Bad Education (La Mala Educacion) ( 15) .0”. (Pedro Almixlov'ar. Spain. 2004) Gael Garcia Bernal. Pele Martinez. Daniel Gimenez (‘acho, Lluis llomar. l05min. A successful young movie director Iinrique (Martinez) receives an unexpected visitor ~ someone claiming to be his childhood friend and lover Ignacio (Bernal). who now prefers to be called Angel. He shows Iinrique a short story The list! about a transsexual singer Zahara (also Bernal) who sleeps with a married admirer called linrique and who attempts to blackmail the priest Father Manolo ((‘achm who abused her schoolboy self. But who exactly is Angel and why is be carrying around Iganacio‘s work‘.‘ And what is the connection between Manolo and the mysterious Berenguer (Homar)'.’ Possibly the finest ‘Almodrama' to date. this sizzles with Hitchcockian verve and Ripleyesque menace. An absolute delight. Almodovar is undoubtedly one of the finest filmmakers working in Iiurope today. Selet‘ted release. The Basque Ball (La Pelota Vasca) (15) O... (Julio Medem. Spain. 2003) 1 15min. Director Julio Medem returns to his Spanish roots after years away. to create this absorbing documentary about the political and social conflict in the Basque Country. Interviews with various witnesses provide personal insight and opinions into the nature of the tumultuous controversy. Fascinating without being patronising or simplistic. (ii/morehillG/2. Glasgow.

Billy Elliot ( l5) .0. (Stephen Daldry. L'k. 2000) Jamie Bell. Julie Walters. Gary Lewis. lllmin. Billy (Bell) finds release from life‘s daily drudgery through ballet dancing. As unlikely a leisure pursuit as that might be for a teenage boy growing up in the recession-hit Yorkshire of the 80s (and that's the point). it becomes young Billy's ticket out of hard times. Making his film debut. theatre director [)aldry handles the political backdrop and dramatic foreground with equal assurance. The dance routines provide much of the film‘s humour and quite overwhelming feelgood factor. Mirth Edinburgh Arts (’entre. Edinburgh. Blackboards (P( i) 0.0 (Samira .‘vlakhmalbaf. Iran. 2000) Saeed Mohamadi. Behnal, Jafari. Baham Ghobadi. 84min. A boldly uncompromising portrait of life on the margins of Iranian society. I'nfolding in the mountainous region between Iran and Iraq. Blarklnmnls follows a group of impoverished. itinerant teachers who are looking for pupils. Partly an allegory about national identity and statelessness. Bluekboanls also considers whether education is a luxury for those engaged in a primitive battle for survival. Makhmalbaf creates moments of acute tension alongside the dark humour. Furthermore. the non- professional cast acquit themselves admirably. while the striking cinematography demands to be experienced

on the big-screen. (Ti-i. Glasgow.

The Body Snatcher (PG) (Robert Wise. I'S. HHS) Boris Karloff. Bela Lugosi. Henry [)aniell. lidith Atwater. Russell Wade. 73min. Robert Wise‘s I‘HS classic set in [9th century Iidinburgh. Gilmore/rillG/2. Glasgow.

Bon Voyage ( 12A) 0. (Jean-Paul Rappeneau. France. 2003) Gerard [)epardieu. Isabelle Adjani. Virginie I.cdoyen. Yvan Attal. Gregori [)erangere. Peter ('oyote. I l-Imin. Paris. at the start of World War II and movie starlet Viviane Denvers (Adjani) has just accidentally killed the seedy producer of her last picture. She calls her childhood friend Frederic (Gregori Derangerc) for help. It is a mistake that is to result in them both being stranded in the Hotel Splendide in Bordeaux along with other refugees. [in route I‘rederic meets scientist (‘amille (Virginie Ledoyen) and things become even more complicated. Dreary. mildly hysterical farce from the director of (’yrano (lt' Bergerac. Great clothes. though. (anieo. lz'iliiilna'gh. Breathless (A Bout de Souffle) ( 15) CO... (Jean-Luc Godard. France. 1959) Jean-Paul Belmondo. Jean Seberg. 90min. A chic Parisian petty criminal (Belmondo) and his American girlfriend (Seberg) drift through a world of stolen cars and aimless romance towards an inexorable downbeat finale. Godard's debut feature provoked quite a stir in its day for its carefree arrogance with the conventions of filmic grammar. but today it stands as a casual love letter to the American B-movic crime picture. ('ameo, Ifdinlno‘gh.

Bugs 3D or Space Station 3D (tbc) School groups take priority at this early showing of either Bugs 3/) or Spaee Station 3]). IMAX. Glasgow".

Capturing the Friedmans ( l5) .0... (Andrew Jarecki. ISA. 2002) 107mm. Paedophilia is proving itself to be fertile ground for great movies. What Happiness did for fiction. Capturing the I’l'ieilnians does for documentaries. The Priedmans are the archetypal dysfunctional American family. who were way ahead of their time when they used video cameras in the 80s to film their personal response to police allegations that two members of the family. the father and youngest child. were sodomising children. The material they produced is often hilarious despite the torrid subject matter and director Andrew Jarecki cleverly ties together this archival footage to ensure that the boundaries between fact and fiction are sullied like bed sheets after an orgy. It might be sick. btit it‘s also a brilliant look at media—led hysteria and the vagaries of human relationships. ('(‘A. Glasgow. Cheaper By the Dozen (PG) 0. (Shawn Levy. LS. 2003) Steve Martin. Bonnie Hunt. Piper Perabo. Tom Welling. Hilary I)uf. 97min. Tom Baker (Martin) is a football coach who finds himself moving to

a big-name job in (’hicago while trying to keep his huge family under control when his author wife Kate (Bonnie Hunt) has to go on an unexpected book tour. Another dull. harassed dad comedy from Martin. remade from a l‘)50 ('Iifton Webb vehicle. (il'l).\'l'('llt)l', Glasgow.

Chinatown ( l5) .0... (Roman Polanski. l'S. l‘)7-l) Jack Nicholson. Iiay c I)unavi.*ay. John Htiston. 131mm. Private eye Jake (iittcs takes on a routine case in IQ}? LA and ends up uncovering more than he bargained for. Splendid conspiracy thriller with a handsome period look and a quite superlative cast. Despite rumours spread by Nicholson and Polanski. though. the nose- slitting scene was faked. Part of Polanski retrospective. Film/rouse. I-fdinlmrgh.

City of God ( l8) .0... (Fernando Meirelles. Brazil. 2002) I29min. The international resurgence of Latin American cinema show s no signs of slowing down. Following ('entral Station. Antorev I’erros. l' Tu .Ilama lain/rien and Nine Queens comes an exhilarating Brazilian drama. ('itv ofGod. Based on Paulo Lins‘s sprawling novel and spanning three decades. it's an epic account of the growth of organised drug-dealing in a slum holising project. the so-called (‘ity of God in Rio de Janeiro. Gilmore/til/G/Z. Glasgow.

Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen (PG) 0.. (Sara Sugarman. LS. 2004) Lindsay Lohan. Adam Garcia. Alison Pill. Megan I-‘ox. 89min. Teenage princess Lola (Lohan) is devastated when family circumstances dictate that she has to move from New York to live in New Jersey. In her new suburban surrounds Lola is determined to prove that you can take the girl out of New York. but you can't take New York out of the girl as she makes the most of her native sassiness to land the lead role in the high school musical. In the process she makes enemies of the rich kid ('arla Santini (Fox) and befriends the self-doubting lilla (Pill). The friendship between Lola and lilla is tested when the best friends head into New York to woo a drunken British rock star (Garcia). Above average simplistic moral life lesson movie. a kind of pre-Sex and the (in. as it were. lite lz'dinlno'g/i. Iii/inlno'g/i. Confidences Trop Intimes (Intimate Strangers) I IS) ... (Patrice Lecontc. Iirance. 2003) Sandrine Bonnaire. Iiabrice Lucini. l0-tmin. See review. page 25. (ill Glasgow .' [film/rouse. Ifdinlna’gh.

Connie and Carla Do LA ( 11A)

.0 (Michael Lembeck. LS. 2004) Toni (‘ollette. Nia \ardalos. 97min. See review. page 25. Seleeteil release.

The Cooler ( IS) 00. (Wayne Kramer. LS. 2003) William H Macy. Alec Baldwin. Maria Bello. Shawn Hatosy. Ron Livingston. Paul Sorvino. ltllrnin. See review. page 3o. l'(i('. Iidinlmrgh.

Cover Girl (1') ((‘harles v'idor. is. 1044) Rita Hayworth. Gene Kelly. Lee Bow man.

index Film

Colin Salmon and Lee Evans go for the Freeze Frame

Phil Silvers. Jinx l’alkenburg. |0(vmin. Not one of \‘idor's best films. but interesting nonetheless (this is the man who gave the world The Big Parade and Stella [)al/as after all). This lavish milsical tells the cliched story of a Brooklyn nightclub singer (Hay woan who leaves her sweetheart (Kelly ) after winning a cover girl contest. There are some great dance routines to the Kern/Gershw in score and Rudolph Mates 'l'echnicolor photography is immaculate. (III'HI: Glasgow.

Le Crime de Monsieur Lange (PG) 0... (Jean Renoir. l‘rance. 1035) Rene Lefcvrc. Jules Berry. ()dettc l-‘lorclle. ()(hnin. The employees of a publishing firm set up a collective when their lecherous and oppressive boss mysteriously disappears. Renoir's comedy -thriller-romance combines fantasy. politics and naturalism. making this one of his most completely enjoyable movies. I-ilinlioase. lz'dinlno'gh.

Cry Freedom (Pt o (Richard Attenborough. LS. 1987) Den/cl Washington. Kevin Kline. John Thaw. ISSmin. Although not without its flaws. .-\ttcnborough‘s biographical recreation of the friendship between black civil rights activist Steve Biko and liberal while

new spaperman Donald Woods is his best film to date; an epic. moving drama that also stands as a vigorous condemnation of apartheid. Gilmore/zillGl2. Glasgow. Cyberworld 3D (Po) (Various. t‘S. Zoooj Jenna lilfman. Matt l-‘rew er. Woody Allen. 44min. Jenna lilfman is the cyber-host who introduces (is to various unrelated segments of cy ber animation. The .S'iinpsons and .-int:. make SI) appearances in a spectacular display of today's most impressive graphic technology. /.\I.-L\'. Glasgow.

The Day After Tomorrow ( I2.-\)

.0 (Roland Iimmerich. LS. 2004) Dennis Quaid. Jake Gy llenhaal. Iimmy Rossurn. [)ain Mihok. Jay () Sanders. Ian Ilolm. Kenneth Welsh. I24min. ('limatologist Jack IIall (Quaid) and Professor Rapson (Ilolm) spot some drastic climate changes drops in water temperature. freak storms. hailstones the si/e of bricks. Now they must convince sceptical \ ice—president lieL‘lxel' (\VL‘lsh) Ihttl their initial estimation for the coming of the new ice age in ‘l()() to 1000 years time' has been rapidly rev iscd to the day after tomorrow. Without any character empathy. no amount of (‘GI will generate any drama. and without drama there can be no suspense and no fear. This movie. to have any effect whatsoever. needs its to feel frail. vulnerable and helpless faced with the awesome power of nature. It doesn't. liinmericli has dumped on the mov ie-going world a soulless and sub-standard cut-and- pastc job from his own vile and risible lmlepemlenee Dav. entirely devoid of suspense. humour. emotion or creativ ity. (ii’lli'l‘ill I‘t'li'avi’.

'. THE LIST 33