www.list.co.uk/film Index Film
The Railway Children Fortieth anniversary screenings of this digitally restored print of Lionel Jeffries’ richly iconic 1970 family film starring Dinah Sheridan, Bernard Cribbins and a youthful Jenny Agutter. The film’s great and often (shamefully) overlooked writer, director (and actor) Jeffries died on 10 February this year aged 83 years old, so these screenings are also something of a commemoration of joyful talent. Showing as part of Weans’ World. ■ Filmhouse, Edinburgh from Fri 2-Thu 8 Apr.
✽✽ Samson and Delilah (15) ●●●●● (Warwick Thornton, Australia, 2009) Rowan McNamara, Marissa Gibson, Mitjili Napanangka Gibson. 101min. See review, page 46 and profile, page 49. Glasgow Film Theatre; Filmhouse, Edinburgh. The Scouting Book for Boys (15) ●●●●● (Tom Harper, UK, 2009) Thomas Turgoose, Holly Grainger, Rafe Spall. 93min. British TV director Harper (Misfits, Demons) makes a confident feature debut with an engaging story of teenage friendship revealing dark adolescent envy as two teenagers, David (Turgoose) and Emily (Grainger), embark upon spiralling events in a sleepy Norfolk holiday park. Ambiguous and with very believable characters, the film is not perfect, but as a dramatisation of the peril and confusion of adolescence, it’s worth checking out. Grosvenor, Glasgow; Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Shank (18) ●●●●● (Simon Pearce, UK, 2009) Wayne Virgo, Tom Bott, Marc Laurent. 90min. Devoid of the usual coming of age trappings, this gritty film chronicles 18-year-old Cal (Virgo) and his struggles to come to terms with his sexuality. Selected release. Shrek (U) ●●●●● (Andrew Adamson, Vicky Jenson, US, 2001) Voices of Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz, Eddie Murphy. 90min. Shrek will have Walt Disney turning in his cryogenic freeze tank. This truly subversive animated film takes pot shots at fairytale mythology, while singling out Uncle Walt’s beloved Snow White, Cinderella, Pinocchio, et al. Under the guise of a quest to rescue a princess from a dragon undertaken by the eponymous green ogre (which kids will love), Shrek also ruthlessly pillages corporate Disney, satirising its theme parks and executives. And who’s behind all this? Producer Jeffrey Katzenberg of Disney rival studio DreamWorks, also formerly head of, yep, Disney. Scotsman Screening Room, Edinburgh. Shutter Island (15) ●●●●● (Martin Scorsese, US, 2010) Leonardo DiCaprio,
Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley. 138min. Marking his fourth collaboration with Scorsese, DiCaprio plays US Marshall Teddy Daniels who arrives on the storm- drenched rock off the coast of Boston with his new partner to investigate the disappearance of a patient from a mental institution run by a suspicious shrink. Based on the 1954-set novel by Dennis Lehane, this is expertly cast and executed – and way over the top. General release. A Single Man (12A) ●●●●● (Tom Ford, USA, 2009) Colin Firth, Julianne Moore, Nicholas Hoult. 99min. The fashion industry’s Ford adapts Christopher Isherwood’s spare, lyrical study of alienation and loss for his film debut. Tracing a day in the life of George Falconer (Firth), a middle-aged English college professor, a series of flashbacks outline George’s 16-year relationship with the recently deceased Jim (Matthew Goode). A frustrating experience, this is at times achingly moving, but ultimately it relies too heavily on redundant visual gimmicks. Selected release. Shelter (15) ●●●●● (Marlind & Stein, US, 2010) Julianne Moore, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Jeffrey DeMunn. 112min. See Also Released, page 47. General release from Fri 9 Apr. Sons of Cuba (12A) ●●●●● (Andrew Lang, UK, 2009) 88min. See review, page 47. Glasgow Film Theatre; Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Spirited Away (PG) ●●●●● (Hayao Miyazaki, Japan, 2001) Voices: Daveigh Chase, Rumi Hîragi, Sidonie von Krosigk, Miyu Irino, Jason Marsden. 125min. Chihiro travels through a tunnel into another world, where she happens upon a bathhouse for the spirits. After chowing down greedily on some spiked local produce, Chihiro’s parents are transformed into pigs, leaving their suddenly dutiful daughter to seek work in the bathhouse in order to release them. Philosophy, anime and shamanism – this is something really stunning that needs to be seen to be believed. Scotsman Screening Room, Edinburgh. The Spy Next Door (PG) ●●●●● (Brian Levant, US, 2010) Jackie Chan, Amber Valletta, Madeline Carroll. 94min. Chan follows in the footsteps of Arnold Schwarzenegger in Kindergarten Cop and Vin Diesel in The Pacifier in a role as a put-upon babysitter to bratty kids. After an opening sequence of fabulous stunt- work from Chan’s earlier work, the action hero struggles gamely to inject any reality into this patronising comedy-thriller. General release. Storm (15) ●●●●● (Hans-Christian Schmid, Germany, 2009) Hannah Maynard, Mira Arendt, Keith Haywood. 110min. Schmid has a record of making fictional films loosely based on real life events and his latest has echoes of the trial of Serb Radovan Karadzic, though he aims his ire at the judicial process and how it can be manipulated. Glasgow Film Theatre; Cameo, Edinburgh. Toy Story (PG) ●●●●● (John Lasseter, US, 1995) With the voices of Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Don Rickles. 81min. It isn’t just the state-of-the-art images that distinguish Disney’s first computer-generated animation feature, it’s got a cracking adventure story too. A tale of friendship and self-belief combined with an exciting rescue and against-the-clock tension, Toy Story is sprinkled with comic asides. Don’t be fooled into thinking these toys are just for the kids. Scotsman Screening Room, Edinburgh. Where the Wild Things Are (PG) ●●●●● (Spike Jonze, US, 2009) Max Records, Pepita Emmerichs, Mark Ruffalo. 100min. Maurice Sendak’s nine- sentence children’s tale about a boy whose bedroom turns into a forest full of huge creatures gets the Spike Jonze (Being John Malkovich) treatment. Any joy here comes from the brilliant production design of the creatures – Jonze opts to use puppetry over CGI and this gives the action an ethereal quality. Unfortunately the creatures are emotional stereotypes and as such, lack dimension. Vue Omni, Edinburgh.
✽✽ Whip It (12A) ●●●●● (Drew Barrymore, US, 2010) Ellen Page,
Marcia Gay Harden, Kristen Wiig. 111min. See feature, page 28 and review, page 47. Selected release. Wonders of the Solar System (12A) (UK, 2010) 60min. Professor Brian Cox explores seven wonders of the solar system including fountains of ice that erupt thousands of feet into space, and mysterious lakes filled with a liquid unlike anything known to man. Part of Edinburgh Science Festival. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Written on The Wind (PG) ●●●●● (Douglas Sirk, US, 1956) Lauren Bacall, Robert Stack, Dorothy Malone, Rock Hudson. 99min. A fine film and one of Hollywood’s best ever melodramas. Four characters connected to a Texan oil family act on their passions rather than their intellects as love and desire concoct a tempestuous mix leading to tragedy. A prototype soap opera, but incisive in its criticism on the middle-class and notions of masculinity. Cameo, Edinburgh.
Sherlock Holmes (12A) Wed 7 Apr 11:00am (cuppa), 7:30pm Invictus (12A) Mon 12 Apr 19:30 Wed 14 Apr 11:00 (cuppa), 19:30
1–15 Apr 2010 THE LIST 51