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Dunoon Film Festival · 2018

Dunoon Film Festival 2018

All films

Programme

17 films · 14 reviews

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The 7th Voyage Of Sinbad

When a princess is shrunken by an evil wizard, Sinbad must undertake a quest to an island of monsters to cure her and prevent a war.

(Country: UK, US; Year: 1958; Director: Nathan Juran; Writer: Kenneth Kolb; Stars: Kerwin Mathews, Kathryn Grant, Richard Eyer, Torin Thatcher, Alec Mango)

Anna And The Apocalypse

Review preview for Anna And The Apocalypse

Any film that has both a fight director and a dance choreographer is probably doing something right.

Andrew Robertson · 4 out of 5
When the zombie apocalypse hits the sleepy town of Little Haven - at Christmas - teenager Anna and her high school friends have to fight, sing and dance to survive, with the undead horde all around them.

(Country: UK, US; Year: 2017; Director: John McPhail; Writer: Alan McDonald, Ryan McHenry; Stars: Ella Hunt, Malcolm Cumming, Sarah Swire, Christopher Leveaux, Ben Wiggins, Marli Siu, Mark Benton, Paul Kaye, Ella Jarvis, Calum Cormack, Euan Bennet, Sean Connor, Janet Lawson, Janet Lawson, Kirsty Strain)

Full review

Assunta Spina

A beautiful woman is caught up in a violent love triangle.

(Country: Italy; Year: 1915; Director: Gustavo Serena; Stars: Carlo Benetti, Francesca Bertini, Gustavo Serena)

Blade Runner: The Final Cut

Review preview for Blade Runner: The Final Cut

Beg, borrow or steal a ticket to see it on the biggest screen you can find.

Amber Wilkinson · 5 out of 5
The final cut is the deepest for Ridley Scott's remastered sci-fi epic.

(Country: USA; Year: 1982; Director: Ridley Scott; Writer: Hampton Fancher, David Webb Peoples, Roland Kibbee, based on the story by Philip K Dick; Stars: Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, Edward James Olmos, M. Emmet Walsh, Daryl Hannah, William Sanderson, Brion James, Joe Turkel, Joanna Cassidy, James Hong)

Full review See: Hampton Fancher in conversation on writing Blade Runner for Robert Mitchum and his fascination with evil and beauty , Hampton Fancher and Michael Almereyda in conversation on Blade Runner 2049, Blade Runner and Phillip K Dick , Blade Runner: The Final Cut , The Cinema according to Philip K. Dick

C'est La Vie! (Le sens de la fête)

Review preview for C'est La Vie!

So much is going on that Nakache and Toledano are able to slyly set-up jokes in such a way that we barely notice them, so that when they pay off their impact is greater.

Amber Wilkinson · 4.5 out of 5
A night of surprises unfolds at a wedding party in a chateau.

(Country: France; Year: 2017; Director: Olivier Nakache, Eric Toledano; Writer: Olivier Nakache, Eric Toledano; Stars: Jean-Pierre Bacri, Eye Haidara, Gilles Lellouche, Suzanne Clément, Jean-Paul Rouve, Judith Chemla, Kévin Azaïs, Vincent Macaigne, Yves Heck, Hélène Vincent, Jackee Toto, Louis Quinn, Anthony Darche)

Full review See: Eye Haïdara on C'est La Vie, comedy, the #MeToo movement and fighting racial stereotypes

Cold War (Zimna Wojna)

Review preview for Cold War

Beautifully shot and articulated.

Richard Mowe · 4 out of 5
A passionate love story between two people of different backgrounds and temperaments, who are fatally mismatched and yet fatefully condemned to each other.

(Country: Poland, France, United Kingdom; Year: 2018; Director: Pawel Pawlikowski; Writer: Janusz Glowacki, Pawel Pawlikowski; Stars: Joanna Kulig, Jeanne Balibar, Jacek Rozenek, Agata Kulesza, Cédric Kahn, Martin Budny, Borys Szyc, Tomasz Kot, Philip Lenkowsky, Adam Woronowicz, Adam Ferency, Adam Szyszkowski)

Full review

Gregory's Girl

Review preview for Gregory's Girl

The real pleasure of the film is in the non-stop parade of funny, well-observed scenes and killer lines of dialogue.

Jeff Robson · 4 out of 5
A gangly schoolboy develops a crush on a girl who plays some of the best football he's ever seen - but dealing with girls is even more complicated than it first appears.

(Country: UK; Year: 1980; Director: Bill Forsyth; Writer: Bill Forsyth; Stars: John Gordon Sinclair, Dee Hepburn, Clare Grogan)

Full review

Hearts Beat Loud

Review preview for Hearts Beat Loud

Despite, or perhaps because of this general air of ephemerality, you want to hold on to the moment and particularly to that sweet spot of youth, so deftly portrayed by Clemons, when everything is blossoming with possibility.

Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
In Red Hook, Brooklyn, a father and daughter become an unlikely songwriting duo in the last summer before she leaves for college.

(Country: US; Year: 2018; Director: Brett Haley; Writer: Brett Haley, Marc Basch; Stars: Nick Offerman, Kiersey Clemons, Ted Danson, Toni Collette, Sasha Lane, Blythe Danner, Quincy Dunn-Baker, Alex Reznik, Andrea Morales, Michael Abbott Jr., Harrison Chad)

Full review

Isle Of Dogs

Review preview for Isle Of Dogs

Go in as a fan of Anderson's work and you will not be disappointed. Go in as a fan of film and you will likely be delighted.

Andrew Robertson · 4 out of 5
In a future world where dogs have been exiled to the giant rubbish dumps of Trash Island, a Japanese boy sets out alone in search of his beloved pet.

(Country: US, Germany; Year: 2018; Director: Wes Anderson; Writer: Wes Anderson; Stars: Scarlett Johansson, Greta Gerwig, Frances McDormand, Bill Murray, Tilda Swinton, Bryan Cranston, Edward Norton, Jeff Goldblum, Liev Schreiber)

Full review

Jules Et Jim (Jules And Jim)

Review preview for Jules Et Jim

A beautifully shot fun romp that isn't afraid to question received ideals of morality and find them wanting.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
A French love triangle, spanning the years. Out on reissue in May.

(Country: France; Year: 1962; Director: Francois Truffaut; Writer: Francois Truffaut, Jean Gruault, based on the novel by Henri-Pierre Roche; Stars: Jeanne Moreau, Oskar Werner, Henri Serre, Marie Dubois, Boris Bassiak, Danielle Bassiak, Sabine Haudepin)

Full review

Lucky

Review preview for Lucky

Deadpan absurdity, everyday madness and enlightenment through routine merge in an attempt to answer the big questions of life.

Anne-Katrin Titze · 4 out of 5
The spiritual journey of a 90-year-old atheist.

(Country: US; Year: 2017; Director: John Carroll Lynch; Writer: Logan Sparks, Drago Sumonja; Stars: Harry Dean Stanton, David Lynch, Ron Livingston, Ed Begley Jr., Tom Skerritt, Beth Grant, James Darren, Barry Shabaka Henley, Yvonne Huff, Hugo Armstrong, Bertila Damas, Ana Mercedes, Sarah Cook, Amy Claire, Ulysses Olmedo)

Full review See: Article about the work of Harry Dean Stanton

Nae Pasaran

Review preview for Nae Pasaran

The journey to this point for Sierra speaks of the passion project that it is - and the film benefits hugely from his engagement with the emotional aspects of the story.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
The story of the East Kilbride factory workers who refused to carry out repairs on warplane engines in an act of solidarity against the violent military coup in Chile.

(Country: UK; Year: 2018; Director: Felipe Bustos Sierra)

Full review

Summer 1993

Review preview for Summer 1993

The film wears its story lightly. Even when Simón is dealing with heavier themes her focus is on Frida and her emotions.

Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
A young girl struggles to adapt to her new life in the countryside after the death of her mum.

(Country: Spain; Year: 2017; Director: Carla Simón; Writer: Carla Simón; Stars: Laia Artigas, Paula Blanco, Etna Campillo, Bruna Cusí, Jordi Figueras, Dolores Fortis, Titón Frauca, Cristina Matas, Berta Pipó, Quimet Pla, Fermí Reixach, Paula Robles, Isabel Rocatti, Montse Sanz, Tere Solà)

Full review

Super November

Review preview for Super November

This is so well observed that I feel fair expressing concerns about the choices of font in certain official publications.

Andrew Robertson · 4.5 out of 5
A happy couple find their lives turned upside down by political chaos and civil unrest.

(Country: UK; Year: 2017; Director: Douglas King; Writer: Josie Long; Stars: Josie Long, Sean Biggerstaff, Darren Osborne)

Full review See: Super November première report with Douglas King

Time Trial

Review preview for Time Trial

There's a savage kind of beauty in Pretsell's portrait of desperation and despair.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
A documentary following David Millar in his final season in the saddle.

(Country: UK; Year: 2017; Director: Finlay Pretsell; Stars: Thomas Dekker, David Millar)

Full review See: Interview with Finlay Pretsell about Time Trial

The Women

Described by the festival programmers as: "A piercing paean to the weakness of males and the waspishness of females ."

(Country: US; Director: George Cukor; Stars: Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford, Rosalind Russell, Mary Boland, Paulette Goddard)

Wallace & Gromit: The Curse Of The Were-Rabbit (Wallace And Gromit In The Curse of the Were-Rabbit)

Review preview for Wallace & Gromit: The Curse Of The Were-Rabbit

Pure joy from start to finish.

Anton Bitel · 4.5 out of 5
A vegetable horror comedy for claymation villagers and a dog.

(Country: UK, US; Year: 2005; Director: Steve Box, Nick Park; Writer: Bob Baker, Steve Box, Mark Burton, Nick Park; Stars: voices of Peter Sallis, Ralph Fiennes, Helena Bonham Carter, Peter Kay, Nicholas Smith, Liz Smith, John Thomson, Mark Gatiss, Vincent Ebrahim, Geraldine McEwan, Edward Kelsey, Dicken Ashworth, Pete Atkin, Noni Lewis, Christopher Fairbank, James Mather)

Full review