Film INDEX
The Illusionist (12A) ●●●●● (Sylvain Chomet, UK/France, 2010) Voices: Jean- Claude Donda, Eilidh Rankin. 83min. The product of five years’ work in an animation studio that Chomet (Belleville Rendezvous) set up in Edinburgh when he fell in love with the capital after attending its International Film Festival, this is an uncannily accurate portrayal of Edinburgh and Scotland. The story is an unfilmed script from Jacques Tati and the main character, an ageing magician whose beloved act no longer interests the rock’n’rolling 1950s youth, is based somewhat on Tati himself and is carefully and emotively rendered by Chomet and his team. Cameo, Edinburgh. Imbiss Spezial (Fast Food Diner, East Berlin) (E) (Thomas Heise, East Germany, 1989) 27min. Documentary featuring conversations recorded in a diner in East Berlin on 7 October 1989. CCA, Glasgow. Imitation of Life (PG) ●●●●● (Douglas Sirk, US, 1959) Lana Turner, Juanita Moore, John Gavin. 124min. Sirk’s remake of the Claudette Colbert weepie lays on the soapie melodrama as the mothers of two intertwining families struggle to bring up their daughters. Glitzy, glamorous Hollywood wrapped in a pessimistic shroud. A Club Noir Film Club presentation. Glasgow Film Theatre. Involuntary (15) ●●●●● (Ruben Ostlund, Sweden, 2008) Villmar Bjorkman, Lola Ewerlund, Maria Lundqvist. 101min. A thoughtful and perceptive film from Sweden that uses five everyday unconnected stories to interrogate group mentality and explore what happens when an individual stands in opposition to the norm. Glasgow Film Theatre, Glasgow; Filmhouse, Edinburgh. It Happened One Night (PG) ●●●●● (Frank Capra, US, 1934) Clark Gable, Claudette Colbert, Rosscoe Karns. 105min. Pursued across the States by a roving reporter, a runaway heiress eventually falls for his charms. The first film to use buses and motel rooms as a backdrop and still come up trumps, it remains a classy peice of work. Part of Capra season. See feature, page 40. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Jackass 3D (18) ●●●●● (Jeff Tremaine, US, 2010) Johnny Knoxville, Steve-O, Bam Margera. Chris Pontius. 93min. See Also Released, page 43. General release. Kawasaki’s Rose (15) ●●●●● (Jan Hrebejk, Czech Republic, 2009) Lenka Vlasakova, Daniela Kolarova, Martin Huba. 100min. The last offering from Hrebejk is a drama about a university professor who stands up to the communist regime. Glasgow Film Theatre, Glasgow; Filmhouse, Edinburgh.
✽✽ The Kids are All Right (15) ●●●●● (Lisa Cholodenko, US, 2010)
Annette Benning, Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo. 106min. Original and insightful comedy of social dilemmas telling the story of lesbian couple Nic (Benning) and Jules (Moore) and the unpredictable events that unfold when their sperm-donated son Laser sets out to find his biological father. General release. King Kong (PG) ●●●●● (Merian C Cooper, US, 1933) Robert Armstrong, Fay Wray. 100min. A film producer on safari brings back a souvenir monster which terrorises New York in one of the all time great monster movies. Amazingly, the special effects still impress, but the film achieves classic status by successfully transposing the story of beauty and the beast into a Hollywood blockbuster movie. Grosvenor, Glasgow. Kontinuasom (15) (Oscar Martinez, Spain/Cape Verde, 2009) 80min. Documentary about a dancer from Cape Verde who is faced with a dilemma when given the chance to forge a new life and career in Portugal. Part of Africa in Motion. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. The Last Airbender (PG) ●●●●● (M Night Shyamalan, USA, 2010) Noah Ringer, Dev Patel, Nicola Peltz. 103min. Visually flashy but incomprehensible and joyless action adventure in which young Avatar Aang gets caught up in a tiff between the
46 THE LIST 4–18 Nov 2010
kingdoms of Earth, Wind, Fire and Water. Glasgow Film Theatre. Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’hoole 2D (PG) ●●●●● (Zack Snyder, USA/Australia, 2010) Jim Sturgess, Joel Edgerton, Ryan Kwanten. 90min. Off-kilter and inept owlimation from 300 director Snyder featuring Sturgess and Kwanten as young owlets kidnapped and pressed into service as soldiers, who attempt to seek out the mythic guardians of Ga’hoole and defeat the nefarious Metalbeak. Selected release. Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’hoole 3D (PG) ●●●●● (Zack Snyder, USA/Australia, 2010) Jim Sturgess, Joel Edgerton, Ryan Kwanten. 90min. See above. General release.
✽✽ Let Me In (15) ●●●●● (Matt Reeves, US, 2010) Kodi Smit-McPhee,
Chloe Moretz, Richard Jenkins. 116min. See review, page 42 and profile, listings. General release. Life as We Know It (12A) ●●●●● (Greg Berlanti, US, 2010) Katherine Heigel, Josh Duhamel. 114min. Career singles Holly (Katherine Heigl) and Eric (Josh Duhamel) are loving godparents to Sophie. They can’t stand each other but both share a love of their goddaughter. When Sophie’s parents die unexpectedly they find they themselves sharing a house and caring for Sophie. Harmless and likeable if predictable and uninspired rom- com. Selected release. Lifecycles and Vast (E) (Ryan Gibb/Brian Gottschalk & Fabian Haf, US/Switzerland, 2010) 95min. Double bill of mountain bike films shot in astonishing locations around the world. Glasgow Film Theatre.
✽✽ Little Nicolas (PG) (Laurent Tirard, France/Belgium, 2009) Maxime
Godart, Kad Merad, Sandrine Kiberlain. 91min. Comedy about the misadventures of a little boy in 1950s France. Part of French Film Festival. See Festival Focus, page 41. Filmhouse, Edinburgh.
✽✽ LOL (tbc) (Lisa Azuelos, France, 2009) Sophie Marceau, Francoise
Fabian, J Quivrin. 107min. Marceau plays an exasperated mother who joins her teenage daughter in the search for meaning. Part of French Film Festival. See Festival Focus, page 41. Glasgow Film Theatre.
Poetry & Motion
Made in Dagenham (15) ●●●●● (Nigel Cole, UK, 2010) Sally Hawkins, Miranda Richardson, Rosamund Pike. 112min. Entertaining crowd-pleaser made in the mould of British comic dramas such as director Nigel Cole’s other feature Calendar Girls dramatising the true story of the industrial dispute between the female work force and the management of the Ford’s motor plant that took place in suburban Essex in 1968. Starring Sally Hawkins. Selected release. Mademoiselle Chambon (15) (Stéphane Brizé, France, 2009) Vincent Lindon, Sandrine Kiberlain, Aure Atika. 101min. A father is confronted with difficult choices when he falls for his son’s teacher. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Making Plans for Lena (15) (Christophe Honoré, France, 2009) Chiara Mastroianni, Marina Fois. 105min. Drama following single mother Lena (Mastroianni) as she struggles to deal with a break-up despite her do-good family who are determined to make her happy again. Glasgow Film Theatre. Marmaduke (U) ●●●●● (Tom Dey, USA, 2010) Voices of Owen Wilson, George Lopez, William H Macy. 88min. Crude and unfunny adaptation of popular cartoon strip about the adventures of a clumsy Great Dane dog. Selected release.
✽✽ Mary and Max (12A) ●●●●● (Adam Elliot, Australia, 2009) Voices of
Toni Collette, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Barry Humphries. 92min. See review, page 42. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Monsters vs Aliens 2D (PG) ●●●●● (Rob Letterman, US, 2009) Voices of Reese Witherspoon, Seth Rogen, Hugh Laurie. 94min. Can a self-doubting but individualist team of monsters overcome a mob of self- confident, mass-produced aliens? Eye- popping to watch, leavened with self- referential humour that makes it easy to digest, but also playing things so painstakingly safe that any resonance evaporates the moment the end credits roll. Grosvenor, Glasgow. Mr Deeds Goes to Town (U) ●●●●● (Frank Capra, US, 1936) Gary Cooper, Jean Arthur, George Bancroft. 115min. A smalltown guy who writes verses for greetings cards inherits a huge amount of money and is whisked off to New York and a world of
lawyers and luxury. Part of Capra season. See feature, page 40. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Mr Nice (18) ●●●●● (Bernard Rose, UK, 2010) Rhys Ifans, Chloë Sevigny, David Thewlis. 120min. A giddy and good-natured comic romp through the life story of notorious Welsh marijuana smuggler Howard Marks, featuring a fine central performance from Ifans in the title role and a host of colourful side-characters whose antics occasionally swerve a little far into pantomime territory. Cineworld Renfrew Street, Glasgow; Empire, Clydebank. Mr Smith Goes to Washington (PG) ●●●●● (Frank Capra, US, 1939) James Stewart, Claude Rains, Jean Arthur. 130min. An ordinary man (Stewart) gets elected to the Senate and is expected to fall to the whims of his backers, until conscience enters the equation. Archetypal Stewart, archetypal Capra. One of western cinema’s most optimistic masterpieces. Part of Capra season. See feature, page 40. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Night and Day (15) (Hong Sangsoo, South Korea, 2008) Kim Youngho, Park Eunhye, Hwang Sujung. 145min. A Korean painter flees to Paris in this cynical comedy. Part of Hong Sangsoo season. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Oh! What a Lovely War (PG) ●●●●● (Richard Attenborough, UK, 1969) Ralph Richardson, John Gielgud, Jack Hawkins, Kenneth More, Michael Redgrave. 144min. A stellar and very British cast turns out for Attenborough’s first film as director, an adaptation (by novelist Len Deighton) of Charles Chilton’s hit West End anti-war musical. Songs of the day pepper the action, which attacks the upper-class officers who are indifferent to the deaths of their men. Hippodrome, Bo’ness.
✽✽ An Ordinary Execution (15) (Marc Dugain, France, 2010) André Dussollier, Marina Hands, Edouard Baer. 105min. An imagined version of Josef Stalin’s death, in which the aging dictator meets with a young doctor with mysterious healing powers. Part of French Film Festival. See Festival Focus, page 41. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. The Other Guys (12A) ●●●●● (Adam McKay, US, 2010) Will Ferrell, Mark Wahlberg, Samuel L Jackson. 107min. Pairing Ferrell and Wahlberg as the
Poems and poets in cinema are celebrated in this short season of films that includes Jane Campion’s Bright Star (pictured), a documentary about Russian poet Boris Ryzhy and Andrew Sinclair’s foolhardy but admirable 1972 adaptation of Dylan Thomas’ Under Milk Wood. This showcase of films is the result of collaboration with the mighty Scottish Poetry Library. ■ Filmhouse, Edinburgh, Sat 6–Sun 14 Nov.