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her terrain by the French Land Registry office. Cameo, Edinburgh.
✽✽ Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll (18) ●●●●● (Mat Whitecross, UK,
2010) Andy Serkis, Olivia Williams, Naomie Harris. 115min. In this amusing biopic of Ian Drury, Whitecross sets up the story as a vaudeville act fronted by the musician in which fantasy, dreams and realism are mixed to discuss Drury’s life in a thematic rather than chronological manner. Serkis plays Dury as a brash, no- nonsense and often confused man, whose rebellious nature made him a charismatic personality, terrible lover and great songwriter. Largely entertaining, but not without fault, much like Dury himself. Selected release. Shattered Glass (12A) ●●●●● (Billy Ray, US, 2003) Hayden Christensen, Peter Sarsgaard, Chloë Sevigny, Rosario Dawson, Melanie Lynskey. 94min. Tom Cruise produced this singularly intelligent US indie that details the highs and lows of the journalistic career of real life fabulist Stephen Glass, a young man who was found to have made up half of his groundbreaking investigative stories in the late 1990s. A fascinating cautionary tale that offers real insight into the machinations of the US small press world. Christiensen and Sarsgaard shine in the lead roles. Part of Heroes and Villians: Journalism On Screen season. Glasgow Film Theatre. Sherlock Holmes (12A) ●●●●● (Guy Ritchie, UK/Australia/US, 2009) Robert Downey Jr, Jude Law, Rachel McAdams. 128min. Ritchie’s long-awaited, high-octane action interpretation of Arthur Conan Doyle’s legendary hero. General release. The Soloist (12) ●●●●● (Joe Wright, UK/US/France, 2009) Robert Downey Jr, Nathaniel Ayers, Catherine Keener. 117min. Wright makes a splashy stateside debut with this true-life drama about an unexpected friendship between world-weary LA journalist Steve Lopez (Downey Jr) and homeless musician Nathaniel Ayers (Foxx).
This isn’t a bad effort, but it falls well short of the greatness it clearly aspires to. Empire, Clydebank. St Trinian’s 2: The Legend of Fritton’s Gold (PG) (Barnaby Thompson/Oliver Parker, UK, 2009) Rupert Everett, Colin Firth, Talulah Riley. 106min. More naughty girls’ adventures in this revived Ealing comedy franchise starring various members of Girls Aloud. This time the girls go in search of hidden treasure. General release. Star Trek (12A) ●●●●● (JJ Abrams, US/Germany, 2009) Chris Pine, Jennifer Morrison, Simon Pegg. 126min. A quirk in the space-time continuum allows both a sequel and prequel to the already vast Star Trek oeuvre, in which Lost creator Abrams surpasses his previous film efforts to reinvent the whole dynamic of the USS Enterprise. Emotional struggles from Pine as Captain Kirk and Zachary Quinto as Vulcan Spock mix with adrenaline packed adventure to ensure that Star Trek is that rare thing, a blockbuster with humour and guts. Part of 10 from 09 season. Filmhouse, Edinburgh.
✽✽ Still Walking (U) ●●●●● (Hirokazu Koreeda, Japan, 2008)
Yoshio Harada, Hiroshi Abe, Kinn Kiki. 114min. See review, page 49. Glasgow Film Theatre. That Kind of Girl (12A) (Gerry O’Hara, UK, 1966) Margaret Rose Keil, David Weston, Linda Marlowe. 77min. Overlooked film from the BFI National Archive about a continental au pair in London who gets caught up with a peace- protestor. Plus JB Holmes’ 1945 short film The People at No 19. Cameo, Edinburgh. Theorem (15) (Pier Paulo Pasolini, Italy, 1968) Terence Stamp, Silvana Mangano, Massimo Girotti, Anne Wiazemsky. 98min. Pasolini’s twin obsessions, Christianity and Marxism, are brought searingly to life in this intense fable, featuring Tel as a mysterious Christ figure who creates spiritual, sexual and emotional upheavals
within a wealthy family when he stays for a short time in their home. Enigmatic and powerful. Glasgow Film Theatre. 3 Idiots (12A) (Rajkumar Hirani, India, 2009) Aamir Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Madhavan. 135min. A knockabout comedy journey of two friends searching for their third amigo – Bollywood-style. Odeon at the Quay, Glasgow. To Kill a Mockingbird (PG) ●●●●● (Robert Mulligan, US, 1962) Gregory Peck, Mary Badham, Philip Alford, Brock Peters. 129min. Sturdy film adaptation of the classic Harper Lee novel which won an Oscar for Peck as a liberal lawyer in the Deep South defending a black man accused of rape. The material is delicately handled as Peck attempts to explain the situation to his children, and Duvall makes his screen debut as their friend, a man with learning difficulties. Brunton Theatre, Edinburgh.
✽✽ Toy Story 2 3D (U) ●●●●● (John Lasseter, US, 2009) Voices of
Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack. 94min. Lasseter’s masterful sequel gets the silly glasses treatment. We’re just happy to see it back on the big screen – dimensionally enhanced or not. See Also Released, page 49. Selected release. Tropic of Cancer (18) ●●●●● (Joseph Strick, US, 1970) Rip Torn, James T Callahan, Ellen Burstyn. 87min. Racy adaptation of Henry Miller’s Tropic of Cancer about an American expat author living in 1960s Paris. Part of The films of Joseph Strick season. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. The Twilight Saga: New Moon (12A) ●●●●● (Chris Weitz, US, 2009) Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner. 130min. A faithful reproduction of Meyer’s second book covering the middle ground of the series. The epic relationship between Bella (Stewart) and undead Edward (Pattinson) falters, leaving space for a new lupine love rival and resulting in some close brushes with vampire law-makers the Volturi. For naysayers, this is insipid teen
The Wicker Man remote Scottish island. Hardy is currently working on a sequel to the film. ■ Grosvenor, Glasgow on Fri 22 & Sat 23; GFT, Glasgow on Fri 29 Jan. Late night screening of Robin Hardy’s brilliant Scottish horror starring the late Edward Woodward as a police inspector investigating a child’s disappearance on a
Index Film
vamp romance, but Twilight followers will enjoy the assiduous casting, convincing CGI and fantastic soundtrack. Selected release. Under the Sea 3D (U) (Howard Hall, UK, 2009) Jim Carrey. 65min. Carrey narrates an underwater 3D look at the impact of global warming upon the diverse coastal regions of Southern Australia, New Guinea and the Indo-Pacific areas. IMAX Theatre, Glasgow. Up 2D (U) ●●●●● (Pete Docter/Bob Peterson, US, 2009) Voices of Christopher Plummer, Edward Asner, Paul Eiding. 96min. Seventy-eight–year-old curmudgeon Carl Fredericksen and eight-year-old Junior Wilderness Explorer Russell embark on the adventure of a lifetime in South America. While it unfolds on a grand scale, at its heart is a human story that will resonate with viewers of every age. Marrying sadness with triumph, Pixar have created another masterpiece. Cineworld Fountainpark, Edinburgh. Up in the Air (15) ●●●●● (Jason Reitman, US, 2009) George Clooney, Vera Farmiga, Anna Kendrick. 109min. Thank You For Smoking and Juno director Reitman presents a timely and absorbing examination of our recession-hit world. Adapted from Walter Kirn’s novel, the film centres on well-groomed executive Ryan Bingham (Clooney). Flying from city-to- city, Bingham is hired to fire, but the rub comes when we learn that Bingham’s life on the road is being threatened thanks to a new scheme by a grad-school whiz. Poignant, prescient, sharp and incisive. General release. Veer (15) (Anil Sharma, India, 2010) Salman Khan, Mithun Chakraborty, Jackie Shroff. 123min. See Also Released, page 49. Selected release. Visible Secret (15) (Ann Hui, Hong Kong, 2001) Eason Chan, Qi Shu, Anthony Wong. 98min. Taiwanese actress Qi Shu stars as June, a woman whose left eye sees ghosts, in this comedy/traditional ghost story hybrid. Part of Visible Secrets: Hong Kong's Women Filmmakers season. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Voices of the Holocaust (12) (Various) 90min. Glasgow secondary school pupils perform dramatic monologues, developed with the Citizen’s Theatre, and pupils from Shawlands Academy present a short film about their experiences of visiting Auschwitz-Birkenau. An event held in remembrance of the victims of the Holocaust. A Holocaust Memorial Day screening. Glasgow Film Theatre. WALL-E (U) ●●●●● (Andrew Stanton, US, 2008) Voices of Fred Willard, Jeff Garlin, Ben Burtt. 103min. Inspired by sci- fi classics from the 1960s and 70s, Pixar have created a post-apocalyptic story set in a future in which the Earth has been abandoned by humankind, where a solitary robot named WALL-E executes his now pointless trash collecting programme. At its heart this is a very sweet romantic comedy, and that’s what provides the emotional clout. Empire, Clydebank. Water Horse: Legend of the Deep (PG) ●●●●● (Jay Russell, US/UK, 2007) Emily Watson, Brian Cox, Joel Tobeck. 111min. Blending monster thrills with a thoughtful pacifist message, this adaptation of Dick King-Smith’s well- loved book tells of the friendship between Angus and the legendary creature Nessie, who he rears from an egg into a full-blown beastie. Although mainly shot in New Zealand to facilitate the involvement of the Weta Digital special-effects house, the film is firmly set in WWII-era Scotland. An old-school alternative to the frantic nature of most children’s films, Water Horse finally provides our beloved monster with the film it deserves. Brunton Theatre, Edinburgh. The Way We Are (PG) (Ann Hui, Hong Kong, 2008) Paw Hee-Ching, Leung Chun- lung. 91min. Winning a sweep of awards at the 2009 Hong Kong Film Awards, Hui’s understated film chronicles the life of a mother and son as they get on with their lives in Hong Kong’s ‘City of Sadness’, Tin Shui Wai. Part of Visible Secrets: Hong Kong's Women Filmmakers season. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. 21 Jan–4 Feb 2010 THE LIST 55