www.list.co.uk/film Guzaarish (12A) (Sanjay Leela Bhansali, India, 2010) Hrithik Roshan, Aishwarya Rai. 125min. Bollywood drama about euthanasia. Odeon at the Quay, Glasgow. Hamlet (E) (Nicholas Hytner, UK, 2010) Rory Kinnear, David Calder, Ruth Negga. 210min. Production of Shakespeare’s greatest tragedy with Kinnear in the title role, filmed at the National Theatre in London in high definition and broadcast live by satellite. Glasgow Film Theatre. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 (12A) ●●●●● (David Yates, UK/US, 2010) Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint. 146min. The seventh installment of the wildly popular wizard franchise is an atmospheric but emotionally hollow and rather rushed take on Rowling’s original, with a strong performance from ever-dependable Grint but little else to recommend it other than as an appetiser for next summer’s grand finale. General release. Hubble 3D (U) (Toni Meyers, Canada, 2010) 44min. Leonardo Di Caprio narrates the latest 3D IMAX space adventure. IMAX Theatre, Glasgow. I was Happy Here (PG) ●●●●● (Desmond Davis, UK, 1966) Sarah Miles, Cyril Cusack, Julian Glover. 91min. Emotive tale in which an Irish woman flees her bullying husband for her rural home village. Part of Projecting the Archive. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. 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; Grosvenor, Glasgow. It’s a Wonderful Life (PG) ●●●●● (Frank Capra, US, 1946) James Stewart, Donna Reed, Henry Travers, Thomas Mitchell. 129min. Small-town boy Stewart runs into financial difficulties and is on the brink of suicide when an elderly angel descends to earth to show him all the good his life has done for those around him. Archetypal Capra sentimentality with a superbly detailed fantasy framework and one of Stewart’s most lovable performances. One to warm even the most glacial heart. Glasgow Film Theatre. Jackass 3D (18) ●●●●● (Jeff Tremaine, US, 2010) Johnny Knoxville, Steve-O, Bam Margera. Chris Pontius. 93min. Knoxville and his daredevil buddies get up to more mischief. This time in 3D. General release. Jeremy Hardy vs The Israeli Army (15) ●●●●● (Leila Sansour, UK/Palestine, 2003) 75min. You’d have hoped this would turn out to be a British answer to Bowling to Columbine. Give one of the country’s funniest and most righteous comedians a video camera, send him to Tel Aviv and on to the occupied territories and watch him deliver a scathing attack on the Israeli presence in Palestine with wit and political insight. Not a great piece of cinema, but a poignant and still pertinent record. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey (12A) (Ashutosh Gowariker, India, 2010) Abhishek Bachchan, Deepika Padukone, Sikander Kher. 133min. Hindi period drama set in 1930s British India. Cineworld Renfrew Street, Glasgow. 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. Cameo, Edinburgh. The Killing (PG) ●●●●● (Stanley Kubrick, US, 1956) Sterling Hayden, Coleen Gray, Vince Edwards. 83min. Kubrick’s partially abstract vision of Jim Thompson’s novel creates classic film noir with its perfectly cast and rawly vivid depiction of greed and corruption. An ex- con recruits the help of small time crooks to rob two million from a racetrack, and the tightly structured narrative follows the ensuing chaos as the plan falls apart. Influential heist film, which set Kubrick on the road to greatness. CCA, Glasgow. Knight and Day (12A) ●●●●● (James Mangold, USA, 2010) Tom Cruise, Cameron Diaz, Peter Sarsgaard. 109min. Cruise’s turn as madcap assassin Roy Miller is sadly nothing more than a reprise of his Mission Impossible persona, while his kidnapee, Diaz, flusters her way through the film. This pumped-up spy thriller is a mix of fake CGI and faker romance, allowing neither star to shine. Vue Ocean, Edinburgh. Laura’s Star (U) ●●●●● (Piet De Rycker/Thilo Rothkirch, Germany/Bulgaria, 2004) 80min. Sickly sweet animation about a seven-year-old girl who finds a lucky star which she must return to the sky before it dies. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Laurel Canyon (18) ●●●●● (Lisa Cholodenko, US, 2003) Frances McDormand, Christian Bale, Kate Beckinsale, Natascha McElhone, Alessandro Nivola. 104min. McDormand gives one of her best performances in years as the seducer, veteran record producer Jane, a sexual free spirit whose current, main squeeze is a much younger British rock singer. Erotic sparks fly when her puritanical psychiatrist son, Sam (Bale), and his equally uptight fiancée, Alex (Beckinsale) are forced to share Jane’s house in the Hollywood Hills. Laid-back, mature and sexy entertainment. Cameo, Edinburgh.
INDEX Film
The Legend of Paul and Paula (15) (Heiner Carow, East Germany, 1973) Angelica Domröse, Winfried Glatzeder, Heidemarie Wenzel. 105min. Feted feature from the Deutsche Film-Aktiengesellschaft, better known as DEFA, the state-owned East German film company, about a young couple’s struggle for individual freedom in an oppressive state. Part of East Side Stories season. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. 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. Vue Ocean, Edinburgh. Lemmy (15) (Greg Olliver, Wes Orshoski, US, 2010) 116min. Documentary about heavy metal god Lemmy Kilmister of Motörhead. Cameo, Edinburgh. Let Me In (15) ●●●●● (Matt Reeves, US, 2010) Kodi Smit-McPhee, Chloe Moretz, Richard Jenkins. 116min. An American remake of Swedish film Let the Right One In. Bullied school kid Owen (Smit-McPhee) befriends neighbour Abby (Moretz) only to find she’s a creature of the night. Where the film falls down is in its poor CGI, rendering the vampires more laughable than scary. Hippodrome, Bo’ness. Life as we Know it (12A) ●●●●● (Greg Berlanti, US, 2010) Katherine Heigel, Josh Duhamel. 114min. Career singles Holly (Heigl) and Eric (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. Vue Ocean, Edinburgh.
2–16 Dec 2010 THE LIST 49