www.list.co.uk/film is Rebel Yell with a programme including Paradise Lost by Toby Dye, Miracle Fish by Luke Doolan and Michel Gondry’s recent music video for Mia Doi Todd. Wee Red Bar, Edinburgh. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (18) ●●●●● (Niels Arden Oplev, Sweden, 2009) Michael Nyqvist, Noomi Rapace, Peter Haber. 152min. The first of Stieg Laarson’s deservedly successful millennium thrillers receives a faithful but laborious film treatment. Selected release. Guys and Dolls (U) ●●●●● (Joseph L Mankiewicz, US, 1955) Marlon Brando, Jean Simmons, Frank Sinatra. 150min. The unusual mixture of the mumbling (Brando) and the musical (Sinatra and Vivian Blaine) conspires to generate a certain depth of feeling in this version of the familiar and inventive musical. The Hippodrome, Bo’ness. Glyndebourne – Falstaff (E) (UK, 2009) Christopher Purves. 157min. Verdi’s lavish Shakespearean epic, recorded at the Glyndebourne festival. Vue Omni, Edinburgh. A Good Year (PG) ●●●●● (Ridley Scott, US, 2006) Freddie Highmore, Albert Finney, Russell Crowe, Rafe Spall, Archie Panjabi. 118min. Scott’s gladiator (Crowe) plays Max Skinner, a London stockbroker who inherits his uncle’s chateau and failing vineyard and begrudgingly discovers happiness in a slower pace of life. Jaunty, cheeky and colourful, A Good Year has a good nose, even if it fails to linger on the palate. St Bride’s Centre, Edinburgh. Green Zone (15) ●●●●● (Paul Greengrass, US, 2010) Matt Damon, Jason Isaacs, Brendan Gleeson. 114min. This very adult thriller dissects the lies that were told to enable and maintain the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Muscular, sexless and deterministic filmmaking – undoubtedly the best thing Greengrass has done to date. General release. Hachi: A Dog’s Tale (PG) ●●●●● (Lasse Hallström, USA/UK, 2009) Richard Gere, Sarah Roemer, Joan Allen. 93min. This maudlin pet-sploitation flick transports the 1920s Japanese story of a faithful dog who waited nearly ten years for his master’s return, to an idyllic Rhode Island setting. General release. The Hangover (15) ●●●●● (Todd Phillips, US, 2009) Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Heather Graham. 99min. Two days before his wedding, Doug (Bartha) heads to Vegas with his two best friends and future brother-in-law for a final bachelor blow out. Waking up the next morning, however, the trio has no recollection of what happened the night before or, more importantly, where they might have left Doug. Cineworld Renfrew Street, Glasgow. 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. Vue Ocean, Edinburgh.
Happy Ever Afters (15) ●●●●● (Stephen Burke, Ireland, 2010) Sally Hawkins, Tom Riley, Jade Yourell. 101min. Two wedding, one hotel and a disastrous big day for all concerned in this Irish screwball comedy. Empire, Clydebank; Showcase Cinema, Paisley. Harold and Maude (15) ●●●●● (Hal Ashby, US, 1971) Ruth Gordon, Bud Cort, Vivian Pickles. 92min. Archetypical 70s sentimental black comedy in which a rich teenager obsessed with death is finally liberated from his macabre cravings by an 80-year-old woman whose hobby is funerals. Seminal generational love story, one of the highlights of director Ashby’s brilliant career. The Hippodrome, Bo’ness. He’s Not the Messiah (He’s a Very Naughty Boy) (12A) (, UK, 2009) Eric Idle, Michael Palin, Terry Gilliam. 90min. The Monty Python cast performs a comic oratorio based upon The Life of Brian at the Royal Albert Hall. Selected release.
✽✽ The Headless Woman (12A) ●●●●● (Lucrecia Martel,
Spain/Italy/France/Argentina, 2008) Maria Onetto, Claudia Cantero, Daniel Genoud. 89min. See review, page 43. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. How are you Dad? (15) (Chang Tso- Chi, Taiwan, 2009) Jack Kao, Fan Chin-wei. 107min. Comprising over ten short stories, Chang’s film presents tales of father and son relationships. Glasgow Film Theatre. How to Train Your Dragon (PG) (DeBlois, Chris Sanders, 2010) Dean . Voices of Jay Baruchel, Gerard Butler, America Ferrera, Craig Ferguson. 97min. See Also Released, page 45. General release. The Hurt Locker (15) ●●●●● (Kathryn Bigelow, US, 2008) Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Brian Geraghty. 130min. Bigelow creates an unromantic vision of modern warfare, which is both, muscular and visceral while making us question just how close such heroisms are to lunacy. Cameo, Edinburgh. I Love you Phillip Morris (15) ●●●●● (Glenn Ficarra/John Requa, US, 2009) Jim Carrey, Ewan McGregor, Leslie Mann. 97min. Demented comedy based on a true story from writers of Bad Santa Ficarra and Requa about a gay con man, his prison squeeze and his inexhaustible appetite for scheming. By far the best work leads Carrey and McGregor have done for years. General release. Invictus (12A) ●●●●● (Clint Eastwood, US, 2009) Morgan Freeman, Matt Damon, Tony Kgoroge. 133min. Based on a book by John Carlin, Invictus recounts how Nelson Mandela pulled off the political masterstroke of uniting a racially and economically divided South Africa in support of national rugby team the Springboks, once a symbol of Boer-ish oppression. Selected release. It’s Complicated (15) ●●●●● (Nancy Meyers, US, 2009) Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwyn, Steve Martin. 118min. Baldwin and Streep play ex-husband and wife who suddenly get the hots for each other after ten years apart, in this farce of revived lust. While Baldwin’s Jake – now married to a
Index Film
12 in a Box Award-winning and feted British feature comedy gets a sneak preview. When a school reunion takes place in a
remote country mansion, murder and money soon enter the equation. The film’s director and producer will be in attendance and taking part in a Q&A afterwards. ■ GFT, Glasgow on Tue 23 Mar.
much younger model, with a nightmare toddler in tow – jumps at the chance, Streep’s bakery owner Jane is initially appalled at her own behaviour. Uneven but not unfunny. Odeon at the Quay, Glasgow; Odeon, Edinburgh.
✽✽ Kick-Ass (15) ●●●●● (Matthew Vaughn, US/UK, 2010) Nicolas Cage,
Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Chloe Moretz. 117min. See feature, page 22 and review, page 44. General release from Wed 31 Mar.
✽✽ The Kreutzer Sonata (18) ●●●●● (Bernard Rose, US, 2008) Danny Huston, Elisabeth Röhm, Matthew Yang King. 100min. See feature, page 42 and review, page 44. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. The Last Station (15) ●●●●● (Michael Hoffman, Germany/Russia/UK, 2009) Helen Mirren, Christopher Plummer, James McAvoy. 113min. It’s 1910 and Tolstoy’s (Plummer) writings have become so fundamentally progressive that his long time publisher Vladimir Chertov (Giamatti) has established a small community of Tolstoyans to carry on the work of the ageing leader. Tolstoy’s wife Sofya (Mirren) has other ideas. Universal tale of misplaced loyalties adapted from Jay Parini’s 1990
novel. Glasgow Film Theatre. Late Autumn (PG) ●●●●● (Yasujiro Ozu, Japan, 1960) Setsuko Hara, Yoko Tsukasa, Mariko Okada. 129min. Reissue of lovely and poignant 1960 Yusujiro Tokyo Story Ozu drama about three friends’ attempt to find husbands for their late mate’s wife and daughter. Part of Ozu season. Glasgow Film Theatre. Legion (15) ●●●●● (Scott Stewart, US, 2010) Paul Bettany, Lucas Black, Tyrese Gibson. 100min. Bettany plays a machine- gun toting angel sent to Earth on a divine mission to protect the birth of a messianic child from the wrath of an angry god, in this ponderous effort which short-changes thrill- seekers with dollops of pseudo-theological dialogue while dealing out the action highlights somewhat parsimoniously. Selected release. Letter from an Unknown Woman (15) ●●●●● (Max Ophuls, US, 1948) Joan Fontaine, Louis Jourdan, Mady Christians, Art Smith. 90min. New 35mm print of Max Ophuls’ great 1948 romantic tragedy starring Joan Fontaine and Louis Jordan. The best film you will see anywhere this fortnight. Filmhouse, Edinburgh.
18 Mar–1 Apr 2010 THE LIST 47