek-Pren Kata (PG) (200) ) Asian cinema presentation. ()deon At The Quay. (ilasgow.
James And The Giant Peach (t‘) 0... (Henry Selick. l'S. 1096) Paul Terry. Stisan Sarandon. Simon ('allovv. 7‘) mins. From the director of Tim Burton 's The Nightmare lie/ore ('lirisimuv comes a wonderfully colourful adaptation of Roald I)ahl's much-loved novel. Live action tops and tails the story. btit for the most part. it's fun times with stop-motion ptippets. By turns funny and scary. it stays trite to l)ahl's surreal and whimsical vision. (it‘osveltot'. (ilasgow.
Josie And The Pussycats (PG) 0... (Deborah Kaplan. Harry lilfont. LS. 2001) Rachael Leigh (‘ook. Alan Cumming. Parker Posey. 08 mins. Josie (smart/cute (’ook on vocals and guitar) and her punk band The Ptissycats are ‘tliseov‘eretl‘ by slimey MegaRecords manager Wyatt l‘rame ((‘ummingi and re- packaged as the next big pop sensation. But the presence of government grey sttits suggests there's itiore to MegaRecords than the kind of obvious media manipulation we've come to expect from. say. the backers of Hcar'say. The performances in this film. based on the (itls Arr/tie comic are a joy and the satirical script by the co-dircctors is kitty-cat claw sharp. Magnum 'l‘heatre. lrvine.
Jurassic Park III (PG) 000 (Joe Johnston. l‘S. 20(ll ) Sam Neill. Tea Leoni. William H. Macy. 02 mins. The flimsy excuse to get the cast over to the Park is a young lad who has become stranded on the dinosaur island. An unofficial search party. headed by his parents (Macy and Leoni ). hoodwink palacontologist l)i' (irant (Neill. reprising his role) into helping them otit. ()f course. things go wrong as sooii as they arrive and they are attacked by a Spinosaur. a new atid improved T-rex. From there on in the cast jump from one perilous situation to another. A cotnplcte retread of the first two movies with even more dinosaur attacks. tnore ridiculous predicaments and bigger monsters. (ieneral release.
A Knight’s Tale (PG) .0. (Brian llclgcland. LS. 2001) Heath Ledger. Mark Addy. Paul Bettany. 132 mins. After his master dies halfway through a .iousting tournament in medieval l‘rance. peasant William Thatcher (Ledger) doiis his suit of armour and drags begrudging pals Roland
(Addy) and Wat (Alan Tudy k) across liurope towards victory. Writer-director Helgeland's (INA. (‘tiit/itlt'liti'ttl. I’ttvlittt'k) film displays a playful sense of humour with its anachronistic soundtrack featuring Queen. David Bowie and other 7(ls rockers. and amusing allusions to the World ('up. And unusually it also emphasises character interaction so that the working class heroes are aided by Laura l-‘i'aser's widow-turned- blacksmith atid Bettany's scene-stealing gambler/poet ‘(ieoff’ ('haucer. (ienei‘al release.
Lajja (l’(i) (200] ). Asiati cinema presentation. ()deon At The Quay. (ilasgow. Late Night Shopping ( IS) .000 (Saul Met/stein. l'K. 20()l ) Ltike dc “tiolfsoott. litt/o ('ilenti. Kate Ashlteld. James Lance. Heike Makatsch. ()l mins. Director Met/stein and writer Jack Lothian’s debut is a romantic comedy filmed iii (ilasgow. though set in what could be any large city. about four slackers wasting their lives working night shifts in various menial
jobs. Lothian has drawn on his own all-night
shelf stacking experiences. turning otit a wordy arid witty script. Met/stein brings to his creative partner's script a fine sense of pacing and handsome gloss finish courtesy of ace cinematographer Brian Tufano lilt’tlltllslnlllfllic’. [1th] /.v [ct/st). Long live Brit cinema. Lumiere. lidinburgh.
Lucky Break ( 12) 000 (Peter ('attaneo. l'K. 200l ) James Nesbitt. ()liv ia Williams. Timothy Spall. Bill Nighy. ('hristopher Plummer. 107 mins. This prison escape comedy from The I'it/l .lloiilv's (’attaneo show cases some great British acting talent and promises a lot of laughs. So when Lucky lil't’ttk opens with the ttiosl pathetic attempt at a bank-robbery ever seen on screen. it's hard to suppress a lotid wail of disappointment. But when the two sad culprits. Jimmy (Nesbitt) and Rudy (James). end tip in HM Prison Long Rudford. things soon start to look tip. A farce with no real social agenda. Luckv [freak runs away from the realities of the British justice sy stem atid mohiltses some old social stereotypes. to have a good laugh. And cheerfully comic yet poignant: treacly -sweet yet deeply ironic. it does succeed as a charming piece of escapist cinema. Selected release.
The Martins ( I5) .0 (Tony (irounds. l'K. 2001) Lee livans. Kathy Burke. Linda Bassett. (so iiiitis. livans plays luckless dreamer and unemployed dad Robert in this big-hearted but over- reaching cotnedy abotit familial love iii Hatfield. Burke is his long-suffering wife Angie. mother of their two kids. The Martins are the sort of shell-suited. foul— mouthed family you'd cross the road to avoid. Robert tries to provide for thetn by entering competitions. and is convinced he has won an exotic family holiday through a local paper. When he learns he hasn't. a string of humiliations pushes him to steal the holiday from the winners. There are some nice moments which reveal the family's underlying warmth. btit these are swamped by an unnecessarily hectic storyline that won't let the characters breath. (ieneral release.
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Scotland’s number one guide to Cinema
34 THE LIST 2’) Set, .'.()':'.11()’;‘
The vampire myth is given another modern spin in The Forsaken
Me, You, Them (Et, Tu, Eles) (PG) 0.. (.-\ndrucha Waddington. Brazil. 2001 ) Regina ('ase. Lima Duarte. Stenio (iarcia. 106 mins. .llt'. lint. 'I‘lit'ni was apparently inspired by a real-life study of a Bra/ilian woman who lived with her three husbands under the same roof for a decade. In different bands this might have been tttrned itito a lusty. bed-hopping farce. yet director Waddington and screenwriter lilena Soare/ have carefully fashioned a low-key and gently amusing fable abotit aii alternative family unit and the way its members cope with the day—to-day business of cohabiting iii a menage a quartre. ('asc. a huge television star in Brazil. deserves the
plaudits for her portrayal of the earth mother
fii—‘ure. whose appetite for life isn‘t diminished by unprepossessing material circumstances. l’( i(‘. (ilasgow.
Merci Pour Le Chocolat (Night Cap) (P( i) 0.. ((‘laude ('habrol. l‘rance. 3()()l ) lsabclle lluppert. Anna Mouglalis. Jacques Dutronc. 0‘) iiiitis. Old man of l‘rench citicma (‘habrol has cast his favoured performer. lluppert. as a femme fatale named Mika. ()r is she'.’ Sparky young piano student. Jeanne (Mouglalis). can't decide either when she comes [0 xllkil‘S home to meet husband Andre (l)utronc) and his son. Andre. with whom she was nearly switched at birth. Huppert's heiress to a Swiss chocolate-making company is a stone-faced businesswoman who gives little of herself away. It‘s that which creates the palpable sense of unease that pervades (‘habrol's film. ('ameo. lidinburgh. Mildred Pierce (l’( i) .00. (Michael (‘urti/. l'S. 19-15) Joan ('raw ford. Jack (’at'son. Zachary Scott. 1 l3 mins. (‘rawford excels (she won aii ()scar) as the titular woman who turns her back on her husband and becomes a successful restatiranteur.
vv liile fighting her own selfish daughter for the heart of a playboy (Scott) and getting embroiled in a murder plot. Viewed by some as the sort of strong woman's role that is so elusive today. its suggestion that death
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follows when a woman abandons the kitchen sink is actually pretty patronising. Adatii Smith Theatre. Kirkcaldy.
O Moulin Rouge ( 12) ooooo (Ba/ l.uhrmann. l’S. 200| ) liwan Mc(iregor, Nicole Kidman. Jim Broadbent. l08 mins. l.uhrmann's follow-up to Romeo 0 Juliet is a wildly unrestrained. gloriously catnp. ludc as hell musical love story that re-invents the forth. from the (iolden Age Hollywood song atid dance spectaculars tip. l.uhrmann has transformed the eponymous l‘)th century Parisian dancehall-cum-brothel into the rave capital of litirope. weaving 20th century pop music hits itito the very dialogue of the film so that it becomes almost opera. And spi- ralling around a fairytale romance between Mc(iregor's idealistic poet and Kidman's dance girl is a barrage of riotous imagery and design. There's no middle-ground with l.uhrmann's film; if you abandon yourself to it it'll leave you intoxicated with plea- sure. (ieneral release.
MouseHunt ( t ‘i 0000 ((iore \crbinski. 1S. 1007) Nathait Lane. Lee livans. (‘hristopher Walken. ()8 mins. Lane and livans play hapless brothers who inherit a decrepit mansion. btit when they decide to renovate and auction it. a resident rodent is not willing to be evicted. An excellent blend of Laurel and Hardy slapstick and black humour. .llotts'elltutl is sheer entertainment atid has some real belly laughs. The tone and the pacing are spot-on throughout. and the sets atid special effects are the icing on the cake. (il’l‘. (ilasgow; l'(i(‘. lidinburgh.
My Heart (tbc) (Bac (‘liang-Ho, South Korea. 1909) l H itiitis. Beautifully shot period drama in which a sixteen-year-old girl marries a chap six years her junior. And then he cheats on her. So. she slowly finds herself. l-‘ilmhouse. lidinburgh. Mysteries 01‘ Egypt ( t ' ) (Bruce Neibaur. IS. 2001 ) ()mar Sharif. Kate Maberly. ()mar Sharif stars iii the first National (ieographic film to appear in IMAX. imparting tales of tombs. treasures atid the amazing achievements of this anicent civilisation. l.\l.-\.N 'l'heatre. (ilasgow.
One Plus One ( )8) .0. (Jean-l.uc (iodard. l‘rance. 200] ) ()0 mins. (iodard's filtti contrasts The Rolling Stones rehearsing Svnt/mI/iv I'm' The Devil iii London with revolutionary kids and Black Power militants. Plagued with production problems. (iodard and his own producer reeased different version of the film. which resulted iii a punch tip at the London l‘ilm l-‘estival (w here. oddly enough. (iodard's latest film premieres in November). (il’l‘. (ilasgow.
O Pandaemonium ( IS) 0000
(Julicn Temple. l'K. 3()()l ) Linus Roach. John llatiiiali. Samantha Morton. l I‘) mins. Temple's film charts the friendship between two of the best-know n poets of the late lSth century. Samuel Taylor ('oleridgc (played by Roach) and William Wordsworth (llatitiah). The director of The Filth Am] The I‘m-v eschews historical accuracy. instead focusing on the rock n' roll aspects of their lives; the sex. the drugs and the break-