ALLAN HUNTER at the Movies IF YOU LIKE your thrillers tough and uncompromising then “The Departed” is one of the best we’ve seen in a long time. Martin Scorsese’s return to the mean streets of urban America is a stylish reinvention of the Hong Kong hit ‘Infernal Affairs’ that develops into an edgy, gripping saga […]

MICHAEL RUSSELL welcomes the continuing growth of Cowalfest on the eve of this year’s event.

ALLAN HUNTER at the Movies OSCAR-WINNING director Oliver Stone has spent his career chasing conspiracy theories and scrutinising the flaws and failings of American politics. You might expect him to take a very critical view of the events that unfolded on September 11th, 2001. Instead, he chooses to focus on the human element of the […]

ALLAN HUNTER at the Movies SCIENCE FICTION films have become a hostage to lavish special-effects and elaborate action sequences. We’ve almost forgotten that they can be about ideas as much as spectacle. ‘Children Of Men’ attempts to redress the balance with a convincing vision of the near future that serves as the background for an […]

ALLAN HUNTER at the Movies IT MAY NOT be the most cinematic film of the year, but ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ might just be one of the most important. Former American Vice-President Al Gore has been travelling the world, crusading on the issue of global warming and the threat it poses to the future of the […]

ALLAN HUNTER at the Movies SHE MAY NOT like the compliment, but Julie Walters has reached the stage where she is considered a national treasure. She is one of our most beloved performers, and her talents seem to know no bounds; she is publishing her first novel this autumn. She is in fine fettle in […]

ALLAN HUNTER at the Movies HORROR ISN’T always about scary monsters and evil boogey men. Sometimes, the most banal moments can turn towards terror in the blinking of an eye. That’s the scenario that is developed in ‘Adrift’, a true story that leaves you wondering how you might have reacted under the same circumstances. It […]

ALLAN HUNTER at the Movies EVERY PEDRO ALMODOVAR film has become an event anticipated with relish. The Spanish writer-director makes films of pure pleasure where the colours seem more vivid, the emotions more intense and the stories are tales of great intricacy and beauty. He is one of the leading artists in his field, but […]

ALLAN HUNTER at the Movies THE DOCUMENTARY ‘Spellbound’ painted a fascinating portrait of American children competing in the National Spelling Bee championships. ‘Akeelah And The Bee’ uses the same competition for a sugary tale in which all the personal dramas and dilemmas are spelt out in more ways than one. Fact proves much more compelling […]

Filmhouse, Edinburgh, 14 August 2006