Film Index
WIN WHERE THE WILD
THINGS ARE GOODIES
Eldorado (15) (Bouli Lanners, Belgium/France, 2008) Bouli Lanners, Fabrice Adde, Phillipe Nahon. 85min. Catching a scrawny young thief in the act, stroppy Belgian car dealer Yvan takes pity on the felon and instead of calling the cops, drives the youth home to his parent’s house near the French border. A picturesque journey allows for encounters of a humorous nature. Part of French Film Festival. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Elf (PG) ●●●●● (Jon Favreau, US, 2003) Will Ferrell, James Caan, Edward Asner. 96min. Buddy (Ferrell) is a big Elf who, though accepted in his Elvish community in the North Pole, manages to wreak havoc on a daily basis. Fed up and confused by his charge, Papa Elf (Bob Newhart) sends him to the US in search of his true identity. Hilarious and puerile Yuletide comedy from the star of Swingers. Empire, Clydebank. F for Fake (U) ●●●●● (Orson Welles, France/Iran/W Germany, 1973) Orson Welles, Elmyr De Hory, Clifford Irving. 75min. A hoax of a film from the world’s greatest cinematic hoaxer. Welles adds anecdotes of his own to original footage depicting art forger De Hory and literary prankster Irving to create a masterpiece on fraud. Part of O for Orson season. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. (500) Days of Summer (12A) ●●●●● (Marc Webb, US, 2009) Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Zooey Deschanel, Geoffrey Arend. 94min. This factory made YouTube generation rom-com kicks off at breakneck speed delivering a drole reconstruction of young man Tom’s (Gordon-Levitt) unruly love affair with Summer (Deschanel). Whilst first encounters are charming, the narrative gimmick of playing the story back to front eventually wears thin, and ends up in vacuous territory. Vue Ocean, Edinburgh. Fantastic Mr Fox (PG) ●●●●● (Wes Anderson, USA, 2009) Voices of George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Adrien Brody. 88min. Anderson’s inspired choice of stop- motion animation pays off in this beautiful and idiosyncratic adaptation of the well- loved children’s tale. While kids may enjoy it, Anderson’s typically arch humour is aimed more at their parents, who will also be impressed by the star-studded voice cast – Bill Murray as a badger lawyer anyone?. General release. Fargo (18) ●●●●● (Joel Coen, US, 1996) Frances McDormand, Steve Buscemi, William H Macy. 97min. Hoping to make some bucks, a car salesman attempts to have his wife kidnapped by hitmen, but blood is quickly spilt. As the pregnant police detective on the case, McDormand provides a warm-hearted centre for the movie, while the absurdist plot and weird local colour gain momentum. Cameo, Edinburgh. Film Discussion Group Meet up with film writer Eddie Harrison and lots of other film buffs to swap opinions and perceptions of both art house and big blockbuster recent releases. Held on the second Wednesday of every month. Glasgow Film Theatre. The First Day of the Rest of Your Life (Le premier jour du reste de ta vie) (15) ●●●●● (Rémi Bezançon, France, 2008) Jacques Gamblin, Zabou Breitman, Déborah Francois. 114min. See review, page 49 and profile, page 52. Glasgow Film Theatre; Filmhouse, Edinburgh. The Fourth Kind (15) ●●●●● (Olatunde Osunsanmi, US, 2009) Milla Jovovich, Carey Johnson, Daphne Alexander. 97min. Alien hokum set in Alaska and based on real-life reports. Selected release. The Girlfriend Experience (15) ●●●●● (Steven Soderbergh, US, 2009) Sasha Grey, Chris Santos, Philip Eytan. 77min. See review, page 49. Selected release. Glorious 39 (12A) ●●●●● (Stephen Poliakoff, UK, 2009) Romola Garai, Bill Nighy, Eddie Redmayne. 125min. Poliakoff production with stately country pile, lavish aristo picnic, soaring score, a sensational cast of British talent and a mystery lurking within a family at war. With tension ripping through the screenplay, there’s more to this than meets the eye, with the archetypal otherworldly dialogue being ditched in
favour of more precise exchanges while the sweeping soundtrack from Adrian Johnston underpins the austere drama to perfection. Cineworld Renfrew Street, Glasgow; Odeon, Edinburgh. Hannah Montana – The Movie (U) ●●●●● (Peter Chelsom, US, 2009) Miley Cyrus, Billy Ray Cyrus, Emily Osment. 102min. This new adventure comedy shows how the rising starlet deals with fame. Why, by hanging out with a bunch of rednecks in Tennessee and realising what matters most, of course. Absolute crud. Cineworld Parkhead, Glasgow; Cineworld Fountainpark, Edinburgh. Harry Brown (18) ●●●●● (Daniel Barber, UK, 2009) Emily Mortimer, Michael Caine, Iain Glen. 103min. Tabloid frenzied OAP vigilante flick in which an ex military man, played by Caine takes on the hooded youth of the housing scheme he lives in. Cynical, manipulative and hysterically directed nonsense to make us all more afraid. General release. Henri-Georges Clouzot’s Inferno (15) ●●●●● (Serge Bromberg/Ruxandra Medrea, France, 2009) Romy Schneider, Serge Reggiani, Jacques Gamblin. 100min. The fascinating tale of an unfinished masterpiece, reassembled from surviving footage and interviews with original crewmembers. Crazed filmmaker Henri- Georges Clouzot (the French Hitchcock in the eyes of many) never completed Inferno, a romantic thriller of obsessive jealousy that combined traditional filmmaking with radical new ideas from the art world – a great loss for cinema, if this is anything to go by. Cameo, Edinburgh. I Want To See (Je Veux Voir) (12A) ●●●●● (Joana Hadjithomas/Khalil Joreige, France, 2008) Catherine Deneuve, Rabih Mroue, Daniel Auwermann. 75min. Lebanese actor Rabih Mrouse escorts French actress Catherine Deneuve around the shell damaged streets of Beirut and the countryside of southern Lebanon in this semi improvised documentary/guided tour filmed in 2006 after the bombings of that summer. A misguided celebrity indulgence. Filmhouse, Edinburgh.
Spike Jonze’s new film Where The Wild Things Are is released on Friday 11 December (see feature, page 16). To mark the release of the film, Cameo cinema in Edinburgh and The List have decided to give two lucky readers an exclusive goody bag containing a WTWTA kite, t-shirt and poster (pictured). To be in with a chance of winning visit www.list.co.uk/offers 54 THE LIST 3–17 Dec 2009
Ramchand Pakistani New cinema from Pakistan comes courtesy of this special screening of Mehreen Jabbar’s uncompromising film about one boy’s rites of passage along
the Pakistan-Indian border at a time of tension between the two countries (2002). This screening is a collaborative effort between the venue, Heer Productions (the organisers of the Pakistani Film and Media and Arts Festival) and the Edinburgh Mela. It will be followed by a post film discussion hosted by Alina Mirza, artistic director of Heer Productions. ■ Filmhouse, Edinburgh, Sun 13 Dec.