-
You Have Been Watching…(TV Special) The Book Group
This is exactly the kind of writing that should find its way on to TV screens more often. The Book Group was a Channel 4 comedy that aired for two series in 2002 and 2003. Channel 4 used to be the happy home for new and exciting British comedy, before their twin obsessions of Big Brother and body […]
January 28, 2011
-
You Have Been Watching…A Woman in Winter
Sometimes you stumble across a band, book or film and think ‘how did I miss that?’. Discovering Richard Jobson’s Bafta nominated 2005 film A Woman in Winter prompted me to ask that question as it’s a film that should be seen.
January 21, 2011
-
You Have Been Watching…The Near Room
Glasgow Noir. A surprisingly small genre. The city lends itself to the dark shadows, dodgy characters and indecipherable dialogue that noir demands. I don’t doubt that one of the reasons for Taggart’s long running success is down to the noirish qualities of the city of Glasgow.
January 14, 2011
-
You Have Been Watching…Comfort and Joy
I’ve looked briefly at Bill Forsyth’s Comfort and Joy in the past, but it is a film worth considering in greater detail. Also, I wanted to concentrate on a great Scottish film set around Christmas and they are few and far between, but Comfort and Joy is just that. This is his most ‘serious’ film, dealing with […]
January 7, 2011
-
Indelible Ink : Suhayl Saadi’s ‘Psychoraag’
When books are at their best they teach us not only about the lives of others but something about ourselves. That’s why it is important to any culture that it has as diverse a selection of voices and writers as possible. White males, Scottish or otherwise, have been overrepresented historically and artistically, and anyone who […]
January 3, 2011
-
Best of 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. 1985s […]
December 24, 2010
-
You Have Been Watching…I Know Where I’m Going
Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger made some of the greatest films of all time such as The Red Shoes, A Matter of Life and Death and Black Narcissus. They were known for marrying often heartbreaking stories with ground-breaking visual flourishes which stay with audiences long after they have finished viewing. I Know Where I’m Going is not one of […]
December 17, 2010
-
You Have Been Watching (TV Special) … Brond
Broxburn born Michael Caton-Jones has become one of Scotland’s most successful imports to Hollywood. His directorial CV includes the highs of Doc Hollywood and Scandal and the spectacular low that is Basic Instinct 2 (starring Stan Collymore!). His Rob Roy is the best Scottish historical drama of the 1990’s but was crushed beneath the behemoth that was anti-semitic […]
December 10, 2010
-
Indelible Ink : James Kelman’s ‘Kieron Smith, boy’
There are few more divisive figures in Scottish writing than James Kelman. He is the Marmite of modern novelists. You either regard him as a visionary and a culturally relevant writer whose use of working class Scots dialect make him a representative for those who rarely appear in novels except when fulfilling a stereotype for […]
December 6, 2010
