Issue 677

Inside Job examines 2008 financial crisis - Charles Ferguson interview

Matt Damon-narrated documentary suggest crash was avoidable

An interview with Charles Ferguson, director of the Matt Damon-narrated Inside Job, an examination of the 2008 financial crisis

Dark Australian crime thriller Animal Kingdom

James Frecheville, Jacki Weaver and Guy Pearce star in David Michôd's crime flick

(15) 113min This dark Australian crime thriller has had critics lining up to heap praises upon it since its prize-winning debut at Sundance last January, and it arrives on these shores fresh from a deserved Oscar nomination in the Best Supporting…

Uplifting documentary Waste Land profiles world’s largest rubbish dump

British film on garbage artist Vik Muniz features score by Moby

(PG) 98min ‘I like to take people into places they can’t access on their own’, is how British documentary filmmaker Lucy Walker (Blindsight, plus the forthcoming Countdown to Zero) recently described her films. Her Oscar-nominated Waste Land…

Radiohead album King of Limbs released - New video 'Lotus Flower'

New Radiohead album out today - a day early - and here's the first video - Lotus Flower

The Strange Undoing of Prudencia Hart fuses karaoke with ceilidh music

David Greig play pays homage to Borders legend in pub setting

The legend of the ‘teind’ or tribute paid by the fairy folk to the Devil every seven years is as old as the Southern Uplands and recounted in numerous Scottish Border Ballads, including the eerie ‘Tam Lin’. Playwright David Greig here pays homage to the…

You Instead - David MacKenzie's film shot in four days at T in the Park

Rock’n’roll romcom that follows two handcuffed-together rockstars

Making a feature film in four days is no mean feat; doing it amid the craziness of T in the Park is even more impressive. ‘It was really invigorating, because you know you can’t spend too much time on any one thing, so it’s all new stuff, you’re not…

The Rite - The human obsession with possession

Latest in line of films exploring possession of the body, spirit and soul

We know that modern society is obsessed with ownership – fancy electrical goods, high fashion and general clutter. But there’s another form of possession with which people have been obsessed for a very long time. It’s possession of the body, the spirit…

Wee Stories bring storytelling sessions to children's theatre

Tall Tales and Saturday Stories at Tron and Traverse

A trip to the theatre usually involves closing your mouth and opening your ears. But once a month, at Glasgow’s Tron Theatre, things get a lot more interactive. Both the ‘Tiny Tales’ and ‘Tall Tales’ storytelling sessions (for ages 6 months-2 years and…

UK playwrights fight government cuts

Theatre Uncut features work by Mark Ravenhill, David Greig, Lucy Kirkwood and Jack Thorne

Scotland’s art scene seldom stands on ceremony and next month looks set to be just as impressive as Bedlam Theatre hosts a day of theatre, music and talk, as part of a nationwide stand against the Government spending review. Playwrights including Mark…

Single of the fortnight: Austra - Beat and Pulse

Single reviews February 2011

Alexis Jordan, Arthur's Landing, Austra, Cults, Jacques Greene, Lupe Fiasco, Lykke Li, Martin Creed, Music, Naum Gabo, Neon Trees, Penguins Kill Polar Bears, and Verse Metrics all reviewed.

The best of Frightfest at Glasgow Film Festival 2011

Paul McEvoy, founder and co-director of the horror film festival within a festival, picks the best of the line-up ‘We always have a snapshot of exactly where the genre is at the moment, so we’re only as strong as the films that are being produced. I…

Glasser set for Glasgow show on UK tour - interview

Spooky female pop layering sighing vocals over tribal beats

Cameron Mesirow follows in the tiptoed footsteps of Fever Ray and School of Seven Bells, continuing the trend for spooky female pop, and layering a cobwebby veil of sighing vocals over tribal beats. The LA artist’s creepy-pretty style of celestial…

Glasgow Short Film Festival highlights 2011

Miranda Pennell Retrospective, Lonesome Road and Wounded Knee

GSFF Opening Night Party with LuckyMe The Glasgow arts collective LuckyMe has a reputation for throwing great festival parties. It will helm GSFF’s opening-night shindig, with live performances and DJ sets from American Men, The Blessings, Éclair Fifi…

West is West an uninspired and unrewarding sequel to East is East

Andy DeEmmony's plodding, bland drama stars Om Puri and Aqib Khan

(15) 103min East is East was one of the British box office successes of the late 90s, and found an even bigger audience on video and DVD, but it’s hard to believe that there is much, if any, anticipation for this belated sequel. That is probably for…

Craig Murray-Orr documents self-imposed exile in the wilderness

New Zealand-born artist captures magnificent isolation

There’s a sense of magnificent isolation as you go walkabout in New Zealand-born Craig Murray-Orr’s first show for a decade, that says much about self-imposed exile in the wilderness. Both Henry David Thoreau’s novel Walden and the sprawl of Jack…

The Rite - Demonic possession thriller bogged down by script

Anthony Hopkins, Rutger Hauer and Colin O'Donoghue fail to escape The Exorcist's shadow

(15) 113min ‘What did you expect, spinning heads and pea-soup?’ asks Vatican-approved exorcist Father Lucas Trevant (Anthony Hopkins) in Mikael Håfström’s demonic possession thriller, which initially offers a sober take on a horror genre that usually…

Glasgow Film Festival Meryl Streep retrospective

Festival co-director explains reasons behind 2011 retrospective

Allan Hunter, co-director of the GFF, explains his choice of Meryl Streep for this year’s retrospective ‘Meryl Streep is a star who has stood the test of time, and is currently enjoying a fresh wave of popularity among the generation who've seen The…

No Strings Attached - Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher in casual sexual relationship

Ivan Reitman's sweet-and-sour confection coasts by on personable leads

(15) 107min The moribund romcom genre emits a shrill death-rattle in No Strings Attached, in which Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher play friends who find themselves in a casual sexual relationship, only to find that there are always strings…

John Cage season features Hebrides Ensemble performing Water Music

University Concert Hall and Hunterian Gallery host music and art

The List is particularly chuffed this fortnight to announce a John Cage double banger. Work by the composer, writer and artist can be seen as part of a special Cage season, which includes a lunchtime concert by the Hebrides Ensemble on 24 Feb, at the…

Area guide to the Glasgow Film Festival

Kirstin Innes helps you bring the movies to life with our GFF-themed area guide

If you're interested in the Beyond Bollywood, Superheroes in Glasgow, Ceol's Craic or Fashion in Film strands, this is the Glasgow guide for you.

James Franco stars in Ginsberg biopic Howl - interview

We speak to the multi-disciplined actor about what he wants from life

Author, filmmaker, Oscars host and star of 127 Hours, Howl and Spiderman James Franco discusses his work.

Opening film Potiche and Little White Lies among GFF highlights

An overview of the careers of both actresses

The Catherine Deneuve-starring Potiche, opens the 2011 Glasgow Film Festival, while another programme highlight is Little White Lies starring Marion Cotillard. Paul Dale examines the career of both actresses.

The Glasgow Short Film Festival sheds light on influential area of US cinema

Focus on No Wave DIY ethos of 1970s and 80s New York

A look at the Glasgow Short Film Festival's No Wave strand, featuring Vivienne Dick's Lydia Lunch-starring She Had Her Gun All Ready.

Textile designer and re-upholsterer Eleanor Young's modern take on furniture

Glasgow designer enjoys giving unloved, boring items a new look

How did you get started? I graduated from the Glasgow School of Art in 2007 having studied textile design. I’ve always had the intention to produce my own designs, however I didn’t have the confidence or practical knowledge to jump straight in. It was…

Joanna Hogg explains how she made her second feature film Archipelago

British filmmaker returns with perceptive account of family holiday

Joanna Hogg ’s debut feature Unrelated was lauded as one of the most distinctive British films of recent years. She returns to cinema screens with Archipelago, a highly perceptive account of an upper-middle class family on holiday in the Scilly Isles.