Films screening this fortnight are listed below with certificate, star rating, credits, brief review and venue details. Film index compiled by Miles Fielder
Abouna - My Father (PG) 0000 (Mahamat-Saleh Haroun. ('had. 2002) 84min. In this lovely little film from ('had two brothers cope with the disappearance of their father. llaroun combines a caltning colour scheme chiefly made up of terracottas and sky blues not it seems for sortie cumbersome symbolic purpose but to create a tranquil feel that keeps the usually dramatic events at one remove. With his minimally moving camera often holding on the medium shot. or shadowed close-up. the director follows the boys‘ harsh life as they get carted off and detained in Koranic school. There's always a sense of characters being contained by a purpose wider than their own individual existence. Filmhouse. lidinburgh.
0 About Schmidt ( 15) 0000 (Alexander Payne. l’S. 2003) Jack Nicholsort. Kathy Bates. Hope Davis. I24min. Putting aside all vanity. and eschewing his killer smile and eyebrow arching. Nicholson dominates every frame of this bleak comedy about a recently retired insurance administrator on a cross- country odyssey. As he revisits the places of his childhood. Warren Schmidt discovers that the map of his fro/en human heart is comprised. like his native Nebraska. mostly of flat. empty spaces. This is Nicholson's film. but ktidos is also due to the controlled direction and subtly comic observations of Payne and his scripting partner Jim Taylor. who previously collaborated on the satirical high school comedy Election. See review. Selected release.
Amelie ( l5) .0... (Jean-Pierre .lcunet. France. 200l ) Audrey Tautou. Mathieu Kussovitl. Serge Merlin. l20rnin. As with his two previous French fantasies. Delicatessen and The ( 'itv ofl.o.v! Children. Jeunet creates a fantastical world. here reirnagining Paris‘ oldest quarter. Montmartre. Within it the eccentric adventures of his eponymous heroine (played by captivating eltin newcomer Tautou) 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 absoltite wonder. this is a film which celebrates all the little. great things in life. MacRobert. Stirling.
Apocalypse Now Redux ( )5)
0... (Francis Ford Coppola. L'S. 1979/2001) Martin Sheen. Marlon Brando. Robert Duvall. 202min. (‘oppola‘s new. longer cut of his Vietnam war masterpiece includes more of Duvall's crazy chopper commander Kilgore. a second encounter with the Playboy Bunnies. a new sequence set on a remote French plantation adding historical background and Brando cxpounding 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 film. MacRobert. Stirling.
BAFTA Documentary (certs tbc) (Various. lTK. 2002) 82min. Docs nominated at the recent New Talent Awards. including winner (Tiling Mun. (‘(‘A. (ilasgow.
Beau flavail ( l5) 0... ((‘laire Denis. France. 2000) Denis l.avant. Michel Subor. (iregoire (‘olin. 90min. An imaginative reworking of Herman Melville's novella Bil/v Budd. Sui/or. Beau 'I'rui'oil sees writer-director Denis relocating the source material from the 19th century British navy to the present-day French Foreign Legion. ln Marseille. Sergeant (ialoup (Denis l.avant) recalls the events that lead to him being forced to leave the corps after being posted to a remote outpost
in Djibouti. Fast Africa. A work filled with beauty. sadness and mystery. Mesmerising tilmmaking. (‘ameo. lidinburgh.
Billy Elliot ( 15) 0... (Stephen Daldry. l'K. 2000) Jamie Bell. Julie Walters. (iary Lewis. 1 l lmin. Billy (superb newcomer Bell) finds release from life's daily drudgery. and ultimately self- fullilment. through ballet dancing. As unlikely a leisure pursuit as that might be for a teenage boy growing tip in the recession-hit Yorkshire of the 80s (and that's the point). it becomes young Billy's ticket otit of hard times. Making his film debut. theatre director Daldry handles the political backdrop and dramatic foreground with equal assurance. The dance routines provide much of the film's humour and quite overwhelming feelgood factor. (ll-T. (ilasgow.
Blood Work ( 15) O ((‘lint Eastwood. IS. 2002) (‘lint liastwood. Anjelica Houston. Jeff Daniels. Min tbc. After succumbing to a heart attack while pursuing a killer. FBI protiler Terry Mc(‘aleb tliastwood) is given a transplant. Two years later. the organ donor‘s sister shows tip and tells Mc('aleb her sibling was murdered. Btit liastwood's a bit old for the action sequences nowadays and age also seems to have affected his lilmmaking. Scrappy directing and sloppy editing do no favours to anyone involved. The dialogue. loosely based on Michael ('onnelly 's novel. flops onto the screen rather than lings. This could be any 70s TV crime series. l'(i(‘ Renfrew Street. (ilasgow.
The Blue Kite ( IS) 000 (Tian Zhuangzhuang. ('hina/HK. 1993) Lu l.iping. [hang Wenyao. (‘hen Xiaoman. 138mm. A mother and son struggle to survive the tipheavals of the Mao regime and the violent turmoil of the ('ultural Revolution. Tian‘s film tells it straight. where others. such as Farewell my (’om‘ulmze. have taken a more metaphorical approach. and the result is an honest and moving account of a still sensitive isstie. lidinburgh Film (iuild. lidinburgh.
Blue Planet (l') (Various. 2()()t ) An awesome trip around. above and beyond otrr planet on the [MAX giant screen which prompted the llirs/tinglou Post to write: ‘lf a picture is worth a thousand words. one image from Blue Planet is worth a zillion'. lMAX. (ilasgow.
The Borrowers (t') .000 (Peter Hewitt. lTK. 1997) John (ioodman. Jim Broadbertt. (‘elia lmrie. 86min. At a height of only four inches. the Borrowers hide in wall cavities and living beneath the floorboards of the Lender household. When a nasty lawyer tries to swindle the humans out of their inheritance. families big and small join forces. The design and effects create a strangely familiar. oddly unplaceable world. and children will have little difficulty suspending enough disbelief to be spellbound by the magic of the film. MacRobert. Stirling.
Bowling for Columbine ( IS) 00.. (Michael Moore. l'S. 2002) 1 19min. The all-conquering Moore asks this question about America: ‘Are we a nation of gun nuts'.’ ()r are we just nuts'." Provoked by the events of 20 April I999. the day thirteen people were shot dead by two pupils at (‘olumbine High School in l.ittleton. (‘olorado and the day the [S conducted its largest bombing action in the Kosovan War. the inquisitive filmmaker and renowned satirist looks far and wide to hard to find the answers to some pretty tough questions. ()n the way he meets (iolh rock tigurehead Marilyn Manson. members of the Michigan Militia who argue that ‘bcing armed is an American responsibility". and finally president of the NRA. (‘harlton Heston.
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Eminem feels sorry for him
Some may find his shock tactics and use of dark humour reprehensible. btit as the 20 April 1999 showed. desperate times call for desperate measures. Selected release. Brainstorm ( IS) 000 (Douglas Trumbull. l'S. I983) (‘hristopher Walken. Natalie Wood. l.ouise l-‘letcher. ('liff Robertson. Itlornin. Walker) plays an eccentric inventor who comes up with the ultimate my a machine which enables the wearer to experience someone elsc‘s thoughts and feelings. It all goes horribly wrong w her) the pow ers-that-bc get wind of it. of course. linjoyably silly but disappointing flaccid sci-ti thriller. which has the dubious distinction of being the project dtrring which Wood drowned. (il’l‘. (ilasgow.
Cats and Dogs (Po) 0..
(l.aw rence (iuterman. IS. 200] ) Jeff (ioldblum. lili/abeth Perkins. Miriam Margoy les. 87min. This refreshing approach to cute talking pets films is a kind of subversive Laure meets .llivyron.‘ [III/)1).v.vl/)/('. These dogs don't just lilils. they trse surv eillancc equipment and have a solemn mission to protect scientist (ioldblum as he invents a cure for dog allergies. The cats are evil. hell-bent on conquering the world; their special agents have deadly ninja skills and vicious weapons. The anirnatronie effects are of a pretty high standard. btrt it‘s the animal trainers you're in real awe of. The occasional wander into sentimental territory and slowing tip of pace can be forgiven by the madly original idea. lively action sequences and knockabout humour. (’ineworld. Falkirk.
Chicago ( 12A) 0.. (Rob Marshall. l'S. 2002) Renne '/.e||w eger. ('atherine Zeta- Jones. Richard (iere. l l3min. Marshall's long-awaited screen adaptation of the celebrated musical explodes on to the silver screen. following the evploits of two murderous ja/l babies - Roxie Hart (Xellweger) and Velma Kelly (Zeta-Jones) - and their defence lawyer. Billy Flynn ((iere). Moving between the realit) of Prohibition- cra (’hicago and the interior fantasy world of Roxie Hart. where each character becomes an all-singing. all-dancing pow erhousc. Marshall skilfully succeeds in a potentially problematic stage to screen adaptation. l.acking enough sass and sexual innuendo. ('ulmre! this ain't. but (‘lirt‘ueo nonetheless does josticc to the stage musical and the (la/Iling vitality of the business known as show. See rev ievv. (ieneral release.
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1')
0... (Ken Hughes. l‘K. Nos) Sally Anne llowes. Dick Van Dy kc. Lionel Jeffries. l-lSmin. Lengthy. effects-tilled children's adventure conceived in the wake of Mary I’op/Jinv‘ huge commercial succcs btit with a charm (and great songs) all of its own. Dick Van Dy ke is the triad inventor whose flying car propels his children and romantic interest llow es lo a far-off land of adv enturc. liast Kilbridc Arts (‘cntre. liast Kilbride.
index Film
self in 8 Mile
City by the Sea ( 15) 0. (Michael ('aton-Joncs. F5. 2002) Robert De Niro. Frances Dormand. James Franco. IUSmin. De Niro plays New York homicide detective Vincent l.a.\larca. who lives a life of solitude arid dedication to his work. He keeps his girlfriend. Michelle (Dormand. wasted here). at arm's length tmtil one day he has to confront his past when he returns to his old stomping ground l.ong Island to investigate a drugs-related murder. The main suspect turns out to be his long forgotten abandoned son ‘Joey' Nova (Franco). It‘s a great story; it should be it‘s true. based on a new spaper article by Mike McAlary. However. this is pedestrian stuff that limps towards its compromised and predictable conclusion. (ieneral release.
0 City of God ( is) sues. (terminal. Meirelles. Bra/il. 2002) l29min. The international resurgence of l.atin American cinema shows no signs of slowing down. Following the likes oft-(711ml Station. Arno/"m I’errov. l’ Ill .llumu 'IiHn/ut'n and Nine Queens comes an evhilarating Bra/ilian drama. (in o/ (iotl. Based on l’aulo l.ins's spraw ling novel and spanning some three decades. its an epic account of the growth of organised drug-dealing in a slum housing project. the so-called ('ity of (iod in Rio dc Janeiro. Selected release. Clockstoppers (t’( i) 00. (Jonathan Frakes. l'S. 2002) Jesse Bradford. Paula (iarees. Michael Biehn. 94min. A futuristic wristwatch catapults high school student '/.ak (Bradford) into ‘hypcrtimc‘. where the world is fro/en. yet he and his beautiful Hispanic girlfriend ((iarces) can mov c around freely and have lots of innocent fun. l’ntil the evil head of Quantum Technologies (Bielm). who wants to take over the world. kidnaps and threatens to kill [ttk's science teacher Dad. For all its neat ideas. sna/ly f/\ and youthful energy. this is b) -the-ntrmbers kiddie sci-ti. l'(‘l. lidinburgh: l‘(‘l. (‘lydebank
Wednesday 22nd Jan My Big Fat Greek Wedding (PG) 77 for .7 7 30am (cuppa'e‘i 7 30pm
Tuesday 281/) Jan Sweet Sixteen (18) 5 15pm 8' 7 ‘30pm Thursday 30m jan
28 Days Later (18) 7 30pm
Tickets and further information from The Steeple Box office
(Tel: 01324 506850)
or on the day from the hall
til .).t') ."y‘fn‘ THE LIST 25