The Birmingham Post from Birmingham, West Midlands, England • 12

12 FRIDAY December 12 997 The Birmingham Post ARTS EDITOR Terry Grimley ARTS ENTERTAINMENT -V omorrow never dies but a close thing ARTS IN BRIEF Carols for the community Members of Bournville Choir will be dressing up warmly in Edwardian clothing to present a programme of Christmas carols at Pack-wood House next Tuesday from 6pm On Saturday morning the community based choir will be singing at St Ring as part of the Christmas celebrations The following day at 4pm they will present their own winter concert in St Francis Church Bournville The older members who make up the Chamber Choir will be entertaining the public at Packwood House on Tuesday recalling Carol singing in Edwardian times The fourth appearance of the week for these enthusiastic and talented youngsters will be as part of the concert in aid of the Diana Princess of Wales Memorial Fund at the Adrian Boult Hall on Friday December 19 at 730pm The Royal Shakespeare Christmas festivities are launched on Tuesday with seasonal readings in the foyer of the Royal Shakespeare Theatre by David and Ali Troughton plus live music and carols in the Swan foyer (6pm-730pm) Both events are repeated on December 23 and the live music moves into the RST foyer on December 20 and 31 On Thursday The Other Place Courtyard will be filled with jugglers strolling players and musicians either side of that performance of Roberto Zucco Mike Davies reviews the latest cinema releases Licence to thrill: Pierce Brosnan in Tomorrow never Knows and above a scene from Right Keep The Aspidistra Flying TOMORROW NEVER DIES CERT 12 119 MINS If all you want from your action movies is massive amounts of gunplay huge explosions and incredible stunts then the 1 8th Bond the second with Pierce Brosnan in the 007 role amply delivers the goods However constructed with the cynical flow of a computer game soulless set pieces are all this has to deliver Once past the pre-title sequence stuntarama the functional plot like all Bonds involves a megalomaniac seeking world domination here multi-media tycoon Jonathan Pryce who in a somewhat extreme attempt to secure exclusive broadcast rights in China intends to kickstart World War III to boost his ratings The resulting formulaic mix inevitably involves his brutal henchman a couple of Bond women (Teri Hatcher as former 007 flame now soon to be disposed of wife and Hong Kong martial arts star Michelle Yeoh as the Chinese agent who gets to team up with Bond and share the obligatory final frame kiss) latest gadgets breakneck chases shootout showdown and some lame double entendres Director Roger Spotiswoode (who lest we forget also made the execrable Stop Or My Mum Will Shoot) propels it all along at a fair lick throwing in a remote controlled car chase and a rooftop motorbike ride through Bangkok but a soulless affair lacking suspense and any real excitement And even though Brosnan gets to shoot someone in cold blood revenge the much hyped darker edge a patch on Peacemaker while elsewhere a white-haired Pryce simply fails to make a convincingly threatening villain and Yeoh clearly paid enough to bring her charisma along too Of course it looks great the opening titles are stunning (despite Sheryl anodyne theme POST REVIEW Family drama is rare treat Goodnight Children Everywhere The Other Place song) and Judi Dench and Samantha Bond have a great time as and Moneypenny But ultimately while tomorrow may never die neither does it ever really come alive LAWN DOGS CERT 15 101 MINS John films Sirens The Year My Voice Broke Flirting etc) have typically dealt with society misfits rites of passage and the opposition of the urban environment and the natural world And though written by Naomi Wallace this mixture of charm and edginess is no exception Recently relocated to a sterile walled Kentucky suburb where her self-righteous folks fit right on in with their snobby neighbours ten-year-old Devon (Mischa Barton) strikes up a relationship with fellow outsider Trent (a sweetly beguiling Sam Rockwell) a trailer trash lawnmowing free spirit One naturally misinterpreted when the citizenry find out Between the college bully boys and the hypocritical sexual shenanigans the film paints a scathing portrait of suburban America and its poisonous moral outlook contrasted with the wholly innocent relationship between the two friends On to this Duigan overlays all manner of mythic and fairytale imagery darkening the tone as situation and persecution get further out of control delivering a provocative twist before the magic that lias hitherto been restricted to allusion finally becomes manifest Thought-provoking finely crafted and with a knockout performance from newcomer Barton this really warrants your attention I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER CERT 18 101 MINS Written by Kevin Williamson who Suffice to say in debut writer-director Gilles labyrinthine romantic thriller things and people what or who they appear Flashbacks piece the jigsaw together from different viewpoints and with Romane Bohringer adding to the complicated proceedings as the enigmatic Alice what you get is a stylish exploration of obsession identity voyeurism and desire that blends Hitchcock with A Midsummer Night 's Dream in a cooly paced smart farce with a bittersweet tragic sting THE GAMBLER CERT 15 97 MINS In 1 866 racing to complete his new novel and stave off forfeiting the rights to all his work as a result of his gambling addiction Dostoevsky (Michael Gambon) hired young and prim stenographer Anna (May) as his assistant Despite his sour nature advancing age and epilepsy she fell in love with the old coot fending off his creditors and eventually becoming his second wife That love story is here intercut with dramatisations of the tale of a young man (Dominic West) risking everything at the roulette table in order to rescue the object of his affection (Polly Walker) from the clutches of a predatory French nobleman In constant cross-cutting veteran Hungarian director Karoly Makk loses the dramatic momentum of both life penned knowing post-modern horror movie Scream this has none of its wit and sparkle nor in the hands of workmanlike director Jim Gillespie any of Wes cinematic flair A conventional throwback to 70s teen slasher films like Halloween if offers four high school graduates (Jennifer Love Hewitt Freddie Prinze Jr Sarah Michelle Gellar Ryan Phillippe) whose Fourth of July celebrations end on a bad note when they run down a mystery man Rather than risk ruining their futures they dump the body into the sea Except not dead A year and assorted failed ambitions later one gets a note bearing the titular message At which point people start dying on the end of a fish hook wielded by a figure in an oilskin Sadly irksome loudmouth jerk jock Phillippe get his until far too late Too few shocks a not particularly scary villain and plot holes you could lose a trawler in ensure the only jolts likely to experience are from waking up when over CERT 15 102 MINS SUBTITLED Max (Vincent Cassell) is two months away from getting wed when he spots Lisa the love of his life who did a vanishing act two years earlier So rather than jetting off to Hong kong he stays in Paris to try and track her down It is a most uplifting thing in the theatre to witness a collection of actors whose corporate beauty derives from passion character and the ability to handle a rare and finely-written script Richard Nelson is a gifted playwright and we have seen earlier (and deeply enjoyed) his Two Shakespearean Actors also made for the Royal Shakespeare Company His is the kind of writing you can never get enough of In Goodnight Children Everywhere Mr Nelson surpasses himself exposing the dark sexual undertow which shakes a family of three sisters and their younger brother sharing a shabby flat in mid-1940s London The boy Peter has returned home from Canada where he was evacuated He left as a child but returns as a very handsome sexually attractive 17-year-old We gradually leam of his innocent childhood relationship with Ann his older sister -now married to a coarse sexist doctor and heavily pregnant with the child Gradually an incestuous affair develops between Ann and Peter who move as though under a fatal spell I hated initially Kim ugly set which leaves us looking through the living room at the opposite audience But it grows on you However nothing but praise for Simon Scardifield (Peter) Cathryn Bradshaw (Ann) and everyone else who is part of this fine company Richard Edmonds HippODROMF and art passion giving way to predictability but top notch performances from Gambon and May and scenestealing octogenarian Luise Rainer (her first film in 53 years) as an old dear with gambling fever stack the odds in its favour KEEP THE ASPIDISTRA FLYING CERT 15 101 MINS Richard Grant calls upon the acerbic wit and seedy dolour of With-nail to play Gordon Comstock self-absorbed hero of George thinly veiled autobiographical novel A successful advertising copywriter Comstock throws it all in to become a poet sponging of his long suffering sister failing to persuade his steadfast girlfriend (Helena Bonham Carter) to slip between the sheets and finally winding up down and out (but briefly happy) before capitulating to the middle class respectability he sought to escape Director Robert Bierman gets period accuracy (Britain as a giant advertising hoarding) spot on and Grant seizes on the ironic dialogue with glee spitting out lines like verdant with relish Bonham Carter again displays her underrated comic sparkle while the likes of Jim Carter Barbara Leigh Hunt and the wonderful Liz Smith provide solid support Worth leafing through Beating the odds: Michael Gambon stars in Karoly adaptation of the Dostoevsky novel The Gambler BOOK NOW FOR BRITAIN'S BEST PANTOMIME WcEKim- 14 FEBRUARY iwT TOMORROW Your complete guide to the week ahead in Post Arts BIRMINGHAM POST PHONY HALL I I A CITY OF BIRMINGHAM Snturhj SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA 13 Dec HUMPERDINCK: HANSEL GRETEL 700vm Comrrt jlerformiwct Slim in English ymir Tim MARK ELDER: Conductor 18 Dec vitH SUSAN PARRY MARY LLOYD DAVIES 7 ELIZABETH VAUGHAN MARY HEGARTY ROSA JVf MANSION DONALD MAXWELL inuf MARY PLAZAS CITY OF BIRMINGHAM SYMPHONY YOUTH CHORUS SUNDAY AFTERNOON CHRISTMAS CONCERT BARDI ORCHESTRA Swiifm OF LEICESTER 4 ANDREW CONSTANTINE: Conductor "2ftc JESSICA SHI -YIN LV: Piano 230j)iii introduced mid narrated In LYNDON JENKINS SAINT-SAENS: Dana Macabre LITOLFF: Sdterzofar yiano aiul orchestra PROKOFIEV: Peter 0- The WoS TCHAIKOVSKY: Music from die Nutcracker bailer MUSSORGSKY' The Great Gate of Kiev MIDLANDS CHRISTMAS CAROL CONCER rJZ Gmm BKASS PETER D0N0H0E MARTIN 0SC( DAVID LAWRENCE: Conductor DAVID BRVCEPAYNE: Oman Sfimmal hij ABKKSON CONSTKI 'CTI0V nr BOXING DAY GALA LONDON CONCERT ORCHESTRA JOHN PRYCE-JONES: Conductor I CLIO GOULD: Violin ROSSINI: The Thieving ALi qiiie GRIEG: Peer Qjnt Suite BRUCH: Volin Concern STRAUSS: EnmerorWaltz BIZET: Carmen Suite TCHAIKOVSKY: Capriccio Italien For the first time in Sumyhony Hall's calendar a syarkliny waif to celebrate Boxing Day Fridmj 26 Dec 730)ini THE MAD HATTER CHRISTMAS CONCERT LONDON CONCERT ORCHESTRA FRXSER GOULDING: Conductor ALASDAIR MALLOY: "The Marl Hatter" SAMANTHA SHAW: "Alice" Sunday 28 Dec 300)nn Warrington Guardian Plymouth tvcryfg anchcstc' Fvemng He aid News Monday 2 Fe 730y in ENGELBERT HUMPERDINCK us SPECIAL GUESTS OFFICE: 0121-212.