Film Index
Films screening this fortnight are listed below with certificate, star rating, credits, brief review and venue details. Film index compiled by Paul Dale ✽✽ Indicates Hitlist entry
✽✽ Adventureland (15) ●●●●● (Greg Mottola, US, 2009) Jesse Eisenberg,
Ryan Reynolds, Kristen Stewart. 106min. Part fish-out-of-water comedy, part coming-of-age tale, Mottola’s sweet and funny character driven, clearly biographical Adventureland, is a film out of its time, both literally and culturally. Unexpectedly forced to find a summer job, graduate James ends up as a coconut shy boy at the decrepit local amusement park. Full of the insane and unemployable, it turns out to be quite a ride for the sheltered James. Selected release. The Agent (12A) ●●●●● (Lesley Manning, UK, 2008) Willaim Beck, Stephen Kennedy, Maureen Lipman. 80min. Four months after submitting the manuscript of his second novel, author Stephen Parker (Kennedy) decides to pay a visit to his literary agent with his ‘metaphorical gun’ – namely some highly incriminating photographs. This solidly acted two-hander offers a fairly predictable battle of wills. Glasgow Film Theatre. Alien Adventure 3D (U) ●●●●● (Ben Strassen, Japan, 2001) Voice of John Boyle, Bouli Lanners. 37min. An alien race find earth and unfortunately enter a theme park where they cause much amusing mayhem. IMAX Theatre, Glasgow. Aliens in the Attic (PG) ●●●●● (John Schultz, UK, 2009) Ashley Tisdale, Robert Hoffman, Austin Robert Butler. 85min. Likeably frenetic animated adventure about a family’s attempt to fight off knee high alien invaders. General release. All’s Well That Ends Well (E) (UK, 2009) 90min. National Theatre production of Shakespeare’s bittersweet classic beamed live. Glasgow Film Theatre; Cameo, Edinburgh. Amélie (15) ●●●●● (Jean-Pierre Jeunet, France, 2001) Audrey Tautou, Mathieu Kassovitz, Serge Merlin. 120min. Within Jeunet's fantastical world the eccentric adventures of his eponymous heroine unfold in a manner as complex as a Swiss timepiece when Amélie decides to bring happiness to deserving people by playing elaborate practical jokes on them. A film that celebrates all the little, great things in life. Part of Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Festival. Grosvenor, Glasgow. Anything for Her (15) ●●●●● (Fred Cavayé, France, 2008) Vincent Lindon, Diane Kruger, Lancelot Roch. 95min. Teacher Julian (Lindon) and his wife Lisa (Kruger) seem to have the perfect life. Then she gets arrested for a crime she may not have committed with no hope of parole. Desperate to have the women he loves back, Julian hatches an
escape plan that is as preposterous as it is daring. Flashy, badly plotted and begging of the kind of incredulity that is rarely seen outside the US mainstream. Odeon at the Quay, Glasgow. Apocalypse Now (18) ●●●●● (Francis Coppola, US, 1980) Martin Sheen, Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall, Dennis Hopper. 153min. Vietnam as The Ultimate Trip. We follow US Army assassin Sheen downriver and deeper into the Heart of Darkness ruled over by Brando’s mad Colonel Kurtz. Alternately pretentious and visually overpowering (the Valkyries helicopter attack, for example), the film grandiloquent folly somehow pierces right to the bone of the conflict. Scotsman Screening Room, Edinburgh.
✽✽ Army of Crime (15) ●●●●● (Robert Guédiguian, France, 2009)
Simon Abkarian, Virginie Ledoyen, Robinson Stévenin. 139min. See review, page 46. Glasgow Film Theatre; Filmhouse, Edinburgh. The Art of Spain (E) (UK, 2008) Andrew Graham-Dixon. 60min. Weekly screenings of the acclaimed BBC Four series, in which art historian and critic Andrew Graham-Dixon argues that the influence of Spanish art is even greater than that of its traditionally more celebrated Italian counterparts. Weston Link, Edinburgh. Away we Go (15) ●●●●● (Sam Mendes, US/UK, 2009) John Krasinski, Maya Rudolph, Maggie Gyllenhaal. 97min. Expectant parents Burt (Krasinski) and Verona (Rudolph) visit friends and family across America and Canada to try and find the perfect place to start their soon-to-be family. Misguided and naff impersonation of an independent American comedy road movie. Selected release. Baby Love (15) (Vincent Garenq, France, 2008) Lambert Wilson, Pilar López de Ayala, Pascal Elbé. 98min. A wealthy Parisian gay couple split up when one of them decides he wants to raise a child. A comedy of errors ensues, and the film’s fatherly protagonist embarks on a surprising journey. Part of Glasgay! Glasgow Film Theatre. Bandaged (15) (Maria Beatty, US/Germany, 2009) Janna Lisa Dombrowsky, Susanne Sachasse, Hans Persbergen. 91min. Lucille (Dombrowsky) lives with her father and great aunt in an eerie mansion. Desperate to leave and pursue her passion for poetry, Lucille is driven to a suicide attempt when her Father refuses her request. A sultry nurse with a chequered past is hired to tend to his daughter. Part of Glasgay! Glasgow Film Theatre. Bandslam (PG) ●●●●● (Todd Graff, US, 2009) Vanessa Hudgens, Gaelan Connell, Lisa Kudrow. 110min. Tweeny pop, high school adventure chronicling budding impresario Will Burton (Connell) and his rock’n’roll band’s desperate attempts to win a battle-of-the-bands competition. Selected release.
The Invention of Lying Ricky Gervais is back on the big screen in the this offbeat romcom, co-written
and co-directed by Gervais, who also takes the starring role as Mark, the first person who learns how to tell a big fat porkie in a universe where lying doesn’t exist. ■ General release from Fri 2 Oct.
48 THE LIST 24 Sep–8 Oct 2009
✽✽ The Beaches of Agnes (18) ●●●●● (Agnes Varda, France, 2008) 112min. See review and interview, page 45. Glasgow Film Theatre. Belle Epoque (15) (Fernando Trueba, Spain, 1992) Jorge Sanz, Fernando Fernan Gomez, Ariadne Gil, Penelope Cruz. 109min. During the Civil War, a young deserter finds himself under the wing of an elderly libertine, enjoying the pleasures of his four daughters – a lesbian, a widow, a bride-to-be and a virgin. Sparkling, feel-good, period comedy that revels in the joys of life and love. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. The Best Day of the Year (E) (Lorna Simpson, UK, 2008) 35min. 100 years of the Bo’ness Children’s Fair, featuring digitised archive film footage and interviews leading up to the 2007 fair. The Hippodrome, Bo’ness. Beyond a Reasonable Doubt (15) ●●●●● (Peter Hyams, US, 2009) Michael Douglas, Jesse Metcalfe, Amber Tamblyn. 105min. See Also Released, page 47. General release from Fri 2 Oct. Black Diamond Adventure Film Festival (tbc) (Various, 2009) 120min. Sports films for adrenaline junkies, courtesy of TV and video company Black Diamond. Vue Omni, Edinburgh. Blade Runner: The Director’s Cut (15) ●●●●● (Ridley Scott, US, 1982) Harrison Ford, Sean Young, Rutger Hauer. 116min. Out go the pseudo-noir narration and the tacked-on happy ending; in comes a more defined sense that Deckard himself may be a replicant. The look and feel remain as powerful, and the acting is superb. A flawed masterpiece is now a restored masterpiece. Scotsman Screening Room, Edinburgh. Blind Dating (15) (James Keach, US, 2009) Chris Pine, Anjali Jay, Jane Seymour. 99min. Popular, intelligent Danny (Pine) doesn’t let being blind stand in his way, except where the opposite sex is concerned. After a series of disastrous dates set up by his brother, Danny meets nurse Leeza (Jay), but the path to true love is fraught with disaster – and Leeza’s fiancé. Dominion, Edinburgh. Boris Ryzhy (18) (Aliona Van der Horst, Netherlands, 2008) 60min. A visionary lament for the Russian poet Boris Ryzhy, who committed suicide at the age of 26. Van der Horst weaves an absorbing tribute through powerfully empathetic work with Ryzhy’s surviving family and beautifully observed scenes from his snow-clad industrial home town. This screening will be accompanied by a screening of last year’s Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Festival Jury Prize winner Hidden Gifts. Part of the Scottish Mental Health Arts & Film Festival. CCA, Glasgow.
✽✽ Boy (15) (Nagisa Oshima, Japan, 1969) Tetsuo Abe, Fumio Watanabe, Akiko
Koyama. 105min. Oshima recounts the true 1966 story of a couple who trained their ten- year-old child to fake being hit by cars so that they could collect damages from the shocked drivers. Oshima employs a double portrait technique to simultaneously portray the desperation of the family and the grasping society in which they live. Part of Nagisa Oshima season. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Brit Chic (PG) (Various, UK) 90min. Specially curated programme from the new BFI Mediatheque offering unique insights into Britain and Britons during the 20th century. Selection includes Fashion Fantasy (1946), Gear (1967), Facemakers: Biba (1970) and Design for Fashion (1954). Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Broken Embraces (15) ●●●●● (Pedro Almodóvar, Spain, 2009) Penélope Cruz, Lluís Homar, Blanca Portillo. 128min. The auteur’s most self-referential love letter to cinema yet presents the story of a ménage-a-quatre between filmmaker Harry (Homar), leading lady Lena (Cruz), her sugar daddy Ernesto (José Luis Gómez), and Harry’s production manager Judit (Portillo). Ultra-stylish and loaded with thematic weight. Selected release.
✽✽ The Catch (18) (Nagisa Oshima, Japan, 1961) Rentaro Mikuni, Hugh Hard, Yoko Mihara. 97min. Set during the final days of World War II, and based on a prize-winning novella by Kenzaburo Oe, Oshima’s tale of a remote village’s power struggles over a captured black GI explores his hallmark subjects of Japanese hypocrisy, racism and xenophobia. Part of Nagisa Oshima season. Filmhouse, Edinburgh.
Charlotte’s Web (U) ●●●●● (Gary Winick, USA, 2006) Dakota Fanning, voices of Julia Roberts, Sam Shepherd, Steve Buscemi. 97min. Chirpy tot Fern (Fanning) rescues Wilbur the pig from a cruel farmyard fate for lovable arachnid Charlotte to eventually save the day in a bittersweet finale that touches on practical matters of life and death. Somewhere between the cutesy Babe and Orwell’s political Animal Farm it should draw in children and nostalgic adults alike. Cineworld Parkhead, Glasgow; Cineworld Fountainpark, Edinburgh. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2D (U) ●●●●● (Phil Lord, US, 2009) Voices of Bill Hader, Anna Faris, James Caan. 90min. Vivid and likeable animated version of Judi and Ron Barrett’s 1978 children’s book set in the town of Chewandswallow, where the weather comes three times a day, at breakfast, lunch, and dinner. General release. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 3D (U) ●●●●● (Phil Lord, US, 2009) Voices of Bill Hader, Anna Faris, James Caan. 90min. See above. Selected release. Coco Before Chanel (12A) ●●●●● (Anne Fontaine, France, 2009) Audrey Tautou, Benoît Poelvoorde, Alessandro Nivola. 110min. This sumptuously dressed biopic of the early years of Gabrielle ‘Coco’ Chanel faithfully charts the rising hemlines and torn bustiers of a passionate woman repressed by society, with emotion-driven montages of dressmaking as Coco uses sewing machine and scissors to direct her restless energies into clothing. There’s nothing experimental or innovative here, but it provides undeniably classy entertainment. Selected release. Coraline 2D (PG) ●●●●● (Henry Selick, US, 2009) Voices of Dakota Fanning, Teri Hatcher, John Hodgman. 100min. After her family moves to Pink Mansions, Coraline (voiced by Fanning) quickly becomes bored with the large dusty house, and in particular with her hardworking parents (Hatcher and Hodgman). The fantasy kicks into top gear when she discovers a secret door that leads her into an alternate version of her home. A lush, visually imaginative and freshly entertaining stop-motion adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s children’s novel. Grosvenor, Glasgow. Creation (PG) ●●●●● (Jon Amiel, UK, 2009) Paul Bettany, Jennifer Connelly, Toby Jones. 105min. See review, page 46. General release. The Crimson Wing (E) ●●●●● (Matthew Aeberhard, Leander Ward, US/UK, 2008) 78min. See profile, page 46 and review, page 47. Cineworld Renfrew Street, Glasgow; Cineworld Fountainpark, Edinburgh. Crying with Laughter (18) (Justin Molotnikov, UK, 2009) Stephen McCole, Malcolm Shields, Andrew Neil. 93min. Stand- up comedian Joey’s (McCole) foul-mouthed act has drawn interest from people in high places, but things start to unravel when he tells one little gag about an old school pal, who just happens to be in the audience. A bold low- budget Scottish thriller. Glasgow Film Theatre. Dil Bole Hadippa! (PG) (Anurag Singh, India, 2009) Shahid Kapur, Rani Mukherjee, Anupam Kher. 148min. Bollywood cricket- based comedy/musical. Cineworld Renfrew Street, Glasgow. District 9 (15) ●●●●● (Neill Blomkamp, South Africa/New Zealand, 2009) Sharlto Copley, Jason Cope, Nathalie Boltt. 112min. District 9 takes place on an alternate-reality earth where an alien race known as ‘prawns’ have arrived only to find themselves decanted by the sinister Multi National United agency into shanty-towns on the outskirts of Johannesburg. Stark, political messages and sci-fi splatter action are comfortably balanced, with the result managing to be a moving paean to the importance of human rights and a rollercoaster ride. General release. District 13: Ultimatum (15) ●●●●● (Patrick Alessandrine, France, 2009) David Belle, Cyril Raffealli, Philippe Torreton. 100min. See Also Released, page 47. General release from Fri 2 Oct. Dolls (Pusinsky) (15) (Karin Babinská, Czech Republic, 2007) Marie Dolezalová, Sandra Nováková, Petra Nesvacilova. 99min. Czech rom-com about a group of three female school-leavers (plus a tag-a-long little brother) who decide to take a summer trip to Holland. Sexual tensions between the girls mount amid