Before the film I had time to drop by Aitken’s Wine Warehouse where the temptations are infinite. I came out with a bottle of Akrathos Assyrtiko dry white wine from Newlands Winery in Halkidiki plus a bottle of Tobermory Gin from the Isle of Mull. I’d already had a bottle of the Akrathos and rated […]
‘Wilding’, Dundee Contemporary Arts (DCA)
On a trip to Edinburgh a couple of weeks ago I visited the exhibition ‘Adam Bruce Thomson: The Quiet Path’ at City Art Centre, which is very conveniently located if you are arriving by train as the venue is just over the road from Waverley station. Adam Bruce Thomson was a well established figure in […]
‘Ryuichi Sakamoto – Opus’, Dundee Contemporary Arts (DCA)
The scheduling of this film was poignant, as it was a year to the day that Japanese composer and musician Ryuichi Sakamoto died. ‘Ryuichi Sakamoto – Opus’ is pretty minimalist. There is no orchestra and there are no cuts to interviews with Sakamoto or tributes from friends. It is just an hour and three quarters […]
‘Uncut Gems’, DCA, Dundee
After the first fifteen minutes or so of ‘Uncut Gems’ I was thinking this is great but there’s no way that directors Benny and Josh Safdie can keep up the film’s manic intensity and tempo. But they do. The invasive music is set at a higher than normal level in relation to the spoken dialogue, […]
‘Mrs Lowry & Son’, DCA, Dundee
Before the film we dropped into Tailend restaurant and enjoyed a meal of sea bream and Thai seafood curry, washed down with a pint of Eden Mill Shipwreck IPA and a gin cocktail. This basement restaurant is a welcome sanctuary on a dreich day like today. The food was great, especially the Thai seafood curry […]
‘Pain and Glory’, DCA, Dundee
I got to DCA in time to get an IPA from the bar to take into the film. The trailers and the crass pre-film ads seemed to pass by quicker than usual. It was a Friday afternoon showing of Pedro Almodovar’s ‘Pain and Glory’, starring Antonio Banderas as world-weary film director Salvador Mallo. The character’s […]