FILM LIST

Track 29 (18) (Nic Roeg, UK, 1988) Theresa Russell, Gary Oldman, Christopher Lloyd, Sandra Bernhard. 90 mins. Nic Roeg's latest lakes us back to the small town America setting at The Man Who Fell To Earth, with Oldman opening the lilm asthe stranger in a strange land, however, this being a Dennis Potter screenplay, the young Englishman's quest is to lind his long lost mother. She is bored housewite Russell. trapped in an excruciating partnership with eccentric surgeon Lloyd, a man with more time tor his extravagant model train set in the attic than his lonely spouse. As the narrative progresses, we learn that Oldman could be the then adopted ollspring lrom a brutal teenage sexual encounter at a lair, and witness the attraction growing between him and his alleged mother. Yetthe possibility also grows that the youthlul Liverpudlian could merely be a child sprung lrom her lrustrated imagination, and the lilm begins to take on a deepening ambiguity.

Or rather. its brash psychodrama begins to batter the audience over the head with an increasingly overstated bluster. Right lrom the start, the abundance ol visual, verbal and psychoanalytic trickerythat bedeck this tall tale seem to be vigorously llailing away to convince the viewerthat this is a meaninglul piece olwork, with the names at Roeg and Potter abundant prool at its artistic credentials. Yet, this Oedipal cartoon is somehow singularly unenlightening. It tells us

community that thcy scnd Rosc andSadic l‘l‘omlin and \lidlcrl to thc big city tol’ighl thcii casc. ('ould thc rcscmblcnccs bctwccn thc womcn has c somcthing todo w ith a hospital mix-up many ycars hclorc'.’ ()utragcously crcaky comic larcc. but rampant oy c racting pummclls cycn thc most lmrd-hcartcd old codgcr into smiling. lidinburgh ()dcon (’lcrk Strcct. .-\.\l( ( 'ly dcbank. ()dcon Ay r. ()dcon l lamillon. (ilasgow ()dcon chlicld Slrccl. I The Big Easy l 18) (Jim McBridc. L'S. WV) Dcnnis ()uaid. lillcn Barkin. \cd llcalty. llll mins. l’rctty smart and scxy cop thrillcr sci in a swcaty . atmosphcric \cw ()rlcans whch local licutcnant ()uaid trics to clcar up a scrics ol'gangland murdct‘s. all thc w hilc falling in low with Barkin's attorncy . in low it to inycstigatc policc corruption. lidinburgh: l-‘ilmhousc. I Bigloot and the Hendersons l l’( i l (William l)cat'. ['3. 1987) John l.ithgow. .\lclinda Dillon. |)on Amcchc. lllrnins Disncycsquc l'amily adycnturc in which thc all-Amcrican llcndcrson family crash into lhc lcgcrtdary Bigfoot and adopt thc suprisingly gcnial bcastic as a domcstic pct with prcdictablc complications from thc ncighbours and blood-hungry huntcrs. (ilasgow : (irosycnor. lidinburgh: l‘ilmhousc. I BllOXi BlueSl 15) (Mikc Nichols. l 'S. 198M Mattltcw Brodcrick. (‘hristophcr \Valkcn. (‘orcy l’arkcr. 107 mins. Sccond instalmcnt (altcr Brig/mm Burch .lli-moirs ) oi .\'cil Simon's moy'ic autobiography locuscs on his misadycitlurcs as an army rookic during thc dying day s ol World War Two. A lamiliar rccipc of basic training capcrs and thc lirst-loyc routinc is translormcd into somcthing l'rcsh by a sassy script. Walkcn and Brodcrick's clichc-l'rcc pcrlormanccs. and thc practiscd cincmatic craft of

l

that there are sexual tensions between mothers and sons, and it tells us that there are impotent and unhappy marriages. Well, strike a light, Nic and Dennis, those are new ones, aren‘t they? And the tone of constant hysteria makes lor little ol the sense at texture that has graced some at the pair's earlierwork.

While so tar as Potter is concerned, it

dircctor Mikc Nichols. (ilasgow (irosycnor.

I The Blues Brothers ( l S ) ( .lohn Landis. ['8. 1980) John Bclushi. Dan Ay kroy'd. (‘arric Fishcr. l3” mins. Bloatcd. oycrlong anarchic ('hicago comcdy w ith thc two stars on a mission from ( iod to l'inancially saly agc thc impcrillcd lortuncs of an orphanagc. Lotsol'gucst stars. milsical numbcrs and zitltolltotiy‘c dcstruction in a typical product ol oycr-cmphatic contcmporary :‘smcrican humour. (ilasgow : (il’l‘.

I The Bugs Bunny Bio An cighty -minutc rcyicw of thc carccr olWarncr Brothcrs hcst-loy'cd animatcd charactcr. t'caturing a host of classic (‘huck Joncs cartoons. (ilasgow : (il’l‘.

I Buster(15)2';-(l)ayid(irccn.l.'ls.1088) l’hil (‘ollins. Julic Waltcrs. Larry Lamb. Shcila l lancock. ll): mins. Scc caption rcyicw . (ilasgow: (‘annon ( 'larkston Road. ()dcon. lidinburgh: ()dcon.

I Citizen Kane ( PU) (()rson w'c-Ilc-s. its. 19-11)()rson\V'cllcs..loscph('ottcn. Dorothy (‘omingorc. liycrctt Sloanc. 11‘) mins. Madc whcn hc was only 25. \k'cllcs startcd at thc top with this brilliant study of thc lilc and timcs ol a l lcarst-likc I ncwspapcr magnatc. ln tcrms olthc pcrlormanccs. thc narratiyc structurc and photography. this is a lilm that rcwrotc thc rulc-book. 'l'hc grcatcst moyic cy'cr madc'.’ lt's ccrlainly‘ a tough onc to arguc against. and worth your w‘hilc sccing on a big scrccn w'hcrc it bclongs. lidinburgh: Filmhous‘c.

I Clermont-Ferrand Shorts 'I‘hrcc programmcs bringing togcthcr thc bcst matcrial from thc lircnch lilm t'cstiy'al dcdicatcd cntircly toshorts. manyol which rcy'cal a considcrablc mastcry ol'thc mcdium in young lilm-makcrs who ought togoon to biggcr things. Anyonc oltltc thrcc sclcctions. which carry an ( lts‘)

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seems clearthatthis particularellort is needlessly recovering the same ground as the masterly Singing Detective, the case at Nic Roeg remains a rather depressing one. The laboured cutting here simply doesn’t disturb and excite in the waythat his lilm-making ol a decade ago might have done, and the lreguent concentration upon his wile‘s rump betrays an infatuation that may

ccrtilicalc. arc worth sampling lor thcn shccr inycntiy cncss and cincmatic y cry c. Scc l .isllttgs lot‘ l'ttll scltcdtllc. ( ilasgow : (il’l'. lidinburgh: l’iliiihotisc.

I Coming To America l 15 ) (.lohtt Landis. ('5. lWM liddic .‘ylurphy . .-\rscnio l lall. .lamcs liarl .loncs. l lb mins. Murphy is l’rincc Akccm. hcir to thc thronc ol a labulotisly w calthy ccntral Alrican statc. but dissatislicd with thc bridc arrangcd tor him by King .lamcs Izarl .loncs. lnstcad. hc traycls to \cw York with sidckick llallto scck his ow n choicc ol'quccn.

()y crlong and not tcrribly liilai‘ious Murphy \ chiclc. with thc star inscy cral rolcs doing his bcst to pump lilc intoa scntimcnlalscript. .»\.\l(‘('lydcbank. (ilasgow (‘annon Sauchihall Strcct.

I The Couch Trip ( 15) (.\licliacl Ritchic. l'S.1983)l)an.»\ykroyd.\\'altct‘ .\latthau.(‘harlcs(iimlin. 98 mins. 'l‘op l..:\. psychiatrist (irodin. with a popular radio phonc-in programmc and a thriy ing practicc sccks a rcplaccmcnt l'or his mcdia actiyitics w hilc hc takcs a w'cll-carncd rcsl. llowcycr dangcrous mcnlal paticnt Ay kroyd poscs asa shrink toclinch lhc lucratiy c posc. and only shystcr .‘ylatthau. w ho knows his rcal idcntity . stands

bch ccn him and a lortunc.

Somc good lt)l\'L‘\ in this lt'cnctic larcc with a lcw aspirations towards barbcd satirc. though .‘ylatthau's oy crbcaring and oltcn incllcctiy c co-starring rolc tcnds to dint :\y'kr‘oyd's slcw ol good momcttts. (ilasgow‘: ()dcon. lidinburgh: ()dcon.

I ‘Crocodile' Dundee ll ( l’(i)(.lohn (‘ornclL :\ll\ll‘illl2t. 1988) Paul l log. 1. Linda Ko/low ski. .lohn Mcillon. ll l mins. Not cntircly uncxpcctcd scqucl has llogan's Dundcc rctracing his stcps lrom Manhattan to thc :\ll\slc bush to protch his girlt'ricnd journalist Ko/low ski lrom thc unwantcd :ttlctttionsol a gangol (‘olombian drugpcdlars.

_ TRACK 29

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i‘ i '2 . be disfiguring his directorial career. Russell shone in Bob Ratelson's Black Widow, but her perlormance here is as unbearable as chalk squeaking down a blackboard. Time tor a rethink all round alter this prolound disappointment. (TrevorJohnston)

.-\ lamc script and l logan's catatonic undcrplay ing mar thisantipodcan comcdy -adycnturc to thc cxtcnl that w hat w ill uridoubtcdly bc onc ol thc ycar‘smost popular lcatuics also has logo downas onc ol its most tcdiotis. lidinburgh Dominion. .'\.\l('(‘lydcbank.

I Cutter's Wayi lb) l l\ an l’assct . l '5.

WM ).lcll lli'idgcs. .lolin llcat'd. l.isa liichhorn. 105 mins. Boo/y \‘ictnamyct prods his aimlcss matc Bridgcs intoaction altcr ltc thinks hc has w itncsscd a murdcr. low-kcy thrillcr. but thc usc ol' much intcrcstingly downbcat dctail hits it aboy'c thc aycragc. lzdinluirgh: ('amco.

I Dark Eyesil’ti)iNikirafylikhalkm. Italy l’SSR. l‘lh'") .‘ylarcclloMastroianni. Silyano Mangano. lulcna Solonoya. Marlhc ls'cllcrt ll" mins. Skillul adaptation ol a sclcclion ol ('hckoy storics has agcing rakc Mastroianni rcminiscing m c r his past inlidcltics and pr'ccar'ious cmotional and linancial statc; lclt. as hc is. to w andcr in cyilc cstrangcd l'rom his w'it'c and unablc to rcturn to his young loycr.

lts crisp and light tonc makc Dark Iiy‘uy' dclightlul cnough. but thc borttis ol a

gracclul tour dc lorcc lrom thc ( ‘anncs pri/cw inncr .\lastroianni makc it an c\pct‘icttcc to sayour. 'l‘hc opportunity to watch such a mastcr craftsman at work is not to bc misscd. lidinburgh: l5ilmhoUsc. I The Deceiversl 15) (Nicholasfylcycr. l'ls'. 1088) l’icrcc Brosnan. Saccdlal’lrcy. Shashi ls'apoor. lll3 mins. lndia. ISIS. l’rosnan plays a collcctor for thc British liast lndia ( ‘ompany. who w’itncsscs thc rictarious activiticsolthc 'lihugcc cult. also known as thc l)ccciy'c rs hccausc tltcy mgratiatc thcmsclycs with tray‘cllcrs ltclorc strangling thcm. llow‘cy'cr. in ordcr to stamp out this practicc thc l’orcigncr has logo undcrcoycr and join thcgang‘s murdcroUs assaults.

l landsomcly produccd pcriod \ arat

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