COMEDY
ONE NIGHT AT MCCOOLS
(15) 89 mins .00
It all started one night at McCools bar when the intoxicating Jewel (Liv Tyler). pulls Randy (Matt Damon) into her world by shooting her bullying bOyfriend. They then become the next Bonnie and Clyde with her
‘entertaining' guys while he robs their house so they can furnish their own. This girl is hot for the perfect house — and what is a house without a first—class sound system and other expensive mod cons? But Randy is not the only man Jewel seduces. and her story is told by each in turn. resulting in some inspired moments in what adds up to a rather clever quirky film. (Universal VHS rental: DVD retail and rental) (Jane Hamilton)
HORROR
WES CRAVEN’S ORACULA 2001 (15) 95 mins o
It may say ‘Wes Craven Presents' above the title. but from the quality of this shonky horror flick he must have adopted a very hands off approach
to his executive producer role. Jonny Lee Miller turns vampire hunter after Omar Epps and his hopeless band of thieves unwittingly
release Dracula (Gerard Butler) into modern day New Orleans. There is some guff about Dracula's daughter and his real origins. but they are so clumsily handled it's best not to draw too much attention to them. Tacky. cheap and shamelessly cashing in on the good name of Craven, one of the few directors out there still making intelligent horror movies. (Dimension VHS rental; DVD retail) (Henry Northmore)
COMEDY
WHEN BRENDAN MET TRUOY
(15) 95 mins 0”
Ah Roddy Doyle. don't we all love him, though. The man with the golden touch when it comes to popular Irish humour here gets the chance to show us what he can do with an original screenplay. And it's not half bad. Peter McDonald plays dead- pan school teacher Brendan, drawn into a world not unlike the old films he adores when he hooks up with bad girl Trudy (Flora Montgomery). Cue a big serving of sex. lover‘s tiffs and robbery. The dialogue's fast but the action ain't. and we don't get to see enough of the peripheral characters that Doyle draws so well. Amiable comedy. but far from classic. (Momentum VHS and DVD rental) (Louisa Pearson)
ALSO RELEASE) The Contender (Warner VHS and DVD rental) Classy White House sex scandal drama starring Joan Allen and Jeff Bridges.
In The Mood For Love: Special Edition (Tartan DVD retail) Two DVD set with loads of extras to Wong Kar-Wai's stylish. achingly erotic drama. 101 Reykjavik (Metrodome VHS rental) Offbeat Icelandic slacker comedy with soundtrack by Damon Albarn. Rashomon/Throne Of Blood (BFI VHS retail) Two of Japanese master Akira Kurosawa's best films. the latter being an Eastern Macbeth.
You Can Count On Me (Momentum VHS retail) Superb. Oscar-winning small town America drama focusing on a sibling rivalry.
TV/ Radio
tv@list.co.uk
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DRAMA
URBAN GOTHIC 2: ENTER SANDMAN Channel 5, Mon 22 Oct, 1 1 pm 00
A swotty PhD student. an Antipodean Tolkien fan. a professional competition entrant. a tough-nut and a wannabe witch are thrown together in a televised contest to win a car. The winner. in a variant of the American ‘Touch A Truck' challenge. is the one to keep a hand on the vehicle for the longest.
Enter Sandman sounds like a particularly tedious noughties update of The Breakfast Club. The proceedings are. however. (mildly) enlivened by the fact that some of the contestants may be getting killed. Confused by their lack of sleep. and blinded by their avarice. they watch. wait and bicker.
With some suitably epileptic camera work and a healthy disregard for linear plotting. the producers occasionally come close to creating the edgy. unnerving spectacle they are so obviously desperate to evoke. But ultimately this is the I<ind of self- consciously stylised horror that will only divert small children,
Urban Gothic is for borderline headcases
borderline headcases and peOple on drugs. (James Smart)
ANIMATION YU-GI-OH!
Sky One, Sat 20 Oct, 9.30am .0
Possibly the worst thing about Yu—G/th.’ is that it may give a boost to the fading popularity of the Pokemon phenomenon. As is the wont of such things. Yu-G/-Oh.’ cannibalises old myths (in this case the mysteries of ancient Egypt) to lend itself a little weight.
The bulk of the show though. takes place in the present. where young Yugi is a wiz creature card game player with a wise grandad. In the first episode. local
multinational boss Kaiba takes grandad's favourite creature in a game. and Yugi is chosen to get it back. Needless to say. he manages to do so. and Kaiba is left musing that he would have won a card game if it wasn't for those pesky kids. Yu-Gi-Oh.’ tootles along pleasantly. although its pacing is slowed by the need to explain the rules as it goes along. Ultimately, it's a Show that will not interest those who don‘t buy into the game. (James Smart)
RADIO COMEDY THE BOOSH Radio 4, Tue 23 Oct, 11pm mo
Being described as a ‘contemporary Goon Show' can only help their career but The Boosh have been too busy making hip and hilarious shows to worry about such trite comparisons.
Plot is largely irrelevant to the stream of mad images. daft names. silly songs and naturalistic exchanges between Julian Barratt and Noel Fielding; their script is given the kind of freewheeling treatment which makes you wonder just how much they're making up on the spot. It's also very rare to hear words such as ‘banana'. 'witch', ‘face' and ‘moss' uttered so amusingly.
If you need to know. the story is about Howard Moon (Barratt) and his search for a potentially dead zookeeper he previously idolised. But what if he has passed away? Or if he's still
TVIRadio
wandering about in the 200's bowels. but he's really boring? An added bonus is American comic Rich Fulcher applying an edge ( "
a' itocratic mania a.-
zoo boss Bob Foss; Great stuff.
(Brian Donaldson)
DOCUMENTARY VICTORIA WOOD’S SKETCH SHOW STORY
BBC1, Thu 25 Oct, 9pm me
If you're not the biggest Victoria Wood fan (and you won't find condemnation for that here). don't be put of" if; her name being attached to this thoughtful and entertaining race through the history of that very British comedic thing: the sketch show.
The programme trace»: the lifespan of the format from the musk: halls. through radio an.) television right up to present day exponents like Smack The POM-.1 and has the usual {it"titg,’ of talkin'i heads pontificating amusinfi‘; on comedy theory. Ann of course. there air;- bundles of laughs thrown in. mostly from the genres golden era of the 70s with Morecambe And li/rst The Two Ronni'es. Monty Python and Spike Milligan's insane O series all tickling the- ribs.
With everything trim The Goons to the catchphrase-sank;atri: Fast Show includeu here. there's bount: '3 be a laugh or two ltvr everyone. Even for Victoria Wood tans. (DOUg Johnstone)
The hip and hilarious Boosh
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