Edinburgh 2009: The Tomato Report ? Spread, Fish Tank and The September Issue Unspool

Fashion, sex and life collide in three very different festival films.

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David Mackenzie's history with the Edinburgh Film Festival is a long one. Both Young Adam and Hallam Foe are set in Scotland and played at the festival, with the latter opening proceedings in 2007. It's fair to say programming a Mackenzie film for the festival is something of a given, but there was no sight of the director at last night's screening of his new film Spread, with word being that he wasn't particularly happy with the end result following studio clashes.

The tale of a young man (Aston Kutcher) who seduces a rich older woman (Anne Heche) so he can live in luxury surroundings in the Hollywood Hills, Spread is extremely sexually charged and set against an idealized LA backdrop. It's "the very definition of a vanity project," says Kevin Debruge for Spout. "One that allows Kutcher to demonstrate his acting chops and his chiseled abs at the same time."

UGO seems to sum it up best. "The story is dull, the dialogue is stilted and star Ashton Kutcher's Nicki is completely undeserving of the epiphany that ultimately awakens him," says Adam Rosenberg. "There's a lot of bare skin though."

Also playing was Andrea Arnold's Fish Tank, fresh from its time at the Cannes Film Festival and joined, for the first time, by its star, newcomer Katie Jarvis, who wasn't able to make the Cannes screening.. The tale of Mia (Jarvis), a 15-year-old whose penchant for trouble has seen her excluded from school and alienated from her friends, Fish Tank joins her on a hot summer's day as her foul-mouthed mother introduces her to the latest man in her life, Connor (Michael Fassbender). As Connor's relationship with Mia becomes closer and more intimate, questions about who he is and what he wants with her begin to surface, but in the haze of life in Britain's poorest neighbourhoods, no-one seems to be asking them.

The cast of Fish Tank join Andrea Arnold for the photocall.

Critics wasted no time in praising Fish Tank for its immaculately-drawn characters. Dave Calhoun was full of praise for Time Out. He gave the film five stars and said, "Arnold's portrayal of the inner life of this girl is as sensitive, imaginative and credible as her depiction of the wider world in which she lives."

Nevertheless, more than one critic reported to RT after the screening that the film could have done with being slightly shorter. Leslie Felperin wrote in Variety, "A bit of trimming on the pic's two-hour running time might not have gone amiss," she said, but added that it would have been hard to pick out scenes for the chopping block.

Finally on the agenda was R.J. Cutler's outstanding The September Issue, a documentary charting the conflicts and emotions with the offices of American Vogue as the staff, under editor Anna Wintour, prepare their most important issue of the year. "As a portrait of Wintour the person, RJ Cutler's documentary does little to dig under the surface of Wintour's iconic, impassive under bangs image," writes Karina Longworth for Spout. "But as a meditation on art vs commerce, emotion vs rationality, and the role of fantasy merchants in the recently-burst economic bubble, The September Issue is both cerebral and accessible. If it's not as provocative as it could be, it's definitely entertaining."

What's On Today

Roger Corman Retrospective by Kim Newman
Every day during the festival, Edinburgh will be showing one of B-movie legend Roger Corman's classics, leading up to a Q&A with the man himself -- hosted by our very own Kim Newman - on Wednesday 24th. In celebration, Kim will be reviewing each of the films playing as part of our coverage of the festival.

- The Masque of the Red Death - Screening at 13:00, Filmhouse 1
The Poe series had a last, magnificent flowering when Roger Corman brought the show to Britain. Vincent Price twitches moustache and eyebrows with elegant, weary cynicism as Death himself invades a masqued ball and spreads the red plague among decadent aristocrats. Cinematographer Nicolas Roeg adds visual sophistication, including a long tracking shot through a succession of differently-coloured rooms, while the shock effects have a daring sensuality, as Patrick Magee is dressed as an ape and burned alive by a dwarf jester and Hazel Court brands her swanny cleavage in tribute to Satan before being murdered by a swooping falcon.

- The Tomb of Ligeia - Screening at 15:15, Filmhouse 1
The last of Roger Corman's Vincent Price-Edgar Allan Poe movies, this gets out of the studio to use lovely English locations but still manages to evoke the feeling of the walls closing in on the protagonist. Price, sporting the coolest sunglasses available in 1821, is tormented by the spirit of his dead wife Ligeia (Elizabeth Shepherd). Scripted by Robert Towne, this is a full-blooded gothic romance in the tempestuous manner, with high-flown dialogue and many opportunities for the heroine to run about lavishly-appointed, cobwebbed corridors in her powder-blue nightie pursued by the villainess in the form of a malicious cat.

Today's Highlights
Keep an eye out for these films amongst those playing at the festival today, Tuesday 23rd June.

- For the Love of Movies -- Screening at 14:00, Cineworld
A doc exploring the art of the American film critic followed by a panel discussion with Sight and Sound editor Nick James.

- Le Donk -- Screening at 18:00, Filmhouse 1
Paddy Considine stars in Shane Meadows' uproarious mockumentary about a roadie with visions of concert superstardom.

- Humpday -- Screening at 19:00, Cameo 1
Lynn Shelton brings her Sundance hit to Edinburgh as she tells the tale of a pair of best friends who get closer than they'd like for an odd art project.

To book tickets for these films, click here. Join us again soon for more on these films and the Edinburgh Film Festival 2009.