Film INDEX
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
Action Replayy (PG) (Vipul Amrutlal Shah, India, 2010) Aishwarya Rai, Akshay Kumar, Aditya Roy Kapoor. 130min. Bollywood comedy about a young man who travels back in time in an attempt to re- ignite his parents’ passion for one another. Selected release. Africa United (12A) ●●●●● (Debs Gardner-Paterson, UK, 2010) Eriya Ndayambaje, Roger Nsengiyumva, Sanyu Joanita Kintu. 88min. Simplistic, feel-good road movie tracking the adventures of three intrepid children led by the wily and courageous Dudu (Ndayambaje), who set out to walk the 5000km from Rwanda to the World Cup in South Africa. Selected release. Alien Adventure 3D (U) ●●●●● (Ben Strassen, Japan, 2001) Voice of John Boyle, Bouli Lanners. 37min. An alien race looking for a planet to colonise find earth and unfortunately enter a theme park where they cause much amusing mayhem. IMAX Theatre, Glasgow. Alpha & Omega 2D (U) ●●●●● (Anthony Bell/Ben Gluck, US, 2010) Voices of Hayden Pannetierre, Christina Ricci, Justin Long. 87min. Cutesy and unremarkable lupine rom-com featuring Kate (Panettiere) and Humphrey (Long), wolves from opposite ends of the social spectrum who find that they have more in common than they thought after being removed from their pack by some meddlesome rangers. Selected release. Alpha & Omega 3D (U) ●●●●● (Anthony Bell/Ben Gluck, US, 2010) Voices of Hayden Pannetierre, Christina Ricci, Justin Long. 87min. See above. General release. American Madness (U) ●●●●● (Frank Capra, US, 1932) Walter Huston, Pat O’Brien, Kay Johnson. 77min. Capra takes on the effects of the Depression on smalltown America – a tale that now looks remarkably familiar. Part of Capra season. See feature, page 40. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (12A) ●●●●● (Adam McKay, US, 2003) Will Ferrell, Christina Applegate, Paul Rudd, Paul Carell. 94min. Snappy comedy vehicle for Saturday Night Live veteran Will Ferrell that’s set in the sexist days of the 1970s TV news media. The eponymous newsreader, Ron Burgundy is forced by changing times to go head to head with Christina Applegate’s go-getting female reporter. Ferrell’s on top form here - better, in fact, than the material actually warrants since its strung together like a collection of hit ‘n’ miss SNL skits. While the satire quickly palls, Ferrell’s oversized presence as the unreconstructed male ass- grabber makes for some hilarious moments. Cameo, Edinburgh.
✽✽ Another Year (12A) ●●●●● (Mike Leigh, UK, 2010) Jim
Broadbent, Lesley Manville, Ruth Sheen, Peter Wight. 129min. See review, page 43. Selected release.
✽✽ The Arbor (15) ●●●●● (Clio Barnard, UK, 2010) Christine
Bottomley, Neil Dudgeon, Robert Emms. 94min. Powerful experimental study of the life and legacy of Yorkshire playwright Andrea Dunbar, who died aged just 29. Barnard focuses on her works, blurring documentary and fiction as she interviews Dunbar’s children and characters from her deprived Buttershaw estate home through the medium of actors. Cameo, Edinburgh. L’Atalante (PG) ●●●●● (Jean Vigo, France, 1934) Michel Simon, Dita Parlo, Jean Daste, Gilles Margaritis, Louis Lefevre, Maurice Gilles. 89min. Vigo’s mesmeric, influential masterpiece of love, barges and delicate surrealism. Forget Young Adam, this is the best canal-based movie ever. Part of An Introduction to European Cinema. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. The A-Team (12A) ●●●●● (Joe Carnahan, US, 2010) Liam Neeson, Bradley
44 THE LIST 4–18 Nov 2010
Cooper, Jessica Biel. 118min. Just like the 80s TV show that spawned it, The A-Team is over the top, macho fun. Now based in Iraq, the old team reunites to retrieve stolen printing plates used for counterfeiting money. But for all its exuberance, this is an overly flashy endeavour and ends up feeling calculated, uncomfortable and empty. Odeon at the Quay, Glasgow; Odeon, Edinburgh. Avatar 3D (12A) ●●●●● (James Cameron, US, 2009) Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Michelle Rodriguez. 166min. Set in 2154, Cameron’s much- hyped Avatar focuses on a paraplegic marine named Jake Sully (Worthington), who arrives on the distant moon of Pandora with a mission to help displace its indigenous population. But, after winning their trust, Jake finds his allegiances gradually shifting. High on technical flair but short on storytelling ambition, this visually stunning sci-fi epic sadly remains deeply flawed. IMAX Theatre, Glasgow. Back to The Future 25th Anniversary Re-Issue (PG) ●●●●● (Robert Zemeckis, US, 1985) Michael J Fox, Lea Thompson, Crispin Glover. 116min. Deservedly popular time-travelling fantasy adventure starring a street-smart 80s teenager whisked back in time for a little chicanery with his future parents. Glasgow Film Theatre.
✽✽ Beyond the Ocean (15) (Eliane de Latour, Ivory Coast/France/UK, 2009) Fraser James, Djédjé Apali, Sara Martins. 106min. Drama about the lives of two immigrants from the Ivory Coast in Spain. Part of French Film Festival. See Festival Focus, page 41. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Black Girl (La Noire de . . .) (12) ●●●●● (Ousmane Sembene, Senegal/France, 1966) Mbissine Thérèse Diop, Anne-Marie Jelinek, Robert Fontaine. 60min. Thought to be the first feature by a director from sub-Saharan Africa, this film tells the tragic tale of Diouana (Diop), a young Senegalese woman who finds work as a childminder for a couple in Dakar. When the couple returns to the south of France, she goes with them, dreaming of a life of luxury. But things don’t turn out as she hoped. Part of Sembene season. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Bon Jovi – The Circle Tour (E) (2010) 114min. Live footage of the poodle- rocking band’s latest lavish tour. Selected release.
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. Van der Horst weaves an absorbing tribute through powerfully empathetic work with Ryzhy’s surviving family and beautifully observed scenes from his snow-clad industrial home town. Part of Poetry & Motion. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Brief Encounter (PG) ●●●●● (David Lean, UK, 1945) Celia Johnson, Trevor Howard, Stanley Holloway. 86min. Stiff upper lips and emotionally charged brushes of the hands are all that Johnson and Howard will allow themselves as their extra- marital ‘affair’ doesn’t develop much beyond unspoken longings at a railway station. Eastwood Park Theatre, Glasgow. Bright Star (PG) ●●●●● (Jane Campion, France/Australia/UK, 2009) Abbie Cornish, Ben Whishaw, Paul Schneider. 118min. This fictionalised account of poet John Keats’ love affair with Fanny Brawne is a disappointingly bland effort from Jane Campion, whose beautiful imagery and deference to the work of her subject cannot hide a lack of substance and the non-existence of any jot of chemistry between the two lead actors. Part of Poetry & Motion. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. brilliantlove (18) (Ashley Horner, UK, 2010) Liam Browne, Nancy Trotter Landry, Michael Hodgson. 97min. An intense, poetic love story about a couple who live in a garage. Edinburgh screening followed by a Q&A session with director Horner. New British Cinema Quarterly screening. Glasgow Film Theatre, Glasgow; Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Burke and Hare (15) ●●●●● (John Landis, UK, 2010) Simon Pegg, Andy Serkis, Isla Fisher. 100min. A darkly comic retelling of the tale of Edinburgh’s most notorious murderous residents, Williams Burke (Pegg) and Hare (Serkis), and their quest to supply doctors with fresh bodies for their experiments, from director Landis who proved he had a deft touch with horror comedy in An American Werewolf in London. General release.
✽✽ Change of Plans (12) (Danièle Thompson, France, 2009) Karin Viard,
Dany Boon, Marina Fois. 100min. French drawing room comedy touching upon themes of sex, romance and getting older. Ten friends meet for their yearly catch-up, although none of them know that none of
Hong Sangsoo: Between Men and Women
the others want to be there. Part of French Film Festival. See Festival Focus, page 41. Glasgow Film Theatre. 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. Cineworld Fountainpark, Edinburgh. The Death and Life of Charlie St Cloud (12A) ●●●●● (Burr Steers, US, 2010) Zac Efron, Charlie Tahan, Kim Basinger. 99min. Modern day matinee idol Efron stars as Charlie St Cloud, a young man overcome by the death of his younger brother Sam. When a girl comes into Charlie’s life and he must choose between her and keeping a promise he made to Sam. Igby Goes Down director Steers’ morbid and maudlin little character drama is by turns Capra-esque, gloomy and dull, but Efron acts his socks off and brings presence and dreamboat interest to proceedings. Cineworld Renfrew Street, Glasgow; Vue Omni, Edinburgh. Despicable Me 2D (U) ●●●●● (Pierre Coffin/Chris Renaud, US, 2010) Voices of Steve Carell, Jason Segel, Russell Brand. 94min. Universal’s latest offering is a good-humoured tale of a curmudgeonly aspiring supervillain (Carrell) whose wicked ways are transformed when the three orphaned girls he adopts to help him steal the moon end up capturing his heart instead. Engaging, if not quite a classic. General release. Despicable Me 3D (U) ●●●●● (Pierre Coffin/Chris Renaud, US, 2010) Voices of Steve Carell, Jason Segel, Russell Brand. 94min. See above. General release. Diary of a Wimpy Kid (PG) ●●●●● (Thor Freudenthal, US, 2010) Zachary Gordon, Steve Zahn, Rachael Harris. 92min. The inevitable adaptation of Jeff Kinney’s illustrated novel about wise-cracking schoolchild Greg (Gordon) may not be able to transfer all the charm of the literary bestseller but it is likeable, bright and funny. Empire, Clydebank. Dirty Dancing (15) ●●●●● (Emile Ardolino, US, 1987) Jennifer Grey, Patrick Swayze, Jerry Orbach. 100min. Remarkably ordinary but staggeringly popular ‘girl meets boy from the wrong side of the tracks’ musical set in an American summer
This fantastic retrospective of the brilliant films of little known (in the UK) South Korean filmmaker Hong, whose satirical relationship dramas have been compared to those of Eric Rohmer and Wong Kar-wai, is just three films in, so don’t miss any more – get yourself a season ticket now. Highlights include his 2002 dissection of delusion, love and lust, The Turning Gate, 2005 rebound comedy Tale of Cinema (picutred) and alpha male comeuppance narrative Woman on the Beach. ■ Filmhouse, Edinburgh until Thu 25 Nov.