Film INDEX
familiar, oddly unplaceable world, and children will have little difficulty suspending enough disbelief to be spellbound by the magic of the film. Glasgow Film Theatre. Bottle Rocket (15) (Wes Anderson, US, 1996) Owen Wilson, Luke Wilson, Robert Musgrave. 91min. Early collaboration from Anderson and the Wilson brothers, about a trio of misfits who pull off an elaborate robbery and hit the road. Part of the Cameo’s Wes Anderson retrospective. Cameo, Edinburgh. Breathing (Atmen) (15) (Karl Markovics, Austria, 2011) Thomas Schubert, Karin Lischka, Gerhard Liebmann. 93min. Dramatic directorial debut from Austrian actor Markovics (The Counterfeiters). Filmhouse, Edinburgh; Dundee Contemporary Arts; Glasgow Film Theatre. Buck (PG) (Cindy Meehl, USA, 2011) Buck Brannaman, Bibb Frazier, Robert Redford. 88min. Documentary about the real-life inspiration for Robert Redford’s character in The Horse Whisperer. Selected release from Fri 27 Apr. The Cabin in the Woods (15) ●●●●● (Drew Goddard, US, 2012) Kristen Connolly, Chris Hemsworth, Anna Hutchison, Fran Kranz, Jesse Williams, Richard Jenkins, Bradley Whitford. 105min. Five sex- and booze-fuelled teenagers get more than they bargained for when they holiday in an isolated log cabin. Co-creators Whedon (Buffy) and Goddard (Cloverfield) deliver the most original horror movie of the year, with something in its box of tricks to scare everyone. General release. Café de Flore (15) ●●●●● (Jean Marc-Vallee, Canada/France, 2011) Vanessa Paradis, Kevin Parent, Helene Florent. 120min. In present-day Montreal, Antoine (Parent) leaves his wife and sets up a home with their children and his new girlfriend, while in 1960s Paris, abandoned wife Jacqueline (Paradis) struggles to raise her disabled son. Stylish editing and musical motifs attempt to connect these otherwise unrelated storylines, but the result is cheap and distasteful. Filmhouse, Edinburgh; Dundee Contemporary Arts; Glasgow Film Theatre. A Cat in Paris (PG) (Jean-Loup Felicioli/Alain Gagnol, France/Netherlands, 2010) Voices of Dominique Blanc, Bruno Salomone, Jean Benguigui. 70min. An intriguing animation about the wanderings of a cat who is, by day, a friend to a little girl, but by night accompanies a big-hearted burglar around Paris. Dundee Contemporary Arts. Charlie Casanova (18) (Terry McMahon, Ireland, 2010) Emmet Scanlan, Leigh Arnold, Damien Hannaway. 93min. A sociopathic property magnate kills a working-class girl in a hit and run, and uses a deck of cards to determine what he should do next. Selected release from Fri 11 May. Cinderella (E) (David Bintley, UK, 2010) Elisha Willis, Gaylene Cummerfield, Carol- Anne Millar, Ian Mackay. 109min. Spellbinding production recorded live at the Birmingham Royal Ballet. The Hippodrome, Bo’ness. Citizen Kane (PG) ●●●●● (Orson Welles, US, 1941) Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten, Agnes Moorehead. 119min. Stunningly successful biographical mosaic centring on a Hearst-like media tycoon. Welles’ first film remains scintillating viewing for its sheer technical verve, narrative confidence and spellbinding performances. Sloans, Glasgow. The City Dark (E) (Ian Cheney, US, 2011) 83min. Mourning the loss of starry skies to light pollution, this documentary examines the impact it has on a generation of children oblivious to the stars above. Part of the Green Film Festival UK. Glasgow Film Theatre. Check out the GreatOffers on page 8
68 THE LIST 26 Apr–24 May 2012
Southside Film Festival
Glasgow’s Southside may be lacking in cinemas but that hasn’t stopped it hosting a film festival. After a successful inaugural run last year, the Southside Film Festival returns this month with a packed programme of feature and short films, workshops and events celebrating local filmmaking and filmmakers. Included in the mix is Simon Arthur’s Silver Tongues (a hit at this year’s Glasgow Film Festival), Buster Keaton’s The General (pictured) with live Wurlitzer organ accompaniment and a talk on Southside cinema architecture. ■ Various venues across Glasgow’s Southside, Thu 17–Sun 20 May.
Classic Cartoons (U) (Various, US, Various) 85min. A collection of classic cartoons featuring Bugs, Daffy and Porky Pig. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. The Cold Light of Day (12A) ●●●●● (Mabrouk El Mechri, 2012) Henry Cavill, Bruce Willis, Sigourney Weaver. 93min. Wall Street trader Will (Cavill) is visiting his family in Spain when they – but not he – are kidnapped, in retaliation for the dodgy dealings of his spy dad (Willis). A clichéd and incoherent script inspires dull lead performances, and what with the ham-fisted editing it’s very much an inaction thriller. Vue Ocean, Edinburgh; Vue Omni, Edinburgh. Contraband (15) ●●●●● (Baltasar Kormakur, US, 2012) Mark Wahlberg, Kate Beckinsale, Giovanni Ribisi. 109min. Chris Farraday (Wahlberg) is a reformed ex- smuggler who’s forced to pull one last big job, bringing counterfeit bills from Panama to New Orleans under the nose of an increasingly suspicious freighter captain (Simmons). This terse US remake of 2008 Icelandic thriller Reykjavik-Rotterdam is bland and low-key, but solid and watchable entertainment. macrobert, Stirling.
✽✽ Damsels in Distress (15) ●●●●● (Whit Stillman, US, 2012)
Greta Gerwig, Adam Brody, Analeigh Tipton. 99min. See review, page 64. Dundee Contemporary Arts. Dark Shadows (12A) (Tim Burton, US, 2012) Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer, Helena Bonham Carter, Eva Green, Jackie Earle Haley, Jonny Lee Miller, Chloë Grace Moretz, Bella Heathcote. 113min. A vampire is released from 200 years of incarceration to find himself in 1970s America. Tim Burton directs Johnny Depp (again) in this fish-out-of-water comedy. General release from Fri 11 May.
The Decoy Bride (12A) ●●●●● (Sheree Folkson, UK, 2011) Kelly Macdonald, David Tennant, Alice Eve. 90min. Katie (Macdonald) is a Hebridean lass, back home after a string of romantic disappointments; James (Tennant) is a successful novelist and befuddled bridegroom of Hollywood star Lara (Eve). When Katie agrees to pose as Lara to throw off the press, shenanigans ensue. Despite uncertain scripting, Macdonald and Tennant make it work. The Hippodrome, Bo’ness. Delicacy (La délicatesse) (12A) ●●●●● (David Foenkinos/Stéphane Foenkinos, France, 2011) Audrey Tautou, François Damiens, Bruno Todeschini. 108min. Recently widowed Nathalie (Tautou) contemplates a union with clumsy workmate Markus (Damiens). Perhaps only French cinema values beauty so highly that an entire film can be drawn out of the prospect of a not-that-good-looking man getting it on with Audrey Tautou; despite considerable charm, there’s little else to hold on to. macrobert, Stirling; Filmhouse, Edinburgh; Dundee Contemporary Arts. The Dictator (tbc) (Larry Charles, US, 2012) Sacha Baron Cohen, Anna Faris, John C. Reilly. Baron Cohen’s latest is a film about ‘a dictator who risks his life to ensure that democracy will never come to the country he has so lovingly oppressed’. Supposedly a departure from Baron Cohen’s usual ‘mockumentary’ style, The Dictator is said to be based on Saddam Hussein’s novel Zabibah and the King. General release from Fri 18 May. Dolphin Tale (U) (Charles Martin Smith, US, 2011) Morgan Freeman, Ashley Judd, Ray McKinnon. 113min. Freeman and Judd lend their talents to this family story about a boy’s relationship with the ocean’s friendliest mammal. macrobert, Stirling.
Duck Soup (U) (Leo McCarey, US, 1933) Groucho Marx, Harpo Marx, Chico Marx. 65min. Classic Marx Bros fare, as the four of them go to war over an insult directed at their President (Groucho). Superb sight gags and a healthy irreverence for all the reasons people fight wars. The Hippodrome, Bo’ness. Edinburgh Napier University: Degree Show (15) 120min. A selection of short films from final year students at Edinburgh Napier University. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. 85A presents CHERNOZEM:KINO! (18) Arts collective 85a presents a ‘total cinema experience’ based around its first self-produced film Chernozem (Black Earth). Making full use of the fairly unreconstructed industrial space that is the Glue Factory, they present a hair-raising Gesamtkunstwerk/journey through scenes from the film, with live music, immersive sets and kinetic sculptures and intense lighting and projection that involve the viewer in the film itself. Tickets via email or from the Art School bar. Glue Factory, Glasgow. Elfie Hopkins (18) (Ryan Andrews, UK, 2012) Ray Winstone, Steven Mackintosh, Jamie Winstone. 89min. Junior detective thriller starring Ray Winstone and his daughter Jaime. Selected release. Even the Rain (12) (Icíar Bollaín, Spain/France/Mexico, 2010) Gael Garcia Bernal, Luis Tosar, Karra Elejalde. 103min. A filmmaker (Bernal) is caught up in protests against the privatisation of the national water company while working in Bolivia. Followed by a discussion with a representative of the Humanist Society of Scotland. Filmhouse, Edinburgh; Glasgow Film Theatre.