Issue 707
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- Issue 707
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The Bugle - Podcast of biting political humour
25 Feb 2013
Sharp, incisive satirical podcast from Andy Zaltzman and John Oliver
‘Some people were born to create this technology,’ declared John Oliver to his old shock haired sparring partner Andy Zaltzman at the start of The Bugle’s last weekly edition, ‘and others were born to piss it up the wall. You and I were picked by Team B…
Django Unchained
14 Jan 2013
Fine performances and moments of sudden brutality outshine Tarantino's over-indulgent running time
There are two major films about slavery this season. At one end of the spectrum is Steven Spielberg’s po-faced, self-important abolition drama Lincoln. And the other? Quentin Tarantino’s giddily violent, shockingly profane spaghetti western, Django…
American Mary
11 Jan 2013
A shocking, memorable body horror, let down by a weak third act
American Mary marks the second feature-length film by Jen and Sylvia Soska, following Dead Hooker In A Trunk (a film that began life as a faux trailer – inspired by the Tarantino/Rodriguez project Grindhouse). Like the twisted sister of an early David…
Midnight Son
11 Jan 2013
A confident but minor addition to the vampire-addict horror subgenre
Since directing breakout hit The Blair Witch Project, Eduardo Sanchez has continued milking the low-budget horror market, executive producing this low-key tale of LA vampires for debutant writer/director Scott Leberecht. As Leberecht’s visual effects…
May I Kill U?
11 Jan 2013
Blackly comic satire that lacks laughs, despite starring UK comedian Kevin Bishop
‘Assisted dying’ is the phrase used by disgruntled copper Baz (Kevin Bishop) to describe the brand of polite street-justice he invents in the aftermath of the London riots. Writer/director Stuart Urban’s black comedy revolves around the inverted moral…
Silver Linings Playbook leads the pack in 2013 Oscar nomination
10 Jan 2013
Lincoln, Amour and Les Miserables also nominated
The nominations for the 2013 Academy Awards have been announced, with Silver Linings Playbook, Lincoln and Amour leading the pack of those films who stand a chance of winning at the awards ceremony on Sunday 24 February. Silver Linings Playbook, a…
The Polar Bears Go Wild!
10 Jan 2013
Charming, imaginative show for younger children from Fish and Game
Who says you need a cast of thousands, pyrotechnics, 3D projections and a troupe of dancing local children to create a successful Christmas show? Fish and Game's new piece for under-sixes features just two performers, a few props and a simple set, but…
Gangster Squad
9 Jan 2013
The Ryan Gosling-starring LA noir has great performances but a nasty violent streak
As stylish as Ruben Fleischer's Gangster Squad is, it lacks the substance of similar genre films such as The Untouchables and LA Confidential and contains a nasty, even exploitative streak. Inspired by the true story of a group of cops who sought to…
New David Bowie single 'Where Are We Now?' and album The Next Day
8 Jan 2013
Bowie marks 66th birthday with first single in a decade and album released on Mar 16
David Bowie has released a new single 'Where Are We Now?' this morning - his 66th birthday - with absolutely nothing in the way of the fanfare or marketing that accompanies most releases by both new and established artists these days. A combination…
Les Misérables
7 Jan 2013
A strong cast with good singing voices lift up Tom Hooper's French Revolution musical adap
The musical is a taste that, once acquired, tends to stick. Fall for South Pacific or Evita or The Rocky Horror Picture Show at an impressionable age, and your crush is likely to outlast far more credible affiliations. Conversely, if you never got your…
West of Memphis
3 Jan 2013
A diligent, complex and justly indignant documentary about a grisly triple murder case
The triple murder of Christopher Byers, Steven Branch and Michael Moore in Arkansas in 1993 was one of those crimes that’s liable to make you lose the will to be part of the human race if you dwell on it too much – and that’s before you even get to the…
Dabangg 2
3 Jan 2013
Enjoyable Bollywood action sequel starring Salman Khan and Kareena Kapoor
Dabangg, released in 2010, introduced us to hyper-macho super-cop Chulbul Pandey (Salman Khan), a sharply dressed unorthodox policeman living and working in rural northern India. The sequel, produced and directed by Arbaaz Khan (who also stars in both…
Stereophonics - O2 Academy, Glasgow, 17 Dec 2012
21 Dec 2012
A flurry of hits at either end of the show save the Phonics from a lacklustre slump in the middle
It's the changing face of Welsh rockers Stereophonics that has kept its audience on their toes throughout the band's 20-year career. They began as fresh faced indie kids-next door -- see their debut album Word Gets Around for evidence -- then two years…
Confession of a Child of the Century
21 Dec 2012
Pete Doherty's acting derails this 19th century period drama
The former pop star and tabloid fixation Pete Doherty has always seemed like such an unstable, needy construction – a walking set of influences lacking the supporting structure of a personality – that it’s not impossible to see how he might have seemed…
Grabbers
21 Dec 2012
A contrived, one-note sci-fi horror comedy in which a community stays drunk to repel an alien attack
In Grabbers, an interplanetary invasion of earth can potentially be foiled, not by the fighting spirit of the human race, but due to the aversion of the aliens to drinking blood contaminated by alcohol. It’s a situation which forces the inhabitants of a…
Jack Reacher
21 Dec 2012
A slow, solid crowd-pleaser that achieves its middlebrow ambitions, starring Tom Cruise
Thirty years on from Risky Business, Tom Cruise is still a potent force in Hollywood, and launches a potential new franchise as Jack Reacher, the ‘top shelf army cop’ from the bestselling books by Lee Child. Adapted from Child’s book One Shot by…
Hors Satan
21 Dec 2012
Contemplative religious drama from Bruno Dumont, director of Hadewijch
For an avowedly atheistic director, the uncompromising French auteur Bruno Dumont seems strangely fascinated by questions of religious faith and the mysterious workings of grace. Following on from Hadewijch, a provocative examination of contemporary…
Crooked Fingers - The Art School, Glasgow, Mon 10 Dec 2012
21 Dec 2012
Lush, beautiful finger-picking from erstwhile Arches of Loaf man Eric Bachmann
The recent Archers of Loaf reunion has been frustratingly absent from Scotland, but getting Eric Bachmann’s ‘solo’ project, Crooked Fingers, to Glasgow Art School is more than a fair compromise. Accompanied by long-time collaborator Liz Durrett…
New Year 2013 TV highlights
20 Dec 2012
TV drama in January featuring Borgen, Ripper Street and Mr Selfridge
While all Scandicphiles will be mourning the death of The Killing, relief is at hand with the return of Borgen (BBC Four, Sat 5 Jan, 9pm). In the spate of publicity about the recent rash of dramas from Scandinavia, much has been made of the seemingly…
Tinderbox Fest - Summerhall, Edinburgh, Sat 15 Dec
20 Dec 2012
An eclectic evening of music featuring The Dark Jokes, North Atlantic Oscillation and Fox Gang
As Tinderbox Fest made it's yuletide debut, hopes for its innovative programme - a melange of film, art, stalls, workshops and an eclectic evening of music - were high. The event marked the two-year anniversary of the Tinderbox Project, a youth music…
Zaytoun
20 Dec 2012
A dramatically and emotionally unconvincing Middle-Eastern road movie, starring Stephen Dorff
Israeli director Eran Riklis teams up with first-time Palestinian writer Nader Rizq in this handsomely photographed Middle-Eastern road movie, which charts an improbable friendship between an Israeli pilot Yoni (Stephen Dorff) and an orphaned…
Zombie Flesh Eaters
20 Dec 2012
Reissue of the 1979 video nasty classic on Blu-ray and DVD
How can you not love a film called Zombie Flesh Eaters? And unlike so many exploitation movies it actually lives up to its inflammatory title. We get the infamous splinter meets eyeball scene, zombies fighting sharks underwater, multiple torn throats…
LGBT DVD round-up - Christmas 2012
19 Dec 2012
Yossi, Beauty, Hit So Hard and Co-Dependent Lesbian Space Alien Seeks Same reviewed
If your ideal Christmas involves spending the day on the sofa, a glass of sparkly in one hand and the remote in the other, it’s worth sourcing your entertainment from Peccadillo Pictures, the UK’s only LGBT-interest DVD distributor. Their latest batch…
The Wee Man
19 Dec 2012
Martin Compston stars in this uneven crime drama that glamourises its real-life subject
Based on the memoirs of Glasgow gangland figure Paul Ferris, this chronicle of a bloody underworld feud runs from the early 1970s, when a young Ferris and his friends are menaced by the ruthless Welsh family, to the 80s, when Ferris is married and…
Gemma Elwin Harris (ed) - Big Questions from Little People
19 Dec 2012
A fun, factual compilation where kids' questions are answered by experts such as David Attenborough
As anyone who has ever read an academic textbook knows, finding the simplest, most straightforward explanation isn’t always at the top of the writer’s agenda. Yet who amongst us doesn’t appreciate an easily digestible answer to a complicated…
