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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
The Adventures of Greyfriars Bobby (U) ●●●●● (John Henderson, UK, 2005) Oliver Golding, James Cosmo, Greg Wise, Christopher Lee. 104min. A whimsical fiction based on the story of John Gray’s faithful terrier who guarded his grave in Edinburgh’s Greyfriars Kirk for 14 years. Part of Weans’ World. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Agnes Martin: With My Back to the World (E) (Mary Lance, US, 2002) 57min. Ground-breaking documentary on the renowned painter, shot between 1998 and 2002, featuring interviews with Martin and footage of her at work in her New Mexico studio. Weston Link, Edinburgh. Aliens (18) ●●●●● (James Cameron, US, 1986) Sigourney Weaver, Michael Biehn. 137min. Unrelentingly paced with a terrifically gutsy performance from Weaver, this sequel not only matches its predecessor but cannily surpasses it. Scotsman Screening Room, Edinburgh. Aliens in the Attic (PG) ●●●●● (John Schultz, UK, 2009) Ashley Tisdale, Robert Hoffman, Austin Robert Butler. 85min. Likeably frenetic sci-fi adventure. General release. All About My Mother (15) ●●●●● (Pedro Almodovar, Spain, 1999) Cecilia Roth, Penelope Cruz, Antonia San Juan. 101min. When Madrid hospital worker Manuela’s son is killed the grief-stricken woman sets out to fulfil her son’s last wish to know his father, and goes to Barcelona to find the transvestite she ran away from 18 years earlier. Cameo, Edinburgh. ✽✽ Army of Crime (15) ●●●●● (Robert Guédiguian, France, 2009) Simon Abkarian, Virginie Ledoyen, Robinson Stévenin. 139min. This convincingly acted film is an honourable addition to the body of works made about the French Resistance in WWII. Guédiguian focuses on the Paris-based Manouchian group, who during 1943 launched a series of guerilla attacks on Nazi targets. Glasgow Film Theatre, Glasgow; Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Away We Go (15) ●●●●● (Sam Mendes, US/UK, 2009) John Krasinski, Maya Rudolph, Maggie Gyllenhaal. 97min. Expectant parents Burt (Krasinski) and Verona (Rudolph) visit friends and family across America and Canada to try and find the perfect place to start their soon-to-be family. Cineworld Parkhead, Glasgow. Bandslam (PG) ●●●●● (Todd Graff, US, 2009) Vanessa Hudgens, Gaelan Connell, Lisa Kudrow. 110min. Tweeny pop, high school adventure chronicling budding impresario Will Burton (Connell) and his rock’n’roll band’s desperate attempts to win a battle-of-the- bands. Cineworld Renfrew Street, Glasgow. The Beaches of Agnes (18) ●●●●● (Agnes Varda, France, 2008) 112min. This idiosyncratic self-portrait of the Belgian-born octogenarian film-maker is suffused by its feminist creator’s playfully eccentric spirit, and heads off in all sorts of unexpected directions, Varda narrating and drawing on clips from her own films and staging reconstructions of her memories. Glasgow Film Theatre, Glasgow. Big River Man (E) (John Maringouin, US/UK, 2009) 100min. Eccentric Slovenian Martin Strel swims the world’s great rivers in order to draw attention to their polluted states. Narrated by his increasingly concerned son, this fascinating film reveals the extent to which Strel is prepared to risk his own safety to attain his goal. Glasgow Film Theatre, Glasgow. Birdwatchers (La terra degli uomini Rossi) (E) (Marco Bechis, Italy/Brazil, 2008) Abrísio da Silva Pedro, Alicélia Batista Cabreira, Ademilson Concianza Verga. 108min. Tensions escalate when a tribe of indigenous Guarani Indians attempt to re- inhabit their ancestral land. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Black Rain (15) (Shohei Imamura, Japan, 1989) Yoshiko Tanaka, Kazuo Kitamura, Etsuko Ichihara. 123min. Adaptation of the acclaimed novel by Masuji Ibuse horrifyingly
depicts the devastation of Hiroshima by the first atomic bomb, and explores the despair of the survivors condemned to a slow death by the contaminated black rain that falls afterwards. Part of the Shoehei Imamura. Glasgow Film Theatre, Glasgow. Blue (tbc) (Anthony D’Souza, India, 2009) Sanjay Dutt, Akshay Kumar, Sunil Shetty. 180min. Reputed to be the most expensive Bollywood film ever made, Blue explores rich and poor, the moral and immoral through the stories of deep sea diver Sagar (Dutt). Odeon at the Quay, Glasgow. 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. Brunton Theatre, Edinburgh. Boris Ryzhy (18) (Aliona Van der Horst, Netherlands, 2008) 60min. A visionary lament for the Russian poet Boris Ryzhy, who committed suicide at the age of 26, accompanied by a screening of last year’s Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Festival Jury Prize winner Hidden Gifts. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Bringing Up Baby (PG) ●●●●● (Howard Hawks, US, 1938) Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn, Charles Ruggles. 102min. Zany Hepburn causes timid prof Grant to lose a valuable dinosaur bone and mislay a pet leopard within the course of one screwball evening. Archetypal 30s crazy comedy with one outlandishly hilarious scene following another. Part of Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Festival. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Brit Chic (PG) (UK, Various) 90min. Special programme from the new BFI Mediatheque includes Fashion Fantasy (1946), Gear (1967), Facemakers: Biba (1970) and Design for Fashion (1954). Glasgow Film Theatre, Glasgow. Broken Embraces (15) ●●●●● (Pedro Almodóvar, Spain, 2009) Penélope Cruz, Lluís Homar, Blanca Portillo. 128min. The auteur’s most self-referential love letter to cinema yet presents the story of a ménage-a-quatre between filmmaker Harry (Homar), leading lady Lena (Cruz), her sugar daddy Ernesto (José Luis Gómez), and Harry’s production manager Judit (Portillo). Ultra-stylish and loaded with thematic weight. Cameo, Edinburgh. Ceremony (18) (Nagisa Oshima, Japan, 1971) Kenzo Kawarazaki, Atsuo Nakamura, Akiko Koyama, Atsoku Kaku. 121min. A quarter century of postwar Japanese history is commented on via a series of ceremonial family gatherings. The film develops into a powerful dynastic drama. Part of Nagisa Oshima season. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Chiko (18) (Özgür Yildirim, Germany, 2008) Denis Moschitto, Moritz Bleibtreu, Volkan Özcan. 92min. Crime drama set in Hamburg. Cameo, Edinburgh. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (U) ●●●●● (Phil Lord, US, 2009) Voices of Bill Hader, Anna Faris, James Caan. 90min. Vivid and likeable animated version of Judi and Ron Barrett’s 1978 children’s book. General release. Coco Before Chanel (12A) ●●●●● (Anne Fontaine, France, 2009) Audrey Tautou, Benoît Poelvoorde, Alessandro Nivola. 110min. This sumptuous biopic of the early years of Gabrielle ‘Coco’ Chanel 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. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Couples Retreat (15) (Peter Billingsley, US, 2009) Vince Vaughn, Jason Bateman, Jon Favreau. 110min. See Also Released, page 48. General release from Wed 14 Oct. Creation (PG) ●●●●● (Jon Amiel, UK, 2009) Paul Bettany, Jennifer Connelly, Toby Jones. 105min. Amiel offers a worthy, thought-provoking story of Darwin boasts a terrific central performance from Bettany. General release. The Creek (18) ●●●●● (Erik Soulliard, US, 2007) Tim Jesiolowski, Kathryn Merry, Brian Jesiolowski. 85min. See Also Released, page 48. Selected release. Diary of a Shinjuku Thief (18) (Nagisa Oshima, Japan, 1968) Tadanori Yokoo, Rie
Yokoyama, Kei Sato. 96min. A raunchy, romantic affair played out during the 1968 student revolt. Part of Nagisa Oshima season. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. District 9 (15) ●●●●● (Neill Blomkamp, South Africa/New Zealand, 2009) Sharlto Copley, Jason Cope, Nathalie Boltt. 112min. Comfortably balancing political messages and sci-fi action when an alien race arrive only to find themselves decanted by the sinister Multi National United agency into Johannesburg’s shanty-towns. General release. Do Knot Disturb (12A) (David Dhawan, India, 2009) Ritesh Deshmukh, Lara Dutta, Govinda. 125min. Bollywood comedy chronicling the efforts made by a rich business man to hide his extra-marital affair. Cineworld Renfrew Street, Glasgow; Cineworld Fountainpark, Edinburgh. Document 7: CCA 4 – Thursday Screening (E) (Various) 600min. A wide range of documentaries tackling concerns such as Afghans in Iran, alternative health, Pakistan, homelessness and women’s rights. CCA, Glasgow. Document 7: CCA 5 – Thursday Screening (E) (Various) 620min. Themes covered in today include Bedouins, Black History Month, women’s rights and immigration. CCA, Glasgow. Document 7: Launch Night (E) (Jean- Marc Sainclair/Jean Crousillal, France, 2008) 52min. The International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival opens with a screening of Umoja, The Village Where Men Are Forbidden. Documenting an all-female community created in reaction to the continued rape of Kenyan women. CCA, Glasgow. ✽✽ Le Donk & Scor-zay-zee (15) Paddy Considine, Scor-zay-zee, Olivia Colman. 74min. See review, page 48. Glasgow Film Theatre, Glasgow; Cameo, Edinburgh. Dorian Gray (15) ●●●●● (Oliver Parker, UK, 2009) Ben Barnes, Colin Firth, Rachel Hurd-Wood. 112min. The main problem in this version of Oscar Wilde’s novel is that the protagonists’ moral transgressions are spelt ●●●●● (Shane Meadows, UK, 2009)
Index Film out in a rather literal manner. Selected release. Dragonball: Evolution (PG) ●●●●● (James Wong, US/Japan, 2009) Justin Chatwin, Chow Yun-fat, Joon Park. 84min. Puerile manga action. Empire, Clydebank. Driving Aphrodite (12A) ●●●●● (Donald Petrie, US, 2009) Nia Vardalos, Richard Dreyfuss, María Ádanez. 94min. Appalling sequel to My Big Fat Greek Wedding. Selected release. The Eel (Unagi) (18) ●●●●● (Shohei Imamura, Japan, 1997) Koji Yakusho, Misa Shimizu. 117min. Imamura’s Palme D’Or- winner about Takuro, a man who murdered his adulterous wife, and Keiko, the woman he discovers after her attempted suicide. Part of the Shoehei Imamura. Glasgow Film Theatre, Glasgow. (500) Days of Summer (12A) ●●●●● (Marc Webb, US, 2009) Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Zooey Deschanel, Geoffrey Arend. 94min. YouTube generation rom-com kicks off at breakneck speed delivering a drole reconstruction of young man Tom’s (Gordon- Levitt) unruly love affair with Summer (Deschanel). General release. Fame (PG) ●●●●● (Kevin Tancharoen, US, 2009) Kay Panabaker, Naturi Naughton, Kelsey Grammer. 107min. Pointless remake and updating of Alan Parker’s 1982 original film (and subsequent TV series) for the High School Musical crowd. General release. Farewells (15) (Wojciech Has, Poland, 1958) Maria Wachowiak, Tadeusz Janczar, Gustaw Holoubek. 97min. Has’ second cinematic work chronicles the mismatched love affair between rebellious student Pawel (Janczar) and cynical dancer Lidka (Wachowiak). Torn apart by WWII and social convention, a second meeting holds promise for the couple. Part of Wojciech Has season. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (15) ●●●●● (John Hughes, US, 1986) Matthew Broderick, Jennifer Grey, Charlie Sheen. 103min. Characteristically Hughes teen comedy that scores with fresh dialogue and appealing characterisations. Glasgow Film Theatre, Glasgow.
8–22 Oct 2009 THE LIST 49