Film index
Resident Evil t l5) C. (Paul \\'.S. Anderson. (S. 3002) .\lilla Jovovich. Michelle Rodriguez. liric .\labiu.s. ltltlmin. llaving successfully put .llortul Kant/ml into our cinemas. Anderson tries the trick again with a riotous take on Reside/it Iii'il. After a secret experiment releases the T- \'irus into an underground genetic research liacilily know as The Hive. Alice tJovov‘ichl is led inside by crack commandos Rain ()canipo tRodriguc/i and Matt .-\dison (Mabiusi on a mission to discover what caused the leakage. lt's action all the way. and as with the games the further into the adventure we go. the more difficult the opponents t/ombies in this case) are to overcome. But the lilm swil'tly descends into an action flick l'or prepubesccnt boy's. llcnce all ol. gratuitous .shots of Jovovich's considerable talents. (icneral release. Road t IS) t:\lan ('larke. l'ls'. 1987i Jane llorrocks. Neil l)udgeon. David Thewlis. (iZmin. ('larke's tilm follows the youngsters of a Northern industrial town blighted by unemployment as they drink and dance the nights away. desperate for something to do. Double billed with ('liristim’. (il’l‘. (ilasgow,
The Royal Tenenbaums t 15) 0.... (Wes Anderson. IS. 2002) (iene llackiiiaiz. Angelica lluston. (iwynetli l’altrow. l ltlmin. The 'l‘enenbaums are no ordinary l'ainily. Descended from a long line ot‘ overachievers. these New York geniuses are now in stultii‘ying decline. The memory of the brilliance of the young 'l‘enenbaums has since been erased by two decades of betrayal. failure and domestic disaster. most of which is perceived by the family to be the fault ol‘ absent lather. Royal tllackniani. Then. at the very moment his three grow n-up children have. for various reasons. all moved back into the rambling home of their mother. Royal decides he wants his family. With Yemen/mums. Anderson tRll.\/tntul‘('l has sur- passed himselt‘ with an enchanting. odd tale ol an awkward family and its member's impossible magnetic attraction to each other. ()deon. Kilmarnock.
Scooby-Doo tl’(ii O. (Raja (iosncll. (S. 2002) Freddie Prin/e Jr. Sarah Michelle (iellar. Matthew l.illard. 87min. Sum/iv the movie starts well. pitching itselt‘ somewhere between tribute and send-up of the lianna-Barbera cartoon. The casting is astute. best of all. Matthew l.illai'd as stoned slacker Shaggy. liven the coiiiputcr- generated Scooby himsell isn't lacking in charm. But .St‘uolt_\'-I)no sadly fails to live tip to the promise ol its opening reel. Admittedly. the film's hold playpen colours are fun and there are some clever gags that will score with the show‘s pothead follow- ing. Btit the jokes soon wear thin. (ieneral release.
Scum t IS) 0... (Alan ('larke. l K. 1973) min. A rare opportunity indeed to see the TV version ol Roy .\linlon's liction— alised expose of life in a borstal. Produced lor the Nov I’or 'Iin/(tv series. it was rel'used transmission by the BB(' as being too violent «and. perhaps. too anti-authori- ty“.’i. Rouglicr than the subsequent movie \et‘sion. (il'vli.(il1tsgow.
Sex and Lucia t list .0. (Julio .\lcdem. Spain. 2002i Tristan l'lloa. l’a/ \‘ega. 128mm. .-\ltcr the death of Lorenzo tl'lloai. his long-term girlfriend. Lucia (Vegai retreats to her ex-partner‘s favourite island to come to terms with her loss and unlock the secrets of a problematic past. The lilm then llits effortlessly. if somewhat confusingly. through time to reveal their tirst meeting six years previously and their subsequent steamy sexual encounters. The eroticism ol' .\ledem's lilth leature will undoubtedly make it his most controversial
release. but the story telling. although never
completely unengaging. is much weaker than in his outstanding cinematic debut. limo. l‘ilinhousc. l'.diiibiii'gh.
Snow Dogs ill 0. (Brian Levant. l'S. ltltlli ('uba (iooding Jl'.. James ('oburn. Nichclle Nichols. (Niiiin. This unremarkable Disney comedy follows a \littiiti-httsed dentist as he discovers his previously unknown liskimo roots. Though competently made and teaturing a reliable
48 THE US? 121. .m '. Aug} may
lead and cast. it still struggles to raise a decent laugh. Not unwatcliable. but nothing s iccial. (icnci'al release.
Spider-Man 0... t t3i (Sam Raimi. l'S. 2002i Tobey Maguire. Kirsten Drum. 13 l min. .-\ big budget blockbuster based on a best-selling superhero comic book you‘d be right to expect spectacular cl‘l'ccts and bland storytelling in a flashy but ultimately dull tilm. (io scedllut'l. oil/1(- (‘lom'v loi' that particular exercise in bring— ing in the box ollice bucks. Spiller-lion. by
contrast. is a delightl'ully unexpected mix ol
spectacle and engrossing human drama. lt's surprising that Raimi. who made his name with the highly stylised genre pastiche tl'lit' lz'i'i'l Dem/i should locus so much on char- acter. The cast acquit themser cs well. although l)al‘oe hams up the villainy. But Raiiiii's lead. Tobey .\laguirc. brings just the right amount ol knowing humour to l’arker/Spidey. which is emblematic of Raimi‘s whole. winning approach to the film. (ieneral release.
Spirit: Stallion of Cimarron (U .0. (Kelly Asbury and Lorna ('ook. (S. 2002) Matt Damon. James Cromwell. Daniel Studi. 84min. Spirit is an animal table in which none ot‘ the non-human char- acters speak. We do. however. get inside the heart and head ol the mov ie's eponymous equine hero thanks to narration by Matt Damon tconv ey ing Spirit‘s thoughts) and songs by Bryan Adams this lt'cllllgsl. Above all. Spirit. a wild mustang living in the Old West. yearns to run l'i'ee until a lasso lands him in the hands of the [S cav - alry. While some viewers w ill be roused by Spirit's questioning ol the [S myth ol' Nlttllilcsl Destiny. others \\ ill be suited l3}
Nasty goings-on in Lighthouse
the quality of the animation. which seam- lessly integrates traditional hand-drawn ani- mation with coiiiputer-generated images. (ieneral release.
Spy Kids tl'i 0... (Robert Rodi‘igtiel. l'S. 2001 l .-\ntonio Bandei'as. .-\lan ('uinming. ('arla (iugino. 87min. Like any young children. ('armen and Juli (‘ortc/ harbour hopes ol' madcap adventure. but unlike most children their apparently normal parents are top international super- spies. When they 're kidnapped as part ol a dastardly plot to destroy the world. cooked up by kooky mastermind l-‘cgan l-‘loop ((‘umniingi. it kills to the children to save the world. Rilc with lantasy. special-cl'l'ccts w i/ai'di'y and high-octane thrills. Spy Kids is particularly enjoy able because it's the children and not the adults that ultimately save the day. ()deon (‘ity ('entre. (ilasgow. Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones tP(ii 00 (George Lucas. [S 2002) Natalie Portiiian. Hayden ('hristensen. livv an .\lc(ircgor. l-l3mitt. .-\ very slight improvement to Iz'pi'vmlt’ I. xlllut‘lx' oft/iv ('lonvv suffers from a bad script and sappy acting. Ten years on. the Republic laces a mounting separatist mov c- iiieiit. necessitating the introduction oi a clone army to assist the ov erwhcliiicd Jedi. ('oupling this plot-line. romance blossoms between l’adme .-\inidala tl’ortmani and .'\ll.tlslll Sky walker it hristenseiii. l‘lasliy ‘l’cclttl ellccls tltlll‘l salvage lliis tension- less scries ol bloated action scenes. slum A M Illt' ( l(lll<'\ will only please the truly besotted ltllis. (iencral release.
Stuart Little 2 MW .0 (Rob \liiikoll. l'S. Itltlli .\lichac| .l. l‘ox. (iccna Davis. liugh Laurie. 77mm. The inevitable
money -spinning sequel to the unlikely yarn of a small. w hite mouse adopted by- u mid- dle-class New York tamily. A new playmate l'or Stuart arrives in the shape iii a small canary. who falls into the passenger seat of his toy car as Stuart races through the city streets. Stuart invites his new friend back to his house. but an evil falcon is on his tail. It doesn’t get any more twee than this. The voices work well enough and the (‘(il ani- mation is good. it" not adv eiiturous. The problem is that it‘s distinctly lacking in lltltiiottt'. lvot‘ both kids and tttlulls. See
in icw. (icncral release.
0 Sunshine State 1 1m 0000 (John Sayles. TX. 2003) lidie l‘alco. Angela Bassctt. Timothy llutton. min. The Sunshine State is Florida. The lictional set- ting ol' John Sayles' new lilm is l)eli'ona Beach. a community upon which change is being forced. Property developers are buy- ing up land now seen as a prime location for building condominiums and goll‘cours- es for the incoming rich. Saylcs takes a complicated subject - how little control everyday people have over change in their lives and treats it intelligently. opting not for flashy spectacle or cheesy sentiment. but w ell-crafted storytelling and solid drama which he int'uses with a great deal of wry humour. See feature and review. (ll-T. (ilasgow.
Suzhou River 1 12) 0.00 tl.ou \‘e. (‘hina. 2000) Zhou Nun. Jia liongsheng. Yao .-\nlian. 83min. Sic/mu River is the Asian \i'rlteu. but don't expect Hitchcock- style camerawork in Ye's tilm. in the van- guard of ('hina‘s new ‘(ith (ieiieration‘ tilm- makcrs. Ye's style is shaky hand-held cam- erawork representing the video diaries of a lonely v ideographer ta cipher lor ('hina's disillusioned youth'.’i. who lives on the eponymous Shanghai waterway. The plot. how ev er. this on Hitchcock's classic about obsession and mistaken identity. For citie- liles and social observers alike. this is a clever. contemporary lilm which bodes well for the (ith (iencration. Royal Museum Lecture 'l‘lieatre. lidinburgh.
Sweet Smell of Success t til .0... t.-\le.\ander Maekendrick. l’S. NS?) Burt Lancaster. Tony ('urtis. Stisan llarrison. 06min. (‘lillord Odds and lirnest Lehman scripted this brilliant study oi" the destructive et'l'ect ol pow er. Sweet Smell o/ Stu'i‘t'vv tells the story ol' Sidney litlco t(‘urtisi. a slimy publicist worming his way to the top via venomous new spaper colum- nist J. J. llunsecker (Lancaster). The two leads are brilliantly cast against type. James Wong llowe's photography ol Broadway at night is as evocative as lilm noii' ever got. while lilmer Bernstein's crime ial/ score iw ith contributions from the ('hico llaiiiiltoii Quintet) completes the impres- sion oil a tilthy. corrupt city. And astonish- ingly. the whole lilm was pulled together by Scotsman :‘vlexander Mackendrick. who until this time was best known for whimsi- cal lialing comedies. .\loviehouse. .\lothei‘well.
Swingers t I5) 0... (Doug l.iman. 1S. 1090) Vince Vaughn. John l‘av i'eau. Ron l.iv ingston. 90min. .-\ wannabe actor .\like and his pal Trent drive to Vegas to play the tables and pick up some babes. Later. iii l..-\. the boys hang out with their tricnds. wandering the trendy bars. general- ly being young. single and without love. Which is _just about all there is to Sn [tigers - a heap of talking. the odd liomuee (Scorsese and 'l’ai'antinoi and lots of male bonding. A highly watchable. \ery funny and entertaining piece of low -budgct film- making. ('(‘.-\. (ilasgow; ('ameo. lidinburgh.
Tape t l5i 0.. (Richard l.inklatci'. [’S. 2002i lithan llavvke. l‘ma 'l‘hurman. Robert Leonard. Stiiniii. .-\ reunion ol hif—‘li school t'rieiids Vince tllaw kc) and Johnny tl.eonardi turns sour when \‘ince accuses Johnny oi raping his childhood sweetheart. The dialogue spices up when the girl in question. .-\my t'l‘hurinani. turns up and destroy s the picture of a rape that the guys have built up. liach version of that nights events _iustilics the protagonist‘s personal standpoint. so it's tlillicttll to know who to believe. Set entirely in a motel room and