Today sees the publication in the Edinburgh Evening News of my final Reel Time, the weekly film column I've been writing since January 2009. Since then the word count has dropped gradually from 500 to 350 to the current 300 and my (very rough) calculations tell me I've written somewhere in the region of 100,000... Continue Reading →
Discovering Wake in Fright
"Have a beer, mate?" It was in January that I first saw 1971's Wake in Fright at Edinburgh's Filmhouse cinema, a near-forgotten Australian drama that has now been rediscovered and rereleased. The film charts a weekend in the life of schoolteacher John Grant (Gary Bond), who visits the outback town of Bundanyabba and finds a... Continue Reading →
A busy fortnight for Scottish films
As the title says, it's been a busy fortnight for Scottish films, or rather the Scottish film industry. Of course, quite how much of an industry we have is worthy of debate, but for the purposes of this post I'm going to gloss over the intricacies. Last week saw the release in Scottish cinemas of... Continue Reading →
An epic end to the year
Lord of the Rings feature on the Movie Cafe.
One Skyfall screening is not enough
As my latest Edinburgh Evening News column isn't on the website I thought I'd publish it here instead. I couldn't resist a bit of Bond as Skyfall takes the box office by storm.
Scottish indie filmmakers in the spotlight
I've been writing a lot about Scottish independent filmmaking this week, ending it with an invitation to be part of a panel discussion at Edinburgh's Filmhouse next Saturday.
Edinburgh Festivals coverage 2012
It's that time of year again in Edinburgh, when you can't walk a few paces without someone thrusting a Fringe flyer in your face and posters of comedians you vaguely recognise from the telly are plastered everywhere.
Tram Man is a superhero for the Capital
Once in a while my weekly Edinburgh Evening News column doesn't make it from the printed page onto their website so I publish it here instead. Here's the piece that went into yesterday's paper: It's been another summer of comic book movies, with Avengers Assemble and Spider-Man already released and The Dark Knight Rises about... Continue Reading →
TCM Classic Film Festival 2012
I was back in LA in April for the third annual TCM Classic Film Festival, watching another impressive line-up of movies that have stood the test of time with some of the cast and crew who made them.
The Raid in the Edinburgh Evening News
Last week I went along to a screening of The Raid, the new Indonesian-set action film from Welsh director Gareth Evans.
Looney Tunes return to Filmhouse
My column from this week's Edinburgh Evening News has slipped through the cracks in the digitial floorboards and not made it to the website.
Brave coverage on ReelScotland
I was in London a few weeks ago to attend a screening of the first 30-minutes of Disney-Pixar's upcoming animated movie, Brave, a film that Scottish tourism bosses hope will repeat the success of Braveheart in the mid-90s.
Putting the accent on Scottish film roles
This week's Edinburgh Evening News column found me commenting on the new trailer for Guy Pearce's upcoming sci-fi feature, Lockout, specifically the attempts by two of the actors to affect Scottish accents.
Brian Cox column in Edinburgh Evening News
Last week I attended a talk by Scottish actor at the National Library of Scotland, covering it for my Thursday Edinburgh Evening News column.
Yuki 7 infiltrates the UK
As a spy fan, and someone who appreciates a decent homage, I was bowled over by Yuki 7 when I first heard about her.