FILM LIST
“Exotic delicacies to please everyone"
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“You certainly don’t have to be an opera bull to enjoy the dazzling ‘ work often of the world’s great film-makers"
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“An operatic film like no other"
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00 OGBV STEREO
ROSE STREET GLASGOW 041 ~ 332 6535
Best Seller (18) (John Flynn, US, 1987) James Woods, Brian Dennehy, Victoria Tennant. 94 mins. Best Seller Is a nlltlly cralted thriller that would once have served estimable muster as a superior supporting leature. Pushed into the limelight as a main leature it reveals lar too many plotholes to withstand the promotion but still remains intriguing throughout and distinctively acted.
The doughty Brian Dennehy is a battle-weary cop and bestselling writer whose dual career and comtortable lilestyle are in jeopardy lrom a persistent writer's block in the altennath oi his wlle’s death. Then he is approached by Woods’s icily vengeiul, psychotic assassin. The lonner employee oi a major corporation,Woods lethal responsibility was to remove ‘llablllties’ to the expansion oi their empire. llow he wants to blow the whistle on his lonner boss,an esteemed business entrepreneur with a screed ol philanthropic acts to his well-respected name.
Woods approaches Dennehy with a bargain; he will expose his corporation’s heinous deeds in return lor a lorrn ol literary Immortality in the
mins. Lucid presentation of Gray's dramatic monologue inspired by his experiences as a bit-part player in The Killing Fields. A personal history of US military aggression and Cambodia year Zero it encompasses surreal poetry, inventive humour and a trenchant grasp of power politicking. Glasgow; GET
I Twilight Zone-The Movie (15) (John Landis, Steven Spielberg, Joe Dante, George Miller, US 1983) Vic Morrow, Scatman Crother, John Lithgow. 102 mins. Well intentioned but frequently poorly executed homage to the 605‘ TV series. Of the four tales the best is Miller‘s one of a jumpy aircraft passenger and the little devils he sees chewing up the engines. Fun but forgettable. Edinburgh; Cameo
I Tales oi Hellman (PG) (Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, UK, 1953) Robert Rounseville, Robert Helpmann, Moira Shearer. 127 mins. Powell and Pressburger version of Offenbach is a swaggering mixture of opera, ballet and Hollywood kitsch. Always lovely to look at, but not an emotional experience to rank with the best of their work. Edinburgh; Cameo
EST SELLER
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book that Dennehy will construct. An initially sceptical Dennehy grows more convinced ol Woods’s worth when their lives are threatened by a car bomb and cop and killerlonn an alliance oi convenience that results in a kind at justice.
The core at Best Seller is the well-developed relationship between the central protagonists and neither oi the very skilled actors disappoint in their sparring. Woods smoothly and subtly exudes menace and narcissism, making a cliched character multi-Iayered and almost charmingly heroic in his morality and need ior respect. Dennehy, in the less llashy role,is solidly convincing as rather more than an ordinary Joe.
Larry Cohen's ingenious script characteristically chooses to explore the slimy, underbelly oi the American Dream but an overloaded plotllne threatens to sink the enterprise as disbellel lurks behind every new maladrolt plot device. Nevertheless, thanks especially to the acting, characterisation and brisk direction this is still a tantalising, sanguine diversion at some accomplishment. (Allan Hunter)
I Tin Man (15) (Barry Levinson, US, 1987) Richard Dreyfuss, Danny De Vito, Barbara Hershey. 112 mins. Baltimore 1963. A minor car accident is the beginning of a major tit-for-tat feud between two aluminium siding salesmen. Returning to the territory he mined so well in Diner, Levinson has produced a thoroughly refreshing warm-hearted character comedy with top-notch performances. A copper-bottomed pleasure. Glasgow; Odeon. Edinburgh; Dominion lUlysses (18) (Joseph Strick, Uk, i967) Milo O‘Shea, Maurice Roeves, Barbara Jefford. 132 mins. June 6th, 1904. Jewish newspaperman Leopold Bloom and budding poet Stephen Dedalus make their way around Dublin. Decent enough stab at the profoundly unfilmable. If anyone is Bloom, Milo O’Shea is that man, though. Edinburgh; F ilrnhouse I Union City (18) (Mark Reichert, US, 1980) Deborah Harry, Dennis Lipscombe, Everett McGill. 90mins. Murky, offbeat, low-budget thriller that marked Harry's dramatic debut as the wife of a neurotic businessman who has slain a vagrant. Edinburgh; Cameo
14 The List 27 Nov -— 10 Dec 1987