Issue 560

113 articles

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Red Road - feature

2 Oct 2006

Red or dead

In these lean times for Scottish film it is women who are at the vanguard of quality, truth and all that should be right in cinema. Think of Lynne Ramsay, who made Morvern Callar, or Shona Auerbach, who was responsible for Dear Frankie, or Alison…

The Clash

2 Oct 2006

Earlier this year I noticed guerrilla-stickered cartoon bubbles around London that posed the question, ‘What would Joe Strummer do?’ They were trailers, it turned out, for a range of hip babygrows. But this mild absurdity exemplified how, almost four…

Rave - Instal, experimental music

2 Oct 2006

Born free?

Neil Cooper Instal’s now in its sixth year, and has grown considerably since it started. I’m not convinced, though, that bigger is necessarily better.

D'Offay art collection

2 Oct 2006

Sale of the Century

Last week provided an undeniably momentous moment in the history of British art. The landmark joint announcement by Tate and the Scottish National Galleries that Britain’s two largest public collections of contemporary art will join forces to acquire…

Brothers of the Head - interview

2 Oct 2006

I wrote Don Quixote

‘The danger is you mythologise,’ says British screenwriter Tony Grisoni, with reference to promoting his film Brothers of the Head. Prior to its premiere at last August’s Edinburgh International Film Festival Grisoni tells me, ‘During the making of a…

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Remote Control

2 Oct 2006

Brian Donaldson never thought he’d see it happen a

Fired up with a blaze of publicity, including the less than mysterious tale of some missing tapes (robbing from rich execs at the BBC to give to the poor public?), the £8m production of Robin Hood (BBC1, Sat 7 Oct, 7.05pm) is not exactly money well…

Paul Carter 4 March 1970-12 August 2006

2 Oct 2006

An appreciation of the Edinburgh-based artist Paul

It was with deep sorrow that we heard on 12 August of the death of artist and dear friend Paul Carter, in a tragic accident. Paul encapsulated all that was dynamic and progressive in the visual arts in Scotland, providing an inspirational catalyst…

Vivid Voodoo

2 Oct 2006

Voodoo, doll

The popular conception of voodoo is that of a dark, vengeful cult, where witch doctors stick pins in dolls, evil priests turn their enemies into zombies, and the possessed writhe and jerk to a relentless drumbeat. World-renowned photojournalist Les…

Glasgay!

2 Oct 2006

A doubling in funding means three new productions

There’s one event in the Glasgay! 2006 programme that doesn’t quite fit. Graffiti Brasil, a series of photographs of spray painting from the South American country, showing ‘fanatical vandalism’ and ‘jaw-droppingly elaborate murals’, doesn’t seem to…

Leech

2 Oct 2006

The Leech

Like the MOBOs, but with fewer heckles and as likely to be attended by Beyoncé, the Scottish Comedian of the Year competition in Glasgow’s Old Fruitmarket saw Mark Nelson pip Paul Pirie to the coveted title, a £600 cheque, and the not so coveted trophy…

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Spend a Penny

2 Oct 20065 stars

The Arches, Glasgow, until Sat 7 Oct

SITE SPECIFIC I suppose toilets, perhaps particularly public ones, are places where we must confront the truth of the body. A good place then, to set theatre, since this too, at its best, confronts uncomfortable truths. Andy Arnold’s deft, witty…

The Devil Wears Prada

2 Oct 20064 stars

Long before Jimmy Choo or Louis Vuitton, the Romans knew the score on couture. Back in 1AD Roman philosopher Seneca warned of the imperilled dangers of living ‘not according to reason, but according to fashion.’ Not that anyone took any notice. A couple…

The Departed

2 Oct 20063 stars

Ghosts are always a problem for Martin Scorsese. Each film he makes is inevitably compared to his own past masterpieces, so let’s start by saying that The Departed (those ghosts are even in the title now) is not as good as Taxi Driver, Raging Bull or…

The History Boys

2 Oct 20063 stars

It was no surprise to find that Alan Bennett’s biggest West End hit since The Madness of George III should follow it to the silver screen, given the cash it generated, but one wonders whether its producers might have taken into account other factors…

Merchant of Venice, The

2 Oct 20063 stars

The Merchant of Venice

CLASSIC It’s easy enough to see, in Britain’s current climate of religious intolerance, why Mark Thomson should wish to open the Lyceum’s new season with Shakespeare’s tale of money and racism. It is one of Shakespeare’s trickiest pieces. Our 21st…

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Tutti Frutti

2 Oct 20064 stars

King’s Theatre, Edinburgh, until Sat 7 Oct. Seen a

ADAPTATION We travel through life inscribed indelibly with the past. All current experience is informed by regret, guilt, nostalgia and joyful recollection, each crowding our minds in our idle moments and subconsciously influencing our actions when…

St Peter’s architects celebrated

2 Oct 2006

Major Gillespie, Kidd & Coia exhibition announced.

The work of two of Scotland’s greatest living architects, Andy MacMillan (pictured) and Isi Metzstein, is to be celebrated in a major exhibition led by The Lighthouse. Gillespie, Kidd & Coia: Architecture 1956-1987 will open at Scotland’s national…

John Pilger - Documentaries That Changed the World

2 Oct 20064 stars

John Pilger - Documentaries That Changed the World

POLITICAL DOCUMENTARY It’s hard not to feel ambivalence towards anyone who insists on partisanship. John Pilger is a case in point. A genuinely crusading print and TV journalist, Pilger has been fighting for the rights of the poor, the put-upon and…

Stage Whispers

2 Oct 2006

Theatre news

There’s so much happening in the theatre at present that Whispers is once again forced to put aside his usual egotistical ravings to flag up some entertainments that we couldn’t find space for amid our rush of reviews.

Brothers of the Head

2 Oct 20064 stars

(18) 93min

MOCKUMENTARY Brothers of the Head This British mock-rock-doc is something of a curate’s egg. It purports to tell the life stories of Tom and Barry Howe, a pair of conjoined twins who were snatched from the obscurity of England’s southern…

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Jason and the Argonauts

2 Oct 2006

Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, 12-14 Oct then tourin

THEATRE SHOW Harpies, fire-breathing bulls, dragons - Jason and the Argonauts has no shortage of combative characters. Add to that Jason, his family, Medea and over 50 Argonauts and you’ll understand the difficulties facing Visible Fictions…

Losing Louis

2 Oct 20063 stars

Touring

SCOTTISH PREMIERE Anyone with a family knows that much of what we do today is dictated by what the previous generations got up to many years before; it’s simple, practical history. Simon Mendes da Costa’s West End hit, here revived by Borderline is…

Grapevine

2 Oct 2006

Plucking fruits from the cultural bush

Rumours of his retirement from the rap game have clearly been exaggerated as Eminem has begun on a new D12 album. Plus, Mr Mathers has a new mixtape entitled Eminem Presents: The Re-Up, due out in December, containing six marvellous new tunes... Jake…

Yellow Moon

2 Oct 20064 stars

Citizens’ Theatre, Glasgow, until Sat 14 Oct

NEW WORK We live in a world of constructed realities. So-called reality TV shows flood our screens promising an insight into everyday life, airbrushed ‘beauties’ gaze at us from the pages of glossy magazines. Swamped by the media, society loses sight…

Jo Caulfield

2 Oct 2006

The Stand, Edinburgh, Tue 10 Oct; the Stand, Glasg

STAND-UP A few days after Jo Caulfield leaves Scotland to carry on with her nationwide tour, the Grumpy Old Women will be dropping by these parts for a good old whinge. If any of that trio falls ill, they could do worse than giving Ms Caulfield a…