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Edinburgh International Film Festival · 2017

Edinburgh International Film Festival 2017

Fest in the City

Free screenings in St Andrew Square on the weekend before the main EIFF.

Programme

15 films · 13 reviews

Jump to a film

Beauty And The Beast

Review preview for Beauty And The Beast

The sheer craftsmanship, through script, story, song, and unadulterated uplifting emotion is nearly peerless.

Scott Macdonald · 5 out of 5
Modern animated classic based on the famous fable. Will be given a re-release 3D makeover in June 2010.

(Country: US; Year: 1991; Director: Gary Trousdale, Kirk Wise; Writer: Linda Woolverton, Roger Allers, Brenda Chapman, Burny Mattinson, Brian Pimental, Joe Ranft, Kelly Asbury, Chris Sanders, Kevin Harkey, Bruce Woodside, Tom Ellery, Robert Lence, Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont; Stars: Paige O'Hara, Robby Benson, Richard White, Jerry Orbach, David Ogden Stiers, Angela Lansbury, Bradley Pierce, Rex Everhart, Jesse Corti, Hal Smith)

Full review

Cars

Review preview for Cars

Let's hope that Pixar hasn't run out of gas.

Angus Wolfe Murray · 2 out of 5
A rookie racing car learns humility and down-home values in a rusty old town as Pixar's CGI animators wipe away a tear.

(Country: US; Year: 2006; Director: John Lasseter, Joe Ranft; Writer: Dan Fogelman, John Lasseter, Joe Ranft, Kiel Murray, Phil Lorin, Jorgen Klubien; Stars: voices of Owen Wilson, Paul Newman, Bonnie Hunt, Larry The Cable Guy, Cheech Marin, Tony Shalhoub, Guido Guaroni, Jenifer Lewis, Paul Dooley, George Carlin, Katherine Helmond, Michael Keaton, Jeremy Piven, Michael Schumacher, Jay Leno)

Full review

Clueless

Review preview for Clueless

Silverstone immerses herself in the character of Cher.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
A rich high school student tries to give a fellow student a makeover but finds herself falling in love.

(Country: US; Year: 1995; Director: Amy Heckerling; Writer: Amy Heckerling; Stars: Alicia Silverstone, Stacey Dash, Brittany Murphy, Paul Rudd, Donald Faison, Elisa Donovan, Breckin Meyer, Jeremy Sisto, Dan Hedaya, Aida Linares, Wallace Shawn, Twink Caplan, Justin Walker, Sabastian Rashidi, Herb Hall)

Full review

Dirty Dancing

Review preview for Dirty Dancing

Swayze toned down his abilities as a dancer to play Castle, but still looks riveting.

Chris · 4 out of 5
A lonely girl finds romance with a dance teacher at a holiday resort, but her strict parents disapprove.

(Country: US; Year: 1987; Director: Emile Ardolino; Writer: Eleanor Bergstein; Stars: Jennifer Grey, Patrick Swayze, Jerry Orbach, Cynthia Rhodes, Jack Weston, Jane Brucker, Kelly Bishop, Lonny Price, Max Cantor, Charles 'Honi' Coles, Neal Jones)

Full review

Hunt For The Wilderpeople

Review preview for Hunt For The Wilderpeople

Taika Waititi knows growing up isn't child's play but he also respects childhood as a place of adventure, where spontaneity rules and the possibilities are only limited by imagination.

Amber Wilkinson · 4.5 out of 5
A kid and his foster uncle run off into the New Zealand bush.

(Country: New Zealand; Year: 2016; Director: Taika Waititi; Writer: Taika Waititi, based on the novel by Barry Crump; Stars: Julian Dennison, Rachel House, Rima Te Wiata, Oscar Kightley, Rhys Darby, Cohen Holloway, Mike Minogue, Stan Walker, Sam Neill)

Full review

The Jungle Book

Review preview for The Jungle Book

The film has adventure at its heart and excitement in its pocket.

Angus Wolfe Murray · 4.5 out of 5
Rudyard Kipling's classic children's book is given a post-Disney modern interpretation with a real boy and CGI animals that look more real than the breath they take away

(Country: US; Year: 2016; Director: Jon Favreau; Writer: Justin Marks, based on the novel by Rudyard Kipling; Stars: Neel Sethi, Bill Murray, Ben Kingsley, Idris Elba, Lupita Nyong'o, Scarlett Johansson, Giancarlo Esposito, Christopher Walken, Garry Shandling, Brighton Rose)

Full review

Kubo And The Two Strings

Review preview for Kubo And The Two Strings

A journey you have never travelled before

Angus Wolfe Murray · 4.5 out of 5
A young boy named Kubo must locate a magical suit of armour worn by his late father in order to defeat a vengeful spirit from the past.

(Country: US; Year: 2016; Director: Travis Knight; Writer: Marc Haimes, Chris Butler; Stars: voices of Art Parkinson, Charlize Theron, Matthew McConaughey, Rooney Mara, Ralph Fiennes, George Takei, Brenda Vaccaro, Cary-Hiroyuri Tagawa, Meyrick Murphy)

Full review

Labyrinth

Review preview for Labyrinth

There are many scenes delightful to young children which older viewers will find shallow and gimmicky, whilst the younger ones will be left puzzled and bored by the strange romance between Sarah and her enemy.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
A teenage girl enters a mysterious maze to try and win back her baby brother from the Goblin King.

(Country: UK, USA; Year: 1986; Director: Jim Henson; Writer: Dennis Lee, Jim Henson, Terry Jones, Elaine May; Stars: David Bowie, Jennifer Connelly, Toby Froud, Shelley Thompson, Christopher Malcolm, Natalie Finland, Shari Weiser, Brian Henson, Ron Mueck, Rob Mills)

Full review See: Article about David Bowie's contribution to film soundtracks

Marvel Avengers Assemble (The Avengers)

Review preview for Marvel Avengers Assemble

There is the air of a dysfunctional family agreeing to get together for Auntie Sheila’s wedding.

Sophie Monks-Kaufman · 3 out of 5
Marvel Superheros assemble to fight dastardly demigod Loki who’s only gone and stolen the Tesseract.

(Country: US; Year: 2012; Director: Joss Whedon; Writer: Joss Whedon, Zak Penn; Stars: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Jeremy Renner, Tom Hiddleston, Stellan Skarsgård, Samuel L Jackson, Gwyneth Paltrow)

Full review

Mamma Mia!

Review preview for Mamma Mia!

Mamma Mia! is a roller coaster of emotion, careering colourfully from the blue waters of the Adriatic.

Chris · 3.5 out of 5
When her daughter wants to get married, Donna has to explain that any one of three men could be her father.

(Country: UK, US, Germany; Year: 2008; Director: Phyllida Lloyd; Writer: Catherine Johnson; Stars: Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth, Stellan Skarsgård, Julie Walters, Amanda Seyfried, Nancy Baldwin, Rachel McDowell, Colin Davis) , Official site , Trailer

Full review See: Profile of Meryl Streep

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

Review preview for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

Whatever expectations are carried in are brought to a stop, hard.

Andrew Robertson · 4.5 out of 5
Rebels set out to steal the plans for the Empire's deadly Death Star.

(Country: US; Year: 2016; Director: Gareth Edwards; Writer: Chris Weitz, Tony Gilroy; Stars: Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Alan Tudyk, Donnie Yen, Wen Jiang, Ben Mendelsohn, Forest Whitaker, Riz Ahmed, Jimmy Smits, Mads Mikkelsen, Alistair Petrie, Genevieve O'Reilly, Ben Daniels)

Full review

Sinbad And The Eye Of The Tiger

The seafaring adventurer takes on a witch.

(Country: UK, US; Year: 1977; Director: Sam Wanamaker; Writer: Beverley Cross, Beverley Cross, Ray Harryhausen; Stars: Patrick Wayne, Taryn Power, Margaret Whiting, Jane Seymour, Patrick Troughton, Kurt Christian, Nadim Sawalha, Damien Thomas, Bruno Barnabe, Bernard Kay, Salami Coker, David Sterne, Peter Mayhew)

Singin' In The Rain

Review preview for Singin' In The Rain

Singin' in the Rain remains one of the most enduring, effervescent and exuberant of films.

Chris · 5 out of 5
A silent film idol romances a Hollywood starlet in this much-loved classic.

(Country: US; Year: 1952; Director: Stanley Donen, Gene Kelly; Writer: Adolph Green, Betty Comden; Stars: Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor, Debbie Reynolds, Jean Hagen, Millard Mitchell, Cyd Charisse, Douglas Fowley, Rita Moreno, Dawn Addams, John Albright, Betty Allen)

Full review See: Dance Film Festival introduction: celebrating dance in film

Trolls

Review preview for Trolls

With their Day-Glo colours, singing and attitude to hugging, this is probably one of the few animations that will simultaneously appeal to the very young, any parents nostalgic for rave culture and grandparents who tuned in and dropped out.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
Animation, sees the Trolls threatened by miserable ogres.

(Country: US; Year: 2016; Director: Mike Mitchell, Walt Dohrn; Writer: Jonathan Aibel, Glenn Berger; Stars: Anna Kendrick, Zooey Deschanel, Jeffrey Tambor, Christine Baranski, Justin Timberlake, James Corden, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Kunal Nayyar, John Cleese, Gwen Stefani, Quvenzhané Wallis, Russell Brand, Ron Funches, Meg DeAngelis, Walt Dohrn)

Full review

What's Up, Doc?

A bag mix-up results in farce.

(Country: US; Year: 1972; Director: Peter Bogdanovich; Writer: Buck Henry, David Newman, Robert Benton, Peter Bogdanovich; Stars: Barbra Streisand, Ryan O'Neal, Madeline Kahn, Kenneth Mars, Austin Pendleton, Michael Murphy, Philip Roth, Sorrell Booke, Stefan Gierasch, Mabel Albertson, Liam Dunn, John Hillerman, George Morfogen, Graham Jarvis, Randy Quaid)