Film index
The Enigma Of Kaspar Hauser (PG) 0... (Werner Herzog. West Germany. 1974) Bruno S.. Walter Ladengast. Brigitte Mira. 1 1() mins. A young man. who seems to have had no contact with other human beings. arrives in Nuremburg in the 19th century. Herzog uses this figure as the ultimate misfit and an excuse for satirising social conventions from the point of view of the innocent. The film's star. Bruno S. had spent 22 years in various institutions before the director hand-picked him for the part. The Lumiere. Edinburgh.
Enigma (15) 0... (Michael Apted. CK. 2001 ) Dougray Scott. Kate Winslet. Saffron Burrows. 1 17 mins. Tom Jericho (Scott). a crack WWII codebreaker. is called back from premature retirement to break the Nazis' new cypher. ()n his return. he discovers that Claire (Burrows). the woman who broke his heart. has gone missing and. with the aid of her bonsemate (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 fiddles the plot a little. but the mixture of cynicism and heroism that characterised Harris's characters is undiluted in the film. Selected release.
Eureka ( 15) O... (Shinji Aoyama. Japan. 2001 ) Koji Yakusho. .‘vlasaru Miyazaki. Aoi Miya/aki. 217 mins. Aoyama's film opens with a bUs hijacking that results in the death of several passengers. but it's more interested in exploring the lives of the survivors in the wake of the incident. As they reunite a couple of years later and traverse Japan in an old bus. will time allow the wounds to heal. or exacerbate the characters' emotional instability"? Clearly Aoyoma's film owes much to Wenders and Antonioni. but in combining the 70s road movie with the aftermath theme Aoyoma finds a voice of his own. See review. Glasgow Film Theatre. Glasgow; The Filmhouse. Edinburgh.
Evil Woman ( 15) 000 (Dennis Dugan. LS. 2001) Steve Zahn. Jack Black. Jason Biggs. 9() mins. You‘ve right to be suspicious of any director who has got where he is by making Adam Sandler comedies. And yet in Evil ll'uniun l)ugan directs two of America‘s funniest screen actors. [aim and Black. They play a pair of dim former high school pals. who attempt to keep their friend (Biggs) from marrying a domineering psychologist (Amanda Peet) by kidnapping her. One more item to note: Neil Diamond appears as himself. Selected release.
The Experiment (Daa Experiment)
( 15) (()livier Hirschbiegel. Germany. 2001) 120 mins. Preview screening of the Euroawards nominee film. A Cologne-based newspaperjournalist goes undercover as a guinea pig to investigate a series of psychological experiments being carried out by the military. The Lumiere. Edinburgh. The 51st State ( 18) CO. (Ronny Yu. 1‘S/1‘K/Canada. 2()()l ) Samuel 1.. Jackson. Robert Carlyle. Emily Mortimer. 92 mins. There‘s much about this comedy thriller that's just plain daft: Jackson's California drug dealer donning a kilt for his visit to rainy
m ET. H
Mon 2 (st January
Moulin Rouge (12) 7:30pm Wed 23rd january
Enigma (15) 7.30pm Tues 29th January
Amelie (15) 7:30pm
Sun 3rd February The Devil's Backbone (18) 5:75pm The Others (12) 7:30pm
Tickets and further information from The Steeple Box office
(Tel: 01324 506850)
or on the day from the ball
28 THE LIST 17-31 Jan 2002
Stellan Skarsgard and an out of focus Leelee Sobieski in the psychological thriller The Glass House
Liverpool. Carlyle's scoUse thug more concerned with the Liverpool-Manchester footy match than minding Jackson. Carlyle's ex (Mortimer) going Stateside to become a contract killer. Daft. but fun. individual elements. from ()TI‘ performances to violent gun play. work in isolation. but the tones jar: in one scene you‘re laughing at Ricky Tomlinson playing Robert De .\'iro via Jim Royle. the next your reeling at him being tortured in the most graphic fashion. Selected release.
The Flat ( 15) (Jan Svankmajer. Czechoslovakia. I968) l3 mins. Short film from the master of surreal animation. CCA. Glasgow.
Flipper (PG) «0 (Alan Shapiro. LS. 1996) Elijah Wood. Paul Hogan. Chelsea Field. 96 mins. Difficult city teenager Sandy (Wood) doesn't warm to ex-hippy uncle Porter (Hogan) down in the Florida Keys until along comes friendly dolphin Flipper. The story brings to mind aspects of Andre and Free Willy. but there are only so many scripts that can accommodate an aquatic star. Predictable stuff in the heart-warming category. Grosvenor. Glasgow.
Flood Tide (L') 0... (Frederick Wilson. CK. 1949) Gordon Jackson. Jimmy Logan. Rona Anderson. 9() mins. A classic post-war drama with Jackson as a Clydebank apprentice who becomes a ship's designer and falls in love with the boss' daughter. Evocative social history. Glasgow Film Theatre. Glasgow.
Gabriel And Me ( 15) o (L'day'an Prasad. CK. 2001 ) Sean Landless. lain Glen. Billy Connolly. 86 mins. After the monumental success of Billy [fl/int. writer Lee Hall seems to have become complacent as his follow-up is simply a formulaic retread of last year's balletic barnstormer. Gabriel And Me sees teenage Geordie lad Jimmy Spud (landless) struggle to hide his wish to be an angel from gruff. dying father (Glen) with the help of none other than the Archangel Gabriel (Connolly). The dialogue is cliched. the script sickenineg sentimental and the mix of gritty reality and high-flown fantasy just doesn't work. Adatn Smith Theatre. Kirkcaldy.
Gladiatort 15) ooo (Ridley Scott. th. 200(1) Russell Crowe. Richard Harris. Joaquin Phoenix. 150 mins. JUst before dying Caesar Aurelius (Harris) charges General Maximus (Crowe) with cleaning up his beloved. but politically corrupt Rome. Aurelius‘ son. Cornrnodus (Phoenix). doesn't take kindly to this and has his rival executed. But Maximus survives and. as a gladiator. works his way back to Rome intent on revenge. Parallels must be drawn with Splll'lft‘llS and Ben Hm“. we've not seen a Roman epic in a long time. Scott's is a handsome spectacle and exciting enough. but that's all it is. New Picture House. St Andrew s.
The Glass House ( IS) Leelee Sohieskt. Diane Lane. Stellan Skarsgard. 106 mins.
Ruby (Sobieski) is your typical lo-y‘ear-old rebel. but her life as a tempestuous teen ends when her parents die in a car crash. Her and her kid brother are then shipped off to live with her parent's best friends. Erin and Terry Glass (Lane and Skarsgard) ~ in a house made of glass. But something is not quite right and Ruby makes it her mission to discover the truth behind the Glass‘s errant behaviour. If it is not wise to throw stones in glass hoUses it is definitely not clever to make a psychological thriller with about as much sUspense its an episode of Gardener's World. See review. Selected release.
Glitter (PG) 0 (\"ondie Curtis-Hall. 2001) Mariah Carey. Max Beesley'. Padrna Lakshmi. 104 mins. In this rags-to- riches melodrama inspired. very loosely. by her own life. Carey delivers a performance of such ineptitude that it plumbs depths of histrionic awfulness unknown even to Madonna and Whitney Houston. Curtis-Hall attempts to dress things up. but no amount of fiashy camerawork can disguise the essential blandness and predictability of the material. ()nce or twice. the tediurn is relieved by moments of unintentional hilarity that make the viewer boot with disbelief. Sadly. there aren't enough of them to turn Glitter into a camp classic. Magnum Theatre. Irvine: Vikingar Cinema. Largs.
Glory ( 15) (Edward '/.wick. LS. 1989) Matthew Broderick. Den/cl Washington. Cary Elwes. Morgan Freeman. 122 mins. The film charts the progress of the fightin' 54th. the first all-black regiment (formed during the American civil war). as they gradually emerge as disciplined combat trnit under their young. inexperienced and white Colnel (Broderick). It is the palpable assumption of dignity by the black troopers. rather than the somewhat hackneyed plot. that sticks in the mind. ()deon. Kilmarnock.
Grand Canyon (PG) (200! ). Simulation ride bringing you the full-blown wonder of that really. really big hole in America. lMAX Theatre. Glasgow.
3 Grave or The Fireflies ( )2) (is...) 'i‘akahata. Japan. 1988) Tsutomu 'I‘atsumi. Ayano Shiraishi. 9-1 mins. Tragic Japanese animation about a young boy and his little sister's efforts to survive in World War 11 Japan. Part of the Studio Ghibli season. The Filmhouse. Edinburgh.
Grease (PG) 0... (Randal Kleiser. LS. 1978) John Travolta. ()livia Newton John. Stockard ('hanning. 1 It) mins. The colourful goings-on at Rydell High particularly the romance of square out-of-tow ner Sandy and tough guy Danny - is the stuff of classic movie escapism. In addition to a plot which groans with frustrated passion. bristles with gang tensions and swings with teen verve. the songs are the soundtrack for a generation. Twenty years on. Grease is still the word. and still the way we are feeling. ()deon. Dunfermlinc.
Greenfingera ( 15) 00 (Joel Hershmann. CK. 2001 ) Clive ()wen. Helen Mirren. Natasha Little. 89 mins. Transferred to an open prison in the Cotswolds. convicted murderer Colin (()wen) discovers a remarkable aptitude for horticulture. and his imaginative efforts in building a garden attract the attention of local T\' celebrity Georgina Woodhouse (Helen Mirren). Green/ingers might just be the quaintest British film of 2001. even though it was inspired by a New York Times article and written and directed by American Joel Hershman. A tale of comic redemption which provides a supremely benevolent view of the penal system. The Lumiere. Edinburgh.
The Grinch (PG) 0.. (Ron lioward. CS. 2()()()) Jim Carrey. Taylor Momsen. Jeffrey Tambor. 105 mins. Surprisingly. The Grinch is the first live action feature to be adapted from the work of the world's best- selling children's author. Dr Seuss. And beneath sfx magician Rick Baker's green costume Carrey -~ the world‘s highest paid comedian wrecks glorious havoc on his cloying sweet neighbours. the Whovians of Who-ville. Howard lays the book's moral - Christmas is about family not presents —- and the sickly-sweet sentiment on pretty thick. 'lby' Story 2 got the cross generational appeal right; golly gosh Howard's Grinch hasn't. Carrey"s great though. ()deon. Dunfermline. A Hard Day’s Night (ti) 000
(Richard Lester. L'K. 196-1) John Lennon. Paul McCartney. George Harrison. Ringo Starr. 87 mins. This re-release of the Beatles' screen debut. complete with digitally restored soundtrack. sees the Fab Four supposedly preparing for a live TV" performance. Actually. jigging with the exuberant energy of youth and the fearless arrogance of those who are adored. they dodge their manager. taunt their fans and make a playground of the streets. Lester's tnock documentary received two Academy Award nominations. Today. the camera tricks may seem less than impressive. but the innocent upbeat humour comes as a timely relief. The FilmhoUse. Edinburgh. Harry Potter And The Philosopher’s Stone (PG) 00-.“ (Chris Columbus. l'S/I'K. 2001) Daniel Radcliffe. Robbie Coltrane. Maggie Smith. John Cleese. Richard Harris. Julie Walters. 152 mins. Columbus has remained true not just to the spirit btrt. in many cases. the letter ofJ.K. Rowling's novel. With only the occasional nip and tuck. the film follows closely the tale of orphan boy Harry. who grows up in suburbia little realising that he's of wizard stock. Like the novel. the film is unsentimental. with no hint of icky whimsy. Rather. it is sustained by a set of superbly dry performances by the all- British cast and rewarded by the true. well- earned emotion of an honourable quest successfully fought. General release.
Heistt 15) C... (David Mamet. LS. 2001 ) Gene llackman. Danny I)e Vito, Rebecca Pidgeon. 107 mins. Master thiefJoe Moore (llackrnan) decides it's time to quit and seek retirement down South with his young wife Fran (Pidgeon). However. his fence Bergman (1)e Vito) blackmails him into carrying out one final score. After the patchy filmmaking satire Stu/e Am! .lluin. Mamet is back on home-turf. offering tip a noirish world of cons and scams. while his trademark charged dialogue is still intact. Yet. Mamet is also attempting to mttscle in on action-movie conventions for which he lacks the requisite visual panache. and he's now writing to a 'nothing is what it seems' formula. Glasgow Film Theatre. Glasgow; The Waterfront, Greenock.
Human Body (PG) (2001 ). Simulation ride bringing you the full-blown wonder of all those really. really small places inside us. lMAX Theatre. Glasgow.
3 In The Bedroom ( IS) 0000 Field. LS. 2001 ) Sissy Spacek. Tom Wilkinson. Marisa Tomei. 130 mins. inspired by Andre Dubus' short story Killings. In The Bedroom is an exceptional debut feature from actor-turned-filmmaker Todd field. it exam- ines. with great sensitivity and insight. the aftermath of an unexpected bereavement when the son of Matt and Ruth l-‘owler (Wilkinson and Spacek) is murdered. Stylistic indulgences are prudently kept at bay. and it’s also blessed with a series of
(Todd