Human Capital (15)
Human Capital (15)
Dir: Paolo Virzi
With: Matilde Gioli, Fabrizio Bentivoglio
Runtime: 108 minutes
A WAITER cycling home from work one night before Christmas becomes the victim of a hit-and- run in this slickly executed, state of the Italian nation thriller.
In telling the separate but overlapping stories of a group of rich, greedy, feckless Italians just before recession hits, director Paolo Virzi supplies a less than flattering but gripping portrait of modern life in the bello country.
Glasgow Film Theatre, October 3-9; Filmhouse, Edinburgh, October 17-23
Draft Day (15)
Dir: Ivan Reitman
With: Kevin Costner, Jennifer Garner
Runtime: 107 minutes
DIRECTED by Ivan "Ghostbusters" Reitman, Draft Day aims to do for American football what Brad Pitt's Moneyball did for baseball.
It has the same flaw as the Pitt picture in that large sections are all but unintelligible if one is not up on the finer points of the sport. But this is an interesting tale of a coach (Kevin Costner) learning to become his own man after his legend of a father dies.
Life After Beth (15)
Dir: Jeff Baena
With: Aubrey Plaza, Dane DeHaan
Runtime: 89 minutes
PARKS and Recreation's Aubrey Plaza is the girlfriend joining the ranks of the undead in this uneven but fitfully amusing zombie rom-com, with Dane DeHaan (Kill Your Darlings) her bemused boyfriend.
The central joke in Jeff Baena's directorial debut runs out of stagger power early on, but between them, Plaza, DeHaan, and John C Reilly playing Beth's dad, wring a few smiles.
Will and Testament: Tony Benn (12A)
Dir: Skip Kite
Runtime: 95 minutes
FROM being dubbed the most dangerous man in Britain to becoming nothing short of a national treasure, Tony Benn was a giant of British post-war politics.
Director Skip Kite, with the help of extensive interviews with the man, pays tribute to a remarkable life, which went from wartime service to opposing the war in Iraq. An endlessly affectionate tribute that Benn devotees will enjoy.
Glasgow Film Theatre, Oct 3-9; Filmhouse, Edinburgh, Nov 2-6.
Soul Boys of the Western World (12A)
Dir: George Hencken
Runtime: 110 minutes
DON those ruffled shirts and cossack trousers, it's time for a Spandau Ballet documentary. George Hencken has lot of fun in the archive tracing the trip from 1960s Islington to 1980s success, world tours, True, Gold, and many a point in between.
He doesn't leave out the awkward stuff either, such as the band growing apart a bitter tussle over royalties that ended up in court.
The thinness of the band's story struggles to merit the 110- minute running time, but matters pick up when the group fall apart only to reunite many years later.
Selected release.
Still the Enemy Within (15)
Dir: Owen Gower
Runtime: 113 minutes
THE story of the 1984 miners' strike is revisited in this blistering but ultimately frustrating documentary.
The footage is terrific, the miners interviewed are eloquent, passionate, and almost as angry now as they were then,.
However, while this is excellent on the past, Owen Gower's film does not make good on the promise in the title, failing to cover in any real depth how the strikers and their families continued to pay the price, even today, for standing up to the Government.
Selected release.
The Last Impresario (15)
Dir: Gracie Otto
Runtime: 92 minutes
GRACIE Otto was at a party in Cannes a few years ago and noticed that one man seemed to be the centre of attention for a galaxy of stars.
He was Michael White, producer and theatre legend, the man behind The Rocky Horror Picture Show and White Mischief, and, in the words of one of his admirers, "the most famous person you've never heard of".
Otto tries to correct that with the help of lots of starry talking heads (Anna Wintour, Naomi Watts) and the man himself, but White, an intensely private man, remains an enigma.
Glasgow Film Theatre, October 4-6.
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