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contrast to their first cinematic offering. Heima, preferring a minimalistic, near- monochrome look at the concert experience. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. It May Be That Beauty Has Strengthened Our Resolve (E) (Philippe Grandrieux, 2011) 73min. This documentary about Japanese writer- director Masao Adachi examines his 35- year hiatus from filmmaking to join the Japanese Red Army, a militant left-wing organisation. Filmhouse, 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. Selected release. Jack Goes Boating (15) ●●●●● (Philip Seymour Hoffman, US, 2010) Philip Seymour Hoffman, John Ortiz, Richard Petrocelli. 91min. Hoffman’s directorial debut sees him go back to his theatrical roots and reveals him as a director of considerable sensitivity, with the predictable but well-observed tale of a painfully shy New York limo driver who is set up by his friends with a young woman. macrobert, Stirling. Jane Eyre (PG) ●●●●● (Cary Fukunaga, UK/US, 2011) Mia Wasikowska, Michael Fassbender, Judi Dench. 120min. Dumping the childhood chapters of Charlotte Brontë’s novel, Fukunaga does a great job here of making the action and emotions of a well-worn story feel modern without removing it from its original context. Playing to the gothic aspects of the book (and the tastes of the Twilight generation) Wasikowska is otherworldly in the titular role, but a devilish Fassbender steals the show as Mr Rochester. macrobert, Stirling; Dundee Contemporary Arts, Dundee. Jewish Film Club (tbc) (Various) Running since 2006, the Jewish Film Club brings a range of documentary, features and shorts to the CCA, with a focus on contemporary cinema. CCA, Glasgow. Ladies vs Ricky Bahl (PG) (Maneesh Sharma, India, 2011) Ranveer Singh, Anushka Sharma, Parineeta Chopra. 139min. A charismatic conman meets his comeuppance in the form of a group of former conquests who foil him with a plan cunning enough to rival his own. Cineworld Renfrew Street, Glasgow. The Lady (tbc) (Luc Besson, France/UK, 2011) Michelle Yeoh, David Thewlis, Jonathan Raggett. The true love story of Burmese pro-democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi and her relationship with the academic and writer Michael Aris. General release from Fri 30 Dec. Les Enfants du Paradis (PG) (Marcel Carne, France, 1945) Arletty, Jean-Louis Barrault, Pierre Brasseur. 190min. Marcel Carne’s classic tragic tale centres on ill-fated lovers, theatre mimes, attractive actresses and a woman-about- town who calls herself Garance. Great stuff, if a little overpoweringly emotive for a modern audience. Glasgow Film Theatre, Glasgow. Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (12A) (Peter Weir, US, 2003) Russell Crowe, Paul Bettany, Billy Boyd. 138min. During the Napoleonic Wars, a ship’s captain obsessively pursues a French war vessel around South America, pushing his ship and her crew to their limits. Filmhouse, Edinburgh.
✽✽ Meet Me In St Louis (U) ●●●●● (Vincente Minnelli, US, 1944) Judy Garland, Margaret O’Brien, Mary Astor. 113min. Released during wartime, this 1903-set musical was an optimistic attempt to emphasise family values, but Minnelli never wallows in nostalgia. Instead he combats it with sparky and sarky family dynamics. The
Dundead double-bill: Saint & Black Christmas If the sight of twinkling street decorations, sound of nauseous Christmas hits and hordes of present-buying shoppers have got you just about mad enough to go on a killing spree, don’t worry – you are not alone. Those joyfully warped minds behind the Dundead horror festival are allowing you the opportunity to indulge in your taste for yuletide carnage by putting on a special festive double-bill: Dick Maas’ 2010 Dutch gorefest Saint and the original stalk’n’slash classic, Black Christmas. After watching those two, your bloodlust will be sated enough to make it through til next year, or at least until Dundead proper kicks off in late April. ■ Dundee Contemporary Arts, Sun 18 Dec.
implicated in the bombing of the Kremlin, leaving Ethan Hunt (Cruise) and his four- man team to go rogue in an attempt to clear its name and find the real culprit. General release from Mon 26 Dec; also early release on IMAX screens at Cineworld Fountainpark, Edinburgh, and put-upon father wants to move his family from St Louis to New York but faces resistance from his gaggle of girls who have romances to get on with, and the fast- approaching World Fair to enjoy. Perfect casting and performances, along with songs like ‘Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas’ add to the warm glow. Sing- along screening at Filmhouse on Sat 17 Dec. Filmhouse, Edinburgh; Glasgow Film Theatre, Glasgow. Merry Christmas (Joyeux Noel) (12A) (Christian Carion, France/Germany/UK, 2005) Diane Gruger, Benno Fumann, Guillaume Canet, Gary Lewis. 115min. On Christmas Eve 1914 opposing troops in the trenches made a truce and found some common ground – literally – as they played football on the muddy soil of No Man’s Land. A quietly moving film that reveals just how helpless the German, British and French troops actually were. macrobert, Stirling; Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Midnight in Paris (12A) ●●●●● (Woody Allen, Spain/US, 2011) Owen Wilson, Rachel McAdams, Kathy Bates. 91min. Gil (Wilson), a blustering screenwriter, is holidaying in Paris with his wife (McAdams) and her stuffy parents, when one night he is whisked off to a party with Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway. Allen’s amusing and cleverly sustained movie shows that he can still surprise and delight. Dundee Contemporary Arts, Dundee; Odeon Lothian Road, Edinburgh. Midshipman Easy (PG) (Carol Reed, UK, 1935) Hughie Green, Margaret Lockwood, Harry Tate. 70min. A young seaman joins the HMS Harpy on a voyage to the Spanish seas in this film which brought director Reed to the attention of Graham Greene. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Miracle on 34th Street (U) (George Seaton, US, 1947) Maureen O’Hara, John Payne, Edmund Gwenn, Gene Lockhart, Natalie Wood. 96min. When an old man is persuaded to play a department store Santa Claus he becomes a sensation, but is that because he may be the real deal? Heartwarming Yuletide classic. Sloans, Glasgow. Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol ●●●●● (12A) (Brad Bird, US, 2011) Tom Cruise, Jeremy Renner, Paula Patton. The Impossible Missions Force is disowned but allowed to escape by the US government after being
INDEX Film
Odeon Braehead and Glasgow Science Centre, Glasgow from Wed 21 Dec. Moneyball (12A) ●●●●● (Bennett Miller, US, 2011) Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill, Philip Seymour Hoffman. 133min. Based on the true story of Billy Beane (Pitt), general manager of Oakland Athletics baseball team, who, faced with a low budget, used advanced statistics instead of traditional sports wisdom to choose players. Despite some sharp dialogue and strong moments, it relies too much on sports movie clichés. Selected release. The Muppet Christmas Carol (U) ●●●●● (Brian Henson, US, 1992) Michael Caine, Dave Goelz, Steve Whitmire. 85min. It’s Christmas time, and nasty old miser Scrooge (Caine) needs to be taught a lesson by three seasonal ghosts. Colourful version of Dickens’ classic tale that will please the kids and keep the adults smiling with its little irreverent spices. Selected release.
✽✽ My Week with Marilyn (PG) (Simon Curtis, UK, 2011) Michelle
Williams, Eddie Redmayne, Kenneth Branagh. 101min. This adaptation of Colin Clark’s memoirs from the set of The Prince and the Showgirl focuses on the one week he spent with Marilyn Monroe (Williams). General release. Mysteries of Lisbon (PG) (Raul Ruiz, Portugal/France, 2010) Adriano Luz, Maria João Bastos, Ricardo Pereira. 266min. Camilo Castelo Branco’s 19th- century novel is adapted by Raul Ruiz into the engrossing tale of an orphaned boy, a countess and a rich businessman whose lives intertwine again and again with a number of characters over the course of 30 years. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. New Year’s Eve (12A) (Garry Marshall, US, 2011) Sarah Jessica Parker, Jessica Biel, Ashton Kutcher. 118min. Marshall’s follow-up to Valentine’s Day focuses on a group of couples and singles in New York and how their lives intertwine on the titular day. General release.
15 Dec 2011–5 Jan 2012 THE LIST 87