www.list.co.uk/film and Edmund (Keynes) Pevensie return to Narnia with their cousin Eustace (Will Poulter), where they meet up with Prince Caspian (Barnes) for a trip across the sea aboard the royal ship The Dawn Treader. Along the way they encounter dragons, dwarves, and warriors before reaching the edge of the world. CS Lewis’ saga adaptation continues. General release. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader 3D (PG) ●●●●● (Michael Apted, US, 2010) Ben Barnes, Skandar Keynes, Tilda Swinton. 112min. See above. General release. A Day in the Life: Four Portraits of Post-War Britain by John Krish (U) (John Krish, UK, Various) 92min. Four short films made between 1953 and 1964 by understated but wholly engaged film maker John Krish. See picture caption, Listings. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Despicable Me 2D (U) ●●●●● (Pierre Coffin/Chris Renaud, US, 2010) Voices of Steve Carell, Jason Segel, Russell Brand. 94min. Universal’s latest offering is a good-humoured tale of a curmudgeonly aspiring supervillain (Carrell) whose wicked ways are transformed when the three orphaned girls he adopts to help him steal the moon end up capturing his heart instead. Engaging, if not quite a classic. Selected release. Despicable Me 3D (U) ●●●●● (Pierre Coffin/Chris Renaud, US, 2010) Voices of Steve Carell, Jason Segel, Russell Brand. 94min. See above. Cineworld Renfrew Street, Glasgow. Due Date (15) ●●●●● (Todd Phillips, US, 2010) Robert Downey Jr, Zach Gilifianakis. 95min. This attempt to re- capture the success of previous Phillips/Galifianakis hit The Hangover falls flat with an anti-buddy road trip movie in which expectant father (Downey Jr) has to rush cross-country to the birth with annoying passenger (Galifianakis) in tow. Downey Jr is watchable, but he’s about the only thing that is. General release. Easy A (15) ●●●●● (Will Gluck, US, 2010) Emma Stone, Cam Gigandet, Amanda Bynes. 92min. Reminiscent of John Hughes in his heyday, Gluck’s edgy high school comedy stars sparky newcomer Stone as Olive, a gauche outsider who achieves popularity by telling a little white lie about losing her virginity that rapidly spirals out of control. Hippodrome, Bo’ness. Edinburgh from the Archives (U) (Various) 89min. Short films from the archive displaying the capital in all its glory, made at various times between 1937 and 1982. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. ET – The Extra-Terrestrial (U) ●●●●● (Steven Spielberg, US, 1982) Dee Wallace-Stone, Henry Thomas, Peter Coyote. 120min. Classic fable about a peaceful alien marooned on Earth. Hippodrome, Bo’ness. Fred: The Movie (12A) ●●●●● (Clay Weiner, US, 2010) Lucas Cruikshank, Pixie Lott, Jennette McCurdy. 83min. See Also Released, page 66. Selected release. The Girl who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest (15) ●●●●● (Daniel Alfredson, Sweden/Denmark/Germany, 2009) Noomi Rapace, Michael Nyqvist, Lena Endre. 146min. The adaptation of the last installment of Stieg Larsson’s trio of vengeance chronicles sees Lisbeth Salander (the awesome Rapace) on trial for murder, with loyal journo-sidekick Blomkvist (Nyman) trying his best to help. Catch it before the spurious US remake dribbles its way onto the screen. Selected release. Gremlins (15) ●●●●● (Joe Dante, US, 1984) Zach Galligan, Phoebe Cates. 106min. Cute and cuddly little mogwais become malevolent monsters if not properly cared for and wreak havoc in idealised small town America. Resistible horror comedy, never as funny as it thinks it is. Part of Christmas at Our House. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Gulliver’s Travels (PG) ●●●●● (Rob Letterman, US, 2010) Jack Black, Jason Segel, Chris O’Dowd. 87min. See review, page 65. General release from Sun 26 Dec.
INDEX Film
Hallam Foe (18) ●●●●● (David Mackenzie, UK, 2007) Jamie Bell, Sophia Myles, Ciarán Hinds. 95min. Hallam (Bell) moves to Edinburgh from a small town where he spies on the neighbours and tries to implicate his stepmother in his mother’s mysterious death. Life in the city brings romance in the form of Kate (Myles), with whom he forms an immediate connection. Flawed but darkly humorous, Hallam Foe stands head and shoulders above anything else that has come out of Scotland in the last few years. Part of Love Film, Love Edinburgh. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. The Hangover (15) ●●●●● (Todd Phillips, US, 2009) Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Heather Graham. 99min. Two days before his wedding, Doug (Bartha) heads to Vegas with his two best friends and future brother-in-law for a final bachelor blow out. Waking up the next morning, however, the trio has no recollection of what happened the night before or, more importantly, where they might have left Doug. This buddy movie delivers with its riotous cocktail of memorable characters, outrageous situations and explicit humour. Hippodrome, Bo’ness. 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. Home Alone (PG) ●●●●● (Chris Columbus, US, 1990) Macaulay Culkin, Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern, John Heard, Catherine O’Hara. 103min. Peter and Kate McCallister (Heard and O’Hara) have an eight-year-old brat and wisely – albeit accidentally – leave him behind in Chicago when they go on holiday to Paris. Left to his own devices young Kevin (Culkin) has to deal with two bungling burglars (Pesci and Stern) who threaten to invade his peaceful haven. Jolly, if sadistic, scare- comedy antics produced by teen flick veteran John Hughes. Hippodrome, Bo’ness.
✽✽ 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. Part of Love Film, Love Edinburgh. Cameo, Edinburgh.
✽✽ In Our Name (18) ●●●●● (Brian Welsh, UK, 2010) Joanne Froggatt,
Mel Raido, Chloe Jayne Wilkinson. 92min. See Also Released, page 66 and profile, Listings. Cameo, Edinburgh. 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. Part of Christmas at Our House. Selected release.
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