Reviews by Scott Macdonald

Order by: Date, A–Z

• 
  Pluto (2012)

  Review preview for Pluto

  Pluto is an oddly funny film - inhabiting as isolated a world as its titular celestial body.

  A boy works hard to try and enter the elite class at his school, but is kept out by a brutal clique.
• Point Pleasant: The Complete Season (2005)

  Review preview for Point Pleasant: The Complete Season

  One of those hideous television guilty pleasures.

  Is the girl, saved from drowning, the daughter of the Devil and will the good people of Point Pleasant change her for the better?
• 
  The Passion Of The Christ (2004)

  Review preview for The Passion Of The Christ

  One of the most fascinating and empathetically painful films I've ever had to watch.

  A stunning, emotionally gruelling telling of the Passion.
• 
  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.
• 
  Pleasantville (1998)

  Review preview for Pleasantville

  The film springboards into carefully balanced comedy, and surprising social commentary.

  A couple of Californian teens are transported into a Fifties televisual adventure.
• 
  The Polar Express (2004)

  Review preview for The Polar Express

  The film has the stunning look of a living, breathing three-dimensional oil painting... visually majestic.

  A sceptical boy rides on a magic train to the North Pole on Christmas Eve. Out on re-issue.
• 
  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.
• 
  Pucker Up (2005)

  Review preview for Pucker Up

  Hard to recommend, really, unless you enjoy hearing classics, such as Cavalleria Rusticana: Intermezzo, being murdered.

  A competitive whistling documentary from Louisburg, North Carolina.
• 
  The Purifiers (2004)

  Review preview for The Purifiers

  The design of the film is straightforward and yet cleverly skewed.

  Futuristic gang war chopsocky Scottish vigilante action packer.
• 
  Purple Butterfly (2003)

  Review preview for Purple Butterfly

  Ye Lou's visual style is that of a photographer's romantic vision, yet without flair.

  Secret loves and violent action of resistance fighters in Shanghai during the Japanese occupation.
• 
  Pusher (2012)

  Review preview for Pusher

  Richard Coyle is decent in the title role, his engaging lead performance is a solid, if not star making turn.

  A London drugs dealer finds himself on the wrong side of a ruthless Mr Big. Remake of the 1996 feature.
• 
  Rabies (2010)

  Review preview for Rabies

  The script is knowing, loving and amusingly toys with the genre.

  As a psycho killer lurks in the woods, a group of nervous people might represent a bigger threat to each other.
• 
  The Rebound (2009)

  Review preview for The Rebound

  A sweetly understated addition to the romantic comedy genre.

  A young New Yorker finds himself smitten with the single mother next door, despite a challenging age difference.
• 
  Rent-A-Cat (2012)

  Review preview for Rent-A-Cat

  The characters' interplay, mutual respect and overwhelming joy at being accepted made my heart swell in delighted awe.

  A young woman rents out cats to lonely people.
• 
  The Return (2003)

  Review preview for The Return

  Emotionally draining, and full of menace.

  Absent Russian father returns to take sons on mysterious journey to an isolated island.
• 
  A Riff for Lazaro (2007)

  Review preview for A Riff for Lazaro

  Superbly photographed.

  A young trumpet player searches for the mouthpiece which brought his long lost father fame.
• 
  River Child (2007)

  Review preview for River Child

  Elegantly shot.

  Awakening sexuality versus heroism.
• 
  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.
• 
  Role Models (2008)

  Review preview for Role Models

  There's nowt of substance, or wit to last more than a 30-minute sitcom, but the script's tone is affectionate and likable.

  A pair of misanthropic manchildren learn mentoring responsibility.
• 
  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.
• 
  Rumor Has It (2005)

  Review preview for Rumor Has It

  I could count the intentional chuckles on one hand and still have enough fingers to check my watch.

  The Graduate - 20 years on? Or boring and uneventful rubbish.
• 
  Run, Fatboy, Run (2007)

  Review preview for Run, Fatboy, Run

  A stronger hold on the material, including some judicious cutting, would pare down the movie's soggy midsection.

  Comedy about an unfit bloke's marathon.
• 
  The Sea (2013)

  Review preview for The Sea

  For all its visual skill and mostly good performances, this is a tiresome, dull film.

  An art historian explores haunting memories in the village he visited as a child.
• 
  Seconds Of Lead (2012)

  Review preview for Seconds Of Lead

  The medium is a time capsule, a documented moment, perpetually frozen in time.

  A cinema projectionist remembers witnessing a massacre.
• 
  Semi-Pro (2008)

  Review preview for Semi-Pro

  A strange, tepid mixture of basketball drama and comedy set in what television and dull popular culture remembers as being the 70s.

  Basketball comedy with a loud mouth.
• 
  The Sentimental Engine Slayer (2009)

  Review preview for The Sentimental Engine Slayer

  Omar Rodriguez-Lopez gives us a sensational taste of his talents in front of and behind the camera.

  A lonely young man muses on murder.
• 
  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.
• 
  Shrooms (2006)

  Review preview for Shrooms

  I'm questioning a movie that just positively begs someone to watch while consuming a large wad of illegal hallucinogens - I should give up asking for sense.

  A trip too far...
• 
  Shut Up Little Man! An Audio Misadventure (2011)

  Review preview for Shut Up Little Man! An Audio Misadventure

  The movie also has much to say about this none-too-subtle take on voyeurism, and the nature of unexpurgated creativity uninhibited by copyright.

  Two men record their loudmouthed neighbours, share their foul ramblings, and accidentally make them into underground stars.
• 
  Siblings - For Better Or Worse (2011)

  Review preview for Siblings - For Better Or Worse

  Siblings: For Better Or Worse comprises a collection of four short documentary features - each dealing with a different set of circumstances. They're all well-made.

  Four short films allow children from around the world to describe their feelings about their siblings.
• 
  Six Acts (2012)

  Review preview for Six Acts

  Director Jonathan Gurfinkel's film rides a deeply uncomfortable societal line between misogynistic conservatism and liberation through feminism.

  A deep dive into the grey area of sexual abuse told through the story of Gili, a teenager who in order to improve her lame social status hooks up with several different boys, all from her new school.
• 
  The Skeleton Key (2005)

  Review preview for The Skeleton Key

  A deeply lacklustre bag of bones.

  Spooky goings on in an old house with old people (and Kate Hudson) in Louisiana.
• 
  Skinned Deep (2003)

  Review preview for Skinned Deep

  Fails to deliver anything beyond the prodigious letting of blood.

  Middle American freaks kill passing strangers in disgusting and bloody ways.
• Sky Blue (2003)

  Review preview for Sky Blue

  What does Sky Blue have to offer? Visual mastery.

  Post apocalyptic sci-fi anime from South Korea.
• 
  Sky Captain And The World Of Tomorrow (2004)

  Review preview for Sky Captain And The World Of Tomorrow

  Essentially, distilled B-movie joy, given limitless imagination.

  Giant robots on the wing in fantastic story of mad scientist, intrepid reporter and fighter pilot.
• 
  Slingshot (2007)

  Review preview for Slingshot

  The technical expertise and fast turnaround in this movie is stunning.

  Close-up and personal view of the slums using hidden cameras and brilliant editing.
• 
  Someone Else (2006)

  Review preview for Someone Else

  The film feels real, and of the moment.

  A young man struggles to do the right thing after falling in love with someone other than his girlfriend.
• 
  The Song Of The Cricket (2006)

  Review preview for The Song Of The Cricket

  It intrigues and delivers on the promise of the character-based suspense.

  An ETA militant tries to cut the ties with his past. Showing at the EIFF as part of European Shorts 1.
• 
  SoulBoy (2010)

  Review preview for SoulBoy

  Ultimately, SoulBoy is a strange, lifeless work.

  A coming-of-age tale mixed in with the genesis of Northern Soul.
• 
  Sound Of My Voice (2011)

  Review preview for Sound Of My Voice

  Maggie's interrogation of Peter is a fascinating back and forth - leveraging sexual attraction with effective psychological showmanship.

  Two skeptics set out to debunk a cult surrounding a woman who claims to be from the future.
• 
  Special (2006)

  Review preview for Special

  The cool, detached, yet paranoid tone is impressively held, both through visual design and music, until around halfway through.

  An unexpected reaction to medication persuades an ordinary man that he's developing superpowers.
• 
  Saw IV (2007)

  Review preview for Saw IV

  So utterly repugnant, so self-absorbed and without entertainment value that it is akin to putting your face into a pail of four-day-old warmed-over innards and being forced to take deep breaths.

  The Jigsaw starts to grate.
• 
  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.
• 
  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.
• 
  Serenity (2005)

  Review preview for Serenity

  Knowing, loving, kidding and one of the year's best films.

  Buffy's creator does battle with the Reavers in space, as earthlings move off their overcrowded planet.
• 
  Shakespeare Behind Bars (2005)

  Review preview for Shakespeare Behind Bars

  Stirring and creatively wrought

  Murderers and rapists perform Shakespeare and learn forgiveness.
• 
  Sin City (2005)

  Review preview for Sin City

  The lurid and sensational delivery by Rodriguez propels his movie forward into feeling anything but as recycled as it really is.

  Stylised graphic novel adaptation shows three men on a mission.
• 
  Some Like It Hot (1959)

  Review preview for Some Like It Hot

  This is possibly the raciest picture ever to get a U-rating.

  Classic cross-dressing comedy as two unemployed musicians go on the run from gangsters in an all-girl band.
• 
  Spider-Man 2 (2004)

  Review preview for Spider-Man 2

  It is a glorious bull's-eye of creative direction.

  Spidey reluctantly returns to save New York from a mad scientist.
• 
  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.