OUTSIDE THE
FESTIVALS
of a ménage-a-quatre between filmmaker Harry (Homar), leading lady Lena (Cruz), her sugar daddy Ernesto (José Luis Gómez), and Harry’s production manager Judit (Portillo). This labyrinthine tale of amour fou unfolds largely in flashback as Harry recounts his sorry story to Judit’s son. Ultra-stylish and loaded with thematic weight. Dundee Contemporary Arts, Dundee. Calamity Jane (U) ●●●●● (David Butler, US, 1953) Doris Day, Howard Keel, Allyn Ann McLerie, Philip Carey. 101min. Indian scout Calamity Jane (Day) is hard- riding, boastful and handy with a gun. She has to be, living as she does in Deadwood, Dakota, a place where men are men and women are toothsome. When Jane falls in love with a young
army lieutenant she realises she may have to change, because he really does not appreciate her more butch qualities. Enjoy singing along to this classic camp musical in recognition of Doris Day’s birthday. Filmhouse,
Edinburgh. Captain America: The First Avenger 2D (12A) ●●●●● (Joe Johnston, US, 2011) Chris Evans, Hugo Weaving, Hayley Atwell, Sebastian Stan. 123min. Joe Johnston, director of The Wolfman and The Rocketeer, takes us back to the early days of the Marvel with the archetypal superhero. When Steve Rogers (Evans) volunteers to participate in an experimental program, it turns him into super soldier Captain America. As Captain America, Rogers joins forces with Bucky Barnes (Stan) and Peggy Carter (Atwell) to wage war on the evil HYDRA organisation, led by the villainous Red Skull (Weaving). General release. Captain America: The First Avenger 3D (12A) ●●●●● (Joe Johnston, US, 2011) Chris Evans, Hugo Weaving, Hayley Atwell, Sebastian Stan. 123min. See above. General release. Cars 2 2D (U) ●●●●● (John Lasseter, Brad Lewis, US, 2011) Larry the Cable
Beyond Borders
Guy, Owen Wilson, Michael Caine. 106min. Pixar’s charmless sequel replaces the homespun values of the original with impressive racetrack backdrops, violent guns-and-missile action, and juvenile comedy from the belching, flatulent Mater. A mechanical slew of pop-culture gags indicate a considerable drop in the level of invention from Finding Nemo or Up. General release. Cars 2 3D (U) ●●●●● (John Lasseter, Brad Lewis, US, 2011) Larry the Cable Guy, Owen Wilson, Michael Caine. 106min. See above. General release. Conan the Barbarian (15) (Marcus Nispel, US, 2011) Jason Momoa, Rachel Nichols, Stephen Lang. 112min. See Also Released, page 101. General release. The Conspirator (12A) ●●●●● (Robert Redford, US, 2010) James McAvoy, Robin Wright, Kevin Kline. 122min. This courtroom drama about the woman charged alongside John Wilkes Booth – the man who shot Abraham Lincoln – is clearly just as inspired by more recent politics. The results are intermittently preachy and starchy, better suited to stirring a classroom debate than a cinema audience. Selected release. Countdown to Zero (E) ●●●●● (Lucy Walker, US, 2010) 91min. Featuring a range of high profile talking heads, this fast-paced and absorbing polemic against nuclear armament recalls terrifying moments in recent history when the world was seconds away from nuclear war. At times though, it veers worryingly close to fear-mongering. The Hippodrome, Bo’ness. Cowboys and Aliens (12A) ●●●●● (Jon Favreau, US, 2011) Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford, Olivia Wilde. 118min. See review, page 101. General release.
✽✽ The Devil’s Double (18) ●●●●● (Lee Tamahori, Belgium,
2011) Dominic Cooper, Ludivine Sagnier, Raad Rawi. 108min. Cooper turns in a career-changing performance as the rampaging son of Saddam Hussein and his body double Latif Yahia (who wrote the
Film INDEX Films screening this fortnight are listed below with certificate, star rating, credits, brief review and venue details. Film index compiled by Paul Dale ✽✽ Indicates Hitlist entry
21 Years of Revolution (15) (Various) 60min. An evening of shorts linked by themes of revolution, focusing on the Romanian revolution of 1990 and the Libyan revolution of 2010-11, with discussion from those who made the films. Part of Beyond Borders. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Aarakshan (PG) (Prakash Jha, India, 2011) Amitabh Bachchan, Saif Ali Khan, Deepika Padukone. 164min. Hindi drama about an idealistic college principal, his loyal disciple and the younger man’s love for his employer’s daughter. Cineworld Fountainpark, Edinburgh; Cineworld Renfrew Street, Glasgow. Aftershock (15) ●●●●● (Xiaogang Feng, China, 2010) Fan Xu, Jingchu Zhang, Chen Li. 135min. The epic story of a family separated as a result of the enormous Tangshan earthquake of 1976. Sloans, Glasgow. Arrietty (U) ●●●●● (Hiromasa Yonebayashi, Japan, 2010) Mirai Shida, Ryunosuke Kamiki, Shinobu Otake. 94min. Fourteen year old Arrietty (voiced by Shida) and the tiny Clock family live under the floorboards of a suburban home, exploring and borrowing from the human world above. Arrietty may not have the scope of Studio Ghibli’s earliest works, but the result is a beautifully realised small- scale drama. Selected release. Beautiful Lies (12) ●●●●● (Pierre Salvadori, France, 2010) Audrey Tautou, Nathalie Baye, Sami Bouajila. 110min. French cinema sweetheart Tautou is Emilie, a brusque shop owner who unintentionally orchestrates a comedy of errors by re- addressing a love-letter to her unhappy mother. Salvadori’s film is visually unremarkable and rather convoluted, and though this lonely gaggle of characters are well played by a fine cast, they’d be better suited to a more intimate drama. Selected release. Beginners (15) ●●●●● (Mike Mills, US, 2010) Ewan McGregor, Christopher Plummer, Mélanie Laurent. 104min. McGregor is Oliver, whose father Hal (Plummer) has recently died from cancer, having at the age of 75 come out as gay and enthusiastically embraced the life he had long denied himself. Whimsicality runs through every frame and incurable romantics will clutch it to their hearts. Cameo, Edinburgh. Bloody Sunday (15) ●●●●● (Paul Greengrass, UK/Ireland, 2001) James Nesbitt, Tim Pigott-Smith, Nicholas Farrell. 107min. Greengrass’ documentary-style drama recreates the events of 30 January 1972 in Derry when British soldiers fired upon civil rights activists during a peaceful demo. The effective scene setting and recreation of the mood around the events is superb, as are the performances, particularly Nesbitt in the lead. Part of Festival of Spirituality and Peace. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Bobby Fischer Against the World (12A) ●●●●● (Liz Garbus, US/UK/Iceland, 2011) 93min. Intriguing documentary about one time chess champion Fischer and his later delusion and madness. Macrobert, Stirling. Bridesmaids (15) ●●●●● (Paul Feig, US, 2011) Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Rose Byrne. 125min. When her newly- engaged best friend Lillian (Rudolph) asks her to be chief bridesmaid, Annie (Wiig) is delighted, until she meets Lillian’s new best friend; a beautiful, rich bitch. The cast list overflows with comedy talent and the jokes are very funny. General release. Broken Embraces (15) ●●●●● (Pedro Almodóvar, Spain, 2009) Penélope Cruz, Lluís Homar, Blanca Portillo. 128min. The auteur’s most self-referential love letter to cinema yet presents the story 102 THE LIST 18–25 Aug 2011
source novel). A gripping thriller by Tamahori, here playing very much to his melodramatic strengths and telling this egomaniacal tale with tongue firmly in cheek. General release. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules (U) ●●●●● (David Bowers, US, 2011) Zachary Gordon, Devon Bostick, Rachael Harris. 99min. Anaemic sequel to last year’s adaptation of Jeff Kinney’s best- selling books. Selected release. Film Socialisme (PG) ●●●●● (Jean- Luc Godard, Switzerland/France, 2010) Catherine Tanvier, Christian Sinniger, Jean-Marc Stehlé. 101min. Still mad and provocative after all these years, legendary French filmmaker and polemicist Jean-Luc Godard new feature is set on a garish cruise ship that’s traveling around the Mediterranean (with Patti Smith among its guests). There’s no narrative to speak of: this is part treatise on the state of the European Union, part philosophical debate, part aesthetic experiment and part journal on the decline of European civilization. Cameo, Edinburgh. The First Movie (12A) ●●●●● (Mark Cousins, UK, 2009) 76min. Cousins travels to Goptapa, a Kurdish-Iraqi village, and presents its youngsters with cameras – they make little movies about war, love and a fish that goes to a magical place. Part of Beyond Borders. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Flashdance (15) ●●●●● (Adrian Lyne, US, 1983) Jennifer Beals, Michael Nouri, Lilia Skala. 90min. Alex (Beals) is a welder by day and an erotic dancer by night. Iconic 80s dance classic with a storming soundtrack. Macrobert, Stirling. Food Inc. (PG) ●●●●● (Robert Kenner, US, 2008) 94min. Dismantling some cherished myths about its agrarian way of life, Kenner’s persuasive Oscar- nominated documentary seeks to lift the veil surrounding the food industry in America. The broad thesis is that agriculture in America has undergone a radical transformation in recent decades – a handful of multinational corporations now controlling how produce is planted, grown, distributed and sold. ACE, Edinburgh. General Nil (15) (Ryszard Bugajski, Poland, 2009) Olgierd Lukaszewicz, Alicja Jachiewicz, Magdalena Emilianowicz. 125min. A film about the last few years of Polish resistance leader General Emil ‘Nil’ Fieldorf, who was a national hero but whose nationalism was deemed a threat by the Communist government that came after the war and marked him for assassination. Part of Play Poland festival. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Glyndebourne – The Turn of the Screw (E) (UK, 2011)Britten’s compelling adaptation of Henry James’s novella broaches themes of innocence and corruption. Glasgow Film Theatre, Glasgow; Cameo, Edinburgh. The Guard (15) ●●●●● (John Michael McDonagh, Ireland, 2011) Brendan Gleeson, Don Cheadle, Liam Cunningham. 96min. See Also Released, page 101. Glasgow Film Theatre, Glasgow, Cameo, Edinburgh. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 2D (12A) ●●●●● (David Yates, UK/US, 2011) Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint. 130min. The end has arrived for Harry and happily the last installment really satisfies with its breakneck pacing, breathtaking set-pieces and a genuinely heart-warming ending. General release. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 3D (12A) ●●●●● (David Yates, UK/US, 2011) Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint. 130min. See above. General release. Horrible Bosses (15) ●●●●● (Seth Gordon, US, 2011) Jennifer Anniston, Jason Bateman, Colin Farrell, Jamie Foxx. 97min. Three downtrodden employees (Bateman, Jason Sudeikis and Charlie Day) hatch a plan to kill off their bosses, swapping murders to conceal their guilt. There’s a smattering of blackly comic lines and situations that keep this film watchable but it’s let down by a lack of chemistry between the central trio. General release. The cultural Scottish initiative to showcase the work of creatives from small nations around the world returns. This year’s focus is on nations that are emerging from conflict: Palestine, Kurdish Iraq, Libya and Sri Lanka. Each country is represented by a film which will be followed by a discussion between various informed filmmakers and writers. Palestine heads up the season with The Writer and the Flautist, a short documentary featuring Palestinian author and human rights lawyer Raja Shehadeh. Kurdish Iraq is represented by Mark Cousins excellent 2009 magic realist documentary film The First Movie (pictured); Libya by 21 Years of Revolution, a rather topical evening of street protest footage and discussion with producer Rupert Wolfe-Murray, and finally there’s the harrowing Jon Snow-fronted documentary Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields. Ticket deals available. beyondbordersscotland.com ■ Filmhouse, Edinburgh on Tue 23 and Wed 24 Aug.