Amy (15)
four stars
Dir: Asif Kapadia
Runtime: 128 minutes
PERHAPS the most heart-rending parts of Asif Kapadia's outstanding look at the life of Amy Winehouse are the segments featuring the singer in her teenage years, when she was brimming with life and talent, everything ahead of her. What the "everything" turned out to be is set out in painstaking detail by the director of Senna. It is all here - the drugs, the marriage, the meltdowns, blending with previously unseen footage, voicemails from pals and interviews. The arguments about who and what was to blame for what happened will rage on long after this film, but there is no doubting the searing talent of Winehouse, or that Kapadia has done a masterly job of documenting it.
Still the Water (15)
three stars
Dir: Naomi Kawase
With: Jun Yoshinaga, Nijiro Murakami
Runtime: 116 minutes
NOTHING ever seems to happen on the Japanese island of Amami, so when a naked body is washed ashore the town comes alive with speculation as to what has happened. Teenagers Kyoko and Kaito (Jun Yoshinaga, Nijiro Murakami), their friendship turning to something more, have their own concerns but they too soon find themselves caught up in the tumult. For good and ill, this drama by Naomi Kawase (Mourning Forest) takes its cue from the word "still", with long shots of the sea and a sedate pace only relieved by moments of intense drama.
Glasgow Film Theatre, July 3-9
Minions (U)
three stars
Dirs: Pierre Coffin, Kyle Balda
Voices: Sandra Bullock, Jon Hamm
Runtime: 91 minutes
THE gibberish-spouting blobs from Despicable Me were such a hit with young audiences it was only a matter of time before they were given their own movie, and here it is. Sandra Bullock and Jon Hamm provide the human touch by voicing villainess Scarlett Overkill and her hubby Herb. While the jokes for adults are tired, the sheer energy and epic silliness will keep younger cinemagoers pinioned to their seats.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article