It has been 17 years since Danny Boyle’s inspired adaption of Irvine Welsh’s novel Trainspotting took British cinema by storm, becoming a cult hit which inspired a new age of British film making under the banner of “Cool Britannia”. Subsequent adaptations of Welsh’s work have struggled by comparison, with Ecstasy and The Acid House representing Read More
After recent excursions to some of Europe’s most iconic cities, prolific filmmaker Woody Allen returns to the United States with his latest film. Blue Jasmine (2013), the 43rd feature directed by Allen, is a loose and contemporary retelling of Tennessee Williams’ Pulitzer Prize winning play A Streetcar Named Desire (1947). The movie centres on the Read More
For those interested in an account of the ways in which capitalism has made our lives miserable, J. D. Taylor’s Negative Capitalism: Cynicism in the Neoliberal Era will not disappoint. However, the book is not simply a tirade; it aims to spur the reader to reject current conditions of work and existence in favour of Read More
The Way, Way Back is an absolutely brilliant film which is funny, moving, uplifting and features a great cast. The film focuses on the difficulties faced by Duncan, a 14 year old boy (Liam James), on summer holiday as he tries to deal with puberty, girls and his new post-divorce family dynamic. His father doesn’t Read More
During the live Q and A which followed this documentary on Professor Stephen Hawking’s life, director Stephen Finnigan described the titular cosmologist in three words: ‘inspiring, determined and funny.’ Finnigan’s documentary achieves such an insight into the life and mind of the world’s most famous contemporary scientist, giving a view of the man not always Read More
You would never have suspected how much influence that political and religious rebel – Sister Corita Kent – has on young artists today. Sister Corita revolutionised graphic design, combing slogans and poetry that reflected her commitment to social justice. I will admit that Sister Corita’s enthusiasm for colour and language enticed me to return to Read More
David Greig is one of Scotland’s most influential and prolific playwrights (forty plays in the last 20 years). The diversity of his work is extraordinary. He has produced work from Damascus (Edinburgh International Festival 2009) through to Dunsinane (Royal Shakespeare Company 2010) and has adapted several classics including Euripides’ Bacchae starring Alan Cumming (National Theatre Read More
The Great Hip Hop Hoax, directed by Jeanie Finlay, charts the rise and fall of Scottish rappers Billy Boyd and Gavin Bain who created alternate personalities in an audacious bid to get the attention of the record industry and receive the exposure they felt they deserved. The two met on the Dundee skate scene in Read More
Following the critical acclaim for her last two novels, My Year of Meats (1998) and All Over Creation (2003), it is perhaps no surprise that Ruth Ozeki’s A Tale for the Time Being has been received with equal literary approbation. Ozeki’s current offering is a seamless fusion of semi-autobiographical narrative, ecological perspicacity, and philosophical meditation. Read More
There are at least two ways of contextualising Colm Tóibín’s The Testament of Mary. It is the latest in a succession of recent works on Jesus and his times. English translations of the then pope Joseph Ratzinger’s volumes Jesus of Nazareth (2007), Jesus of Nazareth: Holy Week (2011), and Jesus of Nazareth: The Infancy Narratives Read More