Films screening this fortnight are listed below with certificate, star rating, credits, brief review and venue details. Film index compiled by Paul Dale
The Adventures of Robin Hood (ft .0... (Michael ('urtiz. [S 193th lirrol lilynn. ()liy'ia l)e llay’illand. Basil Rathbone. l()2min. Sparkling. ()scar-w'inning excitement as l-‘lynn and his merry men fight the eyil prince and the wicked Rathbone to help the poor and capture the hand of the fair De llax'illand. Peerless sword-play and an infectious sense of high spirits. I‘ilmhouse. Iz'ilinbio'g/i.
American Cousins ( (St 000 (Don ('outts. l'K. 2002i ()legar l-‘edoro. Stephen (irahani. Dan lleday a. Shirley Henderson. John llenshaw. Rtissell llunter. (ierald I.epkow ski. 93min. This likeable .\lafiosi-on- the-run cotnedy romance drama sees Yankee mobsters (iino (Nuccit and Settimo (lledeyat. take refuge in the (ilasgow cafe owned by their Scottish/Italian cousin. But cousin Roberto ((ierald [.epkowskit isn't the tough guy they 'd expected. He likes fish frying and stamp collecting. (iino and Settimo try to repay Roberto's hospitality by chasing off debt collectors but in the process they create a whole load of other problems. This liorsythian little dratna also features a rather nice cameo from Vincent l’astore. better known as Pussy in The Sopranos. l'(i(‘ Rentreii' Street. Glasgow; ('(‘/. Edinburgh.
0 American Splendor ( 15! 00000 (Shari Springer Berman/Robert l’ulcini. l'S. 200M Paul (iiametti. llope Dayis. Judah l-‘riedlander. James l‘rbaniak. llllmin. ()ne of the finest independent films to come out of America in years. A eulogy to the life and times of comic strip writer llary'ey l’ekar. See reyiew. page 37. (il-“II (i/oyeow.
The Apartment ( t’(ii ooooo (Billy Wilder. l’S. loom Jack Lenimon. Shirley .\lac|.aine. l-"red .\lac.\lurray. Ray \\'alstori. 135mm. Splendid satire on sex. success and morality. in which l.eminon's clerk generates big bucks by sub-letting his apartment to senior executiy es for immoral purposes. only to find that his own girl is haying it off with his boss. Both central performances are wonderful. generating both farce and pathos with admirable subtlety. Edinburgh l'ilni (iuild. lidinbio'eh.
The Bad Sleep Well (Pm (Akira Kurosawa. Japan. l‘)(i()t 'losliii‘o .\lifune. Kyoko Kagw a. .\lori .\lasay'uki. lSImin. Kurosawa's most socially responsible film the first he made for his own production company deals with corruption. graft and bribery at the public ley'el. Iidin/mreli l'i/In (int/d. Edinburgh.
Balamory Winter Special (tbc) (Brian Jameson. l'K. 2003) Andrew Agnew. Buki Akib. Juliet (‘adzow Rodd Christensen. .\lile.s Jupp. 20min. l’reyiew screening of the new (‘Beebies Balamory Winter Special. The Slime/hike I'itil'y‘. (.(Ixi. Glasgow:
The Beekeeper l l3) (Theo Allgeloltpolllis. (ireece. 198m Marcello .\lastroianni. lllmin. l)esolate liuropean road moy ie. as beekeeper .\lastroianni leaves his family alter the marriage of his daughter. and takes tip with a young hitch-hiker who tags along in his yan. liy'ocatiVe and moody stuff. feeding off the barren lines of the (ireek landscape. btit coming indoors for a prolonged and bleak scene in an abandoned cinema. Film/rouse. Edinburgh.
Blind Shaft (tbci C... (Li Yang. llong Kong/Germany. 2003i Qiang l.i. Baoqiang Wang. Shuangbao Wang. Jing Ai. Zhenjiang Bao. Sun \Vei. ()Zmin. Dark and brilliant thriller set around the coal faces of Northern (‘hina See rey iew. page 33. (ii-"II (i/(ttgon;
Body Song ( l5! 0.. (Simon l’ummell. 3003) min. From a baby 's conception moy ing to childhood and adulthood to old age and death. Body Song captures eyery aspect of life. See rey'iew, page 36. ('(i(' Rentreir Street. Glasgow:
Brother Bear (t‘i co (Aaron Blaise/Robert Walker. ['5. 2003) Voices of Joaquin Phoenix. Jeremy StiareI. Jason Rai/e. Rick .\loranis. l)a\'e Thomas. l)B Sweeney. 85min. Soppy. uninspired take on an lnuktitut legend about a bear who wants to do more than just shit in the woods. See rey iew. page 30. (ienend I't’lt’rtu’.
Buena Vista Social Club (t'i 000. (“int \Venders. (‘uba. 19W) Ry ('ooder. Ibrahim l‘errer. Ruben (ion/alel. Ill-1min. ('uba looks a little like the land that time forgot. A theme Wenders brings out both in the oyer-exposed images of llay'ana and also in the musical brilliance of these (wtogenarian and nonagenarian musicians who has e for so long been neglected. And it's ironically thanks to an American, \Venders' regular musical collaborator Ry (‘ooder. that their careers haye been resurrected. l'i/Inhott.\e. lz'dinbio-gli.
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38 THE LIST ‘1 1 Doc 2003-43 Jan 2003.
Misanthropy in the supermarket in American Splendor
Bugs 30 (lit (Mike Slee. I’K. 3003i Jitmin. Dame Judi Dench narrates this giant screen 3i) film which focuses on the life cycles of a praying mantis and a butterfly from their birth to their iney itable demise in the tropical rainforests of Southeast Asia. I.lI.'l.\'. (i/oyeow. Calendar Girls I (2A: .0. (Nigel (‘ole. l'K. 3003i Helen Mirren. Julie \Valters. (’elia lmrie. IllSmin. This feelgood comedy drama is based on the true story of a group of bored middle-aged women from a small Yorkshire y illage who all posed nude for a Women's Institute (’alendar in 199‘) in order to raise funds for the local hospital. (ii/endur- (iirly is the sexed-up yersion of eyents that happened in the Dales. (‘o|e. who had
prey iously dabbled with middle-aged women saga in Sitting (inn e. once again proy es he's adept with this material. particularly when he centres the film on the relationships that (‘hris (.\lirreni has with her family and best friend. widower Annie (\Vttllet’st. Selected t’e/eitye. Captain Blood (l’(ii (Michael ('urtil. l’S. l‘HSt lirrol lilynn. ()liyia de llayilland. l.ione| Atw ill. 1 10min. ()ne of the best swashbucklers of all time. following the adyentures of a British surgeon-turned-bucanneer. who still retains the moral liighground. (ireat action work throughout. de llayilland looks radiant as the loye interest. Basil Rathbone is a nasty baddy and fly (in became an oyernight star. I‘liltt/trlllu'. ladinburgh.
Le Chignon D’Olga ( IM .00
(Jerome Bonnel. l‘rance. Zilllfii llubert Benhamdine. Nathalie Boutefeu. Serge Riaboukine. l‘lorence l.oiret. l)elphine Rollin. 95min. Drifting through the summer holidays in his sleepy l-‘rench town. Julien (Benhamdinet hangs out with best friend Alice (Boutcfeut. while yearning for ()lga (Rollin). a beautiful bookshop assistant whose hair is tied into a chignon style. At home Julien's writer Dad (iilles (Ribaoukinet is struggling with his writing. whilst his sister is trying to
FTH
Falkirk Town Hall
Tues 76th Dec Comandante (15) 7:30pm Wed 7 7th Dec Intolerable Cruelty (12a) 730pm
Mon 22nd & Tues 23rd Dec both at 7:30pm Callendar Girls (12a)
C UPPA on Tues 23rd at It for 7 7303/77
Tickets and further information from The Steeple Box office
(Tel: 01324 506850)
or on the day from the hall
cope with her own adolescent sexual confusion. lingaging performances. ey’ocatiy'e sense of place. a relaxed narratiy'e drive. and an unexpectedly moving conclusion all suggest that Bonnell is a talent to watch. [Vi/tnhoiiye. Ifdinbnrgh.
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (l'i coco (Ken Hughes. l‘K. 1908) Sally Anne llowes. Dick Van l)y kc. Lionel Jeffries. l-lSmin. Lengthy. effects-filled children‘s adventure conceiy'ed in the wake of Mary Poppins" huge commercial succes but with a charm (and great songs) all of its own. Dick Van l)yke is the mad inyentor w hose flying car propels his children and romantic interest llowes to a far- off land of adyenture. ([15]; Glasgow.
City of God ( lSt 0.... (l‘ernando .\leirelles. Bra/ii. 3003i lzlhttitt. The international resurgence of l.atiii American cinema shows no signs of slowing down. l‘ollowing (‘entru/ Station. Amores I’errox. l' iii .llolno 'Iiunbien and Nine Queens comes an exhilarating Bra/ilian drama. (in oond. Based on l’aulo l.ins‘s sprawling mud and spanning three decades. it‘s an epic account of the growth of organised drug-dealing in a slum housing project. the so-called ('ity of God in Rio de Janeiro. (il’l. (ilmgow:
Cold Mountain ( iii .00. (Anthony .\linghel|a. l'SA/Romania. 2003i Jude l.aw. Nicole Kidman. Renee '/.ellweger. Natalie l’oitman. Philip Seymour Hoffman. (iioy'antti Ribisi. Brendan (ileeson. 152mm. lninan (|.aw t. is a (‘onfederate soldier who deserts after being gray ely wounded in battle and sets off on a pei'ilotts trek across the rayaged South to reach his home in the North (’arolina mountains. An American ()dy sseus. he goes through one trail after another. sustained by a yearning for the woman witli whom he enjoyed a hesitant and chaste courtship before the war. Kidman's genteel ('harleston belle. Ada. Bill did Jude and Nicole get it on while filming Anthony Mingliella's ()scar ga/ing adaptation of (‘harles l‘ra/ier‘s popular noyel'.’ l.ike who cares. See rcy iew. page 35. I'ibtthouse. Ifdin/mrgh.
Cowboy Be-Bop ( 12.-\i coo
(Shinichiro Watanabe. Japan. 300M Voices of Koichi Yamadera. Beau Billingslea. l'nsho lshi/uka. Megumi llayashilxira. \Veiidee l.ee. .\lelissa (‘harles. 1 forum. Based on a classic Japanese comic that was later made into a popular TV series. this Japanese anime arriyes oy er here with hearty recommendations from genre fans. When a tanker truck is blown up in the middle of a busy street. and a deadly \ iral infection is released. Spike Spiegel and his Bebop crew are the only people who can find the culprit. .\langa madness. ('('.'l. Glasgow; The Cuckoo (Kukushka) ( (2A)
.0. (Aleksandr Rogo/hkin. Rtissia. 3003i Anni-('hristina Juuso. \‘ille llaapasalo. \iktor Bychkoy. Aleksei Kashnikoy. Mikhail Korobochkin. llllhnin. (ientle chamber piece which pay s a warm tribute to the \alues. rituals and traditions of l.app culture. See reyiew. page So. (il-“l. (ilosgoii; I-"ilniliouii; Iz'dinbio'gh.
Days Of 36 l lb‘l (Theo .Attgelopoltlos, (ireecc. 1973i lZlhnin. The lit‘sl of Angelopoulos's triptych on 20th century (ireek history is based on actual ey'ents that took place in 1930 when a man was arrested for the assassination of a politician. Protesting his innocence. he takes a hostage in his cell. l'i/Itt/totl.\('. It'dinbio‘gh.
Dead End ( lSt 0.. (Andrea l’abrice (’anepa. l-‘rance/l’S. 2003) Ray \Vise. Alexandra lloldcn. l.in Shay e. Mick ('ain. 85min. liconomical little shocker with a real taste for the peryerse that plays to its strengths throughout its hour and 25 minutes. See
rey iew. page 37. ('(i( ' Rent/en Street. (iluygou.
Decasia ([10... (Bill Morrison. l‘SA. 2002i 70min. Bill Morrison's experimental epic featuring turn of the leth century film footage set to an original score by Bang on a ('an's Michael (iordon. See rey iew. page 37. I'i/Inhouye. Iz'dinbiiruh.
The Decline of Sultan Abdulhamid (tbct (/iya ()ltan. 2on3. 'l‘urkey t .\le|tem ('umbul. .\leh(net Ktii'ttiltis. ll-linin. l.llsll ’I‘urkish |o\ e story set against the real constitutional change that took place in that country between NUS Will). Part of the New Turkish (‘inema I-i/In/iouse. Ifdin/mrglt.