Films screening this week are listed
below with certificate. credits. brief review and venue details. Film index compiled by Miles Fielder.
The Apple (PG) (Samira Makhmalbaf. Iran. I997) 85 mins. In a small 'l'elieran community. a 65-year-old man and his blind wife were reported to the authorities by concerned neighbours for keeping their twin daughters locked tip for the entire twelve years of their lives. Taking tip this true story in I997 after it hit the headlines III Iran. director Makhmalbaf's docu-draina observes the changes undergone by this family alter their lives were publically exposed. Edinburgh: Filnihouse. Arlington Road ( l5) (Mark Pellington. US. I998) Jeff Bridges. Tim Robbins. Joan Cusack. I I7 mins. Pelluigtoii's second feature goes a long way towards revitalising the paranoia thriller genre. drawing on the Oklahoma City bombing and the Waco siege. Single parent. widower and university lecturer iii American terrorism Bridges becomes suspicious of neighbours Robbins and Cusack when he discovers a worrying. hidden past. Motherwell: Moviehouse. Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (I2) (Jay Roach. US. I999) Mike Myers. Heather Graham. Elizabeth Hurley. 96 mins. The Spy Who Shagged Me doesn't really make any advances in what is surely. by now. a new film franchise - Austin Powers 3: Live Atid Let Shag. Atistiii Powers 4: The Man Will) The Golden Mojo. perhaps? - rather. it consolidates its three types of jokery - 6()s kitsch. film references and sexual innuendo. General release. Bean (l’(i) (Mel Silitth. UK. I997) Rowan Atkinson. Peter MacNicol. Pamela Reed. 97 mins. (fruit the movie makes an attempt to broaden the range of Atkinson's tremendoust successful TV sight-gag character by sending him off to California to be mistaken for an art expert. Most gags are agreeably daft: several aie tiresoiiiely Iavatorial: eventually. however. the film upholds family values and true blue American schniaItL You'll like it if you like the TV show. Real grown-ups should stay aw ay. Glasgow; Showcase. Paisley: Showcase. Best laid Plans ( IS) (Mike Barker. US. I999) Alessandro Nivola. Reese Witherspoon. Josh Brohn. 93 mins. It's impossible to reveal much of the plot of this super-stylish. well-crafted thriller without ruining it - so let'sjust say it involves The reunion of two old college pals and an accusation of rape. There's much to I‘t‘s‘tHIIlllClltII a palpable atmosphere of brooding menace and dark desire. a plot full of li-ttirns and an enormously impressive cast. (ilasgow; (il’I‘. Blood Simple ( I8) (Joel Coen. US. I983) loliti (icll. I-‘rancis McDorniand. M. Emmet Walsh. 99 mins. Auspiciotis debut from the Coen brotliers' direction/prtxluction team. Walsh excels as the seedy Sheriff investigating a simple murder whose devilish Texan chronicle of double-crossing is anything btit simple. An enthusiastic attempt at coiiteiiipoi‘ai'y film llt)Il'. which keeps everyone guessing even after the Iinal frame. (Edinburgh: Cameo. Blue Black Permanent (PG) (Margaret Tait. Scotland. I992) Gerda Stevenson. Celia liiirie. Jack Shepherd. 86 mins. Poetic btit painfully obscure portrait of three generations of women. tied over the decades by love and death. As an art movie. 74-year-old Tait's feature debut has some beautiful images. based around water. sea and rain; bitt its muddled narrative is so distracting that much of the impact is lost. lidinbui‘gh: Filnihouse. Bride 0t Chucky ( I8) (Ronnie Yti. L'S. I999) 89 IIIIlts. 'I'he dismembered corpse of the pint- st/ed honioctdal maniac is exhumed for this know mg horror sequel to the (Wilt/h I’luv series. The new edition offers diversion in the form of Jennifer 'IiIIy as the once-human Chuck} 's vengeful ex-girlfriemd 'I‘iffatiy. Glasgow; ()deon Quay. A Bug's Life (L' ) (John Lasseter. L’S. I998) Voices of Dave Foley. Kevin Spacey. David Hyde Pierce. 95 mins. The colony of Ant Island is being oppressed by a gang of menacing grasshoppers. When inventive but clumsy worker ant Flik incurs the wrath of gang leader Hopper. he heads off to find help heavyweight
help in the battle against his oppressors. Glasgow: Odeon. Showcase. Dunfermline: Robins Cinema. Paisley: Showcase. Buttoners (Knofliltari) ( l8) (Petr Zelenka. Czech Republic. I997) I22 iiiitis. The opening tale of this offbeat quintet is set in I9-l5 and hinges on a neat. simple irony: bomber pilots over Kokura. Japan follow their orders to fly on to Hiroshima instead because of bad weather. This is a darkly funny and understated piece; btit the following stories drag. are inconsistent in their impact and rely too much upon arthouse standards - world- weary taxi drivers. naive. circular ' conversations. tragicomic suicide attempts and eccentric sexual preferences. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
Celebrity (I8) (Woody Allen. US. I999) Kenneth Branagh. Melanie Griffith. Winona Ryder. Charlize Theron. Leonardo DiCaprio.
I I3 mins. A not always successful dissection of the nature and price of fame. The film revolves around Branagh's philandering hack and wannabe screenwriter. Lee Simon (Allen's
alter-ego). who is irresistible to a succession of
dazzlineg attractive women. Edinburgh: Lumiere.
Cruel Intentions ( I5) (Roger Kumble. US. I999) . Sarah Michelle Gellar. Ryan Phillipe. Reese Witherspoon. 98 mins. This teen remake of Dangerous Liaisons with horny high school kids taking the place of the sexual schemers is terrific fun. Kathryn (GeIIar) and Sebastian (Phillipe) are two spoiled. wealthy step- siblings living in Manhattan who devise a wager: he must seduce the new school principal's daughter Annette ( Witherspoon). If Sebastian fails. Kathryn gets his car: if he succeeds. he gets to have sex with his stepsister every which way. Glasgow: ABC. ()deon. Showcase. Kirkcaldy: ABC. Paisley: Showcase.
Dead Man (I8) (Jim Jarniusch. US. I995) Johnny Depp. Gary Farmer. Lance Henricksen. I2I mins. After heading otit west for ajob vacancy that's already been filled. accountant Bill Blake (Depp) finds a posse on his tail after the shooting of his would-be employer‘s son. With a bullet in his own chest. Blake hooks tip with an Indian called Nobody (Farmer). who reckons this is the spirit of the poet Blake and so prepares a proper funeral. Glorioust shot in black and white. meticulously paced and imbued with a spiritual transcendence. Jarmusch's existential Western is innovative and unexpected. Edinburgh: Cameo.
Dr Dolittle (PG) (Betty Thomas. US. I998) Eddie Murphy. Ossie Davies. ()liver Platt. 85 mins. A turkey with Rex Harrison in its original form. and still pretty dire this time round. This wild fatnin adventure offers crude bottom humour for the [Itin audience. btit the talking animals gimmick battles with cheesy morality and nothing comes together. Glasgow: Showcase. Paisley: Showcase. Doug‘s 1st Movie (U) (Maurice Joyce. US. I999) 77 mins. The animated adventures of quirky adolescent Doug Funnie graduates from its popular Saturday morning slot on American television to big screen glory. couitesy of Disney. Movie no. I sees the twelve-year-old torn between taking action against environmental pollution and taking his beloved Patti Mayonnaise to the Iiigli school dance. Glasgow: Showcase. Virgin. Edinburgh: UCI. East Kilbride: UCI. Paisley: Showcase.
8 1/2 ( l5) (Federico Fellini. Italy. I963) Marcello Mastroianni. Claudia Cardinale. Anouk Aimee. I38 mins. Showing in a pristine new 35mm print. Many regard this moody magnum opus as the Italian nim'vlm's finest hour. Following a scenario not unlike the one that faced Fellini himself when he was under pressure to come tip with a sequel to the massive international success of Lu Dulce l’ilu. Mastmiannt plays a film-maker plagued by intellectual insecurity and Catholic guilt as a weird selection of actresses. financiers. writers and hticksters dog his every move. As ever with Fellini. it's all about spectacle rather than ideas. btit the show is a sparkling one. Glasgow: (ii-T.
Entrapment ( l5) (Jon Amid. US. I999) Sean Connery. Catherine Zeta-Jones. I I2 mins. Former ace cat burglar Robert ‘Mac' MacDougal (Connery) attracts the attention of sexy insurance investigator Gin Baker (Zeta- Jones). She is determined to find evidence connecting him with that opening sequence robbery. just as he is determined to not have
that crime pinned on him. It's all very 7}; Catch A Third. btit not really in the same league. General release.
Eraserhead ()8) (David Lynch. US. I976) John Nance. 9() mins. You may never eat jelly babies again after the repellent btit compelling tale of Henry. his haircut. his girlfriend. his strange offspring and a sizeable quantity of pus. This seminal arthouse film is disturbing sttiff. mercifully filmed in black and white. Edinburgh: Cameo.
Fear And Loathing In [as Vegas ( l8) (Terry Gilliam. US. I998) Johnny Depp. Denicio del Toro. Ellen Barkin. I I8 mins. As adaptations ofcult books go. Gilliani's take on Hunter S. Thompson's assassination of the American Dream is a glorious mess of a movie. It remains true to the author's vision of moral torpor and psychosis. whilst injecting a good shot of Gilliam's own obsessions. Flawed. certainly. btit epically degenerate. And thus pure gonzo. Edinburgh: Cameo.
The Iii-lo Country ( l5) (Stephen Frears. US. I999) Woody Harrelson. Billy Crudup. Patricia Arquette. Il4 mins. Having successfully mastered the American crime movie with Critters. Stephen Frears tries his hand at the Western. Unfortunately. his latest film fails to transcend the clichés that litter a genre in which there now seems little new to say. The drama. solidly elegiac in tone. is set in the post-World War Two New Mexico community of Hi-l.o. where two cattlemen defend the traditional ways of the cowboy in the face ofencroacbing mass commercialisation. Glasgow: Gl-T.
The Honest Courtesan ( IS) (Marshall Herskovitz. US. l998) Catherine McCorniack. Rufus Sewell. Jacqueline Bisset. I I2 mins. Desire. compromise and betrayal come together in this l7th century Venetian 'true story‘ ofan emancipated woman ahead of her time. Pretty. but tindemanding entertainment. Motherwell: Moviehouse.
Indian Film Festival Celebrating all things Bollywood. the Cameo hosts a mini-Indian Film Festival Fri Aug 6-Sun Aug I5. Festival screenings include: Mmin. Bin-i No. I. Di! 7?) I’ugul Hui. K (It'll Kllt'll IIqu Hui. Hum Aupke Hum Kumi. Di! St't'. Dilii'ulc Dullmniri Lt' lat-mgr and Suluv. Phone The Cameo on O I 3| 228 4I4I for further information. Edinburgh: Cameo.
It All Starts Today ( I 2) (Bertrand Tavernier. France. I999) Philippe 'I‘orreton. I I8 mins. The story of a nursery school teacher trying to cope in a northern French town of high unemployment and despairing poverty is told here by Bertrand Tavernier with his usual eye for detail. There‘s a feeling. however. that 'I'avernier believes he's telling us something new. In fact. filmmakers have recently been tripping over themselves to tell its how prostrate the region has become. Edinburgh: Filnihouse.
lean De Florette (PG) (Claude Berri. France. I986) Gerard Depardieu. Yves Montand. Daniel Auteuil. I2I mins. Provence. during the I920s. Depardieti's indomitable hunchback struggles against impossible odds to make a success of his inherited farmland. unaware that his neighbours are plotting to drive him from his land. Beautifully photographed. with flawless performances. this is a towering tribute to the highest aspirations of French storytelling. A BAFTA winner for the film of the year. Edinburgh: Filnihouse.
The King And I (U) (Richard Rich. US. I999) Ian Richardson. Miranda Richardson. Martin Vidnovic. 87 mins. Animated version of the true story ot‘Anna Leonowens and her experiences as a teacher for the royal family in I9th Century Siam. Cracking songs by Rodgers and Hammerstein and. being animated. the facility for more active roles to be taken by talking elephants. sentimental chimps and proud panthers. It's a cracking ride. General release.
Koyaanisqatsi (U) (Godfrey Reggio. US. I983) 87 mins. Philip Glass' soundtrack and Ron I-‘ricke's cinematography are the twin
pillars of the narrative voice iii this first film of
Reggio's 'qatsi' trilogy. It opens with a single deep red word. some archaic cave drawings and a iiiotirnl'til httiii. All of which represents our collective 'life out of balance'. a translation from the Hopi Indian word ‘koyaanisqatsi'. Perfect tilnunaking in harmony with all its creative elements. Edinburgh: Cameo.
Continued over page
index FILM
Nicky Agate The column that previews the
summer’s movies from the mean streets of New York.
This weekend, I became an honorary New Yorker: I stayed to the end of the credits. Normally, this Man-habit confuses me to the point of despair - why do these peOpIe, in this of all cities, insist on staying on past the godawful theme song and the gooey feelgood finale? Maybe they don't want to become the next victim of ceaseless sunshine-death. Maybe they all know the assistant gaffer’s dog. For me, the humiliating attraction was none other than Richard Gere. I entered his latest film with intentions of vitriolic condemnation and exited with more than begrudging praise. In two hours I was converted from hardened cynic to wuss, turning to goddamn jello at the sight of a greying Buddhist joke.
Runaway Bride is by no means an arthouse masterpiece; but it is a well- crafted and surprisingly witty romcom. Directed by Pretty Woman's Gary Marshall, it reunites hardened Manhattanite gossip columnist Gere with commitment-fearing Julia Roberts, a much better kooky carpentress than she ever was a whore. The underrated Joan Cusack is gloriously insane in her role as the runaway bride's best friend, and injects some good-humoured, blue- veined venom into the film's inevitable layers of thick Hollywood cheese.
So I laughed with the New Yorkers as they laughed at themselves, depicted in black garb and shades at a hick town wedding. And I stayed with the New Yorkers as they applauded the credits, though I Simply wanted a few more seconds of Gere. The cinema was packed, the audience enthusiastic, and it was 2pm on a Saturday afternoon.
Manhattan's love of cinema is fierce and sincere. Theatres are never deserted. No film opens without impressive advance sales and an enthusiastic queue. They arrive an hour early and stand in line, devouring hotdogs and nachos covered in fake plastic cheese, greeting friends and ex- Iovers and networkers and stars, and everyone talks about the show. The culture clash audience of Gotham City cinemas is a mock-up of the city itself. From old ladies in over-sized sunglasses to drag queens on rollerblades. celluloid New York makes a community of us all.
5—12 Aug 1999 THE usr 108