with the militias involved in civil war. Scottish six pack Gerard Butler stars. Marc Forster (The Kite Runner, Quantum of Solace) directs. General release from Wed 2 Nov.
Tabloid (tbc) 87min Errol Morris’ fascinating film about Miss Wyoming Joyce McKinney, the tabloid queen of a previous age whose intelligence and single-minded devotion to the man of her dreams led her across the globe, into jail, and onto the front page. Selected release from Fri 11 Nov. Snow Flower and the Secret Fan (12A) 104min 19th-century China tale of childhood friendship and secret messages. General release from Fri 4 Nov.
The Human Centipede 2 (Full sequence) (18) 86min Follow-up to controversial body horror. Selected release from Fri 4 Nov.
The Rum Diary (15) 119min Withnail and I writer/director Bruce Robinson’s adaptation of Hunter S Thompson’s debut novel starring Johnny Depp and Aaron Eckhart. General release from Fri 11 Nov. Arthur Christmas (U) tbcmin Seasonal family animation from Aardman Productions. General release from Fri 11 Nov.
The Awakening (15) 106min Spooky ‘between the wars’ supernatural thriller about hoaxes and child ghosts (pictured below). Selected release from Fri 11 Nov. Immortals (tbc) tbcmin Greek mythology action/adventure starring Mickey Rourke, Henry Cavill and Freida Pinto. General release from Fri 11 Nov.
Trespass (15) 90min Home invasion thriller starring Nicolas Cage and Nicole Kidman. Joel Schumacher directs. General release from Fri 11 Nov. The Silence (Das Letzte Schweigen) (15) 118min Two identical murders 23 years apart bring a detective out of retirement during the hottest week of the year. German thriller which has been compared to Wallander and The Killing. Cameo, Edinburgh from Fri 28 Oct.
Film REVIEWS
ALSO RELEASED
Black Power Mixtape 1967- 1975 (12A) 95min ●●●●● Stunning collage documentary put together from 16mm material filmed by Swedish journalists of the main protagonists of America’s black power movement during their most notorious period of activism. See review at list.co.uk. Selected release from Fri 21 Oct. Paranormal Activity 3 (15) 84min Third outing of popular low budget supernatural horror series. Surprisingly this one is helmed by the makers of cult documentary Catfish. Reviewed at list.co.uk. General release from Fri 21 Oct.
The Yellow Sea (18) 140min ●●●●● A poor cab driver from Yanji City in Yanbian prefecture, a region between North Korea, China and Russia searches for his missing wife. One day a hitman makes him an offer he cannot refuse. Epic if grim Korean thriller. Reviewed at list.co.uk. Selected release from Fri 21 Oct. The Adventures of Tin Tin: The Secret of the Unicorn (tbc) tbcmin Spielberg’s long-awaited adaptation of Hergé’s adventures finally gallops into cinemas. Will be reviewed at list.co.uk. General release from Wed 26 Oct.
Ghostbusters (12A) 105min ●●●●● Just in time for Hallowe’en the classic comedy horror (pictured, above) reappears looking fresher than ever. Selected release from Fri 28 Oct.
In Time (12A) 109min When Will Salas (Justin Timberlake) is falsely accused of murder, he must figure out a way to bring down the system behind the conspiracy. Interesting sci- fi mystery thriller from brainy writer/director Andrew Niccol (Lord of War, Gattaca). General release from Tue 1 Nov. Tower Heist (tbc) tbcmin Comedy caper starring Ben Stiller and Eddie Murphy as working class New Yorkers who plan revenge on the Wall Street swindler who stiffed them out of their retirement. General release from Wed 2 Nov.
Machine Gun Preacher (15) 129min Thriller based on true story about a biker, ex-con and druggie who finds God and goes to Africa to build houses only to walk into trouble
70 THE LIST 20 Oct–17 Nov 2011
DRAMA RESTLESS (12A) 95min ●●●●●
A first screenplay from Jason Lew, Restless verges on the twee but Gus Van Sant’s controlled direction and the attractive performers help to rescue it from an excess of the maudlin. The Portland setting and fatalistic mood will remind some of Van Sant’s My Own Private Idaho. In Restless, teenager Enoch (Henry Hopper) is obsessed with gatecrashing the funerals of strangers (shades of Harold And Maude). He meets the free-spirited Annabel (Mia Wasikowska) who claims she volunteers at a cancer ward. Enoch is so smitten that he feels able to introduce her to his imaginary friend Hiroshi (Ryo Kase), the ghost of a kamikaze pilot. The shy, doomed attraction blossoms amidst the soggy autumn landscapes of
Portland and eventually matures into an emotional touchstone for both Enoch and Annabel. The leads play their roles with a touching sincerity. Henry Hopper is the spitting image of his father Dennis when he was 20 and Mia Wasikowska once again invest the most delicate of material with a sturdy emotional conviction. Restless is far from Van Sant’s finest film but it has a sweet innocence that is as unexpected as anything in his recent credits. (Allan Hunter) ■ General release from Fri 21 Oct.
DRAMA THE HELP (12A) 146min ●●●●●
As Lee Hazlewood wrote in his musical paean to the nihilistic life: ‘Honey, I’m gonna snowball Jackson. See if I care.’ He needn’t have bothered, someone already had. A white American baby boom in the Deep South in the 1950s had taken care of that. The fallout of which was a rise in the need for inexpensive childcare, a vacuum filled by African American women. Based on Kathryn Stockett’s bestselling 2009 novel, The Help follows one progressive young white daughter of Jackson (Emma Stone) as she befriends and records the experiences of these abused maids.
Thoughtfully written and directed by actor turned filmmaker Tate Taylor, The Help is in no great hurry to tell its tale of prejudice, petty injustices and malevolent hypocrises in the civil rights era. Stabilised from sentimentality by the performances of the actresses portraying the maids whose perspectives give the film its structure (Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer), The Help manages to be both moving and thought-provoking. Rising star Stone handles her kindly imperialist role with a certain amount of warranted self effacement and Bryce Dallas Howard, Sissy Spacek, and Allison Janney bravely line up as skittles of bigotry ready for the toppling. (Paul Dale) ■ General release from Wed 26 Oct.