20 Films To See At The Glasgow Film Festival
Griff the Invisible
The Film: An ordinary Aussie ( True Blood 's Ryan Kwanten) dons a superhero disguise to try and make something of his boring life.
Why You Should See It: Beaten to the punch by Kick-Ass , maybe, but this Aussie hit offers a gentler, more romantic take on the DIY superhero genre, plus further proof of Kwanten's rising stardom.
Where and When? Cineworld Renfrew St, Thursday 24th February, 18:30 + Friday 25th February, 20:45
Hobo With A Shotgun
The Film: Rutger Hauer's hobo, fed up with taking other people's shit, grabs a shotgun and goes loco.
Why You Should See It: With the best does-what-it-says-on-the-tin title since Snakes on a Plane , you can probably plot this one yourself. But it benefits from genuine class in casting the eternally underrated Hauer as the hobo.
Where and When? GFT, Saturday 26th February, 23:15
You Instead
The Film: An American pop star (Luke Treadaway) accidentally gets handcuffed to a rock chick at a music festival.
Why You Should See It: The latest from Young Adam director David MacKenzie - a rom-com for the 'yoof' - is a bona fide Scottish success, filmed at last year's T In The Park and full of local sounds and vision.
Where and When? Cineworld Renfrew St, Friday 25th February, 19:00 + 21:15
Battle Royale 3D
The Film: Kinji's Fukasaku's cult classic about a class of Japanese teenagers forced to fight to the death... now in 3D.
Why You Should See It: Post-conversion 3D jobs are always a lottery, and the ethics of applying them to old films are a bit dodgy. But we'll make an exception for this masterpiece of a blood-splattered, hysterical exploitation pic, because 3D sounds perfect for it.
Where and When? Cineworld Renfrew St, Thursday 24th February, 21:00
The Eagle
The Film: The Festival's Closing Gala is Kevin MacDonald's long-awaited swords-and-sandals epic about a centurion (Channing Tatum) in Roman-occupied Scotland on the hunt for his father's missing legion.
Why You Should See It: Glasgow-born MacDonald has covered the Munich Olympics, Idi Amin's Uganda and journalism in Washington D.C. Here, finally, he tackles a Scottish story, with storming battles between Celts and Romans.
Where and When? GFT, Sunday 27th February, 20:15
Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame
The Film: Infernal Affairs ' Andy Lau plays Detective Dee in this explosive blend of period mystery and action movie.
Why You Should See It: Director Tsui Hark is one of the greats of Asian action, and his latest - a rambunctious yarn that plays like Sherlock Holmes solving crimes with kung fu - should be a blast.
Where and When? GFT, Monday 21st February, 13:30
Profondo Rosso
The Film: aka Deep Red , this is the story of a music teacher (David Hemmings) investigating a series of brutal murders linked by an eerie child's tune.
Why You Should See It: One of Dario Argento's best-loved / most-unhinged movies, this is stylish, silly and very gory.
The central music was composed by Goblin, who are also playing live at the Festival.
Where and When? The Arches, Friday 25th February, 16:30
Upside Down: The Creation Records Story
The Film: Documentary charting the rise and fall of the 1990s most hedonistic record label, home to Oasis, Primal Scream and Super Furry Animals.
Why You Should See It: Because once, before Mumford and Sons, indie rock and roll meant more than playing a fiddle. Plus, Creation's off-his-rocker founder, Alan McGee, was a Glaswegian.
Where and When? GFT, Tuesday 22nd February, 21:00
How I Ended This Summer
The Film: Things get complicated between two Russians working on an Arctic island when one fails to pass on some devastating news to his colleague.
Why You Should See It: This intense drama (think The Thing , as directed by Tarkovsky and without an alien) was the surprise winner of Best Film at the London Film Festival. Here's a chance to find out what the fuss is about.
Where and When? Cineworld Renfrew St, Monday 21st February, 20:30 + Tuesday 22nd February, 12:45
Superman 2: The Richard Donner Cut
The Film: The planned sequel to the Man of Steel blockbuster that was refilmed and recut after original director Donner was fired and replaced with Richard Lester.
Why You Should See It: Restored in 2006 as closely as possible to Donner's vision, this version is a more serious take than Lester's comedic approach, and thus closer in tone to the first Superman movie. Here's a rare chance for the big-screen outing it was denied in 1980.
Where and When? Cineworld Renfrew St, Thursday 22nd February, 18:30
Rubber
The Film: A psychic tyre seeks vengeance on mankind when it sees its fellow rubber rings being left to burn.
Why You Should See It: How can you not want to? This bonkers French comedy-horror is surely the final word in the "killer inanimate object" genre.
Where and When? GFT, Saturday 26th February, 14:00
New Low
The Film: Twenty-something romantic Wendell is crippled by comic indecision between two would-be girlfriends.
Why You Should See It: Mumblecore has already provided one cult star in Greta Gerwig. The buzz on writer/director/star Adam Bowers's debut - a hit at Sundance 2010 - suggests he could be Gerwig's male equivalent, a slacker Woody Allen.
Where and When? GFT, Thursday 24th February, 15:30 + Friday 25th February, 11:30
Beyond
The Film: Austere Swedish drama about a woman (Noomi Rapace) reunited with the mother she never knew she had.
Why You Should See It: A chance to see Rapace not wearing Lisbeth Salander's nose stud. Here, she's directed by actress Pernilia August, a veteran of Ingmar Bergman, which at least promises some heavy-duty, high-quality acting.
Where and When? Cineworld Renfrew St, Wednesday 23rd February, 15:15 + GFT, Thursday 24th February, 18:00
Heavy Metal
The Film: The 1981 animated anthology of stories from cult magazine Heavy Metal, including WWII zombies and robot sex.
Why You Should See It: This warped blend of sex and violence has inspired some of Hollywood's most interesting directors, from David Fincher to Guillermo Del Toro. The Blu-ray is imminent, but it'll be more fun seeing it in company.
Where and When? Cineworld Renfrew St, Wednesday 23rd February, 19:00 + Thursday 24th February, 15:15
Mother's Day
The Film: Yet another horror remake, this time of the 1980 slasher flick about a family of nutters led by their psycho mom.
Why You Should See It: 'Cause you never know, this one might be good. The original's not the greatest, and this one comes back with direction from Saw franchise veteran Darren Lynn Bousmann, and Rebecca De Mornay playing the sadistic Mother.
Where and When? GFT, Saturday 26th February, 21:00
I Saw The Devil
The Film: Korean revenge thriller about a secret agent who goes rogue to catch the serial killer who murdered his fiance.
Why You Should See It: Pairing the star of Oldboy with the director of A Tale of Two Sisters , this is as close to a sure thing as Korean cinema can provide. Its grisly red-band trailer is already wowing the blogosphere.
Where and When? GFT, Friday 25th February, 21:00
Meryl Streep Season
The Film(s): Some of Streep's finest roles, from The Deer Hunter to The Devil Wears Prada , via Sophie's Choice and A Cry in The Dark (pictured).
Why You Should See It: A chance to indulge in the sheer versatility of the most nominated actress in Oscar history. Every one of the nine films playing here earned her one.
Where and When? GFT + Cineworld Renfrew St, throughout the week.
Island
The Film: A young woman (Natalie Press) travels to a remote Scottish island to seek revenge on the mother (Janet McTeer) who abandoned her.
Why You Should See It: Scottish islands have a great cinematic pedigree, from Whiskey Galore to The Wicker Man . This homegrown psychological thriller, with a great cast, sounds closer to the latter in tone.
Where and When? Cineworld Renfrew St, Monday 21st February, 20:45
William S Burroughs: A Man Within
The Film: Documentary about the hugely influential Beat author, whose drug-fuelled writing inspired countless writers, directors and musicians.
Why You Should See It: To join the likes of John Waters and Peter Weller in appreciating one of the most extraordinary lives of the 20th Century. Highlights: manslaughter, heroin addiction, homosexuality, and bad parenting.
Where and When? GFT, Friday 25th February, 18:45 + Saturday 26th February, 11:45
Battleship Potemkin (with Zombie Zombie)
The Film: Sergei Eisenstein's 1926 masterpiece of Soviet montage and massacre gets a sonic overhaul from live band Zombie Zombie.
Why You Should See It: Potemkin 's looming reputation often makes watching it feel like a duty, but with a rock accompaniment, we reckon the Odessa Steps sequence - memorably ripped-off in The Untouchables - will look and sound magnificent.
Where and When? The Arches, Wednesday 23rd February, 19:30