Film index
Life And Nothing But(P(}) 0.0 (Bertrand Tay'eriiier. l‘rance. IOSS) Philippe .\'oiret. Sabine A/ema. Pascale Vignal. 13-1 mins. l-‘rance WIS. and Major l)ellaplane (Noiret) has the grisly task of identifying ttttknoyy'n soldiers' corpses. Among the relatiy'es yy ho come to seek their loy ed ones are Irene (A/ema) and Alice (\‘ignal ). The sense of a bruised and battered people quietly coming to terms yy ith life's continuity despite their grief is splendidly eyoked. though the central romance. all suppressed passioti and meaningful glances. is mini-series stuff and the humour may have lost something in translation. (ilasgoyy Iiilm Theatre. (ilasgoyy.
Little Otik (Otesanek) ( IS) 000
(Jan Syankmajer. ('Icch Republic/1 'K. 2000) Veronika Zilkoy'a. Jan Hartl. Jaroslay'a Kretschmeroya. l3] tiiiiis. l‘tilising an old ('Iech folk tale. Sy'ankmajer f'ocuses on a barren couple \y ho go to extreme lengths to become parents. When their ‘child' gets out of control. snacking on anything yy hich stumbles into its path. hard decisions need to be made. (outing on like a cross betyyecn Eraser/lead and The Iieusl In The ('e/lur. Sy'ankinajet’s eye for a beautifully fratned image is flayy less for the first In enty minutes. btit yyears thin as soon as the oy'erlong. repetitiy'e story takes hold. As an animated short. it “(add haye made a wonderful addition to his surrealist repertoire. ('ameo. lidinburgh.
Long Time Dead ( IS) 0 (Marcus Adams. LR. 2001 ) Alec .‘s'eyy tnan. Lara Belmont. Joe Absolom. ()4 mins. (billing in the basement beneath a yyarehouse party. a group of college mates play a makeshift ()uija board. l’nfortunately. they accidentally summon an Arabian fire demon. yyhich. as lore has it. must murder in gruesome. thouin not particularly ingenious yy'ay s. each member of the group before it can return to its realm. Post-three deconstructions of the horror thriller \y ith the Sermon trilogy these parodied in the tyyo Scary Movies this non-ironic ‘stalk ‘n' slash' flick is plain out of date. Perhaps the thinking u as: Brits can make teen horror lilltts [00. They can‘t. Selected release.
The Lord Of The Rings (PG) 0000. (Peter Jackson. .‘s'eyy Zeailaiid/LS. 2001 ) laii McKellen. lilijah Wood. Liy Tyler. (‘ate Blanchctt. Viggo Mortensen. 178 mins. At long last. a syyord and sorcery adyenture that really deliy'ers the goods. J. R. R. Tolkien's great achieyemcnt u as to create an English mythology. located in a fantastical yet belieyable yyorld. Jackson's great achieyemeiit is to bring the author's I000 page tome to life. not merely realising the fantastic elements yy ith special effects spectacle (thottgli they are \‘('I'_\’ spectacular). but through storytelling flare and maryellous performances from his cast. Visceral and breathtakingly dramatic. 'l‘lie I'i’l/mi'y/ii/t (If The Ring is an inspired labour of loy e and a monumental achievement. (ieneral release. The Man Who Wasn’t There ( IS) .0... (Joel (‘oen. LS. 2001 ) Billy Bob Thornton. Frances McDormand. James (iandolfini. l H) miiis. Set in the ('alifornian backyy'ater toyy n of Santa Rosa circa the
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Brittany Murphy gets to play a (mostly) catatonic psychiatric patient
opposite Michael Douglas' shrink in the tame thriller Don't Say A Word
l‘MUs. 'Iilie .llun li'lio Him: ‘I There takes its cue from the cynical yyorld of pulp crime \yriters like James M. (aim. The tale turns on a regular fella. 'l'horntoti's mild- mannered barber lid ('rane. “ho is
unyy ittingly the catalyst for a spiralling series of eyents beginning yy ith inlidelity and extortion and ending \y ith. \yell. maybe you can guess. The (‘oen brothcrs' latest t‘cimcttliott of a classic llolly \yood film genre is their most audacious to date. mixing hard-boiled. small toyyn filtit noir \\ ith existentialism and metaphysics. It's a my humoured. retro-sly led. \y ickedly -p|otted. moody gem. The Lumiere. lidinburgh; liast Kilbride Arts (‘entie
Manhattan ( l5) .0... (Woody Allen. l‘S. W70) Woody Allen. Diane Keaton. Mariel ilettttngyyay. ()o mms. Woody \yanders through the female jungle of .\'cyy York iii search of a perfect souliiiate after the demise of his marriage. Sublime comic delight \y ith a soulful (iershyy in score. The Lumiere. lidinburgh.
Me Without You ( IS) 0... (ioldbachei'. LR. 2001 ) Anna l'i'ic‘l. Micltelle Williams. ()liy er Milburn. Ill-1' mins. This Brit flick boasts a pair of star turns froiii l'i'icl and Williams. Their ott- screen relationship as best friends Marina and Holly remains utterly comincing throughout its ebb and firm. from London suburb schoolgirls in the 70s through Brighton l'niycrsity student flatmates in the 80s to (‘entral London professionals toward the end (if that decade. (ioldbachcr dresses her bittersyyeet period drama immaculately. l)rayy ing on her my it past to co-yy rite the film yy ith Laurence ('oriat (lloiii/erlunil). she undercuts nostalgia for the era is ith
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34 THE LIST 1.’. '28 F (El; 7‘2“)?
gently mocking humour. The Lumiere. lidinburgh.
Metropolis (Manga) ( IS) 0.. (. Japan. 3001) 10“ mins. .\'ot the l’rit/ Lang silent sci-ti classic. but Japanese animation. \yliich does. in fact. take its inspiration from Lang's film about a dy stopian future. The animation is superb. but the makers seem more interested in paying homage to tttllttet'olts other sei-li classic from [flat/e Runner to Dr Strange/ore than u ith telling their story. (’ameo. lidinburgh.
O Monsoon Wedding ( (5) 00000 (Mira .\'air. India/l 'K. 200] ) Naseeruddin Shah. Lillete l)ubey. \'ijay Raal. ll.‘ mins. ()n the cy e of the longed-for. cooling mon- soon season. the far-flung members of an upper-middle class lndian family gather in Delhi for a typical Punjabi \yedding. Btit as the big day dayyns. the \yedding contractor‘s promises become more eyasiye. yyhile the bride's hard-pressed father \yorries hoyy he is going to pay for cyery'thing. .\'air's
sprays ling. carniyalesque drama combines the colour and \ ibrancy of Bolly yyood yy ith an earthy realism. And \yhilc she can be sharply satiric. Nair treats her characters. high and loyy. \y ithout condescension. Selected release.
0 Monsters, Inc. (t') 0000 (Pete l)octer. l‘S. 200l ) John (ioodtttan. Billy ('ry stal. Stey e Buscemi. 02 mins. The latest (‘(}l animation from 'Ioi Story makers Pixar is set largely in Monstropolis. a city inhabit- ed by the foulest of beasts. The monsters poyy er their city by sending ‘scai'ers‘ through doors \yhich teleport thctn into chil- dren‘s rooms. Once there. they pull faces at the kids. producing shrieks of terror. \yhich arc bottled back in Monstropolis and used as a source of energy. It's a neat idea. bttt yyhat really lifts the film is the sense of fun that peryades the \y hole moy ie. .llonyiery. /II(‘ runs as smoothly as a fairground slide. that no one is too big to enjoy. (ietieral t'clcase.
Moulin Rouge ( 13) .0000 (Ba/ Luhrmann. LS. 200] ) liyyan Mc(iregor. Nicole Kidman. Jim Broadbent. 108 mins. Luhrmann's folloys -up to Romeo A'- .lu/i'el is a \\lldl_\ unrestrained. gloriously camp. ludc as hell musical loy e story that re- inyents the form. from the (ioldcn Age llolly yyood song and dance spectaculars up. Luhrmami has tiatisforiiied the eponymous Wth century Parisian dancehall--cum- brothel into the raw capital of liuropc.
yy eay itig 20th century pop music hits itito the ycry dialogue of the film so that it becomes almost opera. And spiralling around a fairy tale romance betyy een .\lc(ircgor's idealistic poet and Kidman's dance girl is a barrage of riotous imagery and design. There's no middle-ground \\ ith Luhrmann's film; if you abandon yourself
to it it'll leay'e you intoxicated with pleasure. ()dcon. (ilasgoyy‘.
0 Mulholland Drive ( 15) «u (l)ay'id Lynch. LS. 2001) Naomi Watts. Laura iilena llarring. Justin 'l‘heroux. Ho mins. (iiy'en the troubled production history of Lynch's latest slice of nightmare noir it “as originally a pilot for a [S teley'ision series which was cancelled it's nothing short of miraculous that .llul/iollmitl Drive shines yyith the filmmaker‘s idiosyncratic brilliance. Althotigh set in the present day (albeit with retro styling). Lynch draws on his fascination yyith 40s and 50s Hollywood and its secret history of crime. here ittyoly - ing tyy'o actresses. amnesiac Rita (liarring) and amateur sleuth Betty (Watts). The pro- ceedings yeer into the kind of waking night- mare territory that either flummoxes or delights y'ieyy'ers as Lynch mixes the bizarre. almost laughable yyith the moments of elec- trifying fear. Selected release.
My Neighbours The Yamadas (PU) (lsao 'l'akahata. Japan. NOW 104 mins. lit a radical depaiture from the Studio (ihibli norm. The honor/us is a digitally animated film that resembles a moying \yater colour painting. I)iy ided into a number of episodes and adapted from a newspaper cartoon strip. the film is a look at life in modern day Japan. Part of the Sttidio (ihibli season. The l‘ilmhouse. lidinburgh.
Night Shift (Trois/Huit) ( IS) 0.. (Philip Le (iauy. l-‘rance. 200i ) (ierald Laroche. Marc Barbe. 90 mins. l-"rom the moment hapless Pierre (Laroche) steps onto the night shift at the bottle factory he falls
y ictim to the resident bullyboy. The bully. Tired (Marc Barbe). is a mean inadequate. Jealous of Pierre'\ Pepularity and skills. It is. hoyy ey er. yy hen Pierre‘s son starts to despise his father's yyeakness and begins to hero- Worship the odious l-‘red that the wider destructiyc elements of bullying are
obset‘y cd. Tense psychological tale and poyyerful portrayal of a social problem that scars a lot of people and their families. See rey ieyy. (ilasgoyy l-‘ilm 'I'heatre. (ilasgoyy.
0 Ocean’s Eleven ( IS) 0000
(Stcy en Soderbergh. LS. 200] ) (ieorge (‘looneyx Brad Pitt. Julia Roberts. llb mins. Off the cuff is the operatiy e term for Stey'en Soderbergh's remake of the Las Vegas casi- no heist thriller that l'i'ankie and Dino and their Rat Pack had so much fun making back in Not). But yyhcre the Rat Pack ras- cals used the original film as an excuse to run riot iii their adopted home city Soderbergh. screenyy riter Ted (iriffin and an all-star cast hay e \yot‘ked to produce a tight- ly-scripted stylish moy ie. ()ne. boys cy er. yyhich remains at all times self-consciously throyy'ayy'ay fun. .\'ot quite as cool as the original. but a better film. See rey ieys. (ieneral release.
Oliver! ll.) ... ((‘arol Reed. 1-K. l‘)()S) Ron Moody. ()liy’et' Reed. Mark Lester. Jack Wild. llarry Secombe. [-16 units. A sparkling cast. great choreography and some dashed good tunes proy ide a handsome entertainment in Lionel Bart's iiiusical adaptation of ()lfl't'l' This]. The grim satire of greed. poy'erty and corrupted innocence that Dickens yy rote is almost entirely smothered. yyhich is jtist line here in this sing—along-yy'ith screening of Reed's musical. If you didn't etijoy the \ocal experience first time round (\y ith The Sound ()I .Uusie). don't miss it this time. The Lumiere. lidinburgh.
Osmosis Jones (I’( t) 0000 (Peter attd Bobby liarrelly. l'S. 3(l0l ) Bill Murray. (‘ltt‘is Rock. l)ay id Hyde Pierce. Laurence liishburne. 95 mins. Mixing Iiye action yyith animation. the l‘arrelly ‘s hay e come up yy ith a real \y inner. Within slothful IOU keepci' Murray 's body. funky yyhite blood cell cop Jones (\oiced by Rock) is partnered yy ith cold capsule painkilling machine l)ri\ (Pierce) to bring do\\ n a lethal tiu \ irus (l'ishbtit‘iie‘). Writer Marc Hy man explores ey ery yein of this nifty idea. eny isioning Murray 's insides as a metropolis teaming
yy ith gangsters and corrupt politicians.
Say \y. satirical play on the body politic. reminiscent of Warner Bros cartoons of the I‘l-llls. which is exactly yyhat this retro-
sty led animation looks like. (ilasgoyy l-‘ilin 'l‘heatre. (ilasgoyy.