www.list.co.uk/film textures of everyday life, as well as complex inner feelings. Part of 25 Years of Filmhouse. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. The Return (12A) ●●●●● (Andrei Zvyagintsev, US, 2003) Vladimir Garin, Ivan Dobronravov, Konstantin Lavronenko, Natalya Vdovina. 105min. After an entirely unexplained 12 year absence, a father (Lavronenko) returns home to his two adolescent sons Andrei (Garin) and Ivan (Dobronravov), and suggests to their mother (Vdovina) that he takes the children on a fishing trip. The trio head out by rowing boat to a little-known island, but the boys are unprepared for their dad’s remote and brutally demanding nature. The Return is given real resonance by its three compelling lead performances. Part of 25 Years of Filmhouse. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Robin Hood (12A) ●●●●● (Ridley Scott, USA/UK, 2010) Russell Crowe, Cate Blanchett, Matthew MacFadyen. 140min. Ridley Scott’s fifth film with Crowe never quite musters up the epic power of its predecessor Gladiator, yet still, with Scott going for a gritty take on the legend of the outlaw who robbed the rich to give to the poor, at least Crowe lends the character a level of credability Kevin Costner never attained. Selected release. The Room (18) ●●●●● (Tommy Wiseau, US, 2003) Tommy Wiseau, Juliette Danielle, Greg Sestero. 99min. Cult film that has suffered some very harsh criticism but is loyally defended by its mysterious director Wiseau. Glasgow Film Theatre. Safe (15) ●●●●● (Todd Haynes, US, 1995) Julianne Moore, Peter Friedman, Susan Norman. 118min. A vacuous Californian housewife succumbs to a mystery environmental illness and, in the process of trying New Age therapies, is made to question her own identity. Timely in its subject matter, chilling in its conception, assured in its form, this is one of the key American films of the decade. Part of 25 Years of Filmhouse. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Sammy Going South (PG) ●●●●● (Alexander Mackendrick, UK, 1963) Edward G Robinson, Fergud McClelland, Constance Cummings. 114min. A chance to see a restored version of Mackendrick’s 1963 film based on newly orphaned 10- year-old Sam (McClelland). The young boy sets off to find his only relative and meets a host of characters and criminals along the way. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Scottish Animation Network (15) (Scotland) 71min. A retrospective of the best animation created in Scotland, including television commissions, adverts and short films. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Sex and the City 2 (15) ●●●●● (Michael Patrick King, US, 2010) Sarah Jessica Parker, Kristin Davis, Cynthia Nixon. 146min. Here come the girls again. General release. Shed Your Tears and Walk Away (15) ●●●●● (Jez Lewis, UK, 2010) 90min. Documentary filmmaker Jez Lewis sets his sights on his hometown of Hebden Bridge, an outwardly picturesque Yorkshire market town where drug and alcohol abuse are rife. Cameo, Edinburgh. Shrek Forever After 2D (PG) ●●●●● (Mike Mitchell, US, 2010) Voices: Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz. 93min. A fourth and final instalment, rebooting the flagging franchise with a new alternate-reality twist which sees Shrek escape fatherhood for a one-day return to his bachelor years. A warmed-over sequel that lazily re-configures familiar elements to mildly pleasing effect. General release. Shrek Forever After 3D (PG) (Mike Mitchell, US, 2010) Voices: Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz. 93min. See above. General release. Skeletons (12A) ●●●●● (Nick Whitfield, UK, 2009) Ed Gaughan, Andrew Buckley, Jason Isaacs. 93min. See Also Released, page 52. Cameo, Edinburgh. Smokin’ Aces (18) ●●●●● (Joe Carnahan, UK/France/US, 2006) Jeremy Piven, Ben Affleck, Jason Bateman, Alicia Keys. 108min. Seven hit men (ranging from Affleck to Keys) are all after the $1m bounty on mafia informant Buddy ‘Aces’ Israel (Piven)’s head. After a slick set up
and fairly interesting action the pay-off fails to deliver in an embarrassingly sub-par effort from the man who brought us the far superior Narc. Part of Magic Cinema season. Filmhouse, 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. Empire, Clydebank. St Trinian’s 2: The Legend of Fritton’s Gold (PG) ●●●●● (Barnaby Thompson/Oliver Parker, UK, 2009) Rupert Everett, Colin Firth, Talulah Riley. 106min. More naughty girls’ adventures in this revived Ealing comedy franchise starring various members of Girls Aloud. This time the girls go in search of hidden treasure. Cineworld Parkhead, Glasgow. Star Trek (12A) ●●●●● (JJ Abrams, US/Germany, 2009) Chris Pine, Jennifer Morrison, Simon Pegg. 126min. A quirk in the space-time continuum allows both a sequel and prequel to the already vast Star Trek oeuvre, in which Lost creator Abrams surpasses his previous film efforts to reinvent the whole dynamic of the USS Enterprise. Emotional struggles from Pine as Captain Kirk and Zachary Quinto as Vulcan Spock mix with adrenaline packed adventure to ensure that Star Trek is that rare thing, a blockbuster with humour and guts. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. StreetDance 2D (PG) ●●●●● (Max Giwa/Dania Pasquini, UK, 2010) Nichola Burley, Charlotte Rampling, George Sampson. 98min. Carly (Burley) and her crew attempt to triumph at the UK Street Dance Championships with the unlikely help of some ballet students. Cultures clash, romance is found and the kids find new ways to express themselves – a conventional story, which brings absolutely nothing new to the genre. Selected release. StreetDance 3D (PG) ●●●●● (Max Giwa/Dania Pasquini, UK, 2010) Nichola Burley, Charlotte Rampling, George Sampson. 98min. See above. Cineworld Renfrew Street, Glasgow. A Streetcar Named Desire (15) ●●●●● (Elia Kazan, US, 1951) Vivien Leigh, Marlon Brando, Kim Hunter. 125min. Brando takes the acting honours and, with this film, sets the style for method acting for years to come. Tennessee Williams’ steamy sex romp seems a little tame by today’s standards, but the realism of the drama remains intact and the performances are to be savoured. Part of On Stage, On Screen. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. The Sweet Hereafter (15) ●●●●● (Atom Egoyan, Canada, 1997) Ian Holm, Bruce Greenwood, Sarah Polley. 110min. When a small community is torn apart by a school bus accident that claims the lives of most of their children, an ambiguous lawyer with family troubles of his own comes to represent them in a compensation case. The film unfolds in a patchwork of flashbacks and set-pieces, but it’s Holm’s beautifully judged performance that’s the bedrock of the film. As a study of helpless grief, it’s rarely been bettered. Part of 25 Years of Filmhouse. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Tetro (15) ●●●●● (Francis Ford Coppola, US/Italy/Spain/Argentina, 2009) Vincent Gallo, Maribel Verdú, Alden Ehrenreich. 126min. Coppola’s first original screenplay since 1974, Tetro moves in the familiar territory of the failure of the family unit. Alas, his tendency for over-indulgence takes over, with poorly shot flashbacks, a preposterous twist, and a storyline that runs out of steam. Cameo, Edinburgh. The Third Man (PG) ●●●●● (Carol Reed, US/UK, 1949) Joseph Cotton, Orson Welles. 100min. Holly Martins has been invited to unstable, post-World War II Vienna by his old chum Lime, who is now in the grand-scale drug dealing business, only to discover that he is dead. Except, he isn’t of course, and a multilayered cat and mouse scenario is triggered. So, what’s so good about it? Well, you have a stirring zither score by Anton Karas, the ferris wheel and the ‘cuckoo clock’ speech yet possibly its greatest triumph is to cram so much wonder into so little time. CCA, Glasgow. Three Colours: Blue (15) ●●●●● (Krzysztof Kieslowski, France, 1993) Juliette Binoche, Benoit Regent, Charlotte Very. 100min. A young woman tries to isolate herself from friends and any notion of affection following the death of her composer husband and child in a car crash, but she cannot escape from the fragments of his unfinished composition, in which she played a major part. An expressive and symbolic film that is also emotionally satisfying. Binoche’s award-winning performance, in a film of profound beauty, is the best of her career. Part of Sunday Summer Screenings. Glasgow Film Theatre. Tooth Fairy (PG) ●●●●● (Michael Lembeck, US, 2010) Dwayne Johnson, Ashley Judd. 101min. Leaden fantasy in which The Rock plays a a cynical ice- hockey player who is whisked to Fairyland when he cruelly disabuses a toddler of the notion that the tooth fairy exists, and is sentenced to a punishment of two weeks hard graft as a fairy. General release. Toute la memoire du monde (All the memory of the world) (E) ●●●●● (Alain Resnais, France, 1956) 21min. Documentary short by French new wave filmmaker Resnais about the Bibliotheque National in Paris. Showing on a loop in CCA4 from 12noon–5pm. CCA, Glasgow. Towards Matilde (15) ●●●●● (Claire Denis, France, 2005) 84min. Denis examines French contemporary choreographer Mathilde Monnier, with a soundtrack by PJ Harvey. Part of Denis season. Glasgow Film Theatre. Trash Humpers (18) ●●●●● (Harmony Korine, US, 2009) Paul Booker, Dave Cloud, Chris Cofton. 78min. See feature, page 49 and review, page 51. Glasgow Film Theatre. Trouble Every Day (18) ●●●●● (Clare Denis, France, 2001) Beatrice Dalle, Vincent Gallo. 2002min. Denis’ film, in which Dalle and Gallo are cast as sexual cannibals of the dark (the aftermath of some dubious research working in Africa), incorporates numerous genre elements – vampire, beast of science, lycanthropy. The filmmaker is here blending various horror genres to find the first principle from which they function. But while Dalle is excellent as a woman who’s given herself over to the dark side of her pleasures, Gallo is less convincing. Subsequently, there isn’t much tension nor rationale here, merely many a gore moment where horror’s own id is given a free rein. Part of Denis season. Glasgow Film Theatre; Filmhouse, Edinburgh. The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (12A) ●●●●● (David Slade, US, 2010) Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner. 123min. See review, page 52. General release. The Vanishing (15) ●●●●● (George Sluzier, Netherlands, 1988) Bernard Pierre Donnadieu, Gene Bervoets, Johanna Ter Steege. 106min. A young Dutch woman on holiday with her boyfriend in France disappears inexplicably, and her partner spends years of his life tracking her down, eventually to meet up with her mysterious abductor under the most nerve-shattering of circumstances. Part of 25 Years of Filmhouse. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Vendredi Soir (Friday Night) (15) ●●●●● (Claire Denis, France, 2002) Valérie Lemercier, Vincent Lindon, Helene de Saint-Père. 90min. A winter’s Friday night in Paris, where a public transport strike has forced the city’s traffic to a standstill. Caught up in the gridlock is Laure (comedienne Lemercier). When a stranger Jean (Vincent Lindon) knocks on her car window, a chance encounter turns into a joyful one-night stand. Verbal dialogue in this impressively acted film is almost non-existent: meaning is conveyed by the close-ups of looks and glances exchanged between the lovers, or by the way Agnes Godard’s mobile camera tracks their bodies moving in mutual attraction within confined spaces. Accompanied by an
Index Film
excellent string score from Dickon Hinchliffe of the Tindersticks. A warm, tender and wonderfully romantic film. Part of Denis season. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Whatever Works (12A) ●●●●● (Woody Allen, US, 2009) Ed Begley Jr, Patricia Clarkson, Larry David. 91min. David plays a misanthropic nuclear physicist whose life is suddenly changed when a naïve runaway waif from the Deep South (Wood) turns up on his doorstep. Promising beginnings give way in the second half and this doesn’t quite amount to the comedy delight that aficionados of Jewish humour may hanker after. Selected release. When in Rome (PG) ●●●●● (Mark Steven Johnson, US, 2010) Kristen Bell, Josh Duhamel, Anjelica Huston. 87min. A potentially fluffy romantic fantasy is stretched far beyond breaking point with this feature about a career-fixated, New Yorker who picks four coins out of a magic fountain in Rome, thereby attracting the attentions of four deeply unsuitable men. Selected release.
✽✽ When You’re Strange (tbc) ●●●●● (Tom DiCillo, France, 2010)
104min. Thoughtful, well assembled and pretty thorough assessment of The Doors and their legacy featuring contributions from Johnny Depp and the surviving band members. Glasgow Film Theatre; Cameo, Edinburgh. White Material (15) ●●●●● (Claire Denis, France, 2010) Isabelle Huppert, Christopher Lambert. 100min. Highly recommended Cameroon-filmed feature filmed set during a civil war where civilians are caught in the crossfire. At the heart of this mesmerising evocation of a land that is disintegrating into chaos, is the tale of a coffee plantation owner (Huppert), desperately clinging to the last vestiges of a world that is already in disarray. Part of Denis season. Glasgow Film Theatre; Cameo, Edinburgh. Wild at Heart (18) ●●●●● (David Lynch, US, 1990) Nicholas Cage, Laura Dern, Diane Ladd, Willem Dafoe. 127min. Cage and Dern are the energetic young lovers on the run, pursued by ultrastrange hitman Dafoe on a sometimes comic, sometimes disturbing, trail towards the ultimate rendezvous with Elvis and the Wizard of Oz. Cameo, Edinburgh.
✽✽ Wild Grass (Les Herbes Folles) (12A) ●●●●● (Alain
Resnais, France, 2009) Sabine Azema, Andre Dussollier, Emmanuelle Devos, Mathieu Amalric. 103min. See review, page 52. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Wild Target (12A) ●●●●● (Jonathan Lynn, UK/France, 2010) Bill Nighy, Emily Blunt, Eileen Atkins. 90min. Unconvincing and unfunny remake of 1994 French farce about a middle-aged hitman (Nighy) who finds his professional routine upset by the feelings he develops for his latest target, kooky thief Rose (Blunt). Selected release. The Wind Will Carry Us (U) ●●●●● (Abbas Kiarostami, Iran, 2000) Behzad Dorani, Reihan Heidari, Frangis Rahsepar. 118min. You may feel the great Iranian director’s film is much ado about nothing, or that this tale of strangers staying for a couple of weeks in a remote, high-perched village barely warrants its two hour running time. But once caught by its rhythm, its allusive and elusive possibilities and its ability to leave the audience thinking and feeling for themselves, you’ll realise this is a ‘nothing’ about much do. Kiarostami brilliantly offers the sparest of narratives to offer maximum interpretative freedom. Part of 25 Years of Filmhouse. Filmhouse, Edinburgh.
✽✽ Women without Men (15) (Shirin Neshat, Germany/Austria/France,
2009) Navid Akhavan, Mina Azarian, Essa Zahir. 100min. See review, page 50. Glasgow Film Theatre.
For films showing between Fri 16–Thu 22 Jul see www.list.co.uk 8–22 Jul 2010 THE LIST 57