Films screening this fortnight are listed below with certificate, star rating, credits, brief review and venue details. Film index compiled by Paul Dale
Anything Else ( IS) 000 (Woody Allen. l’S/lirance/NetherIands/l'K. 2003) Jason Biggs. (‘hristina Ricci. Danny De Vito. Woody Allen. 108mm. See review. page 28. l '(K‘ Rertfrett' Street. Glasgow; (i/usgmv: Film/muse. Edinburgh.
Around the World in 80 Days (PG) 0. (Frank (‘oraci . l'SA. 2004) Jackie ('han. Steve ('oogan. Jim Broadbent. ('ecille De l’rance. l20min. Slapstick. comic update of Jules Verne‘s classic adventure story with an all star cast. Jules Verne's Victorian novel is repackaged as a vehicle for liast-West martial arts superstar Jackie ('han and British comedian Steve (‘oogan with terrible results. l-‘idelity to Verne is largely abandoned as many characters have been recast and. to put it bluntly. this action-comedy isn't funny. (ienet'u/ I‘e/euse.
Bad Education (La Mala Educacion) ( IS) 0000. (Pedro .»\lmodovar. Spain. 200-1) (iael (iarcia Bernal. l-‘ele Martinez. Daniel (iimene/ (‘acho. Lluis llomar. 105mm. A successful young movie director linrique (Martinez) receives an unexpected visitor someone claiming to be his childhood friend and lover Ignacio (Bernal). who now prefers to be called Angel. He shows linrique a short story The l'isit about a transsexual singer Zahara (also Bernal) who sleeps with a married admirer called linrique and who attempts to blackmail the priest liather Manolo ((‘acho) who abused her schoolboy self. But who exactly is Angel and why is he carrying around lganacio‘s work‘.’ And what is the connection between Manolo and the mysterious Berenguer (llomar)'.’ Possibly the finest ‘Almodrama' to date. this sizzles with llitchcockian verve and Ripleyesque menace. An absolute delight. Almmlovar is undoubtedly one of the finest filmmakers working in liurope today. ('urneo. Edinburgh.
Before Sunrise ( l5) 0.. (Richard Linklater. L'S. NUS) Julie Delpy. lithan llawke. Andrea lickett. l01min. American lnter-Railer llawke and French student Delpy are the strangers on a train who strike up a chance conversation and spend a night wandering around Vienna. The actors give
career best performances while director Linklater veers into Eric Rohmer territory with a funny. sweet and fundamentally wise movie. ('urnen. lz'dinburgh.
Before Sunset ( IS) .000 (Richard Linklater. US. 2001) lithan llawke. Julie Delpy. 80min. See review, page 27. Seleeted release.
0 The Best of Youth Part 2 (La Meglio Gioventu) ( 15) 0... (Marco Tullio (iiordana. Italy. 2003) See review. page 25. ('urneo. Edinburgh.
Big Fish (P0) .0. (Tim Burton. L'S. 2003) liwan Mc(}regor. Albert Pinney. Billy (‘rudup. Jessica Lange. Alison Lohman.
1 10min. lidward Bloom (liinney) is much loved. but his compulsive yarn-spinning has alienated him from his journalist son Will ((‘rudup). whose wedding day lidward upstaged with a typically scene-stealing speech. listranged since then. lidward and Will are reunited when the father falls ill and the son returns from Paris. together with his French wife. Josephine (Marion ('otillard) who soon falls for lidward's entertaining mendacity. Will. on the other hand. is determined to find the truth behind his father‘s slippery fictions. (‘ue gentle giants. utopian villages full of happy-shiny people. esotic circus performers. cabaret- performing conjoined twins and poetry- spouting bank robbers. l'nfortunately. the film's big moral message is mawkish and disapjmintingly conventional. but Burton country is always worth venturing into for a bit. Film/muse. Edinburgh.
Blue Gate Crossing (Lanse Da Men) (12A) 0.. (Yee (‘hih-yen. Taiwan/France. 2002) Bo-l.in (‘hen. Lun Mei (iuey. Shun llue Liang. 85min. Lin (Liang) likes Zhang (Chen). She asks her friend Meng ((iuey) to tell [hang of her feelings. However. she is attracted to Lin. while [hang falls for Meng. One night the two girls go looking for the boy one of them fancies. but things don't go to plan. Drama about the growing pains of adolescence. Its simple narrative and delicate naturalism have charmed many. This features a great performance from (iucy. I’ilrnhouse. Edinburgh.
Blueberry ( 15) .0 (Jan Kounan. linglish/(ierman/lirench/Spanish. 200-1) Vincent (‘asseL Juliette Lewis. liddie luard. lirnest Borgnine. Michael Madsen. 124mm. See review. page 26. (.'(i(' Renfi'ew Street. Glasgow. Glasgow; (,'(i(' ('inernm Edinburgh. Edinburgh.
The Cat in the Hat (PG) .0 (Bo Welch. US. 2003) Mike Myers. Alec Baldwin. Kelly Preston. Dakota Fanning. Spencer Breslin. 82min. American classic.
magazine Publishing
(Over: Term ’ Jennifer Garner is 13 Going on 30
index Film
perverted and robbed of any charm. Mike
Myers‘ golden touch may have just come to
an end. Mind you. this did pretty well in the
states. but there is. of course. no accounting
for public taste. (irosvenm: (ilusgmv.
Cheaper By the Dozen (PG) 00
(Shawn Levy. US. 2003) Steve Martin.
Bonnie Hunt. Piper Perabo. Tom Welling.
llilary Duf. 97min. Tom Baker (Martin) is a
football coach who finds himself moving to
a big-name job in (‘hicago while trying to
keep his huge family under control when
his author wife Kate (Bonnie Hunt) has to
go on an unexpected book tour. Another
dull. harassed dad comedy from Martin.
remade from a 1950 (‘lifton Webb vehicle.
(X 'I ( ‘lvdebunk. ( 'lvdebunk: ( (‘1
Edinburgh. Edinburgh.
Confessions of a Teenage Drama
Queen (PG) .0. (Sara Sugarman.
US. 2004) Lindsay Lohan. Adam (iarcia.
Alison Pill. Megan Fox. 89min. Teenage
princess Lola (Lohan) is devastated when
family circumstances dictate that she has
to move from New York to live in New
Jersey. In her new suburban surrounds
Lola is determined to prove that you can
take the girl out of New York. but you
can't take New York out of the girl as she
makes the most of her native sassiness to
land the lead role in the high school
musical. In the process she makes enemies
of the rich kid (‘arla Santini (Fox) and
befriends the self-doubting lilla (Pill). The " friendship between Lola and lilla is tested r i when the best friends head into New York to woo a drunken British rock star ((iarcia). Above average simplistic moral life lesson movie. a kind of pre-Set and the City as it were. .S'ter ( 'entury (’inernu. lz‘dinburgh.
The Cooler ( 15) .00 (Wayne Kramer. LS. 2003) William H Macy. Alec Baldwin. Maria Bello. Shawn llatosy. Ron Livingston. Paul Sorvino. l0|min. Bernie Lootl (Macy) is all otit of luck. Which is good for Las Vegas casino boss Shelly Kaplow (Baldwin). who exploits Loot/'s infectious bad fortune to manage the card tables and crap shoots to his advantage. But when cocktail waitress Natalie Belisario (Bello) walks into Loot/.‘s life. he begins to shake off his bad karma. Which spells ill fortttne for tough guy Shelly. Kramer's feature debut plays on a series of clever. humorotIs ironies wherein one individual's misfortune becomes the good luck of another. The ('uuler 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 became 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 (‘arlos Presnadillo‘s Iltluelrr managed this silly concept so much better. Ster (‘enturv ('inentu. Edinburgh.
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (l2) 0... (Ang Lee. (‘hina/l'S. 2000) Michelle Yeoh. (‘how Yun-l-‘at. [hang Ziyi. , ('hang (‘hen. l20min. Jane Alisten meets ‘rj r
Bruce Lee in Ang Sense and Sensibility F W . __~ W ‘
Lee's astonishing martial arts period drama. ‘2 i 3"- R C- E l J r U Jr’- K In a lictionalised version of early 19th
century China. a world of heroic warriors
and deep philosophical values. Lee
seamlessly interweaves the stories of two
sets of lovers. and a revenge tale with a
feminist twist. The light scenes are
groundbreaking. as choreographed by expert
Yuen Wo Ping. At once breathtaking and
beautiful. (’rnuehing 'I'iger's also a
cinematic landmark: its fusion of the best
elements from East and West cinema has
created something wholly new. (i/usgrm-
I’i/rn Theatre. (ilusgrm'.
Cul De Sac ( 18) 0... (Roman
Polanski. l,’K. 196(3) Lionel Slander. Donald
Pleasance. Francoise Dorleac. l l lmin.
liarly British exercise in Polanskian
absurdity stars wounded gangster Slander
turning up on the remote island owned by
Prospero figure Pleasance and his
apparently ill-matched concubine. The
result is something like Beckett meets The
Tempest. with a cineaste's knowing
cynicism added to the strange brew. An odd
one. ((34. (i/usgmi:
22 Jul—5 Aug 2004 THE LIST 29