Williant Meivyn. Jenny Agutter. l()8 mins. A trio of youngsters find that tlteir involvement with the railway tltat runs past tlteir garden is to lead thent into adventure. Pleasittg fatnin film with art old-fashioned. comfortably Britislt feel that sets it apart front contentporary kids movies.
Ransom ( l5) (Ron Howard. US. I996) Mel Gibson. Rene Russo. Gary Sinise. l2l ittiits. Self-made millionaire Tout Mulleit‘s life takes a turit for the trautttatic wheit his sort is kidnapped. After the FBI bungle the ransom drop. Mullen goes on network TV to offer the $2 nullion as a bounty on the kidnappers head. A tiglttly paced. dark aitd brooding Hollywood thriller which ltas more than the average amount of tension and twists. The acting is all- round excellent. bttt it's Gibson's movie aitd he‘s perfect as the likeable bloke with art underlying vicious streak. General release.
Rio Bravo (PG) (Howard Hawks. L’S. l‘)5‘)) John Wayne. Dean Martin. Angie Dickinson. l-ll ittiits. Classically sprawling Western. iit which the Dttke plays a lawman tryittg to go it alone against the gang who want to spring their colleague front the local jailhouse. He's too proud to enlist support frottt a youthful Ricky Nelson. alcoholic Dean Martin or geriatric Walter Brennan. but can lte hold ottt without their help'.’ A powerful attd unforgettable epic. assembled with the assured drive. visual scope attd attention to detail which typifies Hawks's best work. Glasgow: Gl’l‘. lidinburgh: liilnthottse.
Romeo And Juliet ( l2) (Bax. l.uhrmann. .-\tistralia/US. l‘)‘)(i) Leonardo DiCaprio. Claire Danes. Pete Postletltvvaite. 120 ntitts. The Strict/v BUN/THIN) director's treatment of the Shakespeare tragedy is a ntagnificettt riot of colour. action arid sexy teen romance. without arty need to sacrifice the text. To call it ‘M'l‘Y filntmaking' misses the poittt that the camera tricks attd iii-jokes don't in any
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way distract front the fact that l.ultrniann has completely grasped the issues at the centre of the play. An intoxicating. breathtaking mix of Catholic iconography. high camp aitd street violence that's both deliciously feverislt and studiedly cool. See feature and review. General release.
Secrets And Lies ( t5) (Mike Leigh. UK. 1996) Timothy Spall. Brenda Blethyn. Phyllis Logan. lJtt Illllls. Leigh's Palme D'()r-winning follow up to Naked is a bittersweet take on suburban domestic life. Young black optician Hortense searches for the mother who pttt her up for adoption as a baby. bill is surprised to discover its white working-class (‘yntltia Genuinely emotional. with great performances by Marianne Jean-Baptiste arid 'l‘intotlty Spall. bttt the sltovvstopping turn t‘oittes frottt C‘annes winner Brenda Bletlty li, Glasgow: ()deott Quay, ltdinburg't. Cameo. liilnthouse,
She's The One ( l5) (lzdward Buttts. l'S. l‘)‘)6) Edward Burns. Mike .\lc(_ilottc. Jenniler Anistott. ()7 titiits. This pleasing comedy shares the saute sense of humour as Burns‘s debut (The Brut/let's .‘llulltt/lwt) attd focuses on the fraternal tensions between a pair of Irish- Americans itt matters of love. sex attd marriage. A gentle. witty. perceptive film with neat dialogue. fresh characters attd tticelyjudged acting - US indie cinema as quality soap. Kelso: Roxy.
Shine ( l 2) (Scott Hicks. Australia. l‘on) Geoffrey Ruslt. Noah Taylor. Armin Mueller-Stahl. l()5 tttiits. Winner of nine top awards at Australia's equivalent of the ()scars. Slime is a remarkable and devastating film about the life of cltild prodigy aitd pianist David llelfgott. who was forced to retire front the stage due to a mental breakdown. but returned later iit life. Tlte performances show real love. while the recital passages are presented with a cottv ictiott that underlines the quality of the film as a whole. Glasgow; ()deons. Edinburgh: Cameo. t'C‘l.
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Galashcils: Paviliott. St Andrews; New Picture House.
The Shop Around The Corner (PU) ilirnst l.ubitsch. L’S. l‘)-l()t Jaittes Stewart. Margaret Sullavan. lirauk Morgan. ()7 units. A glorious romantic comedy by the great lirnst l.ubitsch. teaming up Stewart attd Sullavan as bickering shop assistants who gradually realise that they 've been having art attotty ntous romance by letter. l-uitny and touching. it's an absolute classic. lidittburglt: l‘ilut Guild.
Sleepers ( l5) ( Barry l.evinson. l’S. I‘Not Jason Patric. Brad Pitt. Robert De Niro. Dustin llofftttatt. Kevin Bacon. l57 tttitts. l-‘our boyhood friends are throw ll into a juvenile detention centre w hen a prank goes wrong. attd are sexually attd psycltologicall abused by the guards. Years later. two of the boys murder the ringleader attd their pals try to pull ofl a scant that will see them go free. In its tilnt torut. l.oren/o ('atcatei‘ras controversial “trite novel
becomes a Itostaglic t‘ites-of-passage tale.
tough prison ‘ittessgtge picture and edge- of—seat courtroom drama rolled iitto one powerhouse of a movie. (ilasgow: Showcase. lrv inc: \VMR.
Space Jam (L‘i (Joe l’ytka. L‘S. twm Michael Jordatt. Bugs Bunny. Wayne Knight. ST ittiits. Nasty alien cartoons have captured Bttgs Bunny attd are going to enslave the l.ooney Tunes itt their antuseittent park on Moron Mountain. but Bttgs has the brainwave of challenging them to a basketball game attd enlisting the talents of Michael Jordan for his team. lacking the class of Who I’rtmu'a’ It’uet r Rub/til." and the pace of a teal basketball gatttc. Spare .lti'lll should divert the kids on Saturday mornings. even though the jokes aitd L'l‘iiL'CTS illL‘ lit't‘tl l‘tottt over-use. See review. (ietteral release.
Star Wars: Special Edition I L7) ((ieoige l.ucas. l'S. NWT/07> Mark llatttill. Harrison l‘ot'd. (‘arric l'ishet'. llo tttiits. .-\ screen legend returns. slightly souped-
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tip for the modern audience: sound is sttitably thunderous. the minimal extra footage of largely anorak interest. attd the additional digital effects rather obviously painted itt. Set against today‘s blockbusters. it ltas become something of a period piece. However. for its conceptual imagination. its innocence of spirit and budget-stretching technical resource l.ucas's movie milestone remains jttst that. General release.
The Thing ( lSt (John (‘arpenteiz US. WSZ) Kurt Russell. Wilford Britttley. David (.‘lennon. l()‘l ntins. Scientists on an Antarctic research station thaw out an alien creature able to change its shape attd horribly ntttrder humans. lzxtraordinary effects are ptit to amazing use itt this tense shocker. (ilasgow: (il’f. The Thing From Another World (PU) ((‘hristian Nyby. L'S. I‘lfil‘i Kenneth Tobey. Margaret Sheridan. Robert (‘ornthvvaite (7 units. Another from the honour roll ofgreat sci fi filttts. in which a group of scientists Ill the Antarctic are confronted by a flytitg saucer attd its deadly occupant. Tense and menacing. without the gore of Carpenter's rentake. Nyhy gets the director's credit. bttt the production was planned aitd supervised by Howard Haw ks. (ilasgow: (il’l’. lidinburgh: liihultouse.
To Die Fort l5) (Gus Van Sattt. US. l‘NS) Nicole Kidman. Matt Dillon. Joaquin Phoenix. l()7 mitts. ()bsesscd with TV fattte. Suzanne (Kidman) takes a job as a weatltergirl with her local cable station. but uses lter position to begin a documentary on modern youtlt. And uses her subjects to kttock off lter husband (Dillon). a ball-and-cltain around her atttbitiotts ankles. Van Sant‘s ultintately tragic satire on tlte psychological power of US media isn't a new subject. but his treatment is enlivened considerably by an excelletttly
judged perfortttance by Kidman. who's
begittning to show her true potetttial. lidinburglt: Cameo. Continued over page
TH E SCOTSMAN
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21 l.1ar—3Apr i997 THELIST 27