Paris (15) C. ((‘cdric Klapisch. France. 2008) Romain l)uris. Juliette Binoche. Fabrice l.uchini. l30min. l)uris plays Pierre. a young dancer whose future is suddenly left hanging in the balance by a tnedical diagnosis; Binoche is his unfulfilled sister. taking a career break to care for him. A wartn human drama from the director of Pot Luck and Russian l)al/s. Glasgow I'ilm Theatre, (ilavgmi': Filmlmuse. Edinburgh.
Royal Opera House: Sleeping Beauty (li) (. 2008) l80min. ()ne of the world's fittest opera companies presents this operatic tnasterpiece. ('ameu. Iz'diii/mre/i. Sarah Silverman: Jesus is Magic (15) .0. (Liam Lynch. (S. 2005) Sarah Silverman. Brian l’osehn. l,aura Silvertnan. 72min. See review. page 25. Cameo. Edinburgh.
Savage Grace ( )8) .00 i'l‘oin Kalin. Spain/[TS/l-‘rance. 2007) Julianne Moore. Stephen l)illane. lilena Anaya. 97min. New Queer (‘inema-delining Kalin (Swami) makes a return with this flawed bttt nevertheless fascinating examination of decadence and dysfunction among the American aristocracy. Barbara (Moore). a middle class social clitnber marries wealthy Brooks Baekcland (Dillane). only to litid herself drift into a series of twisted and uncomfortable familial encounters. ('ameo. Edinburgh.
Sex and the City: The Movie ( 15) “C (Michael Patrick King. (S. 2008) Sarah Jessica Parker. Kim ('attrall. (‘y nthia Nixon. l-lSmin. A few years on from packing away the series. the characters are back and fleshed out. the individual angst of each woman realised enough to engage even the hardened cynics. Like life however. the film isn't perfect. the beginning recap is clumsy. the ending is rushed. and the version of feminist power and female solidarity the film peddles is slightly simplistic. ('ilteivrn'ld Reitlreu' Street. Glasgow: Dominion. Edinburgh.
The Simpsons Movie (PG) 00. (David Silvertnan. (S. 2007) Voices of l)an (‘astellaneta. Julie Kavner. Nancy Cartwright. 86min. It‘s not going to change the world and. at an hour and a half. it slightly runs out of steam but this is nonetheless a fairly enjoyable big screen outing for everyone‘s favourite family. The plot. as ever. is secondary: llomer accidentally pollutes the Springfield water supply and caUses a mass exodus. The strong political satire of the early episodes has long been replaced by pop culture references. Vue: lz'diiilmrgli ()(‘t'llIL
Singh is Kinng ( I2A) (Anees Ba/mec. lndia. 2008) Akshay Kumar. Katrina Kaif. ()m Puri. l25min. Mischevious Punjabi Sikh Singh (Kumar) gets sent to Australia to bring back someone to his local village. Unfortunately the former lndian village dweller has becomes a [)on of the Australian underworld and Singh has to
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German writer/director Chris Kraus' hard-hitting female prison drama has been called 'this year's The Lives of Others.‘ PeccadMo Pictures have just released this great film on DVD. They w0uld like to offer List readers an exclusive chance to win a copy of the film. One lucky winner will also Win a signed poster of Four Minutes. To enter the competition simply log on to www.list.co.uk/offers
28 THE LIST 31 Jul-7 Aug 2008
extracate him from there. Bollywood musical Selected release. Smiley Face ( l5) ((iregg Araki. IS. 2007) Anna l‘aris. .lohn Krasinski. Adam Bt'otl)‘. 88min. After 2004‘s .llvvlel'itmv Skin. Araki's latest is something of a departure. l‘aris is Jane. at) out-of—work actress who fills her days with getting high and little else. After erroneously eating all entire batch of dope-filled cupcakes. Jane ventures otit into the world on a drug- fttelled odyssey that can only end in disaster. Part of l.ondon Lesbian and (iay l-"ilm l‘estival On Tour. (i/axeow l'i/ni llllt’tlll't’. (ilawmi: Space Chimps it') .0 (Kirk l)e Micco. (S. 2008) Voices of Andy Samber. (‘heryl llines. Jeff Daniels. 80min. See review. page 24. General release. Spider Lilies l 18) 00. (Zero (‘liou. 'l‘aiwan. 2007) Rainie Yang. Isabella Leong. John Shen. ‘)-lmin. \Vhen media sav vy Jade (Yang) visits a tattoo studio she becomes obsessed with at) image of a spider. Interesting tale of obsession for the web cam generation. Part of l.ondon Lesbian and (iay l‘ilm Festival ()t) 'l'our. l'ilniliouse. lidiiilHa‘g/i. The Spiderwick Chronicles (l’( i) 0... (Mark Waters. (S. 2008) Sarah Bolgct‘. l‘t‘ctldie llighmore. Nick Nolte. 05min. l'pon moving into the dilapidated Spiderwick listate. siblings Jared (llighmore). Simon lllighmore) and Mallory (Bulger) find a guide to a fantastical world of l'acriL‘s ttlltl cl'caltlt'L‘s in this adaptation of Holly Black and Tony l)i'l‘erli//i‘s series. The) tiltlsl battle against Mulgarath. how e\ er. the evil shape-shifting ogre who is also after the key to the fantasy land of faeries. ('iiteu‘or/d l’arkliead. (ilaveim‘: (’iiteiim‘ld Iir/i/tlria'g/i. Standard Operating Procedure ( )5) O... (lirrol Morris. IS. 2007) l lbmin. Legendary .»\merican documentarian Morris. an Academy Award w inner in 2003 for' his candid portrait of Vietnam-era l'S Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara. Hie lire of liar. presents his follow —up. It's an unflinching. disturbing account of the :thllscs of Iraqi prisoners at the notorious Abu (ihraib prison in Baghdad. (i/axgrm I'ilm 'Iiliealre. (i/asgou'.‘ I'i/m/uruve. lz'dinliure/t. Step Up 2 the Streets (Po) .0 (Jon M (bu. (S. 2008) Robert lloffman. Briana livigan. Will Kemp. ()7min. Sttipid sequel to 2006's dance romancer Step 1]).
Trembling Before G-d
()deait At The Quay. (iltlsgutt‘; ()derm: Brae/read. Rea/rel):
Summer Hours (L’Heure d’ete)
( 12A) 0... (()livier Assayas. l‘rancc. 2008) Juliette Bitioche. ('harles Berling. Jeremie Renier. l02min. It's the 75th birthday of widowed matriarch Helene. and attending the celebrations are her three children. grandchildren and elderly liousekeeper. who must decide collectively what to do with their artistic inheritance when llelene passes away soon after. .\'ot tied down to a conventional three-act structure. the film's themes emerge naturally from the drama. (ilasgrm' I'ilm 'Ilteatre. (ilaxgaii'; (amen. Iidin/iia‘g/i. Trainspotting ( 18) 0... (Danny Boyle. l'K. NUS) liwan Mc(iregor. liwen Bretnner. Robert (‘arlyle. Jonny Lee Miller. Uflmin. John llodge's screenplay perfectly captures the desperate humour of Irvine \Velsli's novel. keeping the episodic structure of junkie scenes for the first half. before concentrating on chton in London it) the later stages. last and stylish direction. creative soundtrack and acting that's off- the-rails excellent. A cinematic blast from beginning to end. which also shows a complex and true understanding of the lure and fatal consequences of drug-taking. Part of Scottish lilm season. ()(ll’U/l.’ Brae/lead. Rea/reu'.
Trembling Before G-D ( IS) (Sandi Sitncha Dubowski. ISA. 2002) 84min. Multi award winning documentary that challenges the assumptions made about the Judaistic attitude to homosexuality. Part of Festival of Spirituality and Peace. film/muse. Iz‘diiiliuifieli.
21 (12A) .0 (Robert l.uketic. l'S. 2008) Kevin Spacey. Kate Bosworth. Jim Sturgess. l23min. Spacey plays a professor who teaches six Ml'l' students to card count in this heavy-handed. unfaithful adaptation of Ben Ma/rich's book. which was based on the gambling exploits of card shark Jeffrey Ma. This is lilmmaking by numbers and it's not a winning formula. ()demi.‘ Brae/read. Rea/rem ()dean at the Quay. Glasgow: The Visitor ( l5) 0... (Thomas McCarthy. (S. 2007) Richard Jenkins. llaal. Sleiman. l)anai (iurira. l03min. Widower Walter Vale (Jenkins) is a grotich. When work sends him to Manhattan. a series of misumlerstandings lead him to form a friendship w ill) Syrian drummer 'l‘arek (Sleitnan) and his Senegalese girlfriend Zainab ((iurira). l'nderwritten and beautifully performed. The Visitor is a
sentimental drama that manages to access a hypnotic rhythm that is both convincing and reassuring. ('ameo. Edinburgh.
WALL-E (l') 0... (Andrew
Stanton. (TS. 2008) Voices of lired Willard. Jeff (iarlin. Ben Burtt. 103mm. lnspired by sci-f) classics frotn the 1960s and 70s. l’ixar have created a post- apocalyptic story set in a future in which the liarth has been abandoned by humankind. where a solitary robot natned WALL-li executes his now pointless trash collecting programme. At its heart this is a very sweet romantic comedy. and that’s what provides the etnotional clout. (ieiieral release. Wanted ( l8) 0.. ('l'imur Bekmambetov. (TS. 2008) James McAvoy. Morgan Freeman. Angelina Jolie. l2‘)min. Scottish comic book writer Mark Millar's ultra-violent graphic novel gets the Hollywood blockbuster treatment. l-‘cllow Scot McAvoy takes the lead as a super- assassin inductee under the tutelage of action babe l'iox (Jolie) and boss Sloan (Freeman). Toning down the comics darker elements and ramping tip the Sl-‘X. Bekmambetov‘s quirky stylistic excesses make tip for the script's weaknesses. And McAvoy is quite convincing. Selected release. Whisky Galore (PG) 0000. (Alexander Mackendrick. l'K. 19-19) Basil Radford. Joan (ireenwood. Jean (‘adelL 82min. Much-loved lialing comedy by the late Sandy Mackendrick. A ship carrying a cargo of whisky is shipwrecked off a Scottish island dttring wartime. so the locals decide it's time to quench their thirst. Full of wit and charm that others can only hope to emulate. Part of Scottish film season. ()derm.‘ Brae/read. Rea/rent The X-Files: I Want to Believe ( l5) 0. ((‘hris ('arter. IS. 2008) l)avid Duchovny. (iillian Anderson. l0-lmin. See review. page 25. General release. XXV ( l5) 0... (Lucia l’uen/o. Argentina/Spain/l"rance. 2007) Ines lifron. Ricardo l)arin. Valeria Bertuccelli. 86min. 15-year old Alex (lifron) possesses both tiiale and female sexual organs. Raised as a girl. her liberal parents (Dam) and Bertuccelli) eventually face the question of what is to be done with a girl/boy like Alex. Puen/o‘s directorial debut is a slow. challenging but ultimately satisfying chamber piece that examines compromise and conformity against the domestic idyll. Recommended. A( 72‘. Edinburgh.
Welcome screening of Sandi Sincha Dubowski’s excellent 2001 documentary (only released in the UK in 2003) about the troubled, contradictory relationship between Judaism and homosexuality in association with the Festival of Spirituality and Peace. This film will be followed by an unmissable discussion with Bishop Gene Robinson, Rabbi Lionel Blue, human rights activist Peter Tatchell and Dr Christian Lange from the School of Divinity at Edinburgh University. www.festivalofspirituality.org.uk I Fi/mhouse, Edinburgh on Wed 6 Aug.