Film
The Descent ( IX) 0000 (Neil Marshall. UK. 2005) Nora—Jane Noone. Alex Reid. Shauna Macdonald. 97min. This chicks with picks potholing horror film from the director of Dog Soldiers is a grim treat. (ieneral release.
Dig! ( l5) 0”. (()ndi Timoncr. US. 2004) I l0min. ()\ erlong but interesting documentary about the rise of the rock band the Dandy Warhols and the fall of their best friends the Brian Jonestown Massacre. ()ne of tlte fundantental rm‘kumentaries of the last few years. ('ameo. Edinburgh. Dogtovvn and Z-Boys ( I5) 0000. (Stacy Perlata. LS. 200! ) 89min. What makes Dugltm'tt and X-liirvs so desperately exciting? It is a documentary feature. one that tracks the key events that led to the birth of the now ubiquitous ‘modern vertical’ or ‘vert‘ style of skateboarding. Maybe it‘s the way that director and original Z-Boy. Peralta cuts together still photographs. vintage film footage and new interview material to form a fluid and vibrant narrative. Maybe it‘s the kick-ass punk rock soundtrack featuring the likes of Iggy and the Stooges. Jirni Hendrix and Led Zeppelin that punctuatcs the story. giving energy and raw power to the low- slung skate style of the Z-Boys. It could. however. be that I )ogtown perfectly captures the f**k-off-and-dic attitude that propelled twelve kids front the wrong side of town into the public consciousness. Glasgow- l-ilm Theatre. Glasgow.
Duma (U) 0.. (Carroll Ballard. LS. 2005) Alex .‘inchaeletos. (‘ampbell Scott. Mary Makhatho. I00min. Iassie recast as a as a South African cheetah speeding across the veldt in this decent. occasionally thrilling family film. I'ue I-Idinlnu-gh ()(t'illl. Edinburgh.
Dus ( l2A) (Anubhav Sinha. India. 2005) Sanjay Duff. Stmil Shetty. Abhishek Bachchan. I52min. Indian thriller about an anti-terrorist squad fighting militants. Bttt is there a traitor in their midst‘.’ (,'(i(’ Rea/reu- .S'treet. Glasgow; Glasgow.
Escape from Alcatraz ( 15) (Don Siegel. US. I979) (‘lint Iiastwood. Patrick McGoohan. I 12min. ()deon At The Quay. Glasgow. Glasgow.
Fantastic Four (PG) 00 (Tim Story. US/Germany. 2005) loan Gmffud. Jessica Alba. (‘hris Iivans. Michael (‘hiklis.
El Perm
Julian McMahon. l06min. See review. page 45. General release.
Festival ( l8) 0... (Annie Griffin. I'K. 2005) Daniela Nardini. Stephen Mangan. Amelia Bulmore. Billy Carter. Lyndsey Marshal. I07min. Iidinburgh in August is hell for some but nirvana for others. Annie Griffin's darkly funny. filthy ensemble drama about the Fringe Festival may just be the vaccine you need against the August madness. General release.
Flight of the Phoenix ( IBA) 000 (John Moore. IS. 2004) Dennis Quaid.
Ty rese. Giovanni Ribisi. Miranda Otto. Tony
(‘urran. 1 13min. Likeable remake of Robert Aldrich's 1965 minor classic. in which James Stewart's pilot and a motley crew of passengers found themselves stranded in the Sahara Desert after their plane crashes. This time out. Dennis Quaid crash-lands the plane. marooning his oil worker passengers in the Gobi Desert (the beautiful but unforgiving Namibia stands in for the Mongolian wastes). As with the original film. the harsh climate and apparent hopelessness of their situation bring out the best and the worst in the marooned. among whom now number ()tto‘s pragmatic oil rig boss. Laurie's lily-livercd white collar company man. (‘urran's boisterous blue collar worker and Ribisi‘s brattish aircraft designer. ()deon. Edinburgh.
Funny Girls (Girls’ Shorts) ( l5) (Variom) 75min. A collection of short tales of love. Part of London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival on tour. Glasgow I’ll/n Theatre. Glasgow:
A Good Woman (PG) 000 (Mike Barker. Spain/ltaly/UK/liS. 2005) Ilelen Hunt. Scarlett Johansson. Mark l'nbers. Stephen Campbell Moore. 93min. A reworking of Oscar Wilde's Lady Ilindermere 's I'im. which transposes the action from late l‘)th century London to the Amalli (‘oast in 1930. Howard Himmelstein's liberal screen adaptation allows many of Wilde's characters to now become Italian and Anterican. It all works very well: Himmelstein borrows freely from Wilde‘s other plays to highlight Wilde's original anthropological inclination to detail the doomed days of the aristocracy. Good. solid. uninventive entertainment. film/rouse. Iz'dinhuigh.
Carlos Histories Minimas Sorin’s quietly charmin man and his dog has to be among the sweetest political tables of the year.
I Fi/mhouse, Ed/nburglt (Fri 22—Thu 28 Jul only).
52 THE LIST 21 Jul-«4 Aug 200:")
g Argentinean road movie about one
The Goonies (PG) 00 (Richard Dortttcr. US. I985) Sean Astin. Josh Brolin. Jeff Cohen. I 12min. Rather dire teenflick. in which seven kids go in search of buried treasure and are followed hotly by vicious villains vying for the loot. A joyride which is slow to start and doesn‘t ever depart from well charted highways. Glasgow Film Theatre. Glasgow.
Growth of the Soil (Markens Grode) (PG) (Gunnar Sornrnerfeldt . Norway. 1921 ) Arnund Ryland. Karen Thalbit/cr. Ragna Wettergreen. 1 10min. When Isak builds a home in the middle of the beautiful Norwegian wilderness he meets Inger. a woman with a bare lip. As they begin their new life together. they struggle with the attention and jealousy that their home brings. I-‘ilmhouse. Edinburgh. Haan . . . Maine Bhi Pyaar Klya (PG) (Dharmesh Darshan. India. 2002) Akshay Kumar. Karisma Kapoor. Abhishek Bachchan. Successful Bollywood love story about a couple who are made for each but. as usual. family and circumstance gets in the way. Selected release.
>I< Helmet 3: A Chronicle of Endings and Beginnings (I5) 0... (Iidgar Reitz. Germany. 2004) Henry Arnold. Salome Karnrner. Jorg Altmeyer. Michael Kausch. Matthias Kniesbeck. Christian Leonard. 680mm. Reitz‘s colossal chronicle of 20th century German life continues in this immenser satisfying third installment which spans the fall of the Berlin Wall in 198‘) to the millenium eve celebrations — while revisiting the Hunsruck region of the first Heimat series. Glasgow I'i/m Theatre. Glasgow.
Herbie: Fully Loaded (PG) (Angela Robinson. ISA. 2005) Lindsay Lohan. Michael Keaton. Matt Dillon. In this very literal Lindsay Lohan vehicle dad Michael Keaton give his daughter a car on graduation. In the traditions of the franchise. the Beetle has a mind of its own. and Lohan is soon learning lessons in life and entering the Daytona 500. (‘harity screening. UG(' Cinemas Edinburgh. Edinburgh.
High Society (l!) 0000 (Charles Walters. l’S. I956) Bing Crosby. Grace Kelly. Frank Sinatra. (‘eleste Holm. I07min. Classic musical entenainment from the
MGM studios. in which a rich bitch plays hard to get with a string of suitors. The plot of Philadelphia Story goes out the window. but with stars like these. style is everything. Glasgow Film Theatre. Glasgow.
Hitch (12A) 0. (Andy Tennent. US. 2004) Will Smith. Kevin James. Amber Valletta. Eva Mendes. I 15min. Smith plays Alex ‘Hitch‘ Hitchens. a New York ‘date doctor‘ whose job it is to school the city’s guileless men in the ways of covert wooing. His latest challenge is Albert (James). a roturtd accountant who wants nothing more titan an evening out with his client. party girl Allegra (Valletta). Albert‘s tutelage ensues. as does Hitch‘s. who does his best to overcome his own fear of commitment. Fatuous comedy about the mores of dating in an implausibly picture postcard New York. We Edinburgh Ocean. Edinburgh. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (PG) coo (Garth Jennings. US/UK. 2005) Martin Freeman. Mos Def. Sam Rockwell. Zooey Deschanel. Bill Nighy. I 10min. First time feature director Jennings has moulded Adams' screenplay (written shortly before his premature death in 2001) into an incredibly good looking film. Arthur Dent (Freeman) escapes Earth's demolition with his alien friend Ford Prefect (Del) by hitching a ride with the Vogons. only to be rescued by joyriding Galactic President Zaphod Beeblebrox (Rockwell) on dream ship the Heart of Gold. They head for mythical planet Magrathea. Minor niggles (mostly about characterisations and new characters) don’t detract from the fact that this film is well worth the wait. Glasgow Film Theatre. Glasgow:
* Hunger (Suit) (15) O.” (Henning Carlsen. Denrnark/Norway/Sweden. 1966) Per Oscarsson. Gunnel Lindblom. Bn'gette Federspiel. Knud Rex. I l lrnin. Excellent version of Hamsun‘s remarkable story of what happens to one young writer as he slowly starves to death from poverty in l890s Oslo. Existential but deeply humane. this is the most faithful adaptation of the book there has been. Part of Hunger: A Knut Hamsun Season. Film/louse. Edinburgh. I’m Hot Scared (12mm
(Gabriele Salvatores. Italy/Spain/UK. 2002) Aitana Sanchez-Gijon. Dino Abbrescia. Giorgio Careccia. Giuseppe Cristiano. Mattia Di PICITO. Diego Abatantuono. 108mm. Part horror movie. part political thriller. this haunting. eerie Whistle Down the Wind-style drama is set in the bankrupt rural south of Italy during the late l970s. Director Salvatores has filmed Niccolo Ammaniti‘s popular novel about a boy passing from innocence to experience with quiet sun drenched malevolence. Adapted for the screen by Arnrnaniti himself. the film keeps its audience as much in the dark as its innocent protagonist. Itan Petriccione‘s photography of the baking landscape is vivid enough to induce an itchy heat rash and the performances Salvatores elicits from child actors Giuseppe Cristiano and Mattia Di Pierro are wonderful. A glorious paean to childhood with the wrenching pain of childhood‘s end. Glasgow Film Theatre, Glasgow.
ITVSO: Action/Adventure Drama (PG) (Various. UK. 2005) l()5min. Part of the [71/50 series that celebrates 50 years of ITV. Action/Adventure Drama focuses on The Avengers and The Saint. two ITV programmes that were made into big budget Hollywood films. This documentary takes a fond look back on the globe trotting adventures that filled our screens. Film/rouse. Edinburgh.
ITVSO: Coronation Street (PG) (Various. UK. 2005) William Roache. Doris Speed. Arthur Leslie. l00min. Classic clips from a classic soap. Glasgow Film Theatre. Glasgow:
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