FILM LIST
INDEX
I The Accidental Tourist ( 15 ) (Lawrence Kasdan. US. 1988) William Hurt. Geena Davis. Kathleen Turner. Amy Wright. 121 mins. Macon Leary (Hurt) isa successful writer of mollycoddling travel guides. but his placid home life is disturbed when his wife (Turner) walks out on him. Left to his own devices. he soon finds himself falling for kooky dog trainer Muriel (Davis). and as he becomes increasingly attached to her unconventional manner and sickly little son. he begins to realise that even the best prepared traveller must be ready to face the unexpected detour. llurt‘s impressive performance is at the centre of the film‘s quiet domestic strengths and its absorbing depiction of everyday Baltimore lives. Central: MacRobert Arts Centre.
I The Accused ( 18) (Jonathan Kaplan. US. 1988) Kelly McGillis. Jodie Foster. Berni Coulson. 111 mins. Sarah'l’obias (Jodie Foster) is raped on a pinball machine by three men. yet when the assailants are taken to court. a plea bargain with Sarah‘s lawyer Kathryn Murphy (Kelly McGillis) reduces their charges. When both women realise this is a sell-out. they decide to bring charges against the men in the bar who cheeredon the attack and offered encouragement to the rapists. Standout performance from Foster in this sympathetic and responsible treatment ofdifficult subject matter. whose firm grasp of character and honest intentions help allay one‘s reservations about the content. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I Altered States(18) (Ken Russell. US. 1981)) William Hurt. Blair Brown. Bob Balaban. 102 mins. Hurt made his film debut in this conflict-ridden production from a disowned Paddy Chayevsky script about an inquisitive scientist dabbling in things best left alone. An interesting jumble ofmind-bending special effects and ludicrous narrative developments as Hurt regresses to an ape-like state under the influence of his dangerously self-destructive experiments. Quite conventional by Russell's standards. Edinburgh: Cameo.
IAnnie Hall (15) (Woody Allen. US. 1977) Woody Allen. Diane Keaton.Tony Roberts. 93 mins. Warm. wistful. wonderfully witty Woody discourses on love. death and life in the Big Apple in this multi-Oscar—winning autobiographical comedy-romance. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I Another Woman (PG) (Woody Allen. US. 1988) Gena Rowlands. Mia Farrow. Ian Holm. Gene Hacktnan. 81 mins. Woody Allen continues in the serious vein of his last picture September with another probing exploration ofemotional and familial relationships. Here successful scholar Rowlands is forced to confront the emotional vacuum of her life when she hears the revelations of another woman (Farrow) unburdening her anxieties in the psychiatrist‘s office next door. See feature. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I Asterix and Cleopatra (U) (France. 1968) 73 mins. The diminutive Gaul and his powerful potion meet the lady with the asp and the ‘rather attractive‘ nose. His rotound chum Obelix pulls the nose offthe Sphynx. sulks a bit and then the two build a new palace in record time. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I Asterix in Britain (U) (Pino Van Lamsweerde. France. 1986) With the voices ofJack Beaber. Bill Kearns. Graham Bushnell. 89 mins. The Romans have invaded Britain and only one village refuses to surrender. Their chiefsends a message to his distant cousin Asterix the Gaul who prepares a barrel of his special magic potion and rushes to the rescue with his sizeable colleague Obelix. Along the
— TLK RADIO
Talk Radio (18) (OliverStone, US, 1989) Eric Bogosian, Ellen Greene, Leslie Hope, John C. McGinley. 108 mins. To some, late night talk radio is America’s ‘last neighbourhood in town', where anyone can talk lreely, postulate and generally vent their spleen. But in downtown Dallas, the neighbourhood has turned decidedly sour.
Fascists and racists, bigots and rapists, the lonely, the tired, but above all, the anonymous, run riot over the airwaves every night, with Barry Champlain presiding as chiel contessor. Pushing his listeners closer and closerto the limits of excess, he is a master or the put-down and the hang-up button, who thrives on hate andvunoL
Manic motormouth Eric Bogosian is Champlain, loosely based on real lile radio host, Alan Berg, who was assassinated by neo-Nazis in 1984. Talk Radio documents one latetul weekend when, with a major contract for National syndication or his show just about to be signed, Champlain
llnally loses the distinction between his lite and his job. He turns on not only his listeners, but his besotted producer and lover Laura (Hope), his estranged wile Ellen (Greene), and finally his studio operator and closest friend Stu (McGinley).
Oliver Stone has once again made a taut and thrilling movie, where many would have been banal. As the camera swoops and swings round Champlain’s studio, then out across the city, you realise that this is not the Dallas of Mt. Ewing, butthe place where Kennedy met his untimely demise. The listeners are not mere ligments of imagination, but real people, who mean every word they scrawl on their puerile death threats.
it you have already come across Bogosian’s napalm wit, the movie will not be a disappointment. It not, then be warned, your sensibilities are about to be seriously singed. (Thom Dibdin)
From Fri 15: Glasgow: Odeon, Edinburgh: Odeon From Fri 22: Selected Odeons
way. he acquires a bag of special herbs said to have remarkable reviving powers and this ‘tea‘ proves immensely popular with the Brits. Typical 20th anniversary Asterix production complete with plucky feats of derring-do. comic chases. slapstick humour and the triumph ofthe little Gallic warrior. Strathclyde: UCI Clydebank ll).
I Baldwin's Nigger (Horace ()ve. UK. 1969) James Baldwin. Dick Gregory. 48 mins. Valuable record of noted American writer James Baldwin's 1969 visit to the West lndian Student Centre in London to discuss the black experience in America and Britain. Glasgow: GET.
I Batman (Tim Burton. US. 1989)Jack Nicholson. Michael Keaton. Kim Bassinger. 120 mins. In which Burton achieves the impossible by creating a product which lives up to possibly the biggest hype job this century. Nicholson is on top form: psychotic. witty and zany like you‘ve never seen him before; but the real triumph is Keaton‘s. With less screen time than the Great Upstager. he produces a performance of unforgetable sublety and power. which gives a new credibility to the Bruce Wayne/Batman character while remaining true to the comic strip. With eerie angular design by Anton Furst. a terrrific score by Danny Effman. a suitably wacky script and a strong supporting cast. this is a long movie which you won‘t want to end. Glasgow: Cannon The Forge. Cannon Sauchiehall Street. Edinburgh: Cannon. Dominion. Central: Regal. Strathclyde: Kelburne. Odeon Hamilton. UCI Clydebank ll).
I Beaches(15) (Gary Marshall US. 1988) Bette Midler. Barbara Hershey. John Heard. Spalding Gray. 124 mins. Two eleven year old girls meet on a beach in Atlantic City and become lifelong friends despite jealous arguments and diverse
lifestyles. CC. Bloom is a loudmouthed actress/singer bound for stardom (not a very taxing role for Midler). while Hershey‘s Hilary Whitney is a prim moneyed beauty trying hard to resist conformity. Midler makes good work of the star-vehicle script and isably supported by Hershey. But make no mistake. this overlong female buddy movie is the schmalziest tearjerker you‘ll see in a while. Glasgow: Odeon. Strathclyde: UCl Clydebank 10.
I The Best Way To Walk ( 18) (Claude Miller. France. 1976) Patrick Dewaere. Patrick Boucitey. Christine Pascal. 9() mins. At a summer camp for boys, one of the instructors discovers the owner‘s son in drag, but although he bullies the victim unmercifully. it‘s the latter who is to win the girl. Miller. a former assistant to Truffaut and Godard. made his debut with this sardonic tale of sexual ambiguity. Glasgow: GFI‘.
I Betty Blue ( l8) (Jean-Jacques Beineix. France. 1986) Jean Hughes Anglade. Beatrice Dalle. 120 mins. Tempestuous love gone mad as an older handyman and a free-spirited woman embark on a passionate. peripatetic fling that ends in tragedy. Filmed with a dazzling technique and an irritating emptiness by the maker of Diva. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I Blade Bunner(15) (RidleyScott. US. 1982) Harrison Ford. Rutger llauer. Sean Young. 117 mins. A tough cop tracks down a group of malfunctioning androids in this gritty hi-tech retread of Raymond Chandler. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I Blue Collar ( 18) (Paul Schrader. US. 1978) Richard Pryor. Harvey Keitel. Yaphet Koto. 114 mins. Downbeat slice of life set in the Detriot car industry as manual workers Pryor. Keitel and Koto discover that it's not the management but their own corrupt union that's responsible
for their poor working conditions.
Sch rader‘s debut as director is a typically angry and cynical example of his early style. and the central performances have real credibility. Glasgow: GFT.
I Blue Velvet ( 18) (David Lynch. US. 1986) Kyle MaeLachlan. Dennis Hopper, Isabella Rossellini. 120 mins. Lumberton. Middle America. would-be boy detective Jeffrey Beaumont finds a severed car on some waste ground and when the police shoo him away he decides to do some investigating of his own. A singularfusion of the cosy and the terrifying which blends kitsch and nightmare. B-movie detection and brutal sexual perversion to deconstruct our complacent vision ofwhat passes for normal society. This is filmmaking of remarkable imagination and skill that places its director in the front rank of contemporary American cinema. Edinburgh: Cameo. Filmhouse.
I Broken Noses (15) (Bruce Weber. US. 1987) Andy Minsker. The Mount Scott Boxing Club. 77 mins. Fashion photographer Bruce Weber’s engaging debut is an impressionistic documentary focusing on failed pugilist Minsker. his family background in the fight game. and his current occupation in training a group of boy boxers at a local club. There‘s some telling observation on the futility of such a masculine culture in this deceptively casual-looking affair. but for many the appeal lies in the beautifully shot young men going through their paces to the accompaniment of a cool jazz soundtrack. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I The Burbs (PG) (Joe Dante, US. 1989) Tom Hanks. Bruce Dern. Carrie Fisher. Rick Ducommun. 102 mins. When Ray Petersen (Hanks) takes a week off work to pester his wife (Fisher). he and his buddies Ducommun and Dcrn become obsessed with the activities of his new neighbours. the mysterious Klopeks. whom they hound mercilessly. Dante’s offbeat anti-racist satire is spoiled by overacting and undrewriting. but Hanks‘ ability with slim material is undeniable. and lendsthe movie a certain light-hearted charm. Strathclyde: Cannon.
I Clarence and Angel (Robert Gardner. US. 1980) Darren Brown. Mark Cardova. 75 mins. [n a Harlem public school two problem kids. illiterate black youngster Clarence and bright but lazy Puerto-Rican Angel come up with their own version of the learning process instead. Unpatronising low-budget child‘s eye view of the education system whose freshness thankfully avoids the schmaltziness of the typical message movie. Glasgow: GFT.
I Cousins ( 15) r} (Joel Schumacher. US, 1989) Ted Danson, Isabella Rossellini, Scan Young. William Peterson. 113 mins. Glossy Hollywood remake of the light French satire Cousin. Cousine has Danson (of Cheers and 3 Men And Baby fame) and Rossellini making warm. sensitive work of the central characters in a love/lust tangle which begins at a family wedding. But despite strong casting, scripting and photography. the result is too hollow to fulfil its potential. Glasgow: Grosvenor. Strathclyde: UCl Clydebank 10.
I Crossing Delancey (PG) (Joan Mieklin Silver. US. 1988) Amy Irving. Peter Riegcrt. Jeroen Krabbe. 96 mins. Career woman lzzy (lrving) is happily single in New York. when her grandmomma decides to take the matter of marriage in hand. and hires Hannah the matchmaker to get her hitched. The proposed match of pickle vendor Sam (Reigert) does not at first appeal. but gradually hearts melt, and the film moves to a romantic conclusion which sidesteps sehmaltz at every turn. and wins through delightfully through strong scripting and sympathetic performances. A must for incurable romantics. Central: MacRobert Arts Centre. I A Cry In The Dark(15) (Fred Schepisi. US/Australia. 1988) Meryl Streep. Sam Neill. Brian James. 119 mins. Afterthe
The List 15 - 28 September 198915
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