Film Review: Between Dog And Wolf: The New Model Army Story (NOT YET CERTIFICATED) (U.K. 2013) (Director: Matt Reid), Filmhouse, Screen Two, Edinburgh, Wednesday 19.11.2014, 20:30

I went to see this film due to the fact that it was 'Green and Grey' (1989) by New Model Army (N.M.A.) which was either the first or one of the very first singles I ever bought. I remember seeing the promotional video on I.T.V.'s Saturday Morning Chart Show, and feeling that it was very distinctive and immediately appealed to me. I shortly after bought the single on 7" vinyl at the local Woolworths store, and still have it in very good condition. I still like this song as much as I ever did. 

Looking back I feel that for anyone who knows me, this was an early clue as to who I have become. Although it is not covered in the film, N.M.A. are regarded as being a big influence on the Levellers who for a considerable number of years I regarded as my favorite band and have seen more than any other live music performers (17 times). I have never seen N.M.A. live, I do have the early albums, though have never become an avid fan.   

N.M.A. are known to be a band who have never played the 'fame game' and who keep themselves to themselves. So this film has to potential the be genuinely quite revealing. 

The film itself I found very interesting. It is constructed in a way that tries to retain a wider appeal that just targeting N.M.A. fans. For myself who has low level interest I found it enlightening. The singer and founding member, Justin Sullivan appears to be a very principled strident man, though he is also clearly very intelligent, informed, decent and charming. I had also never realised that there has been one person called Jooles who is responsible for all of their imagery/art-work, and who Justin credits as the person who got things going. Jooles is another clearly very strong willed person who according to the film is not to the tastes of all N.M.A. fans, though I found her to be as equally engaging and endearing as Justin. The film does contain approx a 20 year gap (90's & 00's) in the bands career though this explained by there being a dearth of footage from this period.

I would recommend the film to anyone who is interested in principled artists who stay true to their ideals and don't 'sell-out'. I don't know if I would now go to see them live. It is a possibility though I am trying to curb my excesses. 

Rating: 08/10. 

There was a Q&A afterwards with the director, producer & Justin himself. To have Justin present for a Q&A is a very rare thing. As in the film he came over as a thoroughly decent, charming and considered gentleman & I now have my 'Green and Grey' single signed.  

              

Live Performance Review: Iron & Wine (Solo Acoustic), Sunday 16.11.2014 19:30, Adelphi Theatre, London 

When I first heard of these current dates from Iron & Wine (Mr. Sam Beam), I decided not to go as had already seen him touring the latest album at the Barbican in London in May 2013. Then when waiting for my mate Ross at Waverly Train station in Edinburgh on the 2nd of July for traveling to London to see Monty Python at the O2, I saw in an advert in 'Uncut' magazine that it was going to be a Solo Acoustic show, which he has not done for a good number of years. 

When I started to listen to Mr. Beam, it was after the 2nd album, 'Our Endless Numbered Days' (2004) and by the time gigs came around for the 3rd album, 'The Shepherd's Dog' (2007) he had began working with other musicians live and on record. Although he has done brief Solo Acoustic sections in two of the three previous performances I have seen him do, I have always wanted to see him do a Solo Acoustic gig, so once I realised this is what was being proposed, I saw to getting a ticket that day. 

At the gig, there was a support slot, where someone called Jesca Hoop performed. Most of it was not to my tastes, though some of the 'newer' stuff she did was far better. She then joined Sam on stage in his slot to do one of hers and one of his as well as songs they have been working on together, which happily have the quality of usual Sam works. 

Sam's performance was quite remarkable. He started off by performing a slightly adjusted (in terms of tempo) version of Trapeze Swinger, which was the song he did in encore when I first saw him perform in 2007 at the Queen's Hall in Edinburgh. Now as then, I find this a very beautiful piece, causing chills and water in the eye. He then went on to do a fantastic variety of pieces from across his back catalog. 

After the first song, Sam started to ask what people wanted to hear, and returned to asking this regularly throughout the set, at the end of the gig he referred to this as having been an Iron & Wine Buffet. It was clear he had some songs in mind that he intended to perform, though it was also clear that he was genuinely taking requests. There were times where he would give his best shot at songs he has clearly not performed for some years and there were occasional gaps in his memory, all adding to the charm of the evening. In terms of attire and manner, this was very much the relaxed Sam, with a great line in banter with the audience, at one point asking the audience to close their eyes and imagine a naked Winston Churchill astride a unicorn that has to face of Margaret Thatcher. 'Naked As We Came' was requested and performed. Before beginning the song Sam said that he knew not all of the guys in the audience would be fans of his. He knew some where there because their girlfriends like him. For those guys he said that this is the one song that tends to get people going. Endearing gentle little chat-nuggets.

It was also very refreshing to hear one of your favorite artistes comment upon how awesome (while also adding he was not exactly sure what he meant by this) it is to travel halfway across the planet to perform in a room where you have literally thousands of people giving the reception that they do, and to have 'significant' numbers of these people passionately shouting out for their various favorites to be performed.  

My mate Ross reminded me at the end of last week to get my request prepared, recalling that at the Barbican last year, it was my request 'Naked As We Came' that he played (Solo Acoustic) as the encore. During the gig, someone shouted out for 'Lion's Mane', which I have heard him do before, he said he would do it, then came my request for 'Jesus, The Mexican Boy', which got performed instead. I could not have been happier. The audience appeared to be as enthusiastic as I was, giving appreciation that bordered on reverence. Utter silence while songs performed and then rapturous applause. To be at this performance was (again) a privilege.

Rating: (Easily) 10/10.       

Film Review: The Imitation Game (15) (U.K./U.S.A. 2014) (Director: Morten Tyldum), The Cameo Cinema Screen One, Edinburgh, Friday 14.11.2014 18:30

I had considerable reservations about this film suspecting that it would be 'worthy'. I landed up seeing it as I would do anything to avoid being 'in' on the night of the BBC's Children In Need. 

The film concerns the work of Alan Turing during World War II to break the German's Enigma machine and his subsequent persecution for being a homosexual which was illegal at the time and resulted in his chemical castration, which he chose rather than be sent to jail and be separated from his machine 'Christopher'. 'Christopher' at the time of his persecution was Turing's rebuilding of the machine he built to break the German's code system, and was a precursor to the modern computer. Turing killed himself within years of his castration and it took decades before the contribution he made to curtailing the war became known to the general public as opposed to just those who had worked alongside him.

The film is well made, though slightly t.v. filmish. Benedict Cumberbatch is certainly decent as Turing, considering there was no footage to base his characterisation upon. There has been criticism that there was not much depth to the persecution aspect of the story, though I can imagine that there may not be much detail known about this element of his life. I can also understand a resistance to invent in this regard out of a wish to be sensitive. There may also have been a wish to keep the film as accessible to as wide an audience as possible to have Turing's tale as widely known as possible without putting some off, nothing wrong with that. I can envisage this film appealing to people as something to watch on their snugally sofa of a dreary Sunday afternoon, though it is by no means excellent and some aspects felt perfunctory. 

Rating: 06/10.          

Film Review: Leviathan (15) (Russia 2014) (Director: Andrey Zvyagintsev) (Russian with English Subtitles), Filmhouse, Screen Two, Edinburgh, Sunday 09.11.2014, 14:15

This is a thoroughly absorbing drama about the insidious nature of corruption and power. It is set in contemporary northern Russia where a local man dares to stand-up to the local mayor. The film then goes on to show how vested interests collude to pull the man's family and life apart to the point where he has no home or liberty. The film is peppered with moments of pitch-black humour which help lift the mood slightly.

It has been commented upon that the film presents an environment that is unforgivingly harsh and desolate where the characters drink copious amounts of vodka throughout. The landscapes reminded me of where I come from, Caithness, which for those who don't know, is the very north of the mainland in Scotland (Thurso where I was born, is north of Moscow). This may add to why I see the landscapes presented as being both desolate and beautiful at the same time, as I have a familiarity with this kind of environment. The hard drinking and tough characters also ring true of this kind of environment. The film presents a trapped-helplessness of some people who cannot bring themselves to leave the unremittingly grim community that also rang-true.

I cannot fault the acting or any element of the film and found it compelling, though it is also very depressing. It is like the area I am from with added overt and accepted corruption. I would recommend the film, though not if you are looking for a jolly time and don't go if you are already feeling low.

The cracking addendum is that this is the film that Russia has chosen to put forward for contention in the 'Foreign Language Film' category at the Oscars. Nothing like showing yourselves in a good light.

Rating: 10/10.         

Film Review: Interstellar (12A) (U.S.A./U.K. 2014) (Director: Christopher Nolan), The Cameo Cinema Screen One, Edinburgh, Saturday 08.11.2014 15:30

This is a film I was looking forward to due to how impressed I was by Nolan's 'Dark Knight Trilogy' (2005 - 2012) & 'Inception' (2010). A director who could do epic with intelligence. 

Proper paid critics have said that this is a flawed film and it most certainly is. The film is slightly shy of 3 hours, and although it does not drag, they could have certainly lost a chunk of minutes without damaging the film, and it may have even improved it. 

Mark Kermode has said that comparisons to '2001: A Space Odyssey' (1968) are lazy, whether this is the case or not, before the film began there was a trailer for 2001 which did not help with keeping the films separate in the mind. That trailer reminded of the brilliant use of music in 2001. In Interstellar the Hanz Zimmer music was okay though there are scenes where characters appear to be saying things quite important to the plot though it is impossible to make out what they are saying due to the music being so high in the sound mix. This is an error that is hard to understand from a filmmaker who is regarded as being meticulous with details. One of the images that is recognisable from 2001 is the black obelisk, Interstellar has robots who when at rest look suspiciously similar. 

Both films deal with the complex ideas of relativity, though I have to say that 2001 presents it's ideas in a manner that is far simpler, clearer and easier to understand (and by this may actually be seen as quite profound). Interstellar resulted in one positive, it made me realise how much respect I have for 2001. I would say that the story of Interstellar is made overly complex to a point that parts of the film become impenetrable. Parts of the dialogue are clunky and jar.

After the film I also recalled parallels with 'The Tree Of Life' (2011), in terms of it's visual grandeur and scale. With 'The Tree Of Shite' (as I like to call it), I was loosing the will too live in some of it's ridiculously slow and impenetrable passages. In comparison Interstellar is a remarkable achievement, though this only goes to support, in my mind, how bad a film The Tree Of Life is. Neither Interstellar or The Tree of Life are great.

Further film reference is that Interstellar explains worm holes in exactly the same manner as 'Event Horizon' (1997). Now it could be that 'the explaining' is the easiest way to convey the complexity of worm holes, though having noticed the similarities to 2001, I feel I had become susceptible to noticing other film connections.          

Despite the rant above, Interstellar did hold my interest, and I found it visually quite remarkable with there being scenes where I cannot begin to comprehend how they were achieved (the filming used no green screen, and it was all done so that what the characters see in scenes is what the actors were seeing while filming). 

Regrettably I don't feel I can recommend this to others. If it were 90 minutes, perhaps I would more readily encourage people to take a punt and see what they think, though I can't justify encouraging others to waste three hours of their lives. 

Rating: 06/10 (for visuals alone).      

Live Performance Review: Grupo Corpo, Wednesday 05.11.2014 19:30, The Festival Theatre, Edinburgh

Grupo Corpo are a Brazilian Contemporary Dance Troupe who I seen previously in the Edinburgh International Festival in 2010. The previous performance I had seen I still regard as one of the finest dance performances I have seen. 

What strikes me now is what had struck me before, the dancers have a fluidity and synchronicity to their movement that is gob-smackingly good. Differing sections of dancers may be doing differing movements, yet they all complement and integrate. Unless you pay close attention, it is the differing sections that can make it appear less syncronised than it is. There is also a delightful teasing element to Grupo Corpo's performances. 

One of the pieces they did I had seen them do the previous time. The second piece had an earthier sense to it. It felt less sexy then the previous performance largely due to the piece they did not do this time, though had done last time. Despite this the performance was without question impressively captivating and engrossingly hypnotic.

Rating: 10/10.     

Live Performance Review: Pink Martini, Tuesday 04.11.2014 19:30, The Usher Hall, Edinburgh 

The gig started with a support slot from The Von Trapps, who had collaborated on Pink Martini's last album, 'Dream A Little Dream' (2014). 'The Von Trapps' are grandchildren of one of the children represented in 'The Sound Of Music' (1965). I preferred the tried and tested songs by others that they did and much less so the original material. Though having said this I could not fault their singing and playing and felt they had an effortless charm and are clearly very practiced at performing with each other. 

When I saw Pink Martini last year they had performed with an orchestra, this time they were by themselves, though their sound felt just as rich. The two founder members, singer China Forbes and pianist Thomas Lauderdale, were both staggeringly supreme and displayed quite touching personal interplay between each other. 

I have a strong sense that without the orchestra, they could go a bit more off-pieste. It had got to a point in the performance where Pink Martini thought that some parts of the audience misunderstood which piece they were about to perform. So Thomas Lauderdale checked with China, why don't we do that one first and at the same time invited people to come up to the stage to leave notes for requests. There was a considerable stream of people coming forward with requests and this resulted in Pink Martini doing their first ever medley of songs they had previously recorded in their 20 year career. This could not have been done with an orchestra, and gave a uniqueness to the show that added to how memorable it was. Pink Martini played for a solid 2 and a 1/2 hours. Fantastic music with a splash of chaos for such a long  show, who could possibly quibble. 

Rating: 10/10.