‘ o I
Off with the gloves: Craig Ferguson and Kevin Allen, star and director of
Local Hero
With a little help from his friend, director KEVIN ALLEN, CRAIG FERGUSON has made a triumphant return to Scotland with The Big Tease. ‘~.‘.*'().'(f8i Davie Archibald
Rerrrerrrher Brrrg Hrtler7 No7 Well, you should recall hrs creator ( r‘arg lerguson, the Scottrsh stand-up turned actor who packed hrs bags ;n 199‘) to seek fame and fortune rn l-lollyxn.'<)()(l Desprte (rrtrtal actlarm rrr hrs 'ratrye land, l-erguson admrts rt wasn't easy Statesde 'I thought I was the dog's bolrotks because I'd
done okay rn he says 'I fora‘d out to my
Scottarrd,
great embarrassment that a good tt“.*l(“.‘\. rn [he Glasgow. Hera/(l doesn't get you very far I found 'rtysel‘ In the entharrassrntr posrtron of not berng able to go home because I drdn't t'eer that I could, and stayrng to fIQl‘l my way :nto somethrng that l was only rnvted to watch
four years later Ferguson returns as executrve producer/wrrter/star of The Brg Tease and hrs (‘XDOl’lOl‘ttP rnvrtes parallels \trth Ferguson's own character He plays Crawford Mackenxre, a gay Grasv.eg:an narr- stylrst who tratels to LA uncler the mrsapprehensron that he's been rntrted to partrcrpate rn the World Harrstylrng Champronshrps But realrsrng hrs mrstake, Mackenz’re breaks arr barrrers attemptrng to enter the competrtror‘.
Rock} In Curlers rs how the frlrrt rs be'ng punteo by the PR oeop‘e ano t s porntless Qtlrtmzr'tc‘, Mac-teete s‘.‘.dDS box-ng glotes are a gurn-sn e d ‘or MLSBOM ti'Tt‘. d “art-SHOE db "1’ \“"“U5
"TO the '."" e :10'705 "‘c‘sf
The Big Tease
(orffeurs Ferguson rs happy to accept (orrrparrsons 'l'he frrst Rocky frlrn rs, to my rnrnd, a perfect frlrrr What comes after rs ail shrt, but the frrst rs a work of fuckrng genrus I love rt ' But frttrng Ferguson's outlook, lire 8/g Tease departs from the tradrtronal testosterone—fueiler hardrnan ’lhere's more than one may to be a hero And to be a glorrous futkrng punch the arr rn trrurnph hero you don't have to mow people down 1.2:th automatrc weapons '
But although Macken/re rs gay, the frlmrnakers are keen to reject easy stereotypes ’There was no (hangrng the vorce or effettrng hrgn camp personas,’ pornts out l-erguson And drrector Keyrrr Allen adds, 'lt would be
'To be a glorious fucking punch the air in triumph hero you don't have to mow people down with automatic weapons.’ Craig Ferguson
horrng and rt would be a (op-out l'ne fact that thrs guy rs gay rs :rr‘elevant But Crarg berng 6ft 2m and Glaswegran rs just so ('ounterpornt to the harrdressrng thrng I love that krnd of macho thuggrsh thrng rust berng rnstantly drspelled Dy a harrdryer'
Desprte the overt marketrng of Ferguson’s Scottrshness, Allen rs cautrOus about the frlm makrng any oolrtrcai commentary on a natron that has only recently re-establrshed rts own parlrament think rt's corncrdence really It \‘.Oc.‘!(l be wrong to read a great dear :nto -t The guy rust happens to be Scottrsr‘. hat may be the case, out those who remember Brng Hetler’s Hoots Och A, e number mll detect a departu'e "or" the D'SS-Ia‘xrr‘g of "at onawstt asp rat-o" to a geet‘e' aporeeat'or‘ o‘ t
'(ir'LrCc‘.
General release from Fri 27 Aug.
All About My Mother (15) 101 mins ta ,. ,.
Pedro Almodovar's new frlm rs Wrthout a doubt hrs best to date Renowned for hrs portrayal of strong women, he pays trrbute here to therr (apacrty to act, to mother and to create strong bonds of solrdarrty rn the face of extremrtres. Manuela works as a transplant coordrnator rn a Madrrd hosprtal. As rs often the case rn Almodovar's frlms, characters are strrc ken by chance and so rt's not long before her own son rs krlled rn a car accrdent and she has to srgn the consent form to allow hrs heart to be donated (irref—strrcken, she sets out to fulfrl her son's last wrsh to know hrs father and goes to Barcelona to frnu the tranyestrte she
‘9. ti! ff"), -—
Strong woman: Cecilia Roth in All About My Mother
ll llhrll
ran away from erghteen years earlrer.
In some ways a homage to Joseph Mankrewrcz' classrc, A// About Eve, from whrc'h the trtle rs derrved, All About My Mother rs concerned wrth the secret (‘ommunron between women where they reveal therr true selves, but also about the masks they are forced to wear to hrde therr sulferrng A superb cast of women rnc ludes Argentrnran actress Cecrlra Roth as the bereaved mother and the gorgeous Penelope Cruz playrng a fallen angel, Srster Rosa Antonra San Juan provrdes the humorous lrght relref as transexual tart Wrth a heart, Agrado, rn thrs guaranteed tear-Jerker, destrned to drscover the femrnrne Srde rn all of us (Catherrne Bromleyr
General release from Fr/ 27 Aug.
Arab strap: Antonio Banderas in The 13th Warrior
The 13th Warrior (15) 103mins r .s
The rdea of a bunch of Armanr-surted, pOnytarled frlm executrves srttrng around and comrng up wrth the Vrkrng rnovre as the next potentral blockbuster sotrnds lzke somethrng out of The Player Somewhere along the Irne thrs rOusrng, mud-splattered tale was surely consrdered rn those terms, and wrth good reason the s0urce novel rs Mrchael Crrchton’s Eaters Of The Dead Wrth a cast of largely unknown, blonde-maneo actors assembled (1’0:ch star Antonro Banderas and action 'naster John lylcTrerrtan clrrectzng, The 73th Warrror must have rookec: good on paper
0"- “:rr‘ ts a afferent story Release
delays suggest post productron problems, and rt does have the look of a frlm edrted wrth a broadsword as well as gaprng holes rn the narratrve But If yOU can accept rt as enjoyable nonsense, then rt's fun Banderas plays an Arab poet, Ibn Fahdlan, who rs sent as an emrssary to the cold lands of the north There he meets a fearsome group of Vrkrng warrrors, who persuade hrm to rom them on a mrssron to conquer a deadly foe — the so-called Eaters of the Dead Banderas Overcomes hrs fears, learns the local lrngo, proves hrmsell to hrs comrades and defeats the seemrngly supernatural enemy It's rrdrrulous of course, but breathtakrngly enjoyable Wrth rt
’Anwar Brett
General release from Frr 3 Sep
26 Inc: 9 Sez: ‘999 THE LIST 108