Film Index Once Upon a Time in Mumbai (12A) (Milan Luthria, India, 2010) Ajay Devgan, Emraan Hashmi, Kangana Ranaut. 135min. Gangster film set in Bombay’s criminal underworld. Cineworld Renfrew Street, Glasgow. Plan B (15) (Marco Berger, Argentina, 2009) Manuel Vignau, Lucas Ferraro, Mercedes Quinteros. 103min. Bruno’s efforts to win back his ex take an unexpected turn when he falls for her gorgeous new boyfriend. Part of London Lesbian & Gay Film Festival on Tour. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Please Give (15) ●●●●● (Nicole Holofcener, US, 2010) Elizabeth Keener, Rebecca Hall, Elise Ivy. 90min. Oddly saccharine comedy of bad manners in which Keener plays a morally bankrupt New Yorker who makes no secret of the fact that she wants her neighbour dead so she can make her apartment bigger. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Predators (15) ●●●●● (Nimród Antal, USA, 2010) Adrien Brody, Topher Grace, Laurence Fishburne. 106min. Mysterious monstrous alien creatures hunt a tribe of elite warriors. Selected release. The Princess and the Frog (U) ●●●●● (Ron Clements/John Musker, US, 2010) Voices of Anika Noni Rose, Bruno Campos, Keith David. 97min. Set in 1920s Louisiana and featuring Disney’s first African-American Princess, this culturally important, beautiful and evocative (of a New Orleans that no longer exists) film may not have the standout musical numbers of some of its stablemates but is an old fashioned treat all the same. Cineworld Fountainpark, Edinburgh. The Railway Children (U) ●●●●● (Lionel Jeffries, UK, 1970) Dinah Sheridan, William Mervyn, Jenny Agutter. 108min. A trio of youngsters’ involvement with the railway that runs past their garden leads them into adventure. Pleasing family film with an old-fashioned, comfortably British feel that sets it apart from contemporary kids movies. Glasgow Film Theatre. Ran (15) ●●●●● (Akira Kurosawa, Japan/France, 1985) Tatsuya Nakadai, Mieko Harada, Akira Terao. 162min. Kurosawa’s King Lear is a bleak and despairing vision of mankind torn apart by disunity, personal vengeances and family feuds that produce no honour, no victors, just victims. An accomplished fusion of Japanese history and blood-drenched Shakespearean drama, this film grows more impressive with repeated viewings.
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108 THE LIST 5–12 Aug 2010
Part of Kurosawa season. Glasgow Film Theatre. The Rebound (15) ●●●●● (Bart Freundlich, USA, 2009) Catherine Zeta- Jones, Justin Bartha, Kelly Gould. 95min. Catherine Zeta-Jones plays a newly separated woman in her forties who takes up with seemingly perfect younger man Aram (Justin Bartha) for a bit of fun. It’s cute, schmaltzy and slick, with a bizarre cameo from Art Garfunkel as Aram’s dad. Selected release. The Royal Opera: La Bohème (E) (2010) Pyotr Beczala, Hibla Gerzmava. 105min. Join the Royal Opera for Puccini’s La Bohème. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. The Royal Tenenbaums (15) ●●●●● (Wes Anderson, US, 2002) Gene Hackman, Anjelica Huston, Gwyneth Paltrow. 110min. The Tenenbaums are no ordinary family. Descended from a long line of overachievers, these New York geniuses are now in stultifying decline. The memory of the brilliance of the young Tenenbaums has since been erased by two decades of betrayal, failure and domestic disaster, most of which is perceived by the family to be the fault of absent father, Royal (Hackman). Then, at the very moment his three grown-up children have, for various reasons, all moved back into the rambling home of their mother, Royal decides he wants his family. With Tenenbaums, Anderson (Rushmore) has surpassed himself with an enchanting, odd tale of an awkward family and its members’ impossible magnetic attraction to each other. Glasgow Film Theatre. Sex and the City 2 (15) ●●●●● (Michael Patrick King, US, 2010) Sarah Jessica Parker, Kristin Davis, Cynthia Nixon. 146min. Here come the girls, again. Cameo, Edinburgh. The Shepherds of Berneray (U) (Jack Shea, UK, 1981) 54min. An account of the hard life on the island of Berneray, north of North Uist, and the economic and environmental pressures which force people to move to the mainland. CCA, Glasgow. Shrek Forever After 2D (PG) ●●●●● (Mike Mitchell, US, 2010) Voices: Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz. 93min. A fourth and final instalment, rebooting the flagging franchise with a new alternate-reality twist which sees Shrek escape fatherhood for a one-day return to his bachelor years. A warmed-over sequel that lazily re-
configures familiar elements to mildly pleasing effect. General release. Shrek Forever After 3D (PG) (Mike Mitchell, US, 2010) Voices: Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz. 93min. See above. Selected release. The Sorcerer’s Apprentice (PG) ●●●●● (Jon Turteltaub, USA, 2010) Nicolas Cage, Jay Baruchel, Alfred Molina. 111min. See review, page 104. General release. South of the Border (15) ●●●●● (Oliver Stone, USA, 2009) 77min. In his documentary about Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, Stone travels through seven countries he thinks have benefited from a united socialist front, challenging the orthodoxy on Chavez in an engrossing and entertaining manner. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Space Chimps (U) ●●●●● (Kirk De Micco, US, 2008) Voices of Andy Samber, Cheryl Hines, Jeff Daniels. 80min. On the whim of a sinister senator (Tucci), Ham III (Samberg) – the circus performer grandson of one of the first chimpanzees in space – is sent into orbit to retrieve a missing satellite. With endless monkey and banana puns and bog-standard animation, Space Chimps is strictly for easily pleased little monkeys. Vue Ocean, Edinburgh. Space Chimps 2 – Zartog Strikes Back 2D (U) ●●●●● (John H Williams, US, 2010) Voices: Laura Bailey, Zack Shada. 75min. Those box office- busting chimps are back for more family fun. Vue Omni, Edinburgh.
✽✽ Splice (15) ●●●●● (Vincenzo Natali, Canada/France/USA, 2009)
Adrien Brody, Sarah Polley, Delphine Chanéac. 104min. After geneticists create a half-human creature who quickly grows into a beautiful woman, Natali gives himself carte blanche to play with the idea of the God complex, empty womb syndrome and the sins of the parents. A whole lot of fun and the denouement is a killer. Selected release. Step Up 3 2D (12A) ●●●●● (Jon Chu, USA, 2010) Alyson Stoner, Sharni Vinson, Rick Malambri. 107min. See Also Released, page 104. General release. Step Up 3 3D (12A) ●●●●● (Jon Chu, USA, 2010) Alyson Stoner, Sharni Vinson, Rick Malambri. 107min. See above. General release. StreetDance 2D (PG) ●●●●● (Max Giwa/Dania Pasquini, UK, 2010) Nichola Burley, Charlotte Rampling, George Sampson. 98min. Carly (Burley) and her crew attempt to triumph at the UK Street
The Man in the White Suit which foresaw (in it’s own whimsical way) the modern corporate crime of inbuilt obsolescence, is showing in the Sunday matinee slot and will be preceded by a 15 minute selection of films about science and the future from the Scottish Film Archive. ■ GFT, Glasgow, Sun 8 Aug. Alexander Mackendrick’s charming 1954 Ealing comedy,
Dance Championships with the unlikely help of some ballet students. Cultures clash, romance is found and the kids find new ways to express themselves – a conventional story, which brings absolutely nothing new to the genre. Vue Ocean, Edinburgh. Tooth Fairy (PG) ●●●●● (Michael Lembeck, US, 2010) Dwayne Johnson, Ashley Judd. 101min. Leaden fantasy in which The Rock plays a a cynical ice- hockey player who is whisked to Fairyland when he cruelly disabuses a toddler of the notion that the tooth fairy exists, and is sentenced to a punishment of two weeks hard graft as a fairy. Selected release.
✽✽ Toy Story 3 2D (U) ●●●●● (Lee Unkrich, USA, 2010) Voices of
Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack. 108min. Andy has grown up and is on the way to college, so everyone’s favourite toys are packed off to Sunnyside day-care centre. After a whirlwind of close-cut situations, the film manages to retain its good humour and pathos long enough to bring all the characters safely to a satisfying resolution. General release.
✽✽ Toy Story 3 3D (U) ●●●●● (Lee Unkrich, USA, 2010) Voices of
Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack. 108min. See above. General release. The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (12A) ●●●●● (David Slade, US, 2010) Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner. 123min. The epic relationship between Bella (Stewart) and undead Edward (Pattinson) falters when her new lupine friend Jacob (Lautner) is added to the mix. Will humans, vampires and werewolves ever get on? The fun of Twilight is seeing this situation treated as though it is of life- shattering importance. General release. Undertow (Contracorriente) (15) ●●●●● (Javier Fuentes-León, Peru/Colombia/France/Germany, 2009) Cristian Mercado, Tatiana Astengo, Manolo Cardona. 100min. See review, page 104. Glasgow Film Theatre; Cameo, Edinburgh. Villa Amalia (PG) ●●●●● (Benoit Jacquot, France, 2009) Isabelle Huppert, Maya Sansa, Xavier Beauvois. 94min. On discovering her husband’s infidelity, a concert pianist (Huppert) systematically destroys all traces of her past life and sets of with only a weekend bag for the Neapolitan coast. The editing of this spare existential drama is elliptical, heightening the mysteriousness of the encounters within, and the impressive cinematography and powerfully dissonant score only add to a memorable achievement. Cameo, Edinburgh. Whatever Works (12A) ●●●●● (Woody Allen, US, 2009) Ed Begley Jr, Patricia Clarkson, Larry David. 91min. David plays a misanthropic nuclear physicist whose life is suddenly changed when a naïve runaway waif from the Deep South (Wood) turns up on his doorstep. Promising beginnings give way in the second half and this doesn’t quite amount to the comedy delight that aficionados of Jewish humour may hanker after. Cameo, Edinburgh. Wild Grass (Les Herbes Folles) (12A) ●●●●● (Alain Resnais, France, 2009) Sabine Azema, Andre Dussollier, Emmanuelle Devos, Mathieu Amalric. 103min. Adapted from Christian Gailly’s novel The Incident, Wild Grass follows the burgeoning amour fou between Georges (Dussollier) and Marguerite (Azema) after he recovers her stolen purse in a parking lot. The giddiness of the affair is reflected in the soaring camerawork, while the titular wild grass becomes a recurrent motif, showing how passion flourishes even in ordinary worlds. Glasgow Film Theatre.
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