DRAMA REAL WOMEN HAVE CURVES (12A) 90min on
Written by Josefina Lopez and directed by Patricia Cardoso, Real Women explores the predicament referred to in feminist theory as ‘double jeopardy’, meaning that a woman of colour is doubly oppressed by racist and sexist attitudes. Taking things further to triple or even quadruple jeopardy, the young lead in this film, Ana Garcia (America Ferrera), is made to suffer, mostly by her own community, for being female, poor, Mexican and fat.
She also gets it in the ear for being educated, as she’s one of the lucky few intelligent enough to get a state-paid education at an elite Beverly Hills high school. Empowered by this to believe she has a right to more than marriage and a slave wage, she dreams of going to college. While she’s encouraged to apply for a scholarship by her English teacher, it’s her own family, particularly her selfish mother (brilliantly played by Lupe Ontiveros), who try and keep her
down.
While all this sounds pretty grim, it’s not because Real Women takes the (albeit romantic) view that those strong enough to throw off their shackles can, and will, succeed. Torn between familial duty and her own ambition, Ana learns to celebrate her body as well as her intellect in this small but perfectly formed film about the triumph of the human spirit. (Catherine Bromley)
I Selected release fro/h Fri 37 Jan See ore/rein; page ’_(>‘.
ANIMAI ON
THE WILD THORNBERRYS MOVIE
(U) 85min .0.
I was all set to hate this big screen adaptation of the popular children's TV cartoon. Surely the transition would only expose the disparity between the imaginative brilliance of the great mowe cartoons and the corner-cutting production line of the small screen. In that sense. my suspicions were Justified. There is little here that exploits the possibilities that animation offers over live action. And the big-head caricatures look exposed when magnified to this si/e.
But staff all that. Because the film has two llIthOf strengths: plot and character. Like the IV series. it follows the adwntures of young Eli/a 'I‘hornbt-zrry '.'.rho's been granted the pox/er to talk to the animals — a handy trick when your parents are Wildlife documentab/ filmmakers. This time
Nail-biting adventure
they're in Africa where a team of hi- tech poachers have their evil eye on a herd of 1000 elephants. Eliza. meanwhile. has been banished to a posh boarding school in London. Will she be there to save the day"?
By combining a nail-biting story with a satire of family foibles and the British upper classes. the film is constantly engaging and not a little rewarding. ilvlark FISIIOI'I I General release from Fri 7 Feb.
HORROR
Small but perfectly formed
Film
FINAL DESTINATION 2 (15 tbc) 100mm .0
Some films are so rrdrCulous you've got to admire them. DaVid R Ellis' sequel to 2000's enjoyable supernatural thriller copies its recipe of risible dialogue. B-list acting and excessively grisly. tortuously plotted slaughter. Of the plane SLIWIVOFS from the first film. only Ali Larter remains. tracked down by troubled teen AJ Cook to a padded asylum cell that is her best protection from the early grave she has evaded. Cook is the catalyst for a new bunch of Victims. who cheat death following her premonition of a freeway pile-up and then try to stay one step ahead of a grim reaper With a sick sense of humour.
It is this black humour that saves the film from horror-seguel mediocnty. as
Tortuously plotted slaughter
the likes of plate glass. pigeons and prosthetic limbs contribute to an inventive series of Heath Robinson- inspired fatalities. Ellis skilfully orchestrates the set pieces but does less well With the silly ceinCidental links between characters that the script conjures up. lSimon Wardell;
I General release from H 7 Feb.
SCIENCE FICIION METROPOLIS (PG) 118min 00.0.
A re-release on its 75th anniversany of Frit/ Lang's still stunning German science fiction classic. here with digitally restored print and sOundtrac ‘.r'~./'lIICh makes this the definitive version of the film. as close to the original 1.927 release as it's possible to get. The images of a futuristic city of mile- high skyscrapers. freeways for should that be autol>alins?i in the sky and rocket cars is as marvellously icOnic as ever. and has since influenced everything from 2000AD comic's Judge Dredd strip to Blade Runner. And the story. concerning a revolt in a society that splits the ‘workers' and ‘thinkers'. still speaks volumes today. Oh. yeah and there's that sexy female robot. too. tlvliles Fielder) I Film/rouse. Edinburgh from Fr/ 7 Feb.
Stunning science fiction classic
COMEDY DRAMA THE BANG-ER SISTERS (15) 97min 0..
Almost Famous, 30 years on
Remember Almost Famous. where Kate Hudson played Penny Lane. a goodwill groupie. or "band and as she liked to call it? Well. this film picks up the character 30 years later. only this time she's called Suzette and played by Kate's real-life mom. Goldie Hawn.
When we first meet her. she's still working the bar and the bands at legendary IA rock venue. the Whisky A Go Go. but time's taken its toll and Suzette's past her prime. Sacked from her (ob. all dressed up but With no one to blow. she embarks on a road trip to Phoenix to track down her old groupie buddy Vinnie (Susan Sarandoni. On the way she picks up Harry Plumber (Geoffrey Rush‘i. an ol)sessivecompulsive screenwriter. and when she does find her fellow Banger Sister". she. like Harry. is uptight and in dire need of loosening up.
On cue. Hawn reprises the role of the loveable free-spirit she played so well in The Houses/Her and Bird on a I’VlfO. once again showing off her great ass in a likeable comic drama that aims to strike a chord wrth fans of The/ma 8. Loose. (Catherine Bromleyi I General release from Fri 37 Jan.
KC \lit"; '3 ? trl‘ THE LIST 29