m \L‘“ .ICI'\L'_\ and the (IUD (l0 lltCll' lk‘xl It) raixe young (iertie l(‘axtroi. (ione are ('lvrAx w riter/director Smith'x trademark comic book relierencex. lart iokex and quirky oll beat dialogue. Inxtead we are threatened with a xecotid rate rerun of Three Men and a little [.(Ith. but the film t'axt- l'orwardx eight yearx and itixt ax all hope ix loxt. Allleck triex to rent out a porno in the local \ ideo xtore without hix daughter noticing. 'l‘hrough l.i\ 'l‘y ler‘x \‘ideo clerk Maya. Smith reyealx hix true xell‘ and .xtickx two lingerx up at hix doubterx. 'l‘y ler. in a role ,xhe wax born to play. delixerx a mexmerixing performance whoxe monologuex match the hext from ('li'rkx or ('liusi'nu :lmr. Through her relationxhip with Al‘l‘leck it becomex apparent that Smith'x opening xal\o wax itxelt' an attack on the com entionx ol' the rom—com genre. .-\ gem that ix bound to be mixconxtrued. (Mum. Izili'Ii/mrg/i.
The Jungle Book 2 (1') 0.
(SIM C 'I'I'L‘nlttt'llt. IS. 2003) Voich oI': John (ioodman. lltth) .loel ()xment. .\l;tL‘ Whitman. 7lniin. .\Iogli hax Iel‘t the jungle to become ciyilixed in the Village. But. l‘eeling conxtrained by the rulex and regulationx of Village lil'e. it’x not long belot‘e he'x back xwinging l'rom the yinex. picking prickly paw-pawx and xinging about IIIC ‘Bare NL‘L‘CxinlLW Ul~ I.II.L". liyen IlluxL‘ who loyed the original I)i.xney claxxic will feel mildly inxulted at xeeing the xhow re- run with the xame xongx. xame characterx and xame xty le ol' animation. Sadly. thix an L‘\L‘t‘L‘l\L‘ llt IL‘pltI noxtalgia llt llx place. .S'lr'l' (T'II/IUW ('im'mu. Iii/Inluu'e/i.
King Arthur t IZAi .0 (Antoine l‘uqua. l’S/Ireland. IOU-Ii ('Iixe ()wen. loan (irulludd. Ix'iera Knightly. IZSmm. The King Arthur myth rey ixited. Arthur ix in the pay ol' the Roman Iimpire and juxt about e\et'yone clxe ix a merchant or a barbarian. In the handx ol' 'high concept‘ moin producer and popcorn cinema pioneer Jerry Bruckheimer. thix interexting hixtorical re\ ixionixm ix dixgarded in layour ol‘ macho l'antaxy heroicx reminixcent of. but in no way ax entertaining ax. the Bi'tic‘kxtc't”x prc\ iotix hit. The l’inm'i oft/1c (‘uri/ilu'un. Antoine Ira/lime l)u\ I‘uqua'x direction might be xlick. but the xcript by Day id (i/iuliu/or l't‘att/oni lackx
xcope. depth. wit. wixdom and humour. Worxe. King Arthur ,xorely needx a leading man. (live ()wen. xo watchable in The (’rnupi'c'r. ixti'l it. (it'm'm/ release. Lakshya 1 12A) (l-‘arhan Akhtar. India. 2004) Ilrithik Roxhan. Preity '/.inta. Amitabh Bachchan. ()m Purifl‘he story of a cluelexx teenager who endx up being a war martyr. lt‘x baxed on the Indian Army‘s 199‘) xkiriiiixliex with Pakixtani intruders in the heightx of Kargil dixtrict in the rextiy-e .xtate of Jammu and Kathir. The hugely popular Indian epic tracex the journey of a cadet with an unuxually harxh and intelligent .xenxibility (for Hollywood). Newcomer Ilrithik Roxhan and xcreen legend Amitabh Bachchan .xtar. (i/usgmi- I-‘ilm Theatre. Glasgow.
0 Last Life in the Universe ( IS) 0... tl’en-Iik Ratanaruang, 'I’hailand/ Japan. 2003) 'l‘adanobu Axano. Sinitta Boonyaxak. l.aila Bonnyaxak. 109mm. A poker black comedy from the director of Man mk 'I'I‘unsixlm'. A myxterious. obxexxiye compulxive. xuicidal .lapanexe man living in Bangkok ix thrown together with a Thai woman through a tragic chain of eyentx. Weird and wonderful. the legendary (‘hrix I)oyle lln the Mom/for Ixm') pt‘oyitlex the incendiary cinematography. Film/muse. lz'rliitlmi'g/i.
0 The Last Victory (PG) 0000 (John Appel. Netherlandx, 2004) 89min. See prey iew. page H and review. page 16. film/muse. Iii/inlmrglt.
Late Night Shopping l 15) .000 tSaul Met/xtein. l'K. 3(X)l ) l.uke de Wooll'xoon. lin/o (’ilenti. Kate Axhlield. Jamex Lance. Ileike .\Iakat.xch. ()Imin. Director Met/xtein and writer lack l.othian'x debut ix a romantic comedy lilmed in (ilaxgow. though .xet in what could be any large city. about four .xlackerx waxting their lives working night ,xhil‘tx' in \‘arioux menial jobx. I.othian hax drawn on hix own all-night xhell' .xtacking experiencex. turning out a wordy and witty xcript. .\Iet/xtein bringx to hix creative partner’s xcript a line .xenxe of pacing and handxome gloxx linixh courtexy ol‘ ace cinematographer Brian 'I'ul‘ano i'l'mimpolling. 15ml Ix limit. Long liye Brit cinema. ('(Il (ilusguu:
index Film
WINNER
BEST FILM none none nun CRITICS' SOCIETY mm 2004
WINNER
BEST SONG «one KONG mm mm 2004
(NOMINATED
CATEGORIES actuom BEST PICTURE MONO KONG FILM AWARDS 2004
“Superb”
**** *‘k‘k‘k
“Entertaining i and engrossing”
“Fascinating” ****
Hat
_ -fjil J _i ' Art
1 fit .iA
THE BIRTH OF
A «I! 3 I l I .. A mmrtmu IRS.80.IJK 'H
STARTS AUGUST 6 ,
EDINHURGH m -u'w’t 0 1 288 0 333m
AND AT CINEMAS ACROSS THE COUNTRY '}
5—12 Aug 2004 THE LIST 19