Films screening this fortnight are listed below with certificate, star rating, credits, brief review and venue details. Film index compiled by Miles Fielder
The Abduction Club ( Dr .0
(Stefan Schwatl. [ls/Ireland. l()(lli Daniel I.apaine. Matthew Rhys. Alice Iivans. ()(imin. In Ib'th century Ireland first-born males inherited everything. meaning aristo- cratic second sons Iiad to marry rich IiL‘it'L‘xxcs so ax to live as gentlemen. The unlucky fate of being second sons befalls our two heroes. dashing swashbucklerx with their sights set on sisters ('atherine and Anne Kennedy. How ever. these sexy. xav vy siblings prove more than a match for their would-be husbands. Though it adds a mod- ern slant on the historical adventure movie by having empowered heroines who are more intelligent than their male counter- I‘ill'h. 'l'ln’ .-I/n/lu'liull ('luli nc\ erthelesx fails to fill the potential of its novel premise. I‘(i(‘. lidinburgh.
About a Boy ( III C... (('hris and Paul Wertx. l'K/I‘S. IINDI Hugh Grant. Nicholas llotilt. Toni Collette. IIIIIIIIII. (irant breaks free of his posh top screen persona to play layabout Will I’reeman in this w ining adaptation of Nick IIornby ‘x no\ cl. Supporting a Ioaferx' life of telly. home and birds w ith wealth from his late father. I‘reeinan's womanixing brings him into cori- tact \HIII Marcus (IlouIt I. the young son of xtllc‘ltIttII) tIt‘pl‘L'xxL'tI I'itttlltt I(.UIIL'IICI. \\ I10 pl'tk‘t‘ctIx to change IIIL' \\ttxll‘L‘I'x life. JIIL‘ \Veit/ brothers keep things bright and I‘rcc/y. btit top honours go to Grant and Ilotilt who spend the film swapping places as the titular character Dominion. Iidinburgh.
Austin Powers 3: Goldmember: 12» 0. (Jay Roach. I'S. ZINIZI Mike Myers. Michael (’aiiie. Beyonce Knowles. Ullmin. l‘or the second sequel to the enor- mously popular spy spool. Myers has writ- ten himself a third \ illainous part so that his xI\IIL‘x xllpt'l' xp) tio\s has It) tIL‘aI \\llIl IIUI only In liv i] and I‘at Bastard. bill also a chIa with a golden . The three villains (three arid a hall if you count Mini-Mei once agatii turn to time travel to rid tliem— selves of the interfering Powers. opting to go back into the past to kidnap Atistin's dad. Nigel (('amci. Ileathcr (iraham. Michael York and Robert Wagner return as. respec- tively. .-\merican agent I-cIicity Shagwell. Austin's boss Basil lisposition and Dr Iivil'x Number Two. (ieneral release.
Bad Company ( 12» 00 (Joel Schinacher. I'S. 2002i Anthon) IIOPkinx. (‘hris Rock. I’eter Storniare. I l(uiiin. The first half of [Jud ('nnI/umv is l’\ emu/ion
Illt’ Rt’llllt. Rock is the streetw ixe ignoraiiius w ho receives the sow ‘s ear/silk purse treat- ment courtesy of Hopkins. (‘IA veteran who needs him to replace his dead agent twin brother and rch er a stolen nuclear weapon. The action set pieces are remark- any subdued for a Jerry "l‘liv Rm‘k‘ Bruckheinicr production. Worse. Ii‘tul ("viii/tum Iiatti-Iixlcdly reinforces the post- September I I man-in-the-xtreet ax saviour myth and in doing so shows America tip as an aggressor with its big fat white ass esposed for a spanking by whoever comes along. Selected release.
Bend it Like Beckham ( 12» 0000 ((iurinder (‘hadha. I'K. 2002i Parminder K Nagra. Keira Knightley. Jonathan Rhys- Meyers. lllmin. The parents of Ilounslow teenager Jess (Nagrat want her to concen- trate on her studies. to learn how to cook traditional Indian food. and to marry a respectable young man. Jess. however. is far more passionate about playing football. and Ix asked It} IL'IIU“ schoolgirl Jtllcx (Knightley l to tom the local womens' team. As vs Ilh [flirt/I mi Illt' Ift'ut'li and IUle (imkmu '. w riter-dircctor ('liadha confident- ly uses comedy to c\p|ore social. racial and IaniiIiaI issues. with Iootball a dcv ice to 1ti\cxligatc \ylial ll tticaiix to be young. Icnialc and sell confident in contemporary Britain. ()dcon. Izdinbtirgh; I'I'II ('inctiia. I'alkirk.
12THE LIST ' ‘1
Betty Fisher and Other Stories (Bettey Fisher et autres histoires) I ISI 0... ((‘Iaude Miller. I‘rancc. 300] l Sandrine Kiberlain. Nicole Garcia. Mathilde Seigncr. l()(lniin. Miller's psychological thriller takes tix through a strange story lll\()I\ll1:_‘ the collision of the lives of two women and the unespected arrival of an estranged mother. Part of the lirench I‘ilm I‘estival. ('ameo. lidinburgh.
Big Fat Liar (l’(ii 0 (Shawn Levy. lb. Illtlli I‘rankie Muni/. l’aul (iiamatti. Amanda Bynes. Hb‘min. 14-year- old Michigan schoolboy Jason Shepherd has his overdue term paper stolen by evil movie mogul Marty Wolf. who intends to turn it into a blockbuster. Jason and best friend Kaylee set off. I.:\-botlntI. on a mission to Put the situation to rights. l'i’rri'v Burl/er- quue moments reminiscent of John Ilughes' fills work. Selected release. Biggie and Tupac ( ISI 00.. (Nick Broonilield. IS. 2002) Tupac Shakur. Biggie Smalls. l(l7min. ()ne of documen- tary investigator Nick Broomlield'x best creations to date. Biggie um] 'Iit/im' delves into the world of the rap music industry. By probing the back-to-back murders of high profile rappers 'I'upac Shakur and Biggie Smalls. Brooinlield asserts the two were not killed otit of a ridiculous Iiaxl/Wext coastal gang war. btit in a music executive's warped bid to create publicity. This is the delicious and disturbing tale of two good friends and gifted artists divided and killed by a nasty Svengali. Adam Smith. Kirkcaldy.
Black Hawk Down ( ISI .0
(Ridley Scott. lb. 200] t Josh Ilartnett. Iiwan McGregor. liw en Bremner. I-Hmin. Scott‘s war movie. based on the book by Mark Bow den. dramatises the 1993 battle in Mogadishu between ['8 ground forces and Somali militia. recasting vs hat was essential- ly a military disaster as a tale of American heroism. It's a one-sided. iingoistic v ievs of the events. playing to the American public in the wake of I I September. 'I‘echnically. it's a remarkable. graphic re-enactment of modern urban warfare. Yet. although we're L'It'ttl'I} t'\|‘.L‘L‘IL‘tI It) Ik‘ illipttIIL‘tI. [WU I'llII hours of orchc strated carnage ultimater comes across as voyeuristic. ()deon ('ity ('entrc. (ilasgow.
Cabaret ( Ib't ..... (Bob I‘iosxc. I'S. I‘JTZI I.l/;t XIIIIL‘III. JUL‘I (il'k‘}. Michael
York. IZ-lmin. In diviner decadent early 1930s Berlin. singer Sally Bowles wows them at the notorious Kit Kat Klub. encoun- ters the beginnings of Nazism and shares her pretty linglish boyfriend with a gay baron. Stylish and invigorating Broadway musical turned ()scar-winning cinematic landmark. I-‘ilmhouse. Iidinburgh.
Chop Suey ( 18) .0. (Bruce Weber. I'S. 2()()()i 08min. Photographer Weber cre- ates a kaleidoscopic homage to some of his favourite things. among them the lesbian ja/l singer I’rances I‘ay and Peter Johnson. a sixteen year-old wrestler from Minnesota. Also features footage of the great Robert Mitchum singing the blues. Filmhouse. lidinburgh.
Comment j’ai tue mon pere ( I5) .0. (Anne l‘ontaine. France/Spain. 2()()l l (‘harles Berling. Natasha Regnier. Amira Kasar. 98min. The life of Jean-l.uc (Berling). a successful Versailles gerontolo- gist with a beautiful young wife Isa (Regnier) and a loyal mistress (Kasar). is disrupted by the sudden reappearance of his seventy-something father Maurice (Michel Bouquet I. who decades earlier had walked otit on his family to become a doctor in Africa. Avoiding simplistic psychological ‘explanations' for its characters‘ actions. the film scrutinizes the father-son conflict with icy assurance. and climaxes in an emotional confrontation of venomous intensity. 17G(‘ Renfrew Street. Glasgow.
Coyote Ugly ( 12) 0. (David McNaIIy. ITS. 2()()()) Maria Bello. Piper Perabo. John Goodman. l()lmin. Presumably the high concept pitch for this latest slice of wish fulfilment was ‘l’lus/idmia' meets ('(it‘klail'. The title refers to a New York drinking spot. where the drop-dead gorgeous (female) hair- tenders dance suggestiver on the bar and pour shots down the customers' throats. The latest recruit to this ‘Iively' environ- ment is young Violet (Perabo). a girl from New Jersey who dreams of making it in the Big Apple as a singer-songwriter. Ignore the claims that this is a tale of female empowerment: the film is a tease. titillatirig its male viewers with its images of inidriff-baring babes in halter tops and tight leather trousers. before retreating behind its I2 certificate. (’ameo. lidinburgh.
Dogtown and Z-boys in the dog bowl
The Crocodile Hunter (PG ) 000 (John Stainton. Australia/ITS. 2002) Steve Irwin. Bromie Drewett. Sam Flynn. Min the. John Stainton's comedy adventure pre- serves the straight-to-camera technique from the Australian's highly successful small-screen documentary series. This etiables the Iarrikin star to deliver his usual ‘crikey'-strewn lectures on the likes of the bird-eating spiders and the fierce snakes [sic]. while dealing plausibly with a sketchy dramatic plot involving a (‘IA mission to recover a crashed American satellite in North Queensland and Irwin's attempt. along with wife Terri. to relocate a cattle- devouring crocodile. Worth the money just to see Irwin do his thing. Fair dinktim. Crystal Nights ( I5) (Tonia Marketaki. Greece. 1992) Michelle Valley. Francois [)elaive. ()vidiu I.uIiu Moldovan. I38min. In Athens during the German occupation a German woman. married to a Greek officer. falls in love with a young Jew. Blimeyf Talk about awkward love triangles. Part of the Greek Film season. I-‘ilmhouse. Edinburgh. Devdas (PG) Asian cinema presentation. L'GC‘ Renfrew Street. Glasgow; l'(‘I. Edinburgh.
Dinner Rush (15) .000 (Bob Giraldi. L'S. 2002) Danny Aiello. Vivian Wu. Edoardo Ballerini. 93min. New York restaurateur Bob Giraldi has made a mouth- watering movie about one night of business and pleasure in a popular Italian eatery in New York City. And this self-styled wise- guy has set the whole drama (reminiscent of Anthony Bourdain's restaurant memoir Kitchen Confidential) in his own downtown establishment in TriBeCa. It‘s to Giraldi‘s credit. and his writers Rick Shaughnessy and Brian Kalata. that they weave a number of plot strands together like a big. tasty bowl of spaghetti. Their film is fully satisfy- ing. Adam Smith. Kirkcaldy.
0 Dogtown and Z-Boys ( 15) em. (Stacy Perlata. CS. 2001) 89min. What makes Dogimm um! Z—Bnys so desperately exciting? It is a documentary feature. one that tracks the key events that led to the birth of the now ubiquitous ‘modern verti- cal‘ or ‘vert' style of skateboarding. Maybe it's the way that director and original 7.- Boy. Peralta cuts together still photographs. vintage film footage and new interview material to form a fluid and vibrant narra—