Issue 592

Rihanna

13 Dec 2007

Girls Aloud know it, Leona Lewis knows it, and even Franz Ferdinand know it – great pop is hard to beat. America’s most recent answer to our successful crop has to be Rihanna, whose infectious ‘Umbrella’ dominated the UK charts and playlists for months…

Extras

13 Dec 2007

For all his faults (and his stand-up and radio work make them plentiful), Ricky Gervais at least knows when a TV comedy should bow out. Having clocked off at The Office with 12 episodes and a Christmas special, he has opted for the same strategy with…

Hogmanay in Glasgow and Edinburgh 2008

13 Dec 2007

Kirstin Innes looks at the options for celebrating Hogmanay in Glasgow this year while Allan Radcliffe discovers the traditional meeting the contemporary in a diverse programme of events for the capital’s Hogmanay.

Hot 100 - 2007's hottest talent

13 Dec 2007

Scottish culture has shone in 2007, and so have Scottish stars. Throughout the year we have been working tirelessly to spot the hottest talent out there. We also invited you to nominate the people, places and events you think have made the greatest…

I'm Not There - interview with Todd Haynes

13 Dec 2007

Todd Haynes is an artist who knows about shedding skins. The director originally came to prominence as part of the New Queer Cinema movement, a group that reacted to the arrival of AIDS by making films that investigated its impact on gay America. Now…

Review of the year - clubs

13 Dec 2007

We can’t look back on 2007 without mentioning two of the biggest (but very different) clubs in Scotland reaching their tenth birthday. Optimo (pictured) have continued to plough their own furrow of weird goodness as Twitch and Wilkes forge ahead with…

Review of the year - music

13 Dec 2007

The year kicked off in vitriolic style with The Hold Steady at the Cathouse. Now the paunchy book and vinyl nerds have a god to worship. Bow down people, here’s Craig Finn. Similar idolatry occurred at Barrowland for LCD Soundsystem ’s umpteenth show in…

It's a Wonderful Life

(U) 130min

13 Dec 2007

You know Christmas has arrived when Frank Capra’s perennial festive season favourite receives its annual reissue. The 1947 classic is one of the most inspirational films of all time, as well as being a fine romance, a terrific comedy and genuine…

Review of the year - songs

13 Dec 2007

The List’s crack team of music critics pick the songs that floated their boat in 2007 Ida Maria ‘Oh My God’ Iggy Pop meets Björk meets Janis Joplin from this feisty Norwegian. The Horrors ‘ Little Victories’ Inspired, bellowing from under the…

Les Chansons d’Amour - review

Musical/comedy

13 Dec 2007

MUSICAL/ROMANCE LES CHANSONS D’AMOUR (LOVE SONGS) (15) 100min In Les Chansons d’amour Christophe Honoré uses the great French filmmaker Jacques Demy’s 1964 film The Umbrellas of Cherbourg as a template, splitting his musical romance into three…

Sigur Rós - Hvarf-Heim

13 Dec 2007

ROCK (EMI) Released to loosely accompany the Icelandic outfit’s superb recent film, Heima, this two-CD album is a revelation. The Hvarf half contains outtakes and rarities from 12 years of full-band studio sessions and is full of the sumptuous epic…

Glasvegas - preview

13 Dec 2007

Alan McGee calls these boys and girls: ‘the best Glasgow band since The Jesus and Mary Chain.’ and he should know given his track record. The retrophiles released their debut single ‘Daddy’s Gone’ last month so time for a bit of a celebration at regular…

The Kite Runner

(12A) 127min

13 Dec 2007

This adaptation of Afghan-American author Khaled Hosseini’s popular novel arrives in cinemas trailed by the news that its two young stars have been evacuated out of Afghanistan by the film’s producers, for fear of reprisals from still active Sunni…

Princesses (Princesas)

(18) 113min

13 Dec 2007

Madrid-born and bred filmmaker Fernando León Aranoa confirms himself as Spain’s answer to Ken Loach with this affecting but unsentimental, gritty but humorous drama about a pair of prostitutes eking out a living in the Spanish capital. Just as Aranoa’s…

Review of the year - comedy

13 Dec 2007

Stewart Lee Becoming a father should be a big enough deal in anyone’s year, but British comedy’s bossman also scooped the number 41 slot in Channel 4’s stand-up comic poll. And boy, did he make hay from that, conjuring the Fringe’s comedy highlight in…

Big Country - 5 reasons to go see

13 Dec 2007

1 It’s been a long time since they rock’n’rolled In actual fact, it’s been seven years since the band hit a stage, and a full 25 years since the Dunfermline outfit formed from the ashes of The Skids. Based around singer and guitarist Stuart Adamson, the…

Comedy DVDs

13 Dec 2007

DVD Marcus Brigstocke: Planet Corduroy The Show The erudite satirist rails against the injustices of the world in London’s Shaw Theatre, analysing how tough it must be to live life as a corduroy-loving middle-class white chap. The Extras A stirring…

Review of the year - TV

13 Dec 2007

The Sopranos David Chase’s cryptic diner finale wasn’t to all tastes, but the doubters were, obviously, just plain wrong. TV won’t ever be the same with Tony’s passing. Life on Mars Seems that some weren’t that keen on how the curtain was brought…

Review of the year - visual art

13 Dec 2007

In a year that’s brought the best work by Picasso and Warhol to our doors, this has otherwise been a relatively quiet one for Scottish visual art. Everybody got on with what they did best. In the capital the first Edinburgh Art Festival took place under…

Stockholm and Reykjavik

13 Dec 2007

Let there be light As the largest metropolis in the biggest of the Nordic countries Stockholm proudly lays claim to be the capital of Scandinavia. Yet, the city – essentially a collection of small islands which collide at the point where the Baltic in…

Alex Smoke

13 Dec 2007

The master of intelligent techno and diverse electronica Alex Smoke is putting in a live set as he joins forces with Jim Hutchinson (putting in a DJ set) to launch their Hum + Haw record label. Smoke’s monster techno beast ‘Vaporub’ will be the…

Christmas turkeys

13 Dec 2007

Jamie at Home Christmas Special He may be trying to save us from rearing a nation of porkers, but that doesn’t mean he deserves to keep plaguing our screens. Out Oliver! Channel 4, Fri 21 Dec, 9pm. Parkinson It’s the final show ever! What took him…

Elaine C Smith - 5 things you might not know about her

13 Dec 2007

1 In 1987, the Baillieston-born actress appeared in the kids show Dramarama in an episode entitled ‘My Mum’s a Courgette.’ 2 Her most recent Beeb appearance was in Jennifer Saunders’ ill-fated Life and Times of Vivienne Vyle. Fortunately, Smith…

Review of the year - video games

13 Dec 2007

What promised to be a rather mundane year in gaming turned out to be a surprising 12 months. Two lessons were learned in 2007: firstly, discount Nintendo’s infectious innovation at your peril. And secondly, punters can’t get enough of imaginative…

Wedgwood the Restaurant - review

13 Dec 2007

Edinburgh is a tourist city, and for restaurants that’s both a blessing and a curse. Tourists are hundreds of thousands of extra diners appearing at their collective door each year; look too closely to them, however, and you’ll be disparaged for…