Film Index
Shorts (PG) ●●●●● (Robert Rodriguez, US, 2009) William H Macy, Jimmy Bennett, Jake Short. 88min. 11-year-old Toe Thompson (Bennett) gets hit on the head by a mysterious rainbow-coloured rock, and soon his neighbourhood is swarming with tiny spaceships, crocodile armies and much more. Slyly anti-corporate kiddie caper with an able cast and fun digital effects. See Also Released, page 25. General release. ✽✽ Sin Nombre (15) ●●●●● (Cary Joji Fukanaga, US/Mexico, 2008) Paulina Gaitan, Edgar Flores, Kristyan Ferrer. 96min. Fantastic Mexican fusion of gangland thriller and road movie about the loves and tragedies of a group of US bound immigrants from Honduras and Mexico. Compellingly made with great performances, Sin Nombre is really worth checking out. Cineworld Renfrew Street, Glasgow; Cameo, Edinburgh. The Squid and the Whale (15) ●●●●● (Noah Baumbach, US, 2005) Laura Linney, Jeff Daniels, Jesse Eisenberg, Owen 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 demise of their marriage has a profound affect on their two children. Writer/director Baumbach 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. Part of Relationships Scotland season. Filmhouse, 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. Empire, Clydebank. Strawberry and Chocolate (15) ●●●●● (Tomas Gutierrez Alea/Juan Carlos Tabio, Cuba/Mexico/Spain, 1993) Jorge Perugorria, Vladimir Cruz, Mirta Ibarra. 110min. A straight Cuban sociology student becomes the object of affection for a older gay man. As their platonic friendship develops, they find themselves under pressure from the attitudes of other friends and from the political regime. What begins – deliberately – in stereotypical fashion soon transcends sexual and social boundaries and assumptions. Part of Cine Cuba. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. The 39 Steps (U) ●●●●● (Alfred Hitchcock, UK, 1935) Robert Donat, Madeleine Carroll, Godfrey Teale. 85min. New digital print for Alfred Hitchcock’s classic 1935 man-on-the-run thriller about the accidental immersion of insouciant Canadian Richard Hannay (Donat) into the murky world of espionage. Having been framed for murder, Hannay hightails it for the Scottish Highlands with Madeleine Carroll in tow. The weight of history has made this wonderful film ripe for readings for symbolism, but at its heart it’s just a rattling good yarn. 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
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28 THE LIST 20–27 Aug 2009
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. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. The Time Traveler’s Wife (12A) ●●●●● (Robert Schwentke, US, 2009) Eric Bana, Rachel MacAdams, Michelle Nolden. 107min. Sturdy adaptation of Audrey Niffenegger’s best selling novel about a time travelling librarian and the more grounded love of his life. Bana and MacAdams are well cast and Schwentke’s execution of a complicated timeline is admirable, but the screenplay is lacking in oomph and passion. General release. Titón, de la Habana a Guantananmera (15) (Mirta Ibarra, Cuba, 2008) 106min. An affectionate documentary about the life and work of definitive voice of post-revolutionary Cuban Cinema, Tomás Gutiérrez Alea, known as Titón to his friends. Part of Cine Cuba. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. The Ugly Truth (15) ●●●●● (Robert Luketic, US, 2009) Katherine Heigl, Gerard Butler, Bree Turner. 92min. This by-the- numbers romantic comedy pairs lovelorn TV producer Heigl with alpha male Butler, a public-access agony-uncle with a misogynist streak that hides a vulnerable, equally lovelorn man, for a mindless run through of familiar genre clichés. A disposable time waster for incurable romantics. General release. Under the Sea 3D (U) (Howard Hall, UK, 2009) Jim Carrey. 65min. Carrey narrates an underwater 3D look at the impact of global warming upon the diverse coastal regions of Southern Australia, New Guinea and the Indo-Pacific areas. IMAX Theatre, Glasgow. Up to a Certain Point (18) ●●●●● (Tomás Gutiérrez Alea, Cuba, 1983) Óscar Álvarez, Mirta Ibarra, Omar Valdés. 88min. A theatre director falls for Lina (Ibarra), a worker from the Havana docks, and their
ensuing romance wittily dissects the nature of the bourgeois intellectual. Part of Cine Cuba. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. WALL-E (U) ●●●●● (Andrew Stanton, US, 2008) Voices of Fred Willard, Jeff Garlin, Ben Burtt. 103min. Inspired by sci- fi classics from the 1960s and 70s, Pixar have created a post-apocalyptic story set in a future in which the Earth has been abandoned by humankind, where a solitary robot named WALL-E 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. Grosvenor, Glasgow. War Requiem (PG) ●●●●● (Derek Jarman, UK, 1988) Nathaniel Parker, Lawrence Olivier, Tilda Swinton. 93min. Benjamin Brittan’s choral hymn to pacifism and the poetry of Wilfred Owen (spoken by Olivier) form the score of Jarman’s visual masterpiece, which merges the life of the poet with uncensored footage of wars past and present. Part of Festival of Spirituality and Peace. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Where Eagles Dare (PG) ●●●●● (Brian G Hutton, US, 1968) Richard Burton, Clint Eastwood, Mary Ure. 148min. Classic WWII flick with plenty of double- crossing and hidden agendas as a British/American expedition is mounted to rescue an American General from the clutches of the SS. Cameo, Edinburgh. ✽✽ The Yes Men Fix The World (12A) ●●●●● (Andy Bichlbaum, Mike Bonanno, Kurt Engfehr, US, 2009) 86min. Prankster duo Mike Bonanno and Andy Bichlbaum continue the work they started in 2004’s The Yes Men. This time they take on the capitalist fat cats and expose the people profiting from Hurricane Katrina and the folk behind the Bhopal disaster who have never been prosecuted. See Also Released, page 25. Glasgow Film Theatre, Glasgow. 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. Brunton Theatre, Edinburgh.
Films are listed by city, then alphabetically by cinema. Listings are compiled by Suzanne Black.
Glasgow CCA
350 Sauchiehall Street. Bookings: 0141 352 4900. £3 (£2). THURSDAY 27 AUG Flows of Capital: Bodies & Borders (E) 7.00.
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 20 AUG Aliens in the Attic (PG) 11.20am, 1.30, 3.40, 6.05. Bandslam (PG) 10.30am, 1.00, 3.30, 6.00, 8.30. G-Force 2D (PG) 11.00am, 1.25, 3.50, 5.55. GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra (12A) 11.30am, 2.20, 5.10, 8.00. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (12A) 11.15am, 2.25, 5.35. Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (U) 11.50am, 2.00, 4.15. Inglourious Basterds (18) 8.45. Orphan (15) 8.50. The Proposal (12A) 8.15. The Time Traveler’s Wife (12A) 11.10am, 1.40, 4.10, 6.40, 9.10. The Ugly Truth (15) 6.35, 9.00.
FRIDAY 21–THURSDAY 27 Aliens in the Attic (PG) Daily: 11.20am, 1.30, 3.40, 6.05. Around the World in 80 Days (PG) Sat: 11.30am. Bandslam (PG) Daily: 10.50am (not Sat), 1.20, 3.50, 6.15. Coraline 2D (PG) Sat: 10.00am.
Around the World in 80 Days The little ones will be back at school soon, but if the schizophrenic weather is doing your head in then it may be time for a Saturday
morning trip to the cinema. This chaotic and silly adaptation of Jules Verne’s novel starring Steve Coogan and Jackie Chan is too long but enjoyable. This is a Take 2 screening, which means that Glasgow Young Scot and Kidz Card holders and an accompanying adult get in free. ■ GFT, Glasgow on Sat 22 Aug.