The Week in Film 3 - 9 October
A couple of big hitters arrive at cinemas around the country this week. The new version of Brideshead Revisted, based on Evelyn Waugh’s classic novel, is first up. Slightly shorter than the 11-hour 1980s TV series, the movie stars Matthew Goode as Charles Ryder who reflects on his involvement with the Flyte family prior to the Second World War. Emma Thompson co-stars.
Everyone’s favourite everyman Simon Pegg stars in Hollywood romantic comedy How to Lose Friends and Alienate People, which has been infecting our TV screens for the last few weeks with a trailer full of pratfalls and one-liners. Pegg stars as writer Sidney Young who heads to New York to find make his name, surrounded by celeb culture. If there are any other jokes left in the film that the trailer didn’t nab, this could be a good ‘un.
Film Trailers from Filmtrailer.com
Well worth catching at the Filmhouse (also on at Glasgow’s GFT) on Thursday is Never Apologize, Malcolm McDowell’s simple-yet-effective eulogy to his old friend, director Lindsay Anderson. Standing at a podium and remembering stories about their collaborations, this is a wonderful little film that had more impact on this reviewer than many larger films.
Tuesday sees Early Cinema getting an airing, with many examples of pioneering films from the Lumiere Brothers and their peers being shown on the big screen. Well worth 80 minutes of your time.
The Scottish Mental Health Arts & Film Festival opened at Filmhouse on Thursday 2 October. It provides a platform to challenge, engage and explore issues and themes around mental health, aiming to engage audiences and tackle stigma by exploring the relationship between mental health and creativity. The programme includes a large variety of different films, from opening film Mad About Football, to In the Valley of Elah, Sweet Sixteen, Johnny Cash in San Quentin, Little Miss Sunshine, Lars and the Real Girl, The Savages, Some Voices and Joy Division. The programme runs until October 12.
Along at the Cameo is The Secret Policeman’s Ball on Saturday night, a live satellite feed from the Royal Albert Hall of the show starring Alan Carr, Frank Skinner and some other current comedy greats.
Dark comedy Good Dick also opens this week (it’s also on at the GFT in Glasgow).
In Glasgow you can catch the Glasgay! Festival all week, with a selection of films that will both challenge perceptions and entertain.
Classic Marlon Brando flick A Streetcar Named Desire screens on Sunday while Kirk Douglas stars in The Glass Menagerie on Tuesday.
Dundee Contemporary Arts Centre
The DCA screens a few rarities this week, starting with The Adventures of Prince Achmed, made in 1926. This is the oldest surviving animated feature film and tells of the titular hero's amazing adventures.
Also screening is Akira Kurosawa’s Ikiru, from 1952. As a desk-bound office manager realises that life is really too short, he decides to make some changes before it’s too late, setting off a chain of events that will have major repercussions. At 143 minutes this Japanese language film isn’t for those who like their entertainment shallow and over in an instant – sit down, relax and be immersed in a classic from one of the great cinema masters.