Last Days ( l5) .0. (Gus Van Sant. US. 2005) Michael Pitt. Lukas Haas. Asia Argento. Scott Green. 96min. Following on from Gerry and Elephant. Last Days is another Gus Van Sant film inspired by a real life death. with its roots in the suicide of Nirvana‘s lead singer Kurt Cobain. The strength of the film is found in the nihilistic performance of Michael Pitt's 'Blake'. the Cobain figure. but the result is fascinating rather than engrossing. Selected release. The Living Corpse (Zinda Laash) (l8) (Khawaja Sarfaraz. Pakistan. I967) Rehan. Yasmeen. Habib. Deeba. Allauddin. l04min. Bram Stoker‘s Dracula relocated to Pakistan. Regarded as the country‘s finest horror film. Preceeded by three shorts. Part of the Pakistani Film. Media and Arts Festival. Glasgow Film Theatre. Glasgow.
A Long Night ( l5) (Hasan Zaidi. Pakistan. 2000) Faisal Rehman. Nadia Jamil. Anwar Solangi. 94min. An unflinching portrayal of Karachi's drug and sex fuelled underbelly. Part of the Pakistani Film. Media and Arts Festival. Glasgow Film Theatre. Glasgow
The Longest Yard (l2A) (Peter Segal. US. 2005) Adam Sandler. Chris Rock. Burt Reynolds. Nelly. 1 13min. Reynold's allegiances remain unchanged in this remake of Robert Aldrich‘s 1974 comic. prison-based football drama. but Sandler now takes the lead role as the inmates and guards go head to head. General release. Lords of Dogtown (IZA) e (Catherine Hardwicke. L’S/Germany. 2005) John Robinson. Emil Hirsch. Rebecca De Momay 107mm. See review. page 42. General release.
Madagascar (U ) coo (Iiric Darnell & Tom McGrath. US. 2005) Ben Stiller. Chris Rock. David Schwimmer. Jada Pinkett Smith. 86min. Madagascar opens with steak-loving lion Alex enjoying his pampered existence in New York's Central Zoo. His friends. Marty the zebra (Rock). Gloria the hippo (Smith) and Melman the hypochondriac giraffe (Schwimmer) discover that the crafty penguins are planning a breakout. and set off for Africa to re-connect with their inner animals. But interaction with a tribe of lemurs uncovers the bitter truth about Alex's carnivorous nature. Thoroughly enjoyable. blackly comic DreamWorks animation musical. Selected release.
The Man (12A)... (Les Maylield. US. 2005) Samuel 1. Jackson. liugene Levy. Luke Goss. 83min. Special Agent Derrick Vann (Jackson) is out for revenge after the death of his partner but a case of mistaken identity leads him to Andy Fidler (Levy). an annoying salesman with a penchant for getting in Vann‘s way. Simplistic but amUsing double act comedy which is greatly enhanced by the skills of these two ageing but skilled character actors. See Big Picture. page l3. General release.
Me and You and Everyone we Know ( 15) mo (Miranda July. L'S/UK. 2005) John Hawkes. Miranda July. Miles Thompson. 9 l min. An enjoyably whimsical tribute to love's transformative powers. Me and You . . . interw eaves a number of stories in suburban LA. involving characters from across the generations all struggling to connect emotionally. Me and You . . . challenges among other things. the taboos surrounding the depiction of under-age sexuality. not in a spirit of nihilistic provocation. but with humour and with an honest recognition. And it‘s clear that the director truly cares about her creations. regardless of their foibles and eccentricities. Cameo. Edinburgh.
Mighty Celt ( l2A) O.” (Pearse Elliot. Ireland. 2005) Gillian Anderson. Robert Carlyle. Sean McGinley. Ken Stott. Tyrone McKenna. 82min. Belfast lad Donal (McKenna) loves greyhounds — namely. the eponymous tnutt belonging to the grumpy Good Joe (Stott). After saving the dog from being put down. Donal is promised ownership if he can turn the animal into a winner. But with the return to the area of former [RA member () (Carlyle). events change — notably when it‘s revealed that he is a former flame of Donal's mother. Kate
(Anderson). Sprightly and unsentimental children‘s drama which greatly benefits from excellent performances. a tight script and favourable comparisons to Loach's Kes. ('ineworld Renfrew Street. Glasgow; Glasgow; Cineworld Edinburgh. Edinburgh.
Mughals of the Road (12A) (Sarmad Sehbai. Pakistan. I999) 45min. A portrait of the incredibly lavish and colourfully decorated trucks on Pakistan's roads. Preceeded by three shorts. Part of the Pakistani Film. Media and Arts Festival. Glasgow Film Theatre. Glasgow.
Must Love Dogs t 12A) see (Gary David Goldberg. US. 2005) Diane Lane. John (‘usack. Elizabeth Perkins. Christopher Plummer 98min. Likeable fortysomething romantic comedy involving borrow dogs and first time daters. Lane and Cusack steal the show with their awkwardly funny lead performances. General release.
Mysterious Skin (18) eeee (Gregg Araki. US. 2004) Brady Corbet. Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Elisabeth Shue. Mary Lynn Rajskub. Michelle Trachtenberg. 105mm. Bradey Corbet (Lackey) is convinced that he was abducted by aliens when he was a child and Neil McCormick (Gordon-Levitt) is an angry. promiscuous gay hustler. Slowly but surely the two young men's paths begin to cross but their connection to each other is much deeper than they originally felt. Writer/director Gregg Araki‘s measured. tender take on Scott Heim‘s ethereally poetic novel boasts compelling performances all round and a great soundtrack (by Cocteau Twins‘ Robin Guthrie and composer Harold Budd). This is a disturbingly memorable tale of listing. UFOs. false memory syndrome and the blemish of youth. UCI Clyde/tank. ('lydebank.‘ U('I Edinburgh. Edinburgh. No Entry (PG) (Anees Bazmee. India. 2005) Anil Kapoor. Salman Khan. Fardeen Khan. Popular Bollywtxxl comedy. Seleeted release.
Notre Musique ( IS) eeeo (Jean- l.uc Godard. France. 2004) Sarah Adler. Nade Dieu. Rony Kramer. 80min. Divided into three ‘kingdoms‘ — [infer (Hell). Purgatoire (Purgatory) and Paradis
( Paradise) — Notre Musique is an indictment of modern times using documentary footage of recent atrocities. Godard airing his grievances against the world is always a came for celebration and pretension. Cameo. Edinburgh.
Nusrat Has Left the Building ( 12A) (Farjad Nabi. Pakistan. I997) 2lmin. A portrait of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan's rise from Sufi music star to commercial world music artist. Part of the Pakistani Film. Media and Arts Festival. Glasgmi' Film Theatre. Glasgow:
October (PG) .0” (Sergei Eisenstein. USSR. I928) Nikandrov, Vladimir Popov. Boris Livanov. lb-lmin. Commissioned to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the October Revolution. liisenstein‘s film is a pulsating expression of the power of montage. with a succession of dazzling images and the elaborate use of visual metaphor tnarking this out as one of the Soviet cinema's great classics. liven if it is all a bit too much. Part of Eisenstein season. I'ilntltouse. Edinburgh.
On a Clear Day ( 12A) eee (Gaby Dellal. UK. 2005) Peter Mullan. Brenda Blethyn. Billy Boyd. Jamie Sives. 98min. Frank (Mullan) a Glasgow shipyard worker finds himself without a job when the yards sold off to foreign investors. Denied his livelihood. Frank decides to swim to France to prove something to himself. Not quite the broad comedy of The Full Monty and not as feelgood as Billy Elliot. ()n a Clear Day is a more sombre lilm. But like those efforts it benefits from its concrete setting and vivid characters. and from its criticism of the sorry state of the nation that's inherent to the story rather than being shoved down our throats. General release. On a Razor’s Edge ( l2A) (Sharmeen ()baid. Pakistan. 2004) 24min. A brief documentary chronicling Pakistan's troubled past and the conflicting hope and scepticism that surround the issue of ‘peace‘. Part of the Pakistani Film. Media
SoCute
Welcome screening of actor Kim Su-hyeon’s weird as all hell debut movie. You may recognise Kim from the movie
Oldboy but this anarchic feature bears no comparison to that film, being the story of shamanism, three crazy half brothers and a squatter father who all take up house room in a newly developed area of Seoul. One for Korean film freaks only. Part of the Showroom Cinema season.
I GFT. Glasgow (Tue 13 Sep only).
and Arts Festival. Glasgow Eilm Theatre. Glasgow.
The Pacifier (PG) oe (Adam Shankman. US. 2005) Vin Diesel. Faith Ford. 95min. Navy Seal Shane Wolfe (Diesel) is assigned to take care of a single- parent suburban family while mysterious mom Julie Plummer (Ford) goes off on some dubious government business. Cue much fish-out-of-water ‘hilarity'. UCI ('lytlebank. (‘lydebanlw U(‘l Edinburgh. Edinburgh.
The People vs Lyari Expressway (l2A) (Maheen Zia. Pakistan. 2002) 43min.
A documentary following the people resisting the building of a huge urban demolition project. Part of the Pakistani Film. Media and Arts Festival. Glasgow Film Theatre. Glasgow.
The Perfect Man (PC) so
(Mark Rosman. US. 2005) Hilary Duff. Heather Locklear. Chris Notb. Amy Acker. 10()min. Another anodyne Duff (A Cinderella Story) comedy drama. This time out she tries to sort her flaky mum (Locklear) up with a half decent man. Yawntastic. Cineworld Renfrew Street. Glasgow; Glasgow:
Thursday 9 - Saturday 25 March 2055
t: z
m}
if you are a potential venue, promoter, act. sponsor or interested in being involved in the festival ' ~- in some other way come along to an information seminar at the Tron Theatre, Glasgow on Wednesday 21 September from 2pm.
To reserve your place please call 0141 552 2070-or . e-inail: Wow it Friday 16 September as numbers are limited. . -
8—22 Sep 2005 THE LIST 49