Reel Time with Jonathan Melville

The Guide's film columnist at the 2009 Edinburgh International Film Festival

Monday 13 July, 23.35 - Potter-ing about

Up early this morning for the press screening of the latest Harry Potter movie, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

The film is set during Harry's sixth year at Hogwart's and sees a new arrival at the school in the shape of Jim Broadbent as ex-teacher Horace Slughorn.

I can't say much more about the film just now, but my full review will be in Tuesday's Evening News.

Sunday 28 June 2009, 16.36 - Bonding with Sean at the EIFF

I'm just out of the star-studded Awards Ceremony at Edinburgh's Filmhouse, where Sir Sean Connery, EIFF Artistic Director Hannah McGill, Deputy Artistic Director Diane Henderson and cinematographer Seamus McGarvey handed out the gongs.

I was happy to see the Michael Powell Award for Best New British Feature Film go to Moon, the brilliant new low budget sc-fi from director Duncan Jones. It's been one of the most talked about films this fortnight and there'll be a chance for everyone else to fall in love with it when it gets its UK release on 17 July.

Best Performance in a British Feature Film went to 18-year-old Katie Jarvis for her role Fish Tank, another impressive picture from Red Road director Andrea Arnold. The film gets its UK-wide release in September.

The much vaunted Audience Appreciation Award went to small Irish animation The Secret of Kells, which features the voice of In Bruges star Brendan Gleeson. Sadly I don't think there is a UK release date for this one.

A number of other films won awards, here's the list in full:

Michael Powell Award for Best New British Feature Film, sponsored by the UK Film Council
MOON – Directed by Duncan Jones

PPG Award for Best Performance in a British Feature Film
KATIE JARVIS – Fish Tank

Best New International Feature Award
EASIER WITH PRACTICE – Directed by Kyle Patrick Alvarez

Standard Life Audience Award
THE SECRET OF KELLS – Directed by Tomm Moore

Best Documentary Award
BORIS RYZHY – Directed by Aliona Van der Horst

Skillset New Directors Award
CARY JOJI FUKUNAGA – Sin Nombre

The Rotten Tomatoes Critical Consensus Award
HUMPDAY – Directed by Lynn Shelton

UK Film Council Award for Best British Short Film
AFTER TOMORROW – Directed by Emma Sullivan

Best International Short Film Award
PRINCESS MARGARET BLD. – Directed by Kazik Radwanski

Scottish Short Documentary Award supported by Baillie Gifford
PETER IN RADIOLAND – Directed by Johanna Wagner

McLaren Award for New British Animation in partnership with BBC Film Network
PHOTOGRAPH OF JESUS – Directed by Laurie Hill

Hats of to Hannah McGill and Ginnie Atkinson for another fantastic EIFF, one which finally led to me meeting Sir Sean Connery after the awards ceremony. Getting to meet my favourite Bond is an ambition fulfilled and the perfect end to my 2009 EIFF.

Did you have a favourite moment? Why not send me a tweet on Twitter about your favourite EIFF moment and I'll print the best in my Friday column.

Saturday 27 June 2009, 21.00 - Going Dutch on the (almost) final day

Today was a momentous day: I saw my final film of the 2009 Edinburgh International Film Festival! There were no fireworks, no parties and no celebrations, just a quiet realisation that my EIFF has come to an end, with, if I've calculated properly, 28 feature films watched in 12 days.

Strictly speaking, my festival ends tomorrow afternoon at the EIFF Awards Ceremony, but it still feels like the main feature has ended today.

I did manage to watch two films today, starting with the Dutch drama Can Go Through Skin, focusing on the aftermath of an attack on a young woman and her attempts to move on with her life.

When Marieke (Rifka Lodeizen) is abused in her city apartment, she retreats to a derelict house in the country which needs much repair. As she brings it back to its former glory she too begins to reconstruct her life, but dark times loom when she becomes fascinated with online support groups for battered women.

Can Go Through Skin is a slow burner of a film, much time spent watching Marieke working on her house and coping with life again. The climactic scenes are hard to watch and yet compelling at all times, director Esther Rots using sound well to deepen the sense of pain present in Marieke's world.

My final film of the festival was Israeli film Surrogate, a tender tale of a young man who has at some point in his life suffered psycholgical or physical trauma and now seeks the help of a sexual surrogate to aid his healing.

As with today's previous film, Surrogate handles pain and suffering in an intelligent and compassionate way, never lingering gratuitously on uncomfortable scenes and never outstaying its welcome with a brief 57 minute runtime.

While I've seen some superb this past few weeks I've also managed to miss some titles which others have recommended. There haven't been enough hours in the day to catch everything and among those I'll try to see at a future date are Black Dynamite, The First Day Of The Rest Of Your Life, Exam, Seraphine and Big River Man. I just hope they all get a cinema or DVD release in the foreseeable future.

I'll be posting on Twitter from Sunday's awards ceremony, hosted by Sir Sean Connery, as soon as I can - please take a trip over to my Twitter feed for more EIFF-related news and views.

Friday 26 June 2009, 23.15 - Living the High Life

We're into the final few days of the 2009 EIFF and, even though film watching fatigue is making itself felt, I'm still racking up the movies in the attempt to find the Next Big Thing.

One film I was determined to see after missing it earlier in the week was new Irish animation The Secret Of Kells (currently number one in the Audience Award ratings) and I managed to catch it today.

The film takes place in 800AD in the Abbey of Kells, County Meath, Ireland and follows young Brendan, nephew to Abbot Cellach (Brendan Gleeson), as he tries to help new arrival Brother Aidan to finish work on The Book of Kells while Vikings approach from every direction.

Director Tomm Moore has ensured his feature has a unique, hand-drawn, style to it that gives it a definite charm, some interesting angles ensuring the visuals are never dull. The story is charming and incident packed while the voice artistes manage to imbue their characters with life throughout. A joy to watch.

I'm a fan of Canadian films and will always try to search a new one out when I can, which is what led me to see High Life this afternoon, starring Die Hard 4.0's Timothy Olyphant.

Set in 1983, Olyphant plays ex-jailbird Dick who is working as cleaner in a hospital, at least until ex-cellmate Bug (Stephen Eric McIntyre) arrives on the scene and gets him fired.

The pair then decide to stage a robbery to help fund their drug addiction, roping in pretty-boy Billy (Rossif Sutherland) to assist.

High Life wants to be a knockabout comedy with a more serious edge but somehow fails to succeed in being either funny or gritty enough. Olyphant comes close to getting the tone right but the performance just doesn't ring true. On the plus side it does have a fantastic soundtrack.

The final feature film of the day was the Danish thriller Fear Me Not, a dark tale of scientific drug experimentation and one man's feelings towards his life and family.

Ulrich Thomsen holds the film together as father and husband Mikael, though the story feels more and more slight as it progresses and revelations are made. The plot owes a debt to Nicholas Ray's 1956 thriller Bigger Than Life, at least for the first half, though Thomsen is no match for the latter film's James Mason and his God complex.

A few more films to be seen in the morning before Best of the Fest on Sunday.

Thursday 25 June 2009, 23.35 - Gremlins at the EIFF

As closing film for this year's festival, Adam, which I saw at a morning screening, has a lot riding on it.

It's a romantic comedy from US playwright Max Mayer about Adam (Hugh Dancy), a young man with a form of autism called Asperger's System which makes him appear remote from normal emotions. When new neighbour Beth (Rose Byrne) moves in upstairs, Adam faces must decide whether he wants to - or can - fall in love with her.

Adam is a sweet enough film which tries to add a new spin to the rom-com genre and almost succeeds, pulling back on the darkness rather than building on it.

Later in the evening I attended an interview with American director Joe Dante, the man who brought us Gremlins and The Howling. This was a sequel of sorts to last night's Roger Corman talk, the man who mentored Dante in his early career, and Corman actually sat in the audience tonight as his protege spoke.

Dante was a charming and eloquent guest, discussing his early career making cheap imitations of films such as Jaws (he made Piranha) right up to his success with Gremlins and Gremlins 2.

One of the finest talks I've heard at the EIFF in recent years, I hope Dante returns again in the future to discuss features such as the forthcoming The Hole, for which he screened the trailer, and other new projects.

Wednesday 24 June 2009, 22.40 - Corman goes online this Halloween

This evening I was lucky to be in the presence of a true cinema legend in the shape of low-budget US filmmaker Roger Corman, best known for his Edgar Allan Poe adaptations starring Vincent Price and the original Death Race 2000 movie.

Moderated by critic Kim Newman, the interview took place at Edinburgh's Cineworld cinema and it was peppered with clips from Corman's extensive career. He revealed his inspirations and ambitions as well as his plans for a new internet project with Gremlins director Joe Dante, who made a late entrance to the auditorium during the event.

The new venture will take the shape of three 7-minute short horror films to be streamed by US film website netflix on Halloween, written by Corman and directed Dante.

Once they've watched the film, viewers will have 24 hours to vote online which two characters should be killed in the second installment, which will then be written, filmed and edited for streaming just seven days later.

The process will be repeated one more time for the third episode, to be shown in the third week.

An inspiring idea from a director now in his 80's.

Follow me on Twitter for the latest from the EIFF.

Wednesday 24 June 2009, 21.30 - Mind your language in Pontypool

Watching horror movies at 9am isn't usually the best way to start a Wednesday, but Pontypool, a new Canadian horror film, called this morning.

A virus breaks out on St Valentines day in the small town of Pontypool, Ontario, as radio DJ Grant Mazzy (Stephen McHattie) drives to work. As reports star to come in of townsfolk attacking a local doctor's surgery en masse, Mazzy and his co-workers discover that something is very strange is going on even closer to home.

This is a claustrophobic film with an impressive central performance from McHattie as the enigmatic DJ while director Bruce McDonald wringing out just enough tension along with some laughs.

Tuesday 23 June 2009, 23.20 - Catching up with a Local Hero

A later than usual post today reflecting the hectic nature of the last 24 hours.

Last night I went to the Cineworld to hear Wrestler director Darren Aronofsky discuss his career. Aronofsky become famous back in the 1990s for the films Pi and Requiem for a Dream, both highly original pictures which received critical acclaim.

He made a comeback with The Wrestler last year and is now back on the Hollywood radar. The talk covered all of his films to date and he revealed that his rumoured involvement with a reboot of the Batman franchise a few years back was never something he really wanted to do: it was his way of showing studio executives what he was capable of.

After the event I headed to a celebration of new directors at the EIFF where I bumped into Aronofsky at the bar. He mentioned he was keen to see more of Edinburgh and "some lochs" and that he'd already been around the castle - VisitScotland would be proud!

Yesterday morning I watched The Missing Person, a new film noir-style film starring Revolutionary Road's Michael Shannon as a Chicago PI on the trail of a man who is smuggling children to Mexico.

Shannon is perfect as the unhappy detective and the film play's with the rules of the detective genre to put a new spin on it.

This morning I started at the Cameo with a screening of the uninspiring Boogie Woogie, a "comedy" set in the art world starring Alan Cumming, Gillian Anderson, Joanna Lumley and a cast of famous faces.

While individual performances are so-so, as a whole the film doesn't work as either a satire, a drama or much else, the thin script not worth the actors' effort.

With my critical faculties being put to the test this festival, I then went to see a new documentary, For The Love Of Movies: The Story of American Film Criticism and the subsequent panel event. It may not be the most in-depth history of the subject but it does raise some interesting questions about modern film writing and its future on the internet and in newspapers.

On the way to the Cineworld to see Bill Forsyth in conversation, I passed the Filmhouse on Lothian Road just in time to see the stars of Shane Meadows new film Le Donk in a photoshoot. Meadows and stars Paddy Considine and Skor-zay-zee were on hand, in character, and it reminded me just how much I enjoyed the film on Sunday.

The day ended with Bill Forsyth's interview, where he discussed his work on films such as Gregory's Girl and Local Hero. Soft spoken and self effacing, Forsyth was given the opportunity to reflect on an impressive career and it seems there's something of a theme in his work, that of people stranded or remote from reality, that he's only recently discovered for himself.

Another brilliant day at the EIFF, only five more to go, including tomorrow night's long awaited interview with horror director Roger Corman...if I can get a ticket I'll be there!

Visit my Twitter feed for the latest from the EIFF.

Monday 22 June 2009, 15.40 - Antichrist = Anticlimax

There was much anticipation at the EIFF today as Lars von Triers' controversial new horror film Antichrist received its press screening at the Cineworld.

Warnings of extreme gore were given at the door and I made sure to avoid lunch in case of any adverse reactions.

Did it live up to the hype? Well no, not really.

Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg play the grieving parents of a young child who try to cope with events the best way they know how: by going to some spooky woods and fighting a lot.

To be fair, the film has a beautiful opening sequence (or "prologue" as the titles tell us), Willem Dafoe is great and the film looks impressive, but apart from some gruesome scenes and the odd shock, there did seem to be something missing here.

As well as Antichrist I saw the excellent film noir-influenced The Missing Person this morning, while I'll be off to the Darren Aronofsky interview tonight. More on both of these later...

Sunday 21 June 2009, 23.35 - Getting some much needed Treatment

Phew. Admittedly that's probably not the most expressive word in the English language, but it just about sums up how I'm feeling after watching films for around nine hours today then heading home in the rain from the Cameo.

After some depression this morning in the form of Running in Traffic, followed by the gentle humour of The Maiden Heist, it was on to the press screening of This is England director Shane Meadows' new film Le Donk.

Made in only five days, this is a partly improvised "mockumentary" about Le Donk (Paddy Considine), a Nottingham roadie who's always wanted to hit the big time but has ended up supporting young local rapper Scorzayzee (also seen in the brilliant Big Things).

The pair are followed by a film crew, directed by Shane Meadows as himself, as they travel to Manchester to see the Arctic Monkeys and try to make themselves look good on camera.

This is another cracker from Meadows who is thankfully still happy to experiment with his filmmaking following the breakout hit of This is England.

After a spot of lunch I went straight into two-and-a-half hours of psychiatric therapy in the shape of the first five episodes of HBO's new TV series In Treatment, a programme that is big in America but which has so far failed to find a distributor in the UK.

The programme follows the daily routine of psychiatrist Paul Weston (Gabriel Byrne) as he treats his patients. Stripped over five nights in America, each half hour episode covers one patient's session from Monday to Thursday while the last day features Weston getting therapy himself. If that sounds complicated then it really isn't, and this is another high quality show from the channel that brought is The Sopranos.

My last film of the day was Fish Tank the new feature from Red Road director Andrea Arnold.

Set on an Essex housing estate, newcomer Katie Jarvis (discovered by the film's producers as she fought with her boyfriend on a station platform) stars as fifteen-year-old Mia, a girl from a poor family who wants to escape her mundane life to become a dancer.

Michael Fassbender stars as the mysterious Connor, Mia's mum's new boyfriend, who also takes a shine to Mia.

I won't spoil the film by revealing any more about it, but Fish Tank features a mesmerising performance from Jarvis as the affection-starved Mia, director Arnold coaxing some quality work from all involved.

After all this I need a good rest before heading back out in the morning for a 9am screening of The Missing Person and Lars von Triers' controversial Antichrist later in the day.

Sunday 21 June 2009, 14.45 - Darkness and laughter on a Sunday morning

Sunday should be a day of rest, but for me there are a bundle of films still to be seen here at the EIFF, starting this morning with new Scottish drama Running in Traffic.

Set in Glasgow, the film follows the lives of a disparate group of people living almost on the bread line and try to get by with minimum wages and pressure from partners and employers.

This is a dark, unrelenting film with little respite for the viewer. As in many Scottish films, drugs are at the centre of everyone's lives, seemingly the only way out, though in reality becoming the thing that drags them ever further down.

There's little to enjoy here, though Bryan Larkin's central performance is convincing enough.

To cheer myself up a little I then headed to the Cineworld to see Sliding Doors director Peter Hewitt's new heist comedy The Maiden Heist, starring Christopher Walken, Morgan Freeman and William H Macy. The three play museum security guards who can't let their favourite exhibits leave the country and set out to steal them for their own enjoyment.

It's a playfil little film with a fine performance from Walken, and there are more than a few laughs. At only 89 minutes it doesn't outstay its welcome.

Next up is Shane Meadows Le Donk, followed by a screening of the first week of HBO series In Treatment.

Saturday 20 June 2009, 18.15 - Big Things ahead for low-budget comedy

A gorgeous day in Edinburgh is not the time to be hiding away in a cinema, but in the name of the Evening News I avoided soaking up the sun this afternoon and spent most of it indoors.

First up I scored an interview with Duncan Jones, director of one of the festival's hits, British sci-fi film Moon. I wrote on this blog how much I enjoyed it and it was good to hear Jones' enthusiasm for the project and his plans for the future.

He told me that he's planning three films set in the Moon universe, this being the first. The second will be a Blade Runner-esque thriller set in a future Berlin called Mute in which he plans to feature a cameo from Sam Rockwell as Moon's Sam Bell, an epilogue for the character after the film's events. After that he wants to do a third film, this time a big action movie set in London.

I also watched Crying with Laughter, the Edinburgh-set drama starring Stephen McCole as stand-up comic Joey Fisk whose life takes a nasty turn when he meets an old school pal. It's a well made little film with a nice build up and some tense moments as Fisk runs around a very cold Edinburgh as the tension increases.

My final film of the day was Big Things, another low-budget film made in Nottingham all about the making of a low-budget film in Nottingham and the pressures on director Richard (Tony Claassen).

This is a real gem of a film, its understated humour and oddball cast reminding me of Peter Kay's Phoenix Nights. The interaction between Claassen and Dean Palo (aka rapper Scorzayzee, also starring in Shane Meadows new film Le Donk) as Ray is priceless while the romance at the heart of the film is genuinely touching.

I bumped into director Mark Devenport and two of the cast straight after the screening and can vouch for their enthusiasm for the project. I also discovered that Devenport stars as "rival runner" Peter in the film, a superb character who doesn't get treated too well in the feature.

On my way home from the EIFF I took a detour through Festival Square and found actor Alan Cumming being grilled in a BBC Blast tent about his career. There were no major revelations, but it was good to see him getting involved in the festival as part of his judging duties this year.

A great end to the day and I'm looking forward to catching Shane Meadow's Le Donk tomorrow as well as animation The Secret of Kells.

Saturday 20 June 2009, 11.45 - A quality Issue

It's Saturday already? Where has the week gone? Days are merging a bit at the moment and I wonder if there are EU regulations stipulating how many films it's safe to see in a day...

Another 9am start, this time for new fashion documentary The September Issue (premieres Monday 22 June) from award winning director RJ Cutler. It's a film that goes behind the scenes of American Vogue, following editor Anna Wintour in her quest for the perfect magazine and creative director Grace Coddington's quest for the perfect photoshoot.

The lavishness of the Vogue world is always going to seem ridiculous to us mere mortals, but in these doom-laden times it's even more terrifying to see $50,000 spent on an unwanted photo spread.

Still, there are laughs to be had at the conflict between Wintour and Coddington, to Englishwomen in New York, and the film is short enough not to outstay its welcome.

Friday 19 June 2009, 22.00 - Not a moment Wasted in new Scottish feature

This past week has already seen a few dozen films from around the globe screened to both press and public here in Edinburgh, but first thing this morning I finally found myself watching a new Scottish feature: Wasted.

Set in Glasgow, the film follows a young couple, Connor (Neil Leiper) and Suzanne (Emma Hartley Miller), living on the streets whose only way to earn money is to sell their bodies then to take drugs to numb the pain.

The film may be dark and shocking but most of it is based on reality, the writers basing the tale around encounters with real people who have slipped between the cracks of "normal" society. With statistics revealing that one in four children in Scotland live in poverty, these are people that we pass in the street every day and ignore, crossing the road to avoid them.

Wasted is an important film but never an easy watch. There is some sort of hope in here but no easy answers. I recommend the film wholeheartedly and hope something good comes of it,even if it's just more of us not ignoring those in need just because polite society says we should.

The rest of my afternoon was spent at the Cineworld in the presence of Radio Five Live's Simon Mayo and Mark Kermode, as they beamed film views and interviews to the country. Directors Bill Forsyth and Duncan Jones appeared alongside actors Alan Cumming and Jimi Mistry to discuss their careers in a fun few hours.

Tomorrow I'm planning to see a couple more Scottish films, including the Edinburgh-set Crying with Laughter.

Thursday 18 June 2009, 21.50 - Cassel excels in French thriller

Following the intense rush of the first Mesrine film this morning, part two, subtitled Public Enemy Number One, took place earlier today.

The film is in the same format as the first one, moving gradually through the life of Jacques Mesrine as he takes more and more risks to stay France's top criminal.

Originally both films were designed to be one single feature of around four-and-a-half hours in length, an artificial separation made for the benefit of the cinemagoer.

While I can understand this, and feel both parts are strong in their own right, the second film does feel overlong and I'm curious why some judicious editing didn't take place to trim an hour of footage to leave a single feature.

Still, Vincent Cassel is tremendously entertaining as Mesrine, an aura of effortless cool present throughout the saga. Highly recommended.

Finally today I stayed at the Cineworld to hear American Beauty and Away We Go director Sam Mendes in conversation with film critic Mark Kermode.

Mendes discussed working with his wife Kate Winslett in Revolutionary Road, how new film Away We Go is his most relaxed film yet and how he dislkes the secrets of filmmaking being revealed in DVD extras.

Mendes also noted that he'd like to one day release a Director's Cut version of his Iraq war movie Jarhead, as he felt he didn't quite get it right first time around.

All-in-all an entertaining day of films, here's to Friday and Day Four of my EIFF.

Thursday 18 June 2009, 14.45 - A Killer start to Mesrine

I'm just out of the screening for the first part of the Mesrine saga, Mesrine: Killer Instinct, starring Vincent Cassel as real-life French gangster Jacques Mesrine.

Mesrine begins in 1970s France before flashing back to the late 1950s to show a young Jacques carrying out his role as a soldier. Mesrine's hatred of the job leads him to resign, only to become mixed up in the shady dealings of gangster Guido, played by Gérard Depardieu.

The film has a decent mix of romance, violence, action and tension, Cassel impressive as the morally compromised Mesrine.

Part two, Mesrine: Public Enemy Number One, begins in about an hour, so I'll be heading in to that for more.

Following that I'm going to stick around at the Cineworld to hear Sam Mendes in conversation.

As an aside, I spotted film reviewer Mark Kermode at the Cameo this morning, ahead of his appearance tomorrow afternoon with Simon Mayo at the Cineworld. Looking forward to it.

Thursday 18 June 2009, 11.58 - Wide of the mark

An early start today at the Cameo, a healthy crowd ready to see Wide Open Spaces (premieres Saturday 20 June), the new film from Father Ted co-creator Arthur Mathews starring Ted's Ardal O'Hanlon and Edinburgh's Ewen Bremner.

I had high hopes for this, being a huge Ted-head and also keen to see low-budget British films do well amongst their bigger budget cousins. The film tells of two men, played by O'Hanlon and Bremner, who sign-up to help build the world's first famine theme park in Ireland. And that's about it.

Sadly this was a real let-down, with a plot that was badly set-up, characters that had no back-story and jokes that fell flat. By not telling us who the central characters are and why we should root for them, when hints of their past are finally dropped in to the story we just don't really care.

This afternoon promises something a bit more high octane in the form of the two-part French thriller Mesrine: Killer Instinct and Mesrine: Public Enemy Number One.

Off for some lunch before the death and destruction begins!

Wednesday 17 June 2009, 17.15 - Having a Terribly Happy time

Three films yesterday and three today, not bad going so far at the EIFF.

Today's first screening was Australian stop-motion animation Mary and Max (premieres Friday 19 June), featuring the voice talent of Philip Seymour Hoffman, Toni Collette and Eric Bana.

Set in 70s Australia, the story starts when young Mary (Collette) decides to write to a random New Yorker whose address she finds in a library book. She ends up writing to Max (Hoffman), an overweight New Yorker with mental problems who can't easily interact with the world.

Narrated by Barry Humphries, the film starts off as almost a parody of French film Amelie, before settling into its own groove, the letters zipping back and forth between the pair opening up both their lives to new experiences.

The humour is pitched perfectly here, no jokes as such just nicely observed moments and a lot of sight gags in the background. This really is a gem of the EIFF and I can't recommend it highly enough.

The final film of the day was Denmark's Terribly Happy (premieres Saturday 20 June).

Set in a small Danish town, the film begins with a new police officer arriving to replace the previous marshall and meeting the odd inhabitants as they drink, fight and gossip.

Terribly Happy is a very dark film, the morals of the central characters difficult to side with at times. It's impossible to know where the story will go from one minute to the next, twists and turns knocking your expectations away just as you think you know what's happening.

This is another film I'm recommending people try to see, though subtitles will undoubtedly put some people off. But then that's the point of the EIFF, to try something new while you have the chance. If you want to experiment a bit you could do far worse than Terribly Happy and Mary and Max.

As ever, keep an eye on my Twitter feed for more updates during the fortnight, or visit itsonitsgone.com for more reviews.

Wednesday 17 June 2009, 13.00 - Getting carried Away

Today sees the official launch of the EIFF at tonight's premiere screening of Sam Mendes' new film, Away We Go, at the Cineworld Fountainpark.

I was lucky enough to see the film this morning and I loved it. I've not watched a decent US comedy for a long time and this manages to be hilarious and adult while still remaining sweet and affecting.

John Krasinski from the US version of The Office stars alongside Maya Rudolph as a couple in their thirties who are about to have a baby but can't decide where to have it. They set out on a road trip to meet friends and family who can help them choose.

This is laugh out loud funny, a sweet film with a lot to say about relationships in the noughties.

I also saw animation Mary and Max this morning and will write more about that later today.

Tuesday 16 June 2009, 19.00 - Moon shines at the EIFF

Well it's been and gone and happened: day one of the Edinburgh International Film Festival went almost without a hitch (a lack of wi-fi hampering early blogging) and I've seen my first three films, not one of them a dud.

First up this morning was The Private Lives Of Pippa Lee (premieres Thursday 18 June) from writer/director Rebecca Miller. The film stars Robin Wright Penn as Pippa Lee, devoted wife to Herb (Alan Arkin) who has decided to move into a retirement village to see out his life.

As Pippa reflects on how she got to this point, we soon start to see her early life in flashback, when her mother (Maria Bello) had a huge influence on her daughter's psyche.

Any danger that this could become yet another chick flick is avoided thanks to an intelligent script and a strong performance from Penn as the ageing, yet still vibrant, Pippa. Keanu Reeves also pops up to provide a fun cameo as a neighbour's wayward son. Read my Pippa Lee review over at itsonitsgone.com.

Next up was low-budget Britsh sci-fi film Moon (premieres Saturday 20 June) from director Duncan Jones. Moon is set, perhaps unsurprisingly, on the Moon, where astronaut Sam (Sam Rockwell) is coming to the end of a three year contract and readying himself to return to Earth.

When Sam has to attend to an accident nearby, he discovers a body, a body which seems to be very familiar...

On his own for virtually every scene, Rockwell is superb as the lonely worker who just wants to see his wife and daughter. Kevin Spacey is present for much of the film as robot Gerty, but in voice only, (sounding just like Peter Sellers' character in Being There, though maybe that's just me).

This is a darkly humorous piece with more than a few twists and I'd urge everyone to see it, whether you're a science fiction fan or not.

Finally, after braving the torrential rain to get back to the Cineworld in time, I watched Kathryn Bigelow's latest film, The Hurt Locker (premieres Friday 19 June).

Set in Iraq, the film follows the work of a US bomb disposal unit led by Sergeant William James (Jeremy Renner), a wild card who seems happy to walk into certain death while his men watch.

Touching on the experiences of those trapped in a war zone and how they come to terms with the death and destruction around them, The Hurt Locker is packed with both brains and brawn, Renner giving a stunning performance of a man who doesn't know any other life than one filled with adrenaline. Well worth seeing.

So, day one is over, day two promising more of the same, starting with new US animation Max and Mary. I'll attempt to get my thoughts on here earlier tomorrow, but remember to visit my Twitter feed for the latest from the EIFF.

Monday 15 June 2009, 12.00 - Gearing up

Although Wednesday sees the official launch of the 63rd Edinburgh International Film Festival, when the great and the good will make their way to the city and down the red carpet at the Cineworld to celebrate the best in modern filmmaking, tomorrow is the start of the fun for those of us tasked with writing about the films on offer.

For the next 13 days I'll be sitting in darkened cinemas around the city, trying to cram in as many feature films, documentaries, short films and animations as I can while hopefully interviewing actors, directors and other assorted film folk from around the globe.

I'll be documenting as much as I can on this blog as soon as I find somewhere with a decent wi-fi connection, so come back tomorrow afternoon for my first thoughts on this year's films.

You can also hear my latest reviews over at AudioBoo, follow my Twitter feed.