Films screening this fortnight are listed below with certificate, star rating, credits, brief review and venue details. Film index compiled by Miles Fielder.
American Movie (15) ivker (Chris Smith, US. 2000) 104 mins. Smith and producer Sarah Price's documentation of oddball Wisconsin filmmaker Mark Borchardt's efforts to get his Great American Movie made is amusing and fascinating. Borchardt is more [Ed Wood than Orson Welles, but American Marie's makers admire his tenacity, and their non- judgmental approach has been rewarded with a strange and wonderful film. Falkirk: FTll Cinema. Stirling: MacRobcrt. American Psycho (l8) **** (Mary llarron. US. 2000) Christian Bale, Chloe Sevigny, Willem Dafoe. 101 mins. llarron does away with the outward excesses — murder, torture, misogyny - of Brct Easton Ellis' 1991 novel about the previous money- obscssed decade and serves up the essence of the novel in a more palatable form. That doesn‘t mean her film is soft; it certainly isn't. But where Ellis pushed his readers away, the director draws the audience in by encouraging us to collude with her satiric standpoint. Edinburgh: Cameo.
Anna And The King (12) ** (Andy Tcnnant, US, 1999) Jodie Foster, Chow Yon Fat, Bai Ling. 151 mins. Another remake of The King And [‘5 improbable romance between a Western governess and an Eastern king. This time round Yul Brynner is replaced with lush period detail and historical sweep of the kind seen before in The Last Emperor. Foster gives a gratingly worthy performance, while Fat proves he's better with the liong Kong bullet ballets that made him famous. Glasgow: ()deon At The Quay.
Asterix And Obelix Take On Caesar (PG) *** (Claude Zidi, France/Belgium, 2000) Christian Clavier, Gerard Depardieu, Roberto Benigni. 110 mins. Clavier and Depardieu lead the way as the film ‘s dynamic Gaulish duo, juiced up on their secret super strength-giving potion, dispensing with the Roman army in a slapstick and downright chirpy way. Benigni also pops up as the Roman army crook who plans to overthrow Caesar. AsIerLr can take its place alongside Superman and Batman as one of the successful comic conversion jobs. Edinburgh: Lumiere.
The Big Lebowski (18) *‘k‘k‘k (Joel Coen, US, 1997) Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Steve Buscemi. 113 mins. The Coen brothers give their unique twist to a Chandler-esque LA noir, as 70s hippie throwback Jeff ‘The Dude‘ Lebowski (Bridges) is drawn into the sordid affairs of his millionaire namesake. Suddenly he has to sleuth his way through disorganist crime. Trademark oddball characters, surreal imagery and excellent performances grace this virtuoso comedy. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
Boys Don’t Cry (18) ***** (Kimberly Peirce, US, 2000) Hilary Swank, Chloe Sevigny, Peter Sarsgaard. 114 mins. Writer/ director Kimberly Peirce‘s first feature is based upon the life of Brandon Teena, the transgendered Nebraska girl who lived her life as a male, and whose love affair with a smalltown girl named Lana 'I‘isdel met a bloody end in 1993. Swank is simply astonishing. The credibility of the film rests entirely upon her performance, but it's a burden she shoulders with consummate skill and grace. A humbling example of brave, beautiful, brutal filmmaking. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
Breakfast Of Champions (15) *** (Alan Rudolph, US, 2000) Bruce Willis, Albert Finney, Nick Nolte. 109 mins. Unfairly overlooked adaptation of one of Kurt Vonnegut's best known novels. It's a somewhat dated satire on consumerism, but the source material and the talent attached make it worth checking out. Kirkcaldy: Adam Smith.
The Cell (18) it (Tarsem Singh, US, 2000) Jennifer Lopez, Vince Vaughn, Vincent D'Onofrio. 108 mins. A serial killer
(D'Onofrio) has lapsed into a coma without revealing the whereabouts of his latest female captive who remains imprisoned in a booby-trapped cell. As a last resort the FBI request a psychologist (Lopez), who has been experimenting with a radical new therapy (‘neurological syntactic transfer system'), to delve into Carl‘s disordered mind. A sadistic and derivative film, cobbled together from countless earlier serial killer outings and virtual reality extravaganzas, offering no real suspense and the slenderest of characterisations. See review. General release.
Cherry Falls (15) ** (Geoffrey Wright, US, 2000) Michael Biehn, Brittany Murphy, Jay Mohr. 92 mins. A serial killer is on the loose in the sleepy town of Cherry Falls. The common link between all of the victims is that they are all virgins. lt transpires that the only way for the kids in the community to feel safe is by attending the ‘Pop Your Cherry' ball. So we have such amusing sights as Sheriff Brent Marken (Biehn) disappointed to hear that his teen daughter Jody (Murphy) is a virgin. The ropey plot quickly dooms the film to the so-bad-it’s- almost-good-but-not-quite school of filmmaking. General release.
Chicken Run (U) *1in (Nick Park’l’eter Lord, UK, 2000) Voices of Mel Gibson, Julia Sawalha, Miranda Richardson. 85 mins. For their first feature Aardman studios have re-written the WWII P.O.W. experience as an Orwellian satire, albeit with laughs. So, Stalag 17 becomes a battery farm and the camp commandant farmer Tweedy's domineering wife, while in the hutches, Ginger rallies her fellow hens to fly their coop. Though the characters aren't as established as Wallace and Gromit and the feature length running time slows the action, Aardman continue to work real wonders with their familiar Plasticine animation. General release. »
Cinema Paradiso: The Special Edition (15) ***** (Giuseppe Tornatore, Italy/ France, 1988) Salvatore Cascio, Philippe Noiret, Jacques Perrin. 170 mins. The nostalgic chronicle of a Sicilian youngster's formative relationship with his local movie house and its wise old projectionist is largely unaltered; the new material details the older Salvatore's traumatic return home, showing exactly what happened to his teenage paramour. Consequently, the tone is darkened, a counterpoint to the central slushiness. A masterpiece restored. Stirling: MacRobcrt.
A Clockwork Orange (18) **** (Stanley Kubrick, UK, 1971) Malcolm McDowell, Patrick Magee, Warren Clarke. 137 mins. The night of ‘ultra-violence' committed by Alex (McDowell) and his gang of ‘droogs' gives it its notoriety. But subsequent victimisation by the State still provides much food for thought. This fable of law and disorder, crime and punishment might easily be recast in 21st century Britain. So, it's about time the British public got to see the late master‘s most infamous film. Edinburgh: Cameo. Stirling: MacRobcrt.
The Closer You Get (12) ** (Aileen Ritchie, UK, 2000) lan llart, Sean McGinley, Niamh Cusack. 92 mins. The Closer You Get is set in the sort of small lrish village where loveablc wasters and long-suffering women are as obligatory as a pint of Guinness. Disappointed that the local ladies aren't up for romance, the men decide to place an advert in an American newspaper, hoping that sexy Stateside talent will flock to the limerald lsle. Their female neighbours aren't impressed. In her short films, Scottish director Aileen Ritchie showed sympathy and affection for her characters, but here she‘s badly served by a script that resembles a Bulb/(issangel reject. See review. General release.
Cry Freedom (PG) (Richard Attenborough, US, 1987) Denzel Washington, Kevin Kline, John Thaw. 158 mins. Although not without its flaws, Attenborough’s biographical re- creation of the friendship between black civil rights activist Steve Biko and white liberal newspapcrman Donald Woods is his best film to date; an epic, moving drama that also stands as a vigorous condemnation of apartheid. Kirkcaldy: Adam Smith.
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listings FILM
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Friday 13 Oct
Wednesday 8 Nov
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BAA Edinburgh 71‘
EITIVAL THEATRE
Thursday 7 Sept
Interviewed tiu Mani Hainuis
Sir John fliummnnil
Ex-iiieclnr of Edinburgh Festival and Hit Proms
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Tuesday 19 Sept
Jimmu Lnun
Wednesday 25 Oct
Wednesday 15 Nov
Wednesday 22 Nov
Tickets £3.00. Box Office 0131 529 6000
In association with James “rm and British Airways
Saturday 16 September
Box Office: 11131 529
“They perform work of poignant grace and shocking physical bravado."
Tickets £5.00 (£5.00 concessions)
Johnnu HBfllliB
John Simpson
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Spend an enjoyable hour listening to the tales of our entertaining speakers.
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7—21 Sep 2000 THE “ST 25