FILM | Index
PROFILE LUCY WALKER Born 1970, London Background An Oxford graduate, Walker won a Fulbright Scholarship to study film at New York’s Tisch School of the Arts. She made her debut documentary feature in 2002 with Devil’s Playground, exploring the romantic experiences of Amish teenagers. She has since directed the acclaimed documentaries Blindsight, Countdown to Zero, and the Oscar-nominated Waste Land, charting the creative collaboration between Brazilian artist Vik Muniz and a group of Rio refuse pickers at the world’s largest garbage dump. What’s she up to now? Her latest non-fiction feature is The Crash Reel, which chronicles the life-changing accident and attempted comeback of American snowboarding champion Kevin Pearce. On Kevin Pearce ‘I first met Kevin in the summer of 2010 after his crash, when I was mentoring at a retreat for extreme sports athletes. It was one of his first excursions from hospital and because of his brain injury, he couldn’t remember very much. He kept introducing himself to me and saying, “hi, I’m Kevin”’. On extreme sports ‘The world of extreme sports is also one of big business. Kids might think that snowboarding is the ultimate freedom, but this freedom is being marketed to them by commercial sponsors. What amazed me was that Kevin was desperate to get back to snowboarding, even though if he hit his head again, he might die.’ On a golden age for documentary filmmaking ’With portable cameras and affordable data and non-linear digital editing, I think this is a golden age of documentary filmmaking. These new technologies mean we can make complicated, beautifully crafted and cinematic films about real-life stories.’ Interesting fact Walker supported herself at film school by DJing in New York. (Tom Dawson) ■ The Crash Reel will screen on Sky Atlantic in November.
74 THE LIST 17 Oct–14 Nov 2013
Prince Avalanche (15) ●●●●● (David Gordon Green, US, 2013) Paul Rudd, Emile Hirsch, Lance LeGault. 94min. Comedy about the misadventures of two men working a remote highway making roads. See review, page 70. General release from Fri 18 Oct.
✽ The Selfish Giant (15) ●●●●● (Clio Barnard, UK, 2013) Conner
Chapman, Shaun Thomas, Sean Gilder. 91min. Two troubled 13-year-old boys fall under the influence of a shady scrap metal dealer. See review, page 71. Selected release from Fri 25 Oct. Thor: The Dark World (tbc) (Alan Taylor, US, 2013) Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Natalie Portman. Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston return to battle one another as Thor and Loki. General release from Wed 30 Oct. Turbo (U) ●●●●● (David Soren, US, 2013) Samuel L. Jackson, Ryan Reynolds, Michelle Rodriguez. 96min. A snail dreams of being the fastest in the world. See review, page 70. General release from Fri 18 Oct.
STILL SHOWING About Time (12A) ●●●●● (Richard Curtis, UK, 2013) Domhnall Gleeson, Rachel McAdams, Bill Nighy. 123min. An out-and-out romance with equal helpings of comedy and drama. Cineworld Renfrew Street, Glasgow, Thu 17 Oct; Vue Ocean, Edinburgh, Thu 17 Oct; Vue Omni Centre, Edinburgh, Thu 17 Oct. Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa (15) ●●●●● (Declan Lowney, UK, 2013) Steve Coogan, Tim Key. 90min. Tremendously fun outing for Partridge as he unwittingly becomes a hostage negotiator at his digital radio station. Dominion, Edinburgh, Thu 17 Oct.
Baggage Claim (12A) (David E. Talbert, US, 2013) Paula Patton, Taye Diggs, Jill Scott. 96min. A woman pledges to keep herself from being the oldest and only woman in her family never to wed. Cineworld Renfrew Street, Glasgow, Thu 17 Oct; Showcase Cinema Glasgow, Glasgow, Thu 17 Oct; Showcase Cinema Paisley, Paisley, Thu 17 Oct. Blue Jasmine (12A) ●●●●● (Woody Allen, US, 2013) Cate Blanchett, Alec Baldwin, Sally Hawkins. 98min. A life crisis causes a vapid and narcissistic socialite to head to San Francisco, where she tries to reconnect with her sister. Selected release. Boss (tbc) (Anthony D’Souza, India, 2013) Akshay Kumar, Shiv Pandit, Mithun Chakraborty. Action comedy in which one man vanquishes all evil. Cineworld Fountainpark, Edinburgh, Thu 17 Oct; Cineworld Renfrew Street, Glasgow, Thu 17 Oct; Odeon at the Quay, Glasgow, Thu 17 Oct. Despicable Me 2 (U) ●●●●● (Pierre Coffin/Chris Renaud, US, 2013) Voices of Steve Carell, Kristen Wiig, Steve Coogan, Miranda Cosgrove. 98min. Although hardly stretching itself in terms of ideas, the sequel is exuberantly animated and spectacularly silly. General release. Emperor (PG-13) ●●●●● (Peter Webber, US/Japan, 2012) Matthew Fox, Colin Moy, Tommy Lee Jones. 105min. Story based on the US Army’s management of Japan after the Japanese surrender in World War II. Cineworld Renfrew Street, Glasgow, Thu 17 Oct. The Fifth Estate (PG) ●●●●● (Bill Condon, US/Belgium, 2013) Benedict Cumberbatch, Daniel Brühl, Carice van Houten. 124min. Weighty real-life thriller about Wikileaks founder Julian Assange. General release.
Filth (18) ●●●●● (Jon S. Baird, UK, 2013) James McAvoy, Eddie Marsan, Imogen Poots. 97min. Adaptation of Irvine Welsh’s novel about a bigoted junkie cop who battles his way in an attempt to win back his wife and daughter. General release. The Great Gatsby (12A) ●●●●● (Baz Luhrmann, US/Australia, 2013) Leonardo DiCaprio, Carey Mulligan, Joel Edgerton. 143min. Luhrmann’s typically exuberant take on the novel by F Scott Fitzgerald. Vue Glasgow Fort, Glasgow, Thu 17 Oct. Grown Ups 2 (12A) (Dennis Dugan, US, 2013) Adam Sandler, Taylor Lautner, Salma Hayek. 101min. Sandler and friends reunite for this sequel to the critically derided 2010 comedy. Empire Clydebank, Clydebank, Thu 17 Oct. The Heat (15) ●●●●● (Paul Feig, US, 2013) Sandra Bullock, Melissa McCarthy, Demián Bichir. 117min. Cop comedy from the director of Bridesmaids. Cineworld Fountainpark, Edinburgh, Thu 17 Oct; Cineworld Parkhead, Glasgow, Thu 17 Oct; Cineworld Renfrew Street, Glasgow, Thu 17 Oct. How I Live Now (15) ●●●●● (Kevin Macdonald, UK, 2013) Saoirse Ronan, Tom Holland, Anna Chancellor. 101min. Intelligent, gritty and haunting drama based on Meg Rosoff’s young adult novel. Glasgow Film Theatre, Glasgow, Sun 27–Wed 30 Oct. Insidious: Chapter 2 (15) ●●●●● (James Wan, US, 2013) Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne, Ty Simpkins. 106min. Sequel to the 2010 horror hit. Selected release. Justin and the Knights of Valour (PG) ●●●●● (Manuel Sicilia, Spain, 2013) Saoirse Ronan, Mark Strong, Freddie Highmore. 90min. Serviceable family movie with homely animation
RUNNING FROM CRAZY Showing as part of the Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Festival is Oscar-winner Barbara Kopple’s Running from Crazy, a documentary that follows Mariel Hemingway, granddaughter of the Nobel Prize-winning author Ernest Hemingway. A former actress (she received an Oscar nomination for her performance in Woody Allen’s Manhattan) who now works for a suicide prevention organisation, the film explores the Hemingway family’s experiences of depression and suicide. ■ Filmhouse, Edinburgh, Thu 17 Oct; Glasgow Film Theatre, Glasgow, Sun 20 Oct.