FILM INDEX
I Maurice (15) (James Ivory. UK. 1987) James Wilby. Rupert Graves. Hugh Grant. 140 mins. Overlong but impeccably crafted screen version of the E. M. Forster novel. in which a young Edwardian man slowly but rnovingly comes to terms with ltis homosexuality in the face of widespread bigotry. Although over-indulgent. the film uses beautiful locations. a Brides/read- style cast and a langorous evocation of pre-War Britain to sweeten an angry pill about the strictures of the class system and the unchanging face of prejudice. Wilby is a revelation in the title role. skilfully capturing the complexity of the emotional traumas faced by his character. Edinburgh: Filrnhouse.
I The Mighty Ducks 2 (U) (Sam Weisman. US. 1991) Emilio Estevez. Carsten Norgaard. 107 mins. Ice-hockey coach Estcvez conveniently forgets everything he learned first time round (remember. the original was (Tram/trons in the cinema and The illig/rrv Ducks on video) and finds himself shaping up the kids in Team USA for the Goodwill Games. The rivals are the. ehm. mighty Iceland. a bunch of racistly painted Nazi- tl’pcs. Totally devoid ofcharrn. All l’(‘1s.
I Mildred Pierce (PG) (Michael Curtiz. 1'S. 19-15) Joan Crawford. Jack (.‘arson. Zachary Scott. 11.) mins. (‘rawford excels (she won an ()scar) as the tittrlar woman w ho turns her back on her husband and becomes a successful restauranteur. while fighting her own selfish daughter for the heart of a playboy (Scott) and getting embroiled in a murder plot. Viewed by some as the sort of strong woman's role that is so clttsive today. its suggestion that death follows when a woman abandons the kitchen sink is actually pretty patronising. Glasgow: (3171'.
I Miracle On 34th Street ( Pm (I.C.\' May llCItl. US. 1991) Richard Attenborough. Elizabeth Perkins. Dylan McDermott. 11() mins. Kriss Kringle (Attenborough) is a department store Santa who goes one better and claims he's the genuine article. Only by winning a court case -- and convincing one cynical little grrl (Mara Wilson) can he put thejoy and magic back into the festive period. A fairly unnecessary remake. but this secular fable still sparkles with charm. Edinburgh: Odeon. Strathclyde: l'(‘1 (‘lydebank I Moana (1’) (US. 1937) 77 mitts. An early documentary on the Samoan islanders. which resembles a South Seas version of Nunuok (if The North. Shown with the 20-minute documentary Im/usrriu/ Britain. which examines
the skills of workers in the 30s in the north of Britain. Edinburgh: Film Guild. I Monkey Trouble (U) (Franco Amurri. US.
1994) Thora Birch. Ilarvey Keitel. Mimi Rogers.
96 mins. Birch is a weeny with family trotrble. who happens on a rogue captrchin monkey as a pet. Problem is. it's a trained thief belonging to strange-accented European gypsy Keitel. linimagiz‘ative. sentimental tale with an insufferable Ilollywood mix of group hugs and cute furballs. Glasgow: Grosvenor. Fife: Robin's.
I My Fair Lady (PG) (George Cukor. US. 196-3) Rex Harrison. Audrey Hepburn. Stanley Ilolloway. Wilfred Hyde White. 175 mins.
' Familiar screen adaptation of Lerner artd
Loewe's musical slant on I’ygnrulr'on. notable for
a catalogue of great tunes. Harrison's somehow
endearing half-spoken singing. and Cecrl Beaton’s splendid costume designs (especially in the racecourse sequence). Edinburgh: Dominion. I The Neverending Story Ill (ti) (Peter .\Iacl)onal(1. liSlGermany. 199-1) Jason James Richter. Melody Kay. Freddie Jones. 100 mins. Now relocated with dad. steprnorn and sister in a
new town. Bastian finds that the all-important book as fallen into the hands of the local bullies.
who use it to cause havoc in Fantasia. The twist
this time is that a couple of the Henson-ster
creatures are transported to modern-day America. but this only means there are fewer effects to distract kids frorn this sad decline in standards. (‘entralz Allanpark.
I A Night At The Opera (PG) (Sam Wood. US. 1935) The Marx Brothers. Margaret Durnont. Kitty ('at'lisle. Allan Jones. Walter Woolf King. 9() mins. The Brothers (minrrs Zeppo) were at the height of their comic powers when they made this masterpiece. This time they're helping an opera company get back on its feet. but not before they‘ve had a hand it) wrecking it in the first place. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I Only You (PG) (Norman Jew-ison. US. 1994) Marisa ’l‘omei. Robert Downey Jr. Bonnie Iltrnt. 108 mins. Playing with a ouija board as a kid. Faith is told the name of her mart of destiny; years later. on the eve of her wedding. she finds out he really exists. and so begins a dash across Italy. The settings ouze romance. Tomei‘s
playing is agreeany nutty and Downey's charm
has its appeal. but there‘s no real sense that these crossed lovers deserve each other. making this a poor cousin to .S'leep/exs In Seattle. General release.
I The Pagemaster (U) (Joe Johnstone/Maurice
I I
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Hunt. US. 1994) Macaulay Culkin. Christopher Lloyd. 83 mins. Child-nerd Richard Tyler (Culkin) bumps his head in the local library and finds himself transported into an animated adventure with a trio of book friends — Adventure. Fantasy and Horror — to keep him company. The moral is that discovering a role for yourself in fiction helps you confront real life. Luckily. the plot episodes come and go at a pace that suits the skirnpiest concentration span. but that doesn‘t hide. the fact the animation is particularly dull. General release.
I Pulp Fiction (18) (Quentin Tarantino. US. 1994) John Travolta. Samuel Jackson. Uma Thurman. Bruce Willis. 150 mins. Mttch more ambitious than Reservoir Dogs. the most awaited second feature of the 90s has many scenes that crackle with Tarantino wit. and a few others that fall flat as the writer-director bravely experiments. Interlocking stories in the pulp crime manner concerrt hitmen. ailing boxers. gang bosses and their molls. dnrg fiends. and assorted riff-raff. 1994's surprise Cannes Paltne d’Or winner is a trip. all the way. General release.
I lied Bock West (15) (John Dahl. US. I992) Nicolas Cage. Lara Flynn Boyle. Dennis Hopper. 98 mins. Mistaken for a Texas hitrnan. Nicolas Cage is offered $5.000 by a srnalltown sheriff to kill his wife . . . and then double the amount by her if he'll reverse the hit. Scooting out of town with the money and the job undone. he bumps into the real killer. and his problems begin. A slick tale of double. triple and quadruple dealing that adds a comic twist to the tight Blood Shan atmosphere. Glasgow: GFT. Grosvenor.
I La Reine Margot (18) (Patrice (‘hereau. France. 1994) Isabelle Adjani. Daniel Auteuil. Jean-Hughes Anglade. 145 mins. A forced wedding between the Protestant Henri de Navarre and the Catholic Marguerite dc Valois can't calm 16th century France's religious wars or stop the St Bartholomew's Day Massacre. Chereau's breathtaking epic is perhaps a tad gory for the costume drama crowd. btrt it‘s a subtitled spectacle that is remarkable in its scope. See preview. Glasgow: GF'I". Edinburgh: Filmhouse. I Reservoir 0093(18) (Quentin Tarantino. US. 1992) Harvey Keitel. Tim Roth. Michael Madsen. 100 mins. A gang of hoods. known only to each other by colour-coded nicknatncs. meets at an abandoned warehouse to figure how out their rigorously planned heist went so drastically wrong. The best debut in years from writer-director Tarantino. whose stylish violence seduces the audience into complicity. Brilliant in every sense of the word. Glasgow: Odeon. Edinburgh: Cameo. Odeon. UCI. Fife: MGM. I The Road To Wellvllle (I8) (Alan Parker. US. 1994) Anthony Hopkins. Matthew Broderick. Bridget Fonda. 120 mins. Cornflakes will never taste the same again after you‘ve spent some time with their eccentric inventor. Dr John Harvey Kellogg. at his Battle Creek Sanitarium at the beginning of the century. An evangelical vegetarian. played to mad comic perfection by Hopkins. he sets out an exhausting regime of meals. massages and enemas for his guests. Fine scatalogieal humour and ensemble playing. General release.
I The Rocky Honor Picture Show ( 18) (Jim Sharman. UK. 1975) Tim Curry. Susan Sarandon. Barry Bostwick. Meat Loaf. l()() mitts. The cult filrn to end all others. this rock spoof on old horror movies has created a breed of Rocky Horror crazies. and packs them in at late shows everywhere. The filrn has its moments. and Curry is splendidly camp as the bisexual Frank N. Ftrrter. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book (PG) (Stephen Sommcrs. US. 199-1) Jason Scott Lee. Lena lleadey. Sam Neill. 112 mins. Disney's new live action version of Kipling‘s well-loved stories doesn't have the appealing talking animals or songs of the 1967 animated version. but it's a great matinee-style wheeze ~ imagine an early Tarzan movie crossed with an Indiana Jones adventure. Jungle boy Mowgh meets up again with the British army regiment for whom his father was a guide. btrt finds himself forced to reveal to a group of soldier cads the whereabouts of some hidden treasure. Great fun. See review. General release.
I Savage Eye 1 ( 12) 79 mins. A programme of material written specifically for film or television by poet and playwright Samuel Beckett. His understanding of the medium could teach a few film students a thing or two. Glasgow: GI'T.
I Schindler's list (15) (Steven Spielberg. US. 1993) Liam Neeson. Ralph Fiennes. Ben Kingsley. 195 mins. During WW2. German industrialist and Nazi Party member Oskar Schindler saved the lives of over a thousand Jewish employees by demanding they work in his factory rather than be sent to Auschwitz. Spielberg's magnificent movie and Neeson‘s performance capture this enigmatic brand of heroism. while depicting traumatic events in documentary-like black-and-white images. Psychologically complex. emotionally
devastating and artistically irnpeachable. this is one of the best films ever made. Glasgow: Grosvenor.
I Shadowlands (PG) (Richard Attenborough. US. 1993) Anthony Hopkins. Debra Winger. Joey Mazzelo. 131 mins. The true story of Oxford don and children's novelist CS. Lewis who. late in life. man'ied feisty American divorcee Joy Gresham. only to lose her to cancer a few years later. Superlative acting from all concerned. with Hopkins opening his emotions more than usual and Attenborough showing that he can work effectively on a detailed. intimate canvas. Fife: New Picture House.
I Shadows ( l 2) (John Cassavetes. US. 1959) Leila Goldoni. Hugh Htrrd. Ben Camrthers. 87 mins. Cassavetes's first film concerns two brothers and their sister who attempt to work out the various tensions they feel within different relationships. Winner of five awards at the Venice Film Festival and possibly the most influential independent American film of the decade. its electric atmosphere. free-focus camerawork and jumpy editing are reminiscent of Godard’s Breathless (made the same year). Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I Shadows and Fog (15) (Woody Allen. US. 1991) Woody Allen. Mia Farrow. John Malkovich. 86 mins. Late release for Allen‘s homage to/pastiche of early Fritz Lang. Allen is the innocent Kleinrnan. forced to join a vigilante group when a serial strangler terrorises an anonymous mitteI-European town in the 19205. A showcase for the writer/director's talents for dark tragedy and one-line slapstick. Edinburgh: Film Guild.
I Shallow Grave (18) (Danny Boyle. UK. 1994) Kerry Fox. Ewart McGrcgor. Christopher Eccleston. 90 mins. Three Edinburgh flatmates find their new co-habitant dead with a stack of money under his bed. so after performing a little DIY on (Ire corpse. they reckon all their worries are over. Brit the cops are closing in. there are two thugs after the money. and the psychological tension is beginning to show. Filled with dark humour and cynical one-liners. this Scottish thriller is bloody and intelligent enough to please the cult audience while remaining accessible enough to be a mainstream hit. General release. I The Shining (18) (Stanley Kubrick. US. 1980) Jack Nicholson. Shelly Duvall. Philip Stone. 146 mins. Kubrick’s overwrought. over-long horror film dispenses with much of the psychic apparatus of Stephen King's novel to concentrate on the deeper horror of a family (timing in on itself. Nicholson. with all the stops out. is bug- eyed and demonic as the writer cracking up violently in an isolated hotel. and the final scenes are. literally. chilling. Edinburgh: MGM. I Show Boat (U) (James Whale. US. 1936) Paul Robeson. Irene Dtrnn. Alan Jones. 112 mins. Whale. more famous for Universal's first two Frunkmxrein movies. proves he was a dab hand at a musical. The sets are wonderful. the black and white photography glistening. the performances . . . well. a little wooden. with the exception of Robeson and his trademark ‘01‘ Man River" routine. Glasgow: GET.
I Sleepless In Seattle (PG) (Nora Ephron. US. 1993) Meg Ryan. Tom Hanks. 105 mins. One of the most wann-hearted romantic comedies to emerge from Hollywood in years. again proving the talent of Nora Ephron. who wrote When Harry Met Sally. Newspaper reporter Ryan hears a radio talk show which features recently widowed architect Hanks. She's sure they are made for each other. but the whole of the United States lies between them. Perfect for Valentine's Day. All L’Cls.
I Solitaire For 2 (15) (Gary Sinyor. UK. 1995) Mark Frankel. Amanda Pays. Roshan Seth. 107 mins. Written. co-produced and directed by one half of the Leon The Pig Farmer team. this romantic comedy woefully rnisdirects our sympathies as yuppie body language expert Daniel tries to get it together with ESP-blessed archeologist Katie. lt's vital for an audience to like the leads in a love story. but you'll only have contempt for this selfish pair. There was a clever idea in there somewhere. btrt it's handled with no feeling whatsoever. See review. Glasgow: MGM Film Centre. All UCIs.
I The Specialist (18) (Luis Llosa. US. 1994) Sylvester Stallone. Sharon Stone. James Woods. 110 mins. Crack explosives duo Stallone and Woods fall out when on (Ire job. btrt soon find themselves going head to head once more when Stallone is lured out of retirement to provide a few bombs for Stone's revenge plot on the killers of her parents. Frequent loud bangs can‘t fool us into believing this is value for money. nor can the steamy sex scenes hide the fact that there's no chemistry between the leads. As for the mess that is the plot - it's like chunks of raw meat flung onto a lazily tended barbeque. Glasgow: MGM Film Centre. Strathclydc: Magnum. All UCls.
I SpeetHlS) (Jan De Bont. US. 1994) Keanu Reeves. Dennis Hopper. Sandra Bullock. 115 ntins. A white~knuckle adrenalin ride that is the fastest. most finely tuned fairground attraction of