Scotsman.com - The Arts Feed

Film review: The Great Gatsby

Wed, 15 May 2013 18:05:19 GMT

COMPOSED like a fashion shoot, Baz Luhrmann’s Gatsby is so full of spectacle that it risks missing the point of Fitzgerald’s story.

Arts blog: ‘Uhura is not far off being Bridget Jones in space’

Wed, 15 May 2013 17:57:16 GMT

SEXISM lets down the new Star Trek movie according to trekkie Andrea Mullaney, while David Pollock previews a Cuillins psychogeography project.

‘Tango opera’ brings street style to Edinburgh

Wed, 15 May 2013 17:49:06 GMT

THE essence of Argentine culture is distilled in a version of Astor Piazzolla’s ‘tango opera’ presented by Mr McFall’s Chamber

Pastels making anxious return to Glasgow spotlight

Wed, 15 May 2013 17:47:16 GMT

IT has been 16 years since The Pastels last released an album of their own. This seems hard to credit, even for a man who talks as slowly and carefully as frontman Stephen McRobbie, aka Stephen Pastel, aka the benevolent godfather of Glasgow’s still-thriving independent music scene (a title he will certainly not thank me for bestowing).

Bringing Commonwealth Gaelic diaspora home for 2014

Wed, 15 May 2013 17:40:24 GMT

SAIL a westbound ferry boldly beyond its habitual port of call, tramp the age-old cattle route of a drove road past its market destination then keep going, and you have emigration.

Epic new kids’ film packs big ideas into small tale

Wed, 15 May 2013 17:36:07 GMT

AS an online petition objecting to Disney’s misguided revamp of Brave’s Princess Merida picks up signatures by the thousand (if you haven’t seen it, Merida is now slimmer, she’s wearing make-up, her neck-line is lowered and instead of a bow and arrow she has sparkles on her dress), I confess I feel heartened at the first images of the heroine of the new animated feature, Epic.

Art review: Frederic Church, Edinburgh

Wed, 15 May 2013 17:33:49 GMT

WE aren’t too familiar with early American painting, and the tradition of touring huge canvases has died out, but this collection brings both together, showing how the emerging nation was learning to describe and define itself

Theatre reviews: As It Is | Marco Pantani: The Pirate

Wed, 15 May 2013 17:27:51 GMT

THIS week the Tron offers two memorable personal journeys set against the background of war. In Edinburgh, meanwhile, don’t miss Lee Hall’s powerful tale of working class artists.

Cannes: Gatsby takes lead at opulent film festival

Wed, 15 May 2013 17:19:17 GMT

BRITAIN is out of the running for the Palme D’Or at Cannes, but there’s a strong showing elsewhere, and the prominence of the opulent Great Gatsby seems somehow apposite, writes Stephen Applebaum

Film reviews: Fast & Furious 6 | A Hijacking | The Liability

Wed, 15 May 2013 17:14:06 GMT

ALISTAIR Harkness reviews the week’s cinema releases.

Arts blog: Musicians on independence | Edinburgh Fringe

Wed, 08 May 2013 18:22:12 GMT

NOW that it’s fewer than 500 days until the referendum that will change Scotland forever, or not, you’ll be hearing lots more well-known names explaining why they’re voting one way or the other.

Gilbert and Sullivan pose challenge for Scottish Opera

Wed, 08 May 2013 18:14:59 GMT

FOR any opera director used to making sense and substance out of the musical and theatrical complexities of Britten, Mozart, Verdi or Puccini, you’d think a stab at a dear old Gilbert and Sulllivan operetta, with frivolous comedy, saucy satire and sentimental tunes, would be like a walk in the park.

TradFest conclusion looks at state of folk arts

Wed, 08 May 2013 18:12:25 GMT

THE final day of what appears to have been a successful debut for Edinburgh’s 12-day TradFest saw some intriguingly disparate elements – from Robert Burns to Patrick Geddes – invoked in a conference assessing the place of the traditional arts in 21st century Scotland.

Torycore project offers noisy take on the coalition

Wed, 08 May 2013 18:08:53 GMT

DESPITE the name, there’s nothing partisan about Torycore, a new work of musical theatre – and we use the term in a strongly non-traditional sense – which sells itself compellingly as “George Osborne’s budget speech performed by a death metal band”.

Art reviews: Julie Brook | Steep Trail | Carol Bove

Wed, 08 May 2013 18:07:21 GMT

SOME art doesn’t lend itself naturally to galleries. Julie Brook makes sculptures in the landscape: bowl-shaped cavities to catch rainwater, handbuilt sections of curved wall.

Art reviews: David Batchelor | Garry Fabian Miller

Wed, 08 May 2013 17:58:02 GMT

MANY years ago the American abstract expressionist painter, Robert Motherwell told me an amusing anecdote about Mondrian. When the Dutch painter first arrived in New York in 1940, Motherwell and another young painter, William Baziotes, were delegated to show him around.

Theatre reviews: Mise - Story of a Girl | The Intergalactic Nemesis

Wed, 08 May 2013 17:49:33 GMT

SOME CALL it “post-human” theatre, the shift towards making objects and images stand where human beings once did.

Sutra brings dance of Shaolin monks to Scotland

Wed, 08 May 2013 17:42:40 GMT

WHEN choreographer and leading man don’t speak the same tongue as their acrobat partners, you might predict a hot mess. But the Buddhist monks and Westerners behind Sutra share one common language – dance.

Film review: Mud

Wed, 08 May 2013 17:41:37 GMT

BARELY a month seems to go by at the moment without Matthew McConaughey delivering a brilliant and surprising performance.

Arts blog: Hannibal taking bite out of cinema | Twitter plays

Wed, 08 May 2013 17:33:05 GMT

ALISTAIR Harkness finds further evidence that American TV is outperforming the US film industry, while Andrew Eaton-Lewis discusses the art of creating a drama in 140 characters.