- You Have Been Watching… Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself This week’s film is the wonderfully titled Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself. Set in present day Glasgow this 2002 movie is a real European affair, co-produced as it is by Scotland, France, Denmark and Sweden. This international feel stretches to a wonderfully eclectic cast which includes the always brilliant Shirley Henderson, Mads Mikkelsen (seen recently […]
- You Have Been Watching… Strictly Sinatra For some people, Scottish cinema consists of Trainspotting, Braveheart, Local Hero, Whisky Galore, whatever happens to be a particular favourite and little else. From early Powell and Pressburger and Ealing, through the madness of Brigadoon, the badness of the 1970s and the Forsyth dominated 1980s, to the renaissance of the last 20 years, this new […]
- In praise of: Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘The 39 Steps’… Recently, in between all the football and 12 hour tennis marathons, I managed to fit in another viewing of Alfred Hitchcock’s film adaptation of John Buchan’s novel The 39 Steps. This story has been adapted many times with differing results, but Hitch’s version is far and away the best. Made in 1935 the film has […]
- In praise of: Geordie Saturday afternoon telly is nostalgia writ large. For me Saturday’s were footie in the morning on some godforsaken ash pitch, dodging dog crap and broken glass, then home for Football Focus, a scotch pie and an afternoon film.
- Modern Girls, Modern Boys: How Gregory’s Girl Promised a New Scotland The nicest part is just before you taste it, but that can’t go on forever.