Live Performance Review: Derren Brown: Miracle, Wednesday 20.05.2015, 19:30, Edinburgh Playhouse, Edinburgh

This is the forth time I have seen the master perform live and he does request that his congregation don't spill the secrets of the show, and I wouldn't wish to let him down. 

Suffice to say the second half does delve into the miraculous. This performance had what I would consider to be the biggest 'what the f***' head-scratchers yet from any performance I had seen him do. There were also elements of the show that I consider overwhelming in terms of the profundity of what he conveys. There are nuggets of philosophy imparted which it would be beneficial for me and I suspect many attendees to hold onto. 

The terms 'awe' and 'awesome' strictly speaking should only be used with religious connotations. Since I don't believe in higher beings or 'gods', strictly speaking I should not use these terms. Having said this, within a secular context, there are things that he did that I would consider to be as 'awesome' as it is possible to be. 

Derren Brown is truly capable of so much more than magic or illusion. Seeing the evolution of this grand showman, confirms him to be just that. To anyone who has reservations about 'magic' shows, I encourage you to put this to the side and give him at least a shot. 

Earlier in the year, as part of my plans to scale back on expenditure, I thought to myself that this time being the forth time, would probably be plenty and would surely sate my appetite in this regard. 

I now sit here at my laptop thinking where can he possibly go next in terms of feats of wonder to dazzle his followers with. Given that he tends to come to town every couple of years, I don't feel it is too much to allow myself to add Mr. Brown to the hallowed list of now three artists who I would always try to catch on any new tour. He now has the privilege of sitting amongst the finest of company. 

A cracking evenings entertainment. 

Rating: 10/10.        

Film Review: Mala Mala (18) (Puerto Rico/U.S.A. 2014) (Directors: Antonio Santini & Dan Sickles) (Spanish & English with English Subtitles) (Scottish Premiere), Filmhouse, Screen Two, Edinburgh, Sunday 17.05.2015, 20:35

This is a documentary which follows 9 individuals who reside in Puerto Rico, all of whom identify as transgender in some way or other. It felt refreshing for such a subject area to be focused upon in this manner. 

In the initial section of the documentary it appeared as if the usual stereotypes regarding being trapped in performing drag-acts or as some part of the sex industry where the focus for the film makers. Though I am glad to say that the scope of the film broadened as it went on. 

The film showed mark contrast between people modifying themselves physically to achieve some sense of self-expression and examples where the process either had not gone well due to some back-street/illegal approach or it appearing as if the person had made the modifications for the benefit of others. The film in a gentle way also focused upon prejudice/persecution experienced in terms of normal opportunities within job markets and the ghettoisation of communities and creative self-expression. 

The film also showed that these strong characters are making very reasoned approaches to try to breach the ghettoisation and reach for normal visibility within their society and wider culture. 

I felt the film overall to be fairly well balanced. I appreciated the fact that they did not deny the difficult elements of life for these people, though they did not dwell on the negative either. I did feel though that if the film was slightly longer they could have had greater depth the their depictions of these characters. 

Overall I found the film well made and I have little criticism of it. One thing of note though , towards the end of the film there was a lot of focus, and quite rightly so, on how people who are transgender are so much more than their bodies/sex. This was then followed up by one of the characters dancing around in an overtly sexual manner while the end credits are shown, which felt a tad contradictory. A minor issue, in what was largely an enjoyable and engaging documentary. 

Rating: 09/10.             

Film Review: The Tribe (18) (Ukraine/Netherlands 2014) (Director: Miroslav Slaboshpitsky) (No Dialogue - in Ukrainian Sign Language without Subtitles), Filmhouse, Screen Three, Edinburgh, Saturday 16.05.2015, 20:35

The detail I read about this film before seeing it states that the story is told via Body Language and Ukrainian Sign Language. This sounded intriguing in itself and was the basis for my attending. The film is set in what appears to be a very poorly run residential school for people who are deaf. The characters seem to embrace a feral life and there is abuse within the setting that appears endemic. 

The film appears to very faithfully adhere to the strict requirements of 'Dogma '95'. There is a rawness and brutality to the tone throughout the film, along with a kinetic nature to much of it, which I found to strongly contribute to my experiencing a sense of entrancement. Due to having to focus so much on the visual side of what is presented, there are some scenes which I found to become too much. I was wincing and partially obscuring my view at a couple of points, which is very unusual for me. 

I would not call the film entertaining. I had a sense of it as a film to be endured. The film is by no means an easy watch and I would be vary cautious as to who I recommend to. Having said this, I feel it is only fair to also say that I am very glad I saw this, and that this is a very fresh though unusual film. This is easily the most engaging film I have seen so far this year and it has passages that I am sure will stay with me for some time to come. 

Rating: 10/10.    

Film Review: Mad Max: Fury Road (2D) (15) (Australia 2015) (Director: George Miller), Cineworld, Screen Two, Edinburgh, Saturday 16.05.2015, 12:00

I have not seen any of the previous incarnation of Mad Max and due to having issues regarding Mr. Gibson, am unlikely to. I was curious due to Tom Hardy stepping into the titular role and became more intrigued when I began to get glimpses of the steam-punk visuals, which turns out to be one of the most impressive elements of the film. 

The plot is perfunctory at best and I have to agree with Dr. Kermode, that there is not enough light and shade. In terms of plot it is fairly unrelenting. I also agree that the film could have done with a tad of a trim as is slightly over-long at 2 Hours. 

It is easy to see why comparisons between Sigourney Weaver's Ripley from the Alien films and Charlize Theron's character, Imperator Furiosa, have been drawn, though I question the idea that there is a (strong) feminist element to the film. 

The visuals in general, not just the styling, were very impressive. The vibrancy of the differing light and details in the likes of the dust are captivating. 

Though ultimately due to the flim-flam story, by the end of the film, I was not left with any sense of greatness. It was a fun romp, with nothing left lingering. The film did not cause any excitement at the prospect of this becoming a franchise in its own right and although I enjoyed the film, there is not enough depth to it to wish to return to it for further nourishment. The rating given below is only in terms of 'Action Films' as I don't feel they can be compared with other genres.  

Rating: 08/10.      

Film Review: Cobain: Montage of Heck (15) (U.S.A. 2015) (Director: Brett Morgen), Filmhouse, Screen One, Edinburgh, Sunday 02.05.2015, 20:30

Nirvana are a group that I enjoyed back to when I first heard the album 'Nevermind' (1991), sometime in the summer months of '92. I was in my final year of school when Kurt killed himself. I was curious about this film due to Kurt's daughter, Frances Bean, being one of the executive producers. I hopeful that due to this there would be no access issues in regard to what materials the film makers were able to draw upon. This was not one of the issues by some margin...

The film is poorly structured and appeared to lack any sense of direction or purpose. There were entire animated sections which I would expect to fundamentally be conjecture. Scenes such as these tended to be accompanied by re-workings of Nirvana songs which at best were distracting. There appeared to be an imbalance of focus within the film, towards Kurt's early life. I found the film wilfully chaotic and at times hard to follow. I don't think this film adds anything in regards of trying to understand this iconic musician. The only thing that grew within me as a result of watching the film is greater sympathy for Frances Bean.  I did think about walking out as was bored, though something made me stick it out. I cannot recommend this to anyone who is not an absolute Kurt die-hard. Maybe I should be reminding myself of the age I am now at and question myself as to whether films like this are really my cup-o-tea. 

Rating: 02/10.     

Live Performance Review: Nick Cave, Tuesday 28.04.2015 20:00 The Edinburgh Playhouse, Edinburgh

This gig was advertised as a solo performance. This was not the case. He had some 'Bad Seeds' with him, though it was a parred back version to that which I have seen before and he did some songs by himself, which was nice. The setting and lighting was very nice and the view from where I was in the 3rd row could not have got much better. Nick and his chief collaborator, Mr. Warren Ellis, were superb showmen as always. 

This was the fourth time in total that I have seen Nick and his Seeds. I have seen them twice on the first leg of a tour after albums have come out and now twice with more distance to album releases. I prefer seeing him in the performances that have more distance to album releases as he tends to do more of a spread of work from across his career with the Seeds. This show had works spreading from his most recent album, back to the very first and contained many of my favourite songs by Mr. Cave. The performance lasted 2 & 1/4 Hours and was top notch throughout, what more could you want.  

Rating: 10/10.    

Live Performance Review: Laura Marling, Saturday 25.04.2015 19:00, O2 Academy, Glasgow

The following is not a review, although I will mention details about the performance. As with Josie Long during the Edinburgh Festivals in August last year, I have to admit that I can no longer be objective in regard to how great I think they are. 

This is the eighth time I have seen Laura perform since the first time in 2009. This time, Laura performed with people on drums, bass and guitar. Although I have seen her perform with a group of musicians a couple of times before, the tone of this performance was a new area for Little Miss Marling (as I like to think of her). Laura herself was using a range of electric, semi-acoustic and acoustic guitars. The performance itself, I would not class as rock, though it had a harder element to the sound than what I have heard from her before. She played songs from her second album, 'I Speak Because I Can' (2010) to her most recent 'Short Movie' (2015), along with a couple of covers and (I think) a newie. 

With some of the songs from previous albums she was approaching them within the manner of her new work. I have seen musicians previously do this well such as Iron & Wine, and others do this really badly such as Bon Iver. Thankfully Laura was able to manage this with aplomb. She was performing songs that I know well, that were still instantly recognisable to me, though which sounded quite different. The manner in which she has evolved her sound causes me to think that it is no longer fair to consider her within the stricture of being a 'folk' musician, though she should just be considered as a great musician.  

Her musical skill in terms of guitar playing and singing were faultless. There were a couple of times where she stumbled onto a wrong note, gave humble recognition and moved on, which in my eyes just added to the charm. There was very sweet banter and interaction with the very appreciative crowd and there were several songs where I was having goosebumps. This also appeared to be the most relaxed I have seen her when she has been performing, laughing and smiling at various points throughout the performance, which is always nice to see.

Within the opening suite of songs I was already transfixed and aware of mentally saying to myself, 'who am I kidding with (occasionally) questioning how great I think you are, you're perfect'. In my mind, there is nothing sexier than someone who is a masterful musician. When this is matched with physical beauty and a manner of poise & dignity, along with being intelligent and eloquent, that becomes for me a package of perfection. I used to feel slightly like a 'dirty-old-man' finding her hot with being 14 years older and her being this refined youthful beauty. From this performance it was evident that she still has that refined beauty, though for me, this is now balanced with a sexy bad-ass element to her, and it is this new aspect which enables me to no longer feel like a pervert.

I feel this is probably a good point for me to wrap this up otherwise I will dribble and get to a point of embarrassing myself. If it were not already clear and by means of summing up, I am besotted.