VIDEOS
RENTAL
Conspiracy Theory (15) mins v
Taxr drrver Mel Grbson rs convrnced they’re all out to get hrm, and — sure enough -- the one trme hrs paranora rs rustrfred, he can't get anyone to belreve that he rsn't crying wolf Wrth attorney Julra Roberts on hrs srde, Mel trres hrs best to dodge the governmental baddres Producer Joel Silver pours as much Hollywood glitz as possrble over thrs star vehrcle, but no amount of dollars can hrde the fact that thrs mystery puzzle has only about three dots to iom together (Warner)
L'Appartement (15) 112 mins x- it «.
Gilles Mrmounr's‘ beautifully constructed debut movre thrrlls the vrewer wrth rts ever-changing perspectives — rt’s lrke wanderrng through a gallery of rnrrrors, turning a corner and seerng something behrnd you rn afresh lrght. Dashrng young busrnessma-r Max has hrs confrdence shattered when he thrnks he spots hrs lost love rn a cafe, but as he travels through a mysterrously atmospherrc Parrs in search of her, flashbacks reveal he rs not the only one suffering from romantrc obsessron. (Artrfrcral Eye; also retarl £15 99)
Career Girls
(15) mins «-
Don't expect the marnstream appeal of Secrets And Lies rn Lergh's latest. Hrs story of two y0ung women (Katrrn
Cartlrdge and Lynda Steadman) lookrng back on their student days rs drsasterously undermrned by self- rndulgent, on-the-surface characterrsatron. Abandonrng narratrve for a serres of character enc0unters, Lergh and hrs team delrver lrttle more than an up-market drama workshop (Film Four)
Deep Crimson
(18) 110 mins at e a
This Mexican varratron on Honeymoon Killers rs so subtly played and coldly delrvered that rt keeps the vrewer at arm’s length Two socral mrsfrts ~- an overwerght woman and a man obsessed by hrs baldness »- team up to swrndle wealthy Widows, but their mutual dependency grows darker and their behavrour more sooopathrc. The wrcked humour effectrvely adds to therr monstrousness, (Metro £15 99)
Remember Me?
(PG) 80 mins ~
Rrk Mayall bombed Out on the big screen recently wrth Bring Me The Head Of Mavrs Davis and he's rn equally dire terrrtory here He plays the husband to Imelda Staunton, whose old school chum Robert Lrndsay prtches up after 20 years following a frnancral drsaster rn the crty and wrth hrtmen on hrs tarl. Mrchael Frayn's scrrpt rs an embarrassment of outdated clrches from the theatrrcal school of bedroom- hopprng Only rn a horrrbly mrddle- class Brrtrsh movre c0uld Staunton be the object of not one, but two men's romantic desues. (VCI/Frlm Four £1499)
Basqurat
(15) 107 mins tr i a»
Whatever yOur vrews on the talent of ’prrmrtrve'-sty|e artist lean-Micheal Basqurat, you can't farl to be rmpressed by thrs crrtrque of the New York art scene and rts whrms that lead to hrs death at the age of 27. It's a shallow, fad-ridden world frlled by hangers-on -— so rt seems strangely approprrate that the frlm rs frlled wrth celebrrtres lrke Davrd Bowre and Dennrs Hopper. (Fox World Crnema £12.99)
RETAIL Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song (18) 97 mins == * 5 r The release in 1971 of Melvin Van Peebles’s legendary low-budget movie was a defining moment in Black American Cinema. Rough and radical, Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song also marked a new beginning for independent filmmakers, for not only did Van Peebles star in, write, produce and direct the film, he also marketed and distributed it himself. Experimental in narrative style, it follows a mythical stud hero as he
Melvin Van Peebles: Sweet's smell of success
stands up against oppressive white cops and sets off on the run as a fugitive. Black stereotypes are knowingly manipulated in this alternative morality play, set to a funky score and edited with such energy that your social conscience sits
up and takes notice.
This video release marks the launch of new UK label Xenon, whose American parent company hold an incredible back catalogue of Black cinema. Joining Sweetback this month is Dolemite (18, 91 mins, ‘» r' ), a prime slab of blaxploitation starring X-rated stand-up Rudy Ray Moore as a flamboyantly dressed, kung-fu kicking local hero taking back his club from Mr Big. It's good
fun, but shabbily acted.
Much more interesting is Thug Immortal (E, 90 mins, '
-- iv ), which cuts
through the industry hype and rap world bragging of Tupac Shakur by hearing his story from the mouths of the guys he hung out with on the street. His fatal shooting becomes all the more inevitable in this light, maybe because there's a larger grain of truth in the voice of the 'hood. (Alan Morrison)
‘ I All titles are available from Thu 26 Feb from Xenon/MIA, priced f 7299 each.
Alive And Kicking
(18) 100 mins
Ballet dancer Tonro (rrsrng star Jason Flemyng) rs determrned to dance one last trme, desprte the fact that he has AIDS. When hrs arlrng company A— too many members have already dred from the drsease -- casts hrm rn Indian Summer, Tonro frnds love rn the most unexpected frgure — alcoholrc, older, overwerght c0unsellor Jack (the superb Antony Sher). Any overlyrng morbrdrty rs carrred away by a late blossomrng warmth that hrts the frlm and the characters Just lrke the trtle of the dance suggests. (VCI/Frlm Four [14 99)
The Incredibly True Adventure Of Two Girls
In Love
(15) 92 mins ‘
No adventures rn the actron sense, only the thrrlls and drsapporntments that frrst love brrngs. The twrst here rs not so much that the teenagers are both grrls, but that one rs whrte and workrng-class, the other a spOrlt black
princess Although the frlm was over- prrzed at Sundance a few years back, rt's strll warm and funny, mostly thanks to strong characterisation from young Laurel Holloman rVCl/Feature Frlm Company £14 99I
Sabata
(15) 103 mins r v
Lee Van Cleef caprtalrsed on hrs assocratron wrth Clrnt Eastwood and Sergro Leone for thrs spaghettr western, whrch was obvrously made for a few dollars less Wrth hrs sharp features and wrde-brrmmed hat, Sabata rs the coolest dude around and rs ardecl by a few of the local eccentrrcs as he goes up agarnst the town's corrupt brgwrgs He's a man of few words, but at least they're not dubbed as badly as hrs on-screen buddres. (Warner Brg Prcture £5.99)
STAR RATINGS
r r :t r * Unmrssable
‘ i v t Very good
. a . Worth a shot
‘ 5 Below average
c- YOu’ve been warned ’
We have ten copies of Gilles Mimouni’s stylish romantic thriller to give away.
“L'Appartement” tells the tale of an ever so slightly romantic man, who, just when he’s about to get married, is bewitched by a memory that could change his life forever.
L’Appartement has been compared to Hitchcock’s Marnie and Vertigo; Mimouni concedes the Hitchcock influence and has packed his film with red herrings as 4 well as a soundtrack by Peter Chase which deliberately echoes Bernard Herrmann’s score for Vertigo.
Answer this to get the vids:
/f you don’t get lucky then you can buy it on sell through at [75.99.
L’Appartement is French for what?
Answers on a postcard by Thu 5 Mar. Mark them: L'APPARTEMENT, The List, 14 High Street, Edinburgh, EH1 1TE.
106 THE lIST 2O Feb—S r‘.lar 1998