Films screening this fortnight are listed below with certificate, star rating, credits, brief review and venue details. Film index compiled by Miles Fielder.

The Accidental Tourist (15) *tit (lawrence Kasdan, US, 1988) William Ilurt, Geena Davis, Kathleen Turner, Amy Wright. 121 mins. Ilurt plays a successful writer of mollycoddling travel guides, whose placid life. scarred by the death of his young son, is shattered when his wife ('I'urner) walks out. Left to his own devices, he falls for kooky dog trainer Davis, and finally sees that even the best prepared traveller must be ready for unexpected detours. llurt's impressive performance is at the centre of the film's quiet strengths and its absorbing depiction ofeveryday lives. Adam Smith, Kirkcaldy. The Actors (Les acteurs) (PG) (Bertrand Blier. 1999)Jean-Pau1 Belmondo, Alain Delon, Gerard Depardieu. 103 mins. Blier has assembled a veritable who's who of French acting talent for this celebration and satire of an actor's life. Using sketches and monologues, Blier provides a bittersweet reflection of the current climate of France's entertainment industry. Part of the French Film Festival. Gl’l', Glasgow; Filmhouse, Edinburgh.

Alien (18) ***** (Ridley Scott, US, 1979) Sigourney Weaver, lan llolm, John Hurt. 110 mins. Agatha Christie in outer space as a freighter lands on a mysterious planet and is ingeniously invaded by a ravenous intruder which proceeds to chomp its way through the cast list. Edge-of—the- seat suspense thriller with a strong cast and ghastly special effects. Cameo, Edinburgh. All About Eve (PU) hurt (Joseph 1. Mankiewicz, US, 1950) Bette Davis, Anne Baxter, George Sanders, Marilyn Monroe. 138 mins. Davis and Baxter are on top form in this tale of back-stage back-biting and conniving and a young Marilyn makes a big entrance in a small part. A witty and intelligent film. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. American Movie (15) **** (Chris Smith, US, 2000) 10-1 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 lid Wood than ()rson Welles. but American Marie's makers admire his tenacity, and their non- judgmental approach has been rewarded with a strange and wonderful film. Gl’l', Glasgow.

American Psycho (18) *ttt (Mary Ilarron. US, 2000) Christian Bale, Chloe Sevigny, Willem Dafoe. 101 mins. llarron does away with the outward excesses murder. torture. misogyny of Bret Iiaston lillis' 1991 novel about the previous money- obsessed 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 lillis pushed his readers

aw ay, the director draws the audience in by encouraging us to collude with her satiric standpoint. Cameo, lidinburgh.

Bankrupt (Banqueroute) (15) (Antione Desrosieres. 2000) Mathieu Demy, Gwennola Bothorel. 75 mins. Quirky romantic thriller in which a work hard, play hard young stockbroker (shades of Nick Leeson) breaks a bank after some risk deal- making and heads out of Paris with a price on his head. ()n the road he learns up with a pregnant drifter. .»\tmospherically shot in black and white. Part of the French Film Festival. (ll-'1'. Glasgow; Filmhousc. Edinburgh.

The Barber Of Siberia (12) *1“: (Nikita Mikhalkov, L'K Russia. 2000) Julia ()rmond. Richard Harris, ()leg Menshikov. 179 mins. 'Fsarisl Russia 1885: American Jane Callahan (Ormond) meets and falls in love with Andrey 'l'olstoy (Menshikov in a superb performance). an elegant and sensitive young cadet. Their relationship has personal ramifications on all those around them and eventually tears their worlds apart. Constructed like a historical whodunnit, this is controlled chaos par excellence. The man who directed the sublime L'rga and the

Harvey Keitel has the dubious honour of playing Adam Sandler's dad, Satan as it turns out, in the diabolic comedy Little Nicky

Chekovian Burn! By The Sun has thrown up a lumbering, awkward but awe-inspiring movie. Lumiere, Edinburgh.

Bedazzled (12) *‘kt (llarold Rarnis, US, 2000) Brendan Fraser, lilizabeth. 93 mins. An updated riff on the Faust legend, loosely based on Peter Cook and Dudley Moore 's 1967 cult favourite, substitutes Fraser's nerdy tech support guy for Dud's depressed Wimpy chef and Hurley's sexy Satan for Cook's droll Devil, but the set-up is the same: a cautionary tale about making deals with the Devil. Madly in love with the oblivious O'Connor. Fraser signs away his immortal soul in return for a fat legal contract that grants him seven wishes; but the catch, as always, is in the small print. More than enough laughs to sustain its modest running time. General release.

Best Female Newcomer (Meilleur Espoir Feminin) (12) (Gérard Jugnot, 2000) 100 mins. Yvon is a hairdresser who calls the shots in a small town in Brittany. His reason for living is his daughter, Laetitia, whom he is grooming to become a salon manager in a larger town. But Laetitia has careers ideas of her own, having won a role in a movie. Part of the French Film Festival. Gl’l', Glasgow; Filmhouse. Edinburgh.

Best In Show See Rough cuts. (it-'1‘, Glasgow.

Billy Elliot (15) **** (Stephen [)aldry. L'k, 2000) Jamie Bell, Julie Walters. Gary Lewis. 111 mins. Billy (superb newcomer Bell) finds release from life's daily drudgery, and ultimately self-fulfilment. through ballet dancing. As unlikely a leisure pursuit as that might be for a teenage boy growing up in the recession-hit Yorkshire of the 80s (and that's the point), it becomes young Billy‘s ticket out of hard times. Making his film debut, theatre director Daldry handles the political backdrop and dramatic foreground with equal assurance. The dance routines provide much of the film's humour and quite overwhelming feelgood factor. General release.

Bite The Mango (15) (Various. L'K. 1999—2000) 90 mins approx. Programme of the best of British short films made by young black and Asian filmmakers. Includes: Cupboard [.oi'e, Cheri's/t, Blues Is My Middle Name, Eulogy. 'I'lre l’ianeee and This Bastard Business. GI’I‘. Glasgow. Black And White (18) iii (James 'I‘oback, LS. 2000) Ben Stiller. Robert Dow‘ney Jnr. Brooke Shields. 100 mins. Maverick writer-director Toback's ambitious exploration of white teenage America's fascination with black hip hop culture

begins with a provocative interracial menage a trois in New York's Central Park. The film then darts between a series of interlocking storylines, which provide a mosaic of racial, sexual and cultural hybridity in present-day i‘vlanhattan. The cast is eclectic (it includes Mike Tyson, Power of the Wu-T'ang Clan and Claudia

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index FILM

Scbiffer) and the plot contrivanccs melodramatic. but it‘s edgy. fast-talking and 'l‘oback's highly improvised approach pay dividends. See preview and review. Showcase. Glasgow.

Blue Planet (U) An awesome trip around. above and beyond our planet on the [MAX giant screen which prompted the llaslurtgron Post to write: ‘If a picture is worth a thousand words, one image from Blue Planet is worth a zillion'. IMAX. Glasgow.

Bollywood Calling Sec Rough cuts. GI’I‘, Glasgow.

The Bone Collector (15) *** (Phillip Noyce. LS. 1999) Den/e1 Washington, Angelina Jolie. llb‘ mins. An identikit serial killer movie (see ('opyear and Seven) in which Washington's paraplegic forensics expert is confined to his bed, leaving rookie cop Angelina Jolie to be his legs, eyes and ears, trailing cryptic clues left by the killer. Sadly. despite Noyce's efficient direction and a bunch of fine performances. Jeremy lacone's script insults the audience's intelligence. Dumb, derivative and disappointing. Cameo. Iidinburgh.

The Book Of Shadows: Blair Witch 2(18) ** (Joe Berlinger, US, 2000) Jeff Donovan, lirica Leerhsen, Stephen Barker 'l‘urner. 90mins. \"eteran documentary filmmaker Berlinger's sequel to the enormously successful mock documentary horror movie begins with the film phenomenon, including real (yes. really real) interviews with residents of Burkittsville, Maryland (where The Blair Hire/r Project was filmed). What follows is a ‘dramatic reconstruction of the events' (i.e. not shakey cam) following an oddball group of film fans and occultists who go into the Black Hills woods in search of the Blair Witch. But though Berlinger boldly attempts to confound expectations. Book ()fS/radmes swiftly degenerales into the kind of predictable supernatural thriller you would expect to be released straight-to-video. General release.

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