Film Index
A Christmas Carol 3D (PG) ●●●●● (Robert Zemeckis, US, 2009) Jim Carrey, Colin Firth, Gary Oldman. 95min. Computer animated version of Dickens’ classic. Cineworld Renfrew Street, Glasgow. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2D (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 set in the town of Chewandswallow, where the weather comes three times a day, at breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Selected release.
✽✽ Crude (15) ●●●●● (Joe Berlinger, US, 2009) 104min. See review, page 45. Filmhouse, Edinburgh.
✽✽ Daybreakers (15) ●●●●● (Michael/Peter Spierig, US, 2009)
Ethan Hawke, Willem Dafoe, Isabel Lucas. 97min. See Also Released, page 47. Grosvenor, Glasgow.
✽✽ Departures (12A) ●●●●● (Yojiro Takita, Japan, 2008)
Masahiro Motoki, Tsutomu Yamazaki, Ryoko Hiriosue. 130min. When cellist Daigo (Motoki) is made redundant after his orchestra is disbanded he finds work as assistant to Sasaki (Yamazaki), preparing bodies for funeral rituals. With little trace of his unsavoury background as a porn director, Takita’s sombre compositions, skilful use of a lush score by Joe Hisaishi and mordant humour lend a grim subject a spiky wit, warmth and
empathetic bent. Winner of the 2009 Oscar for Best Foreign Film. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Der Rosenkavalier (E) (, 2010) 385min. Richard Strauss’s opera as performed by the Metropolitan Opera. Cameo, Edinburgh. Did You Hear About The Morgans? (PG) ●●●●● (Marc Lawrence, US, 2009) Hugh Grant, Sarah Jessica Parker, Natalia Klima. 103min. Fish out of water comedy pairing Grant with Jessica Parker as married thespians going through a rocky patch. Their relationship begins to show signs of recovery when they are sent into a witness protection scheme after clocking a murder. General release. Disney’s a Christmas Carol in IMAX3d (PG) ●●●●● (Robert Zemeckis, US, 2009) Jim Carrey, Colin Firth, Gary Oldman. 95min. Computer animated version of Dickens’ classic with visuals maxed out in IMAX and 3D. IMAX Theatre, Glasgow. La Dolce Vita (15) ●●●●● (Federico Fellini, Italy/France, 1960) Marcello Mastroianni, Anita Ekberg, Anouk Aimee. 173min. Paparazzo Mastroianni mixes with the beautiful people of rich Roman society and is ambivalently shocked and fascinated by the vigour of their excessive decadence. Everything you ever wanted from a Fellini movie – black humour, grotesque sexuality, inspired visual imagination and the wonderful Marcello. See it. Glasgow Film Theatre.
Mugabe and the White African Documentary about Zimbabwe President
Robert Mugabe’s aggressive land reform programme and the effect it has had on white-owned farms and their inhabitants. The film follows the brave fight of farmer Michael Campbell to hold on to his farm and live peacefully. ■ Filmhouse, Edinburgh from Fri 8-Mon 11 Jan.
50 THE LIST 7–21 Jan 2010
An Education (12A) ●●●●● (Lone Scherfig, UK, 2009) Peter Sarsgaard, Emma Thompson, Alfred Molina. 99min. Sarsgaard is on top form as seductive cad David, the older man responsible for educating bright but confused schoolgirl Jenny (Mulligan) in matters of love and life in swinging sixties London. With only a few tired stereotypes to detract from a superbly managed depiction of the central relationship, director Scherfig here combines romantic drama and the coming- of-age tale to wholly enjoyable effect. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Fantastic Mr Fox (PG) ●●●●● (Wes Anderson, USA, 2009) Voices of George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Adrien Brody. 88min. Anderson’s inspired choice of stop- motion animation pays off in this beautiful and idiosyncratic adaptation of the well- loved children’s tale. While kids may enjoy it, Anderson’s typically arch humour is aimed more at their parents, who will also be impressed by the star-studded voice cast – Bill Murray as a badger lawyer anyone?. Empire, Clydebank. 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 Has season. Glasgow Film Theatre. Film Discussion Group Film buffs swap opinions and perceptions of both art house and big blockbuster recent releases. Held on the second Wednesday of every month. Glasgow Film Theatre. Fish Tank (15) ●●●●● (Andrea Arnold, UK, 2009) Katie Jarvis, Kierston Wareing, Michael Fassbender. 122min. Living in a small flat on a sprawling Essex council estate with her single mum (Wareing) and younger sister, angry and aggressive 15- year-old Mia (Jarvis) finds herself inexplicably drawn, with disastrous results, to her mother’s new boyfriend, the confident and seemingly kind Connor (Fassbender). A brilliantly displaced portrait of our underclass, one that asks us not to moralise but to find beauty in the consumptive. Miss at your peril. Odeon at the Quay, Glasgow. 44 Inch Chest (18) (Malcolm Venville, UK, 2009) Ray Winstone, Tom Wilkinson, Ian McShane. 94min. See Also Released, page 47. Reviewed next issue and at list.co.uk. General release from Fri 15 Jan. G-Force 2D (PG) ●●●●● (Hoyt Yeatman, UK, 2009) Voices of Bill Nighy, Will Arnett, Kelli Garner. 90min. Jerry Bruckheimer-produced comedy adventure about a covertly trained group of guinea pig special agents who are charged with saving the world from disaster. Simple minded and likeable enough. Cineworld Parkhead, Glasgow. The Good Earth (PG) ●●●●● (Sidney Franklin, US, 1937) Paul Muni, Luise Rainer, Walter Connolly. 138min. In this effective adaptation of Pearl S Buck’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel humble Chinese wheat farmer Wang Lung (Muni) marries house servant and slave O-Lan (Rainer). Sadly hardships are ahead – drought, starvation, revolution and locusts – putting great strains on Wang’s ambitions. Part of Rainer season. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Good Morning (U) ●●●●● (Yasujiro Ozu, Japan, 1959) Keiji Sada, Yoshiko Kuga, Chishu Ryu. 94min. An update to Ozu’s own silent film I Was Born, But . . ., Good Morning is set in a residential suburb of Tokyo where two youngsters are in uproar because their parents have refused them a television set. Part of Ozu season. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. The Great Ziegfeld (U) ●●●●● (Robert Z Leonard, US, 1936) William Powell, Luise Rainer, Myrna Loy. 177min. Leonard’s film follows the life and career of Broadway impresario Florenz Ziegfeld. Part of Rainer season. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Hannah Montana – The Movie (U) ●●●●● (Peter Chelsom, US, 2009) Miley Cyrus, Billy Ray Cyrus, Emily
Osment. 102min. This new adventure comedy shows how the rising starlet deals with fame. Why, by hanging out with a bunch of rednecks in Tennessee and realising what matters most, of course. Absolute crud. Empire, Clydebank. Henri-Georges Clouzot’s Inferno (15) ●●●●● (Serge Bromberg/Ruxandra Medrea, France, 2009) Romy Schneider, Serge Reggiani, Jacques Gamblin. 100min. The fascinating tale of an unfinished masterpiece, reassembled from surviving footage and interviews with original crewmembers. Crazed filmmaker Henri- Georges Clouzot (the French Hitchcock in the eyes of many) never completed Inferno, a romantic thriller of obsessive jealousy that combined traditional filmmaking with radical new ideas from the art world – a great loss for cinema, if this is anything to go by. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Horton Hears a Who! (U) ●●●●● (Jimmy Hayward, Steve Martino, US, 2008) Voices of Jim Carrey, Steve Carell. 86min. Animators Blue Sky take a break from their ongoing Ice Age franchise to colourfully realise the universe of Dr Seuss’ text. Both Carrey and Carrell are allowed full rein for their brand of vocal mugging as co-directors Hayward and Martino skilfully guide Horton towards a comforting moral about size not being all that important. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. The Hourglass Sanitorium (15) ●●●●● (Wojciech Has, Poland, 1973) Jan Nowicki, Tadeusz Kondrat, Irena Orska. 124min. Winner of the Special Jury Award at Cannes in 1973, Has’ seminal work sees young man Jozef (Nowicki) travel on a strange train to visit his ailing father in a sanatorium. Existing in a microcosm of warped time, the sanatorium enables Jozef to slide through portals of fantasy and the unconscious to confront people and experiences from his past. Part of Has season. Glasgow Film Theatre. How to be Loved (15) ●●●●● (Wojciech Has, Poland, 1963) Barbara Krafftowna, Zbigniew Cybulski, Artur Mlodnicki. 100min. Has’ second drama about the emotional casualties of war follows the fates of famous actress Felicja (Krafftowna) and her lover Wiktor (Cybulski) as their relationship is torn apart by WWII. Part of Has season. Glasgow Film Theatre. I Want to See (Je Veux Voir) (12A) ●●●●● (Joana Hadjithomas/Khalil Joreige, France, 2008) Catherine Deneuve, Rabih Mroue, Daniel Auwermann. 75min. Lebanese actor Rabih Mrouse escorts French actress Catherine Deneuve around the shell damaged streets of Beirut and the countryside of southern Lebanon in this semi improvised documentary/guided tour filmed in 2006 after the bombings of that summer. A misguided celebrity indulgence. Cameo, Edinburgh. I Was Born, But . . . (PG) ●●●●● (Yasujiro Ozu, Japan, 1932) Tatsuo Saito, Tomio Aoki, Mitsuko Yoshikawa. 89min. One of Ozu’s most famous early works, this slow-paced film chronicles a family moving into a new home in a suburb of Tokyo. Part of Ozu season. Filmhouse, Edinburgh.
✽✽ I’m Gonna Explode (15) ●●●●● (Gerardo Naranjo, Mexico,
2008) Juan Pablo De Santiago, Maria Deschamps, Pedro Gonzalez. 103min. Delinquent lovers-on-the-run Roman (Pablo de Santiago) and Maru (Deschamps) from provincial Mexico meet in detention, both equally desperate to rebel. Handheld camerawork, colour- bleached cinematography and a jagged editing style reflect the turbulent perspectives of the teenage characters. And if there’s little doubt that the film will end in bloody tragedy, its energy and verve are impressive. Glasgow Film Theatre; Cameo, Edinburgh. In the City of Sylvia (PG) ●●●●● (José Luis Guerín, Spain, 2009) Pilar López de Ayala, Xavier Lafitte, Tanja Czichy. 84min. Paying great attention to the sights and sounds of Strasbourg, Guerin creates less a central character (Lafitte) than a passive receptacle for the