Monsters, Inc. it'i 0000 (Pete l)octet'. L'S. 200l ) John (ioodman. Billy ('rystal. Steye Buscemi. ()2 mins. The latest ('(il animation from 'loy- .S'Iuri' makers Pixar is set largely in Monstropolis. a city inhabited by the foulest of beasts. The monsters power their city by sending 'scarers' through doors which teleport them into children‘s rooms. Once there. they pull faces at the kids. producing shricks of terror. which are bottled back in Monstropolis and Used as a source of energy. It‘s a neat idea. but what really lifts the film is the sense of fun that peryades the whole movie. .llu/islerx. Inc runs as smoothly as a fairground slide. that no one is too big to enjoy. (ieneral release.
The Mothman Prophecies t Ill
0. (Mark Pellington. [8. 2002) Richard (iere. Laura Linney. Will Paton. l lts’ mins. Pellington's paranormal chiller sees (iere's llilS/lfllglnll l’us'tjournalist John Klein lose his wife in tragic circumstances. Two years later he finds himself inexplicably stranded in the small West Virginia town of Point Pleasant. where he diseoyers that the edgy locals haye been experiencing strange phenomena. including manifestations of a giant. moth-like creature. lierily. the figure recalls the strange sketches Klein's wife made before her death. Pellington is yery good at creating an atmosphere of unease. btit the build up is too slow and climax oyerwrought. (ieneral release. Moulln Rouge t I 2 l 0.00. t Ba/ Luhrmann. LS. 200] ) liw an Mc(iregor. Nicole Kidman. Jim Broadbcnt. 108 mins. l.uhrmann's follow -up to Romeo A'- Julie! is a wildly unrestrained. gloriously camp. lewd as hell musical love story that re-inyents the form. from the (iolden Age llollywood song and dance spectaculars tip. l.uhrmann has transformed the eponymous l‘Jth century Parisian dancchall-cum-brothel into the raw capital of liurope. w'eaying 20th century pop music hits into the \ery dialogue of the tilm so that it becomes almost opera, And spiralling around a fairytale romance between Mc(iregor's idealistic poet and Kidman‘s dance girl is a barrage of riotous imagery and design. There's no middle-ground with Luhrmann's film; if you abandon yourself to it it'll leaye you intoxicated with pleasure. Selected release.
Muhammad All: The Greatest t Poi 0.. tWilliam Klein. l'S. l‘J7-1l IIS mins. Klein‘s documentary is less abotit boxing than the social phenomena that surround it. The film focuses upon three fights in the career of Ali: the two l.lstott fights in 1964 and ()5 (plus the cancellation of the originally scheduled rematch of
.\'o\ ember Ni and the Rumble in the Jungle. Fascinating for its moments of insight into the lives of these men. as well as its documentation of attittides to them from folk of the day. btit there's a lot of padding and \‘ll’lllitll) no footage of the fights lltentsel\ es. See reyiew. (il’l‘. (ilasgow.
Mulholland Drive t 15).... (Day id Lynch. [8. 3001 l Naomi Watts. Laura lilena llarring. Justin Theroux. l-lo mins. (iiyen the troubled production history of l.y nch‘s latest slice of nightmare noir it was originally a pilot for a [‘8 teleyision series which was cancelled it's nothing short of miraculous
that .llu/lm/lunu’ Drive shines with the filmmaker's idiosyncratic brilliance. Although set in the present day talbeit with retro
sty ling). Lynch draw s on his fascination with 40s and 50s Hollywood and its secret history of crime. here ltt\'ol\ ing two actresses, amnesiac Rita tllari'ing) and amateur sleuth Betty tWatts). The proceedings \cer into the kind of waking nightmare territory that either flummoxcs or delights \‘iewcrs as Lynch mixes the Name. almost laughable with the moments of electrifying fear. (il’l‘. (ilasgow. Mystery Film t IS) (2002). You hay e to turn upon the night to find otit the title of this special surprise screening. (il’l'. (ilasgow. Mystic Masseur tl’( it 000 t lsmail Merchant. l'K. 2002) .-\asif Mandyi. .-\yesha Dharker. ()m Puri. I 17 mins. Reverting to the classic Mercliant-lyory tactic of taking a good nos el and getting an accomplished scribe to adapt it. VS. .\'aipul's .lly \Ift' .lltlut’lll' is brought to the screen by (‘aryl Phillips. 'l‘old almost entirely in flashback. it charts the unlikely rise to political prominence of (ianesh tMandyi i. an aspiring author in 'l‘rinidad whose day job as a religious healer aids his rise to the top. A! two hours long it outstays its w elcome. btit .in \Iii' .llum'ur neyerthcless boasts charm. a strong cast and a solid script from Phillips. Sec rcy iew. l‘(i(‘ Renfrew Street. (ilasgow: l‘(i(‘ Cinemas. lidinburgh.
0 Nosferatu tP(ii 0.... tl-'\\' Murnau. (iermany. I‘JZZi Max Schrcck. Alexander (iranach. (iustax \ott \Vangenheim. 72 ltlllls. Schreck is a truly terrifying figure as Bram Stoker's famous \ampire. looking more like a skinned bat than a human being. A wonder- fully \isual moy ie. with twisted shadows and sexual undercurrents placing it well abmc the Kinski/llcr/og remake. Part of Dead By Dawn. (il’l‘. (ilasgow; l‘ilmhouse. lidinburgli. 0 Brother, Where Art ThOU?l 13» C... tJocl ('oen. l‘S. 2000i (ieorgc ('looney. John 'l‘urttirro. 'l‘im Blake Nelson. l07 mins. Preston Sturges' Sullivan ‘\ fi'tll't’h and llomer's The ()(/\‘\\t'\ are the starting points for this 30s-sct screwball comedy. Smooth-talking liyerett l'lysees Mc(iill t('loonc_\ l. simplcton Delmar t .\'elsoni and maladjusted Pete t'l‘urturroi are members of a chain gang on llte run looking for buried loot. 'l'hcir journey tip and down the state of Mississippi brings them into contact with assorted eccentrics based on llomer's mythological figures. A lighter work for the ('oens. more Raising .‘il'ffttlltl than l‘ill'L’H. btit it's still a rare treat. A truly captiyating confederacy of dunces. (‘ameo. lidinburgh. Ocean’s Eleven I 15m... (Sleycn Soderbergh. lb. 300] i (ieorgc (‘looney. Brad Pitt. Jtilia Roberts. ll(i mins. ()0 the cliff is the operatiye term for Stcycn Sodcrbergh's remake of the [as Vegas casino heist thriller that Frankie and [Mao and their Rat Pack had so much fun making back in l‘)(i0. Btit w here the Rat Pack rascals Used the original film as an excuse to run riot in their adopted home city Sodcrbergh. screenwriter 'l'ed (iriffin and an all-star cast hay e worked to produce a tightly -scripted sty lish mm ie. ()nc. how ex er. which remains at all times self-consciously throwaway ftin. .\'ot quite as cool as the original. btit a better film. (iencral release.
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GLASGOW 13th Note Club ' Saturday April 20th 2002
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