The Dark Knight ( 12A) 0000
(Christopher Nolan. [PS 2008) Christian Bale. Heath Ledger. Maggie (iyllenhaal. 152min. Nolan‘s revamp of the superhero franchise reaches its apotheosis with this sequel to Batman Begins. a supremely well-imagined. perfectly executed film that combines blockbuster spectacle with indie cinema cool and smarts. Psychotic. chaos-loving clown The Joker (Ledger) is introduced as the dark knight's ultimate nemesis and a thrilling battle slowly terrorises the populace of (iotham. General release. Days of Heaven (PG) (Terence Malick. US. 1978) Richard (lere. Sam Shepard. Brooke Adams. ‘)-lmin. Malick is one of the great wayward talents of the contemporary American cinema (Badlands is his only other feature) and this is an exquisite triangular love story set against the wheat farming Midwest at the turn of the century. You can almost feel the sweat of labour and smell the soil. such is the power of undoubtedly majestic lilmmaking. Part of Terrence Malick season. Film/muse. Iidinlmrgh. Death Note: The Last Name ( IZA) (Shusuke Kaneko. Japan. 2006) 'lalsuya Fujiwara. Kenichi Matsuyama. lirika Toda. 135mm. Supernatural thriller in bright comic book animation with a huge cult following iii Japan. (ilasgaw I-ilm Theatre. Glasgow: Deep Sea 30 (PG) (Howard Hall. Canada/US. 2006) Voices of Johnny l)epp. Kate Winslet. 41min. A 3-D digital exploration of the ocean's depths and its creatures. IMAX Theatre. Glasgow: Dinosaurs Alive 30 (t') (David ('lark/Bayley‘ Silleck. l'S. 2007)-10min. Follow palaeotitologists as they scour the globe for some fantastic dinosaur finds. then watch the creatures burst into 3[) life. IMAX Theatre. Glasgow: Dirty Dancing (I5) .000 (l-Lmile Ardolino. l'S. l‘)87) Jennifer (irey. Patrick Swayze. Jerry ()rbach. l00min. The plot in the summer of 1963 bad boy Johnny (Sway/e) meets good girl Baby (Grey) and teaches her hip grinding. eventually winning the respect of her parents. Sure it's ftill of stereotyping. bad dialogue and a pre-teen sugar coated prurience. but 20 years on Dirty Dancing still has the ability to send a generation of women all gooey. (irosvenm: Glasgow:
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32 THE LIST 21 Aug—4 Sep 2008
Double Indemnity (mum (Billy Wilder. l'S. I‘M-l) Barbara Stanwyck. l-‘red McMurray. lidward (3 Robinson. l0(imin. ()iie of the very best examples of the post- war Anierican crime movie genre. Adapted from James M ('ain's novel by Wilder atid Raymond (‘haiidlcix the regular-Joe- seduced-by-fettiiiie-latale—into-murdering— her-husband-for-insurancc-money plot is elevated by w ise-ass dialogue and black comedy. (ilasgmv I’ilm Theatre. Glasgow: Drunken Angel ( 15) (Akira Kurosawa. Japan. l‘)-l8) Takashi Shimura. loshil'o Mifuiic. Michiyo Kigtii'i. 98min. A cocky young gangster comes to rely upon an alcoholic doctor in Kurosawa and Miftiiie's first collaboration. Part of Alsira Kurosawa retrospective. I'ilniliouse. [cilia/Hugh. Educating Rita ( IS) (Lew-is (iilhet‘l. l'K. l‘)83) Michael ('aine. Julie Walters. Michael Williams. I l0iiiin. Rita (Walters). a working-class hairdresser. signs up for adult education classes where she encounters alcoholic hack Frank Bryant ((‘ainci and is forced to choose between his alluring yet pretentious world or her own stilling home life. l'llmllouse. I'fdiiilmrgh.
Elegy ( l5) 0... (Isabel ('oixct. l'S. 2008) Belt Kingsley. Penelope ('ru/. Dennis Hopper. l l2miii. ('oixet's take on Roth's novella The Dying Animal is a line and delicate adaptation. Ageing college professor and womaniscr David chesh (Kingsley ) plucks young woman ('onsuela ((‘ru/l otit of his literature class and embarks on an affair. his growing lov e for her forcing him to confront his own future and impending old age. Film/muse. Edinburgh.
Elite Squad (Tropa d’Elite) ( l8) 0... (Jose Padilha. Bra/ll. 2007) Wagner Moura. Andre Ramiro. (‘aio Junqueira. l l-lmin. This compelling thriller is set iii l‘)‘)7 Rio de Jaiieiro. months before a visit from Pope John Paul II. The rundown liotisiiig schemes are mired in drugs. violence and police corruption. It is time for the city 's ultra-y iolent B()Pli. the city’s militarily trained elite police squad to step tip their game. Powerful. mature liliiiiiiaking styled w itli a brutal clarity. (ilavgmr I'ilm 'l'ltealre. Glasgow:
The European Grand Prix (the) (. 2008) l80min. Three hours of live car racing on the big screen. Udemt.’ Brae/lead.
ReIi/i‘eii‘.
The Flight of the Red Balloon
(PG) .0. (llou Hsiao-hsieti. France. 2007) Juliette Biiioclie. Simon lteanu. liang Song. 1 15min. Suzanne (Binochc). a busy puppetecr. hires Song (Song). a ('hinese film student. to look after her young son. Hsiao-Hsien’s film intricately weaves together compassionate insights into the pressures felt by a single parent with studious examinations of the methods of storytelling. Partly inspired by Albert l.aiiiorisse's warming Parisian short The Red Hal/mm. Hsiao—llsicn's narrative ultimately draws a particularly line portrait of the French capital. ('ameo. Edinburgh. The Fox and the Child ([7) 00.
(l uc Jacqtict. l-‘rancc. 2007) Voice of Kate Wiiislct. Bertille Nocl-Brtmcau. Thomas l.a|iberte. 02min. A giggly eight-year-old l’reiich child (Noel-Bruneau) strikes tip a friendship with a fox she meets on the way home from school. This marks a step forward in narrative storytelling for Jacqucl. who successfully depicts the fox as a wild and uncontrolled force in a non- l)isncy iiiannei'. An often beguiling account of how mankind and animals can exist in harmony. Seleeled release.
Get Smart ( 12A) .00 (Peter Segal. IS. 2008) Steve ('arell. Anne Hathaway. Dwayne Johnson. 1 10min. Segal's tent-pole blockbuster revamp of l‘)()0's spy spoof (iel Smart features ('arell as an over(prepared secret agent whose cluiiisiiicss often leads to the apprehension of enemy spies. (iiven his cliaticc to shine. Smart is sent to Moscow w here he elicits the support of co-spy' Agent 9‘) (Hathaway ) as they attempt to thwart the terrorist schemes of KA()S iiicgaloiiianiac Siegfried (Stamp). (ie/ieral I'('/('(l\('.
God Tussi Great Ho ( 12A) (Rumi Jaffcry. liidia. 2008) Amitabh Bachchan. Salman Khan. Manisha Koirala. 125mm. When successful Indian TV anchorman Aruti (Khan) loses his job he blames (iod. So (iotl (who else but the otiinipresetit liachchatt) decides to give him a chance at running things for a week. Bollywood remake of hit l'S comedy Brave xllHlfL'lIIV. (.l’ll'H'Urhl Rt’ll/i'r'H‘ Street. (ilas‘emi': (‘iiieimr/d Izdinlmreh. Iz'dinlmreh.
Gone Baby Gone ( IS) 0... (Ben
Afllcck. IS. 2007) (‘ascy Afflcck. Morgan l‘rceman. Michelle .\loiiagahaii. l 13min.
A pair of all-too-rare screenings (on Wednesday 3 and Thursday 4 September) of the criminally overlooked black American filmmaker Charles Burnett’s 1983 film about a middle class African-American family. Originally released the year before Spike Lee’s She's Gotta Have It, Burnett’s film wasn’t nearly as popular and the man has since been relegated to relative obscurity.
I Fi/mhouse, Edinburgh
Beautiful young girl Amanda (O'Brien) goes missing iii Boston and local private investigator Ken/ie (Aflleck) and his girlfriend are hired for their knowledge of the rundown area. Another raw tale of abuse. pride. poverty and a very particular form of unhinged Massachusetts nobility. Selected release. Great Expectations (P( t) 0.... (David Lean. l'K. l‘l-lb) John Mills. Bernard Miles. l-‘inlay (‘urrie. l 18min. l.ean‘s adaptation of the Dickens novel remains cinenia's definitive version. even after half a century. An orphan meets an escaped convict arid is introduced into a new world of adventures and finely observed characters. Photography atid design at its best. Part of David Lean retrospective. Film/rouse. Edinburgh. Grindhouse ( l8) 0... (Quentin Tarantino/Robert Rodriguez/Eli Roth/lidgar Wright/Rob Zombie. IS. 2007) Rose McGowan. lireddy' Rodriguez. Kurt Russell. l‘)lniin. 'I’arantino and Rodrigue/‘s salute to the 1070s exploitation movie focuses on an ex-stripper with a grenade launcher- equipped machine gun leg. who meets and greets a troop of llesh eating mutating lombies. Taking a step down in tone. 'l‘arantino's Deal/i I’rmi/‘traces two groups of women tied together only by the presence of a lunatic ex-Hollywood stuntman. (‘omplete with the original imaginary trailers. this ‘double feature’ offers the Grind/muse package up on one deliciously cullish plate. (ilasguw' I'llm Thea/re. Glasgow“. Hairspray (l’( i) 0000 (Adam Shaiikiiian. l'S. 2007) John Travolta. Nikki Blonsky'. Amanda Bynes. 1 16min. Faithful adaptation of the Broadway musical rather than a remake of John Waters' 1988 film. Although darker elements of the story are lost in pursuit of fun and a mainstream audience. this all-singing. all-dancing teen flick shines amid a summer of noisy blockbuster sequels. 'l'ravolta's surprisingly“ endearing performance (in full drag) as lidna 'l‘urnblad is the cherry on top. (irusi'eltm: Glasgow: Hancock ( 12A) .00 (Peter Berg. (S. 2008) Will Smith. ('harli/e Theron. Jason Batcman. 92min. Smith plays a tiiliilistic superhero who has fallen out of favour with the public. Due to this scenario. Ilaneaels' dangerously flirts with the stattis of one-joke film. Ania/ingly‘. though. Hancock is then rescued (both as a character and as a film) by PR executive Ray limbrey (Bateman). who believes he can turn Hancock's public image from let‘o to hero. Seleeled release. Hellboy II: The Golden Army ( l2.-\) 0.. ((iuillcriiio del Torro. IS. 2008) Ron Perlman. John Hurt. Selma Blair. l20min. (iuillermo del Toro returns to Hollywood with a second blockbuster adaptation of Dark Horse (‘omics‘ cult supernatural title. A new storyline pits the hell-spawned hero against a mighty mechanised legion of unstoppable warriors. The sequel has more of everything '.’ monsters. action. humour. character development. supporting cast and mythology '.‘ btit it suffers from at) (werabundancc of riches. (ienera/ release. Her Name is Sabine (12A) 0... (Sandriiic Bonnaire. France. 2007) Sabine Bonnaire. 85min. French actress Sandriiie Bonnaire's impressive directorial debut proffers an intimate and poignant documentary portrait of her 38- year-old autistic sister Sabine. Whilst this lilm quietly expresses Bonnaire's profound love for her sibling. it also poses important broader questions about how society should care for those suffering from debilitating behavioural conditions. (ilas‘gmv I-‘ilm 'I'liealre. Glasgow. The Hidden Fortress (PG) 0... (Akira Kurosawa. Japan. 1958) Toshiro Mifune.l)uring the civil wars of l(ith century Japan. Mifune's samurai escorts a princess and two peasants through enemy territory. Kurosawa's classic mixes .\'oh theatre with elements of Shakespeare and the westerns of John l-‘ord. Part of Akira Kurosawa retrospective. Film/muse. lidinlmreh.