@ Park & Tilford Cineplex 200 — 333 Brooksbank, North Vancouver (985-3913) Big Daddy (PG) — 1:25, 7:15, 9.25 p.m. plus Sat/Sun 3:45 p.m. Austin Powers 2 (PG) — 1:35, 7:05 p.m. Sat/Sun 3:50 p.m. Lake Placid (14A} — 1:30, 7:30, 9:40 p.m. Sat/Sun 3:40 p.m. american Pie (18A) — 1:45, 7:35, 9:55 p.m. Sat/Sun 4:10 Arlington Road (14A) — 9:20 p.m. The Haunting (PG) — 1:10, 7:10, 9:35 pan. Sat/Sun 4 p.m. Star Wars-The Phantem Menace (G) — 1, 7, 9:45 p.m. Sat/Sun 3:55 p.ni. Esplanade 6 Cinemas 200 W. Esplanade, North Vancouver (983-2762) Eyes Wide Shut — 1, 4:15, 8 p.m. Wiid Wild West — 2, 4:30, 7:05, 9:40 p.m. Inspector Gedget — 2:15, 4:45, 7, 9: 10 p.m. Tarzan — 1:30, 3:40, 7:20, 9: 26 p.m. Drop Dead Gorgeous —!: 45, 4, 7 30, 9:50 p.m. The General’s Daughter — 1:15, 3 :50, 7:15, 9:45 p.m. 5S Caprice Park Royal South West Vancouver (926-6699) Tea With Mussolini (PG) — 8:20 p.m. Muppets from Space (G) —6:40 p.m. plus Sat/Sun 2:20 p.m. Notting Hill (PG) — 7, 9:15 p.m. plus Sat/Sun 2:10 p.m. The Haunting (PG) — 7 15, 9:35 p.m. plus Sat/Sun 2 p.m. BE} CN IMAX. 201-999 Canada Place (682-4629) Extreme — 1:15, 3:30, 9 p.m. Alaska: Spirit of the Wild — noon, 6, 8 p.m. duily Island of the Sharks — 2:15, 4:45, 7 “nd 10 p.m. Special screenings of T-Rex: Back to the Cretaceons in IMAX 3D daily at 1] a.m. @ Fifth Avenue Cinemas 2110 Burrard at 5th, Vancouver (734-8700) Run Lola Rur (PG) — ~ 20, 9:40 p.m. plus Sat/Sun 2:10, 4:40 p.m. and Tue 4:40 p.m. An Ideal Husband (PG) — 7, 9:20 p.m. plus Sat/Sun 2, 4:30 .p.m. and Tue 4:30 p.m. Buena Vista $ Social Club (G) — 7:05, 9:35 p.m. plus Sat/Sun : 1:30, 4 p.m. and Tue 4 p.m. - Xiu Xiu The Sent Down Girl (14A) — 7:10, 9:25 p.m, plus Sat/Sun 1:40, 4:20 p:m: and Tue 4:20 p.m Besieged (PG) —~ 7:15, 9:30 p.m. plus Sat/Sun 1:50, 4:10 p.m. and Tue 4:10 p.m. (no 7:15 p.m show on Wed, July 28 "and Thu, July 29) - @ Park Theatre | ». 3440 Cambie at. 18th, Vancouver (876-2747). 4. Byes Wide Shut (8A) ~—7,10 p.m. Sat/Sun 12:30, 3:45 2 . 4 Varsity Theatre ; 4375 West 10th at Trimble, Vancouver (222- 2235) . Three Seasons ns (PG) —~7, 5:5 pm rm Holl - 3123 West Dradway ‘Vancouver (738- 3211) » ‘The Mummy (14A) — 7:30 p.m. | The Matrix (144) — 9:45 p.m. a Patific Cocmeeete Standing up if divorce & Standing Up, Vision TV (Ch. 40) Aug. Vancouver Te calsion (Ch. 9) Aug. 7 Katharine Hamer Contributing Writer IT’s often said that laughter is the best medicine. ° Vancouver film director Elizabeth Walker decided to take that dme-honoured adage at face value with her documentary Standing Up. Inspired by Walker’s own painful experiences of divorce, the film follows local theatre director Brenda Leadley in her attempts to quash the bitter memories of her marriage break-up by enrolling in a stand-up comedy course. “She’s a brave soul,” muses Walker of her film’s star. “In agreeing to take the comedy course, she was also yang, to really open her Walker first met Leadley at the party of a mutual friend. The two spent hours sitting outside on the porch, dis- cussing their marital woes. It was Walker who convinced Leadiey to take the comedy course and allow it to be filmed on site at Yuk Yuk's Comedy Ciub. Leadley’s progress became the focus of. Standing Up, as she braves the slings and arrows of a demanding comedy audience —— and at the same time, rediscovers her own spirit. initially, Brenda struggles with the construction of one- liners. It’s hard for her to laugh at her sorrows — and Walker understands just why this is, “Getting divorced is a bit like having open-heart surgery with a chainsaw,” she says. “There’s a gaping, open wound. It’s like, “You there, in the back row — can’t you see I’m bleeding?” But gradually, with the . encouragement of instructor Mark Pooley and the mentor- . ship (or “tormeniorship,” as Walker calis it) of comedians N Andrea Abbate and Kenny Robinson, Leadley blossoms and finds her own comic rhythm. The titm’s simplicity and honesty are its most com- pelling feavures. Standing Up has no experts or professional commentators — just the real- life storics of Leadley, Abbate, and Robinson (Walker tracked down the fatter two characters after watching “hours and hours” of comedy shows at festivals such as Montreal’s Just for Lauglts.) Panoramic night shots of the Vancouver skyline, backed by a bluesy soundtrack, punc- tuate wedding video sequences, a smashed cake, and the melt-down of a wed- ding certificate and ring (both Walker's), overlaid with dirges by Leonard Cohen. Walker backlights L.A.- based Abbate with Barbie pink, although “she’s no Barbie,” says the director. “She’s so strong. She’s been through a fot in her life.” Urban lounge lizard Robinson — Gemini-nominated for comedy show Thick and Thin — gets a jazzy purple ut cogether wh sequences of the pair playing pool and swapping stories with Leadley, this lends the film an intimate feel. Walker began her film career as an editor in 1971 — founding, with Moira Simpson the Isis Media Centre (a predecessor of Women in Film and Viceo Vancouver), and working on current affairs programs and documentaties before taking a -.. 13-year break to work in her - husband’s law firm. When she got divorced, she decided to return to film, her “first love,” and in 1997" directed a documentary short for the National Film Board of Canada. The film, Mr. Bear’s Song, was about the art and craft of a children’s story- book, and garnered several international awards. She says chat professional associations like Women in _ See Risk Page 2A PHOTO Chek Rice LEARNING to laugh again: Vancouver film director Elizabeth Walker. SE & Tig 4 Sulmmer Sal New! Indoor/Outdoor mi 2