www.list.co.uk/film
take very different approaches to life, marriage and finding The One. Cineworld Renfrew Street, Glasgow. Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (PG) ●●●●● (Eric Darnell, US, 2008) Voices of Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer, Sacha Baron Cohen. 89min. Alex the lion (voiced by Stiller), Gloria the hippo (Smith), Melman the giraffe (Schwimmer) and Marty the zebra (Rock) are put on an flight back to their zoo home, only to crash land in Africa. The going native theme is expanded, with good-time fascist lemur (Cohen) getting the best lines and the penguins the best laughs. With clever riffs and unexpected poetry, this is a welcome prospect. Vue Ocean, Edinburgh. Mark of an Angel (12A) ●●●●● (Safy Nebbou, France, 2008) Catherine Frot, Sandrine Bonnaire, Wladimir Yordanoff. 91min. This impressively executed French film begins as an engrossing character study and concludes as a riveting domestic thriller. Eliciting a pair of finely modulated performances from his talented leading ladies, Nebbou establishes two compelling mother figures who are both fiercely protective of their children, both real or imagined, which lays the groundwork for the thrills to come in the climax. Cameo, Edinburgh. Mauricio’s Diary (15) ●●●●● (Manuel Pérez, Cuba, 2006) Rolando Brito, Blanca Rosa Blanco, Larisa Vega Alamar. 135min. Revolutionary Mauricio (Brito) is struggling with the loss of his wife and finds himself spending his 60th birthday alone in Havana. Flashbacks of the character’s life are skilfully intertwined with a series of passages from the present, and the profound political upheavals of the 1990s are brought to the fore. Part of Cine Cuba. Glasgow Film Theatre, Glasgow.
✽✽ Mesrine: Killer Instinct (15) ●●●●● (Jean-François Richet,
France, 2008) Vincent Cassel, Cécile De France, Gérard Depardieu. 113min. The early career and criminal gestation of France’s most notorious bank robber and gangster Jacques Mesrine circumscribed in the first of two films telling his remarkable story. Tracing a line from Mesrine’s disillusioning military service during the Algerian war to the beginning of his notoriety in 1972, the first instalment of this epic crime tale is derivative, energetic and hugely enjoyable. Selected release. Mid-August Lunch (12A) ●●●●● (Gianni Di Gregorio, Italy, 2008) Gianni Di Gregorio, Valeria De Franciscis, Marina Cacciotti. 75min. Charming portrait of middle-aged, wine-loving Gianni di Gregorio who lives with his imperious 90- something mother Valeria (Franciscis), whom he patiently looks after. What’s refreshing about this, and what gives it a political edge in the context of Berlusconi’s meretricious government, is that it celebrates the supposedly ‘simpler’ pleasures in life. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Monsters vs Aliens (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. Empire, Clydebank; Cineworld Fountainpark, 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 for a corporation that’s found a new source of energy for the clapped-out planet Earth, but as he nears the end of his three-year contract, cabin fever begins to take hold. Cineworld Renfrew Street, Glasgow; Cameo, Edinburgh.
Index Film
Festival of Spirituality and Peace The quality of human relationships and their ability to engender peace in our hearts is the loose theme of this year’s laudable festival. Its film strand kicks off with a digitally restored print of Derek Jarman’s inspired adaptation of Benjamin Britten’s opera War Requiem whilst Scottish Shorts brings together humanistic shorts including Lynne Ramsay’s Gasman, Margaret Tait’s Portrait of Ga and Norman McLaren’s Neighbours (pictured). www.festivalofspirituality.org.uk ■ Filmhouse, Edinburgh from Fri 21 and Fri 28 Aug.
Night at the Museum 2 (PG) ●●●●● (Shawn Levy, US, 2009) Ben Stiller, Amy Adams, Owen Wilson. 104min. Silly but enjoyable sequel to 2006 comedy. Ben Stiller’s night watchman joins characters from the first film in a battle to save the Smithsonian museum. Odeon Braehead, Renfrew. Once Upon a Time in The West (15) ●●●●● (Sergio Leone, US, 1968) Henry Fonda, Charles Bronson, Claudia Cardinale, Jason Robards. 165min. Probably Leone’s best film, this classic western details in operatic fashion the drive of crooked railroad magnate, Fonda, to cheat widow Cardinale out of her land, until lone stranger Bronson comes to town. Brilliant Morricone score, achingly slow pacing, and an enthusiastic use of the wide screen mark this out as an idiosyncratic gem. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Orphan (15) ●●●●● (Jaume Collet-Serra, US, 2009) Vera Farmiga, Peter Sarsgaard, Isabelle Fuhrman. 122min. Diverting evil child horror from House of Wax director Collet-Serra. Grieving parents Kate (Farmiga) and John (Sarsgaard) decide to adopt a child from a local orphanage and soon wish they hadn’t bothered. General release. Paul Blart: Mall Cop (PG) ●●●●● (Steve Carr, US, 2009) Kevin James, Keir O’Donnell, Jayma Mays. 90min. Adam Sandler’s regular cohort James plays a big- hearted, small-time lawman who takes on a gang of acrobatic skateboarding thieves after a lengthy set up introducing him as an over-zealous store detective. Despite the vanilla blandness of the conceit, James provides a likable enough hero and scattered moments of self-referential wit will be appreciated by older audiences. Vue Ocean, Edinburgh. La Peau Douce (PG) ●●●●● (Francois Truffaut, France/Portugal, 1964) Jean Desailly, Francoise Dorlean, Nelly Benedetti. 118min. A disillusioned middle- aged intellectual attempts to turn a casual affair with an airhostess into the love of his life. Failure consequently leads to a crime of passion, in this wry study of the disruptions of modern urban living. Part of Truffaut/Godard season. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. A Perfect Getaway (15) ●●●●● (David Twohy, US, 2009) Steve Zahn, Timothy Olyphant, Milla Jovovich. 97min. Honeymooners Cliff (Zahn) and Cydney (Jovovich) backpack to a remote beach in Hawaii where they come across a group of frightened hikers. Commendably pulpy and entertaining B movie horror with an able cast, tight script and sure handed direction. General release. Peter Gidal Film Screening (E) (Peter Gidal, Various) 70min. Part of Tramway’s ongoing programme of artist curated screening events, conceptual artist Cerith Wyn Evans selects a programme of films by structural-materialist film pioneer and chief theorist of the 1970s film avant garde, Peter Gidal. Short films include Clouds, Flare Out, No Night No Day and Volcano. Tramway, Glasgow. Playing with The Past (E) (Various, UK, Various) 180min. Films from the national archive, accompanied by music from three of Edinburgh’s highly acclaimed emerging bands: Eagleowl, Found and Meursault. The short films include John Grierson’s Granton Trawler, Evelyn Lambert & Norman McLaren’s Begone Dull Care, Alan J Harper’s Stan and Ollie, Harry Watt and Basil Wright’s Night Mail, and Norman McLaren’s Camera Makes Whoopee. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. The Proposal (12A) ●●●●● (Anne Fletcher, US, 2009) Sandra Bullock, Ryan Reynolds, Mary Steenburgen. 107min. Odd- couple comedy follow-up to 27 Dresses with a plot that blatantly reworks Peter Weir’s considerably superior Green Card. Bullock plays a bullish publisher who faces deportation to Canada. Her only route to remaining in her swanky job involves bullying her put-upon assistant Andrew (Reynolds) into a fake marriage. Soulless, manipulative fare. General release. Public Enemies (15) ●●●●● (Michael Mann, US, 2009) Johnny Depp, Christian Bale, Marion Cotillard. 143min. Depp is typically mesmerising as depression-era bank robber John Dillinger, a folk hero to a disenchanted public, and number one target of J Edgar Hoover’s fledgling FBI. Mann’s gripping hand-held style and real locations heighten the authenticity and immediacy and overcome minor niggles, such as the occasional distortion of history, for a powerful result as Mann does what he does best. Vue Omni, Edinburgh.
Red Riding: 1983 (15) ●●●●● (Anand Tucker, UK, 2009) David Morrissey, Warren Clarke, Mark Addy. 100min. The third and final instalment of Tony Grisoni’s tripartite adaptation of David Peace’s books about the search for the ‘Yorkshire Ripper’ in the 1970s and 80s. Tucker’s film centres on the unravelling of the web of deceit woven around the West Yorkshire murders over the past years. Part of Words and Pictures season. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. RedBull X-Fighters (E) (UK, 2009) Extreme sports live from London. Vue Ocean, Edinburgh. Revolutionary Road (15) ●●●●● (Sam Mendes, US/UK, 2008) Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, Kathy Bates. 119min. It’s 1955 in suburban Connecticut and Frank (DiCaprio) and April (Winslet) are dissatisfied with their white picket fence lives. In a bid to reinvigorate their love and quench their bohemian longings they propose a move to Paris, but as their departure date approaches, their best-laid plans begin to unravel. Ambitious adaptation of Yates’ intense, claustrophobic and quite brilliant novel. Brunton Theatre, Edinburgh.
✽✽ Scarface (18) ●●●●● (Brian De Palma, US, 1983) Al Pacino, Steven
Bauer, Michelle Pfeiffer. 169min. See feature, page 23 and Also Released, page 25. Cineworld Renfrew Street, Glasgow; Cineworld Fountainpark, Edinburgh. School for Scoundrels (U) ●●●●● (Robert Hamer, UK, 1960) Ian Carmichael, Alastair Sim, Terry-Thomas. 97min. Cads, rotters and honourable chaps are the order of the day in this quintessentially English comedy based on Stephen Potter's once in vogue self improvement books. Thomas was born to play the role of utter scoundrel Raymond Delauney. Part of Alastair Sim season. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Sherrybaby (15) ●●●●● (Laurie Collyer, US, 2007) Maggie Gyllenhaal, Brad William Henke, Sam Bottoms. 95min. ‘TV movie of the week’-style social drama about a white trash jailbird who tries to reclaim her old life and child on release. A powerful lead performance from Gyllenhaal makes it almost worth the ride. Part of Relationships Scotland season. Filmhouse, Edinburgh.
20–27 Aug 2009 THE LIST 27