Film Index RISING STAR PROFILE
LANCE DALY Background After graduating from university in Dublin, Lance Daly (centre) worked variously as an actor, musician, photographer, and editor. He wrote and directed his micro-budgeted debut feature Last Days in Dublin in 1999, a comedy about a young man dreaming of leaving the Irish capital and travelling the world, which was described as ‘Fellini on a dollar a day’. His follow-up The Halo Effect, which starred Stephen Rea and revolved around life in a Dublin chip shop, was released in 2004 and was nominated for five Irish Film and Television Academy awards. What’s he up to now? Daly’s latest feature Kisses, which he wrote, photographed and directed, is a contemporary fable which follows a couple of kids from troubled backgrounds (played by newcomers Kelly O’Neill and Shane Curry), who run away from home one Christmas and head to the centre of Dublin. Daly has also co-scripted the historical fantasy Queen LIbussa for German director Constantin Werner, and is developing a drama set in the world of Irish stock-car racing Suckin’ Diesel.
What he says about Kisses ‘It goes from being a black-and- white European arthouse movie to an essentially fantastical story about kids running away and falling in love, and then it reverts back to being a European art- house movie. I wanted audiences to feel they have been on a real trip over the course of the film.’ On Bob Dylan ‘I was listening to a tape of either Highway 61 or Bringing It All Back Home in the car whilst I was driving around Dublin, thinking about the story to Kisses. ‘Subterranean Homesick Blues’ was the track and I thought of the two kids having run away from home and strutting along to the song.’
On filming in Sweden ‘We had to import a truck of rubbish from Ireland, because the Swedish streets were too clean.’ Interesting fact As a child Daly appeared in The Commitments playing a youngster with a harmonica. ■ Kisses is on selected release from 31 July.
56 THE LIST 23 Jul–6 Aug 2009
Land of the Lost Will Ferrell doesn’t make films for the art house crowd, instead specialising in high gag counts and goofy action. His latest involves space-time vortexes, dinosaurs and
plenty of mugging for the camera. ■ Selected release from Fri 31 Jul. The Shining (18) ●●●●● (Stanley Kubrick, US, 1980) Jack Nicholson, Shelly Duvall, Philip Stone. 146min. Kubrick’s overwrought, overlong horror film dispenses with much of the psychic apparatus of Stephen King’s novel to concentrate on the deeper horror of a family turning in on itself. Nicholson, with all the stops out, is bug-eyed and demonic as the writer cracking up violently in an isolated hotel, and the final scenes are, literally, chilling. Part of Kubrick season. Glasgow Film Theatre. Shirin (PG) ●●●●● (Abbas Kiarostami, Iran, 2008) Golshifteh Farahani, Mahnaz Afshar, Niki Karimi. 90min. Kiarostami’s latest work stages a re-telling of the 12th century Persian legend of Shirin and Khosrow. Experimental master of the long take, he chooses to focus on the (solely female) faces of the audience watching the film, rather than the story itself. Indeed, the women’s faces relate the drama of the legend effectively enough, but it is too conceptual to be anything other than a cerebral experience for the viewer. Glasgow Film Theatre; Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Soul Power (12A) ●●●●● (Jeffrey Levy-Hinte, US, 2008) 93min. Remarkable film about the three-night-long concert which took place around the Muhammad Ali/George Foreman bout in Zaire, featuring footage shot entirely at the time by legends of the music verité documentary form. By intercutting footage of James Brown, Bill Withers and Miriam Makeba with footage of the poverty-ridden mundanities of Kinshasa life, Levy-Hinte presents a fascinating trajectory on the hierarchies and paradoxes inherent in both dictatorships and sports event management. Glasgow Film Theatre. Star Trek (12A) ●●●●● (JJ Abrams, US/Germany, 2009) Chris Pine, Jennifer Morrison, Simon Pegg. 126min. A quirk in the space-time continuum allows both a sequel and prequel to the already vast Star Trek oeuvre, in which Lost creator Abrams surpasses his previous film efforts to reinvent the whole dynamic of the USS Enterprise. Emotional struggles from Pine as Captain Kirk and Zachary Quinto as Vulcan Spock mix with adrenaline packed adventure to ensure that Star Trek is that rare thing, a blockbuster with humour and guts. Cineworld Renfrew Street, Glasgow; Vue Edinburgh Ocean, Edinburgh.
State of Play (12A) ●●●●● (Kevin Macdonald, US, 2009) Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck, Helen Mirren. 118min. Hollywood has got its hands on the acclaimed 2003 BBC TV series, moved the action to the US, and brought in a parliament of A-list stars. Mirren plays a newspaper editor struggling to maintain editorial principles, McAdams’ cub reporter has built her reputation as an ace blogger and Crowe is an old-school truth-seeking journalist. An investigative journalism movie full of red herrings, surprising twists and corrupt politicians. Cameo, Edinburgh. Swallows and Amazons (U) ●●●●● (Claude Whatham, UK, 1974) Virginia McKenna, Ronald Fraser, Sophie Neville. 92min. The adventures of four children in the lake district in the 1920s. Idyllic screen incarnation of the Arthur Ransome novel that is very much an adult’s idea of what children’s entertainment should be. About as exciting as a steady downpour of drizzle. Wean's World screening. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. The Taking of Pelham 123 (15) ●●●●● (Tony Scott, UK, 2009) Denzel Washington, John Travolta, Luis Guzmán. 121min. Disappointing remake of 1974’s Joseph Sargent thriller with Washington downplaying as put-upon controller Walter Garber and Travolta at his scuzziest as the vindictive Ryder, who takes a train full of innocent New Yorkers as security for his ransom demands. Not a patch on the original, John Godey’s tightly-wound original novel deserved a better make-over than this. General release. Telstar – The Joe Meek Story (15) (Nick Moran, UK, 2008) Con O’Neill, Kevin Spacey, JJ Feild. 118min. Drama about Joe Meek, the songwriter-producer who was flamboyantly gay, tone deaf and created 60s hits ‘Have I the Right’, ‘Just Like Eddie’, ‘Johnny, Remember Me’ and ‘Telstar’. Cameo, Edinburgh. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (12A) (Michael Bay, US, 2009) Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox, Josh Duhamel. 146min. Sam Witwicky (LaBeouf) again joins with the Autobots against their sworn enemies, the Decepticons. General release. Two Lovers (15) ●●●●● (James Gray, US, 2008) Joaquin Phoenix, Gwyneth Paltrow, Isabella Rossellini. 110min. Subtly affecting low-key drama in which Phoenix
stars as Leonard, an emotionally damaged 30-something, encouraged by his parents to pursue a relationship with family friend Sandra (Shaw), but drawn to profoundly messed up neighbour Michelle (Paltrow). Although occasionally awkward in its tonal shifts, this offers a more substantial portrayal of the complexities and compulsions of love than the average Hollywood romance. Odeon: Braehead, Renfrew. Year One (12A) (Harold Ramis, US, 2009) Jack Black, Michael Cera. 96min. Lazy and inept cavemen Zed (Black) and Oh (Cera) are banished from their village and go on an epic journey into Biblical times, where they meet the Old Testament gang. Sacrilegious grunt comedy. Selected release. The Young Victoria (PG) ●●●●● (Jean-Marc Vallée, UK/US, 2009) Rupert Friend, Emily Blunt, Mark Strong. 104min. Was she just another inbred royal or was she a caring monarch who loved her country as much as she loved her boring husband? These are just a few of the questions asked of Queen Victoria by Julian Fellowes in his typically expansive and witty screenplay. Produced by Scorsese and featuring the cream of British cinema, this feels like the real deal, but Vallée’s ill-judged handling of the material sadly disappoints. Vue Edinburgh Ocean, Edinburgh. 35 Shots of Rum (35 Rhums) (12A) ●●●●● (Claire Denis, France/Germany, 2008) Alex Descas, Mati Diop, Grégoire Colin. 100min. Accessible, tender and warm-hearted film centring on a delicate but loving bond between a father and a daughter. Although Denis’ newest film is less opaque than previous efforts, it is no less complex, and proffers a complex investigation of the negotiation between ‘self’ and ‘other’ and the difficulties of forming and sustaining any human relationship. Glasgow Film Theatre; Cameo, Edinburgh. Got an opinion? You can now Comment on all our articles at list .co.uk