SCIENCE llCllON DONNIE DARKO (15) 113min 0000
Richard Kelly’s debut feature is a mesmerising science-fiction fable which pushes the concept of cinematic time travel into a whole new dimension. Its somnambulant teenage protagonist seems to slip into a parallel universe, where a giant demonic rabbit called Frank proclaims that the world will end in 28 days, 6 hours, 42 minutes and 12 seconds. A bastard cousin of James Stewart’s imaginary white rabbit in Harvey, this furry philosopher is an unlikely harbinger of apocalyptic doom. But then a jet engine detaches itself from a plane’s wing and destroys the sleepwalking Donnie’s bedroom. Soon afterwards, Grandma Death - a reclusive eccentric who once wrote a book about time travel — whispers a morbid truth into Donnie’s ear: ‘Every living creature on this Earth dies alone.’ ls Donnie sliding into paranoid schizophrenia, as his sympathetic female shrink seems to think? Or has the troubled teenager passed through a worm hole in the
HORROR
HALLOWEEN: RESURRECTION
(15) 94min 0
The eighth sequel to John Carpenter's defrnrtrxe
space/time continuum, into some tangent universe where everything is comfortingly familiar yet oddly out of kilter?
Set in 1988, this genre-bending film is not only an intriguing meditation on time travel and a deeply disturbing horror movie, it is also a John Hughes-style coming-of- age movie and a black comic satire on Reaganite greed, individualism and Christian fundamentalism.
’1\)t\.f"'\>".ORA/ULI. Dr.
FREAKS/THE DEVIL-DOLL (12) 61/79min GUCCI/II.
horror n‘oyre is Just as boring and unimaginatiye as
the first. also directed by Rick Rosenthal. A bunch of kids agree to spend a night in psycho killer Michael
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arr.) one tanned 9.32.
Myers old house, for a ‘(langertainmeiit' show ciass :r. "-:2—;:;s;;.e:l for ".s
which will be broadcast 'liye' on the Internet. Each of the kids rs rigged with an e\,'e-le'~.el can‘era. n'xhrch will record the eyents as they happen. To add a little spice to the proceedings. the shox'xs slea/y. opportunist producer l-reddie Harris Busta Rhymes Ll‘.lllf} Tcrsa. Arnfiess dresses up as Myers and stalks the darkened ' 'iouse. trying to scare up sonte titrllating actiori. Resurrected for a brief cameo. Myers' long suffering sister Laurie Strode rJamie l ee Curtrsi (lies *‘ad a series of remarkable. after ten minutes. So too does this moribund
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traxel: “g r:.rcus ‘tr'eak's
l-lalf' Bo, Beamed l ari,.
Mesmerising genre-bending fable
Patrick Swayze is hilarious as a perma-tanned, bouffant-haired “self- help’ evangelist. Dysfunctional anti- hero Donnie, played with charismatic intensity and sly humour by Jake Gyllenhaal, inhabits an instantly recognisable suburban milieu; but like Kelly’s brilliantly original film, his skewed perspective on life is sharply subversive. (Nigel Floyd)
I OFT. :lasgr Carrier). Edinburgh fro/r? Fr: 2:3 Oct. See ‘prevrer‘r. page 2-4.
An utterly unique piece of cinema
\‘Jovr‘ar‘ etc » ..":; '. s.’. a ter'r‘l1lerexer‘geo" t"<:-beautrful trapezeartrst Czespatra "::" a" ::r'.r"e fI()ll‘l“ tied against one of their own. Brtzwnrr‘g was at tse he gh'. cf 't-s career '.'.rhen "e n‘ade Freaks. He
:xarre sient horror filrrrs n‘ade '.'.’|lll star
lor‘ Chane, to i‘rs "awe. and t"e year prror tc Freaks n‘ade Dracula
project. \".llic-n(:-\.'c-r‘ Hosenthal can't be bothered to tl‘- Bela l ugos. Ar". steal.) speaking. Freaks was the pinnacle of ‘~.'./ork out the logic of the multiple subjective points- [Bi'oz'r'rzng's re'r‘aikabfe careerv rt ‘.'.as also the end o" 't_ He n‘ade only ()l--‘.r'|(}‘.‘.'. he SUP-ply abandons this potentially four rr‘or ;- fur‘s.
interesting deuce in favour of bog-standard filming The cause o‘ tee searrda was Brogar‘rzirg's; cast ":{l of rear circus techniques and slasher moyie cliches. The pretty freaks. to '.'."»<;h tne press and paizlrc reacted '.'.rtl‘. disgust. MGM vacant Bianca Kajlich cannot carry the main role. so st:r<r.e s‘.'.':ftlj. .'.'-ill(ll'(}‘.'.' fife ‘llll‘. riot releasing it agair‘ fer («TO y ears.
the films most irritating character has to be brought Stud o l‘.ea:l tours b" lyla,er took personal offence at the fln‘. in which back from the dead to sane her during the pitifully he may haue seen ".:r“self lan‘pooneu l); llarts tire rrfiuget. In fact. it's anti-climactic finale. Don't waste your ntoney. see ;>()‘3E;:l).(:- tr: read l—S'osxryng's frln‘ as a critique of Hollj.‘.'.'oo<i. a place
My Lift/e Eye instead. iNigel Floydi I (~3ener‘al release from Fri 2:3 Oct.
Don’t waste your money
.'.'her‘e l:ea..’., Ei".(t glarr‘orw f‘.i(l(l’f§ '.'!C(3 and corruption.
The terrible rot“, an aii this is tf‘itl Br‘o'.'.'r‘.,rig. '\.'."r.o hirr‘setf grex'r up on
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h..rr‘ane. alternately fanny,
a CIIl'CLlS arr: who ::o;.nte;l s:d<:~sho'.'.' l)(3."l()l‘ll‘(}"f3 and vagrants an‘ong his friends. champions tire deforn‘ed in Freaks. It's the beautiful trape/e artist and nandsorr‘e strongn‘an who are the ~.':Tlarns of the st<;"‘.. As such Freaks is as ‘.'.=on<:~:>rfu|l§, '.'.'eird as it is ‘.°.=arn‘ and :reez)‘, and genurrel‘, shocking. much in stirrdei‘stoozl but l'(}ll‘£t|ll53 ai‘. utterly un due piece of (Illl(3'l‘£l. The Den” [Def rs a lesser Bronznrng '.'.ork. though by any other standards st! an eryoyanl‘, strange bag of tricks. llayng been framed by, h-s Parisian partners. l()l!l‘(}l banker Parri l.,£l‘.(>ll(l 'Ll()l‘.(?l Bar‘ryirtorer escapes frorr‘ [.De'. rl's |s.and after lr' years of incarcerated Rexrenge is all that kept hrn‘ alz‘.e £l.’l(l l it‘.()lt(l sees a golden opportunity to exact it througi‘ his fellov.’ escaped conxrct. a l“{l(l sc'entrst who has rn\.'ented
t's been
a may. of shrinking franc beings to the si/e of children's toy s and contrs'lrng tl‘en‘ ‘.'.'rth .'.’rl poxxer alone.
()rrd as the noten of ll‘.ill|£ll‘..’l'(} kiliers l“lttl‘.l be. stranger still is the disguise l exond £l(l()l:tf; r‘. order to sneak back Into Paris: Barrymore. a fairly. irr‘poszr‘g actor. dresses lllll‘f3(:ll up as Madair‘e Mandelrp. sweet o'd Sad, and :iolln‘aker. lle'd be right at home ll‘. Freaks.
I l/lrrilronse, [debt/lg" hr (’3') Sun 31' ()cf. Bronzrrmgs The l/r‘krrerw
..'>lar.s Wee" (90‘ ()c.‘ arrzl Dmitri/a lln, is" ()if.'.
Film
THRILLER HIGH CRIMES (12) 115min COO
Lawyer Claire Kubik's idyllic Marin County lifestyle evaporates when her husband Tom is arrested by the military police. They say he's an ex—covert operations specialist who gunned down innocent villagers in El Salvador. He claims he's the fall-guy for a high level cover-up. Ashley Judd skilfully balances professional cool and emotional naivete. wrth fine support from Morgan Freeman as her 'Wild card' assistant Charlie Grimes — a washed-up. Harley-riding. hard- drinking lawyer with his own axe to grind. The weakest dramatic link is the mrscast Jim CélVét/flOl. whose off-killer performance hints too strongly at the surprise revelations to come.
Merely competent legal pot-boiler
A competent legal pot— boiler from Dev/l Ill a Blue Dress director Carl Franklin. this is like watching a skilful lawyer present an eloquent but flawed case. No matter how much attention he layishes on the characters, procedural details and moral ambiguities. the storyline rust won't stand up. We're left With a lumpy mix of military courtroom grandstanding and Sleeping with the {EL're/rry- style domestic jeopardy. Eyen the A Few Good IVIenv‘style clash of cryilian and irrilrtaiy sensibilities turns out to be a red herring. iNigel Hoydi I General release from Fri [3:3 Oct.
'3' (,‘c'. THE LIST 27