Issue 603

Cannes Diary

The start of the Cannes 2008 film festival was dominated by two films that delve into the recent past to raise pertinent and timely questions about how the State deals with those they consider terrorists. Billed as cinema’s first animated documentary…

Singles & Downloads

It may be happy coincidence, or just a refusal to write about the new Rascals single, but there’s only good stuff left in the pile this issue, meaning everyone deserves a big sloppy one on the lips for their efforts. Dead or American have run at…

Taste Test - Chicken sandwiches

Fresssh 51–53 Cochrane Street, Glasgow, £2.80 •• Sweet chilli sauce gives this sandwich a bit of oomph – something it probably needed given the bland cubed chicken and plain bread. The fire in the chilli is under control, which is probably sensible…

The Drawer Boy

SCOTTISH PREMIERE Tron, Glasgow, until Sat 24 May All of us live by personal myths; stories we tell ourselves about our own past actions that justify the present. It seems easy enough to uncover these in others, but much harder to identify our own…

Gone Baby Gone - Ben Affleck interview

Ben Affleck returns to his childhood stomping ground for his directorial debut, Gone Baby Gone. It focuses on the story of a child who gets kidnapped with the mother a prime suspect and, like Mystic River, it is adapted from a work by Dennis Lehane.

Painted Eggs

THEATRE St Bride’s Centre, Edinburgh, Thu 29–Sat 31 May Gay-themed theatre is a rare beast, but drama based around the experience of transsexuals is even more exceptional. This fortnight, The Luvvies, Scotland’s LGBT community theatre company, are set…

Opera Circus: Differences in Demolitions

OPERA Tron Theatre, Glasgow, Wed 27 & Thu 28 May; Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh, Sat 31 May Think of Bosnia and Herzogovina and the chances are that ethnic cleansing and bloodshed spring to mind. Yet, this Balkan country, where east meets west, has a rich…

Playlist

The latest PlayList invites you to investigate the past, present and future through the remarkable reality tunnels detailed in the work of French film artist Chris Marker. Marker is due to celebrate his 87th birthday this year. If you recognise the…

13 Kids and Wanting More

DOCUMENTARY Channel 4, Thu 22 May, 9pm When is enough really quite enough? The subjects of this film clearly don’t believe in the concept, as they churn out child after baby after offspring, some for reasons of faith, others simply because they love…

Shotgun Stories

REVENGE/TRAGEDY (12A) 90min Poverty and hope are the currencies traded in the southeastern part of Arkansas that is the stage for Jeff Nichol’s feature debut. This is a land of downriver people whose luckless lives are tied to the Mississippi-enriched…

Rigmarole

DEVISED THEATRE Arches, Glasgow, Wed 28–Fri 30 May, Ah, the youth of today. They skulk around at bus stops, they commit acts of arson... they devise experimental theatre pieces structured around Pirandello farces... Phil Spencer, one member of the…

Janice McNab

PAINTING Doggerfisher, Edinburgh, until Sat 12 Jul In recent years the work of Aberfeldy-born, Amsterdam-based painter Janice McNab has lent itself towards a series she calls her ‘Chocolate Box Paintings’. While that term has developed from…

Tovarisch, I Am Not Dead

DOCUMENTARY (15) 83 min Back in 1980, a Polish-born Jewish doctor Garri Urban published an autobiographical account Tovarisch, I Am Not Dead of his remarkable experiences in Eastern Europe during World War Two. Having fled the Nazis, who massacred…

Sleuth

REVIVAL Theatre Royal, Glasgow, Mon 26–Sat 31 May Since Anthony Shaffer’s Sleuth first appeared in 1970, its countless revivals and two film versions attest to its capacity to intrigue audiences. But will the much-hyped, though ultimately slightly…

X (Group Show)

MIXED MEDIA Recoat Gallery, Glasgow, Sat 31 May–Wed 2 Jul Life can be tough for a young gallery, particularly when it comes to finding its niche. Yet, this has not been a problem for the team at Recoat Gallery, who are gearing up for their tenth…

Catherine Yass: High Wire

FILM AND PHOTOGRAPHY INSTALLATION CCA, Glasgow, until Sat 24 May In July 2007 French high wire artist Didier Pasquette attempted to walk between three of Glasgow’s Red Road high rise tower blocks. The event turned out to be somewhat anti-climatic with…

5 Reasons To Go See - Bob Mould

Hüsker Dü - Mould was singer and guitarist with seminal American hardcore outfit Hüsker Dü. Throughout the 80s they released a string of hugely influential records including Zen Arcade and New Day Rising. Their unique blend of thrashy punk, melody and…

Scottish Ballet's Romeo and Juliet

NARRATIVE BALLET Theatre Royal Glasgow, Wed 4–Sat 7 Jun Big narrative ballets are filled with opulent sets and long drawn-out scenes – right? Not this time. Scottish Ballet has taken a different approach to Shakespeare’s tragic love story. Gone is the…

Doctor Dolittle

MUSICAL Edinburgh Festival Theatre, Tue 20–Sat 31 May With a Hollywood pedigree that includes The Happiest Millionaire, Finian’s Rainbow and Half a Sixpence, Tommy Steele needs no lessons in how to turn in a charismatic lead performance in a musical.

Change of Address

French horn teacher David (Emmanuel Mouret) is improbably picked up by impulsive Anne (Frédérique Bel). She convinces him to come and live in her small Parisian flat. These oddballs are obviously perfect for each other but in denial of this fact they…

Various - Sub Club: 20 Years Underground

ELECTRONICA (Soma) To continue the Sub Club’s 20th birthday celebrations, Subculture’s Harri and Domenic and Optimo’s Twitch and Wilkes (the Subbie’s longest-serving residents) have been invited to compile an album which reflects the music policy that…

JD Set Legendary Mash

COMPETITION WINNERS Various venues, Tennessee, Thu 10–Sun 13 Apr Friday night’s shenanigans began with dinner at BB King’s before moving onto the Mercy Lounge for Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. It was an amazing set in an intimate venue. On Saturday…