l

* Punishment Park ( 12) .0000 (Peter Watkins. US. 197! ) Patrick Boland. Kent Foreman. Carmen Argenliano. Luke Johnson. 88min. Purporting to be news footage. this pseudo-doctimentary has a crew following a team of soldiers sent to the desert to escort a group of hippies and other anti-establishment types. The sentence is to traverse 90 miles of desert in two day s to retrieve a flag. Set amidst an America of Nixon-era social crisis. Remarkable. seldom seen cult film from the director of (’ullm/en. Glasgms' Film ’I'Iieatre. Glasgow.

Robots (U) .0 (Chris Wedge. (’ai'los Saldhana. US. 2005) Voices of Robin Williams. llalle Berry. (ireg Kinnear. Ewan McGregor. 9lmin. New animated ads entui'e from the makers of lee Age. Rodney (‘opperbottom tMcGregor) is a working class robot whose dreams of becoming an inventor are dashed when he diseoyers that Bigweld. the largest corporation in the city. has been overtaken by Ratchet (Kinnear). a ruthless capitalist who makes Rupert Murdoch look like Karl Marx. ()n this showing the ('(il formula is desperately in need of an upgrade. Selected release.

* Silver City ( 15) mo (John Sayles. US. 2004) (‘hris Cooper. Richard Dreyfuss. (‘ajardo Lindsey. Elizabeth Rainer. ll‘miin. See review. pag ~15. Seleetetl release.

Sin City ( IX) om (Robert Rodriguez/Frank Miller (special guest director Quentin Tarantino). US. 2005) Bruce Willis. Clive Owen. Mickey Rourke. Jessica Alba. l2-lmin. Bleak. hardboiled comic book adaptation from fan Rodrigue/ (co-directing with creator Miller) truer to its source than anything to date. Despite being rendered mostly in black and white. this isn‘t a film for the squeamish. Alongside the super stylisation. Sin ('its' boasts deft storytelling. ballsy performances (from a to- die-for ensemble cast) and a line iii bruising humour that’ll lease you black and blue. Brutal and brilliant. ('(K' ReIi/rew Street. Glasgow. (i/asgoii': l’ae lz'tli'nlmrelr. Edinburgh.

=l= The Skeleton Key l is) oooo (lain Softley. IS. 2005) Kate Hudson. (ieria Rowlands. Peter Sarsgaard. John Hurt. 103mm. See intei's iew. page 44. and res iew. page 46. General release.

Sky Blue ( 15) 0.. (Moor) sacrig Kim/Park Stininin. South Korea/l S. 300M Marc Worden. ('athy (‘asadiiiL Joori ho (hung. Somiu. See res iess. page 45, ( (.‘(’ ReIi/reii' Street. (ilasgoii; (ilaseoii. Somersaultr IS) 0... <(‘ate Shortland. :\tistralia. 200.1) Abbie ('oiriisli. Sam Worthington. l.y iiclle (‘urrair ltloiiiin. lleidi (Cornish) is a lo-year old girl who is caught kissing her mother's boy friend. She runs away and uses her asset. her body. to stirs is e. ller C\[X‘flellee\ teach her the difference betw cen se\ and and Ios c.

liis entisc. dreamy. soulful. oddball and occasionally shocking .'\ll\ll‘tlll&lll rites of passage drama. (11mm. lat/inlmrgli. Space Station 30d) 1 tom .‘siyeis. (’anada/l 'S. 2003) 4 liiiiii. Narrated by ion) ('ruisc. this big screen l.\l:\X presentation follows real astronauts into the big blue, lriipressise. but not as awesome as it should hayc been. [MAX 'I/ieatre. (ilaseou.

The SpongeBob Squarepants Movie tl') O. tStepheii llilleubtirg. (S. 2004) Voices of :\lec Baldwin and Scarlett Johansson. S7iiiiii. ('liaiiiiless

Nickelodeon channel spiiioff cartoon feature

mos ie. suitable for under fiscs only It "I (l)tit’l’tlllk. (‘lstlelianlj (I ’/ Izt/rn/mrg/i. lit/inlmreli.

Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter and . . . Spring t l5) 0... tKiiii Ki l)tik. Sotitli Korea/(ier'riiany. 2001) ()h Yeorig Sti. Kim Kr l)tik. Kim Yeorig \llll. 102mm. .-\ monk lis ing with his elderly Buddhist master on a floating temple on a beautiful lake esix'i‘iences the sai'iotis stages of life. from childhood to adulthood. learning important lessons along the way

and escntually acquiring a young disciple of

his own. Set theatrically against the metaphorical. painterly changing seasons. and featuring splendid peifoiriiairccs. this

Great Cole Porter musical double bill, both from the 1950

and both classics (of a kind). There is no more perfect way to spend a

lazy Sunday. I Gfl. Glasgow :91”) 3] Ja/ Orr/s)

film is so stunningly beautiful that it‘s likely to continue resonating in the memory for a long time. in fact. throughout spring. suitimcr. autumn. winter . . . and spring (ilaseoii' Ill/n lllt'tlll't’. (ilaseoir,

Star Wars Episode III: The Revenge of the Sith r I2.v\) 00. t(ieorge l.ucas. l'S. 3005) lassan .\lc(iregor. Natalie l’ortiiiaii. Saiiitiel 1. Jackson. llayden ('liiistenseri. l-llliiiin. .s\t last. the series turns to the dark side. l.ucas is still without inspiration when it comes to dialogue btit about two [birds in the whole iiios re starts to get a little grimy. worn and 70s looking.

\\ liile clunky in places. it has flashes of the

earthy charm of A New Hope and the elllUllVe dris'e of The lain/tire Strikes liaek and proyes a worthy conclusion to this most epic of epics. (ieneral release.

Strings (Hi) 0... (Anders Ronnow Klarluiid. Denmark/Sw eden/Norway/l'K. 200-1) Voices of James .‘schsoy. ('atherine .‘\1c( 'oriiiack. Julian (ilos‘er. Derek Jacobi. Xb’uun. llntirely shot with riiarioriette puppets. this is a children's film that adtilts will admire. The plot is a standard quest and coming of age saga. a bit of Tolkien. a dash of Hamlet. and this l'K-Scaridinas iaii prtxluction really stands out for the striking rise of characters' strings as being integral to

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58 THE LIS‘I' 21 Jul—4 Aug 2005