Live Performance Review: Dynamo: Magician Impossible - Seeing is Believing, Sunday 29.11.2015 20:00, The Playhouse, Edinburgh

Regrettably, to a large extent, the only way I can write about this performance is by referencing how it compares to the only other magician/illusionist I've seen perform, the Master, Mr. Derren Brown. 

It was a shorter performance by some considerable margin. It was far less intense in pace and due to this I felt it was easier not to concentrate as much. The illusions, I would also say to on the whole be a less impressive. If you have seen all of his television programmes, there was nothing new. 

The illusion that started the 2nd half did not feel to be particularly well carried off, being a case where I could tell what the illusion was before it's climax. 

There were some impressive parts, though I also feel there was far too much referencing back to his childhood, again nothing new having seen his programmes. I have to keep in mind that this was his first live tour and the only comparison I have is a hyper intelligent slick performer who had already done several tours before I saw him for my first time of four. It looks as though the Master may be retiring from touring, though I don't feel excited enough by Dynamo to have him replace his superior. Despite the negative comments, I did enjoy myself though did leave feeling slightly short-changed. 

Rating: 07/10.        

Live Performance Review: Dave Gorman Get's Straight to the Point, Sunday 22.11.2015 20:00, The Alhambra, Dunfermline

This is the fifth time I have seen Mr. Gorman, king of the geeks, perform since 2006 and I have still never been disappointed. I probably would not have gone, due to the travel involved, if it weren't for the fact that I have a friend who was keen to see him.

There was support from a Nick Doody, who was a lot better than an audience has any right to expect from a support act. 

Mr Gorman himself did close to two hours all of which was very enjoyable and geeky. I would say this was not quite as good as the previous tour, though that relates to the material being presented not the delivery. We were treated to two 'Found Poems', just as he did on the last tour and it was lovely to hear him get such a jubilantly joyful response from packed crowd in this more provincial venue than I am used to. 

It was lovely to hear that Mr. Gorman is now a dad. It was even better to hear his response to the audience's cheers, saying along the lines of 'Don't applaud the fact that my cock works, we are not American'.

I had thought of giving this a top rating, though this did not feel quite right. It was a fantastically engaging eve. 

Rating: 9.5/10.    

Film Review: Love 3D (18) (France/Belgium 2015) (Director: Gasper Noe) (English and French with English Subtitles), Filmhouse, Screen One, Edinburgh, Wednesday 18.11.2015, 20:30

I went to see this film solely upon the strength of the director's previous film, 2009's 'Enter The Void', one of my all time favourite films and if you have not seen this masterpiece, I cannot recommend this more highly. 

I was aware of the sexually explicit nature of this film, though this neither intrigued or put me off. 

This is monumentally dull film. Every element was tedious. The dialogue was numskullish in the extreme. The three central characters are completely unengaging, with the most central character being a misogynistic prick who spends the film very self-indulgently hankering after a past lover while being unable to appreciate what he has or his own agency in creating his circumstances. All of this echoes what I have subsequently heard some film critics say of the film.

Gasper Noe has commented that he sees the film as being sentimental, which suggests to me that he struggles to understand  how his produce may be received by normal viewers. I really have no time for what I understand to be Gasper's first two films, 'I Stand Alone' (1998) & 'Irreversible' (2002), and now having seen  his latest dirge I can only conclude that 'Enter The Void' was a fluke. I don't know after this whether I will allow him any more chances with new product. I cannot rate or recommend this film in any way.         

Film Review: Spectre (12A) (U.K./U.S.A. 2015) (Director: Sam Mendes), VUE (OMNI), Screen Four, Edinburgh, Tuesday 27.10.2015, 18:30

This is obviously the latest of the 'James Bond' films. It is by the same director who had helmed 'Skyfall' (2012) and I would say that it is of equal quality. Having said this, I do feel 'Spectre' to be better paced and more playful than the previous effort. I would say that this film, in terms of it's acting and storytelling, has subtleties that feel uncommon when considering the 'Bond' cannon.  

I was going to this with the sense of this being potentially the last Bond for me. This is due to finding the character of Bond a tad rapey and the films generally far too male. I was then very pleased to find that the female lead character of Madeleine Swan, performed by Lea Seydoux, is the most equal to Bond of any of the female characters from the 23 films. The film is also, in my mind, the least misogynistic of all 'Bond' films.

The story is a good yarn and there are no parts that sagged or were uncomfortable. I found this to be genuinely mostly harmless fluff. There are a couple of scenes which cause me to question the wisdom of a 12A certificate. I think it should have been at least a 12, as though couple of scenes are not for the eyes of young children. 

The film also ends in a way unlike any other 'Bond' film. I agree with what Simon Mayo said on Radio 5 Live, that with how the ending is, that it makes sense for Daniel Craig to now step aside. The film also nicely brings all of the previous Daniel Craig 'Bond' films into the same greater narrative, which was a nice touch, considering that 'Skyfall' had previously always been talked of as being a stand-alone story.

As I said before in regard to 'The Raid 2' (2014), I think action films are a curious thing in that you cannot really consider them alongside other genres of film. Though within the field of action films this is another top-notch effort and a perfectly enjoyable way to spend a couple of hours (and a bit). 

Rating: 10/10.      

Film Review: The Dance of Reality (18) (Chile/France 2013) (Director: Alejandro Jodorowsky) (Spanish with English Subtitles), Filmhouse, Screen Two, Edinburgh, Saturday 10.10.2015, 17:55

I first began to check out the work of Jodorowsky earlier this year when I found out that it is a key influence on the latest album by Laura Marling. I watched 'El Topo' (1970) on television, and saw 'Santa Sangre' (1989) during the Edinburgh International Film Festival this year. I also have 'Holy Mountain' (1973) on disk waiting to be watched. I have heard 'The Dance of Reality' being compared favourably to 'El Topo' & 'Holy Mountain' both of which are regarded as Jodorowsky's early hallucinogenic masterpieces. 

If you are not familiar with Jodorowsky's work, two little titbits that may give a sense of his output are that Marilyn Manson considers him the greatest director who ever lived, and Jodorowsky was meant to direct Dune before it got passed to David Lynch. From what I understand of what Jodorowsky's film would have contained, It sounds as though it would have been a far more interesting film than Lynch's, if he had been allowed to finish it.  

The film I understand to some degree to be based upon Jodorowsky's memories from early childhood, when his father was enamoured by Stalin and we are shown his mother only vocally expressing through operatic singing. The film has some funny moments, but on the whole is a far more abstract work than you could come across in the work of most other directors. It feels hard to describe the piece in anyway that would come close to describing how wonderfully weird it is, or that could give a fair snapshot of the story. This is a film which requires a leap of faith, for the viewer just to go with it and not judge too quickly. It feels difficult to say more about it, without given away vital plot details. Suffice to say I greatly enjoyed the piece and it has some spectacular Chiliean landscape scenery. 

I would say that the Russian film from last weekend 'Hard to be a God' (2013) did feel slightly more engrossing, though I would say that I had absolutely no idea what to expect of that film. I feel that I certainly did know what sort of work to expect this time round, though I don't feel that makes it any lesser a film. 

Rating: 10/10.      

Live Performance Review: Pokey LaFarge, Friday 09.10.2015 19:00, The Art School, Glasgow

This is the third time I have seen Pokey live and he never disappoints. Good-times inflected blues performed by musicians of a very high calaber. Pokey is a high-class showman and his band have presence and character as well. The audience were very enthusiastic, in fine voice having a good time. What more could you possibly ask for. 

I had the added joy of having my dad come along to a gig of my choosing and thoroughly enjoying himself. A special evening that will live with me.   

Rating: 10/10. 

Film Review: The Martian 2D (12A) (U.S.A. 2015) (Director: Ridley Scott), The Dominion, Screen One, Edinburgh, Sunday 04.10.2015, 17:00

This is the latest si-fi offering from Ridley Scott. When I was initially aware of it I was not keen from the information I had to go on. As the publicity crept-up I became more intrigued and had a mate ask if I was interested in seeing it, hence going yesterday. 

It was refreshing to have a space film that was not solely ponderously serious. I don't know enough of the science to know where all of the plot holes were. I understand that it is regarded to have made a good effort in regard to the science element, though there were still some aspects I could tell to be fairly ludicrous though they did not jar in terms of conveying the story. Visually it is very engaging and I found it to be an enjoyable watch, though I would not personally go as far as to suggest excellence. A good, fairly engaging watch which did not just feel like fluffy pop-corn. 

Rating: 08/10.