Film
Charlotte’s Web (1') CO. ((iary Winiek. l'SA. 3000i Dakota Fanning. \oices ol‘ Julia Roberts. Sam Shepherd. Ste‘. e Btiscemi. 97min. (‘hirpy tot l’ern tl‘anningl rescues Wilbur the pig lrom a cruel farmyard late for onable arachnid (’harlotte to eyentually say e the day in a bittersweet linale that touches on practical matters of life and death. Somewhere between the cutesy Babe and ()rw ell‘s political Animal Farm it should draw in children and nostalgic adults alike. .Se/et‘tet/ release. Cheeni Kum (PU) tBalkrishnan. India. 3007i Amitabh Bachchan. Tabu. l’aresh Raw'al. l5llmin. Allegedly 'sugar-l'ree' and exert ‘s'arcastic' Hindi romantic comedy about a May I)ecember relationship. The clearly ageing. omnipresent Bachchan takes the lead again. ()(lenn Al The Quay. (ilasemi'; ()(lt'ttll l’urt Kin/Iain]. lit/inliurgh. Chicken Run tl'i O. <.\'iek Park/Peter l.ord. bis. 30””) Voices of Mel (iibson. Julia Saw alha. Miranda Richardson. 85min. For its lirst l'eature Aardman studios has re-w'ritten the WWII l’()\\' esperience as an ()rw ellian satire. albeit with laughs. So. Stalag 17 becomes a battery farm and the camp commandant tanner 'l‘weedy‘s domineering wile. while in the hutches. (linger rallies her liellow hens to fly their coop. Though the characters aren't as established as Wallace and (iromil and the feature length running time slows the action. For Aardman this is may hall baked. ('ameo. lit/inlnujeh.
The Circle (Dayereh) ll’(il 0.00 (Jalar l’anahi. Iran/Italy. Illtll l l‘ereshteh Sadr ()ral‘aei. .\'arges Mami/adeh Ra/lighi. 91min. Through a series of quotidian incidents. l’anahi (The White [fa/loom presents a deyastating yet profoundly empathetic portrait of Muslim women‘s stunted liyes in Iran. l'nited by discrimination. hypocrisy. courage and resilience. the women brayely denying their second-class status. Aft-f. lit/I'nhureh. Close to Home l BM .00 tVat'dil Bilu/l)alia Hagar. lsrael. 2005i Neama Shendar. Smadar Say‘ar. lrit Suki. Ullmin. See reyiew. page 37. I't/Itt/IUHH’. lat/tnlmrgh.
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42 THE LIST 24 Ma; Jam 7901'
Conversations with Other Women t 15) 0.. (Hans ('anosa. l'K/l'S. 3007) Aaron lickhart. Helena Bonham ('arter. Yury Tsy kun. Minin. Intriguing. wordy. ultimately numbing two hander in which two old l'riends (or were they loyers'.’l meet at a wedding again. Presented in split screen. Iickhart and Bonham (‘arter are excellent and daring as the leads. (titeu‘urh/ ReIt/reu' Street. Glasgow; (‘inen'urh/ lat/III/ttlrgh. Edinburgh.
Cyberworld 30 (Pm (Various. t'S. 2()ll()i Jenna lill‘man. Matt lirew er. Woody Allen. -l-lmin. Jenna Tillman is the cyber- host who introduces Us to \arious unrelated segments ol~ cyber animation. The Shir/twin and Ant; make 31) appearances in a spectacular display of today's most lltlpl'esslVe graphic teclmology. IJIAX ‘I‘heatre. (i/asgmi‘.
Deep Sea 30 «I’m tlloward Hall. (‘anada/l'S. Zoom Voices of Johnny I)epp. Kate Winslet. 4 l min. A 3-!) digital exploration of the ocean's depths and its creatures. [WAX Theatre. (i/ayguiiz
Dr No «Pm 0000 1063) Sean ('onnery. l'rsula Andress. Joseph \Viseman. Jack Lord. lllfimin. The lirst Bond tnoy ie. and a \ intage one at that. A may young-looking and Scots-sounding ('onnery works his charming land in hindsight somewhat campi way through the diabolical back passageways of Dr .\'o's ex il empire and the requisite mnnber ol‘ lloosies. pausing only to take out the occasional tarantula and take in the ('aribbean scenery. To say nothing ol Ms Andress' spectacular appearance on the beach with that conch shell . . . They don‘t make ‘em like they Used to. Scotsman Screening Room. Edinburgh.
The Ear (Ucho) l l3) 0... ils‘arel Kachyna. (’Iechosloyakia. 197m Jirina Bohdaloy a. Radoslay Br/obohaty. Boriyoi \ayratil. 04min. Hungary in the l‘)7l)s a well connected party aparatchik and his wile come home alter a poriipous state reception to lind their house unlocked. without electricity. and worst ol all. hugged.
t'l‘erence Young. l'K.
In the paranoid night that follows they take shelter in the rooms they think are sale from recording dcy ices (the kitchen and bathrooml and try to work out what has brought this intrusion into their pt‘iyale life by the state. Kachyna‘s long banned sociological thriller come satire is an absolute gem. (‘umerr lidin/nu‘g/i. Edinburgh’s Teltord College l ISi t\'arious. l'K. 2007i llllmin. Shorts from this year's cream ol the crop ol TV students in the Tellht‘d (‘ollege I)egree Show. Film/muse. lhlinlmryh.
El Topo t IS) .0... tAlejandro Jodorowsky. .\le\ico. 107(1) .»\leiandro Jodorow sky. Brontis Jodorow'sky‘. Mara l.oren/io. IZSmin. The absurdly psychedelic spaghetti western is resurrected to its late night slot on brand spanking new 35mm lilm. with an onslaught ol' naked l-ranciscan monks. dwaryes. cult members and black-clad gunslingers. The maddest. most psychedelic western you w ill ey er see. Miss at your perill. (i/usemi' l'i/In 'I'healre. (this unit:
Flyboys t l3:\l 0. (Tony Bill. l‘rance/I'S. 2007) James l-‘ranco. Scott lla/cll. Mac McDonald. HStnin. See
re\ ie“. [Tali-1C 3‘). Selected re/eaye. Fracture t 15» 0.. (Gregory lloblil. l’S. Still?) Anthony Hopkins. Ryan (iosling. l)a\ id Strathairn. Ullmin. A hamstrung legal chiller which pits (iosling‘s eager young attorney against Hopkins' scene stealing murder rap beating structural engineer. A pleasing cross between Joseph 1. Mankewicx's Sleuth and Mark l’ellington‘s underrated Arlington Rmul. Selected I‘t'lt'Hfil'.
Future Shorts tl-ii ty'ariousi. the [fallen (’luh. lit/inhure'h.
Goodbye Bafana 1 Hi 00 (Bille- August. Various. 2007i Joseph l-‘iennes. Dennis Hay sbert. Diane Kruger. l lSmin. \Vell intentioned but dreary and oyerlong adaptation ol' the recanting memoirs ol
w hite Afrikaans w arder James Gregor) w ho was in charge ol‘ Nelson Mandela when he was imprisoned on Robben Island. We [cilia/rural: ()Inni. lit/inlmrgh.
John Huston’s unsurpassable 1941 directorial debut gets a one off screening to commemorate the life and times of Jimmy Quinn, former manager of the Glasgow Film Theatre who died in February this year at the age of 85 after a short illness. Quinn, who worked at the GFT between 1974 and 1986, was a founder member of the Scottish Screenwriter’s Group and a keen amateur filmmaker with the Glasgow Cine Club. A selection of his short films will precede the feature.
I GFT. Glasgow, Sun 27 May.
Hero t IZAl O... t/hang Yimou. (’hina. 2002) Jet Li. Tony l.eung. Maggie (‘heung 99min. Yimou's contrm‘ersial take on the life of limperor ()in. one of the bloodiest reigns in ('hinese history. l'nstn‘prisingly. he was one ol~ Mao Tse Tung's heroes. Hem is a mind blowing old- school-swordplay -high- jumping take on this terrible time in history. Beautifully lilmed by cameratnan (‘hris Doyle. this is as breathtaking as it is reactionary. A joy til you can ignore the underlying l'ascistic tone). (i/asguw I’I'lm 'I‘heuln'. (i/asgmi‘. Hollywoodland l IS: 000 (Allen ('oulter. [-3. 2000) Ben Al'l‘leck. Adrien Brody. Diane Lane. litimin. A cracking thriller. lay-ish period drama and engrossing true life mystery centring around the death in IUS‘) under stispicious circumstances of (ieorgc Reeyes tthe actor best known for his role as teley ision‘s lirst Superman). (’utting back and forth between the investigations of PI l,ouis Simo tBrodyi and Reeyes' efforts to make it in Hollywood. it draws parallels between the men with sensitiyity' and pathos. l'ue lat/inhumh ()eeun. Edinburgh. The Innocents l l2.-\i 0... (Jack ('layton. I'K. 1%] l Deborah Kerr. Megs Jenkins. Michael Redgray e. 90min. Simply put. one of the linest ghost stories eyer committed to lilm. A shocking psychose\ual/supernatural chiller adapted from Henry James's classic noyel. The Turn of the Screw. lixceptionally ambiguous. it's unlikely to proyide an oby ious conclusion say e that you‘ll want to see it again. A l‘r‘eddie Francis memorial screening. I'i/mhouye. lit/inhureh.
It Happened Here il’( i) O...
tKey in Brow nlow and Andrew Mollo. l'ls'. Who) 93min. Brownlow was inst eighteen when he deyeloped the idea for this ingenious look at what would ha\ e happened to lingland had the .\'a/is won \\‘\\'2. It took him a further eight years oi painstaking work gathering the necessary equipment together to make it. The action l'ollows a nurse whose l'eeling goes from one ol~ complacency to horror on realising the situation of the country. Part of the What ll". . . season. (i/usgtm' [Vi/In 'I'heatre. (i/asguii:
>’.< Jindabyne l 15).... tRay
I,aw rence. .-\u.stralia. 2000) Laura Linney. (iabriel Byrne. (‘hris llatwood. 133mm. See intery iew. page .ib and Also Released. page 3‘). (ilasgmi' I't/nt Theatre. Glasgow; (tuner), lit/tn/iure/z.
=21 Joe Strummer: The Future is Unwritten t 15).... (Julien Temple. l‘l's'. 3007i ll-lmin. See reyiew. page 38. Glasgow l'T/III Theatre. (i/ay‘gun‘.
>31 Lights in the Dusk (Laitakaupungin Valot) ll’(il 00.. (Aki ls'aurismaki. l-‘inland/(iermany /l-‘rance. Zoom Janne Hy y'tiainen. Maria Jeryenhelmi. Maria Heiskanen. 78min. See reyiew'. page 37. l'i/mhuuse. lit/inhurg/i: (Has-gun" I'll-Int Theatre. (i/aygtm'.
The Lives of Others (Das Leben der Anderen) l l5) 0... tl‘lorian Henckel \on I)onnersmarck. (iermany. 3000i Martina (iedeck. l'lrich Muehe. Sebastian Koch. l37min. lixcellent cold war thriller about .sury eillance and cultural l'reedom in liast Berlin under the Stasi (secret polieel. A lilm that manages to be both horril‘y ing and humoroUs. Highly recommended. Selt't‘letl release.
Love Wrecked «Pm O (Randal Kleiser. IS. 2007) Amanda Bynes. ('hris (‘armack. Jonathan Bennett. 30min. l’itil'ully' bad romantic comedy about what happens when hideous teen Jenny tBynesl becomes marooned with her rock star idol Jason Masters t('armackl while on a (’aribbean cruise. This unl'unny nonsense was directed. sadly. by Randall (ireas‘e KlL‘l\L‘l'. (rt'llt'l'tll release.
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