www.list.co.uk/film
Films screening this fortnight are listed below with certificate, star rating, credits, brief review and venue details. Film index compiled by Paul Dale
1): Indicates Listpicks entry
Adulthood ( 15) ooo (.‘s'ocl (‘lat-ke. l'K. 2008) .\'oel Clarke. Adam Deacon. Danny l)yer. 99min. See review. page SI and profile. page 58. Selet‘tetl l‘eletty’e. Aladdin (l') 0.. (John Mtisker/Ron ('lements. l'S. 1092) Voices of Robin Williams. Scott \Veinger. l.inda l.arkin. Ulinin. lt's patito titne. l)isney style. as streetw ise tltief Aladdin woos Princess Jastnine with the help of the (ienie of the Lamp atid hindrance of the ey'il Jafar. ('olotirful. entertaining stttff for kids of all ages. \‘l'illiams‘s whirling dery-ish of a (ietiie iney'itably steals the show. (li‘tly’l'ellnll (ilttygritt;
Alien Adventure 30 (l') oooo
(Beti Strassen. Japan. 200| ) Voice of Joliit Boyle. Botili l.anners. 37min. An alien race looking for a planet to colonise find eatth and unfortunately enter a theme park where they cattse muclt amusing mayhem. l.lt:l.\' lllerltt‘e. (iltly‘gmi:
All my Friends are Leaving Brisbane ( IS) 000 (Louise Alston. Atistralia. 2007) (‘hat'lotte (iregg. Matt Xeremes. Ryan Johnson. 7(itnin. (iraduate Anthea ((iregg) is single. bored and hates her job. But change is around the corner. Bree/y. award-winning romantic comedy. Part of the London .»\ustralian Film Festival 2008. Glasgow I’llm l'heutre. (iluxeriii‘.
Alvin and the Chipmunks (l')
0.. (Tim llill. IS. 2007) Jason Lee. l)a\‘id (toss. (’ameron Richardson. ‘llmin. l.ikeab|e pre-school comedy featuring a bunch of pint si/ed chipmunk pop stars and their long-suffering human guardian (Lee). ('i'tteii'orlil Iftlltthttre/t. lit/titlttlrgh.
Avant Garde Shorts (l’( ;) (Various) ()(lllllll. A screening of sey'en Polish. (ierinan and (melt films from the 1920s and 30s. which all illtistratc the Modernist cinema of the era. This screening supports the Dean (iallery ‘s I-ittn: .llrttlel'lllly‘ in (‘erttrul Iztmi/te exhibition. Part of the Modernity arid 'l‘radition season I'llntlttlltyl’. lit/tithttreh.
Bee Movie (t‘) ooo (Steyc llickner/Simon J Stttith. 1S. 2007) Jerry Seinfeld. Renee Zellweger. Matthew Broderick. 00min. Barry B Benson graduates from college to find that he still only has one possible career: making honey. l)isillusioned. he moyes to Manhattan where he diseoy‘ers that humans steal and eat honey atid resoly'es to file a lawsuit against the honey giant. Big lloney. An
HotelDiaries
54 THE LIST l0 Jtltimli Jul 2008
oddly conceiy'ed vehicle for a reluctant star. Bee Movie deserves a B-minus for effort. The Sit/mt. (iltly’gnii:
California Dreamin’ ( IS)
0... ((‘ristianNemescu. Romania. 2007) Artnand Assante. Jamie lilman. Ra/y'an Vasilescu. IS-lmin. Set in the summer of l‘)‘)‘). while lighting is underway iii Kosoyo. a corrupt stationmaster stops a .\'.-\’l‘() train iii its tracks atid the community eagerly flock to meet the newcomers. 'l'his darkly ironic. consistently amusing arid ultimately tragic tale is easily and eloquently eley'ated aboy‘e beitig simply another Balkan farce. (ilus‘emi' l'l/m Theatre. (ilttygun:
Cashback ( l5) 0.. (Sean lillis. l'K. 200(i) Sean Biggcrstaff. limilia l-‘ox. Michelle Ryan. 102mm. Ben (Biggerstal'f) can‘t sleep since he split tip with girlfriend Sti/y' (Ryan). Maybe Sharon (l‘ox) the checkout girl cati help him. Writer/director lillis' extends his 200-1 award-winning short of the same name. leading to continuity anomalies and tedious padding amid the amoral ambiguity atid high porn of the original. bttt it's fairly entertaining and soulful for its meagre budget. (lltlyg’tlll' I’i/m llteutl'e. (iltlygrtii;
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (l’( i) 00 (Andrew Adainson. l'K/l'S. 2008) Liam .\'eeson. Tilda Swinton. Ben Barnes. l-Hmin. See rey‘iew. page 50. (ieneml release.
A Complete History of my
Sexual Failures ( 18) 0000 ((‘hris Waitt. l'K. 2008) .»\|e.\andra Boy arskay'a. Danielle Mcl.eoad. ()liyia 'l‘rench. 93min. See rey'iew, page 5 l. (timer). lit/lithtireli (lltrl .yelet'letl ('lllt'nltly
from Fri 271101.
Couscous ( 15) oooo (Ahtlel
Kechiche. France. 2007) llabib Boufares. llafsia ller/i. liat'ida Benklietachc. 154mm. See rey'iew and intery'iew. page 52. (i/uyemi l-i/m lltr’tlll‘l'. (ilusgnn‘. Dasavatharam ( l2.-\i (KS Ray lklllllal'. ltidia. 2008) ls'antal llaasan. Asin 'l'liottumkal. Mallika Sherawa. l25min. llaasan acts in teti roles (which is more ey eti than liddie Murphy and his fat stiits cati manage) to esamine the role of the hero y‘ia teti different Vishnu-like ayatars. (illlt’ll'tlllll Relill'eii‘ Street. (llttygrlii. Deep Sea 30 (P(i) (lloward Hall. (‘anada/l’S. 200m Voices of Johnny Depp. Kate \Vinslet. 4 l min. A 3-D digital e\p|oralion of the ocean‘s depths and its creatures. [WAX llletltl'e. (ilttygrtii. Dinosaurs Alive 30 (l') (Day-id ('lark/Bayley Silleck. (S. 2007) 40min. l-"ollow palaeontologists as they scour the globe for some fantastic dinosaur litids. then watch the creatures burst into 3D life. I.lt;l.\' Illt’tlll't’. (iltlyunii‘.
Avant-garde filmmaker and one time London Filmmakers Co op acolyte John Smith’s on-going series of films shot in the ‘found sets’ of hotel rooms around the world gets a fresh airing. Check out www.watershed.co.uk/hotel diaries and www.luxonline.org.uk/artists/john _smith for more information about this fascinating politically coherent series of films.
IGFI', Glasgow, Thu 19 Jun.
Diversity Film Festival Screening (li) (\ariotis) ~120niin. 'l‘hree programmes of short films ranging from short documentaries like Water Damage atid community chat show (let Reul’. both produced by Kingsway liye lilmmaking group. to international shorts like Sergeja Kresc's (irtillitt Street and feature documentaries like Nina Davenport's ()[lt'l'tllltill I'll/lllllrlkt't‘. ly‘nt'ehlsituml (‘nntmtutlty' (‘etttrta (ilttsenit:
The Edge of Love ( 15)....
(John Maybury. 2008. l'K) Keira Knightley. Sienna Miller. ('illian Murphy. 1 10min. See review. page 53. St’lt’t'lt'tl release front l'l't 27.1101.
Edinburgh International Film
Festival ll) days of great inoy‘ies as part of the l'K's best liltii festiyal. lior details yisit: w w w.edlilinfest.org.tik litrtouy venues. Enchanted tl’(}) 00 (Key in Lima. 1S. 2007) Amy Adams. Patrick Dempsey. James Marsden. l07min. 'l‘wo fairytale characters struggle to find each other and make it in the ‘real‘ world in this mix of liye and animated action (a la ll'hu I’rttmetl Roger Rabbit). Iiitt'ltmttetl is one of the nastiest. most insidious children's lilms adults w ill hay-e the displeasure of seeing this year. ('hock full of pseudo ('ht'istian ideas. \Vaspish imperialism. product placement and celebrations of consumer culture this is about as ey'il as Disney gets. I.eay'e your critical faculties. reason and humanity at the door. lite lit/ltthtirgli ()t‘etut. litltnhttrgh.
The Escapist ( IS) 0000 (Rupert
Wyatt. l'K/lreland. 2008) Brian (‘o\. Joseph l‘iennes, Liam ('unningham. l0lmin. See intet'y iew. page 4‘) and rey iew. page 50. ('llteii'urltl Rettll'eii‘ Street. (lltlygnit’; lite Edinburgh ()t‘eutt. I'ftlt'It/iitreli. Essentials: Pop ( l5) (Various) 05min. Presenting iconic pop lilnis frotn the I‘l50s atid ()0s alongside work that preceded and succeeded the Pop Art tnoyement. Introduced by l'hl'ancis McKee. artistic director of the (‘(‘A and formerdirector of(i|asgow International. (ilttyemi I‘llm 'I‘heutre. (ilmemi. Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer ( P(i) 0. (Tim Story. l'S/(iermany. 2007) loan (irufl'tidd. Michael ('hiklis. Jessica Alba. l20min. After the ‘origin' stories of the first film. the l‘our are tested against other super-pow ered beings: Silyer Surfer and the planet-eating (ialacttts. 'l'hough superior to its predecessor in nearly ey et'y way this soft-fooled t'elread of one of Mary el‘s most popular stories still manages to be fantastically undci'wlieltning. (llllt’ll’ttl'ltl l’ttl'khr'tttl. (ilrtygrm .' (Illteit‘ul'ltl lit/lithurelt. lz'tltitlttlreh. Female Agents (Les Femmes des Ombres) 1 l5) 0.. (Jean-Paul Salotnc. l'rance. 2008) Sophie Marceau. Julie l)epardieti. Marie (iillain. 1 17min. See rey iew. page 50 and profile. right. l‘tllllllrltlyt’. lat/lithttreh. From Dusk Till Dawn ( ls) (Robert Rodi'igtteI. l'S. 10%) (ieorge (‘looney. llaryey Keitel. Quentin 'l'arantino, l0S‘min. lior its first third. this ’l‘arantino-scripted moy ie is a suspenseful kidnap thriller as two killers on the run ((‘looiiey aitd ’l'arantino) hole tip with three hostages iii a Mexican strip club. ‘l‘hen the tone changes itito an sf\- heayy yatnpire western as the clientele spring fangs. Repetition abounds in a messy. tedious affair that‘s neither scary nor funny. The Sit/mt. (ilmeuii; Future Shorts (Ii) (Various). 00mins. Aiming to dey elop a w idcr audience for short liliii. l'iiture Shorts returns. with another excellent international programme. the :lrt'hey, (iluyemr; 'I'he (iRlI lat/t'n/mreh.
Gone Baby Gone I IS) 0000
(Ben Allleck. [-8. 2007) (‘asey Al'fleck. Morgan l-‘t'eeman. Michelle Monagahan. Ilimin. Beautiful young girl Amanda (O'Brien) goes missing in Boston and local prtyatc Ill\ estigator Ken/ie (Al'fleck) and his girlfriend are hired for their know ledge of the rundown area. Another raw tale of abuse. pride. poy erty and a yery particular form of unhinged Massachusetts llttlilllly. (ll’lll'l'tll I'elt'ttu’. Grease tl’(ii oooo (Randal Kleisct'. l'S. l‘l7S) John 'l‘rayolta. ()liy ia Newton John. Stockard ('hanning. ll0tnin. 'l‘weiily- sey en years on. (iretise is still the word. and still the way we are feeling. The Salon. (iluyeiiii‘.
Name Moritz Bleibtreu
Born 13 August 1971, Munich Background The son of the actors Hans Brenner and Monika Bleibtreu. Moritz grew up in Hamburg, and studied acting in Paris. New York and Rome. Having acted on stage and for TV, his breakthrough cinematic role was playing Franka Potente's bOylriend in Tom Tykwer‘s Run. Lola. Run. He has since starred in such diverse lilms as Oliver Hirschbiegel‘s Das Experiment. Istvan Szabo's Taking Sides. Spielberg's Munich. Oskar Roehler's Atomized and Paul Schrader's The Walker.
What’s he up to now? He's in new French Resistance thriller Female Agents. in which he's cast as Colonel Heindrich. head of German counter-intelligence in Paris in 1944. He's also recently finished shooting Paul Schrader's Adam Resurrected. the tale of a Holocaust survivor. and The Baader Meinhof Complex, in which he plays the 1970s German terrorist Andreas Baader.
What he says about playing a Nazi officer
'Heindrich is a twisted character. On the one hand he's bound to his duty as a soldier. on the other hand he's torn apart by his love lor the French showgirl Suzy [played by Marie Gillain]. He's a very passionate man doing the very wrong thirtg.’
What he says about being directed by Paul Schrader 'Paul is someone who really wants to tell the story, which I think is one of the most important things for a filmmaker. He‘s an outstanding writer and director and I'm very proud to be part of both The Walker and Adam Resarrected.‘ What he says about contemporary German cinema ‘It's great that German cinema is finally reflecting its own histOry and we're telling our own stories. We're starting to rediscover a German cultural identity that has been lost for so many years.‘
Interesting Fact Bleibtreu's name translates as ‘remain faithlul‘.
(TOm Dawson)
I Female Agents is on selected release from Fri 27 Jun. See review, page 50.