list.co.uk/film Films screening in the next four weeks are listed below with certificate, star rating, credits, brief review and venue details. See list.co.uk for the most up-to- date list of films screening. Film index is compiled by Paul Dale and Laura Ennor. ✽✽ Indicates Hitlist entry
Abduction (12A) (John Singleton, US, 2011) Taylor Lautner, Lily Collins, Alfred Molina. 106min. A young man searches for his identity after finding his baby photo on a missing persons website. General release from Wed 28 Sep. Ae Fond Kiss (15) ●●●●● (Ken Loach, UK/Belgium/Germany/Italy/Spain, 2004) Atta Yaquib, Eva Birthisle, Shamshad Akhtar, Ghizala Avan, Shabana Bakhsh. 104min. Casim (Yaqub) is a nice Glaswegian lad from an Asian family. His upcoming ‘arranged marriage’ nuptials have got him disturbed but not too worried, but then he goes and meets blond haired blue eyed Roisin (Birthisle), his sister’s music teacher, and his world is turned upside down. This screening is followed by a Q&A with Yaqub. Glasgow Film Theatre. All Night Horror Madness (18) (various, various) Another night of thrills and bloody spills with Blue Sunshine, Halloween, Pieces and The Evil Dead. Cameo, Edinburgh, Sat 15 Oct.
✽✽ Albatross (15) ●●●●● (Niall MacCormick, UK, 2011) Sebastian
Koch, Julia Ormond, Felicity Jones. 90min. See profile, page 60 and review, page 64. Selected release from Fri 14 Oct. Apollo 18 (15) ●●●●● (Gonzalo López- Gallego, US, 2011) Warren Christie, Lloyd Owen, Ryan Robbins. 86min. Sci-fi thriller about an alleged manned mission to the moon made in December, 1973 when two American astronauts were sent on a secret mission to funded by the US Department of Defense. All that remains of the trip is some horrifying footage. Cineworld Renfrew Street, Glasgow; macrobert, Stirling. Armored Trooper VOTOMS: Pailsen Files – The Movie (12A) (Ryosuke Takahashi, Japan, 2009) 120min. Mecha anime about a pilot sent to join a crack team of super-survivors with a list of increasingly difficult missions. Part of Scotland Loves Anime. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. 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. Part of Scotland Loves Anime festival. Filmhouse, Edinburgh; Glasgow Film Theatre. Attenberg (18) ●●●●● (Athina Rachel Tsungari, Greece, 2010) Ariane Labed, Giorgos Lanthimos, Vangelis Mouridis. 95min. A withdrawn young woman in a deserted Greek seaside town sets out to heed her dying father’s advice and embrace life, but finds herself repelled by the idea of sexual intercourse, preferring to seek solace in the nature documentaries of David Attenborough – hence the film’s deliberately mispronounced title. Shot in long, uninterrupted takes, this clinical examination of sex and death intrigues and mystifies in equal measure. Glasgow Film Theatre; Cameo, Edinburgh. Away from Her (12A) ●●●●● (Sarah Polley, Canada, 2006) Julie Christie, Gordon Pinsent, Olympia Dukakis. 110min. Polley’s first feature film as director stars screen legend Christie as a woman whose long and happy marriage is threatened by Alzheimer’s, leading to confusion, recriminations and revenge among two elderly couples. Not afraid of tackling hard-hitting subjects or injecting the odd bit of humour, this is a beautifully low-key, intelligent debut. Screening with short Agnes and Nancy, about a woman’s struggle with dementia. Part of the Scottish Mental Health Arts & Film Festival. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. The Ballad of Mott the Hoople (15) ●●●●● (Mike Kerry/Chris Hall, UK/US,
2010) 101min. Documentary about the rise, fall and demise of one of British rock’s iconic bands, featuring new interviews and concert footage. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Barbaric Genius (15) (Paul Duane, Ireland/US/UK, 2011) 72min. Documentary about the extraordinary life of former down- and-out turned prize-winning author John Healy. Followed by a Q&A with director Paul Duane. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. The Big Lebowski) (18) ●●●●● (Joel Coen, US, 1997) Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Steve Buscemi. 113min. The Coen brothers give their unique twist to a Chandler- esque LA noir, as 70s hippy throwback Jeff ‘The Dude’ Lebowski (Bridges) is drawn into the sordid affairs of his millionaire namesake. Suddenly he has to sleuth his way through disorganised crime. Trademark oddball characters, surreal imagery and excellent performances grace this virtuoso comedy. Cameo, Edinburgh. Billy the Kid (E) (Jennifer Venditti, US, 2007) Billy Price. 85min. Extremely affecting portrait of 15-year-old Billy Price, whose self-confessed ‘issues’ see him fly into rages and struggle to determine reality from illusion. Preceded by short The Waltzer Boys, directed by Martin Clark. A Monorail Film Club presentation. Glasgow Film Theatre. The Bird with The Crystal Plumage (18) ●●●●● (Dario Argento, Italy/Germany, 1969) Tony Musante, Suzy Kendall, Eva Renzi. 98min. Argento’s debut wasn’t the slasher-horror he’s now famous for, but a giallo thriller in which an American writer witnesses a knife attack and tries to track down the killer before he and his lover become the next victims. Stylish red herrings and set-pieces, plus a Morricone score and Storaro photography make this an effective piece. A Psychotronic Cinema presentation. Glasgow Film Theatre. Blood for Dracula (18) ●●●●● (Paul Morrissey, Italy/France, 1973) Udo Keir, Joe Dallesandro, Maxime McKendry. 103min. Delightfully gory and at times extremely funny, Morrissey’s distinctive take on the vampire myth has Keir’s surprisingly sympathetic bloodsucker searching for virgin blood in Italy, but thwarted by Dallesandro’s efforts as an over-sexed Marxist gardener. Screening together with Jean LaFleur’s 1977 short, Ilsa the Tigress of Siberia. A Psychotronic Cinema presentation. Filmhouse, Edinburgh.
✽✽ Blood in the Mobile (15) ●●●●● (Frank Piasechi Poulsen,
Denmark/Germany, 2010) 82min. Director Poulsen examines the impact of the trade in mobile phone parts on Congo’s civil war. Poulsen uncovers child labourers in appalling conditions before confronting his mobile phone company. Followed by Q&A with director Frank Poulsen and (in Edinburgh only) Clare Short. Part of Take One Action! Film Festival. Filmhouse, Edinburgh; Glasgow Film Theatre. Blue Black Permanent (PG) ●●●●● (Margaret Tait, Scotland, 1992) Gerda Stevenson, Celia Imrie, Jack Shepherd. 86min. Poetic, obscure portrait of three generations of women, drawn together over the decades by love and death. Tait’s feature debut, with its beautiful opaque images based around water, sea and rain, more than fulfils the promise of her remarkable short films. CCA, Glasgow. Blue Valentine (15) ●●●●● (Derek Cianfrance, US, 2010) Ryan Gosling, Michelle Williams. 111min. An emotionally draining but extraordinary story of the decline of a marriage, following Dean (Gosling) as a man struggling to love his wife Cindy (Williams) who has grown apathetic towards him. Claustrophobic and at times almost unwatchable, the pair put in astonishingly good performances in this brutal piece of filmmaking. Cameo, Edinburgh. Cabiria (PG) ●●●●● (Giovanni Pastrone, Italy, 1914) 93min. Taking as its theme a young girl caught up in the Second Punic War, this silent spectacle has lost none of its visual power. Part of an Introduction to European Cinema. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Cane Toads: The Conquest 3D (PG) (Mark Lewis, US/Australia, 2010) Neil Young. 85min. This documentary horror examines the environmental devastation left
across Australia by giant toads. Glasgow Film Theatre. The Change-Up (15) ●●●●● (David Dobkin, US, 2011) Ryan Reynolds, Jason Bateman, Leslie Mann. 112min. Another body switch comedy: old friends Mitch (Reynolds) and Dave (Bateman) are slowly drifting apart. While Dave is an overworked lawyer, husband and father, Mitch has remained footloose and fancy free. Following a drunken night out together, Mitch and Dave’s worlds are turned upside down. See review at list.co.uk. General release. Chopper (18) ●●●●● (Andrew Dominik, Australia, 2000) Eric Bana, Simon Lyndon, David Field. 94min. Shocking and controversial true story of a notoriously violent Aussie criminal, Mark ‘Chopper’ Read. Part of Shocktober. Glasgow Film Theatre. Clerks (18) ●●●●● (Kevin Smith, US, 1993) Brian O’Halloran, Jeff Anderson, Marilyn Ghigliotti. 90min. Just when you were sick of the very sight of the word ‘slacker’, along came Clerks and gave the whole commercialisation of the Gen X lifestyle a good hard kick up the backside. Kevin Smith’s hilariously foul dialogue peps up the exchanges on life, sex and everyday living between bored convenience store check-out assistant Dante and equally bored video store manager Randal. Glasgow Film Theatre; Cameo, Edinburgh. Coicent/Towanoquon/Five Numbers (12A) (Various, Japan) 100min. A triple bill of Japanese sci-fi animations, with all the attendant wacky creatures and bizarre transformations you’d expect. Part of Scotland Loves Anime festival. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Colombiana (15) ●●●●● (Olivier Megaton, US/France, 2011) Zoe Saldana, Michael Vartan, Cliff Curtis. 107min. Another blurred photocopy of an action film from prolific producer and writer Luc Besson, and one that utterly fails to inject any life into the lone female assassin trope. Saldana stars as the super-soldier hit-woman who’s biding her time with assassinations while seeking clues about how to avenge her parents, whose murder she witnessed as a child. General release. Colorful (Karafuru) (15) (Keiichi Hara, Japan, 2010) 127min. Award-winning adaptation of Eto Mori’s novel as a spirit returns to earth in the body of a 14-year-old boy. Part of Scotland Loves Anime festival. Filmhouse, Edinburgh; Glasgow Film Theatre. Cowboys and Aliens (12A) ●●●●● (Jon Favreau, US, 2011) Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford, Olivia Wilde. 118min. Drunk and troublemaker Jake (Craig) is broken out of jail and forced to help grumpy old Arizona lawman Percy (Ford) when aliens start to attack. Dull, humourless and over written sci- fi western from Iron Man director Favreau. Selected release. Crazy Heart (15) ●●●●● (Scott Cooper, US, 2009) Jeff Bridges, Maggie Gyllenhaal, James Keane. 111min. Based a novel by Thomas Cobb, leisurely southern fried character study Crazy Heart focuses on the travails of down-on-his-luck western singer- songwriter Bad Blake, played by the remarkable Bridges. Things begin to look up when he hooks up with a young music journalist and single mother (Gyllenhaal), but Bad is sadly on a one way ticket to rehab. Cameo, Edinburgh. Crazy, Stupid, Love. (12A) ●●●●● (Glenn Ficarra, John Requa, US, 2011) Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, Julianne Moore. 118min. See review, page 63. General release from Fri 23 Sep. Cutter’s Way (18) ●●●●● (Ivan Passer, US, 1981) Jeff Bridges, John Heard, Lisa Eichhorn. 104min. Boozy Vietnam vet prods his aimless mate Bridges into action after he thinks he has witnessed a murder. Welcome reissue of this low-key, downbeat and culty thriller. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Day for Night (15) ●●●●● (Francois Truffaut, France, 1973) Jacqueline Bisset, Jean-Pierre Leaud, Francois Truffaut, Valentina Cortese. 120min. Interesting and entertaining movie about moviemaking, with Truffaut as the hack director trying to steer cast and crew through a tacky love story. Won
INDEX Film
an Oscar for Best Foreign Film. Glasgow Film Theatre. Days of Heaven (PG) ●●●●● (Terence Malick, US, 1978) Richard Gere, Sam Shepard, Brooke Adams. 94min. Malick is one of the great wayward talents of the contemporary American cinema and this is an exquisite triangular love story, now digitally restored, set against the wheat farming Midwest at the turn of the century. You can almost feel the sweat of labour and smell the soil, such is the power of undoubtedly majestic filmmaking. Dundee Contemporary Arts, Dundee; Glasgow Film Theatre. The Debt (15) ●●●●● (John Madden, US, 2010) Helen Mirren, Sam Worthington, Ciaran Hinds. 113min. See review, page 64. General release from Fri 30 Sep. Destiny (PG) ●●●●● (Fritz Lang, Germany, 1921) Lil Dagovar, Walter Janssen, Bernhard Goetzke. 79min. A newlywed bargains with Death for her husband’s life, and finds herself transported to three different time zones – Arabia, Venice and China. A dark allegory with intricate plotting from the German expressionist master. Part of an Introduction to European Cinema. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Document 9 International human rights documentary film festival aiming to raise the profile of human rights and social issues that are not exposed in the mainstream media. The 2011 theme is ‘The Year of Protest’, with film work responding to popular demonstration in North Africa, the Middle East and closer to home. CCA, Glasgow. Dolphin Tale (U) (Charles Martin Smith, US, 2011) Morgan Freeman, Ashley Judd, Ray McKinnon. 112min. See Also Released, page 66. General release from Fri 14 Oct. Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark (15) ●●●●● (Troy Nixey, USA/Australia/Mexico, 2010) Katie Holmes, Guy Pearce, Bailee Madison. 99min. See review, page 64. Selected release from Fri 7 Oct.
✽✽ Drive (18) ●●●●● (Nicolas Winding Refn, US, 2011) Ryan Gosling, Carey
Mulligan, Bryan Cranston. 100min. See review, page 64. Dundee Contemporary Arts, Dundee; Cameo, Edinburgh. Early Cinema: Primitives and Pioneers (U) (Various, France/UK, 1895- 1906) 100min. This collection of 28 films from the pre-1910 period of cinema provides an entertaining look at how many of today’s film devices such as the close-up and the cut- away were first invented by filmmakers from this time. Preceded by a short introduction. Filmhouse, Edinburgh.
✽✽ The End of Poverty? (tbc) ●●●●● (Philippe Diaz, US, 2008) 106min. Actor and activist Martin Sheet presents this documentary filmed in the slums of Africa and the barrios of Latin America and featuring interviews with the world’s leading political and social theorists. Part of Take One Action! Film Festival. Filmhouse, Edinburgh.
✽✽ Enjoy Your Meal (tbc) ●●●●● (Walter Grotenhuis, Netherlands, 2010)
89min. This documentary examines the impact of our first world tastes on third world living, exploring the social and environmental costs. Plus discussion with leading food writers and campaigners, including Joanna Blythman. Part of Take One Action! Film Festival. Filmhouse, Edinburgh; Glasgow Film Theatre. Escaflowne the Movie (12A) (Kazuki Akane/Yoshiyuki Takei, Japan, 2000) Joji Nakata, Maaya Sakamoto, Tomokazu Seki. 98min. Fantastical Japanese anime as a depressed girl learns she is the only one who can end the conflict between the forces of light and dark. See Also Released, page 66. Part of Scotland Loves Anime festival. Glasgow Film Theatre.
✽✽ Even the Rain (12) ●●●●● (Iciar Bollain, Spain/France/Mexico, 2010)
Gael Garcia Bernal, Luis Tosar, Karra Elejalde. 103min. A filmmaker (Bernal) is caught up in protests against the privatisation of the national water company while working in Bolivia. Followed by a Q&A session with screenwriter Paul Laverty. Part of Take One Action! Film Festival. Glasgow Film Theatre. 22 Sep–20 Oct 2011 THE LIST 67