1*"
farrrrl, have llitl‘."f,‘fl to a new town .‘.’irl.'ll.‘ l aura". got nay pals. l aura's lrttle llrothrer rs a sgurrl loo, l'ver her f.r'.ourrte tow. lear and Mrnnre Halllllt offer no r:rurnl)s of r;ornlort. lhen l aura frnds a star .‘.rith a llroken pornt. It has rnagrr; pox'rers and l aura soon frnds herself on a series of petrt adventures.
lzru/a's Star rs a run of the rnrll fantasy feature cartoon rnade strretly for the pre teens. hut even thrs aurlrentte wrll struggle to he enthralled for the whole ride. It's all very sweet hut the trouble Is that Klaus Haurngart's hook from whreh thrs cartoon rs hased rs a snappy (£0 pages and the elongation of the story has done l aura no favours at all. lakrng rts lead frornl 7. the frlrn has I aura drseover'rng that unless she returns her star to the skies from whence rt earne. rt wrll lose rts rnagrr: and fade. Unfortunately. there rs no angel dust avarlahle on the market at the moment that could reseue this anrrnatron fr'orn herng a hog standard. unrnsprrrng affarr. (Kaleern Allah) I (it PHD/(l/ r‘e/t H180 fro/n Fri -J Feb.
HOUKUMI NlAllY
RAMONES: END OF THE CENTURY
(15) 108min 0.00
lhe drarnatre are of thrs roekumentary spans the exertrng. drsturhrng and depressing. The first thrrd of Mrehael Gramaglra and Jun Yrelds' frlrn detarls how four krds from Queens got together rn 1974 to form the frrst punk hand and. wrth their hlrsterrng raw sound. redefrned rnusre. l‘he second third traces the rntluentte the Ramones had on every hand from the Sex Prstols to the lalkrng Heads. but how Joey Johnny Dee Dee and Tommy never achrex ed the fame and fortune they wanted. The frnal thrr'd of End of the Centun (the trtle of the parnful vrnyl collaboration Wrth nutcase Phrl Speetorl focuses on the dysfunctronal nature of the rndrvrduals (Tommy excepted) and the hand as a whole. A coda featuring the original foursome belatedly berng rnaugurated rnto the Rock'n’Roll Hall of Fame doesn't do much to lighten the mood of thrs dark toned documentary And rt doesn’t help that three quarters of
the or'rgrnal lrne~up are now dead. But then that's the story of roek'n' r'oll. isn't rt? And what a story. From the three—Chord workouts at the legendary drve CBCGs. through personal problems from drugs to grrls and back agarn. to endless touring and the rmrnutahrlrty of the band's sound. thrs rs the essentral story of the Ramones. Now. after me: 'Hey ho. let's . . .' llvlrles Frelderl I Cameo. EdrnlM/rglr from Frr 4 Feb.
ANIMATION
THE SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS MOVIE (U) 87min .0
As anyone under five can tell you. SpongeBob rs a cheerful. hrghly mOtIvated sponge. He wears square pants. but rs otherwrse smartly dressed. and he lives rn Brkrnr
TO DIE FOR
Spanish composer, writer, editor and director ALEJANDRO AMENABAR’s (pictured) new film THE SEA INSIDE is based on the memoir of Ramon Sampedro, a man paralysed in a freak accident who went on to become something of a spokesman for the Euthanasia movement. Here he talks about the man. his family and the public reaction to his controversial film.
‘The family were very pleased. I talked to them before I started writing, even before I decided to get into this project. I just wanted to know what they thought about the idea. They were neither reluctant nor enthusiastic. Then I asked them for some anecdotes of Rambn, and they told me what life in their house was like. After the writing I gave them the script, they approved it, making some comments but basically approving it. And then after I finished the film I showed it to them, and they loved it.
‘I truly think Ramén was extraordinary. When I was writing the film I was conscious of anyone who endures and wants to go on living. I didn’t want the film to be an insult to anyone. I tried to be very careful with that, I didn’t want to encourage people to kill themselves, but I wanted to tell the story of this man. Eventually it’s just about asking yourself how much you love your life. In my case the more he said he wanted to die, the more I respected him and at the same time the more alive I felt. Rambn wanted to live with dignity. And for him life without movement had no dignity. We are talking about a man who travelled around the world in his 208, so movement was important to him. But I think what he wanted was to die with dignity, which didn’t happen because his situation was not recognised by the law. So he had to die alone and suffer.
‘The film hasn’t been attacked or anything. Most of the people who’ve gone to see it have liked it, though we’ve had people from the church who say it’s not good. They say Rambn is a bad example and that the film shouldn’t have been made. People who say that also say they haven’t seen the film and don’t intend to see it. But mostly what you get is people who’ve seen it and really
liked it.’
I The Sea Inside rs on Selected release from Fri 7 7 Feb. See review,
page 45 and profile, page 46.
Bottom. a brrghtly coloured undersea world wrth the same corporate feel as A Sharks Tale. When prejudice agarnst Bob's relatrve yOuth causes hrrn to be passed over fer a promotron at local eatery the Krusty Krab ll. Bob sets out to save the day by savrng hrs undeservrng boss Mr Krabs from being framed for stealing Krng Neptune's crown. The SpongeBob SouarePants ll/fovre rs a less than
absorbing Nrr;kelode0n channel Spin—off. desprte extraneous vocal support from Alec Bald .vrn as an undersea hrtman and Scarlett Johannsson as Nlllld/ the Mermaid. One extra star for a truly gruesome low angle ll“/F:-8Cll0fl shot of Dal/rd Hasselnoff. and for the endlessl/ quotable lrne — “You don't need a licence to drrve a sand r/rch‘. lEddre Harrrsom
I General release from Frr 7 7 Feb.
'2—7 " Fer, 2’17, THE LIST 47