good for Las Vegas casino boss Shelly Kaplow (Baldwin). who exploits Lootz's infectious bad fortune to manage the card tables and crap shoots to his advantage. But when cocktail waitress Natalie Belisario (Bello) walks into Lootz's life. he begins to shake off his bad karma. Which spells ill fortune for tough guy Shelly. Kramer‘s feature debut plays on a series of clever. humorous ironies wherein one individual's misfortune becomes the good luck of another. The Cooler also plays on the notion of lovers making their own luck. and Kramer pulls off that trick without dealing a cliched deck. That‘s largely because the romance between Loot]. and Natalie. unlikely as it is. is shot through with the passion and desperation of a couple of life‘s no hopers. Despite all this Juan Carlos Fresnadillo‘s Intaelo managed this silly concept so much better. Selected release. Cowboy Be-Bop ( DA) .0. (Shinichiro Watanabe. Japan. 2(X)3) Voices of Knichi Yamadera. Beau Billingslea. L'nsho Ishizuka. Megumi Hayashibara. Wendee Lee. Melissa Charles. 1 16min. Based on a classic Japanese comic that was later tnade into a popular TV series. this Japanese anitne arrives over here with hearty recommendations from genre fans. When a tanker truck is blown up in the middle of a busy street and a deadly viral infection is released. Spike Spiegel and his Bebop crew are the only people who can find the culprit. Manga madness. North Edinlntrgh A rts~ Centre. Iftlt'nlnttgh.
The Groupier ( 15) 0... (Mike Hodges. UK. 1997) Clive ()wen. (iina McKee. Alex Kingston. (Minin. Jack (Owen) is a struggling writer who takes tip a job in a London casino where he quickly proves himself to be an accomplished croupier. But he finds himself assisting Jeni (Kingston). a South African gambler who's apparently in debt to a gang of criminals. Hodges‘ taut. intelligent and darkly amusing drama combines cinematic flair and thematic substance. unfolding in a dream- like. hall-of-mirrors world. peopled by con artists. card sharks. and inveterate liars. Propelled by ()wen’s impressively watchful and poised central performance. it boasts a delicious ()edipal twist in its denouement. (CA. Glasgow:
The Day After Tomorrow t 12A)
0. (Roland Emmerich. 2004) Dennis Quaid. Jake (iyllenhaal. limmy Rossum. [)ash Mihok. Jay () Sanders. [an Holm. Kenneth Welsh. l2-1min. Climatologist Jack Hall (Quaid) and Professor Rapson (Holm) spot sortie drastic climate changes — drops in water temperature. freak storms. hailstones the size of bricks. Now they tnust convince sceptical vice-president Becker (Welsh) that their initial estimation for the coming of the new ice age in ‘100 to 1000 years time’ has been rapidly revised to the day after tomorrow. Withotit any character empathy. no amount of CG] will generate any drama. and without drama there can be no suspense and no fear. This movie. to have any effect whatsoever. needs us to feel frail. vulnerable and helpless faced with the awesome power of nature. It doesn't. limmerich has dutnped on the movie-going world a soulless and sub-standard cut-and- paste job from his own vile and risible Intlepentlenee Day. entirely devoid of suspense. humour. emotion or creativity. General release.
Daybreak (Le Jour Se Leve) (PG) 0... (Marcel Carne. France. 1939) Jean Gabin. Arletty. Jules Berry. Jacqueline Laurent. 87min. Standout performance by (iabin as a doomed factory worker. holed tip with a gun in an attic. surrounded by police. remembering in flashback the circumstances of jealousy and murder that brought him there. ()ne of the most memorable examples of French poetic realism. Flint/muse. lidt'nlnttgh.
Death and the Maiden ()8) 000 (Roman Polanski. UK/US/France. 199-1) Sigoumey W 'aver. Ben Kingsley. Stuart Wilson. 104mm. A former torture victim believes the man who helped her husband when his car had a flat is the doctor who abused her years before. Polanski thinks
he‘s doing a llitchcockian thriller (which trivialises Ariel l)orfman‘s source material). while Weaver waves a gun arotmd like there's something creepy. crawly and extraterrestrial under the bed. CCA. (llasgmv: I'ilmltause. Edinburgh.
Deep Blue (P(}) .0. (Andy Byatt 8; Alastair Fothcrgill. UK/(iermany. 2003) 90min. Alastair Fothergill. the former head of BBC 'l‘elevision‘s Natural History L'nit. presents Deep Blue. a kind of big screen way to represent the best bits of Blue Planet. Put together with half an eye on worldwide commercial prospects this plays far more on the emotional response to these amazing images of aquatic life. Michael (iambon‘s narration is wisely kept to a minimum. While the intimacy of the photography and editing renders each encounter almost personal. even the most extreme feels accessible. making for an emotional and absorbing film. (ieorge Fenton and the Berlin Philharmonic's score turns this into a kinetic. exhilarating and genuinely unmissable experience but at the end of the day this is just non-linear bits of blown-up television footage. filtered through the imagination of an [MAX viewer. Seleetetl release.
Dev ( 15) ((iovind Nihlani. India. 2003) Amitabh Bachchan. ()tn Puri. Farheen Khan. Kareena Kapoor. Weathered but decent police officer Dev Pratap Singh (Bachchan) and Special Commissioner chinder Khosla (Puri) are a great team. especially when faced with the slightly corrupt actions of Chief Minister Bhandarker. But one day unemployed law graduate Farheen (Khan) enters their life and drives a wedge between them that will test their bond of friendship to the limits. Remarkably hard hitting Hindi police thriller starring India's answer to Sean Connery and the superb Puri (lz‘ast Is liast) in a surprising return to Indian film. ()(l(‘()li a! the Quay. Glasgow; Glasgow; (,'CI Clytlehank. ( 'lytlehank.
ECA Animation Degree Show (NC) (Various. L’K. 200-1) 90min. The lidinburgh College of Art's student's work showreel. See Rough Cuts. page 26. l-‘tlmhouse. lz'tlt'nlnogh.
EDA Degree Show/Film/TV (tbc) (Various. UK. 2004) Variouszis the season for those student showreels. Talent scouts alert! See Rough Cuts. page 26. l-‘t'lmhouse. lit/inlnugh.
Eating Out ( l8) (Allan Brocka. L'S. 200-1) Scott Lunsford. Jim Verraros. Ryan Carries. 90min. (iay Kyle (Jim Verraros) and his straight flattnatc Caleb (Scott Lunsford) are both young and unlucky in love in this highly rated comedy. Desperate for some action. muscle-bound Caleb pretends to be gay to get in with the girlies. When he meets cute. kooky (iwen (limin Stiles). he pretends to fancy her flatmate Marc (Ryan Carnes) in order to get closer to her. But then he finds himself alone with Mark and his resolute straightness is put to the test. Part of the London Lesbian and (lay Film Festival on Tour. Glasgow I-‘ilm Theatre. Glasgow
Les Entants du Paradis (PG) 0... (Marcel Carne. France. 19-15) Arletty. Jean-Louis Barrault. 190mm. Marcel Carne's classic tragic tale centers of ill-fated lovers. theatre tnimes. attractive actresses and a woman-about-town who calls herself (iarance. (ireat sttiff. if a little over poweringly emotive for a modern audience. Film/rouse. Edinburgh.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind ( IS) .0... (Michel (iondry. LS. 2004) Kate Winslet. Jim Carey. Tom Wilkinson. Kirstin [)unst. l08min. Charlie Kaufman‘s second collaboration with director Michel (iondry (after Human Nature) is his best film yet. Like Being John .l’hllktll‘lt‘ll. liternal .S'unshine is a wildly itnaginativc
flight of fantasy. This film‘s gloriously balmy conceit sees Carrey‘s lovelorn loser. Joel Barish. having the painful memories of his ex-girlfriend surgically removed. She's Clementine Kruczynski (Winslet). a loveably wild. itnpetuous girl who. an increasingly miserable Barish discovers. had the procedure performed upon her after she got bored with their relationship and ended it. ()ver the course of a night the staff (Mark Rufallo. Dunst and Wilkinson) of a non- descript medical facility. Lacuna lnc obliterate Barish's memories. but when Barish finds himself semi-conscious. he decides he wants to retain his memories. l'nable to fully wake to halt the procedure. a crazy cat-and-moUse chase through the patient's subconscious begins. with Barish attempting to hide Clementine in deeply repressed memories. places the Lacuna techies would never think of probing. It‘s an outrageously demented ride. but underlying this terrific trip are some serious metaphysical questions about human relationships. Can love cndurc‘.’ If not. was it worth it in the first place‘.’ (lenius. .S‘eleetetl release.
Eurotrip ( )5) oo (Jeff Schaffer. t'S. 2004) Scott Mechlowicz. Jacob Pitts. Kristin Kreuk. Cathy Meils. Nial lskhakov. 90min. See review page 27. (ieneral release.
FUBAR ( 15) 0.. (Michael l)owsc. Canada. 2002) Paul Spence. David Lawrence. (iordon Skilling. Tracey Lawrence. Sage Lawrence. 76min. Low budget Canadian independent spoof documentary that reinterprets a million forgotten Saturday .\'ight Live routines with occasionally liilat'iotts effects. Dean Murdoch (Paul Spense) and Terry Caltill live in Calgary. they love shotgunnittg cans of beers. burning shit. listening to heavy tnetal and speed growing their classic Canadian ‘hockey hair‘ mullets. Farrel Mitchener (Skilling) is an earnest young documentarian who wants to capture this spurious post-youth demographic iii his new film. It is a tnecting of very different minds. A harsh. dark but frighteningly accurate no brainer spoof. you may just recognise yourself or a few of your friends in this film. (ilasgow l-i'ltn Theatre. Glasgow. Fear X ( 12A) 0... (Nicolas Winding Refit. ('anada/l)enmark/lTK/Bra/il. 200-1) John 'I‘urturro. [)eborah L'nger. James Retnar. Olmin. The seemingly pointless murder of the wife of Harry Cain ('l‘urturro) in a Wisconsin mall is the setting for Rcfn‘s first foray into [English language filmmaking. a screenwriting collaboration with novelist Hubert Selby Jr. It is exhilarating stttff (though marred by a weak second half) as Harry literally drives hitnself nuts trying to work out why his wife was killed. and in the process perhaps make a little sense of the world he inhabits. As with the Danish director’s earlier efforts. the electric I’usher and Dealer. I'ear X essays the psychology and social circumstance behind crime rather than its violent external expression. CCA. (ilasgou: The Flower of Evil (La Fleur du Mal) ( l5) (Claude Chabrol. France. 2003) Benoit Magitnel. Nathalie Baye. Melanie l)outey. Suzanne Flon. 10-lmin. See review. page 27. SCICCH'tl release.
The Fog of Wartl’ti) 00000 (lirrol Morris. l7SA. 2003) 106mm. Assembled from archival footage and some 20 hours of one-on-one interviews with Robert McNamara. the former secretary of defence in the Kennedy and Nixon administrations. Morris' compelling documentary presents McNamara’s own perspective of his involvement in epochal events such as World War ll. the Cuban missile crisis and the Vietnam war. Morris the questioner stays off-screen. and doesn't call on other witnesses. as we watch this still pugnacious 85-year-old recollect the decisions be made which shaped world history. \Vilh this frightening and fascinating glimpse into the life of the mart who is possibly l)onald Rttmsfield's greatest influence. Morris yet again proves that he is the most vital and important documentary feature filmmaker working in the LS today. (i/asgow I’ll/n 'l‘lieatre. Glasgow.
24 Jun—8 Jul 2004 THE LIST 31