Film Index
Films screening this fortnight are listed below with certificate, star rating, credits, brief review and venue details. Film index compiled by Paul Dale ✽✽ Indicates Hitlist entry Accident (PG) (Joseph Losey, UK, 1967) Dirk Bogarde, Stanley Baker, Delphine Seyrig. 105min. Losey’s continuing collaboration with Harold Pinter produced this wry examination of an Oxford professor’s liaison with one of his students, notable for fine performances and perceptively witty dialogue. Part of Joseph Losey season. Glasgow Film Theatre, Glasgow. Angels & Demons (12A) ●●●●● (Ron Howard, US, 2009) Tom Hanks, Ewan McGregor, Stellan Skarsgard. 138min. Ron Howard’s sequel to The Da Vinci Code. Although a great improvement on its wretched 2006 precursor, with more action and a clearer plot, it’s still full of cack portentous theological babble, alarmist politics and terrible acting. Vue Edinburgh Omni, Edinburgh. Antichrist (18) ●●●●● (Lars von Trier, Denmark, 2009) Willem Dafoe, Charlotte Gainsbourg. 108min. When middle class couple Charlotte Gainsbourg and Willem Defoe’s son dies in a freak accident they retreat to their woodland cabin to heal. But soon guilt, confusion and some undefined eschatological force puts them in a very different place. A fine slice of unbridled and unpleasant pantheistic horror that’s underlined by themes of grief and guilt. Selected release. Asterix and the Vikings (U) ●●●●● (Stefan Fjeldmark, Jesper Moller, France/Denmark, 2006) Voices of Sean Astin, John Di Maggio, Brad Garrett. 78min. A collaboration between animators Fjeldmark (Terkel in Trouble) and Moller (Help! I’m a Fish) that, despite some dodgy updating (a carrier pigeon named SMS), is a
Cheri (15) Sun 9th Aug 7:30pm Mon 10th Aug 11am, 7.30pm Blue Eyelids (15) Thu 13th Aug 7:30pm
52 THE LIST 23 Jul–6 Aug 2009
fairly solid if uninspired attempt to catch the charm of the original. Cineworld Parkhead, Glasgow. Back to The Future (PG) ●●●●● (Robert Zemeckis, US, 1985) Michael J Fox, Lea Thompson, Crispin Glover. 116min. Deservedly popular time-travelling fantasy adventure with street-smart 80s teenager whisked back in time for a little chicanery with his future parents. Grosvenor, Glasgow. Back to The Future Part 2 (PG) ●●●●● (Robert Zemeckis, US, 1989) Michael J Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Thomas F Wilson. 108min. Finishing with a big tease sequence of highlights for the mid- 1990 scheduled Back to the Future Part 3, this could be the longest movie trailer in Hollywood history. Once again Michael has to outfox Biff, this time zooming forwards as well as backwards in the time machine. Directed and played with terrific verve, BTF2 moves so fast from one set-piece to the next that there’s no time to reflect on the basic ridiculousness of the plot. Grosvenor, Glasgow. Back to The Future Part 3 (PG) ●●●●● (Robert Zemeckis, US, 1990) Michael J Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Mary Steenburgen. 119min. After the elongated trailer of BTF2 we’re back in 1885 for the third and absolutely final instalment of the series, in which Michael has to face up to longstanding enemy Biff and save the Doc from certain death, except that the latter is much more interested in falling for Mary Steenburgen. The end result is not quite a bad film, but, as with almost every other sequel of a sequel there’s an overall slackness which prevents it from lifting off in the way that it should. In almost every sense, we’ve been here before. Grosvenor, Glasgow. Bandaged (15) (Maria Beatty, US/Germany, 2009) Janna Lisa Dombrowsky, Susanne Sachasse, Hans Persbergen. 91min. Lucille (Dombrowsky) lives with her father and great aunt in an eerie mansion. Desperate to leave and pursue her passion for poetry, Lucille is driven to a suicide attempt when her Father refuses her request. A sultry nurse with a chequered past is hired to tend to his daughter. Part of London Lesbian & Gay Film Festival On Tour. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Barry Lyndon (PG) ●●●●● (Stanley Kubrick, UK, 1975) Ryan O’Neal, Marisa Berenson, Patrick Magee. 187min. Kubrick’s epic adaptation of William Makepeace Thackery’s picaresque novel about the attempts of an Irish upstart to become a member of the English aristocracy in the early part of the 19th century re-emerges for re-evaluation on a beautiful fully restored print. A stunning, sumptuous and sustained meditation on man’s ultimate powerlessness at the hands of fate. Part of Kubrick season. Glasgow Film Theatre, Glasgow. Bedtime Stories (PG) ●●●●● (Adam Shankman, US, 2008) Adam Sandler, Keri Russell, Courteney Cox. 90min. Family fantasy about a man who can make bedtime stories come to life. Cineworld Edinburgh, Edinburgh. Beverly Hills Chihuahua (U) ●●●●● (Raja Gosnell, US/Mexico, 2008) Drew Barrymore (voice), Piper Perabo, Jamie Lee Curtis. 81min. This brightly lit family comedy is a vapid fish-out-of-water confection, revolving around posh pooch Chloe (voiced by Barrymore) who gets kidnapped from Rachel (Perabo) during a resort vacation. To keep Chloe’s real owner, Rachel’s aunt Vivian (Lee Curtis), in the dark, Rachel sets out to rescue the pampered pet from her potential fate at the hands of Mexican dogfighters. Talent-heavy one-joke talking-dog movie. Odeon At The Quay, Glasgow; Odeon: Braehead, Renfrew. Blood: The Last Vampire (18) ●●●●● (Chris Nahon, Hong Kong/Argentina/France/Japan, 2009) Gianna Jun, Allison Miller, Liam Cunningham. 91min. Vampire hunter Saya (Jun) is unrivalled, but that’s because she is half bloodsucker herself – on her mother’s side. Will she go to the dark side or will she carry on fighting for the mortals? Popular
anime gets its second screen adaptation. Cineworld Renfrew Street, Glasgow. The Blues Brothers (15) ●●●●● (John Landis, US, 1980) John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, Carrie Fisher. 130min. Landis’ enjoyable 1980 musical comedy re-released on digital print in original US edit. Cineworld Renfrew Street, Glasgow; Cineworld Edinburgh, Edinburgh. Bolt (PG) ●●●●● (Byron Howard/ Chris Williams, US, 2009) Voices of Miley Cyrus, John Travolta, Susie Essman. 103min. Heart-tugging Disney animation about child actress Penny (voiced by Cyrus) and dog Bolt (Travolta) who star in a hit TV series. The dog believes it’s all real, so when he escapes from his trailer and ends up the other side of the country he is in for a few rude surprises. Selected release. Born in ‘68 (15) (Jacques Martineau/Olivier Ducastel, France, 2008) Laetitia Casta, Yannick Renier, Yann Trégouët. 170min. Epic drama detailing a group of friends and lovers caught up in the excitement of May ‘68. A circle that at first seems harmonious soon gives way under the pressures of betrayed principles and bourgeois temptations. Part of London Lesbian & Gay Film Festival On Tour. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Brüno (18) ●●●●● (Larry Charles, US, 2009) Sacha Baron Cohen, Gustaf Hammarsten. 82min. Baron Cohen’s much anticipated 19-year-old Austrian TV presenter has been ‘schwarzlisted’ following an unfortunate incident involving his all-Velcro suit at a Milan catwalk event. Leaving behind his pygmy Asian flight- attendant boyfriend, Diesel, Bruno heads to America to become the ‘the biggest gay movie star since Arnold Schwarzenegger’ and the world’s most famous Austrian since Hitler. Crude, politically incorrect, shocking, outrageous, vulgar, and very, very funny. General release. Burma VJ (12A) ●●●●● (Anders Østergaard, Denmark, 2008) 84min. Empathetic documentary from the maker of 2003’s excellent Tintin and I about the unheralded video journalists who risk their lives every day in Burma. The film focuses on the work of these journalists during the 2007 monk-led uprising in which many people lost their lives. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Changeling (15) ●●●●● (Clint Eastwood, US, 2008) Angelina Jolie, Gattlin Griffith, John Malkovich. 141min. When Christine Collins’ (Jolie) son Walter (Griffith) goes missing, she is initially relived when the LAPD say they can return the boy to her, but on seeing him she does not recognise the child. Her subsequent accusations of conspiracy prompt the authorities to take shocking and radical action. The stolen child theme may be a melodramatic staple, but Eastwood’s old- fashioned and deeply classy woman’s picture is a timeless affair. Selected release. Cloud 9 (15) ●●●●● (Andreas Dresen, Germany, 2008) Ursula Werner, Horst Rehberg, Horst Westphal. 100min. Brave, raw and intimate portrait of romance and sex amongst the over 60s. German filmmaker Dresen’s remarkable, powerful and darkly humorous film bears comparison to the work of Mike Leigh at his very best. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Coco Before Chanel (12A) ●●●●● (Anne Fontaine, France, 2009) Audrey Tautou, Benoît Poelvoorde, Alessandro Nivola. 110min. This sumptuously dressed biopic of the early years of Gabrielle ‘Coco’ Chanel faithfully charts the rising hemlines and torn bustiers of a passionate woman repressed by society, with emotion-driven montages of dressmaking as Coco uses sewing machine and scissors to direct her restless energies into clothing. There’s nothing experimental or innovative here, but it provides undeniably classy entertainment. Glasgow Film Theatre, Glasgow; Filmhouse, Edinburgh. The Damned United (15) ●●●●● (Tom Hooper, UK, 2009) Michael Sheen, Jim Broadbent, Timothy Spall. 97min. Broadly entertaining if highly sanitised adaptation of David Peace’s justly acclaimed novel The Damned United, which allows us to see the world from the tormented perspective of football manager Brian Clough during his 44 turbulent days in charge of Leeds United during 1974. Empire Clydebank, Clydebank. Devdas (PG) (Sanjay Leela Bhansali, India, 2002) Shahrukh Khan, Madhuri Dixit, Aishwarya Rai. 159min. A tragic story of love and loss in true epic, Bollywood style. Part of Classic Bollywood season. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Drag Me to Hell (15) ●●●●● (Sam Raimi, US, 2009) Alison Lohman, Justin Long, Fernanda Romero. 100min. Life is good for ambitious LA loan officer Christine (Lohman). Until that is, she double refuses an OAP an extension on her home loan, leaving the old lady shamed and homeless. In return a curse is put on Christine and her life becomes a living nightmare. A must for horror fans. Cineworld Renfrew Street, Glasgow. Enrico Pieranunzi: In Conversation (E) (UK) 60min. Enrico Pieranunzi, who played and recorded with Chet Baker in his Italian era, will be joined by Mike Maran and Colin Steele to discuss the enigma that is Chet Baker. Some rare Chet Baker footage will be screened. Part of the Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. The 400 Blows (Les Quatre Cents Coups) (PG) ●●●●● (François Truffaut,
G-Force Sadly not a big budget remake of Battle of the Planets but the latest CGI animated movie from Disney. Not as elegant
as the Pixar films from the same studio but this story of talking guinea pigs and espionage should keep the kids amused. Screening in 3D at selected cinemas. ■ General release from Fri 31 Jul.