FILM LIST
I Catch 22 ( 18) (Mike Nichols. US. 1970) Allan Arkin. Art Garfunkel. Orson Welles. Martin Balsam. 121 mins. Expensive screen version ofJoseph Heller's million-selling masterpiece has Arkin as a fine Yossarian attempting to get out ofthe Airforce as WWII explodes around him. but coming up against the idiosyncracies of military bureaucracy. The events are all here. and for some that may be enough. but someone alongthe line should have realised that the novel's dazzling wit is primarily a verbal one. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I ‘Crocodile' Dundee ( 15) (Peter Faiman. Australia. 1986) Paul Hogan. Linda Koslowski. Mark Blum. 100mins. Disarmingly self-mocking. old-fashioned comedy romance with Hogan as a legendary crocodile hunter in the Northern Territories. discovered by American journalist Koslowski and persuaded to sample the dubious delights ofManhattan. Hugely successful and. needless to say. followed by an inferior sequel. This version is accompanied by sub-titles for the hard ofhearing. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I ‘Crocodile’ Dundee 2 (PG) (John Cornell. Australia. 1988) Paul Hogan. Linda Kozlowski. John Meillon. 111 mins. Not entirely unexpected sequel has Hogan‘s Dundee retracing his steps from Manhattan to the Aussie bush to protect his girlfriend. journalist Kozlowski from the unwanted attentions of a gang of Colombian drug pedlars. A lame script and Hogan‘s catatonic underplaying mar this antipodean comedy-adventure. Strathclyde: UCI Clydebank.
I Dangerous Liaisons ( 15) (Stephen Frears. US. 1988) Glenn Close.John Malkovich. Michelle Pfeiffer. Keanu Reeves. 120 mins. Madame de Tourvel and the Vicomte de Valmont (Close and Malkovieh) are treacherous 18th century aristocrats weaving a web oferotic duplicity around one another. Frears makes a notable Hollywood debut. guiding his cast through a difficult set of narrative pirouettes. Yet for all the pent-up emotion on screen. little fervour seeps through. and the result is rather cold and calculating. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I Dark Crystal (PG) (Jim Henson. Frank Oz, UK, 1982) 94 mins. The Muppet men branch out with this unoriginal children‘s fantasy surrounding the quest for a missing shard from the all-powerful dark crystal which must be retrieved to prevent evil consuming the known world. Strathclyde: Paisley Arts Centre.
I Dead Calm (15) (Philip Noyce. Australia, 1989) Sam Neill, Nicole Kidman. Billy Zane. 96 mins. A psycho on the seven seas disturbs a young couple trying to get away from it all on acruise along the Barrier Reef. First rate suspense follows, in this canny mix ofon-ship claustrophobia and wide open seascapes from Aussie new waver Noyce. Central: Caledonian.
I Dead Men Don‘t Wear Plaid (PG) (Carl Reincr. US. 1982) Steve Martin. Rachel Ward and a cast of revived luminaries. 87 mins. Film noir spoof has private eye Martin involved with femme fatale Ward and fiendish Nazi scientist Reincr. Much of the humour stems from the intercutting with actual Forties movies in a device now copied by the adverts for a certain lager. Edinburgh: Filmhouse. University Film Society.
I Dead Poets Society (PG) (Peter Weir. US, 1989) Robin Williams, Robert Sean Leonard, Ethan Hawke. 129 mins. in a staid private boys‘ school in Fifties New England, an unconventional teacher (Williams) interests his charges in literature and philosophy to such an extent that they form a secret club to investigate them (along with booze and girls) further. Though Williams is on good form. the film focuses mainly on the boys‘ emotional development and crises. and on the mystery and beauty surrounding their midnight meetings. A sensitive. tense and
EARTH GIRLS ARE EASY
‘9‘ our
.5/"3 W ."
Earth Girls are Easy (Julien Temple, US,1988)Geena Davis, Jeff Goldblum, Julie Brown, Michael McKean, Charles Rocket. 100 mins. When their small red and yellow space ship crashes into a manicurist's swimming pool, three furry aliens discover the delights of Southern California’s plastic and sunshine culture. Natural mimics, they quickly learn the language from ads on TV, and once shaved of their for in the beauty salon, immediately prove to be a big hit with the local girls.
A calculated portion of schlock, this camp musical comedy is Temple’s first movie since the much more ambitious and very different ‘Absolute Beginners‘. Emphatically, but quite creatively tasteless, it’s a mildly diverting experience which is never as funny as it thinks it is, but on the whole does a good job in Iampooning a social whirl where consumption is everything and the locals can talk through a lull ten minutes of jargon without managing to express a single coherent thought. A ‘hang ten' ageing surfer (McKean), manicurist Davis’ philandering doctor
a blonde' beauty-parlour pal (Brown) are cut out characterisations for sure, but they’re completely appropriate to this beach and billboard parody where a seaside sign can read ‘No Dogs, No Brunettes. . .’ and a car chase can end with the vehicle suspended son in the air inside a huge concrete doughnut.
The growing attachment between Davis and Goldblum‘s principal alien slows things down somewhat, but where the film scores is in the overall assurance of a visual style which transforms the sunny West Coast into a comprehensively vulgar world of primary colours which looks like a combined advertlor bubblegum, soft drinks and teen cosmetics all rolled into one. Visual and verbal candy, ‘Earth Girls’ is very much a snack rather than a substantial meal, but accept it on its own throwaway terms and it’s all work, rest and play well enough. (Tom Tunney)
From Fri 22 Dec. Strathclyde: UCI Clydebank, UCI East Kilbride.
moving study of the conflict between passion and authority. even if the plot is something of a cliche. Glasgow: Odeon. Edinburgh: Dominion, Filmhouse.
I The Delinquents ( 12) (Chris Thomson, Australia, 1989) Kylie Minogue, Charlie Schlatter. Angela Punch McGregor. 90 mins. See feature. Glasgow: Cannon The Forge, Cannon Sauchiehall Street. Edinburgh: Cannon. Central: Cannon. Regal. Strathclyde: Cannon. UCI C1ydebank,UC1 East Kilbride.
I The Dream Team (15) (Howard Zeiff. US. 1989) Michael Keaton, Christopher Lloyd. Peter Boyle. 113 mins. Although the film admirably explores the character ofits four psychiatric leads it fails overall to create concern for any of them. leaving us with a'tired. dilapidated piece of film-making. Dr Weitzman takes a group of four resident patients for a day out at a baseball game. However, the trip gets out of hand and the four embark on ajourney into inner city corruption and violence as they uncover a world crazier than themselves, which proves to be the film‘s saving grace: it constantly underlines the fact that they are emotional and intelligent human beings. Glasgow: Cannon The Forge, Cannon Sauchiehall Street. Edinburgh: Cannon. Strathclyde: UCI Clydebank, UCl East Kilbride.
I Earth Girls Are Easy (PG) (Julien Temple, US, 1989) Jeff (ioldblum. Geena
Davis. Julie Brown. 100 mins. See review. Strathclyde: UCI Clydebank. UCI East Kilbride.
I Eat A Bowl of Tea ( 12) (Wayne Wang, US. 1989) Russell Wong, Cora Miao. Victor Wong. 104 mins. See review. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I Ernest Saves Christmas (PG) (John Cherry. US. 1988) Jim Varney. Douglas Scale. Oliver Clarke. Noelle Parker. 92 mins. Santa, now aged 151 . is gettinga little long in the tooth. and arrives in Horida to pass the job on to a children‘s television presenter. But the accident-prone Ernest P. Worrell is driving the cab so complications can‘t be too far away. Silly second feature starring the character originally invented for a milk advertisement in the Southern States. Strathclyde: UCl Clydebank. UC1 East Kilbride.
I The Exorcist (18) (William Friedkin. US. 1973) Linda Blair. Ellen Burstyn. Max Von Sydow. 110mins. Earnest priest Von Sydow steps in to save poor little obsessed girl in this hugely effective scarefest. Dead good. dead scarey. dead priest. Edinburgh: Cameo. Strathclyde: WMR Film Centre.
I Field of Dreams(PG) (Phil Alden Robinson. US. 1989) Kevin Costner. Amy Madigan. Burt Lancaster, James Earl Jones. 106 mins. An unlikely winner from writer/director Robinson has Costner as a
hard-working. hard-pressed farmer who risks financial ruin and builds the baseball diamond of his dreams in one of his fields to recapture the innocence of his boyhood. The miraculous emotive climax forces him to come to terms with the reponsibilities of adult life. Glasgow: Cannon Sauchiehall Street. Edinburgh: Dominion. I Ghostbusters 2 (PG) (lvan Reitman. US. 1989) Bill Murray. Dan Aykroyd. Harold Ramis. Sigourney Weaver. 108 mins. Need a sequel? Who you gonna call? The down-at-heel and discredited slimefighters are back in business. after mayhem once more breaks out on the streets of New York. The effects look less cheap this time. and ifyou liked it first time round you are on a winner here : if you were less than convinced. stay at home — you've seen this one already. Glasgow: Cannon The Forge. Odeon. Grosvenor. Edinburgh: Odeon. Central: Allanpark. Strathclyde: Cannon, Kelburne. Odeon Ayr.Odeon11amilton. La Scala. UCI Clydebank. UCI East Kilbride. I Heathers (18) (Michael Lehman. US. 1989) Winona Ryder. Christian Slater. Lisanne Falk. 102 mins. An ultrablack parody ofthe high school teenflick. Lehman‘s first feature film managesto combine box office success with artistic merit. This cult hip hit of the year has Slater and Ryder starting a suicide craze to muscle in on the cliquey Heathers running the joint. Tune in. turn on. dropdead. Glasgow: Cannon The Forge. GET. Edinburgh: Filmhouse. I Highlander (15) (UK. 1986) Christopher Lambert. Beatic Edney. Sean Connery. 111 mins. A handful ofimmortals battle through the centuries to win a mythical prize. A curious mixture of romance in 16th century heather and car chases in present day New York. the film is an inelegant. often ludicrous. but enjoyany daffy adventure. Lambert seems more at home with the contemporary passages and only the ever wonderful Connery has the requisite style for the kitsch Scottish scenes. Edinburgh: Cameo. I The Hitcher ( 18) (Robert Mandel, US. 1986) Rutger Hauer. C. Thomasllowell, Jennifer Jason Leigh. 98 mins. Drowsy driver Howell gets more than he bargains for when he picks up psycho-hitcher Haucr in this genuine edge-of—the-seat suspenseful thriller. Edinburgh: Cameo. I Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade (PG) (Steven Spielberg, US. 1989) Harrison Ford. Sean Connery, Alison Doody, Denholm Elliot. 127 mins. The third and supposedly final instalment ofSpielberg‘s blockbuster series, in which the archaeological adventurer is joined by his father (Connery) for a romp through the Middle East in search of the Holy Grail. hotly pursued (as ever) by the Nazis. A rather dodgy quasi-Christian morality and a more-of-the-same-ish plot are offset by strong performances from Ford and Connery and technical bravura. Strathclyde: UCI Clydebank, UCI East Kilbride, WMR Film Centre. I Jean De Florette (PG) (Claude Berri. France. 1986) Gerard Depardieu. Yves Montand. Daniel Auteuil. 121 mins. Provence. duringthe 1920s. Depardieu‘s indomitable hunchback struggles against impossible odds to make a success ofhis inherited farmland. unaware that his neighbours are plotting to drive him from his land. Beautifully photographed, with flawless performances. this is a towering tribute to the highest aspirations ofFrcnch storytelling. A BAFTA winner forthe film ofthe year. Edinburgh: Filmhouse. I The Land Before Time (U) (Don Bluth. US. 1989) 86 mins. Latest animated feature from Disney graduate Bluth follows the fortune oforphaned Brontosaurus Littlefoot, who loses his mum to the claws of a nasty Tyrannosaurus Rex before teaming up with a gang of similarly parentless wee dinos to undertake the hazardousjourney across country to the safety of the Great
16 The List 22 December 1989— 11 January 1990
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