Film
from grace owing to their innate greed. Rollicking good fun. Part of Sean Connery season. Filmhouse. Edinburgh.
Man on Wire (12A) eeee (James Marsh. UK. 2008) 94min. On the 6 August 1974. French artist. perfomier and hire wire walker. Phillipe Petit committed the biggest victimless art crime of the century. The story of that daring caper. the practice events that led up to it (Notre Dame Cathedral and Sydney Harbour Bridge) and the genesis of this the maddest of living performance artists is told in this engrossing and thrilling film. Selected release. Marnie (15) eee (Alfred Hitchcock. US. 1964) Tippi Hedren. Sean Connery. Diane Baker. 130mm. Hedren (in a role intended for Grace Kelly) is the glacial blonde heroine in this most florid of Hitchcock's psychological melodramas. After her boss Connery catches her robbing his safe. he becomes attracted to her and the two marry. but her frigidin in the bedroom hides a much darker secret. The usual late Hitch mixture of carelessness (those backdrops!) and technical virtuosity. A playground for veteran Freudians. Part of Sean Connery season. Film/rouse. Edinburgh.
Married Life (PG) 0” (Ira Sachs. US. 2007) Pierce Brosnan. Chris Cooper. Patricia Clarkson. 90min. 1949 suburban America. As befits his business class status. mild-mannered Hany (Cooper) keeps a childless wife Pat (Clarkson) and a much younger mistress in the shape of blonde beauty Kay (McAdams). When he introduces his friend. Richard (Brosnan) to Kay. Richard is smitten. As Richard goes about trying to secretly win Kay. Harry has more diabolical plans. Slavish replication of Hitchcock‘s more lugubrious noirs. Filmhouse. Edinburgh.
Meet Dave (PG) ee (Brian Robbins. US. 2008) Eddie Murphy. Elizabeth Banks. Scott Caan. 90min. Eddie Murphy plays Dave Ming Chang. a spaceship made in the image of its miniature-sized captain (also Murphy) who has landed on Earth on a mission to save his planet. Now. one of the least eagerly
anticipated reunions in cinema history - between Murphy and director Brian Robbins (Norbit) - invites us to Meet Dave. You really shouldn‘t bother. Vue Edinburgh Ocean. Edinburgh.
Mes Amis, Mes Amour (15) ee (Lorraine Levy. France. 2008) Virginie Ledoyen. chadette Lafont. Florence Floresti. 106min. Less a romantic comedy than a sentimental fantasy of city living among an ultra-friendly community of shopkeepers and bistro-owners. Levy's film examines the incompatibilities of two middle-aged pals who are both divorced and decide to co-habit. The visual and verbal gags reap precious few dividends. however. and Levy appears only to be able to conceive of London in picture-postcard lenns. Filmhouse. Edinburgh.
Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day (12A) 0. (Bharat Nalluri. UK. 2008) Frances McDormand. Amy Adams. Lee Pace. 98min. London govemess Miss Pettigrew (McDormand) has just lost another job. Dumped by her agency. Miss Pettigrew manages to worm her way into the house of American wannabe starlet Delysia (Adams). Nalluri‘s attempts to recreate a sparkling Mitchell Leisen style romantic comedy are undone by inferior performances and the complete predictability inherent in this kind of mentally painful experience. Selected release.
Mr Bean’s Holiday (PG) ee
(Steve Bendelack. UK. 2007) Rowan Atkinson. Willem Dafoe. 89min. Wordless misfit Mr Bean (Atkinson) goes to the French Riviera and becomes ensnared in a broad European adventure. A silly. occasionally funny. mildly xenophobic slapstick feature. Jacques Tati did it so much better. Odeon At The Quay. Glasgow. The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (12A) e (Rob Cohen. US. 2008) Brendan Fraser. Jet Li. Maria Bello. 1 12min. Chunky old-fashioned explorer Rick O'Connell (Fraser) returns. and this time he‘s off to check out the catacombs of ancient China. This risible third installment of hearty adventure
lucky enough to win the top prize.
corruption.
Win a Portable DVD player & Awake V
We have teamed up with Icon Home Entertainment to give away a fantastic portable DVD player and a copy of Awake - released on 25 Aug 2008. We also have four runners-up copies of the film for those not
Starring two of Hollywood’s sexiest actors - Jessica Alba and Hayden Christensen — the film explores the world of anaesthesia and
Sexy and suspenseful, Awake turns disturbineg real phenomenon of “anaesthetic awareness” - in which surgery patients, though completely paralysed, are conscious of everything they are experiencing, including the pain - into a completely absorbing thriller.
To enter, just log on to www.1ist.co.uk/offers and tell us:
When is Awake released on DVD?
TERMS 8 CONDITIONS Cornpetutron closes 3 Sep 2008 There 15 no cash alternative U5ual LlSl rules apply.
34 THE LIST 21 Aug—4 Sep 2008
franchise is awash with bad CGl effects. infantile humour and sloppy performances. This is pure cheeseball. Unless you've had a lobotomy avoid. General release.
My Brother’s Wedding (12A) (Charles Burnett. US. 1983) Everett Silas. Jessie Holmes. Gaye Shannon-Bumett. 77min. Silas plays a young man tom between his parents‘ middle-class aspirations. recently heightened by his Brother‘s pending marriage to a hot shot lawyer. and his loyalty to his best friend. recently released from prison. A low-budget drama that tackles some largely universal dilemmas. Filmhouse. Edinburgh.
My China Now: Programme One (15) (China. 2008) 60min. A series of short and experimental films from the moving image project My China Now. which aims to redefine conceptions of modem-day China. Designed to coincide with the exhibition China: A Photographic Portrait at The City Art Centre. F ilmhouse. Edinburgh.
My China Now: Programme No (15) (China. 2008) 60min. A series of short and experimental films from the moving image project My China Now. which aims to redefine conceptions of modem-day China. Designed to coincide with the exhibition China: A Photographic Portrait at The City Art Centre. Film/louse. Edinburgh.
My Winnipeg (15)eee (Guy Maddin. Canada. 2008) Darcy Fehr. Ann Savage. Amy Stewart. 80min. Recreating his Winnipeg childhood with various actors playing the roles of siblings and veteran actress Savage as his demanding mum. acquired-taste director and postmodemist auteur Maddin gets the balance between acerbic nostalgia and indulgent self- centredness just right. Film/rouse. Edinburgh.
My Winnim (15) eee (Guy Maddin. Canada. 2008) Darcy Fehr. Ann Savage. Amy Stewart. 80min. Recreating his Winnipeg childhood with various actors playing the roles of siblings and veteran actress Savage as his demanding mum. acquired-taste director and postmodemist auteur Maddin gets the balance between acerbic nostalgia and indulgent self- centredness just right. Cameo. Edinburgh. 'l'he New World (12A) eeee (Terrence Malick. US. 2005) Q'()rianka Kilcher. Colin Farrell. Christian Bale. Christopher Plummer. 150min. Malick's epic is quickly recognisable as the story of Pocahontas. the Native American girl who risked her life to show mercy to intruder John Smith when he faced certain death at the hands of her tribe. Filmed 25 years after he originally wrote the script. this is an exquisitely realised past look but the casting is pure folly. Despite its winning heroine. the
male stars offer barely a spark between them.
leaving a gaping hole where there should be an authentic romantic heart. Part of Terrence Malick season. Film/rouse. Edinburgh. Nim’s Island (U) 0. (Jennifer Flackett. US. 2008) Abigail Breslin. Jodie Foster. Gerard Butler. 95min. Adapted from Wendy ()rr's popular book about what happens when agoraphobic authoress Alexandra Ryder (Foster) is contacted by winsome brat Nim (Breslin). whose scientist father Jack (Butler) has gone missing. Breslin and Butler adapt well to the frothy postmode adventure but Foster's attempts at slapstick are embarrassingly crude and obvious. lessening any emotional impact. Cineworld Park/read. Glasgow.
The Offence (18) I”. (Sidney Lumet. UK. 1972) Sean Connery. Trevor Howard. Ian Bannen. Vivian Merchant.
1 13min. Tortured by the awfulness of his past experiences. police inspector Connery develops an explosive desire to break the spirit of a suspected child molester in for questioning. which culminates in disaster. Excellent perfomiances dominate a slightly overwrought psychological thriller. Part of Sean Connery season. Film/rouse. Edinburgh.
Oliver Mist (PG) .0”. (David Lean. UK. 1948) Alec Guinness. Robert Newton. Francis L Sullivan. 1 16min. A classic screen version of the Dickens‘ novel. with
Guinness a sly Fagin and Newton a menacing Bill Sykes. Instead of making it a light children‘s story (as in the musical version). Lean taps into the darker side and captures it all in crisp black-and-white images which still look superb. Part of David Lean retrospective. l-‘ilmhouse. Edinburgh.
Otto, or Up with Dead People (18) (Bruce La Bruce. Germany. Canada. 2008) Jey Crisfar. Marcel Schlutt. Katharina Klewinghaus. 95min. ()tto is a gay zombie facing an existential crisis in Berlin. who meets an experimental filmmaker out to change the world with her ‘political porno zombie movie‘. La Bruce combines horror. pornography. silent film and documentary styles. breaking all the rules in the process. Part of the London Lesbian & Gay Film Festival On Tour Film/rouse. Edinburgh.
A Passage to India (PG) eee (David Lean. UK. 1984) Peggy Ashcroft. Judy Davis. Victor Bannerjec. James Fox. Alec Guinness. 163mm. Meticulous adaptation of EM. Forster has Australian Judy Davis cast as the young woman
3 travelling through the sub-continent with
her fiance's stuffy mother (Ashcroft). Overlong and over-rated. for all its attention to detail. this numbineg slow latter-day Lean seriously fudges the crucial scene in the Malabar Caves. A disappointment. Part of David Lean retrospective. Film/rouse. Edinburgh.
The Passionate Friends (P( 1) (David Lean. UK. 1949) Ann Todd. (‘laude Rains. Trevor Howard. 91min. Mary and her husband Howard are on holiday in Switzerland when she runs into her former lover for the first time in nine years. causing a rift in her present relationship. Adapted from the HG Wells novel. David Thomson has called this the Lean film ‘most deserving rediscovery". Glasgow l-‘ilrn Theatre. Glasgow.
Penelope (U) 0.” (Mark Palanski.
i UK/US. 2006) Christina Ricci. James
McAvoy. Catherine ()‘Hara. 89min. With her moneyed background and good sense of humour Penelope (Ricci) should have been a bit of a catch. Sadly. she has a pig‘s snout for a nose. and. not only do her swinish features send the boys running. they also confine her to dating the landed gentry. Penelope is characterised by its subtlety. rejecting easy plot turns and .S'hrek-esque pop culture commentary. its individuality and intelligence making it a bit of a hybrid freak. Selected release.
Play (15) .0” (Alicia Scherson. Argentina/Chile. 2007) Juan Pablo Quezada. Aline Kuppenheirn. Viviana Herrera. 105mm. Two contrasting lives intersect on the streets of Santiago: spunky Cristina (Herrera). a young woman of Indian descent from the countryside. and architect with bad luck Tristan (lflloa). Scherson proves to be an accomplished storyteller. confidently handling temporal
shifts. dream sequences and enjoyany
idiosyncratic characters. making this urban fairy tale a real tonic for jaded cinematic palates. Glasgow Film Theatre. Glasgow. Ran (15) (Akira Kurosawa. Japan/France. 1985) Tatsuya Nakadai. Mieko Harada. Akira Terao. 162mm. Kurosawa‘s King Lear is a bleak and despairing vision of mankind torn apart by disunity. personal vengeances and fatnin feuds that produce no honour. no victors. just victims. An accomplished fusion of Japanese history and blood-drenched Shakespearean drama. this film grows more impressive with repeated viewings. Part ofAkira Kurosawa retrospective. Eilmhouse. Edinburgh. Rancho Notorious (PG) eeee (Fritz Lang. US. 1952) Marlene Dietrich. Arthur Kennedy. Mel Ferrer. 89min. Another of Lang's heroes whose lives are arbitrarily transformed by fate. Vern Haskell is a cowhand who sets out to revenge the murder (and likely rape) of his fiancee. His best clue to their whereabouts is a ranch run by former bar-room singer Altar Keane. Performances are excellent. particularly Dietrich who copes admirably with a more mature role. Film/rouse, Edinburgh. Baehomon (12) eeeee (Akira Kurosawa. Japan. 1951) Toshio Mifune. Machiko Kyo, Masayuki Mori. 88min.