Family

William Sutcliffe - Whatever Makes You Happy

8 May 2008

FAMILY COMEDY (Bloomsbury) William Sutcliffe, Edinburgh-based spouse to Maggie O’Farrell and schoolmate of Ali G, is still best known for his 1997 coming of age debut Are You Experienced? Eleven years and three more books later, his fifth novel…

Nim’s Island

24 Apr 2008

FAMILY/ADVENTURE (U) 95min Jodie Foster tries vainly to kick-start a career as a children’s entertainer in , a post-modern adventure aimed squarely at undemanding family audiences. Co-directed by Jennifer Flackett and Mark Levin, who made the…

The Spiderwick Chronicles

13 Mar 2008

DRAMA/FAMILY/FANTASY (PG) 95min When newly divorced mother of three Helen Grace (Mary-Louise Parker) moves her kids to the secluded rundown Spiderwick estate, once owned by their great great uncle Spiderwick, the children are less than impressed. Twin…

The Game Plan

28 Feb 2008

FAMILY/COMEDY (U) 110min ‘Can you smell what The Rock is cooking?’ Although wrestler-turned-actor Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson doesn’t get to use his trademark catchphrase in Disney family-values comedy The Game Plan, his charismatic presence turns some…

Asterix at the Olympic Games

(U) 116min

31 Jan 2008

The third of the live action Asterix movies retains Gérard Depardieu as rotund sidekick Obelix, but sees Clovis Cornillac taking over from Christian Clavier as the diminutive warrior. Much like the first two entries in the series, Asterix at the Olympic…

Britney Spears' family anger

Celebrity Gossip

30 Jan 2008

Britney Spears is furious with her family for trying to make her seek psychiatric help. The 'Gimme More' singer's parents Jamie and Lynne - who believe their daughter's erratic behaviour is down to bipolar disorder - are not welcome in her life…

Enchanted

(PG) 107min(PG) 107min

13 Dec 2007

Like all large conurbations New York City can be a frightening place. Especially if you have just fallen out of an animated Disney fairytale world that resembles every cartoon feature made by the dream factory since 1937’s Snow White and the Seven…

Fred Claus

29 Nov 2007

FAMILY/COMEDY (PG) 115min In his third film with director David Dobkin (Clay Pigeons, The Wedding Crashers) Vince Vaughn trades far too heavily on his familiar wise-guy charms in this cloying Joel The Matrix Silver-produced Christmas offering.

'Twas The Night Before Christmas

15 Nov 2007

AERIAL SHOW Opposite Ocean Terminal, Leith, Sat 24 Nov, 5pm The words ‘Christmas’ and ‘free’ rarely go hand in hand these days, but a one-off event in Leith is bucking the trend. ‘Twas The Night Before Christmas is a free outdoor family event…

Daddy Day Camp

18 Oct 2007

COMEDY/FAMILY (PG) 88min The indelible image of Cuba Gooding Jr enthusiastically ejaculating over Roger Moore’s face in 2003’s dismal comedy Boat Trip seemed to signal a new low in the one-time Academy Award-winner’s career trajectory. But somehow…

Nancy Drew

18 Oct 2007

FAMILY/MYSTERY (PG) 99min ‘Get a clue!’ trills the ad for this hasty update of the venerable teenage gumshoe franchise. Sadly, the Nancy Drew of 2007 feels more like a clueless retread than an inspired reboot. Filmed under the working title Nancy…

Ratatouille

4 Oct 2007

(U) 110min COMEDY/ANIMATION Writer/director Brad Bird’s animated version of The Iron Giant made him the obvious candidate to follow on from John Lasseter’s innovative groundwork at Pixar, where he scored an immediate hit with The Incredibles. So even…

Great Expectations

4 Oct 2007

Don’t miss this screening of the new digital print of arguably the best film version of Charles Dickens’ 1860 novel. David Lean’s 1947 version, starring John Mills, Jean Simmons, and of course Lean regular Alex Guinness, is a masterwork of technical…

Happily N'Ever After

1 Aug 2007

Although its makers claim they conceived Happily N’Ever After long before that big green ogre Shrek took over the box office swamp, animation filmmakers Paul J Bolger and Yvette Kaplan’s procrastinations mean that this contemporary take on olde fairy…

Firehouse Dog

16 Jul 2007

FAMILY/COMEDY FIREHOUSE DOG (PG) 111min Rexxx is a pampered pooch star in the Rin Tin Tin mould, apparently known and loved by millions as the star of blockbusters such as Jurassic Bark. But when a stunt on his latest film, Terrier at…

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

2 Jul 2007

FANTASY/ADAPTATION At over 800 Pages Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was always likely to be the hardest of JK Rowling’s tomes to adapt and true to form this is the worst of the little wizard films. The franchise, which has thus far been…

Regular Lovers - Feature

Wild innocence

1 Sep 2006

Wild innocence - As Phillipe Garrel’s Regular Lovers finally reaches Scottish screens, Tony McKibbin offers a cut out and keep guide to the man they call the ‘the Rimbaud of French cinema’.