Film Index
What did you think? BRÜNO Omni, Edinburgh, Tue 14 Jul.
James PhD student It was alright. I found it a bit disappointing cos I quite like Larry Charles and Sacha Baron Cohen’s new character was not Larry David.
Jonathan Restauranteur It was excellent. Homoerotic yet tasteful.
Graham Unemployed Very funny. I was impressed how far he pushed the boundaries.
Andrea Online marketing executive We’re just not sure whether it was any good cos we’ve seen it all before with Borat.
54 THE LIST 23 Jul–6 Aug 2009
G-Force 3D (PG) ●●●●● (Hoyt Yeatman, UK, 2009) Voices of Bill Nighy, Will Arnett, Kelli Garner. 90min. Jerry Bruckheimer-produced 3D comedy adventure about a covertly trained group of guinea pig special agents who are charged with saving the world from disaster. Simple minded and likeable enough. General release from Fri 31 Jul. Ghost Dog: The Way of The Samurai (15) ●●●●● (Jim Jarmusch, US/Japan/France/Germany, 2000) Forest Whitaker, John Tormey, Cliff Gorman. 116min. Whitaker’s New York ex-street urchin Ghost Dog is a professional Mob assassin who lives by an ancient Eastern code of honour. But when a hit goes wrong, he’s caught between loyalties. Jarmusch should probably stick to making throwaway movies about ageing rockers, Helsinki cabbies and Japanese Elvis fans instead of attempting the grand spiritual narrative. Scotsman Screening Room, Edinburgh. The Go-Between (15) (Joseph Losey, UK, 1970) Julie Christie, Alan Bates, Dominic Guard. 116min. Twelve-year-old Leo, on holiday at a friend’s country estate, becomes a messenger in the romance between his friend’s older sister and a local farmer. However, the affair is to have tragic consequences. LP Hartley’s tale of adolescence and lost innocence provides an atmospheric depiction of the destructive British class system. Part of Joseph Losey season. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. The Hangover (15) ●●●●● (Todd Phillips, US, 2009) Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Heather Graham. 99min. Two days before his wedding, Doug (Bartha) heads to Vegas with his two best friends and future brother-in-law for a final bachelor blow out. Waking up the next morning, however, the trio has no recollection of what happened the night before or, more importantly, where they might have left Doug. This buddy movie really delivers with its riotous cocktail of memorable characters, outrageous situations and explicit humour. General release. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (12A) ●●●●● (David Yates, UK/US, 2009) Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint. 153min. While the sixth installment in the Harry Potter franchise does venture into darker, more adult areas than its predecessors it also injects more humour and character development than previous encounters, which doesn’t always make for a satisfying concoction. Yates picks up in the aftermath of a spectacular attack on London by Death Eaters and builds towards the death of a key character that will pre-empt the final confrontation between Harry and Lord Voldemort in two-part finale, The Deathly Hallows. General release. Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (U) ●●●●● (Carlos Saldanha/ Mike Thurmeier, US, 2009) Voices of Simon Pegg, Seann William Scott, John Leguizamo. 93min. Life is changing for Scrat, Manny, Ellie and co in many different ways in this the latest installment of popular animated series. General release. Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs 3D (U) ●●●●● (Carlos Saldanha/ Mike Thurmeier, US, 2009) Voices of Simon Pegg, Seann William Scott, John Leguizamo. 93min. See above. Selected release. Igor (PG) ●●●●● (Anthony Leondis, US/France, 2008) Voices of John Cusack, John Cleese, Eddie Izzard. 86min. Hunchbacked Igor (voiced by Cusack) ekes out his precarious existence as humble servant to the sinister Dr Glickenstein (Cleese), an evil genius set on winning the annual evil science fair in the badass province of Malaria. But Igor bravely decides to enter the competiton himself and enters his Bride of Frankenstein-style creation called Eva (Molly Shannon). Decent but uninspired animation. Empire Clydebank, Clydebank. In Bruges (18) ●●●●● (Martin McDonagh, UK/Belgium, 2008) Ralph Fiennes, Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson. 107min. Two gobby Dublin criminals bide their time in Bruges, awating instruction from their cryptic and remote gangster boss
Harry. Irish playwright McDonagh, in his feature debut, which wrestles some affecting moments from demonstrative characters, nicely teases out the parallels between the trio and Beckett’s Vladimir, Estragon and Godot. Part of the Irish Film Festival. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. In the Shadow of the Moon (U) ●●●●● (David Sington, UK, 2006) Buzz Aldrin, Alan Bean, Eugene Cernan. 100min. This exhilarating British-made documentary about the American lunar programme of the 1960s and 70s splices together fascinating, unseen archive footage with interviews with most of the surviving astronauts (Neil Armstrong excepted). It’s a poignant reminder that since the last lunar landing in 1972, mankind has turned its labours inwards in a horribly self-destructive manner. Part of One Small Step season. Glasgow Film Theatre, Glasgow. Katyn (18) ●●●●● (Andrzej Wajda, Poland, 2007) Artur Zmijewski, Maja Ostaszewska, Andrzej Chyra. 118min. Veteran Polish filmmaker Wajda examines the 1940 Soviet slaughter of thousands of Polish officers and citizens in the Katyn Forest through the eyes of officer Andrzej (Zmijewski) and his wife Anna (Ostaszewska), with sensitivity and a very particular Polish humanism. Cameo, Edinburgh. Kings (15) (Tom Collins, Ireland/UK, 2007) Colm Meaney, Donal O’Kelly, Brendan Conroy. 89min. Mid-1970s. A group of young men leave their homes in the West of Ireland and sail to England in the hope of making their fortunes and then returning West. Thirty years later, at the wake of one of their friends, the group are forced to confront their suffering and alienation as long term emigrants. Part of the Irish Film Festival. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Kisses (15) (Lance Daly, Ireland/Sweden, 2008) Kelly O’Neill, Shane Curry, Paul Roe. 105min. On a suburban Dublin housing scheme two young people Kylie (O’Neill) and Dylan (Curry) live overcrowded and blighted lives. After a violent altercation with his father, Dylan and Kylie decide to run away to the magical lights of inner-city Dublin. Sweet and warm-hearted portrait of desperate youth. Part of the Irish Film Festival. Glasgow Film Theatre, Glasgow; Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Ko Lik Animation (15) (UK, Various) 90min. Three films chart the development of Edinburgh-based filmmakers Ko Lik Films. Featuring their first film, The Tree Officer, international festival favourite Ujbaz Izbeneki Has Lost His Soul, and their first broadcast commission for BBC Scotland, Haunted Hogmanay. This screening will be followed by a Q&A with some of the filmmakers. Part of Made in Edinburgh season. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. The L-Shaped Room (15) (Bryan Forbes, UK, 1962) Leslie Caron, Tom Bell, Brock Peters. 137min. A young pregnant French woman takes up a room in a seedy London boarding house and falls for an impoverished English writer. A sweet and affectionate drama evincing a wistful and romantic type of realism. Part of The British New Wave season. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Land of the Lost (12A) ●●●●● (Brad Silberling, US, 2009) Will Ferrell, Anna Friel, Danny McBride. 101min. Dr Rick Marshall (Ferrell) and his research assistant Holly (Friel) are sucked into a vortex and sent back through time to an alternative universe full of crazy prehistoric creatures. Unfunny, inconsistent and very sketchy comedy based on a classic television series. General release from Fri 31 Jul. The Last King of Scotland (15) ●●●●● (Kevin Macdonald, US/UK, 2006) Forest Whitaker, Gillian Anderson, James McAvoy. 123min. Macdonald’s first fictional film sees McAvoy playing Nicholas Garrigan as a smooth-talking lovable rogue who accidentally ingratiates himself with 1970s Ugandan president Idi Amin (Whitaker). With a career best performance from Whitaker and an action packed pace, it makes for a commendable action film rather than an astute political portrait. Cameo, Edinburgh. Let’s Get Lost (15) ●●●●● (Bruce Weber, US, 1989) 119min. Weber fashions a highly unconventional documentary that follows trumpeter Chet Baker from the West to the East coast of America and on to Europe. There’s little in the way of interviews with Baker in the film. Instead, Weber films Baker, prematurely aged by narcotics, hanging out in various breezy venues. A dreamy portrait of a superb but doomed musician. Part of the Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (12) ●●●●● (Tony Richardson, UK, 1962) Michael Redgrave, Tom Courtenay, Alec McCowen. 114min. Adapted by Alan Sillitoe from his own story, this is a fine example of 60s British cinema in the social realist vein. Courtenay excels as the rebellious youth who is send a boy’s reform school after robbing a bakery and pushes himself to turn his life around. Part of The British New Wave season. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Looking for Eric (15) ●●●●● (Ken Loach, UK, 2009) Steve Evets, Eric Cantona, Stephanie Bishop. 146min. Shot without frills, this sentimental, feel good comedy is much less conspicuously political than Loach’s previous films. It centres upon protagonist Eric Bishop (Evets), a middle-aged Mancunian postman, who is prone to panic attacks. Gazing up one night over a spliff at a bedroom poster of Cantona, Eric is amazed to see the Frenchman appear, and Cantona proceeds to act as a life coach to the mixed- up Eric. Glasgow Film Theatre. Luck (12A tbc) (Soham Shah, India, 2009) Sanjay Dutt, Imran Khan, Mithun Chakraborty. Hi-octane Bollywood thriller with a cast of international characters led by a part-Mexican bandit, part-mafia gangster (Dutt). Cineworld Renfrew Street, Glasgow; Cineworld Edinburgh, Edinburgh. Mesrine: Killer Instinct (15) (Jean- François Richet, France, 2008) Vincent Cassel, Cécile De France, Gérard Depardieu. 113min. Mesrine (Cassel) returns home from the army and embarks upon a life of violent crime. Expertly handled by director Richet, this is the first half of a double bill of epic proportions. Glasgow Film Theatre. Mesrine: Public Enemy No. 1 (15) (Jean-Francois Richet, France, 2008) Vincent Cassel, Ludivine Sagnier, Mathieu Amalric. 133min. Part two of Richet’s ultra- stylish double bill sees Mesrine (Cassel) continue to evade and frustrate the law. The rogue becomes increasingly burdened by his own celebrity, however, and soon begins to question his thrilling but lonely existence. Glasgow Film Theatre. Modesty Blaise (PG) ●●●●● (Joseph Losey, UK, 1966) Monica Vitti, Dirk Bogarde, Terence Stamp. 119min. Amidst a welter of silly 60s comic strip capers, this typically outre Losey effort still seems a weirdie. Starring glacial Antonioni regular Vitti as the eponymous heroine trying to stop Bogarde’s camper than camp criminal mastermind from taking over the world, it’s the wonderful op-art sets and delightfully dated costumerie that still hold the attention. Part of Joseph Losey season. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Monsters vs Aliens 2D (PG) ●●●●● (Rob Letterman, US, 2009) Voices of Reese Witherspoon, Seth Rogen, Hugh Laurie. 94min. Can a self-doubting but individualist team of monsters overcome a mob of self- confident, mass-produced aliens? Eye- popping to watch, leavened with self- referential humour that makes it easy to digest, but also playing things so painstakingly safe that any resonance evaporates the moment the end credits roll. Vue Edinburgh Ocean, Edinburgh. Moon (15) ●●●●● (Duncan Jones, UK, 2008) Sam Rockwell, Kevin Spacey, Dominique McElligott. 97min. With this cleverly conceived, evenly paced and consistently intriguing old-school science fiction piece Jones eschews special effects and action-oriented clatter, instead delivering a cerebral adventure that’s as thought-provoking as it is thrilling. Rockwell plays a mining engineer working