Mango Kiss (15) (Sascha Rice. USA. 2003) Daniele Ferraro. Michelle Wolff. Sally Kirkland. 84min. Sass and Lou are best friends and lovers and sexually curious about the world of non-monogamy. S/M and role playing. So they set off with two friends on a journey of discovery but soon sexual tension explodes. tempers are lost and there are tears before bedtime. First time director Rice's energetic. funny. probing romantic comedy explores gender roles. sexual expression and trust. Part of the Lesbian and Gay Film Festival on Tour. GFT. Glasgow. 0 Mean Girls (12A) me (Mark 5 Waters. US. 2004) Lindsay Lohan. Rachel McAdam. Lacey Chabert. Amanda Seyfried. Tina Fey. Lizzy Caplan. 97min. See review. page 28. General release. A Mighty Wind (12A) ooo (Christopher Guest. US. 2003) Harry Shearer. Michael McKean. Christopher Guest. Eugene Levy. Bob Balaban. Many Belafsky. 91min. When folk group agent lrving Steinbloom dies. his son Jonathan (Balaban) and the raggle taggle collection of bands his father looked after decide to hold a commemorative night for him at New York Town Hall. There's Mitch and Mickey (Levy and Catherine O‘Hara). a dysfunctional folked out Sonny and Cher. there‘s the Folksrnen (Guest. McKean and Shearer) and the Main Street Singers (John Michael Higgins. Jane Lynch and Parker Posey). a new age folk regiment. When this lot run into each other after all these years there is. of course. chaos. So so documentary spoof from the Spinal Tap boys. UCI. C Iydebank. Mona Lisa Smile (12A) .0 (Mike Newell. US. 2003) Julia Roberts. Kirsten Dunst. Julia Stiles. Maggie Gyllenhaal. Ginnifer Goodwin. Dominic West. 1 17min. In l950s conservative America. Katherine Watson (Roberts) is a free-spirited graduate teacher from California who accepts a teaching post at Wellesley Girl‘s College. The students are tom between the traditional wife-bound repression and a longing for intellectual freedom. Dead Poet's Society for girls. Yawn. Nice costumes though. Ster C entury. Edinburgh. Monsieur N (12A) .0. (Antoine de Caunes. France/UK. 2003) Philippe Torreton. Richard E Grant. Jay Rodan. Elsa Zylberstein. Roschdy Zem. 35min. See preview. page 24 and review. page 27. OFT. Glasgow; Filmhouse. Edinburgh. Monster ( 18) O... (Patty Jenkins. US. 2003) Charlize Theron. Christina Ricci. Bruce Dem. Scott Wilson. Pruitt Taylor Vince. 109mm. Well made. if bleak and harrowing drama detailing the troubled. exploited life and death of US serial killer Aileen Wuornos. Theron is remarkable as Wuomos. who is given strong support from Ricci in a unshowy role as friend Selby. Patty Jenkins‘ grim. measured control of this dyspeptic tale pays ultimate dividends. UGC Renfrew Street. Glasgow; ()deon Wester Hal/es, Edinburgh. My Life as a Refugee (PG) (Lucy Nabijou. 2002) A warm. evocative portrait of a young Afghan man living in London against the backdrop of the war in Afghanistan. GilmorehillG/Z. Glasgow. Napier Degree Show 2004 (the) (Various. UK. 2004) 90min. The documentary and fiction films ranging from black comedy to period drama to science fiction thriller. Film/rouse. Edinburgh. Nosferatu (PG) 0.... (FW Mumau. Germany. I922) Max Schreck. Alexander Granach. Gustav von Wangenheim. 72min. Schreck is a truly terrifying figure as Bram Stoker‘s famoUs vampire. looking more like a skinned bat than a human being. A wonderfully visual movie. with twisted shadows and sexual undercurrents placing it well above the Kinski/Herzog remake. GilmorehillG/Z. Glasgow. Open Range (12A) oooo (Kevin Costner. US. 2004) Kevin Costner. Robert Duvall. Michael Gambon. l39min. Costner rides tall in the saddle again as director and star of this magnificent Western which tackles a number of the genre's big themes — freedom. justice. loyalty. the cost of violence. Costner‘s Charley Waite. a former
gunman haunted by his violent past. now roams the Midwest. herding cattle with veteran cowboy Boss Speamian (Duvall. terrific). Their practice of free grazing brings them into conflict with Gambon‘s tyrannical rancher. Some may find the movie slow. comy even. but sympathetic viewers will find themselves gripped and moved as the narrative unfolds. and the bloody gunfight that spectacularly climaxes the film. in its fusion of the mundane and the brutal. could not be more grimly authentic. Odeon, Edinburgh.
Orphans (l8) 0... (Peter Mullan. Uk. l999) Douglas Henshall. Gary Lewis. Stephen McC ole. Rosemarie Stephenson. 105mm. Four orphans of varying ages attempt to come to terms with the death of their beloved mother during one dark. stonny night in Glasgow. Mullan‘s feature directing debut mixes emotional frankness with humour verging on the surreal to great effect. While individual set pieces and perfomiances impress. the whole thing comes together remarkably.
GilmorehiIIG I 2. Glasgow.
Le Pari (PG) (Didier Bourdon 8; Bemard Catnpan. France. 1997) Bernard Campan. Didier Bourdon. Isabelle Ferron. 100mm. Two brothers-in-law. Didier and Bemard. launch out on a challenge: each one should
not smoke for 14 days — and it‘s a bet that is
to upset their lives forever. Funny comedy from popular French duo. GFYI Glasgow". Pepe I9 Moko (PG) 0... (Julien Duvivier. France. 1936) Jean Gabin. Mireille Baliti. Line Noro. 93min. A Parisian gangster hides out in the Algerian casbah. but love tempts him out of his hideaway with ultimately tragic results. Gorgeous romantic melodrama. with a typically French doomy poetry remaking a Hollywood genre. and Gabin at the peak of his powers. Film/rouse. Edinburgh. Performance (18) 00000 (Nie Roeg & Donald Cammell. UK. 1970) James Fox. Mick Jagger. Anita Pallenberg. 105mm. ('has (Fox — never better than here) is a violent gangster who has to go into hiding to avoid retribution from Harry Flowers' (Johnny Shannon) mob. By chance he ends up in the Notting Hill house of Turner (Jagger). Turner sees Chas as a source of rekindling his creativity and starts tormenting him with drug-induced mind games with the help of the beautiful Pherber (Pallenberg) and the androgynous Lucy (Michele Breton). lt's shot in two halves: one half gangster film. one
half a requiem to psychedelic enhancement. experimental film and the belief in the self. Performance looks. feels and sounds like nothing else; it is a miraculous piece of cinema that will stand the march of time. Miss at your peril. (il’ll Glasgow.
Peter Pan (PG) .00 (PJ Hogan. IS. 2003) Jason lsaacs. Jeremy Sumpter. Rachel Hurd-Worxl. Ludivine Sagnier. ()livia Williams. Richard Briers. l05min. (‘lap your hands if you believe in fairich ()ne hundred years on from the original play. J.\l Barrie's enduring classic is brought to life by .-\ustralian director PJ llogan (.tluricl's watt/mg. My Best Friend's Her/ding). Sumptuous in its production. the effects dreamed up by .llouliu Rougc's director of photography are magical. but the real hook (if you'll pardon the pun) is in thc characterisation. for which Hogan goes right to the heart of Barnes psychological issues. Wendy and Peter. on the cusp of childhood and adulthood. struggle with their conflicting instincts for innocence. adventure. freedom. love and maturity. Strong performances from the kids and grownups. and a particularly nice cameo role for Richard Briers as Smcc. ensure you’ll be cheering for 'l'inkerbell as her fairy-lights fade. (il'nl: Glasgow:
Pirates 1 15) .0 (Roman Polanski. France. 1986) Walter Matthau. (‘ris (‘ampion. [)amien Thomas. l‘crdy' .\Iayne. ll lmin. When Polanski planned this. his first action adventure movie. he w as desperate for Jack Nicholson to be imoly ed and conceived the role of ('aptain Red. the most fearsome pirate on the seven seas. especially for him. But it ended up being played by Walter Matthau with a dodgy British accent. llo hum. lie and his sidekick. ‘the l‘rog‘ t('ampiont. discover treasure on a Spanish galleon and instigate a mutiny. But things don't go entirely to plan. Why would they '.‘ Part of the Polanski retrospective. Film/rouse. lit/inlnugh. Pretty Village, Pretty Flame t 18: 0.. (Srdan Dragojevic. Serbia. two) 129mm. This film. made by filmmakers in the former Yugoslavia. charts the destruction of the friendship (and the country) of two young men a Serb and a Muslim who take opposing sides after war breaks otit. Like l'm/crgromul. it rises allegory to invoke history and emphasise tragedy. and goes a long way towards an understanding of a horrific civil war. (ii-"II Glasgow:
Ben Aftleck knows that despite all the screaming she’s his Jersey Girl
index Film
Repulsion t 18) 0... (Roman Polanski. l'K. NOS) (’atherine Dencuvc. Ian llendry. John l-‘raser. 105mm. Left on her own in her sister's flat for a few day s. a sexually repressed young woman gradually deteriorates towards complete mental breakdown. Polanski's first linglish language movie remains one of his best. a genuinely disturbing exploration of intense paranoia and claustrophobia that unflinchineg picks at the audience's deepest neuroses. Part of the Polanski retrospecti\c. I't/m/tottsr'. Iz'r/in/mrgh. Robin’s Hood t 15) (Sara .\lil|man. LS. 2003) ('lody (’atcs. Kliatee \' 'I‘urner.
S l min. .-\ reworking of the classic green hero fable. Millman's \ersion morphs the tyranny of King John into modern day institutionalised racism and oppression that driycs people into drugs and crime. Part of the London lesbian and (iay l‘estiyal on Tour. I'llm/tousr'. [cilia/Hugh.
Scooby Doc 2: Monsters Unleashed Il’(it 0. (Rain (iostiell. LS. 2004) lireddie l’rin/e Jr. Sarah Michelle (iellat'. Matthew l.illai'd. Linda ('ardcllini. Seth (irecn. Peter Boy lc. 02min. The second live-action liliii spawned by the l‘)70s cartoon series is an amiable enough. if eminently forgettable romp. Where the first mos ie was pitched somewhere
bctw ecn tribute and send-up of the Hanna- Barbcra show. the sequel plays things pretty straight. The gags are a mi\ of pop culture intertcxtuality and low-brow silliness: (icllar's Daphne in a nod to her Buffy role shows off her martial arts chops. while Shaggy and Scooby repeat the first mm ie's fart ~jokes. Younger \ icw ers w ill be amused and grow n-ups w ill find the experience relatiyely painless. Sela-ml It'lf’llfit'.
Shattered Glass l 12A) .00 (Billy Ray. l'S. 2003) llayden ('liristenscn. Peter Sarsgaard. ('hlo'e Sey igny. Rosario l)aw son. Melanie l.ynskcy. 04min. 'l‘om (‘ruisc produced this singularly intelligent l'S indie that details the highs and lows til~ the
journalistic career of real life fabulist
Stephen (ilass. a young man who was found to has c made tip half of his groundbreaking investigatch stories in the late “Nils. :\ fascinating cautionary tale that offers real insight into the machinations of the ("S small press world. ('hristiensen and Sat'sgaard shine in the lead roles. l‘(i(~ Rent/rt) Street. Glasgow .' Str'r (tar/my. Edinburgh.
THE LIST 39
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