Film index
{ The Brothers ( 15) (Gary llardvvick. (IS.
2001) Morris Chesnut. l). L. Hughley. Bill Bellamy. 106 mins. Dubbed Refining 'li) lit/tale by Hardwick 'I'lie Brut/ters follows the comic antics of four friends as the impending marriage of one sets the others off questioning their lives. loves. relationships. etc. Selected release. Captain Corelli’s Mandolin ( 15) .0. (John Madden. L'K/l 'S/France. 2001 ) Nicolas Cage. Penelope Cruz. John Hurt. 120 mins. This adaptation ofl ouis de Bernieres‘ bestseller sees (ireece taken by the Italian Army dtiring World War 11. Captain Corelli and his squad of opera enthusiasts arrive on the island of Cephallonia. causing much uproar. And when the Captain is billeted to Dr lannis' (Hurt) house. Corelli and the Doctor's beautiful daughter. Pelagia (Cruz). fall in forbidden love. Madden has sttick to his guns and made a movie at once distinctly European and likely to appeal to American audiences. Commercial. unfaithful to the book. btit still head and shoulders above any of the eye candy Hollywood has to offer. Selected release.
Cats And Dogs (PG) 000
(Lawrence (iuterman. LS. 2001 ) Jeff (ioldblum. Elizabeth Perkins. Miriam Margoyles. 87 mins. This refreshing approach to ctite talking pets films is a kind of subversive Lassie meets .llissiun.‘ lni/mssihle. These dogs don't jtist talk. they use surveillance equipment and have a 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. btit it's the animal trainers you're in real awe of. The occasional wander into sentimental territory and slowing tip of pace can be forgiven by the madly original idea. lively action sequences and knockabout humour. (ieneral release. The Centre 01‘ The World ( (8)
.0 (Wayne Wang. ['S. 2001) Molly Parker. Peter Sarsgaard. 86 mins. Young. successful computer engineer (read: geek) Richard Longman (Sarsgaard) proposes to rock band drummer-cum-stripper Florence (Parker) that he purchase a weekend in Las Vegas with her. Ellen Benjamin Wong's script then has emotionally immature Richard fall in love with emotionally reticent Florence. which fticks tip. as it were. their business arrangement. Wang confines the action to interiors. shooting largely in close- up tising digital video. which gives the film a cheap. seedy feel. Ironically. the explicit eroticism is anything btit intimate. and while this is sort of the point. it makes for uninvolving viewing. (ilasgow Film Theatre. (ilasgow; Cameo. Edinburgh.
The Circle (Dayereh) (PG) 0000 (Jafar Panahi. Iran/Italy. 2001 ) Fereshteh Sadr ()rafaei. Narges Mamizadeh Razlighi. 91 mins. Through a series of quotidian incidents. Panahi (The White Btl/l!)()lli presents a devastating yet profoundly empathetic portrait of Moslem women's stunted lives in Iran. Nobody could fail to be angered by the casual cruelties. wicked discrimination and blatant hypocrisy shown here. Yet. by the same token. nobody could fail to be impressed and inspired by the courage and resilience of these women. Linked only by their depressingly similar fates. the women rebel against the circle of discrimination. bravely denying their second- class status. The Filmhouse. Edinburgh. The City Of Lost Children ( 15) O... (Jean-Pierre Jeunet/Marc Caro. France. 1995) Ron Perlman. Daniel Emilfork. Judith Vittet. 112 mins. ()n a mist- shrouded oil rig. mad scientist Krank ages prematurely because he cannot dream. and so he kidnaps children from the local port and steals into their sleeping hours. A visually wonderful. wacky fairytale from the makers of Delieutessen. that brims over with cinematic imagination. ['(iC Renfrew Street. (ilasgow: Cameo. Edinburgh.
The Colour Of Lies (Au Coeur Du Mensonge) ( (8) .0. (Claude Chabrol. France. 1998) Sandrine Bonnaire. Antoine de Caunes. Jacques (iamblin. l 13
30 THE LIST 4-18 Oct 2001
mins. A more straightforward thriller than we're used to from Chabrol. (iamblin is a struggling. ageing anist. Rene. implicated in the murder of a ten-year-old girl. Btit if Rene looks guilty. what about his wife. Viviane (Bonnaire)? Not guilty of the crime of course. but of a lesser offence. of embarking on an affair with an undeniably obnoxious media celebrity. (iermain (de Caunes). Chabrol settles here less for psychological depth than the width of social culpability. and offers tip an impressive study in toxic milieu. EI'H Cinema. lialkirk: MacRoben Arts Centre. Stirling. crazy/beautiful ( 12) 00 (John Stockvvell. LS. 2001) Kirsten Dunst. Jay Hernandez. Bruce Davison. 95 mins. Rich kid Nicole (Dunst) meets poor kid Carlos (Hernandez) whilst doing community service on an LA beach. and it's not long before the two are snogging in the highschool darkroom. The question in t‘I'(IC.\'/l)(’(lllIf/ll/ is therefore not so iiitich how to bring the two together as how. once together. they can reconcile their different lifestyles. Schmaltzy. despite occasional moments of wonderful satire. though in the end the movie succumbs to cliche. See review. C(iC Renfrew Street. (ilasgow: Ster Century Cinema: Edinburgh. Edinburgh. Crocodile Dundee In Los Angeles (PG) 0 (Simon Wincer. CS. 2001) Patil Hogan. Linda Ko/lowslvi. Serge Cockburn. 9-1 mins. 1f Mick Dundee was a Crocodile. he would be ptit down. In this belated. lame third adventure Mick's longtime companion journo Sue ('harleton (Ko/lowski. aka Mrs Hogan) is called to LA when her father needs someone to edit a newspaper. The couple head to California with son Mickey (Cockburn) where they become embroiled in a smuggling operation involving dodgy-looking East European filmmakers. Mick goes undercover and liiids work on the set of Lei/ml Agent .i. a sequel so bad that no one can understand why it is being made (oh the irony? ). Let's jtist hope that no one comes tip with another seqtiel. or -- no. please a prequel. (ieneral release. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (12)...”(Ang Lee. China/LS. 2000) Michelle Yeoh. Chow Yun-Fat. '/.hang Xiyi. Chang Chen. 120 mins. Jane Austen meets Bruce Lee in Aug ‘Sense Anil Sensibility" Lee’s astonishing martial arts period drama. In a lictionalised version of early 19th century China. a world of heroic warriors and deep philosophical values. Lee seamlessly interweaves the stories of two sets of lovers. and a revenge tale with a feminist twist. The fight scenes are groundbreaking. as choreographed by expert Yuen Wo Ping. At once breathtaking and beautiful. (‘miii'liingii'ger‘s also a cinematic landmark: its ftisioii of the best elements from East and West cinema has created something wholly new. Edinburgh Film (itiild 8e Ster Century Cinema: Edinburgh. Croupier( 15).... (Mike Hodges. CK. 1997) Clive ()vven. (iina McKee. Alex Kingston. 9-1 mins. Jack (()wen) is a struggling writer who takes tip a job in a London casino where he quickly proves himself to be an accomplished croupier. Btit he finds himself assisting Jeni (Kingston). a South African gambler who's apparently in debt to a gang of criminals. llodges' tatit. intelligent and darkly amusing drama combines cinematic flair and thematic substance. unfolding in a dream-like. hall- of-mirrors world. peopled by con-artists. card-sharks. and inveterate liars. Propelled by ()vven‘s impressively watchful and poised central performance. it boasts a delicious ()edipal twist in its denoucment. (irosvenor & ()dcon. (ilasgow.
Delicatessen ( 15) moo (Jean-Pierre Jeunet/Marc Caro. France. 1991 ) Dominique Pinon. Marie-Laure Dougnac. Jean-Claude Dreyfus. 99 mins. In a sepia wasteland somewhere in the future. a butcher feeds his neighbours with the juicy joints of his lodgers. But when former clown Louison (Pinon) arrives and falls for his daughter. an underground vegetarian resistance group come to the rescue. Hilarious blend of bizarre characters. slapstick and comic tension makes for the first true cttlt item of the ‘90s. Cincworld. Falkirk.
Don’t Look Now ( 18) 000.0 (Nicolas Roeg. l'K. 1973) Donald Sutherland. Julie Christie. 103 mins. Restoration expert with second siglii visits Venice. where he meets tip with two old sisters who claim spiritual communication with his recently drowned daughter. Against a Mann-like backdrop of unexplained deaths. he becomes obsessed with a tiny. red—coated figure he spies scurrying through the city's dark alleys. Splendid supernatural suspense movie. as subtly textured and brilliantly edited as any of Roeg's work. with the added advantage that it's a rather good yarn. l'Cl. Clydebank. Dr Dolittle 2 (P(i) .0. (Steve Carr. LS. 2001 ) Eddie Murphy. Kristen Wilson. voice of Lisa Kudrow. S7 mins. A Malioso racoon turns tip at the doc's home and demands that he visit Beaver. (iodfather of the forest creatures. Beavet".\ Problem is that two nasty humans want to ‘develop' their home. lfonly Dolittle can mate endangered species bear Ava (voiced by Lisa Kudrow) with circus dude bear Archie. then by law the forest will be protected. Simple. cheesy and eco-friendly. (iencral release.
Driven (P(}) O (Renny Harlin. LS. 2001 ) Sy lvestcr Stallone. Burt Reynolds. Kip Pardue. l to mins. Stallone. not content with giving tis years of bad performances. has now hoikcd on the world a script that makes I)ii_\1v ()f'l'liuni/er look like Zen And The Art (Jilin/orevi'le .llinniunenee. The story concerns veteran driver Bcatt Brandenbei'g (Til Schweiger) battling it otit with a young upstart Jimmy Bly (Pardue). Stallone plays Joe Tanto. a former wild man employed to mentor Jimmy to the top. giving him racing tips and advice on love. Despite a couple of action packed race scenes this is drivel rather than Driven. See review. (ienei‘al release.
Ed Gein ( 15) 0. (Chuck Pai‘ello. LS. 2001 ) Steve Railsback. Carrie Snodgress. Ryan Thomas Brockington. 90 mins. The true story of lid (iein has been the foundation for three of the finest horror movies in the canon. Coming at the tale of this simple man and serial killer extraordinaire in different ways. I’vve/ti) went for the domineering iiitiiii angle. The fetus (‘IIUIIIIMIH' .llusxsuert' adopted the isolated nutter approach. while Hie Silence Off/1e Lam/is fleshed otit Ed‘s skin trade. In [ail (iein. there's a bit of all three. bill they ‘re all filmed in a ham-listed. campy and ultimately utterly banal way. l'(iC Renfrew Street. (ilasgow.
The Emperor’s New Groove (l') .0. (Mark Dindal. LS. 2001) David Spade. John (ioodman. Eartha Kill. 78 mins. Emperor Ku/co is monarch of an unspecified South American land who is turned into a llama by his scheming assistant Y/ma (voiced most appropriately by Kitt) during a botched assassination attempt. The llama emperor goes on the run and is befriended by good—willed herder Pacha ((ioodman). who helps return his four- legged ruler to his throne. There are the occasional clever postmodern touches , Kti/co stopping the liliii reel to talk to the audience btit mostly this is prime old— school Disney stuff. It lacks the animated
Jean-Pierre Jeunet reimagines Paris as a fantastical world for his
heroine Amélie
landscape innovations of 'Iiirmn. nor does it enjoy the character development of Aim/in. which is why. ultimately. its missing edge. Carlton. Stirling.
Enemy At The Gates ( 15) O... (Jean-Jacques Annaud. l'K/France. 2001 ) Jtide Law. Ed Harris. Rachel Weisl. Joseph Fiennes. 135 mins. The most expensive European movie ever recreates the decisive moment during World War 11 when the Russians and the (iermans battled on the Eastern Front. Annaud condenses the siege of the city of Stalingrad into a thrilling cat- and-mouse game between two snipers (Soviet working-class hero Law and German aristocrat Harris) — with a love triangle thrown in for commercial common sense. It's a film that's ftill of large-scale spectacle and intimate details. and in a scene to rival Saving Private Ryan's ()maha Beach opener. the beauty of cinema hits the ugliness of war with brutal effect. The Lumiere. Edinburgh. 0 Enigma ( 15) coco (Apted Michael. CK. 2001) Dougray Scott. Kate Winslet. Saffron Burrows. l 17 mins. Tom Jericho (Scott). a crack WWll eodebreaker. is called back from premature retirement to break the Na/is' new cypher. ()n his return. he discov- ers that Claire (Burrows). the woman who broke his heart. has gone missing and. with the aid of her housemate (Winslet). begins to discover that she was not entirely what she seemed. Apted's screen adaptation of Robert Harris's best-selling novel is. rarely enough. both relatively faithful and rather good. though scriptwriter Tom Stoppard increases the love interest and tiddles the plot a little. btit the mixture of cynicism and heroism that characterised Harris's charac- ters is undiluted ll‘. the film. (ieneral release. The Fast And The Furious ( 15) 0... (Rob Cohen. [S 2001) Paul Walker. Vin Diesel. Michelle Rodriguez. 108 mins. Roaring off the start line in a cloud of burning rubber. Cohen's stripped-down illicit street-racing movie was a deserved ‘sleeper' success in the LS. delivering the pure. adrenalised entertainment that over-powered. poorly-tuned atito movies such as (ione In ()0 Serum/x and Driven only promised. Through the associated clothing. music and slang. it also captures the multi-ethnic. tribal flavour of a distinctive urban sub-culture built around fast cars. sex and defying authority. That said. this is strictly ‘13" movie sttiff. so don't go expecting originality. (ieneral release.
Fiddler On The Roof (l') .00. (Norman Jewison. CS. 1971) (‘11;1iiii'1bpttl. Norman Crane. Paiil Michael (ilaser. 181 mins. Based on Sholom Aleichem's play. I'Tdt/lt'l' is the story of Tevye. a Jewish milkman living in pre-Revolutionary Russia. l'nlike the majority of musicals. where tixed smiles and colourful dance routines are de rigour. this is a much more sombre affair. set in poverty btit filled with dry humour. 'I'evye's marriage plans for his daughters and their rebellion against the all-pervasive 'traditioiis‘ form the core of the film. Jewison's direction is slick and his pacing even. bill it is Topol as Tevye who carries the liliii with a role he seems to have been born for. 1’1'11 Cinema. Falkirk.