FILM LIST
IAllDfMe(15)((‘arl Reirier.1'S. 1984) Steve Martin. Lily Tomlin. Victoria 'l‘ennant. 91 mins. Frequently hilarious tnadcap farce as the wonderful Martin plays a man whose left side is possessed by the transrnigrated soul oftetchy .millionairess'l'omlin. finjoy. (ilasgow; (il’l‘. [{dinburgh: l-‘ilmhouse. I Amarcord ( 18) (Federico Fellini. Italy France. 1973) 122 mins. l’ellini's joyous. autobiographical look back at life in Rirnini in the 1930s is the master in his most outgoing mood. a constant procession of retnarkable itnages and memorable moments. despite the looming shadow of Italian l’acism. fidinburgh: Edinburgh liniversity Film Society. IAn American Tail (t?) (Don Bluth. L78. 1986) With the voices of Dom l)e1.uise. Madelaine Kahn. ('hristopher l’lummer. 8(lmins.’1’hc1atc 19th century. The Mousckewitz family tnakc their way from trouble-torn Russia to a new life in America. but they find the streets of.\'ew York are not at all paved with gold. A wealth of background detail display s Bluth's admirably painstaking approach to animation. but the foreground narrative. often agreeably perilous. does occasionally reek ofsentimentality. (ilasgow: ()dcon. I The Aristocats (t1) (Holy/gang Reitherman. ('5. 1970) 78mins. Arniahle Disney animation about a cat and herthree kittens who are kidnapped and abandoned by a nasty hut/er. featuring the voices of Iiva (iahor. I’hi/ Harris and Maurice Chevalier. .S‘trathclyde.‘ A .1!( i ( ‘lydehank 10. I Beetlejuice ( 15) (Tim Burton. KS. 1988) Geena Davis. Alec Baldwin. Michael Keaton. 92 mins. Recently deceased. and very charming New England couple. the Maitlands. have difficulty in adjusting to the afterlife. Not the least of their worries is the tasteless refurbishment of their old home by a nasty New York yuppie family. and they eventually call on freelance bio-exorcist Betelgeuse (pronounced ‘Bcetle-juice‘) to deal with the problem in his own inimitable fashion. Exuberantly eccentric cartoonish
capers. a movie that creates its own comic
cosmos where the unexpected is the norm.
(ireat fttn it all is too. (ilasgow: ()dcon. lidinburgh: Filt’ttltouse.
I Big ( PU) ( l’cnny Marshall. LS. 1988) Tom 1 lanks. lilizabcth l’crkins. Robert Loggia. lmeins. 12 year-old .losh(1)avid
Moscow) has no luck with the school beauty because of his diminutive stature. However. upon discovering a neglected fairground wishing machine. he jumps out of bed the next morning to find hisboyish self now wrapped in an adult packaging (Tom Hanks). (‘iood mainstream fare. (ilasgow: ()dcon. Iidinburgh: Dominion. ()dcon. Strathclyde: A.\1(‘(‘lydebank It) I Big Business ( PU) (Jim Abrahams. LS. 1988) Bette Midler. Lily Tomlin. l‘red Ward. fidward llerrmann. 93 mins. You‘ve seen identical twin movies. now meet the double identical twin movie. Rose and Sadie (Tomlin and Midler) are the heads of corporate giant Moramax. about to take over a small rural firm and in so doing attract the resistance of the local community that they send Rose and Sadie (Tomlin and Midler) to the big city to fight their case. ('ould the resemblances between the women have something to do with a hospital mix-up many years before‘.’ ()utrageously creaky comic farce. with
SCROOGED
Scrooged (PG) (Richard Donner. US. 1988) Bill Murray. Karen Allen. Robert Mitchum. John Forsythe. 101 mins. After the stirring success of Little Dorrif. one might have expected filmmakers to show renewed respect forthe storytelling skills of Charles Dickens. However, Scrooged is probably the most abrasive and definitely the most irreverent adaptation yet of a Dickens novel.
A durable yarn of the Yuletide redemption of a curmudgeonly misanthrope. A Christmas Carol was first filmed by Essanay in 1908 and numerous times overthe ensuing eighty years. Disney animated it with Mickey Mouse. Albert Finney treated it as a song 'n‘ dance knees up and. most recently. George C. Scott played Scrooge in a prestigious all-star television production that has now been released on video.
Scrooged has lavish special effects. a motley constellation of guest stars and the much vaunted return of Ghostbusters megastar Bill Murray as a miserly television executive who is shown the error of his ways in time for a cringe-inducing finale demanding peace on earth and good will to all.
However. despite all the technical and financial resources that contemporary American cinema can muster. Scrooged does absolutely nothing to efface warm memories of the definitive 1951 black and white version of A Christmas Carol in which the incomparany lugubrious Alistair Sim created a three-dimensional
character full of pathos and humanity, howevertwisted. His ultimate realisation that companionship and generosity of spirit are vital ingredients of living marks a joyous. heartwarming moment conveyed with glee by a Sim intoxicated with the milk of human kindness.
In Scrooged. the moment is merely a cue forthe undoubted hit single by Al Green and Annie Lennox. Perhaps this is just a reflection of our more cynical age and therefore Scrooged is the perfect modern version of an old classic. or it may be just the inevitable result of constructing a star vehicle for a comic rather than entrusting an emotionally complex role to a gifted actor. Eitherway, despite its odd, uneasy sense of vicious humour, Scrooged has the light touch of a suet Christmas pudding with all the silver threepenny goodies removed. (George Bailey)
rampant overacting pummelling even the most hard-hearted old codgcr into smiling. (ilasgow: (irosvcnor.
I Big Time ( PU) 27': ((‘hris Blunt. LTS. 19881'1'om Waits and his band. 91 mins. See caption review. Iidinburgh: Filmhousc.
I Biloxi Bluest 15) (Mike Nichols. LS. 1988) Matthew Broderick. Christopher Walken. (‘orcy Parker. 11)“; mins. Second instalment (after Brighton Beach .llemoirs) of Neil Simon's movie autobiography focuses on his misadventures as an army rookie during the dying days of World War Two. A familiar recipe of basic training capers and the first love routine is transformed into something fresh by a sassy script. Walken and Broderick's cliche-free performances. and the practised cinematic craft of director Mike Nichols. (‘cntral1Cannon. I Bird ( 15) ‘47‘: ((‘lint liastwood. US. 1988) Forrest Whittaker. Diane \'enora. Samuel li. Wright. 161 mins. Sec caption review. (ilasgow: ('annon Sauchiehall Street. lidinburgh: Cameo.
I Blood Simplet 18) (Joel ('oen. tbs. 1983) John (ietz. Francis McDormand.
M. limmet Walsh. 99 mins. Wals'hexcels as the seedy Sheriff investigating asimplc murder that hides a dey ilish ’l‘exan chronicle of double~cross in this enthusiastically executed attempt at contemporary film noir. Iidinburgh: (‘amco
I Blue Velvett 18) (David lynch. L's. 198(3) Kyle .‘vlac1.achlan. Dennis 1 loppcr. Isabella Rossellini. 12“ mins. Lumberton. middle-America. Would-be boy detective Jeffrey Beattmont finds a sex ered earon some waste ground and when the police shoo him away he decides to do sortie investigating of hisown.
A singular fusion of the cosy and the terrifying which blends kitsch and nightmare. B-movie detection and brutal sexual perversion to deconstruct our complacent vision of w hat passes for normal society. This is filmmakingof remarkable imagination and skill that places its director in the front rank of contemporary American cinema. (ilasgow: (irosvenor.
I Broadcast News ( 15) (James 1.. Brooks. LS. 1987) William Hurt. Holly Hunter. Albert Brooks. 132 mins.
Highly entertaining romantic comedy set against a convincingly evoked milieu of television network news production and a generation of acliicy ers whose private and professional worlds acknowledge no boundaries. f-‘ast-paced. farcical. brilliantly acted with a sly cameo from Jack Nicholson as a revered network anchorman. (ilasgow: (if-'1'.
I Broadway Danny Rose ( l’( i ) ( Woody Allen. 1S. 1984) Woody Allen. Mia Farrow" Nick Apollo liorte. 82mins. Splendid latterday Allen. as the manager of a stable of bottom-of-the-bill nightclub acts finally looks about to make it big when a fading crooner takes a sudden upsurge in popularity. Mattersare somewhat complicated however by the latter's girlfriend's Mafia connections and
The List 25 Nov — 8 Dec 198813