Films screening this fortnight are listed below with certificate, star rating, credits, brief review and venue details. Film index compiled by Miles Fielder
AJ. (12)... (Steven Spielberg. l'S. 2()()l ) llaley Joel ()smont. Jude Law. 141 mins. Stanley Kubrick spent years planning Artificial Intelligence. inspired by a Brian Aldiss short story. ‘Super-toys l.ast All Summer Long’. ()n his death. the project was bequeathed to Spielberg. Together they have created a future world where the human body is completely commoditied. Forget cyborgs the robots in this film are pure artificial intelligence. The question is. can they be programmed to fall in love‘.’ However. the immense difference between the two filmmakers' approach makes this a torturous two hours. as you are tugged between two extremes: Ktrbrickian cool and Spielbergian sentimentality. Selected release.
The Adventures Of Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert( 18) O... (Stephan lilliott. Australia. I‘M-t) Terence Stamp. llttgo Weaving. (iuy Pearce. 104 mins. Two transvestites and a trans-sexual team up fora trip across the Atistralian outback for a drag show in Alice Springs. Serious issues pop up from time to time. but the emphasis is on the camp humour of the in-bus bitchiness and outrageous musical set-pieces. (irosvenor. (ilasgow.
Aguirre, Wrath Of God ( )5) COO. (Werner ller/og. West (iermany. 1973) Klaus Kinski. (‘ecilia Rivera. 95 mins. 17th century conquistadors. on a mission to explore the Ania/on. court disaster when the leal of their leader remains undampened after a number of encounters with hostile Indians. lixcellent location work itt this moving portrayal of tragic ambition. which sports a characteristically intense performance by Kinski. l‘ilttiliOUSC. lidinburgh.
C? Amelie ( 15) ooooo (Jean-Pierre Jeunet. France. 2001 ) Audrey Tautou. Mathieu Kassovit‘l. Serge Merlin. llt) mins. As with his two previous l‘rench fantasies.
I)e/imte.v.vwi and The (‘t'rv ()flxml ('lrrlilrmi.
qunet creates a fantastical world. here reimagining l’aris' oldest quarter. Montmartre. Within it the eccentric adven- tures of his eponymous heroine (played by captivating elfin newcomer 'l‘autou) unfold in a manner as complex as a Swiss tirne- piece when Amelie decides to bring happi- ness to deserving people by playing elabo- rate practical iokes on them. ('omposed of many moments of absolute wonder. this is a film which celebrates all the little. great things in life. (ieneral release.
American Pie 2 ( 15) O. (1.13. Rogers. 1S. 2001 ) Jason Biggs. liugene Levy. Mena Suvari. 105 mins. Despite the fact that the opening scene (featuring another sexual mishap) will be reassuringly familiar to fans of the first movie. it is not
entirely representative of what is to come. llaving gone to college. our horny heroes are made to mature. ('ollegc comedies. in the tradition of Animal Home and Purity '.v. are supposed to be all-out bawdy. brainless fun. The problem with American Pie 2 is that despite the gross-out humour and preoccupation with sex. it is a film which ironically also tries to be responsible and mature and the twojtist don‘t work together. (ieneral release.
America’s Sweethearts t 12) .0 (Joe Roth. l'S. Ztltll ) Julia Roberts. Billy (‘ry stal. (‘atherine Zeta-Jones. John (‘usack 103 mins. This appears to be a case of life imitating art. America '.v Sw'i’ellieurls revolves around a big-budget movie that threatens to sink the studio that produced it. Time ()w'r lime is the last film made by Hollywood's leading romantic couple. (‘trsack's liddie Thomas and Zeta-Jones's (iwen llarrison. But (iwen and liddie have broken up. \‘eteran publicist l.ee l’hillips‘ (('rystal) only hope of averting disaster is to convince the media at the forthcoming press junket that liddie and (iw en are back together again. To this end. he recruits (iwen‘s sister and long-suffering personal assistant Kiki (Roberts). 011 paper. America 's Suwcllrmrls reads like a dream. Sadly. Roth's film is a stinker. (ieneral release.
Amores Perros (Love’s A Bitch) ( l8) 0.... (Alejandro (ion/ale/ lrritu. Mexico. 2001 ) limilio lichevarria. (iael (iarcia Bernal. (ioy a Toledo. 153 mins. lnarritu's debut feature is billed as 'the Mexican I’ulp I-it‘u'mi‘. a description which sells it short. The 'l’arantino comparison is a useful starting point: the film tells three overlapping stories - a teenager drawn into the world of illegal dog-fighting. the
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26 THE LIST 1 ‘2?) N01 2001
Dumb and dumber and then some, Rob Schneider gets frisky as The Animal
infidelity of a middle-aged media executive and an elderly homeless man by using shifting time-frames. tangentially linked characters and jagged verbal rhythms. l-‘icrce humanity underpins lnarritu‘s beautiful. grainy visuals and (iuillermo Arriaga Jordan's rnulti-layered script. The best film of the year so far. and unlikely to be surpassed. The Lumiere. lidinburgh. Analyze This ( IS) 0.. (Harold Ramis. t'S. 1900) Robert De .\'iro. Billy ('ry stal. Lisa Kudrow. 10-1 mins. A tough Mafioso is struggling to hold it all together and in desperation. and to his utter emlxrrrassmcnt. decides to seek out a therapist. Ana/vu- 'l'ln'v is mainly an excuse for ('ry stal and De .\'iro to ham their way through the motions and its undoubtedly fun for a while but is finally simply too. too familiar. ()deon. Dunferrnline.
The Animal ( t2) 0 (l.ttkc (ireenfield. lb. Ztltll ) Rob Schneider. (‘olleen llaskell. John ('. .\lc(iinley. S-l tttilts. Ut’lli‘t' Brett/mi star Schneider play s another schmuck. llis Marv in Mange is a wannabe cop who drives his car off a cliff and is rescued by a mad scientist who rebuilds him Six Million Dollar Man-sly le. though on the cheap. replacing his broken parts with animal ‘spares'. ’l’hereaf'ter. Mange is transformed into super schmuck and gets frisky around sheep on heat. This is the level of humour in The Animal. and while lavatory laughs are perfectly acceptable. these gags are crap. See review. (ieneral release.
Annie Hall ( 15) CO... (Woody Allen. l'S. W77) Woody Allen. Diane Keaton. Tort} Roberts. 93 mins. Two decades before Sci Am] The (in had its first orgasm. Annie Hull was laying bare the mores of modern. urban romance to devastating effect while also mating in on the specific psyche of Allen Konigsbcrg: anti-Semitic paranoia. metaphysical angst. the search for true love. 'I‘here's a highly charged on-screen electricity between Allen and Keaton. gloi‘ious vistas of the old New York and liilar‘ious set pieces Alvy fighting with lobsters. the scene of his childhood home below the rollercmrster and a stream of one-liners to end them all: ‘don't ktiock masturbation; it's sex with someone I lov e." They really don't make ‘em like .vtmm' Hull anymore. l‘(i(‘ Renfrew Street. (ilasgow: liilrnliousc. lidinburgh.
Another Life ( IS) .0. (Philip (ioodhew. l'K. thtll ) Natasha l.llllL‘. loan (iruffudd. .\'ick Moran. lltl mins. little play s lidith Thompson. the woman wrongly convicted of murdering her liusband l’ercy. way back in 1022. Although little is affecting in the lead role. (ioodhevv is liltti lacks both cinetnatic feel (it looks like a Sunday night television drama) and a feel for the period. Among other things lost in this uninspired drama is the emancipation of
women. which seems rather relevant. The Lumiere. lidinburgh.
Arsenic And Old Lace (PG) .000. (Frank (’apra. l'S. 19-12) ('ary (irant. Raymond Massey. l’etcr Lorre. Josephine llull. Jean Adair. I IS mins. Priceless black comedy has (irant upping the double-take factor when sinister criminals Massey and l.orre come to stay with his two sweet aunts, a double-act who of course are just as murderous themselves. The Lumiere. lidinburgh.
Asoka (l’(i) O... (Santosh Sivan. India. 3001 ) Shah Rukh Khan. Kareena Kapour. Danny Den/ougpa. 173 mins. Asoka (here played by Bollywood's Tom ('ruisc. Khan) was prince of the Magadha kingdom between 27-1 and 232 B(‘. After a period in the wilderness. Asoka returns to wage bloody war until he confronts the bleak wastage of his battle field and Buddhism reveals to him its message of pcace. And that. so the story goes. is how Buddhism spread its way across the world. 'I‘ranslated into a movie. Sivan has captured both the myths heroic and spiritual dirttettsioris. 'l‘here's also song. dance and fighting (that looks like it‘s sprung from the set of ('nuu'liine Tiger). ()ne of the first llindi films aiming to breech the hast/“est. Holly/l lolly wood divide. Selected release.
Asterix And Obelix Take On Caesar ( l’( 1) OOO ((‘laude /.idi. l"rance/Belgtum. 3()()()) ('hristian ('lav ier. (ierard Depardieu. Roberto Benigni. I It) mins. ('lav ier and Depardieu lead the way as the film‘s dynamic (iattlish duo. juiced up on their secret super strength-giv ing potion. dispensing with the Roman army in a slapstick and downright chirpy way. Benigni also pops up as the Roman army crook w ho Plans to overthrow (‘aesarz .’l\/(’I'fl can take its place alongside Sir/remain and [human as one of the successful comic conversion jobs. (il‘vl‘. (ilasgow.
At The Height Of Summer t t’(i)
O. (Tran Anh llung. Vietnam. 2001 ) Nguyen-Nhu ()uynh. l.e Khanh. Tran .\'u Yen-Khe. mins. This plaintive melodrama from Vietnamese-born w riter-director Tran Anh lltrng ('I‘lu’ Sven! ()fUrct'n I’d/tum. ('vrlo) revolves around the rotnantic experiences of three sisters w ho meet upon the anniversary of their mother's death in suburban llanoi. Right from its immaculately framed opening scene to the strains of The \‘elv ct l'nderground’s ‘l’ale Blue liycs'. A! ’l'lie Here/i! ()7 Summer announces itself as a work of languid beauty. Nevertheless. the filmmakers heavy aesthetic approach feels suffocating. (il’l‘ iv t'(i(‘ Renfrew Street. (ilasgow.
Atlantis: The Lost Empire (t')
0. (Kirk Wise. (iary' 'l‘rotisdalc. l‘S. Ztltll ) Voices of Michael J. l-‘ox. James (Earner. John Mahoney. ()0 mins. The basic premise ()l~ Disney ‘s latest. the discovery of the lost. mythical empire of Atlantis. is a scenario with soooooooo much scope for magic and enchantmcnt it should be impossible to fail. But it is realised with all the visual and imaginative panache of a jaded street artist. l‘tu'therrnore. it sorely lacks an eyebrow -arching. pupil-narrow ing. gloriously caricatured villain. Similarly. Milo. the geeky hero (voiced by Fox) is deficient of charm and arouses little sympathy. As Disney 's raison d'etre is the good/bad dichotomy. it seems not only was the limpire lost. but a grand opportunity too. (icneral release.
Battle Royale ( IS) 0... tl'ittkasaku Kinii. Japan. Ztltll) l lS mins. [mi/()1 l'lu’ I'll-(W is re-imagined as a \ iolcnt pre» millennial nightmare as a class of teenage Japanese schoolchildren is abandoned on an island. given a variety of weapons. and told that only the last survivor will be allow ed to leave. l'(i(' Renfrew Street. (ild‘I—“ml (‘amco. lidinburgh.
Bench In The Park (Un banco en el Parque) ( l5) (.v\gustl \ila. Spain. NUS) 83 ruins. (‘omedy of manners in w hich .luau. hav ittg been left by liis girlfriend. decides to find a new one by occupying the same space on a park bench and in a bar every day. l’roblems arise when he meets two new women. (ii-"Ii. (ilasgow.