Films screening this fortnight are listed below with certificate, star rating, credits, brief review and venue details. Film index compiled by Miles Fielder
A.I. (12)... (Steven Spielberg. LS. 2001 ) Haley Joel ()smont. Jude Law. Hi mins. Stanley Kubrick spent years planning Artificial lilit’l/fgt’nt‘t’. inspired by a Brian Aldiss short story. ‘Super-toys Last 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 cotnmodified. Forget cyborgs the robots in this filtn 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: Kubrickian cool and Spielbergian sentimentality. The Lumiere. Edinburgh. The Affair Of The Necklace ( 12)
O ((‘harles Shyer. LS 200] ) Hilary Swank. Joely Richardson. Jonathan Pryce.
1 18 mins. A French director might have relished the assault on monied privilege of the French court as represented by the real-life ‘affaire du collier‘. irt which a disgruntled countess exposed the extravagance of Marie Antoinette and the country 's (‘ardinal in an elaborate sting involving an outrageously opulent piece ofjewellery. Shyer's immensely less interesting way into the story is to try to persuade us that (‘onttesse de la .‘vlotte-Valois is a righteously vengeful victim of injUstice. She lost her home and her daddy. so we'd better root for her rtms the movie's central calculation. which becomes purely academic given the two hours of laborious plotting.
sw ishy frocks and chokingly diabolical dialogue which ensue. l'(i(‘ Renfrew Street. (ilasgow; l.'(i(‘ ('inetnas. lidinburgh.
Ewan McGregor gets into fatigues for Black Hawk Down, Ridley Scott’s
reenactment of the 1993 US-Somali battle in Mogadishu
Aguirre, Wrath Of God ( IS) 0000 (Werner l-lerzog. West (lermany. I972) Klaus Kinski. Cecilia Rivera. ()5 mins. 17th century conquistadors. on a mission to explore the Amazon. court disaster when the zeal of their leader remains undampened after a number of encounters with hostile Indians. lixcellent location work in this moving portrayal of tragic ambition. which sports a characteristically intense performance by Kinski. The Lumiere. Edinburgh.
Alice ( 15) 0.. (Jan Svankmajcr. Switzerland. l988) 8-1 mins. Radical new version of the Lew is (’arroll classic by brilliant ('zech filmmaker Svankma‘jer. which has the protagonist as the only live action character making her way through a harsh dreamscape vividly convey ed through puppet animation and trick photography. Atmospheric treatment of cruel. childlike fantasies. which makes for absorbing viewing. btit Disney it definitely ain't. (‘(‘A. (ilasgow.
Amelie ( l5) com (Jean-Pierre Jeunet. France. 2001 ) Audrey Tautou. Mathieu Kassovitz. Serge Merlin. 120 mins. As with his two previous French fantasies. [Minutemen and The (Try (If 1.0.x! (Vii/(Irvin Jeunet creates a fantastical world. here reimagining Paris' oldest quarter. Montmartre. Within it the eccentric adventures of his eponymous heroine (played by captivating elfin newcomer 'l'autou) unfold in a manner as complex as a Swiss timepiece when Amelie decides to bring happiness to deserving people by playing elaborate practical jokes on them. (’omposed of many moments of absolute wonder. this is a filnt which celebrates all the little. great things in life. (ieneral release.
Annie Hall ( 15) com (Woody Allen. 1S. 1977) Woody Allen. Diane Keaton. Tony Roberts. 93 mins. Two decades before Sci Am! The ('in had its first orgasm. Amue Hull was laying bare the mores of modern. urban romance to devastating effect while also
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loning in on the specific psyche of Allen Konigsberg: anti-Semitic paranoia. metaphysical angst. the search for true love. There‘s a highly charged on-screen electricity between Allen and Keaton. glorious vistas of the old New York and hilarious set pieces - Alyy fighting with lobsters. the scene of his childhood home below the rollercoaster - and a stream of one-liners to end them all: ‘don't knock masturbation; it's sex with someone I Iove.’ They really don't make ‘em like Annie Hall anymore. Adam Smith Theatre. Kirkcaldy; MacRobert. Stirling. Apocalypse Now Redux ( 15) 0000 (Francis Ford (’oppola. l'S. 1979/2001) Martin Sheen. Marlon Brando. Robert Duvall. 202 mins. (‘oppola's new. longer cut of his Vietnam war masterpiece includes more of l)uvall's era/y chopper commander Kilgore. a second encounter with the Playboy Bunnies. a new sequence set on a remote French plantation adding historical backgrottnd and Brando expounding upon the insanity of war. It isn't an improvement. but considering the circumstances under which it was filmed - in the Philippines where everything from hurricanes to heart attacks plagued the cast and crew you want to see everything they got on tiltn. ('ameo. lidinburgh.
Atlantis: The Lost Empire (H
0. (Kirk Wise. (iary Trousdalc. l'S. 200] I Voices of Michael J. Fox. James (iarner. John Mahoney. ()6 mins. The basic premise of Disney‘s latest. the discovery of the lost. mythical empire of Atlantis. is a scenario with soooooooo much scope for magic and enchantntent it should be impossible to fail. But it is realised with all the visual and imaginative panache of a jaded street artist. Furthermore. it sorely lacks an eyebrow -arching. pupil-narrowing. glorioust caricatured villain. Similarly. .\lilo. the geeky hero (voiced by Fox) is deficient of charm and arouses little sympathy. As Disney 's raison d'etrc is the good/bad dichotomy. it seems not only was the limpire lost. but a grand opportunity too. Selected release.
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174%1 Jan 200? THE LIST 25