Glasgow
10 Questions for Filmmaker Bill ForsythMonday, 28 April 2014You'll recall the scene where the title comes true in Gregory’s Girl. Gregory, a gawky, puzzled teenager played by John Gordon Sinclair, has finally hooked up with a girl. They spend a long evening dreamily kissing and listing their favourite... Read more... |
DVD: That Sinking FeelingTuesday, 15 April 2014![]() That Bill Forsyth’s 1979 debut feature is so polished shouldn’t be a surprise; he’d been working on documentaries and short films since the 1960s. Several of these are included as generous bonuses on this disc. KH-4 and Mirror are offbeat mini-... Read more... |
Under the SkinTuesday, 11 March 2014![]() There are more bizarre, horrific and unnervingly beautiful moments in Jonathan Glazer’s much delayed third film than in the rest of his star Scarlett Johansson’s career. The strap-line - Scarlett as an alien fatally seducing Scottish men - suggests... Read more... |
Hansel and Gretel, Scottish Ballet, Theatre Royal, GlasgowFriday, 27 December 2013![]() When he became Artistic Director of Scottish Ballet in 2002, Ashley Page’s first creation for the company was a witty, pacy, Nutcracker, the kind of box-office friendly production all companies need to win the hearts of the public and stabilise the... Read more... |
Sonica, GlasgowSaturday, 23 November 2013![]() At first it looked like a joke. But, as each muscle spasm, set off by an electric shock, did appear to produce a pained expression in the performer and a subsequent note, one slowly had to accept that these four string quartet players were indeed... Read more... |
Emily Barker & the Red Clay Halo/Chris T-T, Oran Mor, GlasgowTuesday, 15 October 2013![]() If Glasgow was to find a little corner for the traditional spirit of vaudeville to live on, it would make sense if it was this one: set the basement of a 19th century church with an audience sitting in lines on gold-painted seats; and two highly... Read more... |
CD: RM Hubbert - Breaks & BoneSunday, 06 October 2013![]() The debates that come with music awards tend to be more interesting than the institutions themselves, which is why it was so novel to see this year’s SAY Award - the Creative Scotland-backed equivalent of the Mercury Prize - go to a work that was... Read more... |
CD: Marnie - Crystal WorldThursday, 22 August 2013![]() There have been those who have uncharitably suggested that Crystal World is in fact a sixth Ladytron album rather than the solo debut of the band’s frontwoman, Helen Marnie. It’s an easy, if lazy, conclusion to jump to when said album flirts with... Read more... |
The Man Who Collected the World: William Burrell, BBC FourThursday, 22 August 2013![]() Had the wealthy William Burrell had a son, Glasgow might not have acquired the world-class art collection that the shipping entrepreneur amassed during his long life. But with the birth of a sole daughter came both ambitions and suspicion – he... Read more... |
Field of Blood: The Dead Hour, BBC OneFriday, 09 August 2013![]() There are not generally a lot of laughs in dead bodies. So Raymond Chandler saw the funny side of murder, and Carl Hiassen dresses felonies in a bright Hawaiian shirt. But Glasgow, you’d think, would tend to keep corpses and comedy in separate boxes... Read more... |
theartsdesk at the Glasgow Jazz FestivalMonday, 01 July 2013![]() “It was a bit leary,” Georgie Fame recalls of a 1960 visit to Glasgow. “They had these cast-iron ash-trays at the Empire...” Teddy boys offended by Fame’s starry effect on the local girls led to these being skimmed at the band, bisecting a cymbal,... Read more... |
Travis, Islington Assembly HallsFriday, 14 June 2013![]() “The reason we’ve been away so long,” explained Fran Healy halfway through last night’s gig, “is we wanted to take time off to enjoy our kids.” Such non-rock’n’roll sentiments are, of course, the sort of thing you might expect from a band once... Read more... |
