VIDEOS
reviews
I RENTAL ; strikers to their mothers, this IS still an
openly political moVie It doesn't, ; One Fine Day
however, choose to score easy and . , , contentious points, but rather finds an I (PG) 104 mins t: Ambitious career woman Michelle
emotionally accessible way to illustrate the tragic impact of the ongoing war ‘ Pfeiffer is forced to Juggle her parental in Northern Ireland on the Irish people duties along with \.'/isecracking Helen Mirren and Fionnula Flanagan newspaper man George Clooney when both of their kids miss the ferry to their
are magnificent as the women in a film that refuses to demonise or glorify school trip Modern trappings and the is3ue of single parenthood don't
either set of opponents (Columbia distract from the fact that this is a
Tristar £12 99) resolutely old—fashioned romantic r JUde . _ l comedy with stars who know exactly ' (15) 117 mms 4" i" *2 ‘3" how to charm and beguile their ways Michael \i’Vinterbottom's take on the into our * and each other's ~ hearts bleak Thomas Hardy novel I (Fox Pathel distinguishes Itself from the latest rush ‘ - of British literary adaptations by i Brake" EnghSh situating its tragic romance withtn. a l (18) 88 mins ! When a Croatian refugee falls
working-c lass context Beleagured hero, Christopher Eccleston combines pregnant to hcr Maori boyfriend and also agrees to marry a Chinese
an increaSingly hard-edged interior With inner tenderness as a heartless immigrant for money, her Violent father takes the law into his own
society throws everything it can at him hands The melodramatic plot is given
Tremendously lll()\’lli'.), without resorting to sentimentality :PolyGrarii an extra degree of racial tension when we consider the prejudice that sparked
£12 99> the conflict in former YugoslaVia
i A Generation E However, there's not enough
(12) 85 mins j background to the characters, so ‘ The first part of Andi/e] WaJda's 5 nothing really drives their actions
celebrated trilogy about the Polish along The working-class setting gives resistance during World War FI has less it a stronger dimension, but the film
impact now than Kana/ or Ashes" And still doesn't come close to the power of
Diamonds Perhaps that's because it's a Once Were ’v’arriors i'First i Indepenc’lentl
little too ardent Iii trott'ng out l Murder At 1600
Communist speeches and, stylistically, folloWing the Socialist Realist pattern I (15) 102 mins More criminal shenanigans at the
However, it does capture the spirit of the young fighters, as they channel White House, as homicide cop Wesley Snipes teams up with Secret Service
anger and humiliation into a positive force against the Nazis IEureka £12 99)
agent Diane Lane to investigate the
i murder of a secretary in the President's
pad There's nothing mysterious about
Walking And Talking f the true-to-formula twists that face
(15) 86 mins this typically mismatched couple on
Laura has jllSi got engaged, but toys with the idea of sex with other men their way to a predic tably overblown conclusion I\.\‘arnerl
Lifelong friend Amelia has no RETAIL .
relationship of her own, so Laura's forthcoming wedding only adds to an , Some Mother 5 Son (15) 107 mins
l
obsession With her ov.n shortcomings Debut director Nicole Holofcener brilliantly captures the mood swings that colour real friendships in a delightful film that's full of sharp and true observations on love and l;fe
i {15 99)
t Although the foc us of this I980s—set moVie shifts from the IRA hunger
i Rebel with a cause: Brad Pitt is an IRA man in America in The Devil's Own (15, 107 mins, + v ). Available to rent from Wed 7 Jan.
98 THELIST 9 922 Jan 1998
Classic couple: Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall in The Big Sleep
RETAIL MGM Vintage Classics
When the sell-through video market really took off, studio bosses must have been rubbing their hands in glee at the thought of all those movies sleeping silently in the archives. All too often, however, crumbly old features are paraded out to cries of the word 'classic’, therefore a truly distinctive collection of golden age films is something to celebrate.
That’s the case with the twelve timeless movies in the MGM Vintage Classics set. Just take a look at the stars — Humphrey Bogart, James Cagney, Vivien Leigh, Burt Lancaster, Clark Gable, Marilyn Monroe. Check out the directors - Sidney Lumet, John Huston, George Cukor, Howard Hawks. It’s enough to make any film fan turn into a quivering wreck of delirious joy.
The videos come complete with synopses, cast details, original artwork and, in some cases, original trailers. Such classy packaging is very welcome, but it's the quality of the films themselves that just can't be beat. The tension of 12 Angry Men; the scathing satire of The Sweet Smell Of Success; the sparkling banter of Tracy and Hepburn in Adam's Rib; the smouldering looks between Bogart and Bacall in The Big Sleep, To Have And Have Not and Key Largo. Not to mention Angels With Dirty Faces, The Birdman Of Alcatraz, Judgement At Nuremberg and The Misfits, as well as the premiere release of Waterloo Bridge and Goodbye Mr Chips. Your telly probably won't ever be put to better use. (Alan Morrison)
The MGM Vintage C/aSSICS are available to buy from Mon 72 Ian, priced f 9.99
each.
The Fast Show — Series 2
(12) 203 mins
What Helen of Troy was to ships, The Fast Show is to catchphrases But there's more to it than Out—of-c ontext utterances to bug your friends with This is character comedy at its best, where the cumulative bold-up of guzrks and ct-t1sc‘-rvat;c:-ns hznt at a sad loser e>cistence tl‘at iu'ks round the corner ‘(:.' us all Great Rea/l; g'eat
Damn, see ‘-.'.hat rv‘ea". :sBC : v 9::
Firecreek
(PG) 100 mins ~~
James Stewart and Henry Fonda star in this dos-.r‘beat ll‘lllU' \\“estern that came along -:n l968‘ when its old- fasl‘ioned ster had sarely had its day When the bad guys come to a Ea/y town of unainbitious losers, only Stewart can summon up any anger at their fzuilying behaviour The mora metaphor that takes over from the gunplay is more than the story can tarry 'Warr‘er Bit; Hum 55
The Fastest Gun Alive (PG) 86 mins
In the macho world of the Western, men continually had to prove to themselves that they were the toughest guys around Russel! Rouse's little knots/n movie making its video premiere expertly plays this up then punctures .t, rneek storekeeizer
"2's stI(,(Tt:.".-f; skiils
Glenn Ford‘ keeps hidden tintzl f‘e's ‘orced to :lran'.‘ against a trartkiobber t'treatcr‘ “A; to
10V?) “131:3...” [:'i{(\-(t(:l'l(‘,i (:\::'L:()
Tamblyn has a hoe-down dance routine straight out of a musical sit side by side with realistic dialogue and a contrived but perfectly tight plot Ford's performance is fantastic, playing a man itching for the trigger like a drug addict hitting cold turkey (Warner Big Picture £5 99)
Stage Door Canteen (PG) 132 mins s A host of Hollywood stars (many now lost to the dust of history) play themselves in iiilS crass exercise in cheap sentiment and wartime propaganda The thin story concerns a group of soldiers spending their last f'ew nights before heading into action in a free food and entertainment ]()I.'li run by film star volunteers Really it's ,'ust an excuse for dated vaudeville ac ts comedians, a ventriloguist, Gracie LCIOifiS to 'do their best for the boys' and for the cast to say 'Hey, isn't that It wouldn't be so bad if the patriotism being stuffed down our throats was only anti-German or anti- Japanese, the fact that the Chinese and Russians are presented as Americ a's best mates comes over as fiypoc risy ;iven the anti-communist witch hunts that hit Hollywood barely a decade later iEureka £15 99)
REVIEWER THIS ISSUE: Alan lc'iorrison
STAR RATINGS
unmissable
Very good
at Worth a shot
- Below average Y0u‘ve been warned