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GFF 2012 - Mark Millar interview

GFF 2012 - Mark Millar interview

The comic book creator of Kick-Ass and Wanted tells us about his role at the Glasgow Film Festival

13 Feb 2012

Mark Millar has written some of the biggest comics of the last 20 years. He’s tackled the X-Men, Spider-Man, Superman and Fantastic Four alongside...

GFF 2012 - director Lynn Shelton on Your Sister’s Sister

GFF 2012 - Director Lynn Shelton on Your Sister’s Sister

Mumblecore icon on her film which opens 2012 Glasgow Film Festival

10 Feb 2012

Seattle-based filmmaker Lynn Shelton has specialised in revelling in the foibles of her characters across each of her four movies, so it’s no surprise to hear her say, 'People are flawed, that’s what I love about them... I want people to like characters…

Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

By-the-numbers old age comedy drama

(2 stars)10 Feb 2012

Early in this by-the-numbers comedy drama, a young salesperson eagerly enthuses to retiring couple Douglas (Bill Nighy) and Jean (Penelope Wilton) that 'the grey pound is very strong at the moment'. We’re quite clearly supposed to see this…

Electric Man

Electric Man

A patchy, if well intentioned, Edinburgh-set comic comedy

(3 stars)8 Feb 2012

(12A tbc) 98min Shot in Edinburgh on a micro-budget, comic shop comedy Electric Man declares its intentions from the off: this is to be no social realist kitchen sink drama, typical of the UK film industry, but rather a light-hearted love-letter to…

Safe House

Safe House

Brutally slick but flawed action thriller starring Denzel Washtington and Ryan Reynolds

(3 stars)8 Feb 2012

(15) 115mins Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds make a formidable partnership in Daniel Espinosa's Safe House, a brutally slick, if flawed, action thriller.

GFF 2012 - Day planner

GFF 2012 - Day planner

Our highlights for each day of the Glasgow Film Festival

6 Feb 2012

It can be difficult, when any festival rolls around, to decide which events to skip in favour of others. Searching rigorously through the programme, referring back to the calendar, trying to fit in as much as possible - it's a painstaking piece of work…

Glasgow Film Festival: Why I love Gene Kelly

Glasgow Film Festival: Why I love Gene Kelly

Miles Fielder makes a song and dance about the charismatic movie star

3 Feb 2012

For a film lover who hates musicals (this writer), the GFF’s Gene Kelly retrospective ought to be a hard sell. Telling stories through song and dance, Kelly’s forte (the latter of which endeavours earned him a special Oscar in 1951), is anathema to this…

Glasgow Film Festival highlights - NOT READY YET - MARK MILLAR?

Glasgow Film Festival highlights

A selection of the best events at GFF 2012

3 Feb 2012

Music We’re excited about DIY promoter Cry Parrot’s event with soundtrack dark lord Umberto who will provide the music for a secret film of his choice (SWG3, 25 Feb, 8pm). Douglas Hart, founding member of The Jesus and Mary Chain, has made videos for…

Take One Action Film Festival Scottish Tour

Take One Action Film Festival Scottish Tour

The political film festival is set to travel around the country throughout February 2012

3 Feb 2012

The Take One Action Film Festival - Scotland's biggest film festival dedicated to cinema with a political edge - is to tour Central and Northern Scotland throughout February. Among the films scheduled to screen on the tour is Even the Rain, the Gael…

Zach Braff, writer, director and star of All New People - interview

Interview: Zach Braff, writer, director and star of All New People

The Scrubs and Garden State star discusses his new theatre production

2 Feb 2012

‘I’m still Jenny from the block,’ says Zach Braff after a moment’s reflection. ‘Even now I feel a bit underground in the acting world.’ For those who enjoyed Braff (and 20 million viewers around the world did) as the lovable JD in US comedy drama…

Young Adult

Young Adult

A fiercely dark comedy from Juno writer-director team Diablo Cody and Jason Reitman

(4 stars)2 Feb 2012

(15) 94min This reteaming of Juno director (Jason Reitman) and writer (Diablo Cody) is a fiercely dark character comedy that once again demonstrates the pair’s refusal to be limited by genre conventions, no matter how sacred. The set-up is…

Ten things you might not know about Zach Braff

Zach Braff: Ten things you might not know

The star of Scrubs, Garden State and All New People also voices the US Andrex puppy

2 Feb 2012

1 He is the youngest of four children. He has two brothers, Adam and Joshua, and a sister, Shoshanna. His mother and father are divorced and have both remarried. He says he now spends Thanksgiving with his ‘four parents’. 2 He had an ‘American…

GFF 2012 - Death Watch

GFF 2012 - Death Watch

Bertrand Tavernier’s remarkable Glasgow-shot film foresaw the coming of voyeuristic TV

2 Feb 2012

It’s arguably the best film ever shot in Scotland, but chances are you’ve never seen it. Directed in 1979 by French auteur Bertrand Tavernier (A Sunday in the Country, Round Midnight) and set in the near future, Death Watch is a Glasgow-set sci-fi drama…

GFF 2012 - 85A presents: Jan Svankmajer

GFF 2012 - 85A presents: Jan Svankmajer

Judd Brucke of 85A discusses the art collective's tribute to the Czech filmmaker

2 Feb 2012

‘One of our comrades was approached by the GFF to do something with the festival,’ says Judd Brucke, a member of the collective of Glasgow-based multi-disciplinary artists that stage weird and wonderful live events under the banner 85A. That something…

GFF 2012 - Frightfest highlights

GFF 2012 - Frightfest highlights

A round up of the best films showing as part of the Glasgow Film Festival's horror strand

2 Feb 2012

FrightFest is back once again to terrorise the Glasgow Film Festival. Now taking over the GFT for two full days, this year (as with every year) it’s a vibrant snap shot of the state of horror cinema. It’s been so successful the organisers have launched…

The Muppets' most memorable moments

The Muppets' most memorable moments

A gallery of clips from our favourite frog and his friends

1 Feb 2012

The Muppets have a string of movies to their names already, including The Muppet Movie, The Muppets Christmas Carol, The Muppets Take Manhattan, and The Great Muppet Caper. Never ones to shirk away from serious film, darling, they’ve also had cameos in…

John C Reilly, star of Carnage and Terri - interview

Interview: John C Reilly on Carnage and Terri

The actor discusses his prolific rate of appearances in both higher and lower profile movies

1 Feb 2012

‘I have been a busy boy, haven’t I?’ grins John C Reilly. And it’s true. Last seen as the luckless father in We Need To Talk About Kevin, the Chicago-born actor now stars in Roman Polanski’s Carnage and US indie Terri. Factor in two major upcoming…

Red Dog

Red Dog

Hilarious and tearjerking scenes of human folly played as classic comedy

(4 stars)1 Feb 2012

(PG) 92min 2012 is turning into the year of the dog for cinema fans. After Uggie stole the show in The Artist comes this wonderful tale of canine tomfoolery. Told in a zippy boy’s own adventure style, this ‘inspired by a true story’ tale is set in…

Greg Hemphill makes An Appointment with the Wicker Man

An Appointment with the Wicker Man

Robin Hardy’s 1973 classic to become the play-within-the-play for new NTS production

1 Feb 2012

‘There are many films that people would love to see adapted cleanly onto the stage,’ says Greg Hemphill, and if current trends are anything to go by, he looks to be right, ‘but when we discussed it with Vicky [Featherstone, National Theatre of Scotland…

Martha Marcy May Marlene

Martha Marcy May Marlene

Elizabeth Olsen is remarkable in a film weak on intensity and narrative

(3 stars)1 Feb 2012

(15) 102min A young woman making her escape from a Manson-like sex cult sounds like the stuff of a lurid made-for-TV potboiler, but Sean Durkin’s debut eschews melodrama, instead presenting its protagonist’s ordeal in a hushed and gloomy style…

Profile: Jason Reitman - Director of Young Adult

Profile: Jason Reitman, director of Young Adult

CV includes Thank You For Smoking, Juno and Up In the Air

1 Feb 2012

Name Jason Reitman Born 19 October, 1977. Background Born in Montreal, Quebec, his old man is Ghostbusters director Ivan Reitman. Since graduating from the University of South California, where he was an English major, he’s taken on various…

Italo-horror artist Umberto to appear at GMFF

GFF 2012 - Italo-horror artist Umberto

The soundtrack specialist fits comfortably into the Glasgow Music and Film Festival strand

1 Feb 2012

Horror-score revivalist Matt Hill channels the creepyass compositions of Goblin, John Carpenter and Fabio Frizzi in his eerie synthjams, conjuring up a sonic witches brew. A member of drone-merchants Expo 70, Hill has, in his Umberto guise, explored the…

Steven Severin: Vampyr - Cameo Cinema, Edinburgh, Thu 12 Jan

Steven Severin: Vampyr - Cameo Cinema, Edinburgh, Thu 12 Jan

Ex-Banshees bassist delivers brooding live score to 1930s horror classic

(3 stars)1 Feb 2012

The man with the flowing white hair walks towards a small table and chair to one side of the Cameo’s big screen. Sporting a long black winter coat and carrying a glass of red wine, the man looks as if he’s stepped in from another, altogether darker age…

Best Laid Plans

Best Laid Plans

Predictable grim Northern tale that fails despite Stephen Graham's great central performance

(2 stars)1 Feb 2012

(15) 108min Positive arguments for the public financing of UK films will not be encouraged by the release of Best Laid Plans, a dreary miserablist fable haplessly reconfiguring John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men into the world of Northern…

Jack and Jill

Jack and Jill

Mirthless comedy atrocity sets a new low for all concerned

(1 star)1 Feb 2012

(PG) 91min Adam Sandler’s run of popular low-brow comedies has rarely hit the charming heights of The Wedding Singer, but even fans of Don’t Mess With the Zohan or I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry will choke on their popcorn when confronted by his…

Tekken: Blood Vengeance

Tekken: Blood Vengeance

Fluid but uneven CGI movie based on the popular games franchise

(2 stars)1 Feb 2012

This is actually the third movie based on the immensely popular fighting games, but Tekken: Blood Vengeance (Manga Entertainment) is the first fully computer animated version and was originally available as part of the Tekken Hybrid package. It looks…

A Dangerous Method

A Dangerous Method

Cronenberg's cerebral study of psychoanalysis, starring Viggo Mortensen and Michael Fassbender

(4 stars)27 Jan 2012

(15) 99min David Cronenberg’s new film is a change of pace for the seldom gore-shy director of The Fly and A History of Violence, being a talky period drama about the birth of psychoanalysis in the early 20th century. But while the body-horror…

Girl Model

Girl Model

Clinical expose of the modeling industry

(3 stars)27 Jan 2012

(tbc) 78min Far from the fairy-tale fiction of America’s Top Model is Girl Model, a clinical, disturbing industry expose by documentary makers David Redmon and Ashley Sabin (Mardi Gras: Made in China). Ashley Arbaugh is an ex-model and now a…

Black Gold

Black Gold

Cliched, desert-set action adventure starring Mark Strong, Antonio Banderas and Tahar Rahim

(2 stars)27 Jan 2012

(12A) 130min The financial muscle of the Middle East has had a major impact on many spheres in recent years. Now that money is being directed towards movies. Bankrolled by the Doha Film Institute this action-adventure is set at the turn of the 20th…

Geoff Dyer - Zona

Geoff Dyer - Zona

The multi-talented humourist turns his able hand to film criticism

(4 stars)27 Jan 2012

(Canongate) Having previously mashed-up fiction, journalism, essay, biography and travel writing, polymath and humourist Geoff Dyer once more defies genre with a book that’s one part film criticism, one part autobiography and several parts random…

Oscars 2012 - predictions

Oscars 2012 - predictions

Some of The List's film critics give their predictions on who'll win what at the Oscars

25 Jan 2012

Best Picture. The Artist; simplicity is the reason that is soars above the other Oscar bait. The Artist probably will win, as it has won pretty much everything else going. It deserves it - when was the last time a film came along that made everyone fall…

Carnage

Carnage

Polanski's comedy of upper-middle class savagery is fast, funny and filthy

(4 stars)24 Jan 2012

(15) 79mins Roman Polanski’s adaptation of Yasmina Reza’s play Gods of Carnage opens with a playground spat. Set over the opening credits, it’s this innocuous bust-up that drives the bitterly funny four-hander, as the parents of both children try to…

Hadewijch

Hadewijch

Provocative religious drama from French director Bruno Dumont

(4 stars)24 Jan 2012

(cert tbc)105mins Don’t be put off the fact that it’s taken a couple of years for this provocative examination of contemporary religious martyrdom to gain a cinematic release in the United Kingdom. The film, which explores how extreme faith can…

Kermit the Frog

Full Oscar nominations list 2012

Best picture features The Artist, War Horse and Midnight in Paris

24 Jan 2012

Best Picture. The Artist, The Descendants, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, The Help, Hugo, Midnight in Paris, Moneyball, The Tree of Life, War Horse. Actor in a Leading Role: Demián Bichir, George Clooney, Jean Dujardin, Gary Oldman, Brad Pitt.

The Adopted

The Adopted

Quirky, saccharine directorial debut from French actress Melanie Laurent

(2 stars)24 Jan 2012

(15) 100 mins Still only 28-years-old, French actress and musician Melanie Laurent makes her directorial debut with this offbeat family tale, which owes more to her recent performances in US indie Beginners and the sentimental melodrama The Concert…

Rampart

Rampart

A compelling performance from Woody Harrelson can't quite support the weight of this cop drama

(3 stars)24 Jan 2012

(15) 108mins At this rate, Woody Harrelson should keep Oren Moverman on a retainer. The director guided Harrelson to an Oscar nomination in 2009’s The Messenger. And their latest collaboration Rampart sees the actor on similarly searing form. Set in…

Like Crazy

Like Crazy

Sundance-wowing romance starring Anton Yelchin and Felicity Jones

(3 stars)24 Jan 2012

(12A) 89mins Winner of 2011’s Sundance Grand Jury prize, Like Crazy is a long-distance love story mired in the complications of modern-day living. Anna (Felicity Jones) is a British student living in Los Angeles who spends the perfect summer with…

Bombay Beach

Bombay Beach

Half real, half dream-like American documentary from director Alma Har'el

(4 stars)23 Jan 2012

(Cert tbc) 80min There was a time when documentary at least generally gave the impression of being a medium distinct from fiction, where various movements (Direct Cinema, cinema verité) put their faith in the relative objectivity of the image, as…

The Woman In Black

The Woman In Black

Daniel Radcliffe's first post-Potter film lacks the requisite scares for a classic ghost story

(2 stars)23 Jan 2012

(12A) 95mins Susan Hill’s Victorian ghost story has been terrifying theatre audiences for the best part of twenty-five years, second only to The Mousetrap as the longest running show in the history of London’s West End. It has already been…

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

This Tom Hanks-starring adaptation of the 9/11-themed bestseller lacks poignancy

(3 stars)23 Jan 2012

(12A) 129mins Are the memories of the 9/11 attacks now distant enough to justify their use at the heart of a personal tale of loss and grief? Stephen Daldry’s beautifully crafted adaptation of the Jonathan Safran Foer bestseller leaves the question…

The Woman In The Fifth

The Woman In The Fifth

Elegant but baffling Paris-set drama starring Ethan Hawke and Kristin Scott Thomas

(2 stars)23 Jan 2012

(15) 85mins Hollywood studios are often derided for making simplistic dramas that feel obliged to spell everything out. The Woman In The Fifth errs in the opposite direction, leaving bewildered viewers scratching their heads and trying to figure out…

Man on a Ledge

Man on a Ledge

Well paced, high concept thriller starring Sam Worthington, Jamie Bell and Elizabeth Banks

(3 stars)23 Jan 2012

(12A) 102mins Sam Worthington’s latest is an occasionally tense but mostly silly thriller that at least realises its own absurdities. The Hollywood debut of former documentary filmmaker Asger Leth (Ghosts of Cité Soleil), the film follows a…

Glasgow Film Festival 2012 - programme launch

Glasgow Film Festival 2012 programme announced

Highlights include Your Sister's Sister, The Muppets and Tom Twyker's 3

19 Jan 2012

The programme for the Glasgow Film Festival 2012 was launched today, providing details of the films and events taking place in Cinema City during February. The main branch of the Festival takes place from Thu 16–Sun 26 Feb, and starts off with a gala…

The Artist leads nominations for 2012 BAFTAs

The Artist leads nominations for 2012 BAFTAs

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Hugo and My Week With Marilyn also nominated

17 Jan 2012

The 2012 BAFTA nominations have been announced, with Michel Hazanavicius' silent film The Artist leading the way with 12 nominations. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Hugo and My Week with Marilyn have also scored nominations in several categories, with Tomas…

The 2012 BAFTA nominations - opinion

Opinion - The 2012 BAFTA nominations

Scorsese, Streep, Tintin and The Artist all nominated - but do they deserve it?

17 Jan 2012

The announcement of any film awards nominations list is guaranteed to stir up debate about which films are missing, which are undeserving of their placement, and most of all, who's most likely to win. The 2012 BAFTA nominations list has all that, plus…

Interview: Felicity Jones, star of Like Crazy

Interview: Felicity Jones, star of Like Crazy

Young actress set to follow Sundance hit with films by Warren Beatty and Ralph Fiennes

17 Jan 2012

A year ago, Felicity Jones was asleep when she got a call from America. ‘I thought there’d been a terrible accident,’ she laughs. But this was no accident. On the line was the producer of her new film Like Crazy: the Sundance Film Festival had just…

Collection from writer George Mackay Brown donated to Orkney library

Collection of writer George Mackay Brown donated to Orkney library

Papers, drafts and notebooks from poet and author to be catalogued

17 Jan 2012

A private collection work from Scottish author George Mackay Brown, has been permanently loaned to the Orkney Library and Archive. Coming from the home of the writer's former literary executive, Archie Bevan, in Stromness, the first instalment of around…

Search for those involved in Glasgow-shot 1980 film Death Watch

Search for those involved in Glasgow-shot 1980 film Death Watch

Bertrand Tavernier's reality TV film set for 2012 Glasgow Film Festival

16 Jan 2012

Glasgow Film Festival are appealing for anyone who worked on Bertrand Tavernier's film Death Watch in 1979 to get in touch before it is screened in February. Death Watch was filmed in Glasgow in 1979 and will be shown in cinemas nationwide this…

Janice Galloway biopic set for production in association Andrea Gibb and BBC

Janice Galloway biopic set for production in association Andrea Gibb and BBC

Adaptation of author's books This Is Not About Me and All Made Up

13 Jan 2012

A Glasgow-based production company has teamed up with scriptwriter Andrea Gibb to create a biopic of Scottish novelist Janice Galloway. The BBC commissioned the project in December and the first drafts of the screenplay are being written with a view…

Preview of 2012 - The best events this year

Preview of 2012 - The best events this year

Featuring the Cultural Olympiad, The Dark Knight Rises, WU LYF, Glasgow International and more

9 Jan 2012

It’s 2012, but fear not, things aren’t as bad as they seem. Before you decide to occupy government property, or smash a brick through Dixons, take heart in the folklore of a simpler age. For when times are black, you can always rely on the comfort of…

Metallica

Metallica working on 3D film

Music Gossip

9 Jan 2012

Metallica are working on a 3D concert film. The 'Enter Sandman' heavy metal band are in the "very early stages of production" for the self-financed movie, expected to be released in summer next year. The band said: "There is indeed a 3D project…

Preview of 2012 - Brave

Preview of 2012 - Brave

Pixar’s highland fling has a lot of heart

6 Jan 2012

After dropping the ball with Cars 2 last summer – the only one of their 12 feature-length releases so far to have been deemed a bit lacklustre – the award-winning animation house will be looking to score big again with Brave. Set in the misty and…

Preview of 2012 - Arika12

Preview of 2012 - Arika12

Mind expanding, cross-art discussion festival from the INSTAL and Kill Your Timid Notion creators

6 Jan 2012

'At a conference or festival, the best discussions are often the ones you have at the bar,’ says Barry Esson, co-organiser of Arika12. So, in the hope of stimulating some thought-provoking and who knows, maybe even life-enhancing discussion, he and…

Preview of 2012 - Django Unchained

Preview of 2012 - Django Unchained

Quentin Tarantino flexes his Western muscles with Jamie Foxx and Leonardo DiCaprio

6 Jan 2012

Quentin Tarantino has already given us his heist movie (Reservoir Dogs), his take on blaxploitation (Jackie Brown), his war film (Inglourious Basterds), horror (Death Proof), kung fu (Kill Bill 1 & 2) and of course his crime thriller (Pulp Fiction).

Review of Reviews - The Iron Lady

Review of reviews - The Iron Lady

What we said, and they said, about Streep's Thatcher performance

6 Jan 2012

What we said: ‘The Iron Lady is a film about the cost of power that features a brilliantly convincing lead performance from Meryl Streep, but offers no significant insights on the lady of the title.’ The List What they said: ‘How people react…

Shame

Shame

Steve McQueen's second directorial effort is an unflinching portrayal of sex addiction

(5 stars)5 Jan 2012

(18) 101min Sexual imagery oozes from every blockbuster and frat boy comedy, but serious discussion rather than cheap titillation is a rarity. Cinema actually finds it hard to confront sex, partly because the American censorship board takes such a…

Director Steve McQueen discusses latest film Shame

Director Steve McQueen discusses latest film Shame

Michael Fassbender and Carey Mulligan star in story of sex addiction

5 Jan 2012

‘When I first heard of the notion of sex addicts I laughed,’ says Steve McQueen. ‘Then I did a bit of research. It’s very similar to an alcoholic that drinks a litre of whisky a day.’ The artist and director is talking about his new film Shame, an…

The Descendants

The Descendants

Star performances from George Clooney and Shailene Woodley in Alexander Payne's latest comedy drama

(4 stars)5 Jan 2012

(15) 115m In Alexander Payne’s first film since his 2004 critical darling Sideways, George Clooney plays Matt King, a Hawaii-based businessman and heir to a hugely valuable piece of Hawaiian land. On the eve of him signing a deal to sell the land and…

Haywire

Haywire

Steven Soderbergh's fast-paced chase movie stars Gina Carano, Ewan McGregor and Michael Douglas

(4 stars)5 Jan 2012

(15) 93min While other directors talk endlessly about the next great movie they are going to make, Steven Soderbergh keeps on quietly making films at a frequent rate, never repeating himself (Ocean’s sequels notwithstanding), and consistently…

War Horse

War Horse

Unashamedly sentimental cinema from Spielberg

(4 stars)5 Jan 2012

(12A) 146m As War Horse begins, with soaring shots of rolling English hills and a sweeping John Williams overture, director Steven Spielberg sends a clear message: settle down for some large-canvas, unashamedly romanticised, old-fashioned big-screen…

Coriolanus

Coriolanus

Ralph Fiennes proves as adept behind the camera as in front of it in this Shakespeare adaptation

(4 stars)5 Jan 2012

(15) 123min Ralph Fiennes’ directorial debut is a powerful reimagining of the Shakespearean tragedy and is a resonant story about leadership, politics and power. Acting as well as directing, Fiennes stars as the central character, the eponymous…

Ralph Fiennes, star and director of Coriolanus - profile

Ralph Fiennes, star and director of Coriolanus - profile

Man behind the modernised Shakespeare adap has Bardic pedigree

5 Jan 2012

Name Ralph Fiennes Born Ipswich, Suffolk, 22 December, 1962 Background Initially a star onstage with the Royal Shakespeare Company, Fiennes gained international film recognition for his Oscar-nominated performance as Nazi Commander Amon Göth in…

The Iron Lady

The Iron Lady

Meryl Streep shines in a film that avoids tackling Thatcher's politics

(3 stars)5 Jan 2012

(12A) 105min In The Iron Lady director Phyllida Lloyd (Mamma Mia!) and writer Abi Morgan (Shame) take arguably the most significant British politician in living memory as their subject, and perversely evade questioning her policies. The result is a…

Intruders

Intruders

Derivative, moderately engaging paranormal horror starring Clive Owen

(3 stars)5 Jan 2012

(15) 110min Spanish director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo has never quite delivered on the promise of his clever debut feature Intacto. Retro chiller Intruders is cleverly constructed and suspenseful but fades when pitted against superior genre fare like…

The Sitter

The Sitter

Zippy but unappealing sub-Apatow comedy starring Jonah Hill

(2 stars)5 Jan 2012

(15) 81min After springing to stardom in Superbad, Jonah Hill gets his first lead role in The Sitter, an amiable low-brow comedy from director David Gordon Green which throws Hill’s laid-back slacker persona into a similar underworld of criminal…

W.e.

W.E.

Occasionally perceptive but overall flat second movie from Madonna

(2 stars)5 Jan 2012

(15) 119min Madonna’s second film as director after the forgotten comedy Filth and Wisdom aims considerably higher. The initials W.E. refer to the joint signature of American divorcee Wallis Simpson and King Edward VIII, whose relationship shook the…

J Edgar

J Edgar

Clint Eastwood's biopic of the legendary FBI chief is well-acted but unfocused

(2 stars)5 Jan 2012

(15) 137min Clint Eastwood’s biopic on former FBI head J Edgar Hoover offers an askew perspective on American history that eventually buckles under the weight of its own misguided ambition. Written by Dustin Lance Black (who won an Oscar for his…

Mother and Child

Mother and Child

A strong but plodding triptych starring Annette Bening, Naomi Watts and Kerry Washington

(3 stars)5 Jan 2012

(15) 126min Mexican cinema’s love affair with the triptych continues with Mother and Child. Executive produced by Babel director Alexandro Gonzalez Iñárritu, the latest film from Nine Lives helmsman Rodrigo Garcia stars Annette Bening as a nursing…

Profile: Scottish photographer David Eustace

Interview: Michelle Yeoh on filming The Lady

Luc Besson biopic of iconic pro-democracy campaigner Aung San Suu Kyi

21 Dec 2011

Former Malaysian beauty queen Michelle Yeoh started her acting career co-starring with Jackie Chan in the likes of Supercop. She made her English-language debut opposite Pierce Brosnan’s James Bond in Tomorrow Never Dies before returning to China to…

Edinburgh gets first IMAX screen

Edinburgh gets first IMAX screen

Cineworld Fountain Park to launch IMAX cinema with Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol

20 Dec 2011

Cineworld Fountain Park is to introduce Edinburgh's first IMAX screen from 21 December. The new cinema promises, 'ground-breaking, crystal clear digital projection, cutting edge audio technology and one of the largest screens around'. With 3D…

Postal present subscriptions - the gift that keeps on giving

Gifts that keep giving: Postal subscriptions

Subscribe to NotAnotherBill.com, or film memberships at the GFT, Cameo or LOVEFiLM

19 Dec 2011

Fluffy slippers that can be heated in the microwave. Mobile phone holders in the shape of endangered species. Socks bearing the legend ‘world’s best grandad’. Ned Corbett-Winder promises that his gift-a-month website notanotherbill.com will most…

The Hot 100 2011: 100-40

The Hot 100 2011: 100-50

The definitive list of Scottish creative talent

16 Dec 2011

100: Gordon Ferris. Kilmarnock crime author makes good. The already packed Scottish crime writing field has finally found a bit of elbow room for another burgeoning talent. Joining the likes of Rankin, Brookmyre, McDermid and co is this Ayrshire-born…

HOT 100 2011 - 49 to 1

Hot 100 2011 - No. 49 to 1

The definitive list of Scottish creative talent

16 Dec 2011

The Hot 100 is the definitive list of Scottish creative talent. From fashion designers to performance artists, everyone who has made a sizeable splash in 2011 has a place in this countdown. It’s for people who’ve created a buzz, but it’s also about…

The Hot 100 2011 - No. 1: Peter Mullan

The Hot 100 2011 - No. 1: Peter Mullan

Tyrannosaur, Neds, BAFTAS and the upcoming War Horse - 2011 has been Mullan's year

16 Dec 2011

‘I’m confused but delighted,’ says Peter Mullan when I inform him he’s number one on The List’s Hot 100 for 2011. Speaking over the phone from Glasgow in the midst of tucking into ‘a roll and sausage’, Mullan lets out a sort of gravelly, staccato-like…

Best of 2011: Films

Best of 2011: Films

Best films of 2011, including Drive, Neds, A Separation, Black Swan and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

14 Dec 2011

Tinker, Tailor, Solider, Spy Starring a firmament of male British character actors, this taut, sparse and moody le Carré adaptation, directed by Swede Tomas ‘Let The Right One In’ Alfredson, is an incredibly stylish orange-tinged 70s package (yet not a…

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

Mara and Fincher elevate a populist novel into a compelling drama of bleakness and corruption

(4 stars)13 Dec 2011

David Fincher directs a version of Stieg Larsson’s Millenium trilogy – revenge thrillers don’t come with more high-powered credentials than that. While Steven Zaillian’s script sticks a little too closely to the labyrinthine plotting of the original…

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

Slight but entertaining sequel from Guy Ritchie, Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law

(3 stars)13 Dec 2011

Guy Ritchie’s 2009 Sherlock Holmes was considerably better than could reasonably have been expected from the fading and formerly feted Lock, Stock director. Ritchie and his writers successfully pulled off a tough balancing act, rooting the character in…

Stephen Graham, star of Shane Meadows’ This is England and forthcoming BBC Christmas comedy Lapland - interview

Interview: Stephen Graham BBC Christmas comedy Lapland

Star of Shane Meadows’ This is England

13 Dec 2011

First record you ever bought Pink Floyd’s The Wall. Last extravagant purchase you made A cashmere hat. £80 is extravagant, isn’t it? First film you saw that really moved you Kes. Last lie you told It was a few days ago. I’m not gonna tell…

The Phantom of the Opera

The Phantom of the Opera

Unmissable HD restoration of 1925 Rupert Julian version starring horror icon Lon Chaney

(5 stars)12 Dec 2011

(PG) 77/114min There have been several adaptations of novelist Gaston Leroux’s classic macabre horror romance, among them the original 1916 silent German version, the 1943 Hollywood version with Claude Rains, the racier 1962 Hammer offering, Brian…

The List launches new cultural awards

The List launches new cultural awards

The List Award 2011 shortlist includes David Greig, Karla Black, Aidan Moffat and David Mackenzie

12 Dec 2011

The List introduces its own end-of-year cultural award, plus a Best Newcomer award. The awards complement The List's annual creative talent list The Hot 100, the 2011 edition of which is published on 14 Dec The winners to be announced at a Hot 100…

Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol

Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol

Solid crowd pleaser despite disappointing villain and some dodgy CGI

(3 stars)12 Dec 2011

(12A, 132mins) Pixar director Brad Bird makes the leap from animation to live action in spectacular fashion with Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, a frequently awe-inspiring entry into the franchise. As he did with The Incredibles and…

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo - The story so far

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo - The story so far

Background on David Fincher adaptation on Stieg Larsson novels

12 Dec 2011

The imminent release of David Fincher’s adaptation of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, the first in Stieg Larsson’s Millennium trilogy, is a bona-fide global pop culture event. Larsson’s books have sold over 50 million copies worldwide, and have spawned…

Profile: Carol Morley

Profile: Carol Morley

Director of documentary-drama Dreams of a Life

9 Dec 2011

Born 1966, Stockport, England. Background The sister of music critic Paul Morley, film director Carol left school aged 16 to pursue a career as a singer in various post-punk Mancunian bands. Having studied fine art film at Central Saint Martins…

The Lady

The Lady

Aung San Suu Kyi biopic does nothing to alleviate Luc Besson's downward course

(2 stars)9 Dec 2011

(TBC) tbcmin Luc Besson is best known for his action adventures such as The Fifth Element, The Big Blue and Leon. The French director’s career has been in decline in recent years and this jump into serious drama has done nothing to alleviate this…

The Artist

The Artist

Delightful celebration of the bygone age of silent cinema, starring Jean Dujardin and Berenice Bejo

(4 stars)8 Dec 2011

(PG) 100min The Artist has in-built appeal for movie buffs who believe that the arrival of talking pictures was one of the worst things that ever happened to an art form that had found a universal language in the visual poetry of the late silent era.

Dreams of A Life

Dreams of A Life

Compelling UK documentary-drama investigation into life of dead woman

(3 stars)7 Dec 2011

(12A) 90min Back in January 2006 a 38-year-old Londoner of Afro-Caribbean descent, Joyce Vincent, was found dead in her Wood Green housing association flat located above a busy shopping centre. Her decomposing corpse had lain there undisturbed for…

Doctor Who star Matt Smith

David Yates searching for Doctor Who writer

TV Gossip

1 Dec 2011

Finding a scriptwriter for the planned 'Doctor Who' movie is more important than choosing the star, according to director David Yates. The 'Harry Potter' director plans to spend "two to three years" working with the BBC to turn the popular sci-fi TV…

Highlander

St Andrew's Day - The best film from Scotland

Our editors pick highlights from Scottish film through history

25 Nov 2011

Scotland shares Saint Andrew with areas of Russia, Romania, Greece and Malta, though this list is closed to the corruption of arthouse favourites like Theo Angelopoulos and Sergei Bondarchuk with their long names and even longer films. We’re assuming St…

New Pixar feature Brave set in Highlands of Scotland

New Pixar film Brave set in Scottish highlands

Stars Kelly MacDonald, Billy Connolly, Emma Thompson and Robbie Coltrane

17 Nov 2011

Pixar – the CG animation powerhouse behind hits such as Finding Nemo, Up and Wall-E – are turning their attention to Scottish shores for their next feature, Brave. Due to be released on Fri 22 Jun 2012, it stars Kelly Macdonald as the voice of Merida, a…

Film books round-up

Film books round-up

The Man in the Seventh Row, Cinema: The Whole Story, Hitchcock’s Magic and more reviewed

16 Nov 2011

Brian Pendreigh must surely be the hardest working movie-mad journalist and writer in Scotland. The Man in the Seventh Row (Blasted Heath ●●●) is his seventh book following biographies of Ewan McGregor and Mel Gibson, as well as Scottish cinema and…

Black Pond

Black Pond

Smartly observed and cleverly constructed British comedy drama is something special

(4 stars)15 Nov 2011

(15) 83min This low budget British comedy drama is something special. Smartly observed and cleverly constructed, it’s at once funny and tragic and lyrical, and the deadpan humour is perfectly pitched with nicely underplayed performances from the…

The Awakening

The Awakening

Superior British period ghost story sets a tone of creepy unease

(3 stars)15 Nov 2011

There’s been a glut of cinematic ghost stories this year. The likes of Paranormal Activity 3 and Insidious often relied on jump scares and cheap parlour tricks, whereas The Awakening goes in the opposite direction letting the story unfold to reveal the…

Nanni Moretti, writer-director of We Have a Pope - interview

Interview: Nanni Moretti, writer-director of We Have a Pope

Director of moving and downbeat film on Catholic Church

15 Nov 2011

Did you ever think of casting yourself in the lead role of Melville, the newly elected Pope, who suffers a crisis of confidence? When I was still in the initial stages of the script, I was chatting to friends and I told them I was thinking of writing a…

Interview with Alex Gibney, writer-director of Magic Trip – Ken Kesey’s Trip for a Kool Place

Interview: Alex Gibney, writer-director of Magic Trip – Ken Kesey’s Trip for a Kool Place

Documentary on iconic 60s group the Merry Pranksters

15 Nov 2011

What was your inspiration for making a documentary about the cross-America bus trip undertaken by Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters in the summer of 1964? I was going out to the Sundance film festival in 2005 with my film Enron: The Smartest Guys in…

Immortals

Immortals

Brutal but shaky retelling of the Greek myths

(3 stars)14 Nov 2011

Tarsem Singh is the latest in a long line of movie directors with roots in the music video genre. He has an eye for the arresting, eye-catching image – something fellow music vid-turned-feature directors David Fincher and Spike Jonze saw in him, leading…

The Rum Diary

The Rum Diary

Johnny Depp channels Hunter S Thompson once again, with lacklustre results

(2 stars)14 Nov 2011

Of the two fictional representations of Hunter S Thompson to grace the silver screen so far – by Bill Murray in Where the Buffalo Roam and Johnny Depp in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas – Depp’s is commonly regarded as the best. Depp had the advantage of…

Doctor Who star Matt Smith

Doctor Who movie plans underway

TV Gossip

14 Nov 2011

A 'Doctor Who' movie is in development. 'Harry Potter' director David Yates plans to spend "two to three years" working with the BBC to turn the popular sci-fi TV series into a cinematic spectacular as he thinks the show - which currently stars Matt…

Arthur Christmas

Arthur Christmas

Jolly enough, but lacking usual Aardman Animation wit and charm

(2 stars)14 Nov 2011

(U) 97mins In over two decades since Wallace and Gromit’s A Grand Day Out, Aardman Animation have become a byword for family entertainment, but Arthur Christmas, their latest attempt at a blockbuster, never reaches the same lovable heights. As he…

Trespass

Trespass

Over-complicated home invasion/heist movie starring Nicolas Cage and Nicole Kidman

(2 stars)14 Nov 2011

Joel Schumacher’s latest directorial effort (and Nic Cage’s latest swipe at paying off his mounting tax and legal debts) Trespass is a film that bears many comparisons with David Fincher’s underrated 2002 thriller Panic Room. Both feature…

Sound It Out

Sound It Out

Funny and surprisingly moving documentary on Teeside record shop

(4 stars)11 Nov 2011

The tagline for this affectionate record store documentary is ‘High Fidelity with a Northern accent’, and it is a rare case of the marketing being bang on the money. A labour of love for director Jeanie Findlay, who also produced the film and did most…

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