-
You Have Been Watching…American Cousins
Watching Shane Meadow’s film Once Upon A Time in the Midlands the other night two thoughts struck me. The first is that Meadow’s is probably the most talented and diverse British film-maker of recent times (Dead Man’s Shoes and This is England being two of the best recent British movies) and could I justify claiming […]
October 8, 2010
-
Indelible Ink : Alasdair Gray’s ‘Lanark’
How do I begin to sum up Alasdair Gray? Writer of fiction and non-fiction, painter, illustrator, dramatist, poet, cultural and political commentator, and even, as part of the ‘Ballad of the Books’ project, songwriter. Most people would be happy to have mastered one of these things. Alasdair Gray is not most people. And ‘Lanark’ is […]
October 4, 2010
-
You Have Been Watching…A Shot at Glory
I’m not a great fan of that widely used term ‘guilty pleasure’. I think if something gives you pleasure then feeling guilt over it can only cause you problems in the long run, as the history of Scotland has adequately shown. Who cares if you have a soft spot for late 70’s American disco, often […]
October 1, 2010
-
You Have Been Watching…The Wicker Man
In the winter of 1977 the film magazine Cinefantastique dedicated an entire issue to a largely forgotten 1973 movie The Wicker Man, calling it ‘the Citizen Kane of horror movies’. With hindsight, this can be seen as the moment that the fortunes of The Wicker Man began to change and a film that was poorly […]
September 24, 2010
-
You Have Been Watching…Local Hero
We can quibble about what is Scotland’s greatest film or who is our greatest director, but it is difficult to refute that Bill Forsyth’s run of his four ‘Scottish’ films has never been equaled. From debut That Sinking Feeling, through Gregory’s Girl and Comfort and Joy before finishing off in fine style with Local Hero, […]
September 17, 2010
-
You Have Been Watching… Shallow Grave
Before Trainspotting there was Shallow Grave, Scotland’s filmic John the Baptist if you like. The 1980s had been pretty barren in terms of Scottish cinema, Bill Forsyth aside. Even those films that were being made, such as the previously featured Restless Natives and Soft Top, Hard Shoulder, did not do significant box office.
September 10, 2010
-
Indelible Ink : Buddha Da
If I was to recommend a Scottish book to you that is based on religion you may rightly have some preconceptions as to what it would be like. It may be a generalisation but Scotland and religion tend to mix like oil and water, or perhaps oil and fire is a better example. Many of […]
September 6, 2010
-
You Have Been Watching… On A Clear Day
Peter Mullan is Scotland’s best living actor. Discuss. Certainly there are few Scottish actors whose name I’m as glad to see appear on a film’s credits. It means that even if the film isn’t great, there will be something worth seeing.
August 27, 2010
-
You Have Been Watching… Restless Natives
The term cult film is really overused. Some claim that Reservoir Dogs or The Usual Suspects are cult films when they are really just critically appreciated successful films with a cool cast and/or soundtrack. A cult is something that demands devotion, even blind faith, and, by its nature, is often a well kept secret.
August 13, 2010
