reviews

RENTAL Burn Hollywood Burn (15) 82 mins

When Arthur Hrller took hrs name off thrs prorect, prevrously (alled An A/an Smrthee Movre, rt reaIIy became 'An Alan Smrthee I\.lovre' - the monrker' used by drsgruntled drre( tors everywhere Errc Idle, these days the most rrr'rtatrng of the Monty Python team, plays a drr'ector who steals the master prrnt of the most expensn'e mot/re ever when studro rned'dlrng turns rt rnto a prece of (rap Basrtally, wrrter Joe Es/terhas rs grvrng hrmself a blow rob at our expense rEntertarnmentr (AM

RETAIL

Samurai Banners

(15) 167 mins

Although not gurte up there wrth the (lassrcs rn \‘.’hr(h Toshrro l\lrfune starred for Akrra Kur(')sawa, thrs has enough polrtr<al rntrrgue and drsmemberment to keep fans of the genre Interested And gore hounds wrll be rn hog heaven when Mrfune blur ks an arrow from hrs own eye The rest of you mrght frnd the r‘rtualrslr( dralogue and (odes of honour (harar ter motrvatron somewhat heavy gorng, e\.'en takrng rnto (onsrder'atron the eprt photography and strr‘r'rr‘.g store by The Water Margrn (omposer Iylasaru Sato (Connorsseur [IS 99> rRI--

Lawn Dogs (15) 96 mins

Set rn an affluent Amerkan housrng development, Lara/n Dogs follows the oredrctable rrde of ten-year-old Devon and her fr'rertdsl‘rp wrth Trent, tne Iota? whrte trash guy who mows lawns for a Irvrng The frlm (oncentrates on the two sorral mrsfrts rn a n‘.r( rorosm of drsturbrng Suburban antrrs and paranOra ~ a healthy remrnder to steer clear of the 'burbs The slrghtly surreal drsmtegratron whrch ensues rs pulled off \Vrth convrncrng ease r’VCl/Frlm Four £12.99I r'SBr

Lo' infidelity: Jeremy Irons and Dominique Swain as man and waif in Lolita (Fox Pathé, 18, 132 mins tit). Available to rent from Mon 22 Feb

VIDEOS

Playing The Field (15) 300 mins

Wrth serres two under way, thrs rs the perfe<t trrrre to revrsrt the frrst season of the female frtba' ensemble pre( e Wrrter‘ Kay l\,lellor‘ has treated a rrremoral')le frrst eleven, featurrng an adulterous (entre batk, a sexually (onfused goalre, and a forvv.ard whose drug use rs anythrng but performante enhan( :ng Strange that among all these k!( k-ass women the nrost s( ene- stealrng per‘formanre should (ome from Rr( ky Tomlrnsorr, poar hrng (.omedy goals as a hen-per ked nouveau m be (lub (harrnrar‘. «VVL (RF)

Out On A Limb

(PG) 87 mins

The fragrle str'urture of farnrly rs a key theme rn the works of US-born anrmator Carolrne Leaf In these dark tales r.‘.e have srblrng bonds str‘et( hed to the irmrts rn 'Betx't'een T\'.'o Srster‘s' and Ieaf's take on Kafka :n ‘Isletamorphosrs Of Islr San‘sa', a 'ruptral of rn(on\.'enren(e rn 'I'he Owl Who Islarrred A Goose', the death of a grandparent rn 'The Street ' If you r'emarn bamboo/led, some lrght rs shed onto the leaf method wrth her' lar‘krng around wrth sand, parnt and (ut-orrts rBFI \’rdeo £12 99‘ 180*

Darklands

(18) 87 mins

F()ll()\.‘.’lll(} up a ser'es of rrtualrstrt slayrngs, rnrrestreratye reporter Cr‘arg Farr'br'ass rbest known as tne (or kney who gave Stallone a krr krng rn C/rffr'rangerr drgs the drr't on a modern (lay pagan (ult rn Wales and gets more than he bargarned for Debut drr'e(tor Julran Rrr hards (ombrnes some Ilfil‘ltltlrIIQISIIIS natronalasm, paganrsm, rndustrralrsm~ but farls to (onvrnce, capture the rmagrnatron and, worst of all, horr‘rfy It’s more a case of plagrarrsm, berng a Welsh W/(ker .rl/Ian- (um-Rosemary's" Baby rlsletr'odome £12 99 rIylFI

RETAIL

Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels

(18) 106 mins

Opinion at the time indicated that East End gangland tribute/spoof Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels was 1998's saviour of the British film industry. At the time, and even more so in hindsight, this has turned out to be patent nonsense. Yet, for the duration of Guy Ritchie's debut movie, you will be hard pushed to remove your eyes from the action.

The story involves a series of renegade mavericks, dastardly duets and quartets of thieves, both petty and utterly serious, as a card-game debt, a pile of cash, some drugs and a brace of classy shooters go through many pairs of hands. At times, the plot threatens to spiral into confusion and invite you into losing patience through total bamboozlement. But you know you won't. And yes, Vinnie Jones is more than adequate and succeeds in the less than arduous task of acting Sting off the screen, while the likes of Dexter Fletcher,

reviews VIDEOS

Gunning for trouble: Vinnie Jones in Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels

Steven Mackintosh and Jason Flemyng make further contributions to

their rising stocks.

Being a 905 gangster caper, there is much in the way of nodding to Tarantino, Ealing and Get Carter. Yet the bolshy exuberance of the direction, dialogue, characterisation and comedy makes the gross pilfering seem totally justified and worthwhile. (Brian Donaldson)

Avar/ab/e to buy on Po/yGra/n at [75 9.9 on Mon 7 Mar, Cast rrrembers rvr/l be appcn'rr/ng at Bar 70, Monkey Bar; Spy and Budda rn G/asgor'~/ on Thu 4 Mar,

8 77pm

South

(E) 81 mins

Subtrtred 'Srr‘ Ernest Sha< kleton's (rior‘rous EDK of the Antart trr ', South (harts the explorers doomed atter‘rpt to (ross the rty wasteland rn 191.1 As rr'orrrtally named as Trtanrr,

Shar kleton's vesser, Errdur'an(e, \.'.'as sturk rn and then slowly (rushed by park :(e, at r.‘.hr(l: pornt its (rev. abandoned shrp to undertake a desperate struggle for sur'yrval Ltl( kriy for us, Austr'alran photographer I-rank Hurley rest ued hrs do< urnent of the expedrtron from the srrrkrng sltrp and the BFI have krntfly added a ntusrtal auompanrnrent and (olour' trnts BI'I Vrdeo {IS 99 rhllr

Heart Of Dragon (18) 90 mins

Also kno\'.n as First M/ss/on, thrs I985 Jat kre (‘han rr‘()\.':e rsn't the trademark at tron-(ornedv we mrght expet t, as rt demands a hrgher (alrbr‘e of at trng from Chan and hrs st reen buddy, Sarho Ilung Chan plays a (or) whose personal goals are frustrated by the demands of lookrng after hrs retarded brother a bot( hed re\.'.'el robbery brrngs both rn (ontart w.th some hard- kr( krng (rrmrnals The ( lrmat tr( burldrng-srte 's( rap rs a (lassrt, but everythrng else rsn't sharp enough rllong Kong C lassrrs f. I? 99

fulls( r‘een/f I3 99 \.'\.'rdes( reen‘ :AMI

The Ugly (18) 90 mins

Poor old Srnron had a tough tarre as a (hrld In adulthood hrs patrente snaps

and ar‘yone (ones under hrs erfe Not“. rr‘strtutror‘alrsed, he meets a (elebrrfy shr'rrrk \.'.hose 'w.rs.ts e‘toke “rs darkest ne'rtor'es and take then: on a ton to the edge of fear Tlvs tors.- budget Nev. /ea:av‘d horror makes a detent enougl‘ stab to re( reate the textur‘a' ter nnrt‘rues of Seven and the psyt l‘ologrr .rl arnbrtron of S/r’enre Of The lambs but sewed by seekrng rts ()M'JI goals rl‘yletr'odonre {Id 99* 80

The Thief (15) 95 mins

European (rr‘erna nas had a nahrt of

rt llrtfl.’ "(i‘.{' l)('('ll l)t'..(‘v'

nrodut rng memorable (entrai nerfor'nant es t'on‘ tute x'os (rite/ha ’arar/rso and The Tr” [)ru": a'e t‘.‘.o Tne T/rref rs ar‘otr‘er 22th the nude- eyed rn'ro(en(e ()5 l~.l'slra PM I)( 'itrks Sanya stealwg many (a stene Set n post-kaar USSR, r‘. s srr‘dle 'r‘other t'a ‘s to" a \.'.ar hero ‘.'.“o rs anythrr‘g out Yet, as he rs the only "o‘e 'node a\.arlab'e, Sar‘ya goes to g'eat rengt's to nroxe hrmse“ to l‘s r‘ex'. iad ‘\.«".‘ar,"r, yet happ: unser‘tr‘rental

'r\'ttztra' Me i l‘) 99- BI)

CONTRIBUTORS THIS ISSUE: S.mor‘.e Bard, Braan Donadso", fnlr't‘s lr'reoer, Rob lraser, ‘\ a" l‘\.l()"‘\(l"

STAR RATINGS Urr'n ssanle \.'er‘y good \.".rortt‘ a sl‘Oi Below. average You we beer: 'r.'\<l""t‘(l

:' 1999 THE lIST 105