The Silence of Lorna (15)

Thursday 18th December 2008

True to the title of this sombre, Belgium-set drama, the Lorna at its heart is a taciturn sort.

The Day The Earth Stood Still (12a)

12:44am Thursday 11th December 2008

Scott Derrickson’s remake of the science fiction classic proves that splashing mega bucks on a picture doesn’t necessarily mean bigger thrills.

Dance: Sleeping Beauty

12:16am Thursday 11th December 2008

If pantomimes are not your thing, then here’s a fairy-tale treat that brings its own special sparkle to the Christmas stage – Scottish Ballet’s sumptuous version of Sleeping Beauty.

Theatre: The Tobacco Merchant’s Lawyer

12:15am Thursday 11th December 2008

Playwright Iain Heggie is a master of the short form, as this revival of a piece originally seen as part of Oran Mor’s A Play, A Pie and A Pint season shows off well.

Classical: Russian Winter – BBC SSO Tonight

12:15am Thursday 11th December 2008

Here, without question, is the gig of the week in any genre. Tonight the BBC SSO’s chief conductor Ilan Volkov adds a new tune to his repertoire with his debut performance of Stravinsky’s epochal ballet score from 1913, The Rite of Spring.

White Christmas (U)

12:05am Thursday 11th December 2008

What started out in life as the 1942 musical Holiday Inn was reinvented by Michael Curtiz in glorious style as this 1954 charmer.

Dean Spanley (U)

12:04am Thursday 11th December 2008

Catnip for dog-lovers is one way of describing Toa Fraser’s endearingly eccentric creation. Barking would be another.

North Face (12A)

12:03am Thursday 11th December 2008

A thrilling tale of mountaineering derring-do with camerawork to match. Set in 1936 and based on a true story, Philipp Stolzl’s drama focuses on a bid by two climbers to be the first to scale the north face of the Eiger, known among mountaineers, for good and grisly reasons, as “the murder wall”.

Inkheart (PG)

12:02am Thursday 11th December 2008

This muddled adaptation of Cornelia Funke’s bestselling series of novels has the misfortune to come along just when the fashion for children’s fantasy adventure, at least in cinema, is on its last legs, with only the all-conquering Harry Potter left to get excited about.

Pop: Joan as Police Woman

Thursday 11th December 2008

A full description of the varied musical adventures of Joan Wasser, aka Joan As Police Woman, right, would barely fit into the entirety of The Herald, never mind this column.

Same planet, different worlds

12:35am Thursday 4th December 2008

Summer (15): Robert Carlyle is a working class hero. Not in the bitter sense in which John Lennon, with his fur coats and Manhattan apartments, sang about such a breed, but in an admirable, uplifting way.

Lakeview Terrace (15)

12:38am Thursday 4th December 2008

Neil LaBute shows his face again after that laughable remake of The Wicker Man with a slick thriller that sparks promisingly at the start but never manages to catch fire.

Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (PG)

12:40am Thursday 4th December 2008

The animated beasts who like to move it-move it, are on the march again in this passable sequel to the mega-grossing original. Alex the Lion (Ben Stiller), Marty the zebra (Chris Rock), and friends are leaving Madagascar, bound for home in New York.

The Children (15)

12:41am Thursday 4th December 2008

This Christmas, best pray your lot don't follow the lead set by the ankle-biters in Tom Shankland's horror.

Julia (15)

12:43am Thursday 4th December 2008

“I like to make people’s dreams come true,” says the nightmarish Julia (Tilda Swinton) in Erick Zonca’s overwrought drama. Alcoholic and out of work, Julia becomes involved in a money-raising scheme that’s too bizarre to be true, much like everything else in Zonca’s picture.

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