Film INDEX
Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors (Tini Zabutykh Predkiv) (12) (Sergei Parajanov, USSR, 1965) Ivan Mikolajchuk, Larisa Kadochnikova, Tatyana Bestayeva. 97min. In a pre-industrial age, a peasant’s love and loss are examined amid the dangers of violent family feuds. With live score by folk duo A Hawk and A Hacksaw. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. She, A Chinese (18) ●●●●● (Xiaolu Guo, UK/France/Germany, 2009) Huang Lu, Wei Yi Bo, Geoffrey Hutchings. 103min. A cross-cultural story about an enigmatic young Chinese woman who drifts away from her backwater home and moves to England. Screening presented by GRAMNet and BEMIS. CCA, Glasgow. Sherlock Holmes (12A) ●●●●● (Guy Ritchie, UK/Australia/US, 2009) Robert Downey, Jr, Jude Law, Rachel McAdams, Mark Strong. 128min. Ritchie’s first high- octane action interpretation of Arthur Conan Doyle’s legendary hero. St Bride’s Centre, Edinburgh. Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (12A) ●●●●● (Guy Ritchie, US, 2011) Robert Downey Jr, Jude Law, Noomi Rapace. 129min. Ritchie delivers a sluggish and unwieldy sequel. But there is still much to enjoy, including an impressive box of CG tricks, the ‘old married couple’ relationship between Holmes and Watson, Stephen Fry’s game appearance as Holmes’ older brother Mycroft, and Hans Zimmer’s score. macrobert, Stirling. The Shining (18) (Stanley Kubrick, US, 1980) Jack Nicholson, Shelly Duvall, Philip Stone. 146min. Kubrick’s overwrought, overlong horror film dispenses with much of the psychic apparatus of Stephen King’s novel to concentrate on the deeper horror of a family turning in on itself. Nicholson, with all the stops out, is bug-eyed and demonic as the writer cracking up violently in an isolated hotel, and the final scenes are, literally, chilling. Cameo, Edinburgh.
✽✽ Show People (U) (King Vidor, US, 1928) Marion Davies, William Haines,
Dell Henderson. 83min. Silent Hollywood satire inspired by the career of Gloria Swanson, in which an ambitious country girl pitches up in Tinseltown. With live piano accompaniment by Neil Brand. Preceded by a champagne reception from 6.30pm; dress code: Hollywood film star. Part of the Hippodrome Festival of Silent Cinema. The Hippodrome, Bo’ness. 63 Years On (tbc) (Dong-won Kim, South Korea, 2008) Harrowing documentary about the experiences of five international survivors of Japanese Military Sexual Slavery during World War II. International Women’s Day screening. macrobert, Stirling. Sleep (Nemuriyusurika) (18) (Katsumi Sakaguchi, Japan, 2011) Mariko Hirano, Aimi Kobayashi, Miyuki Komagata. 96min. This revenge tale and family drama follows a woman trying to find the man who raped her. Part of the Contemporary Japanese Auteurs season. Glasgow Film Theatre.
✽✽ The Song of the Scarlet Flower (Laulu Tulipunaisesta
Kukasta) (15) (Teuvo Tulio, Finland, 1938) Kaarlo Oksanen, Rakel Linnanheimo, Mirjami Kuosmanen. 115min. Director Tulio’s oldest surviving film depicts the Finnish lumberjack culture as a young man is made to face up to his responsibilities. Teuvo Tulio season. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (U) ●●●●● (George Lucas, US, 1999) Ewan McGregor, Liam Neeson, Natalie Portman. 139min. At times you’d think there was more animation than live action on screen – and maybe it’s this toning down of the human element that left the film lacking soul. Now in glorious 3D. General release. Starship Troopers (18) (Paul Verhoeven, US, 1997) Casper Van Dien, Denise Richards, Dina Meyer. 129min. Verhoeven’s classic sci-fi actioner is a hugely satirical swipe at his adopted homeland’s foreign policy. A ‘Geek Film Night’ screening, preceded by a Q&A with Frankie Boyle, who chose the film, chaired by Mark Millar. Glasgow Film Theatre. Stephen Sondheim’s Company (E) (Harold Prince, UK, 2012) Craig Bierko, Stephen Colbert, Jon Cryer. 180min.
76 THE LIST 1–29 Mar 2012
Recording of a New York Philharmonic concert production of Sondheim’s musical about the commitment-phobic Robert, his ten coupled-up friends, his three girlfriends and his 35th birthday party. Recorded live at the Avery Fisher Hall. Selected release from Thu 15 Mar. The Straight Story (U) ●●●●● (David Lynch, US, 1999) Richard Farnsworth, Sissy Spacek, Harry Dean Stanton. 111min. A midwestern old timer is hell-bent on reuniting with his estranged, terminally ill brother so he takes to the road aboard his motorised lawnmower. In this sublime snail’s pace odyssey, modern psychosis is replaced by old time decency. Part of Into a World: The Films of David Lynch. Filmhouse, Edinburgh.
✽✽ Suicide Room (Sala Samobójców) (15) (Jan Komasa,
Poland, 2011) Jakub Gierszal, Roma Gasiorowska, Agata Kulesza. 110min. A teenager is seduced to ‘The Suicide Room’ in this examination of the murky side of social media. Part of the touring KINOTEKA Polish Film Festival. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Surviving Life (Theory and Practice) (15) (Jan Svankmajer, Czech Republic/Slovakia/Japan, 2010) Václav Helsus, Klára Issová, Zuzana Krónerová. 109min. Czech psychoanalytical comedy in which a man dreams of his perfect woman but can’t remember her name when he awakens. Cameo, Edinburgh. Tabloid (15) (Errol Morris, US, 2010) Joyce McKinney,. 87min. 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 leads her across the globe, into jail, and onto the front page. Double bill with Page One. Cameo, Edinburgh. Tadas Blinda. Pradzia (15) (Donatas Ulvydas, Lithuania, 2011) Mantas Jankavicius, Agniya Ditkovskite, Tatyana Lyutaeva. 110min. This, the first historical action film released in independent Lithuania, follows the adventures of the legendary 19th century outlaw Tadas Blinda, Lithuanian culture’s Robin Hood. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. A Tale of Two Cities (U) ●●●●● (Ralph Thomas, UK, 1958) Dirk Bogarde,, Dorothy Tutin,, Paul Guers. Drama and romance amid the French Revolution. Part of the Dickens on Screen season. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Tales of the Night (Les contes de la nuit) (U) (Michel Ocelot, France, 2011) Voices of Julien Beramis, Marine Griset, Michel Elias. 84min. Six exotic fables from different periods and countries, rendered in beautiful animation. Part of the Rendez-vous with French Cinema season. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Tatsumi (15) (Eric Khoo, Singapore, 2011) Tetsuya Bessho, Yoshihiro Tatsumi. 94min. A film based on the life and short stories of Yoshihiro Tatsumi, renowned for his gekiga style of manga. macrobert, Stirling. Tere Naal Love Ho Gaya (tbc) (Mandeep Kumar, India, 2012) Tinnu Anand, Genelia D’Souza, Ritesh Deshmukh. 130min. Bollywood romcom in which an ambitious young rickshaw driver is forced by his boss’ daughter into staging her kidnapping so that she can escape an unwanted marriage. Selected release. That Sinking Feeling (PG) ●●●●● (Bill Forsyth, UK, 1979) John Gordon Sinclair, Billy Greenlees. 89min. Forsyth’s debut feature uses a cast from the Glasgow Youth Theatre to tell the story of unemployed youth driven by boredom into a robbery of some kitchen sinks. The easygoing performances and spritely wit still catch the attention, and were an early indication of Forsyth’s quirky genius. Glasgow Film Theatre. There Will Be Blood (15) ●●●●● (Paul Thomas Anderson, US, 2007) Daniel Day-Lewis, Paul Dano. 158min. Silver prospector moves to the impoverished evangelically centred town of New Boston and finds himself in a battle of wits against sleazy child preacher Eli Sunday (Dano) over oil, ethics and the American Dream. Utterly riveting and with Day Lewis playing a wonderful part with a poisonous zeal.
Scotsman Screening Room, Edinburgh. The Thing (18) ●●●●● (John Carpenter, US, 1982) Kurt Russell. 108min. Carpenter’s excellent 1982 monster flick revived on digital big screen projection. Dundee Contemporary Arts, Dundee. This is Spinal Tap (15) ●●●●● (Rob Reiner, US, 1983) Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, Harry Shearer, RJ Parnell, Ed Begley Jr. 82min. Certainly the most ingenious, accurate and funny of all spoof rockumentaries, with wonderfully spontaneous dialogue, convincing fly-on-the- wall camera work, self-penned heavy metal parodies, and of course the amp that goes to 11. Paisley Arts Centre, Paisley; Vespbar, Glasgow. This Means War (12A) (McG, US, 2012) Reese Witherspoon, Chris Pine, Tom Hardy. See Also Released, page 70. General release from Fri 2 Mar. Times and Winds (15) ●●●●● (Reha Erdem, Turkey, 2006) Ali Bey Kayali, Ozkan Ozen, Elit Iscan. 112min. Erdem’s magnificent work provides a striking vision of childhood in a mountainous Anatolian village overlooking the Aegean Sea. Concentrating on the experiences of a trio of pre-pubescent adolescents within this patriarchal community, where modern technologies are noticeably absent, religion and nature are billed as the only forces guiding the routines of the area’s inhabitants. Introduced by Dr Pasquale Iannone. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. To Kill A Mockingbird (PG) ●●●●● (Robert Mulligan, US, 1962) Gregory Peck, Mary Badham, Phillip Alford, Robert Duvall. 129min. Sturdy film adaptation of the classic Harper Lee novel which won an Oscar for Peck as a liberal lawyer in the Deep South defending a black man accused of rape. Eastwood Park Theatre, Glasgow. Trishna (18) ●●●●● (Michael Winterbottom, UK, 2012) Freida Pinto, Riz Ahmed, Roshan Seth. 117min. See review, page 68. Selected release from Fri 9 Mar. 21 Jump Street (15) (Phil Lord/Chris Miller, US, 2012) Jonah Hill, Channing Tatum, Ice Cube. 109min. See Also Released, page 70. General release from Fri 16 Mar. 2001: A Space Odyssey (U) ●●●●● (Stanley Kubrick, Uk, 1968) Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood, William Sylvester, Douglas Rain (voice). 139min. Kubrick’s gloriously grand architecture sees prehistoric apes timelined into a space ballet. An opaque masterpiece, which suggests so much, yet explains so little. A timeless classic. Cameo, Edinburgh. Under the Sea (U) (Howard Hall, UK, 2009) Jim Carrey. 65min. Carrey narrates an underwater 3D look at the impact of global warming upon the diverse coastal regions of Southern Australia, New Guinea and the Indo-Pacific areas. IMAX Theatre, Glasgow. The Vow (12A) (Michael Sucsy, US/Brazil/France/Australia/UK/Germany, 2012) Rachel McAdams, Channing Tatum, Sam Neill. 104min. Tatum tries to win back his wife’s (McAdams) heart after she wakes up after a car crash with severe amnesia. General release. W.E. (15) ●●●●● (Madonna, UK, 2011) Abbie Cornish, James D’Arcy, Andrea Riseborough. 115min. Madonna’s second film as director focuses on the affair between King Edward VIII and American divorcée Wallis Simpson and parallels the story with a contemporary tryst between a married woman a Russian security guard. Flatly acted and stiffly structured, the film’s brazenly sumptuous look and gorgeous costumes give it a substantial entertainment value, even if the results are patchy. macrobert, Stirling; The Hippodrome, Bo’ness. Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (U) (Nick Park, Steve Box, UK, 2005) Peter Sallis, Ralph Fiennes, Helena Bonham Carter. 85min. The cheese- loving Wallace and his canine chum have reinvented themselves as a humane pest- control outfit - ‘Anti-Pesto’ and there’s a mysterious ‘were-rabbit’ on the prowl. Knowing fun for all the family. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Wanderlust (15) (David Wain, US, 2012) Jennifer Aniston, Paul Rudd, Malin
Akerman. 98min. See Also Released, page 70. General release from Fri 2 Mar. War Horse (12A) ●●●●● (Steven Spielberg, US, 2011) Jeremy Irvine, Emily Watson, Peter Mullan, David Thewlis. 146min. Alcoholic farmer buys a spirited horse on the brink of World War 1; his son tames Joey, but war soon separates them. Spielberg promises and delivers large- canvas, unashamedly romanticised, old- fashioned storytelling. General release.
✽✽ The Way You Wanted Me (Sellaisena Kuin Sinä Minut
Halusit) (15) (Teuvo Tulio, Finland, 1944) Marie-Louise Fock, Ture Ara, Kunto Karapää. 102min. An innocent country girl is driven to prostitution in Tulio’s brutal melodrama. Part of the Teuvo Tulio season. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. We Bought a Zoo (PG) ●●●●● (Cameron Crowe, USA, 2011) Matt Damon, Scarlet Johansson. 124min. See review, page 67. General release from Fri 16 Mar. We Need to Talk About Kevin (15) ●●●●● (Lynne Ramsay, UK/US, 2011) Tilda Swinton, John C Reilly, Ezra Miller. 112min. Smart, thought-provoking adaptation of Lionel Shriver’s novel about the guilt of a mother whose teenage son went on a school killing spree. Swinton is well cast as the steely, stoical Eva, writing letters to her absent husband as she attempts to understand her monstrous offspring. Brunton Theatre, Edinburgh; The Hippodrome, Bo’ness. Who Are You, Polly Magoo? (Qui êtes-vous, Polly Maggoo?) (15) (William Klein, France, 1966) Dorothy McGowan, Jean Rochefort , Sami Frey. 102min. American Vogue fashion photographer William Klein’s trippy satire about 60s France follows a model who winds up the subject of a vapid documentary. Introduced by Marie Galipienso as part of the Monorail Film Club. Glasgow Film Theatre. Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (PG) ●●●●● (Robert Zemeckis, US, 1988) Bob Hoskins, Christopher Lloyd, Charles Fleischer, Stubby Kaye, Joanna Cassidy. 92min. An amazing technical achievement for the interaction of cartoons and live action, this box office winner spoofs the film noir genre while milking the Tex Avery-style cartoon violence for all it’s worth. Sloans, Glasgow. The Woman in Black (12A) ●●●●● (James Watkins, UK/Canada/Sweden, 2012) Daniel Radcliffe, Ciaran Hinds, Janet McTeer. 95min. A young lawyer (Radcliffe) arrives at a remote English village to conclude the estate of a dead woman; cue lots of shoogly windows, creaky floorboards and slamming doors. Despite smart production choices of screenwriter and director, and a commendable performance by Radcliffe, the movie is dull, old-fashioned and decidedly short on terror. General release. The Woman in the Fifth (La Femme du Vème) (15) ●●●●● (Pawel Pawlikowski, France/Poland/UK, 2011) Ethan Hawke, Kristin Scott Thomas, Joanna Kulig. 85min. Writer Tom (Hawke, understated) arrives in Paris to build bridges with his estranged family, but then his life falls apart – until he meets Margit (Scott Thomas). Despite elements of absurdist humour, it’s underdeveloped, incomplete and unpersuasive. Dundee Contemporary Arts, Dundee; Cameo, Edinburgh. Young Adult (15) (Jason Reitman, US, 2011) Charlize Theron, Patrick Wilson, Patton Oswalt. 94min. A divorced writer returns to her home town hoping to re- kindle an old flame, but her ex is now happily married. Filmhouse, Edinburgh; Dundee Contemporary Arts, Dundee. Young Frankenstein (15) (Mel Brooks, US, 1974) Gene Wilder, Marty Feldman, Peter Boyle, Teri Garr, Madeline Kahn, Cloris Leachman, Kenneth Mars, Richard Haydn, and Gene Hackman. 108min. A splendidly accurate James Whale pastiche choc-full of memorable one-liners and crazee situations. Brooks’ most affectionate and consistently humorous film. Part of Glasgow Comedy Festival. Vespbar, Glasgow.