Issue 698
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- Issue 698
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Review of Reviews - Prometheus
25 Jun 2012
What we said, and they said, about Ridley Scott's return to the Alien universe
What we said ‘For all its newness, Prometheus feels oddly second hand. Inescapably, the film operates as a set of such discrete moments, rather than a fully-realised narrative.’ The List They said ‘For all its big ideas it’s not quite as revelatory…
Lucky Luke - Travelling for a Living
25 Jun 2012
This ‘lost’ second album a reminder of barren, grainy beauty of folk explorers
Before Mumford and their Barbour-clad ilk hijacked folk for their insidious Tory-chic lifestyle brand, bands like Glasgow’s Lucky Luke were taking the legacy of Fairport and Incredible String Band in a more idiosyncratic and radical direction. Lucy…
T in the Park 2012: T Break line-up
25 Jun 2012
TeKlo, Capitals, Beerjacket, Crusades, Nevada Base and more to play T's unsigned stage
Anderson, McGinty, Webster, Ward & Fisher This Dundonian fivesome have a nice line in instrument-swapping and harmonious gang vocals. Should be enjoyed by fans of Fleet Foxes, Bob Dylan and Crosby, Stills, Nash…
Strangebird Zirkus: Ornithology
22 Jun 2012
The German-Scottish partnership continues to thrill, this time with birds without feathers
Ever sat in the theatre and wished you could change the channel? Well now you can, courtesy of the latest production from Edinburgh-based aerial company Strangebird Zirkus. While the visual aspect of Ornithology may remain the same (and if the…
Philippine New Wave: This is Not A Film Movement
22 Jun 2012
An illustrated oral history of the vibrant Philippine independent filmmaking scene
If you’re looking for an introduction to the largest – and, arguably, the most exciting – of the several new sections introduced into the EIFF programme this year by debuting artistic director Chris Fujiwara, you could do no worse than take check out…
The Cup Tea Lounge: new Renfield Street branch missing the cherry on the cake
22 Jun 2012
Second Cup Tea Lounge venue is opulent but food could be better
Entering the Cup Tea Lounge is magnificent. Right in the heart of city-centre Glasgow, it is a glorious, Category B-listed, Victorian Gothic building designed by Alfred Waterhouse of Natural History Museum fame. Once a branch of the Prudential, the…
PG Tips Monkey-man brings Peppa Pig to life
22 Jun 2012
Beloved puppet pig tours the country with her oinkish friends
What links a small pink pig loved by pre-schoolers, a tea-swilling monkey and the entire British Cabinet made of latex? The answer is Nigel Plaskitt, a man who has worked on Spitting Image, operated the PG Tips monkey, and is currently the go-to guy for…
The Ambassador
22 Jun 2012
Intriguing exposé on corruption in African business and politics
The Ambassador follows Danish documentarian Mads Brügger as he navigates his way through the blood diamond trade and the political systems that facilitate it. After purchasing a diplomatic passport declaring him an ambassador for the West African nation…
Dr Seuss’ The Lorax
22 Jun 2012
A visual delight let down by its sledgehammer approach to storytelling
The latest adaptation to be plucked from Dr. Seuss’s enduring oeuvre comes from the makers of Despicable Me, and it’s a visual delight; all beautifully-designed 3D animation, detailed sight gags and unique characters shaped in Seuss’s immediately…
Fukushima: Memories of the Lost Landscape
22 Jun 2012
Empathetic and beautiful documentary about those living in the aftermath of Japan’s 2011 tsunami
Opening with terrifying footage recorded in the filmmaker’s own flat during the 2011 Japanese tsunami, this thoughtful, softly empathetic film then tours the damaged lands around the Fukushima nuclear plant. Along the way it documents stoicism…
The Life and Times of Paul the Psychic Octopus
22 Jun 2012
Irreverent foray into the Octopus who successfully predicted the results of the 2010 World Cup
The director of the brilliant Star Wars fan culture study The People Vs George Lucas returns with another buoyant and irreverent foray into the weirder verges of pop culture. Back in the summer of 2010, World Cup fever settled upon an octopus in a…
Simplicity is key at Le Bistrot de l'Institut francais d'Ecosse
22 Jun 2012
Lovely Gallic quality and simplicity at the Institut français' new restaurant
If you look carefully there’s now a menu attached to the railings of the French Institute, just off Queensferry Road. Walking down slightly scruffy, institute-yellow stairs to the basement feels like heading to a school canteen, but it's a fortunate…
Killer Joe opens Edinburgh International Film Festival 2012
21 Jun 2012
Director William Friedkin and star Gina Gershon attend, as well as Elliot Gould and Jim Broadbent
The Edinburgh International Film Festival opening gala took place last night, with the UK premiere of William Friedkin's Killer Joe. As well as Friedkin and Killer Joe's Gina Gershon, actors Elliot Gould and Jim Broadbent (attending the EIFF as jurors…
Philippine New Wave
21 Jun 2012
A closer look at the spirited, ambitious and brilliantly diverse films emerging from the Philippines
The largest of several new sections introduced into the EIFF programme this year by new artistic director Chris Fujiwara, Philippine New Wave also looks like being by far the most exciting. Aside from their country of origin, what the 11 features (and…
Rent-a-Cat
21 Jun 2012
Charming but occasionally repetitive comedy from Japan
Sayoko (Mikako Ichikawa) has a knack for attracting cats. She has so many around her house that she starts renting them out to lonely fellow citizens in need of a little companionship. What nobody knows about Sayoko (except for her exceptionally blunt…
Kid-Thing
21 Jun 2012
A portrait of morally untethered childhood, full of atmosphere but lacking insight
This slow, directionless portrayal of a lonely child in rural America is full of atmospheric detail but without a compelling narrative to hold the scenes together it's hard work with little reward, even for a committed audience. The film centres on the…
Mondomanila, or: How I Fixed My Hair After A Rather Long Journey
21 Jun 2012
Wild and extreme pseudo-documentary about the Filipino capital’s underclass
Khavn De La Cruz’s Mondomanila, or: How I Fixed My Hair After A Rather Long Journey has got to be a contender for the wildest film of this year’s Edinburgh International Film Festival. Based on the Norman Wilwayco’s cult novel, Mondomanila is, as its…
Shadow Dancer
21 Jun 2012
James Marsh’s IRA thriller is an accomplished, slow-burning drama
Like the late Alan Clarke’s remarkable television film Elephant, which depicted a series of senseless killings in Northern Ireland during the era of the so-called Troubles, director James Marsh’s Belfast-set drama shows sectarian murders being…
Pictorial film quiz
21 Jun 2012
Some cryptic clues to popular films of 2012
FORHUTEST The word 'hut' is inside the word 'forest'. The hut in the forest? Why, it must be.... GALAHAD Galahad was a knight of King Arthur's Round Table. Of the four Galahads in the picture, the darkest one is rising. That's right…
Cosmopolis
20 Jun 2012
An evocative imagining of the last days of capitalism, from visceral director David Cronenberg
Surprisingly Don DeLillo’s novel Cosmopolis was written several years before the events of 2011: the Arab Spring, Occupy Wall Street and the London riots. Yet seeing the film verison - adapted by David Cronenberg (who apparently was so inspired by the…
Interview: Chris Fujiwara and Hannah McGill on the EIFF
20 Jun 2012
Current artistic director of Edinburgh International Film Festival interviewed by a former one
Hannah McGill used to be artistic director of the Edinburgh International Film Festival. Chris Fujiwara is the man who’s got the job now. The two sit down to discuss the challenges of the world’s oldest continually running film festival.
Profile: Matthew Akers on Marina Abramovic: The Artist Is Present
20 Jun 2012
Director of documentary about celebrated performance artist
Matthew Akers landed a plum job when he got the chance to make his debut feature Marina Abramovic: The Artist Is Present. He’d previously worked on documentaries covering subjects as diverse as life on a US nuclear aircraft carrier and in a New York…
Edinburgh Annuale 2012
20 Jun 2012
Essential showcase of city's independent artistic infrastructure
In terms of how art happens at a grassroots level, both Creative Scotland and the Scottish Government are as clueless as each other. The importance of Edinburgh Annuale to the city’s independent artistic infrastructure, on the other hand, cannot be…
Alan Cumming, John Tiffany and Andrew Goldberg production of Macbeth
20 Jun 2012
Stunning performance by Alan Cumming as Shakespeare's tyrant king
Alan Cumming’s celebrity status and many sidelines, including as a novelist and campaigner, sometimes threaten to eclipse the fact that he’s an incredibly versatile actor. There aren’t many other stars with the courage, energy and charisma to pull off…
Your Sister's Sister
20 Jun 2012
A very genuine film packed with smart observations about modern relationships.
Recent film highlights from the American independent scene have tended to stand out for their honest portrayals of contemporary life rather than for breaking new ground in style and form. And so it is with Lynn Shelton’s latest film Your Sister’s…
