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FREE SUNDAY 24 FEBRUARY THE OFFICAL GFF DAILY GUIDE WWW.THESKINNY.CO.UK/CINESKINNY

WHAT’S INSIDE?2 — TODAY’S PICKS

This is the last time we will tell you what to do, we promise. But seriously, go and see Robot & Frank

2 — SHAKESPEARE To read, or not to read, that is not the question. Read it, you lazy sods

3 — THE CINESKINNY AWARDS Better than the Oscars, but a whole lot shorter and less ridiculous. Also comes with the added bonus of not being presented by Seth MacFarlane

3 — MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING 4 — PICS OF THE FESTIVAL

The GFF photographers have been at every event, making the ugly look sexy and capturing some classic gala moments. Here are five of the best, so you can cut them out and make half a calendar

Produced by The Skinny magazine in association with the Glasgow Film Festival

Editors Lewis Porteous Jamie DunnDesigner Marianne Wilson Digital Nathanael SmithDeputy Editor Josh Slater-Williams

Big thanks to the team at GFF as they made us all very welcome when we invaded GFT towers.

GL ASGOW K IZZTonight’s closing gala party will feature a tribute to BIG STAR, with DJ sets from Mogwai’s Stuart Braithwaite and the good folks at Monorail. We take a look at some of the ways Big Star and Glasgow have connected over the yearsWORDS: CHRIS BUCKLE

OVER 4000 miles of Dixie and ocean separate Memphis, Tennes-see from Glasgow, Scotland, but influence travels far without fatigue. As tonight’s closing gala tribute will underscore, the music of Big Star has had a pronounced impact on many of our city’s musicians, with the mercurial Alex Chilton particularly cherished thanks to time spent here and friendships made before his sad passing in 2010, aged just 59. Through a handful of songs, we consider some of the ways in which Glasgow has shown Big Star love over the years, and been shown it back.

TEENAGE FANCLUB – RET LIV DEAD

The Fannies have never been shy about showing their indebtedness to Chilton and co, going as far as to name fourth album Thirteen after #1 Record’s wistful paean to adolescent romance. While Thirteen occupies a relatively lowly position in the band’s radiant discography, the fuzzy beauty of Ret Liv Dead pins down the influence: blissful melodies, vibrant guitar lines and a frequent, almost tangible melancholia.

V-TWIN – DERAILEDV-Twin’s Jason McPhail was a

close friend of Chilton’s, putting him up on his visits to Glasgow and spearheading the Mono tribute concert held in mid-2010. This gently abrasive ballad combines a simple vocal-plus-guitar melody with creak-ing strings and pockets of feedback – a rough-with-the-smooth aesthetic suggestive of Big Star’s opus work Third/Sister Lovers.

1990S – TAKE ME HOME AND MAKE ME LIKE IT

V-Twin’s other core member Mi-chael McGaughrin went on to drum with zesty rock and rollers 1990s, who have been known to perform this ramshackle slice of honky-tonk sleaze-pop live. First appearing on Chilton’s Bach’s Bottom LP, the track constitutes one of the more accessible moments in a sprawling solo career known to split Big Star devotees down the middle.

PRIMAL SCREAM – STARAccording to Bobby Gillespie,

Big Star influenced Primal Scream in ways “too many to mention”

(with Chilton’s early tutelage of The Cramps also notably formative). We’ve singled out Vanishing Point’s oasis of calm Star –not because its title constitutes 50% of the act in question, but because its woozy lullaby reportedly found a fan in Chilton himself.

TEENAGE FANCLUB & ALEX CHILTON – I’VE NEVER FOUND A GIRL (TO LOVE ME LIKE YOU DO)

A second Teenage Fanclub appearance brings this mini mix-tape full circle. The Belshill band collabo-rated with their idol-cum-cohort on several occasions, with this soulful take on I’ve Never Found a Girl – re-corded for mid-nineties Scottish arts show Don’t Look Down – particularly worth tracking down on your online video sharing site of choice.

24 FEB – GFT 2 @ 20.00

GLASGOWFILM.ORG/FESTIVAL/WHATS_ON/4650_BIG_STAR_NOTHING_CAN_HURT_ME_PLUS_CLOSING_GALA_PARTY

GFF BOX OFFICEOrder tickets from the box office atwww.glasgowfilm.org/festival

or call0141 332 6535or visitGlasgow Film Theatre12 Rose Street, Glasgow, G3 6RB

boxoffice@glasgowfilm.org

BIG STAR: NOTHING CAN HURT ME

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TODAY’S PICKSSHELL11.00 @ GFT 1Here’s another plug for this hypnotising debut film from Scottish director Scott Graham, a poignant drama set in the howling highlands. Rest assured, ticket prices are not dependent on rising petrol costs.

ROBOT & FRANK15.00 @ GFT1Assigned a robot carer, cranky retired cat burglar Frank (Frank Langella) plots one last robbery with the assistance of his new metal friend. The best buddy crime movie with a robotic lead since Point Break.

MUSEUM HOURS12.45 @ CINEWORLD 17This acclaimed character study with non-professional actors has two people wandering around Vienna, seeing the sights. In that sense it’s kind of like Before Sunrise, so expect two sequels with the male lead’s hair increasingly receding.

BREAKING THE FRAME17.50 @ GFT 2This intimate, textured portrait of New York artist Carolee Schneemann includes footage from her avant-garde cinema. GFF’s presentation of the film will apparently not involve breaking the projector.

THE KING OF MARVIN GARDENS15.15 @ CINEWORLD 17A last minute replacement for 70s drama Scarecrow, Park Circus’ restoration of another 70s film is a drama starring Jack Nicholson as the king of a haven for the likes of Lee Marvin, Marvin Gaye and Marvin the Martian. On a completely unrelated note, we’ve been told pro-gramme descriptions may not all be accurate at time of going to press.

A PENTAMETRIC GLANCE AT SHAKESPEARE FILMSShall I compare thee to another film?WORDS: KIRSTY LECKIE-PALMER

Be the star in your own movie

Let Stow College play a supporting role T: 0844 249 8585

WWW.STOW.AC.UK

CREATIVE INDUSTRIESSCIENCE, HEALTH & CAREENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGYBUSINESS & CONTINUING EDUCATION

ROBOT & FRANK

BREAKING THE FRAME

TITUS (JULIE TAYMOR, 1999) The Players: Anthony Hopkins, Jessica Lange, Alan

Cumming, Jonathan Rhys Meyers

A wearied Hopkins masked in azure glaze Becomes the shattered Hannibal of Rome As Taymor weaves a rare, eclectic maze Of violent red, cool black and gilded chrome. When Lavinia, ravished, cannot name the beast That did the deed; two Goths are named to die Then served to Tamora in a deadly feasts For they’ve been baked as sumptuous mortal pie. Time stratifies and shreds, frames fall away And glorious retribution finds its part. When seeking adaptations of this play Refer to Taymor’s Titus for film art.

ROMEO + JULIET (BAZ LUHRMANN, 1996) The Players: Leonardo DiCaprio, Claire Danes, John

Leguizamo, Miriam Margolyes

Baz Luhrmann takes the bard’s most angsty play To cast a fresh DiCaprio and Danes, Postmodern, edgy; hence the R+J. They’re love’s young doom; he cries, she howls, it rains. Injections of baroque exuberance Exhilarate this well-worn tragedy As angel and her armoured soldier dance To (of all things) a Des’ree melody. Quick thrills, sleek guns, Hawaiian shirts in throng A drag queen shimmies as she’s tanning E; Baz only knows young folks love hard, not long And young hearts ever will try to run free.

THRONE OF BLOOD (AKIRA KUROSAWA, 1957) The Players: Toshirô Mifune, Isuzu Yamada, Akira Kubo,

Takashi Shimura

From shadows Kurosawa crafts Macbeth As Washizu, a warrior samurai. A film of thunder, fog and creeping death All captured in Mifune’s fearsome eye. Commanded at his creepy wife’s behest, She whispers, “Kill”, kimono white, hands red. In one fell swoop Washizu strikes his guest, Betrayal done; he falls, he sighs, he’s dead. And so, by this, the general earns his keep, A Cobweb Castle, and a retinue. But they desert and leave him there to reap The thousand arrows that his crimes are due.

THE TAMING OF THE SHREW (SAM TAYLOR, 1929)The Players: Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks

Petruchio is Fairbanks with an earring, Pickford plays a turbo-bitch called Kate. They’re married forcibly with ample sneering, He chastises her with force (this shows its date). Domestic violence seen as quite the stricture, All cavort with little tact or wit, And no-one’s used to acting in a picture In which there’s sound; that’s why they all sound shit. Although this entry’s poor and now forsaken, A relic of those times with its detractors, There’s merit in this monster, if it’s taken As lesson to would-be Shakespeare adaptors.

24 FEB – GFT 1 @ 20.15

24 FEB – CINEWORLD 18 @ 20.45

GLASGOWFILM.ORG/FESTIVAL/WHATS_ON/4848_MUCH_ADO_ABOUT_NOTHING

ROMEO + JULIET

WWW.THESKINNY.CO.UK/CINESKINNY SUNDAY 24 FEBRUARY THE CINESKINNY 3

CINE TEAM’S FILMS OF THE FESTIVALJamie Dunn – Après mai (Olivier Assayas): It’s Dazed and Confused meets Ted. Josh Slater-Willaims – Neighbouring Sounds (Kleber Mendonça Filho): It’s Short Cuts meets Ted. Nathanael Smith – Wadjda (Haifaa al-Mansour): It’s Pee-wee’s Big Adventure meets Ted. Marianne Wilson - The Legend of Kaspar Hauser (Davide Manuli): It’s The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser meets Ted. Lewis Porteous – Songs for Amy (Konrad Begg): It’s The Hangover meets Ted.

HONOURABLE MENTIONSBeyond the Hills (Cristian Mungiu), The We and the I (Michel Gondry), From Up on Poppy Hill (Goro Miyazaki), Caesar Must Die (Paolo Taviani, Vittorio Tavi-ani), Wolf Children (Mamoru Hosoda), Spring Breakers (Harmony Korine)

DOC OF THE FESTVillage at the End of the World (Sarah Gavron): A study of isolation that feels like a kinder version of Werner Herzog’s docs, this finds real warmth in the coldest of locations. Recom-mended for everyone except PETA activists.

Runners-up: Indie Game: The Movie, Vito.

thriller. Some declared its beauty, others just fell asleep.

THE DIRECTOR OF THE FUTURE AWARDRob Savage, who made his debut feature, Strings, at the ridiculously young age of eighteen, although one suspects the film’s singular, woozy style might have more to do with the fact he was sniffing glue behind the bike sheds during production.

SOUNDTRACK OF THE FESTIVALAprès mai’s, which features tunes by Nick Drake, Soft Machine, Captain Beefheart, Tangerine Dream and Syd Barrett. The standout musical cue comes in the form of Kevin Ayers’ Decadence. The song gained added poignance at GFF’s 18 Feb screening as the former Soft Machine frontman had passed away that day.

THE SCREENING WE’RE GUTTED WE MISSEDSecret Subway: CAAAAANNNN YOUU DIG IT?? Sadly, we didn’t dig it as this sold out straight away. How cool would it have been to see Walter Hill’s cult masterpiece The Warriors in an St Enoch underground station?

Runner-up: The Passion of Joan of Arc at Glasgow Cathedral.

CINESKINNY AWARDS

The most important awards of the weekend, the CineSkinny’ GFF awards...

THE MOMENT OF THE FESTIVALAlex Salmond emerging as witty and charming as he introduced John Car-penter’s Ghosts of Mars as GFF’s Geek Movie Night film. What we learned: he prefers DC Comics to The Dandy (how unpatriotic is that?); he knows the CV of Natasha Henstridge better than the second verse of Flower of Scotland; no Saltires on his Christmas tree, but there is a Seven of Nine doll; he has very bad taste in movies.

THE WTF MOMENT OF THE FESTIVALJames Franco, dressed as a gold-toothed gangsta rapper, sitting by a swimming pool playing a white baby grand piano and crooning a Britney Spears ballad to three blond air-heads wearing pink, unicorn embroidered balaclavas and brandishing semi-automatic submachine guns in Spring Breakers.

Runners-up: Nicole Kidman having a wizz over Zac Efron’s face in The Paperboy; every second of The Legend of Kaspar Hauser.

THE MARMITE FILM OF THE FESTIVALStoker: The Skinny’s negative review attracted a lot of commenters claiming that ‘we didn’t get it’, but we weren’t the only ones who reacted coldly to Park Chan-wook’s Hitchcockian, gothic-tinged

WADJDA

MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHINGDIRECTOR: JOSS WHEDONSTARRING: FRAN KRANZ, JILLIAN MORGESE, ALEXIS DENISOF, AMY ACKER, NATHAN FILLION, SEAN MAHER, CLARK GREGG, TOM LENK, SPENCER TREAT CLARK

Shunning doublet and hose in favour of tastefully tailored suburbia, Joss Whedon’s Much Ado about Nothing is a lithe, wry look at one of Shakespeare’s lesser-visited works, discover-ing in dreamy monochrome the sensuousness often lost between iambs. As Claudio (Kranz) and Hero (Morgese) struggle with honour, and Benedick (Denisof ) and Beatrice (Acker) clash wits, lines are delivered with a casual insight that transcends posturing. Quirky innovations include a tinkling, jazz piano-led rendition of Hey Nonny Nonny, and the figuring of Riki Linhome as Conrade, Don John’s traditionally male sidekick, as a female lover. Whedon shot in 12 days at his own home, with a cast snatched from pre-film works that will delight alumni of Buffy, Dollhouse and Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog. While such condi-tions could easily feel restrictive or distracting, Whedon’s inventive framing, delicate means of shifting focus and glowing, ethereal use of light make for a stylish and ab-solutely credible vision, of which much ado would be well-earned. [Kirsty Leckie-Palmer]

MUCH ADO IS THE CLOSING GALA FILM

REVIEW

MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING

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FESTIVAL CLUB

Join us at our new Festival Club! Open every day,

12noon till late. Come along for free talks & live DJ acts.

SARAMAGO TERRACE BAR, CCA, 350 SAUCHIEHALL STREET

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FESTIVAL CLUB

Join us at our new Festival Club! Open every day,

12noon till late. Come along for free talks & live DJ acts.

SARAMAGO TERRACE BAR, CCA, 350 SAUCHIEHALL STREET

5 PICS OF THE FEST

ST ENOCH SUBWAY STATION BECOMES A CINEMA

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THE GIRL WALK // ALL DAY CREW