Film Review: Inside Llewyn Davis (15) (U.S.A. 2013) (Directors: Joel & Ethan Coen),  The Cameo Cinema Screen One, Edinburgh, Sunday 26.01.2014, 13:30

I had reservations about this film from when I first heard about it. This relates to the fact that I consider Greenwich Village folk music scene of the early 1960's to be particularly culturally significant for me and I did not know if I wanted to experience the Coen brothers take on this. I landed up going as the critical reception to it was so overwhelmingly positive that I landed up wondering whether I would land up regretting not going to see it.

A while into the film I was aware of what I can only describe as a silent scream inside my head. This I see as being a response to the horrifically self indulgent nature of all the characters I had seen on screen up until that point. I was also hacked off by the fact that their supposed eye for detail had overlooked the fact that all of the characters were smoking prefabricated cigarettes, which to me just did not fit with the times or the culture, as I understand it. It just niggled.

Further to all of this, far too much attention was given to a ginger moggy. This appeared superfluous and just acted as another distraction to what little story there was (+ I'm not a moggy lover anyway). Later in the film, when we hear the cat's name, he becomes an analogy for what has been happening to the central character. If this was the sole purpose to the cat, it was a lot of effort and screen time to go to, to enable a fairly trite point.

There was very little humour in the film, this is one of the elements the Coen's tend to do better, so another let down. The character played by John Goodman also appeared unnecessary, except to be seen as a further endurance for the central character.  

The characters did thankfully become more interesting in the 2nd half of the film and with this they were also a lot less annoying. There was also too little use of Carey Mulligan & Justin Timberlake, who were both two of the better elements to the film.

The ending and the beginning of the film are almost identical and includes the central character having an altercation with the same other character, with the same dialogue, though the incidents are clearly not the same. They have not shown the ending and then looped back to see how he got to that. They are showing that the character is a bum who's life is going in circles who experiences the same problems over and over. I felt this was overly simplistic from what they had shown of the character. He is both a bum and not a bum at the same time; his life is certainly too complicated for him to be considered a flat-out-bum. Even if this is the 'point', so what? Is that all they can use this rich cultural period for, to show that a 'bum's' life goes in circles. Even if this is the point, I feel it could have been made a lot better than it was.

I feel the film had interesting elements, though it felt deeply flawed and uncohesive. It was not as bad as 'The Wolf Of Wall Street', though it would have to be going some to manage that. Though I could not recommend it. - I should listen to my reservations more.    

Rating: 03/10.

Film Review: The Wolf Of Wall Street (18) (U.S.A. 2013) (Director: Martin Scorsese),  The Cameo Cinema Screen One, Edinburgh, Sunday 19.01.2014, 16:00

This is based upon the real life happenings of a Jordan Belfort who used to be a Wall Street broker/rouge trader. 

I found this film tediously dull in the extreme. The screen is filled with nothing but the vacuous and the arrogant. I found the characters and what they were doing to be both boring and annoying. 

Having said that, I have no direct criticism with the acting or how the film looked. I suspect this is more a case of a spectacular misjudgement in choice of film to see. I should have twigged by what the film was about that I would find every character portrayed to be repellent.  

I cannot recommend the film, though I don't feel well placed to judge it.     

Film Review: 12 Years A Slave (15) (U.S.A./U.K. 2013) (Director: Steve McQueen),  The Filmhouse Cinema Screen One, Edinburgh, Monday 13.01.2014, 17:40

This film I feel needs no introduction due to the level of publicity it has received. If you are familiar with the director's previous two films, Hunger (2008) & Shame (2011), you will be aware that he puts you, as a viewer, through the emotional mill. Though neither of these prepare you for this film. 

This is a film that manages to show subtle differences between 'slavers', while at the same time, without being heavy handed, never flinches in showing the barbarity of slavery. This is suitably a brutal and harrowing film to endure. It took some effort to hold myself together by the end. 

I cannot recommend this film as an enjoyable watch, though at the same time, it feels important enough that everyone should see this. If you are not shaken by this film, then you are protecting your psyche from being confronted by this. I cannot see why anyone would wish to see this more than once, though if you appreciate good film-making, do not avoid putting yourself through this. I have no issue with any element of this film. 

This felt unremitting in a similar way to Schindler's List (1993), though without the sentimental sop of an ending than Spielberg succumbed to, leaving a sense of being truly humbled. 

I have been doing reviews for over 18 months and had got to a point of thinking that only live performances could ever feel to be beyond giving a rating to. I have been proved wrong. It would be trite to give a rating to this visual experience.        

LIVE PERFORMANCE / MUSIC REVIEW 2013

MUSIC:

In regards to music (album) releases, I was reviewing these in 2012, when I was first trying out writing reviews. It was the greatest surprise to me, in terms of writing reviews, that I would find this the hardest thing to do, as music is fundamentally more culturally important to me than anything else. As a result I have not reviewed albums in 2013. 

There are two albums above all others that I feel warrant mention as part of this year end review. Iron & Wine's Ghost on Ghost is a beautiful and seductive album, smoother than his previous (Kiss Each Other Clean) though still an album that rewards time and again. Iron & Wine are second on the arbitrary list of best of 2013. 

Though way out by some distance is Once I Was An Eagle by Laura Marling. This is a breath-taking piece showing her artistry to be moving on in leaps and bounds. In my view it is a beguiling listen and I know that upon first listen there were pieces that to me already sounded like classics. I am also aware of thinking upon first listen, that I did not understand how one so young could compose with such depth and maturity. This was her forth album, and in my view this along with her 2nd (I Speak Because I Can) and 3rd (A Creature I Don't Know) albums are all perfect. Though I have stronger personal preference for this and her 2nd album. I see her 2nd album has having a simplistic naive (yet mature) charm, whereas the new album is unmistakably the work of a woman fully blossoming. I am so impressed by this new album that I could not justify to myself not putting it into my 'top 10 albums'. Though I also did not feel okay taking out her 2nd album to accommodate this. As a result Miss Marling is the only artiste to have two alums in my top 10. I would not yet class her as my all-time favorite female artiste, though can quite easily see that if she continues to release work this great, then it is only a matter of time. 

LIVE PERFORMANCE: 

In terms of live performances, this has been the best year yet. I have seen more outstanding performances this year than ever before. Due to this it was too difficult to narrow down to a top 10, so I have gone for a top 20 (the top 3 of which were so good as to be beyond rating) which reads as follows:

1.) Laura Marling (Solo Acoustic), The Usher Hall, Edinburgh, 25.09

2.) Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir,The Usher Hall, Edinburgh, 29.08

3.) Dead Can Dance, Zenith de Paris - Park De La Villette, Paris, 30.06

4.) Iron & Wine, Barbican Hall, Barbican, London, 31.05

5.) Pink Martini feat. The Scottish Chamber Orchestra, 
     The Usher Hall, Edinburgh, 07.05

6.) Carlos Acosta: On Before, The Festival Theatre, Edinburgh, 26.04

7.) Derren Brown: Infamous, The Playhouse, Edinburgh, 06.05.2013

8.) Oper Frankfurt performing Dido and Aeneas & Bluebeard's Castle, 

     The Festival Theatre, Edinburgh, 24.08

9.) Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, The Usher Hall, Edinburgh, 01.11

10.) L.A. Dance Project,The Edinburgh Playhouse, Edinburgh, 26.08

11.) Pet Shop Boys, Princes Street Gardens, Edinburgh, 31.12

12.) Death Grips, SWG3, Glasgow, 30.04

13.) Pokey LaFarge, Liquid Room, Edinburgh, 05.11

14.) The Stone Roses, Glasgow Green, Glasgow, 15.06

15.) Suede, Barrowland Ballroom, Glasgow, 27.10

16.) Depeche Mode, The SSE Hydro, Glasgow, 11.11

17.) Warpaint, O2 ABC, Glasgow, 28.10

18.) The Staves, The Queen's Hall, Edinburgh, 30.10

19.) Eh Joe produced by Gate Theatre Dublin, 
       Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh, 27.08

20.) The Poet Speaks: Homage to Allen Ginsberg Performed by 
        Patti Smith & Philip Glass,The Edinburgh Playhouse, Edinburgh, 13.08

FILM REVIEW 2013

When I began to review films I had seen at the cinema in the summer of 2012, I decided to begin with reviewing every film I saw whether old, new or if I had seen before. At the end of 2012 I decided that I found it comparatively more difficult to review films that were not new releases. This is why there has been less film reviews this year & intend to continue to only review new films.

I also decided at the end of 2012 that I was going to impose a ban on seeing films at multiplexes, I find these places to be vacuous and generally physically uncomfortable to be in. Edinburgh is serviced by two very good cinema in the city centre that are not multiplexes, the Cameo & the Filmhouse (although the Cameo is beginning to let the side down - the refurbishment is not an improvement). I decided that if a film is not being shown at either of these then it is probably not for me.

Even with this new approach I still went to see 101 screenings at the cinema in the past year. This is only 19 down on the previous year. These split as follows: 44 Films released before 2013, 51 Films released in 2013, plus 3 repeat screenings and 3 which were screenings of T.V. material or short film/stand-up comedy performance. 45 screenings were at the Cameo and 56 were at the Filmhouse, This is the first time since I came back to live in Edinburgh in 2006 that most screenings have not been at the Cameo.

Overall I have to say I feel that 2013 has not been a classic year for film, and in my mind has not been as good as 2012 was. There was certainly no film that came close to touching the magic of Tabu. Simply there were not as many films across the year that I would consider to be outstanding. Having said this there was still no problem looking back over the year and being able to find enough 10/10 films to make up my Top 10 for 2013, which is as follows:  

TOP TEN FILMS OF 2013 

1. Blancanieves (Pablo Berger 2012) (Spain)

2. Stoker (Park Chan-Wook 2013)

3. Frances Ha (Noah Baumbach 2012)

4. Short Term 12 (Destin Cretton 2013)

5. Before Midnight (Richard Linklater 2013)

6. The Sessions (Ben Lewin 2012)

7. The Artist & The Model (Fernando Trueba 2012) (Spain/France)

8. The Stone Roses: Made Of Stone (Shane Meadows 2013) (Documentary)

9. Fuck for Forest (Michal Marczak 2012) (Documentary)

10. West Of Memphis (Amy Berg 2012) (Documentary) 

Live Performance Review: Pet Shop Boys,  Princes Street Gardens, Edinburgh, Tuesday 31.12.2013, 20:30

This was a performance that was put on as part of the Edinburgh New Year celebrations. The prospect of many drunk new year's revelers in the cold weather is not usually my idea of fun, though I wanted to see the Pet Shop Boys so decided to get a ticket and go along. Thankfully the weather held up, there was just a very mild breeze and no moisture in the air. 

There were three supports:

The 10:04s: 

Local One Trick Pony Miserablist Crap. Rating: 00/00. 

Nina Nesbitt: 

A local lady just starting her career with a fair amount of buzz. She was a fair improvement upon the last, and I can see how she would appeal to the young with her light 'n' breezy pop, though this was not for me. Rating: 04/10.

The 1975: 

A group who have come into the spotlight this year. I had known nothing of their music prior to the gig, all I knew of them was that the lead singer is the son of the actor Tim Healy. Their music was upbeat, easily listenable, catchy in parts with elements of electronica though broadly hard to categorise - always a good thing. I was impressed enough that I am tempted to get their debut album, praise indeed. Rating: 08/10.

PET SHOP BOYS: 

The Pet Shop Boys (PSB) came on at 23:20 and performed until shortly before 01:00, with a break for 'the bells' the bring in the new year. They did a Greatest Hits set of which I knew almost all the songs and got to hear all of my favorites. With there only being two members in PSB, they have had to develop their performance to fill the stage. This they do in mesmerising fashion with brilliant use of screens, lights, lasers, costumes, dancers and elements of theatre that covered disparate cultural references from Greek mythology to satarising modern urban living. 

It was a visual and audio spectacle which at times felt gob-smacking due to the barrage of of joyous and surprising details. This was quite simply one where 'you had to have been there'. 

They also managed something very sneaky. Anyone who knows me reasonably well will know that I despise Coldplay beyond any rationale explanation. Unannounced the PSB slipped in a cover of Coldplay's 'Viva La Vida'. I knew I knew the song, though could not place it. I was singing along happily and it was only at the end of the song I realised what I had been singing. I was not annoyed, nor did I feel dirty (as I would have expected). I found it funny. Though they did do a far better version than Coldplay.

I was on such a positive buzz that on the way home I was wishing random strangers a happy new year, which is not like me at all. A fantastic way to end a great year for gigs.

Rating: 10/10.