Reviews by Scott Macdonald

Order by: Date, A–Z

• 
  Alva (2007)

  Review preview for Alva

  Wonderful acting, invisible and empathetic.

  Tragedy strikes a couple expecting their first child. Showing at the EIFF 2007 as part of European Shorts 1.
• 
  Aria (2007)

  Review preview for Aria

  Simple and meditative cinema.

  Road movie about an elderly piano tuner who forms a friendship with an unsettling puppeteer.
• 
  Henry V (1944)

  Review preview for Henry V

  Shakespeare's most popular history... lashings of style, wit and theatrical skill, all shot in Glorious Technicolor.

  Laurence Olivier brings his own dramatic touch to Shakespeare in a stirring tale of battle against the odds.
• 
  Transformers (2007)

  Review preview for Transformers

  It is not content merely to be moronic; it embraces this quality like a virtue.

  Robots in disguise!
• 
  Tales From Earthsea (2006)

  Review preview for Tales From Earthsea

  I never dreamed I would write 'tiresome' and 'Studio Ghibli' in a sentence without an odd number of negatives in it.

  A young prince is caught up in a titanic struggle of sorcerers.
• 
  Hairspray (2007)

  Review preview for Hairspray

  Hairspray is a sincere, thoroughly entertaining romp; bursting with boundless energy, inventive choreography and performances that quite simply delight.

  A big-budget remake of the John Waters classic, with a teenage hair hopper rebel becoming a star even without a dainty figure.
• 
  Goldfinger (1964)

  Review preview for Goldfinger

  Superior slap-bang entertainment, joyously performed and directed with aplomb, with equal measures of silliness, joy and suspense.

  Big screen reissue offers another chance to see James Bond take on the man with the Midas touch.
• 
  Wedding Daze (2006)

  Review preview for Wedding Daze

  The movie is so rotten, so lazy and so ineffective - it can only lower the IQ, or raise the critical barrier for anyone who sees it.

  Hopeless romantic comedy about imperfect beings.
• 
  Tokyo Story (1953)

  Review preview for Tokyo Story

  It's a heartbreaking film. I look at Tokyo Story, and I see moments of my own life, or potential future life reflected.

  Yasujiro Ozu's masterpiece about the indifference of families.
• 
  Spider-Man 3 (2007)

  Review preview for Spider-Man 3

  Whooshing between buildings at high speed over and over again feels like an overdose of Ritalin. The three-way baddie climax is nauseating, unexciting and full of contrivances.

  Spider-Man fights three villains, and himself.
• 
  Face/Off (1997)

  Review preview for Face/Off

  Cheerful, bullet-strewn entertainment.

  A government agent chases a criminal mastermind.
• 
  Meet the Robinsons (2007)

  Review preview for Meet the Robinsons

  High-tech, brilliantly crafted and old-fashioned...perfect Easter weekend fodder.

  A child inventor meets a mysterious man and goes on a time-travel adventure.
• 
  Gone (2007)

  Review preview for Gone

  An unrelentingly dull exercise in inept thriller-mongering.

  More trouble in the outback for packpackers.
• 
  The Interpreter (2005)

  Review preview for The Interpreter

  The solemnity of the actors' fine performances cannot hide the shallowness of the story.

  A political thriller at the UN headquarters in New York.
• 
  Apollo 13 (1995)

  Review preview for Apollo 13

  Apollo 13 is one of my favourite films, it's one of those films that stirs my sense of discovery, as well as plunder our collective dreams.

  Oscar-winning drama about an ill-fated moon mission.
• 
  TMNT (2007)

  Review preview for TMNT

  The Turtles movie that I'd have loved as a boy.

  The heroes in a half shell are back on the big screen.
• 
  Goddess (1934)

  Review preview for Goddess

  The film's use of location as narrative drive is endearing, binding the strong heroine to her surroundings.

  A prostitute in 1930s Shanghai tries to build a future for her son.
• 
  Champagne (1928)

  Review preview for Champagne

  Neither funny nor particularly dramatic, with a paper thin plot

  The comedic adventures of a rich girl whose father decides to teachher a lesson.
• 
  The Number 23 (2007)

  Review preview for The Number 23

  Horribly unlikely, indulgent murder mystery, the outcome of which you're likely to guess at least half an hour before the end.

  Parallel murder mysteries have mathematical and literary connotations - perhaps.
• 
  Venus (2006)

  Review preview for Venus

  O'Toole is simply remarkable. He reinvents himself once again, stealing the breath away with his learned quicksilver wit and charisma.

  Love, with catheters, for an ageing act-or who is seduced by the beauty of passion’s young promise.
• 
  The Fountain (2006)

  Review preview for The Fountain

  Incredible imagery and emotive storytelling

  Three parallel stories, running across more than 1000 years explore the notions of life, love, obssession and loss.
• 
  Scoop (2006)

  Review preview for Scoop

  The ladle of light-hearted farce is never far enough from the plot.

  Journalist comes back from dead to help solve murder mystery.
• 
  White Noise: The Light (2007)

  Review preview for White Noise: The Light

  A dreary looking film, without any visual or storytelling flair.

  A man sees soon-to-be-dead people.
• 
  Rocky Balboa (2006)

  Review preview for Rocky Balboa

  Rocky Balboa does not disappoint when it comes to the staples of a Rocky picture - the hard-earned training (raw egg chugging and knuckle meat-tenderisers are welcome, present and correct) and thrilling fight footage

  Sylvester Stallone's prize fighter returns to the ring.
• 
  Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines (2003)

  Review preview for Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines

  Terminator 3 is technically splendid, but uninvolving - a film without real human bite. Its characters are bland cyphers, unlike Cameron's well-drawn roles.

  Third installment in the Terminator franchise has robot Arnie fighting a metallic woman.
• 
  Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)

  Review preview for Terminator 2: Judgment Day

  Terminator 2 is a wonderful sequel, dramatically satisfying and a fine entertainment.

  A Terminator robot comes back in time to protect a boy from another, more advanced killer robot.
• 
  The Terminator (1984)

  Review preview for The Terminator

  James Cameron's masterpiece. A lean, brooding, violent and unforgettable experience from a director hungry for success.

  Relentless cyborg tries to alter a planet's future by changing one woman's past.
• 
  A Prairie Home Companion (2006)

  Review preview for A Prairie Home Companion

  A delightful, genial, lovable movie - the product of an idiosyncratic artist and master storyteller.

  Garrison Keillor's live radio variety show bows out with a final performance.
• 
  In Her Shoes (2005)

  Review preview for In Her Shoes

  One of the years best and most underrated films.

  Sex, shopping and eating. What more could you ask for? Jimmy Choo stilettos?
• 
  A Matter Of Life And Death (1946)

  Review preview for A Matter Of Life And Death

  Undoubtedly one of the best films ever made.

  A wartime aviator begs a celestial court to let him escape death so he can be with the woman he loves. Out on re-issue in cinemas.
• 
  Schindler's List (1993)

  Review preview for Schindler's List

  It is not a happy ending, but an affirming one, in that it shows that it is possible to reject mass genocide and that good men can save the world entire.

  A lone man determines to use his factory as a means of rescuing Jews from Nazi concentration camps, risking his life in the process.
• 
  Das Boot: The Director's Cut (1981)

  Review preview for Das Boot: The Director's Cut

  The greatest submarine movie ever made.

  The claustrophobic experiences of an inexperienced U-boat crew trying to survive.
• 
  Edward Scissorhands (1990)

  Review preview for Edward Scissorhands

  By contrasting an artificial man with the real but unsubtly false men and women of the world and their queer existences, Burton presents satire with a dull thud.

  An intrepid Avon lady enters her local Gothic castle to find a lonely young home-made man with scissors for hands.
• 
  The Grey Zone (2001)

  Review preview for The Grey Zone

  It delivers every experience I treasure in great drama.

  A group of Jews working to support the mechanisms of the Nazi death camps ask themselves how far they will go to survive.
• 
  The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King (2003)

  Review preview for The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King

  It's the sheer manipulative skill of [director] Jackson and [editor] Selkirk that they nurture each story thread and bring them to a satisfying head.

  Final part of Peter Jackson's Middle Earth trilogy.
• 
  Apocalypto (2006)

  Review preview for Apocalypto

  It has the zing of a sugar-rush from hell.

  A captive, destined for sacrifice, Jaguar Paw is determined to escape and save his wife and child.
• 
  Ghostbusters (1984)

  Review preview for Ghostbusters

  A ridiculous idea spun into a film that skilfully mixes genuine laughs with genuine frights and chills.

  Who ya gonna call?
• 
  True Romance (1993)

  Review preview for True Romance

  Another victim of the style over substance genre.

  An earnest young comics geek goes on the run with an inexperienced hooker and an accidentally acquired suitcase full of cocaine - Christopher Walken's cocaine...
• 
  The Wizard Of Oz (1939)

  Review preview for The Wizard Of Oz

  The Wizard Of Oz has something fresh and intangibly pure for me every time I see it.

  Swept away to a magical land, young Dorothy sets out to find the wizard who can help her get home, meeting some unusual friends along the way. Out on IMAX reissue.
• 
  Manhattan (1979)

  Review preview for Manhattan

  Allen's finest screenplay to date, filled with expostulating characters with relationship difficulties and hilarious interludes about the human condition.

  Woody Allen falls for his best friend's mistress, but is he really more in love with New York itself?
• 
  Star Trek: First Contact (1996)

  Review preview for Star Trek: First Contact

  The film is tightly and crisply edited with nothing wasted on frippery or dull speeches.

  A hectic chase back through time as the Borg try to stop humans from making first contact with alien life, and Captain Picard and his crew try to stop the Borg.
• 
  Pickup On South Street (1953)

  Review preview for Pickup On South Street

  Fuller directs as though McCoy was painting a work of art, so slowly, and lovingly, his camera captures the action.

  A young woman carrying secret microfilm for her boyfriend has her purse snatched on an underground train.
• 
  Master And Commander: The Far Side Of The World (2003)

  Review preview for Master And Commander: The Far Side Of The World

  An elegant and handsome action film.

  Life at sea on a fighting ship of the Royal Navy in South American waters at the time of Nelson.
• 
  Shortbus (2006)

  Review preview for Shortbus

  [Mixes] amiable performances with hardcore rumpy-pumpy which is queer in every possible way

  An avant-garde examination of the diverse sexual experiences of a group of New Yorkers.
• 
  Jackass 2 (2006)

  Review preview for Jackass 2

  It gave me a sum total of four large belly laughs, a couple of outright chuckles and a whole lot of burying my head in my hands in shock/distaste/pain.

  More dangerous stunts, obscene humour and general silliness from the Jackass gang.
• 
  Elephant (2003)

  Review preview for Elephant

  Everything about the film seems to fit a purpose, and Van Sant's purpose is to show that we can never understand the reasons why.

  An exploration of teen high school killing sprees.
• 
  The Last House On The Left (1972)

  Review preview for The Last House On The Left

  A deliberately cruel and vicious experience.

  The attackers of two teenage girls inadvertently take refuge with their parents and face a terrible revenge.
• 
  The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)

  Review preview for The Nightmare Before Christmas

  Henry Selick directs with clever staging and infinite patience. The musical numbers are catchy, boisterous and hugely entertaining.

  3D version of Tim Burton's stop-animation film about Hallowe'en Jack's fascination with Christmas gets its annual trot around the cinema block.
• 
  Step Up (2006)

  Review preview for Step Up

  There is hardly a moment that does not resort to cliché, formula or stock characters.

  Another high school dance number.
• 
  RoboCop (1987)

  Review preview for RoboCop

  A cross-pollination of tough Dirty Harry and Frankenstein - often startles the viewer with imagery and ideas.

  Cyborg cop tackles bad guys on the streets and in the boardrooms of Detroit.