FILM LIST

although the hard edge of the original is inevitably blunted. Glasgow; GFT

0 Personal Services ( 18) (Terry Jones, UK, 1986) Julie Walters,

Shirley Stelfox, Alec McCowen. 105 mins. Suggested by the life. times and social etiquette of Cynthia Payne, this ribald and engaging commentary on the British way of sex features a top-notch performance by Julie Walters as the knowing yet somehow naive madam. Glasgow; GFT 0 Peter Pan (U) (Walt Disney Productions. US. 1952) Disney delight in which the aerodynamic Pan conquers the evil of Captain Hook. Strathclyde; Odeon Hamilton 0 Pink Floyd: The Wall ( 15) (Alan Parker. UK, 1982) Bob Geldof. Bob Hoskins. 92 mins. Hysterically overwrought, plodding story of a burnt-out rock star and his paranoid self-obsession as he sits in a Los Angeles hotel room watching The Dam Busters. A treat for the hard of hearing. Glasgow; Grosvenor 0 Point Blank ( 18) (John Boorman. US, 1967) Lee Marvin. Angie Dickinson. John Vernon. 92 mins. Boorman‘s breakthrough film is one of the bleakest thrillers ever to come out of Hollywood in its portrayal of a corrupt and spiritually empty society where the individual counts for nothing. Cool. dry. classic. Edinburgh; Cameo O Rabid (18) (David Cronenberg. Canada, 1977) Marilyn Chambers. Frank Moore. Joe Silver. 90 mins. After a nasty spill. motorcyclist Chambers undergoes plastic surgery and reawakens with an unhealthy appetitie for human blood. Superior, visceral gore from the King of Venereal Horror. Edinburgh: Cameo 0 Radio Days (PG) (Woody Allen. US. 1987) Mia Farrow. Dianne Weist. Seth Green. 89 mins. Amiably laid back family reminiscing about the early Forties and the golden age of radio. Potpourri of modest charm held together by an armful of reliable performances from old hands and the usual flashes of wit and wisdom but still a pleasant time passer for both director and audience. Edinburgh; Dominion o The Rescuers (U) (Walt Disney Productions. US. 1977) Less than classic anthropomorphic Disney animation. Glasgow; Odeon. Edinburgh; Odeon o The Return of Martin Guerra (15) (Daniel Vigne. France. 1982) Gerard Depardieu, Nathalie Baye. 111 mins. Depardieu returns to his wife and family after a seven-year absence. He appears to have changed beyond all recognition which leads to claims that he is an imposter. A true story from the 16th century, solidly re-enacted. Glasgow; GFI‘ 0 Room With A View (PG) (James Ivory, UK, 1985) Helena Bonham Carter, Maggie Smith, Daniel Day Lewis. 117 mins. Elegantly mounted with an agreeable lightness of tone this is a near-perfect screen version

l

Tin Men (15) (Barry Levinson, US, 1987) Richard Dreyfuss, Danny De Vito, Barbara Hershey. 112 mins. Baltimore, 1963. Billy Babowsky (Dreyfuss) and Ernest Tilley (De Vito) are worlds apart. Babowsky is a single, smooth operator, an expert at his work and a hot mover on the dancefloor. Tilley is a struggling slob with a quarrelsome, mousy wife, a mortgage and a financial situation that never allows ends to correspond let alone meet. They have nothing in common except a shared profession as aluminium siding salesmen, tin men. Then, Tilley crashes into Babowsky’s brand new Cadillac. ‘My car's got a sixteenth of a mile on it, and already it's been hit,’ he fumes. Suddenly, they also have an ever-escalating feud in common.

Babowsky takes the dent as a personal affront that demands revenge and like overgrown schoolboys weaned on a Laurel and Hardy philosophy of tit tortat, two seemingly adult men are at each other's throats.

Given the often parlous state of American contemporary comedy, there is probably sufficient material in writer-director Barry Levinson’s initial premise to justify a full-length feature. However, Tin Men is an infinitely more thoughtful and complex proposition that only reveals its full splendours as time progresses. As the two protagonists rise to the challenge of how to really, totally undermine the dignity of their adversary Babowsky smarmily strikes upon the ultimate

of the Forster novel with some dandy acting. Strathclyde: Odeon Ayr

0 Round Midnight( til i Bertrand 'l‘averner. LS France. l98o) l)exter (iordon. l-‘raneois(ilu/et. l.onclte McKee. 133 mins. In the l’arisofthe late 1950s a young l~'rench ia/z fan looks after Bebop legend l)ale 'l‘urner. engagingly played by real-life maestro (iol‘tlmi. lest he drink his weary body into the grave.

Relentlessly touching character study with sortie fine playing and one unforgettable performance. To limit the film to the ‘iax/ moy'ie’ tag neglects its cai'ew orn wisdom and easy-going charm.

Edinburgh; Filmhouse

0 Salvation! (18) a (Beth B. US. 1987) Stephen McHattie. Dominique Davalos. 80 mins. Slick, unscrupulous TV evangelist McHattie is seduced. blackmailed, battered and bruised by a gang of no-goods and then finds that one of them makes a success as his spiritual sidekick and is able to deliver the message of God via heavy metal concerts. Weird, meandering, ramshackle, often just plain awful feature from the maker of videos for Joan Jett and Taka Boom. Edinburgh; Cameo

o The Secret of My Success (PG) 1k (Herbert Ross. US. 1987) Michael J. Fox. Helen Slater. Richard Jordan. 111 mins. Country bumpkin Fox strikes out for New York determined to make his mark in the cut-throat

insult; he will seduce Tilley’s wile Hora (Barbara Hershey). He does so with ease only to discover that Tilley's marriage was already on the rocks and that he has fallen in love with Nora, and the original Sixties’ swinger must commit himself to a relationship and all the uncharacteristic selflessness that that entails. Meanwhile, both men find their jobs on the line when a Home Improvement Commission begins to investigate their frequently unscrupulous business practices.

After several interesting diversions, Tin Men returns Levinson to the territory he mined so successfully in Diner; humour that stems from human hang-ups and recognisable characters situated in a vividly realised time and

world of Big Apple big business.

Slick. sleekly photographed yuppie comedy that is entirely predictable and as obnoxious in its view of the world as Top (Jun but entertains in a mindless manner thanks to a sympathetic cast. a surprising streak of non-sexism and the personable Fox once again displays his faultless comedy technique.

0 The Shining (18) (Stanely Kubrick, US. 1980) Jack Nicholson. Shelley Duvall. Anne Jackson. 144 mins. Kubrick‘s overwrought horror film dispenses with much of the psychic apparatus of Stephen King‘s novel to concentrate on the deeper terror of a family turning in on itself. Nicholson. with all the stops out, is bug-eyed and demonic as the father bringing much aggression to bear against his son. The final scenes are literally chilling. Edinburgh; Cameo

o Snoopy Come Home (U) (Bill Melendez. US. 1972) With the voices ofChad Webber. David Carey. 70 mins. Second Peanuts feature cartoon in which a disillusioned Snoopy sets off to find a canine Utopia. Edinburgh; Filmhouse

0 Something Wild (18) (Jonathan Demme. US.1987)JeffDaniels. Melanie Griffiths. Ray Liota. 113 mins. Another yuppie in peril laff fest to top After Hours and Desperately Seeking Susan with its deft blend of kooky komedy and emotional resonance all floating

setting from his own past. Tin Men has its share of cliches and stereotypes but it is a thoroughly refreshing and entertaining character comedy with top-notch performances. Levinson has a sensitive eye and ear for quirky period detail and authentic behaviour whether in his depictions of the tin men’s sales scams or the coffee table conversations about the deteriorating realism of Bonanza. Barbara Hershey handles the age-old Cinderella transformation with freshness and aplomb whilst both De Vita and Dreyfuss display zip and zest as the well-matched partners in an all too recognizably real petty-mindedness born of arrested development. Tin Men is a copper-bottomed pleasure.

around in the most eclectically non-stoppingest soundtrack in years. A movie with style and savvy that treats its audience on equal terms. 000.1 miss it. Lothian; Cannon

0 Straight to Hell ( 15) rs (Alex Cox. UK. 1986) Dick Rude. Joe Strummer. Dennis Hopper. Grace Jones. 86 mins. Best place for Cox‘s atrocioust self-indulgent spaghetti western piss-take which must be in contention as one of the worst films ofthe decade. if not the century. Edinburgh; Cameo

0 Streetwise (18) (Martin Bell. US. 1984) 90 mins. Campaigning investigative documentary on the dispossessed street kids of Seattle‘s skid row. Edinburgh; Filmhouse

0 Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (PG) (SidneyJ. Furie. US. 1987) Christopher Reeve. Gene Hackman. 90 mins.

Superman. as we all know. is never allowed to intercede in the destiny of the world but when a young schoolboy writes to him eXpressiti his fear of the nuclear age and asking him to stand up and be counted what's a caring superhero to do‘.’ Superman appears before the United Nations proclaiming that he will rid the world of all nuclear weapons. A laudable intent that plays straight into the hands of his arch enemy Lex Luthor whose latest plan for world domination rests on the potent. invincible charms of Nuclear Man.

The List 16 29 October 15