Film Index
The Rocky Horror Picture Show (15) ●●●●● (Jim Sharman, UK, 1975) Tim Curry, Susan Sarandon, Barry Bostwick, Meat Loaf. 100min. The cult film to end all others, this rock spoof on old horror movies has created a breed of Rocky Horror crazies, and packs them in at late shows everywhere. The film has its moments, and Curry is splendidly camp as the bisexual Frank N Furter. Grosvenor, Glasgow. Roman Holiday (U) ●●●●● (William Wyler, US, 1953) Audrey Hepburn, Gregory Peck, Eddie Albert. 118min. Overatted but easy to watch fairytale romance about a fleeing princess (Hepburn) and her relationship with a journalist in 50s Italy. St Bride’s Centre, Edinburgh. The Royal Opera: La Bohème (E) (, US, 2010) Pyotr Beczala, Hibla Gerzmava. 105min. Join the Royal Opera for Puccini’s La Bohème. Cineworld Renfrew Street, Glasgow. Salaam Scotland Film FestivalPart of a festival of Muslim life and culture featuring film, theatre, comedy, literature and music events. The film strand features movies from around the world which showcase Muslim talent, as well as showing the representation of Muslims and Islam in film. CCA, Glasgow. Salaam Scotland Film Festival: Friday Programme (E) (Various) 360min. Today’s programme includes Scottish Shorts, featuring discussions about Muslims, and other minorities, in the film industry, American Comedy Shorts, a series of four short films from Zarqa Nawaz and Ismaël Ferroukhi’s 2004 feature Le Grange Voyage. CCA, Glasgow. Salaam Scotland Film Festival: Saturday Programme (E) (Various) 420min. Featuring a screening of Yoni Brook’s documentary feature A Son’s Sacrifice, Danish film Fighter and documentary Deen Tight. CCA, Glasgow. Salaam Scotland Film Festival: Sunday Programme (E) (Various) 270min. Programme of documentaries including I Bring What I Love, The Imam & The Pastor and God’s House – Muslims Who Saved Jews During WWII. CCA, Glasgow. Scottish Students on Screen (E) (, UK, Various)One day festival featuring a range of different sessions, workshops and master-classes with industry professionals. CCA, Glasgow. 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. Cameo, Edinburgh. The Shawshank Redemption (15) ●●●●● (Frank Darabont, US, 1994) Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman, Bob Gunton. 143min. Banged up for a crime he didn’t commit (ain’t they all?) quiet man Robbins plans a slow but effective revenge on the unnecessarily harsh prison regime. Freeman excels as the fellow con with an uncanny knack for procuring desired items. The film is certainly overlong, but the apocryphal feel to the storytelling and the period detail are well handled in what is, ultimately, a very fine movie indeed. Scotsman Screening Room, Edinburgh. 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. Showcase Cinema, Paisley.
✽✽ Shutter Island (15) ●●●●● (Martin Scorsese, US, 2010) Leonardo
DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley. 138min. See feature, page 43 and review, page 44. General release from Fri 12 March.
50 THE LIST 4–18 Mar 2010
The Singing Revolution (E) (James Tusty/Maureen Castle Tusty, 2007) 92min. A documentary about Estonia’s singing revolution, where, between 1987 and 1991 Estonians sought to free themselves from decades of Soviet occupation and gathered in public to sing forbidden patriotic songs and rally for independence. Gilmorehill G12, Glasgow. A Single Man (12A) ●●●●● (Tom Ford, USA, 2009) Colin Firth, Julianne Moore, Nicholas Hoult. 99min. The fashion industry’s Tom Ford adapts Christopher Isherwood’s spare, lyrical study of alienation and loss for his film debut. Tracing a day in the life of George Falconer (Firth), a middle-aged English college professor, a series of flashbacks outline George’s 16-year relationship with the recently deceased Jim (Matthew Goode). A frustrating experience, this is at times achingly moving, but ultimately it relies too heavily on redundant visual gimmicks. Selected release. Small Revolts (15) (Kyriakos Katzourakis, Greece, 2009) Katia Yerou, Dimitiris Plionis, Martha Fritzila. 104min. A young artist finds a mural by Panselinos in a northern Greek border town and is inspired when he meets a married woman who looks like the painting. The pair begin a passionate affair and the young woman leaves her abusive husband when she falls pregnant with the artist’s child. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Solomon Kane (15) ●●●●● (Michael J Bassett, France/Czech Republic/UK, 2009) James Purefoy, Rachel Hurd-Wood, Mackenzie Crook. 104min. Based on a lesser-known character by Conan The Barbarian creator Robert E Howard, Purefoy dons Solomon Kane’s Witchfinder General hat and sets out to bloodily revenge the murder of an innocent family who befriended him. A decent-if-generic stab at a low-budget blockbuster. General release. Stolen (15) ●●●●● (Violeta Ayala & Dan Fallshaw, Australia, 2009) 76min. This compelling documentary about a family reunion in a refugee camp run by the Polisario Liberastion Front in Algeria, has since become the centre of great commotion as the Polisario authorities struggle to cover up the fact that refugees are being used as slaves. A Scottish Documentary Institute presentation. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Taking Woodstock (15) ●●●●● (Ang Lee, US, 2009) Henry Goodman, Edward Hibbert, Imelda Staunton. 110min. Focusing primarily on the personal trials of Woodstock’s organiser, this amiable comedy about how the world’s most iconic music festival came to pass is less about the goings-on on stage and more about the vibes, man. Milder than Lee’s previous work, it nevertheless hints at the dark clouds gathering on the horizon with a late reference to Altamont. Vue Ocean, Edinburgh. Talk to Her (15) ●●●●● (Pedro Almodóvar, Spain, 2002) Javier Cámara, Darío Grandinetti, Rosario Flores, Leonor Watling. 112min. Benigno (Cámara) and Marco (Grandinetti) are in love with two women, both of whom are hospitalised in comatose states, and out of these tragic circumstances a friendship forms between the two men. Talk to Her is mature Almodóvar; Spain’s most famous filmmaker on top form, describing complex characters and complicated emotional states in expert storytelling fashion. A flawless film and a treat for cinema lovers. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. The White Stripes: Under Great White Northern Lights (15) (Emmett Malloy, US, 2009) 92min. Documentary about the White Stripes’ idiosyncratic 1997 tour in which they endeavoured to play in every province and territory in Canada. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Tokyo Story (U) ●●●●● (Yasujiro Ozu, Japan, 1953) Chishu Ryu, Chieko Higashiyama, Toru Abu. 135min. Ozu’s brilliant seminal meditation on age and the generation gap was always one of cinema’s postwar masterpieces, and now it receives the digital restoration treatment. If you haven’t seen this before then miss at your peril. Part of Ozu season. Glasgow Film Theatre, Glasgow. 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 vamp romance, but Twilight followers will enjoy the assiduous casting, convincing CGI and fantastic soundtrack. Cineworld Renfrew Street, Glasgow; Cineworld Fountainpark, Edinburgh. 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 Parkhead, Glasgow; Cineworld Fountainpark, Edinburgh.
Girls on Film Short film season celebrating the role of women in contemporary Japanese cinema. Highlights include
love hotel set drama Asyle (pictured), season opener Non-ko, a sweet tale of loneliness and second chances and How to Become Myself, Jun Tony Takitani Ichikawa’s acutely observational portrait of what it means to be a schoolgirl in Japan today. Ticket deals available. ■ Filmhouse, Edinburgh from Wed 10-Sun 14 Mar.
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. Selected release. Valentine’s Day (12A) ●●●●● (Garry Marshall, UK, 2010) Julia Roberts, Ashton Kutcher, Jessica Alba. 124min. Romantic comedy intertwining stories that take place over the course of one Valentine’s Day. General release. Welcome (15) ●●●●● (Phillippe Lioret, France, 2009) Vincent Lindon, Firat Ayverdi, Audrey Dana. 109min. The plight of the immigrant and the viciousness of casual racism are the backdrop for this warm and engrossing drama about Bilal (Ayverdi), a young Iraqi refugee on his way to England who enlists the help of a former Olympic swimmer to help him swim the Channel. The resulting friendship is portrayed with intensity and detail, aided by the solid presence of Vincent Lindon as the reluctant coach. Glasgow Film Theatre, Glasgow. Where the Wild Things Are (PG) ●●●●● (Spike Jonze, US, 2009) Max Records, Pepita Emmerichs, Mark Ruffalo. 100min. Maurice Sendak’s nine-sentence children’s tale about a boy whose bedroom turns into a forest full of huge creatures gets the Spike Jonze (Being John Malkovich) treatment. Any joy here comes from the brilliant production design of the creatures – Jonze opts to use puppetry over CGI and this gives the action an ethereal quality. Unfortunately the creatures are emotional stereotypes and as such, lack dimension. Odeon at the Quay, Glasgow; Odeon Wester Hailes, Edinburgh. The Wolfman (15) ●●●●● (Joe Johnston, UK/US, 2010) Benicio Del Toro, Emily Blunt, Anthony Hopkins. 102min. Remake of the classic 1941 creature feature. The set pieces are impressive and bloody but this is more of an action blockbuster than a period horror. There’s an over reliance on CGI and it certainly has its sillier moments, particularly the climatic confrontation. Good cheesy fun but don’t expect any psychological depth examining the beast within. General release. The Young Victoria (PG) ●●●●● (Jean-Marc Vallée, UK/US, 2009) Rupert Friend, Emily Blunt, Mark Strong. 104min. Was she just another inbred royal or was she a caring monarch who loved her country as much as she loved her boring husband? These are just a few of the questions asked of Queen Victoria by Julian Fellowes in his typically expansive and witty screenplay. Produced by Scorsese and featuring the cream of British cinema, this feels like the real deal, but Vallée’s ill- judged handling of the material sadly disappoints. Cineworld Renfrew Street, Glasgow; Cineworld Fountainpark, Edinburgh. Youth in Revolt (15) ●●●●● (Miguel Arteta, US, 2009) Michael Cera, Portia Doubleday, Jean Smart. 90min. Cera is quite superb as both a sensitive, sex- obsessed virgin and his rebellious alter ego, a moustachioed Wayfarer-wearing Frenchman inspired by Jean-Paul Belmondo, in this charming coming-of-age comedy about a trailer-bound teenager who falls head-over-heels for his holiday romance. Adapted from the 1993 novel by CD Payne. Cineworld Renfrew Street, Glasgow. Z (15) ●●●●● (Costa-Gavras, France/Algeria, 1965) Yves Montand, Irene Papas, Jean-Louis Trintignant. 127min. Left-wing thriller based on the 1965 Lambrakis affair, in which investigation of the accidental death of a medical professor uncovered a network of police and government corruption. Part of Greek Film Festival. Filmhouse, Edinburgh.