Film
Flushed Away (U) see (David Bowers, Sam Fell, UK/US. 2006) Voices of Kate Winslet. Hugh Jackman. Ian McKellen. 84min. DreamWorks and Aardman Animation team up for the first time for a slight but pleasing comedy. Pampered pet mouse Roddy (voiced by Jackman) tries to dispose of sewer rat Sid (Richie), but his plan backfires. Cineworld Parkhead. Glasgow: Cineworld Edinburgh. Edinburgh.
Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus (15) .0. (Steven Shainberg. US. 2006) Nicole Kidman. Robert Downey Jr. Ty Burrell. l22min. An even more outré romance than his Secretary. Shainberg has created an iiber- weird ‘tribute‘ to the celebrated photographer (Kidman) rooted in New York. 1958 around a strange fantasy about how Arbus found her creative groove. The love triangle plot (with Downey Jr and Burrell) is too silly to fully engage, but its visual style makes it a genuine curiosity. Glasgow Film Theatre, Glasgow.
Future Shorts (E) (Various, Various, Various). The Bongo Club, Edinburgh. Ghost Rider(12A)ee (Mark Steven Johnson, US. 2007) Nicholas Cage, Eva Mendes. Raquel Alessi. l 10min. Wild man Cage and wonder woman Mcndes go almost completely over the top in this spirited, special effects heavy and somewhat throwaway adaptation of the Marvel Comics supernatural superhero who’s a daredevil stunt biker by day and a flaming-skulled bounty hunter for the devil by night. General release.
The Good German ( I5) oooo (Steven Soderbergh. US. 2006) George Clooney, Cate Blanchett, Tobey Maguire. 107min. An adaptation of Joseph Kanon‘s murder mystery novel set in Berlin at the end of WWII in the classic film noir style. Revolving around three main characters: a guileless US war correspondent. an opportunistic black marketer and an opaque German prostitute. the storytelling
styles. anachronistic elements and performances are seamless. For once. it appears. they do still make ‘em like they used to. Selected release.
A Good Year (PG) ooo (Ridley Scott. US. 2006) Freddie Highmore, Albert Finney, Russell Crowe. Rafe Spall, Archie Panjabi. l 18min. Scott’s gladiator (Crowe) plays Max Skinner, a London stockbroker who inherits his uncle’s chateau and failing vineyard and begrudgingly discovers happiness in a slower pace of life. Jaunty, cheeky and colourful, A Good Year has a good nose. even if it fails to linger on the palate. Vue Edinburgh ()rean. Edinburgh. Grounded (PG) .0 (Paul Feig. US. 2006) Lewis Black, Wilmer Valderrama, Tyler James Williams. 89min. Forced, brash sub- (John) Hughes-ian drama about a bunch of divorce victim latchkey kids stranded in an airport the day after Christmas. The young cast do their best with a fairly feeble script. Selected release.
Happy Feet (U) .0. (George Miller. Australia/US. 2006) Robin Williams, Hugh Jackman, Elijah Wood. l09min. A clumsily plotted but totally charming animated musical from the makers of Babe about tap dancing and singing penguins deep in Antarctica. With solid songs and some genuinely excellent voiceover performances, Happy Feet is probably the best of the Christmas family films. Selected release.
Havana Blues (15) oooo (Benito Zambrano, Spain/Cuba/France, 2005) Alberot Yoel Garcia. Roberto Sanmartin, Yailene Sierra. l 15min. Zambrano‘s second feature follows two young Cuban musicians who dream of fame and leaving Havana. During rehearsal for their first large concert they leam that two famous Spanish producers are in Cuba looking for talent, causing the pair to aim to ‘conquer the Spanish” and be signed up. Part of Viva! Spanish and Latin American Film
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44 THE LIST 29 Mar—1 2 Apr 2007
Festival. Glasgow Film Theatre. Glasgow: Filmhouse, Edinburgh.
The Hills Have Eyes 208).. (Martin Weisz, US, 2007) Daniella Alonso, Michael McMillian, Jessica Stroup. 89min. See Also Released. page 38. General release.
Honour of the Knights (Quixotic) (l2A) (Albert Serra, Spain, 2006) Lluis Carbo, Lluis Serrat, Albert Pla. l 10min. A cinematic distillation of Don Quixote, that re-imagines the journey of Quixote (Carbo) and Sancho (Serrat) as a Beckettian trudge through the Catalan countryside. Part of Viva! Spanish and Latin American Film Festival. Glasgow Film Theatre. Glasgow; Filmhouse, Edinburgh.
Hot Fuzz ( l5) ooo (Edgar Wright, UK. 2007) Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Bill Bailey. l20min. Unimpcachable London copper Nicholas Angel (Pegg) is moved to a rural beat where he uncovers lurking danger with only impressionable young PC Danny (Frost) for back up. A parody of US action/buddy/police movies it will be a huge hit, despite being overlong, with a strong plot that’s stretched to snapping point. General release.
I Love Budapest ( l5) (Agnes lncze, Hungary. 2001) Gabriella Hamori, Martina Kovacs, Sandor Csanyi. 85min. An unlikely foursome of friends gets into fun and trouble on the streets of Budapest. Part of New Europe Film Festival. Filmhouse, Edinburgh.
I Want Candy (15) 0. (Stephen Surjik, UK. 2007) Tom Riley, Tom Burke, Carmen Electra. 90min. Titillating but instantly forgettable British sex comedy about two nai've filmmaking graduates, Joe (Riley) and Baggy (Burke), who make a pomo film with Cindy Fiveways (Electra). It has some funny sequences but gives way to a very irksome kind of British schmaltz. Cineworld Renfrew Street. Glasgow.
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I Am the One Who Brings Flowers to Her Grave (15) (Hala Alabdallah/Ammar Al Beik, Syria, 2006) 1 10min. A look at two people for whom life and art are the same thing. focussing on the role of the artist in an oppressive political regime. Part of New Cinemas of the Arab World. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. The Illusionist (PG) ooo (Neil Burger, Czech Republic/US, 2006) Edward Norton, Paul Giamatti, Jessica Biel. 109min. The second film in as many months about magic in early 20th century Europe, The Illusionist is odder and more romantic than Christopher Nolan’s superior The Prestige, telling an old fashioned story of a master magician Eisenheim’s (Norton) attempts to beat the violence and corruption of the age he lives in. Selected release.
Inland Empire (15) see (David Lynch, US, 2006) Laura Dern, Jeremy Irons, Harry Dean Stanton. 180min. You expect Lynch films to be confusing but only the most die-hard Lynch fan will find merit in this tedious celluloid rune. Lynch and his digital camera venture into the excesses of split narrative, talking rabbits and an obscure storyline about a famous actress (Dern) who gets lost in a film role. Cameo, Edinburgh.
The Island Tapes (U) (Various, UK, Various) 90min. A multi-media experience, encapsulating Scottish island life and exploring connected issues with a mixture of film and music. Glasgow Film Theatre, Glasgow.
>3: It’s Winter (l2A) oooo (Rafi Pitts, Iran, 2006) Ali Nicsolat, Mitra Hadjar, Saeed Orkani. 82min. See review, page 37. Glasgow Film Theatre. Glasgow. The Last Man (l5) (Ghassan Salhab, Lebanon/France, 2005) Carlos Chahine, Raia Heidar, Fayeh Hmaisse. 10lmin. A vampire flick but not a horror. In the growing tension in Lebanon a solitary doctor roams the country following an epidemic of neck wounds. Part of New Cinemas of the Arab World season. Filmhouse, Edinburgh.
The Last "May (PG) ooo
(Robert Shaye, US, 2007) Joely Richardson, Timothy Hutton, Rainn Wilson, Chris O’Neil. 94min. A brother and sister develop special powers after they find a mysterious box of toys. Soon they find themselves dragged into a strange and terrifying world. Above average children’s adventure which keeps things nicely incongrOUs and odd. General release.
Leisure Time (15) (Mohamed Mastafa, Egypt, 2006) Randa el-Beheiry, Ahmed Hatem. Safa. l34min. A docudrama about teenage ways of life in Egypt that went down a storm at the box office in Cairo. Part of New Cinemas of the Arab World season. Filmhouse, Edinburgh.
Letters from Iwo Jima (15)
“0. (Clint Eastwood. US, 2006) Ken Watanabe, Kazunari Ninomiya. Tsuyoshi lhara. l4lrnin. A companion piece to Flags of Our Fathers. this film looks at the battle for the Pacific island of lwo Jima from a Japanese perspective. Less an action movie, the striking humanity gives Eastwood’s undertaking a heightened importance in our troubled times. Filmhouse, Edinburgh.
=i< Little Red Flowers ( l2A)
0”. (Zhang Yuan, China. 2006) Dong Bowen, Li Xiaofeng, Yuanyuan Ning. 87min. See review, page 38. Glasgow Film Theatre, Glasgow. Lomax, the Songhunter (12A) (Rogier Kappers , Netherlands. 2004) 95min. Alan Lomax devoted his life to tracking down and recording folk songs before they fell from memory, visting