Film, Issue 588

Once

If you thought all musicals were kitsch, cheesy and dated, then think again. At this year’s Sundance festival, Once – a small Irish indie film about a Dublin busker who falls for an East European immigrant cleaner – turned everyone’s preconceptions on…

Eastern Promises

THRILLER/DRAMA (18) 100min Friedrich Nietzsche once asked ‘if evil men have no songs, how is it that the Russians have songs?’ A similar tone of revulsion and envy runs through Steven Dirty Pretty Things Knight’s script for David Cronenberg’s new…

The Witnesses

AIDS DRAMA (15) 114min The lively opening chapter of André Téchiné’s (Wild Reeds, Alice et Martin) engrossing new ensemble piece captures the bright, colourful look and fruity feel of the Gallic comedy of manners as the love lives of a group of…

Stardust

FANTASY (PG) 127min Matthew Layer Cake Vaughn’s scrupulous adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s novel looks set to take a space at the same box-office graveyard as several other recent fantasy pilots (Eragon, The Dark Is Rising). Vaughn quit his first big…

Africa in Motion

Mark Cousins In the 90s, when I first fell in love with African movies, I’d jump on a cheapo train or plane to London or Paris if either city was showing the classics. Films like Ousmane Sembene’s astonishing satire on impotence, Xala, or his pioneering…

Rendition

THRILLER (15) 122min In a project which feels like it was hastily conceived at an Academy Awards afterparty, Oscar-winner Gavin Tsotsi Hood marshals a cast of worthy talent in the shape of Reese Witherspoon, Jake Gyllenhaal and Meryl Streep for an…

Sicko

DOCUMENTARY (12A) 123min The best and worst of Michael Moore are on display as he sets about attacking the way that healthcare is managed in America. The first line of attack exemplifies Moore at his maverick best. Instead of basing a documentary…

In their own words

Project Catwalk Filmmaker Rodolphe Marconi discusses his new documentary about the enigmatic fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld ‘For several years I’ve wanted to make an intimate film portrait of someone who I found fascinating and funny, and I thought…

Feral Kingdom

DRAWING, PAINTING, FILM AND SCULPTURE CCA, Glasgow, until Sat 10 Nov There seems to be little or no relationship between the works showing at Feral Kingdom in the CCA – all conceptual and aesthetic decisions seem almost arbitrary. It is true that…

DVD Round-Up

Hallowe’en is almost upon us so let’s delve into the DVD dungeon. We have to start with Halloween: 25 Years of Terror (Starz) •••••. Much imitated but rarely bettered, John Carpenter set the groundwork for every slasher film that followed and this…

The Last Legion

ACTION/ADVENTURE (12A) 101min Director Doug Lefler honed his questionable skills directing episodes of Xena: Warrior Princess before legendary producer Dino de Laurentiis let him loose on this risible slice of sword and sorcery buffoonery.

Halloween

HORROR (18) 109min Halloween is the latest entry in the current goldrush to remake the 70s horror cannon. And if anyone can do justice to Carpenter’s slasher classic you’d think it would be Rob Zombie. Surely the most flamboyant and passionate…

Also Released - Film

• The Dark is Rising (12A) 98min • Boring Lord of The Rings-style action adventure based on Susan Cooper’s award- winning book series, The Seeker: The Dark is Rising, about the travails of a young man who realises he is the last of a group of warriors…

Nancy Drew

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…

Daddy Day Camp

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…