Film
The Flying Scotsman (PG) 000%“; (Douglas MacKinnon. UK. 2006) Jonny Lee Miller. Billy Boyd. Laura Fraser. Brian Cox. lOSmin. High profile dramatisation of the Graham Obree story. The cyclist struggles with personal demons and a homemade bike to set a new world one-hour cycling record. GilmorehillGl 2. Glasgow.
Fracture (15) 0.05:6 (Gregory Hoblit. US. 2007) Anthony Hopkins. Ryan Gosling. David Strathaim. 90min. A hamstrung legal chiller which pits Gosling's eager young attorney against Hopkins' scene stealing murder rap beating structural engineer. A pleasing cross between Joseph L Mankewicz's Sleuth and Mark Pellington's underrated Arlington Road. General release. Funny Ha H8 (15) (Andrew Bujalski. US. 2002) Kate Dollenmayer. Christian Rudder. Jennifer L Schaper. 104min. Slacker Mamie (Dollenmayer) drinks. bumblcs and laughs her way through a post-graduation maze of booze. confusion and the weight of too many choices. Smart. subtle and excruciatingly honest comedy. Glasgow Film Theatre. Glasgow.
Future Shorts (E) (Various). Aiming to develop a wider audience for short films. future shorts returns with another excellent new programme. The Arches. Glasgow. The Garden of the Final-Continis (I5) (Vittorio De Sica. Italy/West Germany. 1970) Lino Capolicchio. Dominique Sanda. Fabio Testi. 94min. As fascism. Mussolini and WWII close in. the wealthy. Jewish Finzi-Contini family retreat into their walled estate. an escapist idyll. De Sica‘s adaptation of Giorgio Bassani‘s novel locates the tension of pre-war Europe in the Garden to enact a microcosm of the political climate. Part of Giorgio Bassani season. Filmhouse. Edinburgh.
The Gold Rimmed Glasses (IS) 00.! .: (Giuliano Montaldo. ltaly/Yugoslavia/France. I987) Philippe Noiret. Rupert Everett. Valeria Golino.
1 10min. It's I938 in Ferrara. Italy. and as the run-up to WWII gathers pace. anti- Semitism and homophobia destroy the lives of two previously respectable citizens. Dr Fadigati (Noiret) and David Lattes (Everett). Part of Giorgio Bassani season. Filmhouse. Edinburgh.
The Good German (l5)0000‘: (Steven Soderbcrgh. US. 2006) George Clooney. Cate Blanchett. Tobey Maguire. l()7min. An adaptation of Joseph Kanon‘s murder mystery novel set in Berlin at the end of WWII in the classic film noir style. Revolving around three main characters: a guileless US war correspondent. an opportunistic black marketer and an opaque German prostitute. the storytelling styles. anachronistic elements and performances are seamless. For once. it appears. they do still make ‘em like they used to. Gmsvenor; Glasgow.
Goodbye Batons (15) 00 - '(Bille August. Various. 2007) Joseph Fiennes. Dennis Haysbert. Diane Kruger. I 18min. Well intentioned but dreary and overlong adaptation of the recanting memoirs of white Afrikaans warder James Gregory who was in charge of Nelson Mandela when he was imprisoned on Robben Island. See Also Released. page 40. Selected release fmm Fri 1 I May.
Goya's Ghosts ( l5) I- (Milos Fomian. Spain. 2006) Javier Bardem. Natalie Portman. Stellan Skarsgard. 1 14min. A heavy handed biopic that struggles to marry the Spanish lnquisition and the French Revolution with a fantastical life of Goya (Skarsgard). his brother (Bardem) and his muse (Portman). A waste of great talent that relies too heavily on the pull of Goya's name. General release.
La llaine ( l8) 0.." (Matthieu Kassovitz. France. I995) Vincent Cassel. Hubert Kounde. Said Taghmaoui. 85min. This edgy. black and white portrait of racial tension and police brutality on a run-down estate outside Paris won twentysomething Kassovitz the Director's Prize at the I995 Cannes Film Festival. Three ethnically mixed lads come up against the cops when one of their pals is hospitalised after a raid. Urgent. compelling filmmaking that's as punchy as a blow to the head. ACE. Edinburgh.
so Till us? 1024 May 2007
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Summerl-lol'
Cliff fans alert! Don’t miss this special
screening of what is arguably Sir Cliff Richard‘s second best film (the first is undoubtedly the excellent 1960 music showbiz expose Expresso Bongo co-starring Laurence Harvey). This likeable 1963 musical comedy about a London garage mechanic who transforms an old double-decker bus into a rolling hotel for him and his mates is showing as part of Active Travel Week 6 Glasgow
University.
I Gilmorehil/ 612, Glasgow, Fri 18 May.
Half Nelson (15) O..." (Ryan Fleck. US. 2006) Ryan Gosling. Shareeka Epps. Anthony Mackie. 107min. An absorbing character study from debut writer-director Fleck. which skilfully avoids melodramatic cliches about inspirational pedagogues and inner-city violence. Gosling excels as the drug-addicted. politically disillusioned teacher in a tough Brooklyn neighbourhood. who befriends a l3-ycar-old African- American female pupil. impressively played by newcomer Epps. A film that's refreshineg unafraid of depicting uncertainty and ambivalence. Cameo. Edinburgh.
House of Flying DeggersUS) GOO-gs 1; (Zhang Yimou. China/Hong Kong. 2004) Takeshi Kaneshiro. Zhang Ziyi. Andy Lau. l l9min. A pair of police deputies. Jin (Kaneshiro) and Leo (Lau). track a suspected member of the insurgent faction Flying Daggers circa 859AD with surprising results. Given the previous form of Hem it's a disappointment. Good combat sequences. though. Glasgow Film Theatre. Glasgow.
The Illusionist (PG) 000 (Neil Burger. C7ech Republic/US. 2006) Edward
Norton. Paul Giamatti. Jessica Biel. l09min. The second film in as many months about magic in early 20th century Europe. The Illusionist is odder and more romantic than Christopher Nolan's superior The Prestige. telling an old fashioned story of a master magician Eisenheim's (Norton) attempts to beat the violence and corruption of the age he lives in. Cameo. Edinburgh.
Inland Empire (15) 000:» a (David Lynch. US. 2006) Laura Dem. Jeremy Irons. Harry Dean Stanton. l80min. You expect Lynch films to be confusing but only the most die-hard Lynch fan will find merit in this tedious celluloid rune. Lynch and his digital camera venture into the excesses of split narrative. talking rabbits and an obscure storyline about a famous actress (Dem) who gets lost in a film role. Filmhouse. Edinburgh.
The Innocents (I2A) oeoeo (Jack Clayton. UK. l96l) Deborah Kerr. Megs Jenkins. Michael Redgrave. 99min. Simply put. one of the finest ghost stories ever committed to film. A shocking psychosexual/supematural chiller adapted from Henry James's classic novel. The Turn of the Screw. Exceptionally ambiguous. it‘s
unlikely to provide an obvious conclusion save that you'll want to see it again. Part of Gone But Not Forgotten. Filmhouse. Edinburgh.
The Last Days of Yssser Arafat (12A) (Sherine Salama. Australia. 2006) 77min. An insightful look at the last days of the late President of the Palestinian National Authority. which includes his final interview. Part of Sheffield lntemational Documentary Festival on Tour. Glasgow Film Theatre. Glasgow; Filmhouse. Edinburgh.
The Last flimsy (PG) 4% (Robert Shaye. US. 2007) Joely Richardson. Timothy Hutton. Rainn Wilson. Chris O'Neil. 94min. A brother and sister develop special powers after they find a mysterious box of toys. Soon they find themselves dragged into a strange and terrifying world. Above average children's adventure which keeps things nicely incongrous and odd. Showcase C inema. Coatbn'dge. Glasgow: Showcase Cinema. Paisley. Paisley.
W0 in a . . . "0&0 (tbc) (Anurag Basu. India 2007) Shiney Ahuja. Shilpa Shetty. Shannan Joshi. Kay Kay Menon. A tangled Bollywood web in which the lives of seven people living in mtxiem Mumbai. including bored housewife (Shetty) and an ambitious executive (Joshi). intersect and collide. The bed-hopping story is nudged along by a rock soundtrack (performed by music director and comp0ser Pn'tam). which is considered to be a first in Bollywood film. Cineworld Renfrew Street. Glasgow.
The Lives of Others (Das Leben d0! Anderen) (15) G”. (Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck. Germany. 2006) Martina Gedeck. Ulrich Muehc. Sebastian Koch. l37min. Excellent cold war thn'ller about surveillance and cultural freedom in East Berlin under the Stasi (secret police). A film that manages to be both horrifying and humorous. Highly recommended. Selected release.
Love Wrecked (PG) 0- r ti‘zi (Randal Kleiser. US. 2007) Amanda Bynes. Chris Carmack. Jonathan Bennett. 86min. Pitifully bad romantic comedy about what happens when hideous teen Jenny (Bynes) becomes marooned with her rock star idol Jason Masters (Carmack) while on a Caribbean cruise. This unfunny nonsense was directed. sadly. by Randall Grease Kleiser. See Also Released. page 40. General release from Fri [8 May.
Magicians (IS) 00' 7‘" (Andrew O'Connor. UK. 2007) Robert Webb. David Mitchell. 89min. Peep Show stars Mitchell and Webb hit the big screen in this disappointing comedy of rivalry and the black arts. See preview. page 37. General release from Fri 18 May.
Iasculin Feminine ( IS) 00000 (Jean-Luc Godard. France. I966) Jean- Pierre Léaud. Chantal Goya. Marlene Jobert. l l0min. Somewhere between a sociological essay on Godard‘s Marx/Coca-Cola generation theory and a true mmance. this sees both the director and his star Léaud on top form. Glasgow Film Theatre. Glasgow. Meet the Robinsons (U) 0002-; 1 (Stephen Anderson. US. 2007) Voices of Angela Bassett. Daniel Hansen. Jordan Fry. l0|min. Lewis. an orphan. dreams of finding a family. When mysterious stranger Wilbur Robinson takes him to the future. maybe he will find one. Enjoyably referential screwball animated comedy with good voice work. Selected release.
The MessengersUS) 00mm: (The Pang Brothers. US. 2006) Kristen Stewart. Dylan McDermott. Penelope Ann Miller. 9lmin. In the Pang bmthers' first American horror a family move to an abandoned farmhouse where there‘s something nasty in the cellar. but no one believes teenager Jess (Stewart). Derivative and horribly cliched yet entertaining if you can suspend disbelief. Showcase Cinema. Coatbridge. Glasgow.
Miss Potter (PG) .01" rm (Chris Noonan. UK/US. 2006) Renee Zellweger. Emily Watson. Ewan McGregor. 92min. Zellweger's self-produced biopic of the creator of Peter Rabbit is a self-conscious vanity project that plays even less interestingly than any fluffy bunny bedtime story. Glasgow Film Theatre, Glasgow.