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 Laura Ennor. ✽✽ Indicates Hitlist entry Las Acacias (12A) ●●●●● (Pablo Giorgelli, Argentina/Spain, 2011) Germán de Silva, Hebe Duarte, Nayra Calle Mamani. 86min. See review, page 71. Glasgow Film Theatre, Glasgow. The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn (PG) ●●●●● (Steven Spielberg, US/New Zealand, 2011) Andy Serkis, Jamie Bell, Simon Pegg. 107min. After buying a replica model ship at a flea market, Tintin (Bell) is embroiled in a world of subterfuge. Not since Indy’s third outing has Spielberg felt so fresh and unshackled; it feels like a hark back to the heyday of 1980s adventure cinema. General release. African Cats (E) (Alastair Fothergill/Keith Scholey, US, 2011) 89min. Samuel L Jackson narrates the stories of a lion family and a cheetah family as they raise their young in the Kenyan savannah. The Hippodrome, Bo’ness. An African Election (12A) (Jarreth J Merz/Kevin Merz, Switzerland/US/Ghana, 2011) 89min. Exposing the skulduggery in Ghana’s 2008 presidential elections, this documentary aims to capture the intrigue and danger behind the scenes. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Alien Adventure (U) (Ben Strassen, Japan, 2001) 37min. Members of an alien race looking for a planet to colonise find earth and unfortunately land on a theme park where they cause much amusing mayhem. IMAX Theatre, Glasgow. Allonsanfan (15) (Paolo Taviani/Vittorio Taviani, Italy, 1974) Marcello Mastroianni, Lea Massari, Mimsy Farmer. 110min. Revolutionary epic with a stirring Morricone score. Part of The Birth of a Nation: ‘Il Risorgimento’ in Italian Cinema. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. The All Night Bad Movie Experience (18) A night of so-bad-it’s- good (kinda) cinema, dominated, perhaps unsurprisingly by a certain decade that taste forgot (the 80s, naturally). On the menu: action thrills with Samurai Cop, cult king of bad movies The Room, Swayze cheese-fest Road House and nonsensical slasher Hospital Massacre. And if you’re still swithering – there’s also a raffle . . . Cameo, Edinburgh. All the Suns (Tous les soleils) (12A) (Philippe Claudel, France, 2011) Stefano Accorsi, Neri Marcorè, Clotilde Courau. 105min. A lecturer tries to pursue a new love interest without his teenage daughter and anarchist brother getting in the way. Part of the French Film Festival. macrobert, Stirling; Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Angel Heart (18) (Alan Parker, USA/Canada/UK, 1987) Mickey Rourke, Robert De Niro, Lisa Bonet. 113min. Scruffy, unshaven private eye Harry Angel is hired by the mysterious Louis Cyphre to track down a missing 40s crooner who has reneged on a life-or-death deal. An uncomfortable mating of visceral gore and moody film noir, with some ingenious if nasty twists in the plot. GFT Geek Film Night screening. Glasgow Film Theatre, Glasgow. Anonymous (12A) ●●●●● (Roland Emmerich, 2011) Rhys Ifans, Vanessa Redgrave, David Thewlis. 130min. Director Emmerich dives enthusiastically into a treacly 17th century conspiracy thriller intent on unmasking the true author of Shakespeare’s plays. The facts may be suspect but Emmerich combines craftsmanship and a strong cast to create a ripping historical romp. Dundee Contemporary Arts, Dundee. Another Earth (12A) ●●●●● (Mike Cahill, US, 2011) Brit Marling, William Mapother, Matthew-Lee Erlbach. 92min. See review, page 72. Selected release from Fri 9 Dec. Arthur Christmas (U) ●●●●● (Sarah Smith, UK/US, 2011) Voices of James
McAvoy, Bill Nighy, Hugh Laurie. 97min. See review, page 72. General Release. The Awakening (15) (Nick Murphy, UK, 2011) Rebecca Hall, Dominic West, Imelda Staunton. 107min. Ghost story set in an English boarding school in 1921. Selected release. Bad Santa (15) ●●●●● (Terry Zwigoff, US/Germany, 2003) Billy Bob Thornton, Tony Cox, Brett Kelly, Lauren Graham, Bernie Mac. 91min. Wickedly funny movie about a pair of con men posing as Santa and his elf in order to rob department stores. Don’t bring the kids to this one. Sloans, Glasgow. Beauty and the Beast (U) (Gary Trousedale/Kirk Wise, US, 1991) Voices of Paige O’Hara, Robby Benson, Richard White. 84min. The first animated film ever to get an Oscar nomination for Best Picture. The Hippodrome, Bo’ness. Beirut Hotel (18) (Danielle Arbid, 2011) Charles Berling, Darine Hamze, Fadi Abi Samra. 99min. Lebanese singer Zoha embarks on an affair with a man suspected of being a spy. Part of the French Film Festival. Filmhouse, Edinburgh; Glasgow Film Theatre, Glasgow. Beloved (Les bien-aimés) (15) (Christophe Honoré, France/UK/Czech Republic, 2011) Chiara Mastroianni, Catherine Deneuve, Ludivine Sagnier. 139min. From Paris in the 60s to present-day London, this film follows the romantic adventures of a mother and her daughter (played by actual mother and daughter Deneuve and Mastroianni). Filmhouse, Edinburgh; Glasgow Film Theatre, Glasgow. The Best of Kendal Mountain Festival 2011 (E) (Various, Various, 2010/11) A selection of prize-winning adventure and discovery films from the recent Kendal Mountain Festival. The Pleasance Theatre, Edinburgh. The Big Year (PG) (David Frankel, US, 2011) Owen Wilson, Jack Black, Steve Martin. 100min. Three bird watchers go head-to-head at a prestigious North American tournament. General release from Fri 2 Dec. Black Narcissus (PG) (Michael Powell, UK, 1947) Deborah Kerr, Sabu, Jean Simmons, David Farrar, Flora Robson. 100min. Kerr’s colony of nuns in the Himalayas find their faith tested by desires of the flesh. An unlikely subject matter, astonishingly evocative studio settings and affectingly controlled performances are combined in a beautiful, unique film. Part of the Mad Love season. Glasgow Film Theatre, Glasgow. Black Pond (15) ●●●●● (Tom Kingsley/Will Sharpe, UK, 2011) Simon Amstell, Will Sharpe, Chris Langham. 82min. See review, page 73. Cameo, Edinburgh. The Black Power Mixtape 1967–1975 (12A) ●●●●● (Göran Olsson, Sweden, 2011) 100min. 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. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Blood in the Mobile (15) ●●●●● (Frank Piasechi Poulsen, Denmark/Germany, 2010) See review, page 73. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Bob le Flambeur (Bob the Gambler) (PG) (Jean-Pierre Melville, France, 1955) Roger Duchesne, Isabelle Corey, Daniel Cauchy, Guy Decomble. 101min. Part heist movie, part ‘love letter to Paris’, Melville points out the glamour and danger in the city at night. Part of the French Film Festival. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. The Bolshoi Ballet: Sleeping Beauty (E) Tchaikovsky’s music is brought to life by the Bolshoi in this magical fairy tale. Selected screenings. Boys Don’t Cry (18) (Kimberly Peirce, US, 1999) Hilary Swank, Chloë Sevigny, Peter Sarsgaard. 118min. Brandon Teena moves to a new town where his sensitivity and consideration make him popular with the ladies. When it’s discovered he’s actually a woman, Brandon’s life is ripped apart. Based on a true story. Screening organised by Lock Up Your Daughters, introduced by a member of the Scottish Transgender Alliance. Glasgow Film Theatre, Glasgow. Bronte (15) (Florestano Vancini, Italy/Yugoslavia, 1972) Ivo Garrani, Mariano Rigillo, Ilija Dzuvalekovski. 126min. This Western-inspired take on Italian history focuses on the aftermath of Sicily’s liberation by Garibaldi. Part of The Birth of a Nation: ‘Il Risorgimento’ in Italian Cinema. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Buffalo ‘66 (15) (Vincent Gallo, US, 1998) Vincent Gallo, Christina Ricci, Ben Gazzara. 110min. Life for Billy Brown is so awful that he constructs a life built on lies for himself upon his release from a five-year spell in prison. Gallo has a black sense of humour, finding absurdity in lower-class American life, but it becomes clear that Buffalo 66 is a deeply life-affirming film. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Cairo Exit (tbc) (Hesham Issawi, Egypt, 2010) Maryhan, Mohamed Ramadan, Sana Mouziane. 96min. A young Egyptian woman toys with the idea of eloping to Italy with her boyfriend, pondering the lives of the women around her and how her own life might turn out if she was to stay. Part of the Arab Film Festival. Dundee Contemporary Arts, Dundee. Camp Hell (15) (George VanBuskirk, US, 2010) Dana Delany, Andrew McCarthy, Caroline London. 99min. The children at Christian summer camp are joined by something evil. And what should have been a safe spiritual retreat becomes anything but. Selected release from Fri 2 Dec. Casablanca (PG) ●●●●● (Michael Curtiz, US, 1942) Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Dooley Wilson. 102min. You must remember this . . . Bogart being impossibly noble, Bergman torn between two lovers, Claude Rains playing both ends against the middle, devious Nazis, a fogbound airport, a piano-player tinkling that tune. A wonderful hill of beans. St Bride’s Centre, Edinburgh. A Cat in Paris (U) (Jean-Loup Felicioli/Alain Gagnol, France/Netherlands, 2010) Voices of Dominique Blanc, Bruno Salomone, Jean Benguigui. 70min. An intriguing animation about the wanderings of a cat who is, by day, a friend to a little girl, but by night accompanies a big-hearted burglar around Paris. Glasgow Film Theatre, Glasgow. Les Chansons d’amour (15) ●●●●● (Christophe Honoré, France, 2007) Louis Garrel, Ludivine Sagnier, Chiara Mastroianni. 95min. Cheerful musical in which a couple brings a third party into their relationship. Poignant and full of raw images of Paris, this is clearly director Honoré’s loving homage to Demy’s The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, although leading man Garrel’s flamboyance and quirky tics occasionally detract from the film’s central theme of lost love. Institut Français d’Ecosse, Edinburgh. A Christmas Carol (PG) ●●●●● (Robert Zemeckis, US, 2009) Voices of Jim Carrey, Gary Oldman, Colin Firth. 95min. Computer animated version of Dickens’ classic. IMAX Theatre, Glasgow. Classic Cartoons (U) 71min. This collection of classic animation includes Daffy Duck, Droopy, Porky Pig and Tom & Jerry. Part of Previously . . . Scotland’s History Festival. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. The Conquest (La conquête) (15) (Xavier Durringer, France, 2011) Denis Podalydès, Florence Pernel, Bernard Le Coq. 105min. This biopic examines the rise to power of France’s President Sarkozy. Part of the French Film Festival. Selected release. Contagion (12A) ●●●●● (Steven Soderbergh, US/UAE, 2011) Matt Damon, Kate Winslet, Jude Law. 106min. Soderbergh revives the type of all-star disaster movie last seen in the 1970s with this sober account of a deadly virus which threatens the world’s population. It lacks any central heart, focusing on the bigger picture rather than clichéd dramatics. General release. Crash (15) (Paul Haggis, US/Germany, 2004) Don Cheadle, Sandra Bullock, Thandie Newton. 112min. Multiple stories interweave in LA. Cameo, Edinburgh. The Da Vinci Code (12A) (Ron Howard, US, 2006) Tom Hanks, Audrey Tautou, Ian McKellen. 148min. Howard’s two and a half hour yawn-fest displays the worst hallmarks of a Hollywood rush-job, remorselessly cashing in on a popular fad. Despite nice locations, what was a decent page-turner emerges as a bum-numbing melodrama of
INDEX INDEX Film
little interest in terms of either cinema or tabloid theology. Scotsman Screening Room, Edinburgh. Dance for Camera (PG) (Various) 90min. Programme of shorts featuring dance sequences specifically choreographed for the camera. Part of DANCE:FILM festival, Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Dance til Dawn (18) (Various) All night screening of cheesy 80s dance films, with Footloose, Xanadu, Flashdance and Dirty Dancing. Part of DANCE:FILM festival. Cameo, Edinburgh. The Deep Blue Sea (12A) ●●●●● (Terence Davies, US/UK, 2011) Rachel Weisz, Tom Hiddleston, Simon Russell Beale. 98min. See review, p 72. Selected release from Fri 25 Nov. The Deported and The Returnee (tbc) (Mahbud Alam, 2007/2009) 90min. GRAMNet and BEMIS mark International Migrants Day and Human Rights Day with a screening of two documentaries by Mahbud Alam, dealing with the experiences of migrant workers from Bangladesh and Nepal as they pursue the Korean Dream in South Korea. CCA, Glasgow. 2 Frogs dans l’Ouest (tbc) (Dany Papineau, Canada, 2010) Mirianne Brulé, Dany Papineau, Jessica Malka. 105min. A young French Canadian sets out for a new life on the ski slopes of Whistler. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Dialogues with Polish Art (E) (Various, Various) A presentation of Polish video art, including films by Wojtek Doroszuk. Edinburgh College of Art, Edinburgh. Dirty Dancing (15) ●●●●● (Emile Ardolino, US, 1987) 100min. The plot – in the summer of 1963 bad boy Johnny (Swayze) meets good girl Baby (Grey) and teaches her hip grinding, eventually winning the respect of her parents. Sure it’s full of stereotyping, bad dialogue and a pre-teen sugar coated prurience, but decades on Dirty Dancing still has the ability to send a generation of women all gooey. Sloans, Glasgow. Dream House (15) ●●●●● (Jim Sheridan, US, 2011) Daniel Craig, Rachel Weisz, Naomi Watts. 91min. See review, page 72. General release from Fri 25 Nov. Dundee Mountain Film Festival The combination of mountains and movies really shouldn’t work but in Dundee it does. Taking its lead from the International Alliance for Mountain Film, which stages similar events across Europe, this is a celebration of mountain and outdoor films for those that love the giddy heights and the great outdoors. Bonar Hall, Dundee, 25–26 Nov. The Elephant Man (PG) ●●●●● (David Lynch, US, 1980) Anthony Hopkins, John Hurt, Anne Bancroft. 124min. Moving story of real-life Victorian freak John Merrick, brilliantly played by Hurt under a grotesque make-up job, and his appalling mistreatment by society before he finally received the medical attention he deserved. Fascinating period detail and rich monochrome cinematography make this a real treat from a slightly unexpected filmmaker. Part of What is Human Dignity?: A Biomedical Ethics Film Festival. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. STARTER FOR 6
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17 Nov–15 Dec 2011 THE LIST 75