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Meet Dave (PG) 00 (Brian Robbins. LS. 2008) liddie Murphy. lili/aheth Batiks. Scott (Xian. 90min. liddie Murphy plays Dave Ming (hang. a spaceship made in the itnage of its miniature-sired captain (also Murphy) who has landed on liarth on a mission to save his planet. Now. one of the least eagerly anticipated reunions in cinetna history - between Murphy and director Brian Robbins (.Vor'bit) - invites us to Meet Dave. You really shouldn’t bother. General release.
The Mist ( l5) 0... (Frank Darabont. LS. 2007) Thomas Jane. Marcia (iay Harden. Laurie Holden. 126mm. After a thunderstorm artist David (Jane) heads down to the local supermarket. only to join a small cross-section of the town hetntned indoors by a tny'stet‘ious mist. Strange noises are heard. gigantic fruit flies emerge. and tentacles appear. At its heart this is pure B Movie. but Darabont imbues everything with such genuine gravity that it's difficult not to be swept along. Seleeted release. Mongol ( IS) .0. (Sergei Bodrov. (icrmany/Ka/akhstan/Russia/Slongolia. 2007) Aliya. Tegen Ao. 'l'adanobu Asano. 125mm. In the first of a planned trilogy on the Mongol leader‘s life. (ienghis Khan (Asano) suffers imprisonment. the murder of his father and the loss of his bride before waging war against his traitorous one-time ally. Although this sounds somewhat dry on paper. this is less the Khan of the history books than a carefully humanised leader. I'i/rnhouse. Edinburgh.
Monsters, Inc. (M oooo (Pete Doctet‘. LS. 200] ) John Goodman). Billy (’rystal. Steve Busccmi. 92min. The latest (‘Gl animation from 'Iov Story makers Pixar is set largely in .‘vfonstropolis. a city inhabited by the foulest of beasts. The monsters power their city by sending 'searers' through doors which teleport thetn into children's rooms. ()nce there. they pull faces at the kids. producing sltt‘ieks of terror. which are bottled back in Monstropolis and used as a source of energy. It's a neat idea. but what really lifts the filth is the sense of fun that pervades the whole tnovie. .llonsters. [He runs as smoothly as a fairground slide that no one is too big to enjoy. I’ilrnhouse. Edinburgh. My Best Fiend ( IS) 0000 (Werner Her/og. Various. 1090) Klaus Kinski. ('laudia (‘ardinale. Justo (ion/ach 98min. Sclti/ophrcnic. cowardly. intolerant and frenetically violent. Klaus Kinski was all these things. Bttl he was also one of the finest actors of his generation and the burning heart of Her/og's best films: Aguirre - ll‘rath ()fGod. llovseek. I"it:ear‘r‘aldo and Nosferatu. .llv h’evt Eiend is Her/og's affectionate goodbye letter to his old friend and frequent enetny w ho died iti l‘)‘)|. Glasgow I'ilrrt 'I‘heatr‘e. Glasgow. My Nikifor ( 12A) (Kr/ys/tof Kt'au/e. Poland. 2004) Krystyna l-‘eldman. Roman (iancarc/yk. Jer/y (iudcjko. 07min. The true story of the last years of Nikifor Krynicki. an artist dying of tulwrculosis. Part of the (‘ontemporary Polish ('inema season. I‘ilrnhouse. Edinburgh.
My Winnipeg ( 15) co. ((iuy Maddin. (’anada. 2008) Darcy Fehr. Ann Savage. Atny Stewart. 80min. Recreating his Winnipeg childhood with various actors playing the roles of siblings and veteran actress Savage as his demanding tntttn. acquired-taste director and postmodernist auteur Maddin gets the balance between acerbic nostalgia and indulgent self- centredness just right. Glasgow Eilrn 'I'heatr'e. Glasgow; (itrneo. Edinburgh Noise ( l8) (Matthew Saville. Australia. 2007) Brendan ('owcll. Maia Thomas. Henry Nixon. 107mm. A young Melbourne cop finds his relationship slipping away due to frequent late nights spent working on a murder case. With a community beset by doubt and a young man steadily losing grip with normality. Saville's debut feature works at once as a wry meditation on contemporary Australian life and as a tense relationship drama. Part of the London Attstralian Film Festival. Glasgow l-ilrri Theatre. Glasgow.
Otto, or Up with Dead People ( I8)
(Bruce l.a Bruce. Germany. ('anada. 2008)
Jey (‘risfar. Marcel Schlutt. Katharina Klewinghaus. 05min. ()tto is a gay zombie facing an existential crisis in Berlin. who meets an experimental filmmaker out to change the world with her ‘political porno /ombie movic'. La Bruce combines horror. pornography. silent film and documentary styles. breaking all the rules in the process. Part of the Lesbian & (iay Film Festival. G/asgoii' I'ilrn Theatre. Glasgow. Paris ( 15) O. ((‘cdt'ic Klapisch. France. 2008) Romain Duris. Juliette Binoche. Fabrice Luchini. 130mm. Duris plays Pierre. a young dancer whose future is suddenly left hanging in the balance by a tncdical diagnosis; Binoche is his unfulfilled sister. taking a career break to care for him. A warm human drama from the director of Pot Link and Russian I)olls. (ilasgmv I'i/Itt Theatre. (iltlsgoti‘; I'ilrnhouse. Edinburgh.
The Passionate Friends (Pti)
(David Lean. l'K. l‘)-l‘)) Anti Todd. (‘laude Raitis. 'li'evor Howard. ‘llmin. Mary and her husband Howard are on holiday in Sw it/erland when she runs into her fortner lover for the first time in nine years. causing a rift in her present relationship. Adapted front the “(i \Vclls novel. David Thomson has called this the Lean filtn ‘most deserving rediscovery”. l'i/rnhouse. Edinburgh Pooh’s Heflalump Movie ( l‘ ) 0. (Frank Nissen. LS. 2005) David ()gden Stiet's. Jim ('ummings (voices). (i8min. Another catnp adventure from 'l’housand Acre Woods. Tiggcr gets all the best lines again. Gr'osi'enor: Glasgow. Priceless (Hors de prix) ( (BA) .0. (Pierre Salvadori. France. 200(3) Audrey Tautou. (iad lilmaleh. Marie- (‘ht'istine Adatn. l0-lniin. 'I'his frothy cotnedy set in the mildly tragic world of upmarket Riviera hotels. restaurants and boutiques sees lrcne ('I‘autou) desperately gold digging from an aging sugar daddy. Meanwhile. lttckless bar tender Jean (lilmaleh) is developing a hit of a crush on this cynical young lady. but with no cash in his pocket shes just not interested. That is. until. he becomes a toy boy himself. ('arneo. Edinburgh. Ratatouille (l') C... (Brad Bird. LS. 2007) Voices of Patton ()swalt. Brian Dennehy. Brad (iarrett. l l0min. The latest Pixar masterpiece follows Remy the rat (voiced by ()sw alt) as he chases his dream of hecotning a gourmet chef. This is Pixar at its best. offering audiences both three dimensional images and storytelling with its thoughtful consideration of the relationship betw ecn the creative process and friendship. Yet Bird’s colourful production never stints on fast. furious fttn. with plenty of sight gags and chases through the streets. waterways. sewers and dinner tables of Paris. (.tttt'it'or'ld I’ilt'kltettd. (ilasgmt'; ('inewor'ld Edinburgh. Edinlna'gh. Royal Opera House: Sylvia (ti) (. 2008) l80min. ()ne of the world's fittest opera companies presents this operatic masterpiece. ('arneo. Edinburgh. Savage Grace ( is) 000 (Tom Kalin. Spain/l'S/l-‘rance. 2007) Julianne Moore. Stephen Dillane. lilena Anaya. ()7min. New Queer ('inema-defining Kalin (Swoon) makes a return with this fiawed but nevertheless fascinating exatnination of decadence and dysfunction among the .-\merican aristocracy. Barbara (Moore). a middle class social climber marries wealthy Brooks Baekeland (Dillane). only to find herself drift into a series of twisted and uncomfortable familial encounters. ('arneo. Edinburgh. September ( I5) (Peter (‘ai-stairs. Attstralia. 2007) ('larence John Ryan. Xavier Samuel. Kieran Darcy-Smith. 85min. Set in 1068. in the racially segregated wheathelt of otttback Australia. two 15-year-old boys grow up in a racially segregated society. One is black. one is white. and their friendship becomes strained when legislation giving eqttal rights to Aboriginals is introduced. Part of the London Attstralian Film Festival. I‘ilrnhouve. Edinburgh. Sex and the City: The Movie ( IS) .0. (.‘ylichacl Patrick King. LS. 2008) Sarah Jessica Parker. Kim ('attrall. ('ynthia
Nixon. 145mm. A few years on from packing away the series. the characters are back and fleshed out. the individual angst of each woman realised enough to engage even the hardened cy'nics. Like life however. the film isn‘t perfect. the beginning recap is clumsy. the ending is rushed. and the version of fetninist power and female solidarity the film peddles is slightly sitttplis‘lic. Selected release.
Smiley Face (15) ((iregg Araki. t'S. 2007) Anna Faris. John Krasinski. Adatn Brody. 88min. After 2004‘s .lly'sterious Skin. Araki's latest is something of a departure. Faris is Jane. an out-of—work actress who fills her days with getting high and little else. After erroneously eating an entire hatch of dope-filled cupcakes. Jane ventures ottt into the world on a dntg- fuelled odyssey that can only end in disaster. Part of the Lesbian & (iay Filtti Festival. Glasgow Eilrn Theatre. Glasgow. Some Like it Hot (PO) 00000 (Billy Wilder. LS. 1959) Tony (‘uttis. Jack Lemmon. Marilyn Monroe. l20min. Two impecunious tnalc musicians inadvertently witness the St Valentine's Day Massacre and take refuge in Florida with Sweet Stte atid her Society Syncopators. an all-female hand. Brilliant. brittle. crackerjack farce with all concerned at a peak in their careers. Seotsrnan Screening Room. Edinburgh. Son of Rambow ( 12A) 0000 ((iarth Jennings. France/l'K. 2008) '/.ofia Brooks. Neil Dudgeon. Tallulah livans. 95min. Troubled child and wannabe filtntnaker Lee (’arter (Poulter) enlists Will (Milner). a member of a fundamentalist (‘hristian livangelical family. as a stuntman for a remake of Rambo: First Blood itt this patchwork of beguiling surreal comedy and eccentric but darkly pertinent fatnin drama. An absolute joy. (amen. Edinburgh.
The Spiderwick Chronicles (PG) 0... (Mark Waters. LS. 2008) Sarah Bolgcr. Freddie Hightnore. Nick Nolte. 95min. l'pon moving into the dilapidated Spiderwick listate. siblings Jared (Higlunore). Simon (Hightnore) and Mallory (Bulger) find a guide to a fantastical world of faeries and creatures in this adaptation of Holly Black and Tony Di'l‘et'li/Ii's series. They tnttst battle against Mulgarath. however. the evil shape-shifting ogre who is also after the key to the fatttasyland of faeries. ()deort At The Quay. Glasgow; ()deon llester llai/es. Edinburgh. The Squid and the Whale ( IS) 0... (Noah Baumbach. (S. 2005) Laura Linney. Jeff Daniels. Jesse liisenberg. ()wen Kline. 80min. Bernard (Daniels) is a once acclaimed novelist whose star has long since waned and now works as a university professor. When his wife starts to have success with a novel of her own. the resulting detnisc of their marriage has a profound affect on their two children. Writer/director Bautnbach concentrates on characters and moral conundrums over melodramatic plot points. in doing so he brings a unique angle to depicting divorce on screen. An acerbic and occasionally kooky and brilliant work. ('arneo. Edinburgh.
Standard Operating , Procedure ( i5) oooo (tirrol Morris. LS. 2007) 1 16min. Legendary American docutnentarian Morris. an Academy Award winner in 2003 for his candid portrait of Vietnam-era l'S Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara. The Fog of War. presents his follow-up. It‘s an unliinching. disturbing account of the abuses of Iraqi prisoners at the notorious Abu (ihraib prison in Baghdad. l'ilrrthouxt’. Edinburgh. Summer Hours (L’Heure d’ete)
( I2A) O... (()livier Assayas. France. 2008) Juliette Binochc. (‘harles Berling. Jeremie Renier. l02min. It's the 75th birthday of widowed matriarch Helene. and attending the celebrations are her three children. grandchildren and elderly liousekeeper. who inust decide collectively what to do with their artistic inheritance when Helene passes away soon after. Not tied down to a conventional three-act structure. the film‘s themes etnerge naturally frotn the drama. Glasgow Eilrn 'l'heatr'e. Glasgow; ('arneo. Edinburgh.
Sweet Smell of Success (IS) .0... (Alexander Mackendrick. US. 1957) Burt Lancaster. Tony Curtis. Susan Harrison. ()(imin. (‘lifford ()dets and Ernest Lehman scripted this brilliant study of the destructive effect of power. Sweet Smell of Sueeess tells the story of Sidney Falco (Curtis). a slimy publicist worming his way to the top via venomoUs newspaper columnist J.J Hunsecker (Lancaster). The two leads are brilliantly cast against type; Jatnes Wong Howe‘s photography of Broadway at night is as evocative as film noir ever got. while Elmer Bemstein‘s crime jitll. score (with contributions frotn the (‘hico Hamilton Quintet) completes the impression of a filthy. comtpt city. Astonishingly. the whole film was pulled together by Scotsman Alexander .‘vlackendrick. who until this time was best known for whimsical [ialing comedies. Part of the Burt Lancaster season. Filrnhouse. Edinburgh. Terror’s Advocate (12A) oooo (Barbet Schroeder. France. 2007) 137mm. Schroeder‘s engrossing docutnentary displays an incredible fascination for the lawyer Jacques Verges who went to the Sorbonne with Pol Pot and defended detnonised intemational figures such as Klaus Barbie and Magdalena Kopp of the Baader-Meinhoff gang. This is a history lesson on modern insurgency and terrorism paranoia. ('arneo. Edinburgh. The Visitor ( I5) C... (Thomas McCarthy. LS 2007) Richard Jenkins. Haaz Sleitnan. Danai (iurira. 103mm. Widower Walter Vale (Jenkins) is a grouch. When work sends him to Manhattan. a series of misunderstandings lead hitn to form a friendship with Syrian drummer Tarek (Sleitnan) and his Senegalese girlfriend Zainab ((iurira). l'nderwritten and beautifully performed. The Visitor is a sentimental drama that manages to access a hypnotic rhythm that is both convincing and reassuring. Glasgow Ei/rn Theatre. Glasgow; ( 'arneo. Edinburgh. WALL-E (l') 0.... (Andrew
- Stanton. [TS. 2008) Voices of Fred Willard. Jeff (iarlin. Bert Burtt. 103mm. inspired by sci-ii classics frotn the 1960s and 70s. Pixar have created a post- apocalyptic story set in a future in which the liarth has been abandoned by humankind. where a solitary robot named WALL-Ii executes his now pointless trash collecting programme. At its heart this is a very sweet romantic comedy. and that's what provides the emotional clout. General release. Wanted ( 18) CO. (Timur Bekmamhetov. l7S. 2008) James McAvoy. Morgan Freetnan. Angelina Jolie. 129mm. Scottish comic book writer Mark Millar‘s ultra-violent graphic ttovel gets the llollywotxl blockbuster treattnent. Fellow Scot McAvoy takes the lead as a super- assassin inductee under the tutelage of action babe Fox (Jolie) and boss Sloan (Freeman). Toning down the comic's darker eletnettts and ramping up the SFX. Bektnambetov‘s quirky stylistic excesses make up for the script's weaknesses. And McAvoy is quite convincing. General release. Written on The Wind (PG) oooo (Douglas Sirk. liS. 1956) Lauren Bacall. Robert Stack. Dorothy Malone. Rock Hudson. ()‘hnin. A fine film and one of Hollywood‘s best ever tnelodramas. Four characters connected to a Texan oil family act on their passions rather than their intellects as love and desire concoct a tempestuous mix leading to tragedy. A prototype soap opera. but incisive in its criticism on the middle-class and notions of masculinity. Part of the Trouble in the 50s season. Glasgmt' l-"ilrn Theatre. Glasgow.
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17—31 Jul 2008 THE LIST 51