Film INDEX
Love and Other Drugs (15) ●●●●● (Edward Zwick, US, 2010) Jake Gyllenhaal, Anne Hathaway, Judy Greer. 112min. When Gyllenhaal’s flashy young pharmaceutical sales rep meets sassy independent waitress Maggie (Hathaway) the stage is set for a formulaic romance tinged with the special poignancy that can only arise when one of the protagonists is suffering from a debilitating disease. Yawn. General release. Mammoth (15) ●●●●● (Lukas Moodysson, Sweden/Denmark/Germany, 2009) Michelle Williams, Gael Garcia Bernal, Marife Necesito. 125min. See Also Released, page 48. Glasgow Film Theatre, Glasgow. Manmadhan Ambu (12A) (KS Ravikumar, India, 2010) Kamal Haasan, Madhavan, Trisha Krishnan, Sangeetha. 125min. Tamil romantic comedy inspired by There’s Something About Mary. Cineworld Renfrew Street, Glasgow. Megamind 2D (PG) ●●●●● (Tom McGrath, US, 2010) Voices of Will Ferrell, Brad Pitt, Tina Fey. 95min. Hot on the heels of Despicable Me comes another animated antihero caper posing the novel question of what would happen if the baddie actually won? Villain Megamind (Ferrell) has vanquished his foe and is bored with ruling Metro City, so he creates a new opponent by endowing a hapless cameraman (Hill) with superpowers. Likeable enough, but short on the laughs. General release. Megamind 3D (PG) ●●●●● (Tom McGrath, US, 2010) Voices of Will Ferrell, Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill, Tina Fey. 95min. See above. Selected release. Mesrine (15) ●●●●● (André Génovès, France, 1984) Nicolas Silberg, Caroline Aguilar, Gérard Sergue. 103min. The story of France’s Public Enemy No 1, and his time spend on the run following an escape from supposedly impenetrable prison La Santé. Sloans, Glasgow. Metropolis (PG) ●●●●● (Fritz Lang, Germany, 1926) Brigitte Helm, Alfred Abel, Gustav Frolich. 124min. One of the greatest films of all time, here in its longer-length, black and white version, free from Giorgio Moroder’s tacked-on rock soundtrack. The Howard Hawks
cityscapes remain unsurpassed, although the allegory against totalitarianism is a bit naive. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Monsters (12A) ●●●●● (Gareth Edwards, UK, 2010) Whitney Able, Scott McNairy. 93min. Young British filmmaker Edwards has pulled off an astonishing feat with his debut feature, relating the story of a near-future Earth that has succumbed to alien invasion and the cynical photojournalist (McNairy) who must escort his boss’s traumatised daugher (Able) home to America through an infected zone. Strikingly original and atmospheric, this is one to watch indeed. Vue Ocean, Edinburgh. NT Live: Fela! (E) (Bill T Jones, UK, 2010) 165min. Live broadcast from the National Theatre of the Tony Award- winning musical, starring Sahr Ngaujah. Glasgow Film Theatre, Glasgow; Cameo, Edinburgh. The Next Three Days (12a) ●●●●● (Paul Haggis, US, 2010) Russell Crowe, Elizabeth Banks. 122min. See review, page 47. General release. No One Killed Jessica (12A) (Raj Kumar Gupta, India, 2011) Vidya Balan, Rani Mukherjee, Rajesh Sharma. 136min. A reporter and a young woman join forces to avenge the woman’s murdered sister in this Bollywood thriller. Cineworld Renfrew Street, Glasgow.
✽✽ 127 Hours (15) ●●●●● (Danny Boyle, US, 2010) James Franco,
Amber Tamblyn, Kate Mara. 94min. See review, page 48. General release. Of Gods and Men (15) ●●●●● (Xavier Beauvois, France, 2010) Lambert Wilson, Michael Lonsdale, Roschdy Zem. 120min. Real-life inspired story of a group of Cistercian monks caught up in a civil war in an unnamed African country, who must decide whether to save themselves or sacrifice their lives by remaining faithful to their beleaguered community. Poignant, understated and masterful filmmaking from director Beauvois. Cameo, Edinburgh. Old Boy (18) ●●●●● (Park Chan-wook, South Korea, 2004) Choi Min-sik , Yu Ji- tae. 120min. Kidnapped, locked up for 15
years and then released for no apparent reason, Oh Dae Su (Choi) is now a neanderthal on the rampage. He wants answers and revenge and he will take them by claw hammer or scissor. Part existential thriller, part Oedipal myth, Park ‘s second revenge movie is the generic equivalent to an electric current through the gonads. He slices and dices between absurdist comedy, horror and enigmatic philosophy with breathtaking skill. A masterpiece. Glasgow Film Theatre, Glasgow. On Tour (15) ●●●●● (Mathieu Amalric, France, 2010) Miranda Colclasure, Suzanne Ramsey, Angela de Lorenzo. 111min. Authentic portrayal of French traveling burlesque show and enjoyable character study of seedy impresario Joachim (writer- director Almaric) as he pulls strings to get his band of buxom American performers onto the Paris stage. Filmhouse, Edinburgh.
✽✽ On the Streets (15) ●●●●● (Penny Woolcock, UK, 2010) 90min.
A special screening of a documentary by Woolcock, filmed over eight months spent befriending and learning about the lives of homeless people on Britain’s streets. The screening is followed by a Q&A session with the director. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Outcast (18) ●●●●● (Colm McCarthy, UK/Ireland, 2009) Kate Dickie, James Nesbitt, Karen Gillan. 97min. Boasting an intriguing premise and an energetic cast, this Edinburgh-based gypsy-voodoo horror is lamentably marred by cack-handed scripting and incompetent direction. Mary (Dickie) and her teenage son are on the run, pursued by malign warlock Cathal (Nesbitt), when the son befriends Romany lass Petronella (Hanna Stanbridge) and reveals a supernatural secret of his own. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Payday (18) ●●●●● (Daryl Duke, US, 1973) Rip Torn, Ahna Capri, Elayne Heilveil. 103min. Torn plays a manic country singer with a drug problem in this mental little-seen precursor to Crazy Heart. A Psychotronic Cinema presentation. Glasgow Film Theatre, Glasgow. Peeping Tom (15) ●●●●● (Michael Powell, UK, 1960) Karl Boehm, Moira
A new 35mm print of Hawks’ 1946 Raymond Chandler adaptation The Big Sleep starring the evergreen Bogart and Bacall augers in a ripe season of this great American filmmaker’s finest films. Genre classics Bringing Up Baby, Red River, To Have and Have Not, His Girl Friday, Sergeant York and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes will be showing with marginally lesser known films Only Angels Have Wings, Ball of Fire and Monkey Business. Plus writer Adrian Wootton will be giving an illustrated talk on the cinema of Hawks. Ticket deals available. ■ Filmhouse, Edinburgh, Fri 14 Jan–Mon 14 Mar. 52 THE LIST 6–20 Jan 2011
Shearer, Anna Massey. 101min. Michael Powell’s magnificent 1960 slasher flick gets a 50th birthday anniversary revival. Glasgow Film Theatre, Glasgow; Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Pianomania (tbc) (Robert Cibis/Lilian Franck, Austria/Germany, 2009) 93min. Documentary following professional piano tuner Stefan Knüpfer as he tours the world’s great concert halls, maintaining the instruments of maestros. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. The Princess and the Frog (U) ●●●●● (Ron Clements/John Musker, US, 2010) Voices of Anika Noni Rose, Bruno Campos, Keith David. 97min. Set in 1920s Louisiana and featuring Disney’s first African-American Princess, this culturally important, beautiful and evocative (of a New Orleans that no longer exists) film may not have the standout musical numbers of some of its stablemates but is an old fashioned treat all the same. Selected release. A Prophet (18) ●●●●● (Jacques Audiard, France/Italy, 2009) Tahar Rahim, Niels Arestrup, Adel Bencherif. 150min. Naïve youth Malik (Rahim) enters prison with a view to keeping his head down, but murderous circumstance see him aligned to the Corsican mafia who run the prison. As prison population demographics begin to shift, the cunning Malik uses all his resources to elevate his financial and hierarchical status. Plotted and executed with a slow burn complexity and rare grace, this is a wonderfully mature piece of filmmaking. Cameo, Edinburgh. Ramona & Beezus (U) ●●●●● (Elizabeth Allen, US, 2010) Joey King, Selena Gomez, John Corbett. 103min. Overlong and insubstantial tale of sisterly mischief adapted from the best-selling children’s books by Beverly Cleary, starring newcomer King as girl-scamp Ramona Quimby, who puts her chaos-causing talents to good use when her family’s home comes under threat of repossession. Empire, Clydebank; Hippodrome, Bo’ness. Ride, Rise, Roar (15) ●●●●● (David Hillman Curtis, US, 2009) 150min. David Byrne concert film shot over the course of several shows on his 2008/09 tour, featuring classics from Talking Heads, solo material, and his recent collaboration with Brian Eno. Glasgow Film Theatre, Glasgow. Running with Scissors (Double Bill with The Kids are All Right) (15) ●●●●● (Ryan Murphy, US, 2006) Annette Bening, Gwyneth Paltrow, Brian Cox, Joseph Cross, Alec Baldwin. 121min. Nip/Tuck writer/executive producer Murphy cuts/pastes onto the big screen the teenage memoir of journalist Augusten Burroughs. Abandoned by his alcoholic father Norman (Baldwin) and domineering mother Deirdre (Bening), the young, gay Burroughs (Cross) is adopted by mom’s psychiatrist Dr Finch (Cox) and his oddball family. The result is an enormously enjoyable black comedy of eccentric manners that resembles the films of Wes Anderson yet sets its own agenda. Cameo, Edinburgh. Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (15) ●●●●● (Karel Reisz, UK, 1960) Albert Finney, Rachel Roberts, Shirley Anne Field. 89min. A defining moment in British cinema history, made at a time when the UK was finding its feet in the postwar industry by transforming new stage successes into movies. Finney is the Nottingham factory worker determined he won’t ‘let the bastards grind you down’, as he rails at the dead-end nature of his life. Part of an Introduction to European Cinema. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Scarface (PG) ●●●●● (Howard Hawks, US, 1932) Paul Muni, Ann Dvorak, George Raft. 90min. The subtitle ‘Shame Of The Nation’ and a tagged on morality ending is evidence that, on its release, Hawks’ fictionalisation of the Al Capone story hit a chord with the campaigners who thought the burst of gangster movies coming out of Hollywood were too violent for their own good. However, this is a fine piece of filmmaking, with a classic plot structure, dark themes and a great look. Part of Howard Hawks season. Filmhouse, Edinburgh.