Issue 703
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Frankenweenie
20 Sep 2012
Tim Burton’s latest is a triumphant black and white animation
The commodified pseudo-weirdness of Tim Burton has become a bit of a bugbear, even for those who once fell hard for his particular brand of whimsy. Wearying in its repetition of the same Goth-lite tropes, over-reliant on Johnny Depp’s cutesy bug-eyed…
To Rome with Love
10 Sep 2012
Woody Allen's latest is a joyfully silly tribute to the Italian capital
With his previous features Vicky Cristina Barcelona and Midnight in Paris, Woody Allen proved himself adroit at translating an American tourist’s view of the most beautiful (and undoubtedly clichéd) aspects of European culture to the big screen. Whereas…
Keyhole
10 Sep 2012
An exquisite and sorrowful offering from Guy Maddin
Keyhole is a haunted house movie unlike any other. Told in majestic monochrome, it’s sorrowful and exquisitely barking – a giddy waltz of grief. The brainchild of Canadian director Guy Maddin (My Winnipeg), one of the most idiosyncratic and ingenious…
Twenty8k
10 Sep 2012
Stylish East London set drama let down by a weak plot
Co-written by TV stalwart Paul Abbott (State of Play, Shameless) and Jimmy Dowdall, Twenty8k attempts to weave an intricate tale of gang warfare, police and political corruption and media manipulation in East London in the run-up to the…
The Invisible College and Churches in the Modern World
10 Sep 2012
Dual film & architecture exhibition focused on modern Catholicism
A dual exhibition which reflects the Catholic church’s process of aggiornamento (‘updating’) in the latter half of the 20th century, the two displays here examine the architecture of a new breed of modernist post-war places of worship in very different…
Rian Johnson, director of Looper
7 Sep 2012
The filmmaker talks about working with Bruce Willis and the logic of time travel
A story set in 2044, about assassins whose targets are sent back from thirty years further in the future, Looper is a very intricate sci-fi. How did you approach writing it? Writing the screenplay, part of what I wanted to do with it was really focus…
Glasgow Women's Library hosts group exhibition 21 Revolutions
7 Sep 2012
The show features works from Karla Black, Jacki Parry, Helen de Main, Sharon Thomas and Corin Sworn
Glasgow Women’s Library (GWL) has grown from a grassroots project launched in 1991 in a small shopfront in Garnethill into an accredited museum and a hub for women’s and equalities information in Scotland. The exhibition 21 Revolutions celebrates a…
Ruby Sparks
7 Sep 2012
Thoughtful, engaging romcom from the makers of Little Miss Sunshine
The directors of Little Miss Sunshine deal once again with the clash between romantic idealism and vulgar, messy reality, in a thoughtful, engaging romcom that draws great work from its central pairing. Paul Dano – Little Miss Sunshine’s mournful…
Rising playwright Mike Bartlett talks about his newest adaptation, Medea
7 Sep 2012
The play will star Tipping the Velvet's Rachael Stirling in the title role
Mike Bartlett has gained a reputation as one of Britain’s most exciting young playwrights, with original plays like Love, Love, Love and Cock. But in 2012, he’s been focusing on adapted works: first with his stage version of Chariots of Fire, which…
Looper
7 Sep 2012
Impressive time-travel tale from Rian Johnson, starring Bruce Willis and Joseph Gordon-Levitt
After his impressive debut Brick and his mildly disappointing follow-up, The Brothers Bloom, Rian Johnson’s time-travel tale Looper feels like a giant leap forwards. Warmly embracing elements of sci-fi, horror and romance, in a story inspired equally by…
Andy Arnold to resurrect Dermot Bolger's 1994 adaptation of Ulysses
7 Sep 2012
The Irish playwright's vision for James Joyce's seminal text finally able to hit the stage
When you think of the big ol' modernist masterpieces, James Joyce's 1922 novel Ulysses has probably inspired more hype, more academic criticism and more dispraise than any other, and yet it was inspired by a minor drunken tiff. One night in 1904 Dublin…
Expanding Horizons: Giovanni Battista Lusieri and the Panoramic Landscape
7 Sep 2012
Watercolour landscapes with photorealist sensibilities
Most remembered as the man who arranged the shipping of the Elgin Marbles in his position as artistic retainer to Thomas Bruce, Lord Elgin, this retrospective of Giovanni Battista Lusieri’s relatively little-remembered 18th and 19th century landscape…
Private Peaceful
7 Sep 2012
Lacklustre adaptation of Michael Morpurgo’s novel
This adaptation of Michael Morpurgo’s novel has a tough act to follow, telling a story that takes place in the same setting as War Horse (rural England during the First World War), the Morpurgo classic that was recently adapted in sweeping style by…
The xx - Coexist
7 Sep 2012
The trio reduce and distill their nocturnal pop into small, graceful fragments
The xx have that most cherished bond with the listener – they make you feel they are performing for you and you alone. Yes, the hushed and elegant reticence displayed on their 2009 debut was soon played to death, but in those moments of quiet solitude…
Efterklang - Piramida
7 Sep 2012
Homespun yet grand release from the Danish alt.folk group
The latest offering from the Danish orchestra-botherers comes wrapped up in a rich mythology: Piramida (also known as Piramiden) is an abandoned Russian mining settlement half way between the northern tip of Norway and the North Pole. The ghost town so…
Johnny McKnight discusses The Incredible Adventures of See Thru Sam
7 Sep 2012
The play will transplant a superhero story into an average secondary school
A play about superheroes has been a long time coming from Johnny McKnight, writer and director of See Thru Sam, which heads to the Tron this month courtesy of Random Accomplice. It’s the story of an ordinary boy with the extraordinary power of…
Linda McLean discusses her latest production, Sex & God
7 Sep 2012
The play takes the form of four interlinked monologues with feminist subtexts
Religion and sex are the hot topics in Linda McLean’s latest theatrical offering, the focus of which revolves around four women, each living at different points in the 20th century. In a narrative that’s far from linear, the play begins in each era…
Grid Iron's Ben Harrison talks Ella Hickson and The Authorised Kate Bane
7 Sep 2012
The promising young dramatist is bound for great things
Ella Hickson. If you don’t know her name already, you’re sure to soon. Author of the award-winning drama Eight – in which eight very distinct characters are explored in monologue – the young dramatist is currently under commission to the Royal…
Pet Shop Boys - Elysium
7 Sep 2012
Tennant and Lowe's latest isn't their best but still beats most of the synth-pop competition
’You’ve been around, you don’t look too rough / and I still quite like some of your early stuff,’ croons Neil Tennant on ‘Your Early Stuff’ midway through this record, and it’s pleasing to note he and Chris Lowe haven’t lost their sense of humour.
Daphni - Jiaolong
7 Sep 2012
Dan Snaith aka Caribou re-embraces the sweaty allure of the dancefloor
Dan Snaith of Caribou has spoken about his Daphni project as a rite of passage he was compelled to undertake to re-engage with the sweaty allure of the dancefloor. It certainly has that mystique he was hoping for. The siren-like draw of early single ‘Ye…
Adrian Crowley - I See Three Birds Flying
7 Sep 2012
War, gorgeous alt.folk from the Malta-born, Galway-raised troubadour
Autumn was made for Adrian Crowley. His sixth LP sees the Malta-born, Galway-raised troubadour further hone his gift for warm, rich, fertile psalms that hang heavy with melancholy, earthly wonder and mellow fruitfulness. From the russet…
Barbara
6 Sep 2012
Slow burning drama set in East Germany with real dramatic weight
Germany’s Best Foreign Language Film contender for next year’s Academy Awards recalls the country’s 2007 winner The Lives of Others inasmuch as it dramatises life lived under the watchful eye of the authorities in East Germany before the wall came down.
Untouchable
6 Sep 2012
French box office hit about an unlikely relationship between a man and his carer
A colossal hit in its native France, this story, inspired by real events, looks on paper to be the kind of tactless three-hanky issue movie that Hollywood never misses an opportunity to churn out. Philippe (Francois Cluzet) is a filthy-rich…
Hit and Run
6 Sep 2012
Bland action comedy from Hollywood star Dax Shepard
The personable star of TV show Parenthood, Hollywood hunk Dax Shepard bites off more than he can chew in Hit and Run, writing, co-directing (with David Palmer) and starring in a lightweight action movie sporting wilfully loquacious dialogue á la Quentin…
Hysteria
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6 Sep 2012
An irreverent drama about the invention of the vibrator, starring Maggie Gyllenhaal and Hugh Dancy
Boasting a story that’s based on true – albeit improbable – events, Hysteria is a period drama with a helping or two of sex comedy, making it a cross between a Jane Austen adaptation and a Carry On film. The third feature from American director Tanya…
