FILM new releases
HORROR Shadow Of The Vampire
(15) 91 mins * t t 4:
Illumrnated by a remarkable performance from erlern Dafoe, thrs sly horror follows the frlmrng of F W. Murnau’s srlent classrc Nosferatu However, drrector E Elras Merhrge and wrrter Steven Kat/ have also had the glorrous rdea of makrng Max Schreck, the actor who played the bald—headed bloodsucker, a real vamprre (a revelatron that comes early rn the frlm). Arrrvrng rn Eastern Europe for locatron shootrng, German frlmmaker Murnau (John Malkovrch) warns hrs crew that the man who rs to play Nosferatu (Dafoe) rs one of those newfangled method actors who rnhabrt therr roles completely. So, frlmrng wrll only be done at nrght and Schreck erl remarn rn character throughout. What Murnau hasn‘t told them rs the extent of hrs leacl’s famrlrarrty wrth the ways of the undead, or the gruesome payment rn krnd he has arranged wrth the Cocrnt. Dafoe rs mesmerrsrng as Schrecjk. Clearly havrng studrecl the 1922 frlm,
ROMANTIC COMEDY
What Women Want (12) 127 mins t 1*. at
Freud went to hrs grave unable to fathom the mystery of women's desrres. Mel Grbson's character rn thrs frothy romantrc comedy stumbles upon the rnsrght by a freakrsh stroke of good fortune. A less deservrng benefrcrary would be hard to frnd. Grbson's drvorced, playboy advertrsrng executrve Nrck Marshall rs a testosterone-fuelled chauvrnrst whose brand of trts ’n’ ass ad campargns have long exceeded therr sell-by-date. Hrs company, however, wants to reach female consumers and has grven the top JOb Nrck covets to a woman, Helen Hunt's Darcy McGurre.
In a brd to get rnsrde the female mrnd, Nrck drunkenly trres on such
50 THE lIST l—lS Feb 2001
Sly horror homage
he has perfected the strlted walk, gnarled frngers and prercmg stare, arded by photography that mrrnrcs the orrgrnal movre's shadow-frlled style He brrngs humour to the vamprre's barely controlled bloodlust but can, when regurred, be genurnely menacrng, grvrng Schreck a fascrnatrng edge of unpredrc‘tabrlrty. As the rncrdent-frlled shoot contrnues and Murnau becomes blrndly obsessed wrth frnrshrng the prcture, the frlm ultrrnately becomes a tongue-rn-cheek meclrtatron on drrecitors who erl do anythrng to get the perfect shot A cautronary tale for the Coppolas and Herzogs of thrs world (Srmon Warclell)
FE GFl," Glasgow, Fr/mhouse, Ecr’rnhurgh from Frr 2 Feb See Front/rnes.
The Lrst has three drgrtal/y remastered DVDs and vrdeos of the orrgrna/ Nosferatu plus cop/es of Bram Stoker’s Dracula (Pengurn Class/cs; to grve away to the frrst three correct answers recerved to the followrng guest/on. What rs the name of the actor who plays the baldheaded bloodsucker rn Nosferatu? Answers on a postcard and please state whether you want DVD or vrdeo.
Gibson twinkles roguishly
products as leg wax, Wonderbra, mascara and trghts, and achdentally knocks hrrnself out. He wakes up to drscover he rs now able to hear women’s unspoken thoughts, Thrs new grft scores hrm brownre pomts all round. He becomes a better father to hrs teenage daughter and a more sensrtrve lover. He also drscovers ways to undermrne hrs rrval at work, only to frnd hrmself fallrng rn love wrth her.
As one would expect, Grbson twrnkles rogurshly rn the lead role and handles the frlm’s scenes of screwball farce well But he's let down by a lack of chemrstry wrth hrs co-star. When Nrck gushes 'You dazzle me,’ to Darcy, the audrence rs left bemused. Dazzlrng? A less apprOprrate eprthet for the bland Hunt would be hard to frnd. (Jason Best)
I General release from Frr 2 Feb.
DRAMA
The Claim (15)120 mins ‘Ir r: .«r r
Thrs rs l.lrchae| \‘c'rriterbotton:s most ambrtrous drrectorral sentcrre to date, a SlSn‘r post-gold rush drama, whrch rs loosely rnsprred by Thomas Hardy's The Mayor 0," Casterbr‘rdge The prrncrpal settrng rs the comnrunrty of Krngclom Come, a remote outpost effect:‘.ely owned and nut ht lrrsh rmmrgrant Dillon (Peter ltlullanr, who harbours the gurltrest of secrets Twenty years earlrer he sold hrs wrfe Elena (Nastassra .‘srltskr‘ and daughter Hope (Sarah Polley) rn exchange for a clarrn for gold, and noe. the\ have returned to the scene of betrayal, along w:th an ambrtrotrs young rarlroacl \tl'\c‘\()l (Amer/can Beauty's Wes Bentley)
Anchored by Mullan’s typrcally powerful central performance, thrs telerltlessw sombre tale unwmds \vrth an rnexorable sense of tragedy, rr) ‘.‘«.‘l)l(lr the harsh beauty of the Rockres pr'ovrdes an eprc backdrop to the enrotronal humor) of the characters lvlasterly photographed by Ratcatcher crnematographer »\l\'tll‘. Kuc hler, The Clarm stands proudly rn the tradrtron of revrsronrst Westerns lrke Robert Altman's fr/lcCabe And Mrs Mr/ler ere rts tor‘bears, rt shows hoe. the cherrshed dreams of proneers clashed wrth the brtter realrtres of frontrer lrfe, and l)()\‘.’ greed and selfrshness were the drrvrng forces bc-hrnd the fotrnclatron of modern Arnerrca (Tom Dawson)
I Selected release from Frr 9 Feb See prevrerv Peter lulu/lan nukes a personal appearance at the GFT, Glasgow on Frr 2 Feb
COMEDY
Dude, Where's My Car? (15) 82 mins *
Dude, Where’s My Car rs berng promoted as thrs year’s Road Trrp, but rf Road Trrp was the Ferrarr of gross— out Arnerrcan college cornedres, Dude would be the Skoda The marn protagonrsts, Jesse (Ashton Kutcher), and Chester (Sean erlram Scott, graduate of Road Trrp and Amer/can P/e) have taken the Kearru Reeves 101 school of actrng and come bottom of the class
Jesse and Chester, dudes who make Brll and Ted seem smart, wake up after a raucous nrght on the town unable to remember a thrng Sard dudes frnd themselves rn major league trouble when they realrse that then car, contarrrrng annrversary grfts for therr grrlfrrends, has gone mrssrng They attempt to prece together then movements from the nrght before and locate the mrssrng motor Dude El and dude £2 soon drscover that durrng the corrrse of the evenrrrg they had come rnto possessron and drsposed of $200,000, and attracted the attentrons of the hrgh school sweetheart and her boyfrrencl among other mrsdemeanours,
A new nadrr rn frlmmakrng rs reached rn a sequence where the dudes burst rnto song, mrmrckrng a Vanrlla Ice musrc vrdeo One wonders rf the frlm would not have been better rf rt had concentrated on the nrght before, rnstead of tellrng thrs far more rnterestrng story rn mere flashback. (Kaleem Aftab)
I General release from Feb tbc.
ANIMATED COMEDY The Adventures Of Rocky And Bullwinkle
(U) 91 mins * * ir
Why would anyone, let alone Robert De Nrro, deCrde to update a cartoon that was last made rn 19647 Is there really such a dearth of gualrty orrgrnal prorects rn Hollywood that Unrversal would green lrght thrs7 The answer rs yes, but on the evrdence of the lrve actron/anrmated Rocky And Bullwrnkle, rt’s a good thrng they drd
A hrlarrously rronrc openrng sequence that sees the eponymous flyrng sgurrrel and moose lrvrng rn an anrmated world sufferrng from recessron sets the frlm’s playful post-modern tone Everythrng changes for the anrmated anrmals when therr nemeses, Natasha Fatale (Rene Russo) and Borrs Badenov (Jason Alexander), trrck Hollywood producer Mrnnre Mogul (Janeane Garofalo) rnto fundrng a lrve actron Rocky and Bullwmkle frlm, whrch results rn the cartoon characters makrng the transrtron to the ’real’ world There (here7), our heroes' arch-enemy, the Fearless Leader (De Nrro turnrng rn a performance that bears an uncanny resemblance to Mrke Myers' Dr Evrl), sets about overtakrng the world through a new TV statron called RBTV (Really Bad Televrsron)
Rocky And Bullwrnk/e‘s CGI effects recall rts antecedent Who Framed Roger Rabbrt?, and lrke that frlm rts dralogue rs packed wrth cultural references that wrll have adults laughrng harder than the krds. (Kaleem Aftab)
I General release from Frr 9 Feb.
m ,1 Hg Powerful tragedy, harsh beauty
dir of college comedies
New na
Playfully post-modern