Film
FANTASY [PIC THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING (12A) 210min ooooo
They might as well give Peter Jackson the Oscar now. The Fellowship of the Rings saw Sam and Frodo being led to Mount Doom, Gandalf on his way to Minas Tirith, the City of Kings, and Aragorn preparing to take his cohorts into a battle that will see his return. But Jackson keeps us hanging a little longer for the culmination of the numerous stories and starts with a breathtaking sequence from the second book that tells the story of Smeagol’s transformation into Gollum.
We are also treated to a discussion on the strategy for the impending battle that cleverly doubles as a recap on the story so far. As for the battle, it makes the gargantuan efforts of the previous two films look like a game of tiddlywinks. Eagles, dead people and Oliphaunts all enter the fray. Not even a hairdresser gets to see this many highlights.
Keeping with the philosophy of the books, that even the small and seemingly insignificant have an important part to play, the journey of Frodo, Sam and Gollum is the piece de resistance of the trilogy. The-tension filled journey forces both Gollum and Sam to show their true colours as Frodo suffers under the burden of the ring.
Peter Jackson’s place in cinematic history is cemented with The Return of the King and now Star Wars seems like a film made a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. (Kaleem Aftab)
I General release from Fr/ 12' Dec. See B/g P/cture. page 8.
KISS OF LIFE (12A) 86min «u
Somewhere between longing and love there Is fear and fate. Relatlonshlps over long distances can be fraught or passionate but are generally Invested w:th a stubborn sense of one's own worth and nght to be free. And so It :s and so It always be. Writer director Emily Young's debut feature stands :n the Macedonian half |:ght of Mllcho Manchevskl's Before the Harn. In other words It Is halluclnatory. spaced out and Indeflnably special.
Helen :lngeborga Dapku'talte. Elves lll London ‘.'.’llll her father :Davld V‘larner: and her Klde. John Peter Mullam. her husband. ls an a:d y'rorker In Eastern Europe. One day Helen Is knocked over by a car and kllled. Without knoy'rlng
Dreamin tragic
Cartlldge. Young's flln‘ Inhablts niany of the (ltlllklOS! paradign‘s currently develong lll LJropean cunen‘a. There's the ()llll)ll(l£l|. loaded naturallsn‘ of Pollakoff. the cllnlcal coldness of l odge Kemgan's y‘rork Clare [)o/an In partlcular: and the sln‘ultaneous shan‘anlst
ACTION
TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: THE MOVIE (PG) 93 min 00
1990 belonged to the Nllllél Turtles. front l’)edspreads to actlon figures and. of (:Ourse. the:r masswely popular cartoon. Most folk never even knew It all started out as a far darker conuc tron: the pen of Kevln Eastman. All this; led to the lnevltable ll‘()\.’l(} that every under 12- year-old y'xas clawourlng to see.
New :t's belng rev-released ".‘Jllll restored nunchaka élCliOll that was deemed too violent for the dellcate PG aud:ence of the tune: to colnclde wltl‘. the growlng toy phenomena. apparently thls year's Chrlstmas must have. Movle companles never llke to muss a lucratlve trlck.
The tour turtles n‘utated by l'£l(l|£lll()ll have becon‘e N:nya experts under the tutelage of sense: ratn‘an Spllnter. A crln‘ey'xay'e :s hlttlng New York under the guldance of Shredders nefarous Foot
TANTASY
PETER PAN
(PG) 105min (Unable to review at press time)
Unlted International Plctures want llllS part:cular present to remain unopened lllllll after Chnstmas. but we've tom the wrapping paper a lllllC to get some Idea of what's In store. PJ Hogan has Wisely El‘.’()l(l(}(l the star-struck reVIsIonIsm that brought Spielberg's Hook crashIng to the ground. but can he make Peter Pan fly? The production desIgn seems notava darker. and the casting less shoy'ry. Newcomer Jeremy Sumpter takes the
/ I»
Pizza power revisited
Clan and the turtles areal. that stand bets/eon the Big Apple and chaos. Baslcally' :t's a k:ds' actlon comedy — tn the san‘e ‘.'(}lll as The Goon/es and The Kt’trate Kid -- that has been gly'en a Muppet makeover.
It's dlvertlng enough but compared ‘.'.’llll the sophistlcatlor‘. of F/nmng Ne/no or Spy K/ds tle Is baslc. outdated stuff. Coy'xabunga dude. :l-lenry' Northmore: I Selected release front 75) Dec.
Anyone seen the flying boy?
lead: the fll’Sl occaslon the role has been played by' a boy. Johnny Depp's much antIclpated turn as Klrrlemulr boy JM Barrie In next year's IN’ey/er/and. however. may end up havrng this Peter pan-frled for breakfast. lE(l(ll(} l-larrlson:
I General release from In 26 Dec. See K/ds sect/on. next leJl/O.
HORROR lllRIl l t R TATTOO (18) 108mm «0
The gruesome modus operand: of the serlal kller ': 3le dark German tr::':iier ls
collectlng skln barlng body art. But lest
ou ll‘lllK it‘ls gust another txw‘vc-nt ve ripoff
of that most popular of ser:al krller fllcks. Se/er‘. unwriter-d‘rector Robert Scl‘rxrentke lhere maklng his feature debut: uses the conventzons of that film sub-genre to delve Into the culture of body art. a ‘orm of adornment that dates back to the co age. Whlie strlvlng for the structural contro of the l!llllf$ of Stanley Kuor'ck and moody expresslonlsm of Hm I avg. Tattoo creates :ts ow': :ce age deep :r‘. the "ear: of a
modern German urban n ghti'fe community:
Further dlstanclng lllf; f-lm fro: tSe/en «and Yoon—Ir‘lyun Chang's Korean thriller Tell Me Someth/ng. y'xhlcl‘. Tattoo is all too cleariy lnfluenceu by :. Schwentke suggests
hrs protagonIsts. a rookie cop called Marc Schrader August Dleh; ar‘d (:y".:cal veteran named Defective Manks :Chrzstlan Reol: may =.'./e'l be :n‘p’lcst !" the cn'nes
they're Investlgatrng.
Tattoo :s a confldent film debut by a young filmmaker headed ‘or p gger. badder
and better thlngs. :lvllles l-xelder:
I Selected release from In 2 Jan. See Into/wen". page (5.3.
thls. her husband starts a four day odyssey past dangerous borders to get home. whlie his children wa:t and remember mama.
Orlglnally developed as a l)f()](}(ll for the much mlssed actress Katrl':
34 THE LIST ' ' Rec 1” ".3 a, J”, ;
reasonu:g of l ucas Belvaux. all llll()l'll‘.(}(l by a love of the y'JrIter An‘brose Blerce. ln‘n‘aculate perforn‘ances and product'on from exeryone Involved make th:s a troubllng treat. :Paul [)ale:
I l/l/nhouse. I (:‘rrtbur‘gl‘ from Ii: 2’ Jan.
Skinflick