FILM index
FILM INDEX continued
Meet The Parents ( 12) iii (Jay Roach. US. 2000) Ben Stiller. Robert De .\'iro. Blythe Danner. 107 mins. lt‘s everyone's idea of a nightmare weekend. Having fallen in love. you are forced to spend time of varying quality with your potential in-law s. This is the tricky task which faces Stiller as he prepares for the company of De .\'iro's Cold War secret agent. his daunting wife and a plethora of friends and family you‘d go to the ends of the earth not to have to choose. The beauty or beastliness about Meet The Parents is the safe predictability of the gags. De .\'iro‘s performance is somewhat flat. btit Stiller's edgin fatalistic performance is a joy. General release.
Mektoub (15) (Morocco/France. I997) 90 mins. Detailed but sensitive examination of the devastating effects of rape. Part of Cinemamed Arab Mediterranean Film Festival. Filmhouse. Edinburgh.
Merlin The Return (PG) 1r 1): (Patil Matthews. UK/L'S. 2000) Rik May‘all. Craig Sheffer. Patrick Bergin. Tia Carrere. 88 mins. Mayall‘s Merlin has banished the evil sorcerer Mordred (Sheffer) to the depths of the earth and put King Arthur (Bergin) and his Knights into a deep sleep. When Mordred threatens to surface again thanks to the experimental efforts of scientist babe Joan Maxwell (Carrere). these 12th century men awake to find themselves in a modern world. forced to do battle with oil tankers rather than dragons. While the action jumps in and out of the dimensional time gate. the plot becomes muddier and muddier. Mayall and co do their best to inject some humanity into the film. but end up strangled by an unwieldy script and poor special effects. GFT. Glasgow. Message In A Bottle ( 12) *tt (Ltiis Mandoki. US. 1998) Robiii Wright Pent). Kevin Costner. 131 mins. Slushy romance it) which Robin Wright Penn discovers a love letter washed up in a bottle and then proceeds to track down the romantic writer . . . who turns otit to be the not particularly romantic Kevin Costner. ()deon. Ayr.
The Milky Way ( 18) *t* (Luis Bunuel. France. 1968) Laurent Terzieff. Paul Frankeur. Delphine Seyrig. 102 mins. Two tramps make a pilgrimage to a Spanish shrine and. on the way. meet various characters who expound the six central mysteries of Catholic dogma. This is the fervent atheist director‘s most direct and mischievously anti-clerical treatment of organised religion. Filmhouse. Edinburgh.
Monsieur Hulot's Holiday (PG) *ttt (Jacques Tati. France. 1953) Jacques Tati. Nathalie Pascaud. Michelle Rolla. 91 mins. M. Hulot. the bachelor with the accident- prone touch. arrives at a jaunty coastal resort and devastation very soon ensues. Comic timing at its most irresistible. as Tati gets away with a number of memorable. slow- burning gags. all undercut by the stabbing notion that we all have an uncle exactly like Hulot. l-TH Cinema. Falkirk.
Muriel's Wedding (15) *ttt (PJ. Hogan. Australia. 199-1) Toni Collette. Rachel Griffiths. Bill Hunter. 105 mins. lfgly duckling Muriel decides to leave behind her boring life in Porpoise Spit and search for her Prince Charming in the big lights of Sydney. A bouncy Abba soundtrack and fairy tale ambience add to the charm of one of the year's best crowd-pleasers. As sparkling. in its own way. as The Adveniin'es ()fl’ri'st‘illu. Filmhouse. Edinburgh.
Mysteries Of Egypt (L') (Bruce Neibaur. US. 2001 ) ()mar Sharif. Kate Maberly. mins. ()mar Scarif stars in the first National Geographic film to appear in IMAX. imparting tales of tombs. treasures and the amazing achievements of this ancient civilisation. IMAX Theatre. Glasgow.
Omar Gatlato ( IS) (Merzaq Allouache. Algeria. )95 mins. Critique of the machismo rampant in Algerian society. Part of Cinemamed Arab Mediterranean Film Festival. Filmhouse. Edinburgh.
102 Dalmatians (L’) tit (Kevin Lima. US/UK. 2000) Glenn Close. (ierard Depardieu. loan Gruffudd. 90 mins. Cruella‘s back. And this time she‘s Ella. Thanks to a shot of mind-altering Pavlovian treatment during her stay at Her Majesty‘s Pleasure. the larger than life baddie is released into the community as an animal-loving philanthropist. Only when Big Ben strikes
38 THE lIST 15 Feb—1 Mar 2001
twelve does the spell snap. letting her revert to character. her passion for Dalmatian fur renewed. [02 is a generation on from the original cute canines. but the shape of the story is virtually identical. while the script's too caught up in the machinations of the human world to give the dogs enough of a look in. General release.
Pay It Forward ( 12) *«Hr (Mimi Leder. 2000) Kevin Spacey. Helen Hunt. Haley Joel ()sment. 123 mins. This ‘heartwarming' drama begins with a cynical journalist stumbling across a series of apparently random acts ()f kindness. which turn otit to be orchestrated within a structure similar to a chain letter. traceable back to Las Vegas school kid Trevor McKinney (()sment). Trevor's life isn't an easy one. His mother Arlene (Hunt) is an alcoholic go-go bat” waitress and his abUsiv'e father (Jon Bon Jov i) is absent. but in new teacher Mr Simonet (Spacey). the boy finds a surrogate parent whose class project prompts Trevor to conceive 'pay it forward'. Leder handles the storytelling confidently and allow s her stars to shine. btit there's a horrible sense that this sentimental film was conceived and executed with ()scars in mind. Magnum Theatre. Irvine.
Pearls Of The Deep (no cert) * t t * (Various. Czechoslovakia. 1965) 105 mins. Five tales based on the writing of llrabal. this anthology film became Czech New Wave's manifesto. Lumiere. Edinburgh.
The People Of Casablanca (Les Casablancais) (PU) (Abetlelkader Lagtaa. Morocco, 1999) 89 mins. Disturbing drama in which three lives in contemporary Casablanca collide unexpectedly. Part of Cinemamed Arab Mediterranean Film Festival. Filiiihouse. Edinburgh.
Pitch Black ( 18) *‘k‘kt (David 'l‘wohy. LS. 1999) Vin Diesel. Radha Mitchell. Cole llauser. 1 10 mins. Their spaceship damaged by a meteor shower. the members of an inter- stellar mission crash-land onto a parched planet. lit by three suns and inhabited by thousands of voracious flying creatures. The sun-baked planet and hammer-headed predators are strikingly visualised. btit it is the internal group dynamics that engage oiie's attention. Twohy cleverly exploits the relative anonymity of his cast members. subverting our expectations about which of them will survive. Those you think you can trust turn out to be the last ones you can rely on. and vice versa. Stuart. mid-budget sci-1i. Cameo. Edinburgh.
A La Place Du Coeur ( )5) tr“: (Robert Guediguian. France. 1999) Ariane Ascaride. Jean-Pierre Darroussii). (ierard Meylan. l 12 mins. Guediguian's follow-up to ,erl'flls Ii! Jt’um'lle once again focuses on Marseilles‘ underclass. Childhood sweethearts Clim and Bebe live out a blissftil existence until a racist policeman imprisons Bébe ~ because he's black — on a trumped-up rape charge. at which point two families unite it) their efforts to free him. What ties these folk together is their beautiful humanity and it‘s this that provides Guediguian's film with its feelgood factor. Who said social realism has to be all doom and gloom'.’ Edinburgh Film Guild at l-‘ilmhouse.
Pocahontas (ti) ** (Mike Gabriel/Eric Goldberg. lfS. 1995) With the voices of Mel Gibson. lrene Bedard. Billy Connolly. 81 mins. The true story of Pocahontas is given a splash of Disney colour. reducing her from heroine to lovesick bimbo as she falls madly in love with white settler Captain John Smith. The cliched beauty of the leads. the cutesy animals and talking tree make it a travesty. and even the songs are tuneless warbling ballads. Only the animation is worth a mention. V'ikingar Cinema. Largs.
Pokemon The Movie 2000 (PG) *‘kt (Kunihiko Yuyama. L'S/Japan. 200(1) 80 mins. ‘Disturb not the harmony of Fire. Ice and Lightning or' . . . they'll make it the plot of the new I’okwiimi cartoon movie. The injunction front the ancients is. of course. broken. as a huge Heath Robinson-sty 1e flying warship captures three elemental guardian Pokemon from their ()ceanic archipelago — and sets off the mother of all El .\'inos. Cue our heroes to the rescue. Pokemon trainer Ash. his sweet and dangerous Pokemon Pikachu. Ash's iii-denial girlfriend Misty. and buddy Tracy. All known Pokemon. and a few new ones. are there to help too. Selected release.
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Move over Pokemon, Digimon heralds another gang of animated kids and their pet
creatures all the way from Japan on a mission to save the world
Politics? Politics! (no cert) (Various. Germany. Various) German short films. Goethe liistittit. Glasgow.
Qui115( lb’) tit (Philip Kaufman. LS.
2001 ) Geoffrey Rush. Kate Winslet. Michael Came. 124 mins. The film version of Dotig Wright's play finds the Marquis de Sade (a gloriously camp Rush) confined w itliii) the walls ofCharenton Asylum for his last day s. There. his writing is indulged by saintly Abbe ('oulmier (Joaquin Phoenix). unaware that the ‘pornography' is being smuggled otit by maid Madeleine (Winslet) and published. iiiticli to the chagrin of Napoleon. Strait-laced Dr
Roy er-(‘ollard ((‘aiiiei is promptly dispatched to ‘cure' de Sade with methods that wouldn't be unfamiliar to the Spanish lnquisition. At times Quil/v seems haunted by the saucy spirits of Sid James. Kenneth Williams ('I u/ Curry ()1) De Stu/e anyone'.’ btit by the third act Quil/v has taken a disturbing turn. spiralling into a nightmare of rape. torture and murder. Selected release.
Raiders Of The Lost Ark (Pt i) t t t t t (Steven Spielberg. l’S. 1981) Harrison Ford. Karen Allen. 1 15 mins. Ford plays adventuring archaeologist Indiana Jones. who almost bites off more than he can chew when he turns tip the Ark of the Covenant in Na/i- infested wartime ligypt. Return to the breathless excitement of the Saturday morning serial with this rollercoaster of a movie. probably better than either of its sequels. Tongue held very firmly in cheek. New Picture House. St Andrews.
Red Planet t 12) iii (Antony Hoffman. LS. 2000) Carrie-Anne Moss. \'a| Kilmer. Tom Si/emore. 106 mins. The portentous opening voice-ovei by Moss. about an ecologically-rav'aged Earth and the terraforming colonisation of Mars with oxygen-producing algae. does not bode well. Neither does the interminable journey to the planet. during which we learn little about Moss' mission commander and her motley crew including engineer Kilmer. geneticist Si/emore and philosopher Terence Stamp. Btit once their exploration module crash- lands on Mars. we‘re on familiar ground. The B-movie heroics never quite match the A- movie production values. .Mov iehouse. .Mothervvell.
Remember The Titans (PG) tit (Boa/ Yakin. LS. 2001 ) Den/e1 Washington. Will Patton. l 13 mins. A true story set it) Alexandria. Virginia circa 1971. The local school board forces a black school and a white school to integrate. The already unstable situation reaches boiling point when the board replaces T. C. Williams High Titans. white football coach Bill Yoast (Patton) with black coach Herman Boone (Washington). Boone and Yoast's relationship forms the core of the film. and it‘s Washington and Patton‘s scenes together that work best. The rising fortunes of the football team and the games themselves are less captivating. btit director Boa/ Yakin holds the film together like a good coach does his team. General release.
Requiem ForA Dream ( is) ***** (Darren .-\ronofsky. LS. 2000) Ellen Burstyn. Jared Leto. Jennifer Connelly. Marlon Wayans. 101 mins. Aronofsky follows his debut. the ingenious sei-fi fable l’i. with an
adaptation of Ilubeit Selby _1i ‘s novel that's as harrow mg as it is brilliantly executed It's a bleak v isioii loctisiiig on totii addictive personalities. llarry Goldlarb (l eto). his iiiothei' Sara ( Bui'sty ii ). giilliiend Maiion (Connelly ) and pal Tyione (\\.iy.ms). whose
v ices range from haid dings to telev isioi) game shows. .-\rono1sky cieatcs a strikingly subjective experience with various stylistic tricks. while the eerie l‘t'll'ttrltllllllsllt' soundtrack by Clint Mansell and the lsroiios Quartet undeiscoi‘es the liliiiiiiaker's v Not). Yet. bleak as the lilii) is. it's also heart- i'eiiding drama thanks to the gutsy perft)riiiances. particularly Btirstyii's devastating turn that‘ll have grown men weeping m isles. ('ameo. Izdiiiburgh. Rhubarb (PG) it (Arthur l.ubiii. LS. 1951) Ray Milland. Jan Sterling. (ieiie. 9.5 iiiiiis. An eccentric millionaire. upset by his d.‘iughtei”s lack o1 allectioii. leaves his fortune to his pet cat. .\'ice idea. not a great comedy though. St Brides ('eiitre. lidiiibui'gh.
Ring 2(12) *‘k‘k (\akata llideo. Japan. 200] ) .Mik) \akatatii. Kyoko l'tikada. Ytiko 'l‘akeuchi. 95 mins. Part two of the Ring horror trilogy a phenomenon in the Fast [littlis achieved deserved cttll slttltls It) the West develops the original urban legend revolving around a video tape containing a cry ptic image of a haunting young woman which v isits a terrify mg death upon anyone who watches it. More is revealed abotit the woman )ii white on the tape. and it kills to a schoolgirl and a young boy w ith telepathic powers to solve the mystery RH)" 3‘s plotting is messy. btit the mix o1 modern and traditional myths is wholly original. and the scares are hair-raising See i‘ev iew, Gl’l'. Glasgow.
The Road Home ( l 'i tit (/hang Yimoti. China. 2000) /.hang /.1y i. Stiii llonglei. /.hao Yuelin. 100 mins. ('ity businessman l.tt() returns to his home village in Northern ('hina for the funeral of his father. the local schoolteacher. Willi his weeping mother adamant that her husband's corpse be carried by hand rather than driven back from hospital. l.uo recalls the stoiy of his parents courtship several decades earlier. Shifting from black and white (the present) to colour (the past). the btilk of the liliii consists of a rather sentimental recreation of the love aflaii' between l.uo's parents. told from the perspective ()1 the female character Though in the radiant /.iy i. Yimou has perhaps unearthed a inuse to rival his favoured actress Gong l.l. Gl’l'. Glasgow.
Road Trip ( 15) **t* (Todd Phillips. l‘S. 201M)Breekin Meyer. Amy Smart. T0111 Green. 9-1 iiims. Four college pals set out on a road trip from New York to Texas when Josh cheats on his childhood sweetheart 'l'ilfany. and has four days to intercept the mailed videotape ()1 his infidelity. lin route the boys learn about the important things in lite: the rules (if cheating on your partner. the best way to donate sperm. stealing from the blind and ancient Greek Philosophy. The star of the film is undoubtedly MTV ctilt phenomenon Tom Greeii. His perlormance is guaranteed to have you in stitches as he gives a university tour. woos girls. eats mice and does battle with a python. Stupendous fun. Mov iehouse. Motlicrwell.