Film Index twice his age. But after a few months, Hanna suddenly disappears, and it’s almost a decade before Michael sees her again. By this time he is a law student – and she is standing trial for war crimes. Odeon, Edinburgh. Red Riding: 1974 (18) ●●●●● (Julian Jarrold, UK, 2009) Andrew Garfield, David Morrissey, Sean Bean. 101min. Part one of Tony Grisoni’s adaptation of David Peace’s gritty books depicting the Leeds of the 1970s. Police corruption, child abductions and compromised journalistic integrity all feature in this dark and brooding drama. Part of Words and Pictures season. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Romeo et Juliette (E) (Bartlett Sher, Austria, 2008) Nino Machaidze, Rolando Villaz, Mikhail Petrenko. 170min. Gounod’s Romeo et Juliette, performed and filmed live at the Salzburg Festival in August 2008. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Rumba (PG) ●●●●● (Dominique Abel/Fiona Gordon/Bruno Romy, France/Belgium, 2008) Dominique Abel, Fiona Gordon, Philippe Martz. 77min. Centering on happily married Latin dance- loving teachers Fiona (Gordon) and Dom (Abel), Rumba is a deadpan tragi-comedy in which the clowning of the characters goes hand-in-hand with a series of disastrous setbacks in their lives. Dialogue and music are kept to a minimum and whilst at times individual sequences feel over-stretched, the physically expressive performances are appealing throughout. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. 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
Cheri (15) Sun 9th Aug 7:30pm Mon 10th Aug 11am, 7.30pm Blue Eyelids (15) Thu 13th Aug 7:30pm
28 THE LIST 6–13 Aug 2009
conceptual to be anything other than a cerebral experience for the viewer. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Shoot The Pianist (Tirez sur la pianiste) (15) ●●●●● (Francois Truffaut, France, 1960) Charles Aznavour, Marie Dubois, Nicole Berger. 80min. Ex- concert pianist Aznavour, now working seedy Parisian bars, gets involved with vengeful gangsters when he tries to help his two petty-crook brothers escape from the heat. Nouvelle Vague adaptation of David Goodis concentrates more on a breezy camera style than on the despondency of the original source. Part of Truffaut/Godart season. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Sunshine Cleaning (15) ●●●●● (Christine Jeffs, US, 2008) Amy Adams, Emily Blunt, Alan Arkin. 91min. Two sisters (Adams and Blunt) set up a business to disinfect crime scenes in this small town tragicomedy. A solid if unexceptional script by first time writer Megan Holley offers fodder for some well- tuned performances but the devil is in the details, with the bile and blood being too icky to generate laughs and a subplot disappointingly underdeveloped. Cameo, 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. 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. Top Gun (PG) ●●●●● (Tony Scott, US, 1986) Tom Cruise, Kelly McGillis, Val Kilmer. 110min. Say what you like about him, Scott undoubtedly has the golden touch at the box office. This emotionless formula adventure about men being grandly upstaged by very fast, very expensive and very dangerous aircraft, with the splendid Ms McGillis thrown for love interest, made a fortune, especially in the US. It had to be those planes, or maybe the rampant ‘America the strong’ ethos of the film, because it doesn’t have much more to offer. Odeon, Edinburgh. The Toxic Avenger (18) ●●●●● (Michael Herz/Samuel Weill, US, 1984) Andree Maranda, Mitchell Cohen, Jennifer Baptist. 100min. Ultratrash offering from the Troma stable, which also brought you Redneck Zombie, Rabid Grannies and Surf Nazis Must Die. This one has the high school nerd fall into a vat of toxic waste only to emerge as a do-gooding mutant killer. Features a Q&A with Troma’s Lloyd Kaufman. 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. Selected release. The Ugly Truth (15) ●●●●● (Robert Luketic, US, 2009) Katherine Heigl, Gerard Butler, Bree Turner. 92min. See review, page 24. General release. The Yes Men Fix The World (12A) ●●●●● (Andy Bichlbaum, Mike Bonanno, Kurt Engfehr, US, 2009) 90min. Humorous documentary as anti-corporate pranksters The Yes Men shine a light on companies who profit from disaster. Cameo, Edinburgh.
Films are listed by city, then alphabetically by cinema. Listings are compiled by Suzanne Black. Glasgow Cineworld Parkhead
The Forge, Parkhead. 24hr bookings & info: 0871 200 2000. Adults £5.70 (£5 Mon–Thu before 5pm); Children £4 (£3.70 Mon–Thu); Students £4 (£3.50 Mon–Thu); OAPs £4. Family ticket £16. Early bird (all performances before noon): £3.70. Movies for Juniors (Sat am): £1. Yearly pass (unlimited movies): £10.99 per month. THURSDAY 6 AUG G-Force 2D (PG) 11.00am, 1.25, 3.40, 6.00, 8.25. GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra (12A) 12.30, 3.00, 5.30, 8.10. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (12A) 1.00, 4.30, 8.00. Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (U) 11.35am, 1.45, 4.00. Land of the Lost (12A) 11.30am, 1.50, 4.10, 6.30, 8.50. The Proposal (12A) 11.20am, 1.50, 4.20, 6.50, 9.15. The Taking of Pelham 123 (15) 12.50, 3.45, 6.20, 9.00. The Ugly Truth (15) 7.00, 9.20.
FRIDAY 7–THURSDAY 13 Aliens in the Attic (PG) Wed & Thu: 10.20am, 12.25, 2.30, 4.35, 6.40. Bandslam (PG) Wed & Thu: 10.45am, 1.15, 3.30, 6.00, 8.30. G-Force 2D (PG) Daily: 11.00am, 1.25, 3.40, 6.00, 8.25 (not Wed & Thu). GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra (12A) Daily: 10.30am, 1.10 (not Sun), 3.50, 6.30 (not Mon), 9.10. GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra (Subtitled) (12A) Sun: 1.10. Mon: 6.30. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (12A) Daily: 12.30, 4.00, 7.30. Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (U) Fri–Tue: 11.30am, 1.45, 4.00.
Land of the Lost (12A) Daily: 11.10am, 1.30, 3.55. Monsters vs Aliens 2D (PG) Sat: 10.00am. Orphan (15) Daily: 6.10, 8.50. Paul Blart: Mall Cop (PG) Sat: 11.30am. The Proposal (12A) Daily: 11.20am (not Sat, Wed & Thu), 1.50 & 4.20 (not Wed & Thu), 6.50 (not Wed & Thu), 9.15. Race to Witch Mountain (PG) Sat: 10.00am. The Taking of Pelham 123 (15) Daily: 6.20 (not Wed & Thu), 9.00. The Ugly Truth (15) Daily: noon, 2.20, 4.40, 7.00, 9.20.
Cineworld Renfrew Street
7 Renfrew Street. 24hr bookings & info: 0871 200 2000. Bar. Adults £6.40 (£5.50 Mon–Fri before 5pm); Concs £4.40. Family ticket £17 (£15.60 Sun–Thu). Early bird (all tickets before 1pm): £4. Yearly pass (unlimited movies): £10.99 per month. THURSDAY 6 AUG Antichrist (18) 3.00, 8.30. Brüno (18) 4.30, 7.00, 9.25. Brüno (Snipped) (15) 11.10am, 1.10, 2.20. Coco Before Chanel (12A) 12.20, 3.10, 5.50, 8.30. G-Force 2D (PG) 11.50am, 2.20, 4.50. G-Force 3D (PG) 11.00am, 1.30, 4.00, 6.30, 9.00. GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra (12A) 10.40am, 1.20, 4.00, 6.40, 9.40. The Hangover (15) 10.50am, 1.15, 3.45, 6.15, 8.50. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (12A) 10.20am, 11.30am, 1.00, 2.00, 3.10, 4.40, 5.20, 6.50, 8.20, 9.00. Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (U) 11.30am, noon, 2.00. Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs 3D (U) 10.15am, 12.30, 2.50, 5.30, 8.00. Land of the Lost (12A) 10.20am, 12.50, 3.30, 6.10, 9.00. Love Aaj Kal (12A) 11.00am, 2.10, 5.10, 8.20. Moon (15) 7.00, 9.25. My Sister’s Keeper (12A) 12.30, 5.40. The Proposal (12A) 10.40am, 11.50am, 1.20, 2.30, 4.00, 5.30, 6.40, 8.10, 9.40.
Alistair Sim The films of (arguably) Scotland’s greatest stage and screen actor (sorry Sir Sean) are celebrated in this
superb season. Things kick off with the 1954 adaptation of JB Priestley’s celebrated play An Inspector Calls with Sim masterful in the titular role. Other highlights include kiddie caper Hue and Cry (pictured), unsurpassable wartime British school farce The Happiest Days of Your Life and Mario Zampi’s brilliantly morbid farce Laughter in Paradise. Ticket deals available. ■ Filmhouse, Edinburgh from Fri 7 Aug.