Quick Scottish/Irish update (10 March)

Further to my last big Irish and Scottish updates, here's a couple of little bits of extra information.

If you missed BBC NI's entertaining and touching documentary OVER HERE, fret not. If you're quick enough, you should still be able to see it on the BBC iPlayer.

Various Irish film sites are reporting that the film WC is getting a limited release from March 13th. Check your local arthouse for details. Not seen this one so can't give you any steer as to the quality.

If you're in or around Glasgow on March 28th, there's a special screening of HELEN at the CCA, by the Irish directing duo Christine Molloy and Joe Lawlor (aka Desperate Optimists) who will both be in attendance for an interview. You may remember I saw this one at EIFF last year and didn't like it that much. Too cold and distant for me and just didn't ring true, but it was probably the most beautifully shot film of the 50-odd movies I saw at the festival. I'm not going to enthuse wildly about the film, but the Q&A should be interesting, particularly for low budget or aspiring filmmakers. Ticketed event, but free.

Scottish animated short HERZOG AND THE MONSTERS is now available on the BBC Film Network.

Irish film update (5 March)

Big Irish film update today. Let's crack on...

At the IFI in Dublin, this month's Ireland on Sunday screening (on Sunday 8th, i.e. this weekend) is the documentary WHAT AM I DOING HERE? by Trish McAdam which I am not familiar with at all (this is the world premiere after all) so head over to the Irish Film Institute to find out more.

Also at the IFI, this month's archive screening is the vintage DARBY O'GILL AND THE LITTLE PEOPLE (which I've just heard is going to be introduced by Jim Sheridan). At the risk of destroying my credibility... I've never seen this.

Declared by me to be the joint best film of 2008, Declan Recks's EDEN has just been released on DVD in the USA so for those of you who are either in America (ooh, a wee Irish film pun there) or have multi-region DVD players, buy a copy. Still no sign of it appearing in the UK despite picking up a distributor. Admittedly it's the same distributor who picked up KINGS and I'm still waiting for that to get any kind of a UK release.

While we're talking about DVDs, Lance Daly's excellent KISSES is released to buy on DVD tomorrow, but only in Ireland. I've heard nothing about it getting a UK distributor yet and certainly nothing's been submitted to the BBFC as I write this, so this might be your best bet to see it if you haven't already done so.

Two Irish films are on release in Ireland at the moment. The Liam Neeson/James Nesbitt drama dealing with the legacy of the troubles, FIVE MINUTES OF HEAVEN, is playing at all of four cinemas (as far as I know). I've been too lazy to look up any reviews but it won a couple of awards at Sundance. Looks interesting, so if any of you are in Dublin, Dundrum, Cork or Galway why not go and see it. I'd hope that Neeson and Nesbitt coupled with the fact that it's directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel should be enough of interest to get it some kind of UK release, but I've heard nothing so far and the fact that its release in Ireland is so limited doesn't seem like a great sign - unless it's testing the water before a major release. If anyone know anything about a UK release let me know.

Slightly less likely to get a UK release I fear (although I hope I'm wrong) is the Irish animated romp THE SECRET OF KELLS, which played well at JDIFF last month. It's had some cracking reviews so if you've seen it let me know.

I suppose I could just organise a day trip at the weekend - fly over to Ireland first thing in the morning, see THE SECRET OF KELLS and FIVE MINUTES OF HEAVEN, pop into the shops to buy a copy of KISSES and then fly home again but even my love of Irish cinema doesn't stretch to such lengths. Actually that's a lie, my love of Irish cinema does... but my bank balance doesn't.

Belfast Film Festival recently announced its programme. There's a lot of Irish feature films playing, including John T Davis's documentary TAILWIND which I've missed at a couple of festivals. I mention this one specifically because it was on BBC NI a few days ago and I forgot to mention it here. I think that was an edited down version though, so if you get the chance go and see the full length version of this documentary about the Northern Irish contribution to World War II.

Their programme of Irish shorts features a whole heap of short films and no less than 14 of them have been covered here on this blog, most of them favourably, so why not go along and see some of them. I'm not going myself. I was tempted, particularly since I have never been there (and I believe my ancestors came from there so I could do the whole stereotypical tourist thing) but I'm reserving my holidays for the various other film festivals that I've still got planned for the year, including many more Irish ones. If there had been some really cheap flights I might still have been tempted with a last minute thing, mind you.

If you go to over to Youtube, the festival has posted a whole bunch of trailers showing at the festival, split into features and documentaries.

Going back to the subject of BBC NI, and to make up for not mentioning TAILWIND, a similar subject (this time American soldiers in Northern Ireland) is covered in OVER HERE which airs on BBC NI next week (9th March, 9pm). If, like me, you live elsewhere in the UK, you can get the regional variations of BBC on Sky Digital and such services.

Just to prove I'm not totally limited to this part of the world, I'll mention that there are a few Irish film festivals in American this month. San Francisco started today and is on tomorrow as well; Seattle is shortly after that; most significant is the Chicago Irish Film Festival. This runs from the 6th to the 11th of this month - features include classics and new films, such as THE INFORMER and KISSES. They'll also be showing a bunch of shorts, including Conor Ferguson's ATLANTIC which you'll recall I declared the fourth best film of 2008. So if you happen to be reading this in Chicago - first of all, hello from Scotland, and secondly, go and see some Irish films. Especially ATLANTIC.

Finally, Irish films are represented at this year's London Lesbian & Gay Film Festival. Neasa Ni Chianain's FAIRYTALE OF KATHMANDU, covered in this blog back during the Edinburgh film fest, is playing on 6th and 7th of April (paired with SPOTLIGHT: GAY PRIDE AND PREJUDICE, a short film about gays in Ulster). Short films at the festival also include the Irish films MAN HUGS by Aoife Sullivan (26th March) and JAMES by Connor Clements (6th April), the latter also having been covered in this blog.

GFF09: AGE OF STUPID

AGE OF STUPID is the latest in the series of documentaries about how we're ruining the planet and there's not much time to do anything.

Taking the concept a little further than usual, director Franny Armstrong (of MCLIBEL fame) presents the film with a futuristic framing device in which a man watching over an archive of Earth's history (played by the great Pete Postlethwaite) examines the evidence and wonders why we chose to destroy the planet when we had the chance to save it.

The concept's a little more imaginative than normal but delivers more of what we've come to expect. It's going to be a hard task to conquer the prevailing attitude of "it'll be okay in the end" and AGE OF STUPID won't do it without help. That's where the film's clever marketing strategy takes over though, and there will be all sorts of ways to see this film in the coming months.

From a purely cinematic point of view it's a well-made film with an important message but you can never escape the feeling that you're being lectured to. However the aim here is not just to make a decent film, it's to save the planet and you have to applaud it for doing it in such an engaging way. See it.

GFF09: WHO KILLED NANCY?

Alan G Parker's documentary (following up on his book) aims to clear the name of Sid Vicious by examining the events surrounding the mysterious murder of Nancy Spungen.

It's an interesting insight into the punk era and particularly the New York scene at the time. Unfortunately Parker is so dedicated to Vicious and his life that the majority of the film becomes about him rather than the kind of investigation the title promises.

After a brief dalliance with the subject at the start, the closest we get for much of the film is an examination of how Vicious came to be mixed up with Nancy and various other people before finally returning to the subject towards the end. Even then, despite a few people clearly pointing the finger at one individual, there's not much more than a "we can't find him" and that's that.

The film is certainly worth seeing for anyone with an interest in the scene and in that respect it's a good documentary; but for a film calling itself WHO KILLED NANCY? it doesn't really deliver the kind of film I was expecting.

JDIFF09: Chantal Akerman

I only took in two films in the Chantal Akerman retrospective at Dublin, FROM THE OTHER SIDE and SOUTH. Both films are structured in a similar fashion - straightforward interviews to the camera mixed with long, lingering takes on the areas at the centre of the films. The former concerns the plight of Mexicans on the border with the USA and their attempts at crossing it to a new life; the latter film focuses on a town in the American south which has recently seen a horrific racist murder of a black man.

FROM THE OTHER SIDE achieves mixed results. While some of the interviews tell gripping and heartbreaking stories, there are others which don't really add too much to the overall picture. That's also a flaw in the seemingly endless shots of the Mexican towns where these people live, as Akerman points her camera, starts recording and then... does nothing. How long are we expected to stare at a wall, a person sitting in their garden or some traffic?

Doubtless there are plenty of people out there who will tell me it's art, and I'm sure it is, but it's not the kind that excites me. It's certainly not helped by the less than perfect quality of the sound and picture. I realise these things were probably made on a low budget but if you expect me to sit and watch scenes like this there should at least be something to set them apart from a random guy with a camcorder sitting in a street.

The quality also affects the interviews, though that's a problem which is improved upon in SOUTH.

This one is a better film in general. First of all, there is an overall flow to the interviews in SOUTH, building a complete picture and a complete story, as opposed to the somewhat scattershot nature of the interviews in FROM THE OTHER SIDE. The film is also a lot shorter, meaning the prowling shots of the town don't outstay their welcome as they did in the earlier film. Most of all, those same shots seem to serve a purpose, none more so than the final shot which is a simple shot from the back of a vehicle as it drives along a road - a shot which carries a strange power as you consider the victim's gruesome fate.

JDIFF09: YELLOW BITTERN

YELLOW BITTERN: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF LIAM CLANCY, to give it its full name, is a documentary which does exactly what it says. To fans of the man and his music (along with his brothers and Tommy Makem) the documentary is undoubtedly indispensable viewing. What is interesting to me however is that this was one of the most enjoyable films of the festival for me - and I'd never heard of the guy.

Having recently watched BBC4's FOLK AMERICA series, I'm rather surprised, since there seems to be a bit of a crossover there, but this tale of the Irish folk musician who went to America and influenced the likes of Bob Dylan on the folk scene was all new.

It's beautifully shot, without a doubt, but the real strength of the film (not to take away anything from the skill with which Alan Gilsenan has put it together) is that Clancy is a man who has lived a full and varied life but is also a very down to earth and likable fellow. He's not just a singer, he's an entertainer and gifted raconteur and I'm glad that, in the guise of this excellent film, I got to spend a couple of hours in his company getting to know the man and his touching life story.

JDIFF09: MISE EIRE

Undoubtedly the highlight of the festival for me was to see this 50th anniversary screening of what is probably Ireland's most important film, and certainly my favourite Irish film. Of course I've seen it on DVD but to see it on the big screen is special, particularly when it was accompanied by George Morrison receiving JDIFF's lifetime achievement award.

Long-time readers of this blog need no introduction but for the benefit of others, Mise Eire is a documentary from 1959 which details the rise of nationalism in Ireland from 1895 to just after the Easter Rising of 1916. Told entirely using archive material (Morrison is a tremendously important archivist as well as a gifted filmmaker), the film is slickly pieced together and wrapped up in a truly memorable score by Sean O'Riada. Alternating between a melancholy, haunting elegy for Ireland's dead heroes and a rousing, patriotic theme, the score's importance cannot be overstated.

A fitting tribute to a great filmmaker and a great film.

Best of 2008 (5-3)

Almost at the top - here's the next few films in my countdown of the best fifty films of last year...

5 JESUS CHRIST SAVIOUR
Documentary made up of archive footage of Klaus Kinski, arguably the maddest actor ever to chew up the screen, on an evangelical tour of Germany. It's just him on stage for most of it, but it's testament to his crazy appeal that it's still brilliant.

4 ATLANTIC
A short film by Conor Ferguson which I saw twice at last year's Cork festival and described previously as "three minutes of cinematic perfection".

3 JANEY MARY
From one heartbreaking Irish short to another. You probably remember I raved about this one at length.


And the Freakpit's choice of best two films of 2008? Find out tomorrow...

Best of 2008 (10-6)

Ooooh, we're in the top ten now. Are you getting excited yet?

10 WALL-E
See, every so often I do like a nice little family film, even if it is one set in a barren post-apocalyptic wasteland.

9 HUNGER
Breathtakingly arty take on the Irish hunger strikes, centred around Michael Fassbender's towering performance as Bobby Sands.

8 THE KING OF KONG
David versus Goliath tale of a quiet, unassuming family man on a quixotic quest to overthrow the villainous leader who rules over all. Despite the fact that it's a documentary about people playing arcade games.

7 TIME CRIMES
Mind-bending Spanish sci-fi horror in which a man witnesses a crime being committed... by himself. Then it gets really weird.

6 MAN ON WIRE
James Marsh's critically acclaimed documentary/heist movie about the artistic crime of the century (a high wire walk between the twin towers of the WTC) is simply stunning. It should win the Oscar this year too.

Best of 2008 (15-11)

15 THERE WILL BE BLOOD
Daniel Day Lewis deserved his Oscar for a terrific performance, although it perhaps overshadowed what was an overall triumph of filmmaking.

14 CLOVERFIELD
Or, GODZILLA with a handycam. There are certain lapses of logic but most only become obvious when you stop to think about it - which, during this rollercoaster ride, you're not likely to do too often.

13 NOT QUITE HOLLYWOOD
Brilliant documentary about the world of Australian cult cinema.

12 A BLOODY CANVAS
Fascinating documentary about an incredible boxing match that took place on St Patrick's Day in Dublin during the Irish civil war.

11 PASSAGE
The accepted history of the discovery of the North West Passage gets a good kicking in this inventive and sadly under-seen documentary which I saw at Hot Docs but which also got aired on BBC Scotland.

Best of 2008 (20-16)

20 WAITING FOR THE LIGHT
Ciarin Scott gives George Morrison the biography treatment - it's about time someone did. Talking of which, MISE EIRE is getting an anniversary screening at the Dublin Film Festival next month - buy a ticket now!

19 THE JOHN AKII BUA STORY: AN AFRICAN TRAGEDY
This documentary is a sad tale of what might have been, detailing the rise and fall of the legendary Ugandan athlete who conquered the world but fell foul of Idi Amin's regime.

18 A MATTER OF LOAF AND DEATH
This year's Wallace and Gromit special from the BBC's Christmas schedule was as impressive and funny as we've come to expect.

17 THE GIRL BY THE LAKE
Laid-back but suspenseful Italian murder mystery with beautiful location work.

16 THE ORPHANAGE
One of the best horror films in recent years, a Spanish take on THE INNOCENTS with great performances, plenty of chills and an ending that satisfies while leaving you wondering.

Best of 2008 (25-21)

25 VIRTUAL JFK: VIETNAM IF KENNEDY HAD LIVED
Fascinating "what if?" documentary that draws interesting parallels between then and now, and offers an insight into exactly what the title suggests.

24 DREAMS WITH SHARP TEETH
Science fiction's angry man Harlan Ellison gets the biography treatment in this insightful and amusing documentary.

23 OF TIME AND THE CITY
Terrence Davies offers a love song and eulogy to the city of Liverpool to coincide with its year as City of Culture, mixing music, archive footage and his own portentous voiceover about growing up there.

22 SHETLAND LONE STAR
Part of BBC's "Scotland's History" strand, this one-off documentary was a wonderfully entertaining look at the life and career of Thomas Fraser, a man who sung country songs in his spare time in a remote village in Shetland, only to become a country music star thirty years after his death.

21 THE WAVE
German film based on a true life experiment from the sixties in which a bunch of kids are taught a practical lesson about the power of fascism, only for the teacher to lose control as the experiment goes too far.

Best of 2008 (30-26)

30 IN BRUGES
Glad to see this one has been nominated at various awards as it's a terrific black comedy, in which hitmen Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson hide out in Belgium after a hit goes wrong. Marketed very badly, this should surely find a wider audience on DVD.

29 PRESTO
It's the short film that preceded WALL-E in cinemas. I loved it. Now Oscar-nominated.

28 STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE
One of the better Iraq documentaries, although you'd expect as much from the veteran Errol Morris.

27 TRULY, MADLY, CHEAPLY: BRITISH B MOVIES
Excellent BBC4 documentary in which Matthew Sweet explores the cheap and largely unknown British exploitation cinema. If you've not read his book SHEPPERTON BABYLON, you should buy it right now.

26 RED
Low-budget Jack Ketchum adaptation boasting a powerhouse performance by Scotland's greatest actor, Brian Cox.

Best of 2008 (35-31)

35 ENCOUNTERS AT THE END OF THE WORLD
Werner Herzog's latest documentary is as odd as ever but also charming and beautiful. Got him his first Oscar nomination too. Won't win, due to another film which I'll be getting to in due course, but deserved all the same.

34 STRANDED: I'VE COME FROM A PLANE THAT CRASHED IN THE MOUNTAINS
I suspect this will be the longest title on this list. Great documentary examination of the rugby team who crashed in the Andes and had to endure all manner of horrific ordeals to survive.

33 AT THE DEATH HOUSE DOOR
You can't fail to be moved by this story of a death row pastor who has his beliefs turned upside down by the fate of a prisoner he believes is innocent.


32 THE INHERITANCE
This low budget Scottish movie did well on the festival circuit and was a hit with me too. It's not without its flaws, although it's a rare example of a film that may actually benefit from TV over cinema. Watching the DVD on a modest-sized TV the limitations of the equipment were not so obvious as they were on the big screen and the film actually looks a lot better as a result.

31 KISSES
Two kids go on the run in Dublin and take the film's colour scheme with them. Visually inventive little gem of a film.

Best of 2008 (45-41)

45 GONE BABY GONE
This terrific thriller should have been in the 2007 list but its UK release was delayed until the new year because of certain events in the news.

44 NOTE BY NOTE: THE MAKING OF STEINWAY L1037
I missed this when it played at Stranger Than Fiction, but at least caught it when it appeared at the inaugural Illuminations documentary film festival at Filmhouse. Come to think of it, I saw half a dozen films at that festival and forgot to write about any of them. Oh well, it's not the last one from that festival to appear in my top fifty. The film's about how Steinway make a piano, by the way.

43 THE MORSE COLLECTORS
Haunting Northern Irish short film which I saw at a couple of festivals in 2008.

42 THE THIRD PINT
South America, a man with a dodgy beard, some holiday footage on 8mm and some weirdly hypnotic synth music. This oddball entry might never be seen anywhere again and even if you do see it you might very well hate it. I was entranced.

41 LARS AND THE REAL GIRL
Ryan Gosling gives another terrific performance as the emotionally unhinged loner who falls in love with an inflatable doll... who promptly wins over the local community.

Best of 2008 (50-46)

So here's the start of the Freakpit's film favourites of 2008. If you've only just discovered this post, you should probably read yesterday's introductory post so that you won't feel quite so angry when you disagree with my choices later.

Links to my blog writings are included where I bothered to write anything at the time.

50 THE BAADER MEINHOF COMPLEX
Flawed but entertaining German drama taking on the history of the infamous terrorist group.

49 THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE WEIRD
Totally insane Korean film which I saw at Cork. Imagine a mash-up of Leone spaghetti western with the style and energy of KUNG-FU HUSTLE.

48 4 MONTHS, 3 WEEKS AND 2 DAYS
Eastern European drama about illegal abortion? Sounds like a laugh. Critically acclaimed and then single-handedly resulted in one of the biggest criticisms of the foreign language Oscar ever when it failed to be nominated.

47 GOMORRA
Stylish and in-your-face drama examining various strands of Napoli's lower classes and the effects of the local organised crime syndicate on their lives.

46 ROMAN POLANSKI: WANTED AND DESIRED
Balanced and thoughtful documentary which does not excuse Polanski's actions prior to his fleeing America, but does make an interesting point about the fairness of the trial.

The best films of 2008 - it begins!

Okay, it's time for my usual end-of-year Best Films list. Well, I say "usual" but last year it was almost the end of 2008 before I covered 2007, so I guess I've improved. And just to show how much effort I've put in...

When I did this first time, it was a top 30 of 2006. When I covered 2007 last year, it was a top 40. There's only one way to go now - that's right, I'm compiling a top 50!

A top fifty. None of your wimpy little top ten nonsense for me. But before you read what I think were the fifty best films of 2008, I need to go over the rules for what gets included:

1) Any film which was released elsewhere before 2008 but didn't get released in the UK until 2008 counts towards this list.

2) Any film which hasn't had a release but which I saw at a festival in 2008 counts.

3) While predominantly feature-based, short films are eligible too if I happened to see them at 2008 festivals.

4) Anything premiered on TV in 2008 counts. This could be a film that never made it to cinemas, or it could just be something made for TV - a good film is a good film regardless of where it ends up playing. The quality of TV might be going down the toilet, but that's more reason than anything to recognise when it's good. Obviously I don't count series though.

5) I'm biased. Not deliberately, you understand, but given that I watch more of certain kinds of films than others, there will always be an inevitable leaning towards certain kinds of films. In other words, there will probably be more documentaries and Irish films in this list than any others. Come on though, if you just want a generic best-of list, you wouldn't be reading this blog, would you? What do you want me to do, just make stuff up?

After compiling the top 50 from a list of my favourite films of 2008 - helped a lot by the IMDb, just in case you thought I actually spent loads of time sitting here thinking of them all - I was left with a few that didn't quite make the cut. So here's a brief summary of the films that didn't quite make it into the top fifty but which are still excellent and should be seen whenever you get the chance.

On the documentary front, there's WAITING FOR HOCKNEY, in which an artist spends eight years of his life on one painting; WAR CHILD, about a former child soldier who is now an accomplished rapper; CHOSEN, a depressing look at abuse in a boys' school; HOW OHIO PULLED IT OFF, telling of how the Bush v Gore race wasn't the only one that Bush may not actually have won; HOW TO BE A GOOD PRESIDENT, a one-off BBC documentary in which various figures pick their favourite president and why - incredibly LBJ was one of the choices; and BODY OF WAR, yet another recent war-themed doc but one of the better efforts.

Also very good but not quite making it are NORTH FACE, reviewed here recently; MARTYRS, a nasty horror film which kind of grew on me; SURVEILLANCE, a mystery tale from Jennifer Lynch; SOMERS TOWN, the latest from Shane Meadows; THE VISITOR, which should be enough to get Richard Jenkins an Oscar nomination but probably won't; HAPPY-GO-LUCKY, Mike Leigh's critically acclaimed hit; MY BROTHER IS AN ONLY CHILD, a reasonably intelligent and entertaining art-house drama from Italy; EMPTIES, a rather funny Eastern European effort that hasn't had much of release yet; and JUNO, which you'll have heard all about at last year's Oscars.

Join me next time when I'll start mentioning the ones which actually did make it onto the list... Ooh, I'm such a tease.

Irish film update (17 Jan)

Another brief round-up on the Irish movie front.

Are you familiar with the film THE LAST CONFESSION OF ALEXANDER PEARCE?

Nope, nor am I, since currently it's only popped up on RTE in Ireland. The film tells the true story of the Irishman who was transported to one of the most infamous prisons and ended up in the wilds of Australia indulging in cannibalism. The film is to be shown on BBC in the UK (no idea when - let me know if you find out) but in the meantime a documentary is being shown on the subject, on the History channel (UK). It's on Sunday 25th January at 9pm. And while you're on the History channel, watch out for a repeat of the two-part documentary FLEEING THE FAMINE, which has just been shown. Terrific, if somewhat depressing.

IFTN reports that Decklan Recks' EDEN has finally found a UK-based distributor. No word yet on when or if it will appear in UK cinemas, but wherever it appears, you should see it. It'll be appearing very high up my "Best of 2008" list, whenever I get round to writing it.

Talking of distribution, I also see from IFTN that someone has picked up the controversial and brilliant documentary FAIRYTALE OF KATHMANDU for US distribution. Quite right too.

IFTN also reports the nominations for the IFTA short film award. Particularly pleasing is that they're all films I've seen - can't say that ever happens at the Oscars. The films are AN RANGER (PJ Dillon), THE DOOR (Juanita Wilson), MARTIN (Sean Branigan) and OF BEST INTENTIONS (Brian Durnin). If I had to pick one, it'd probably prefer AN RANGER to win but to be honest they're all very good and I'm happy for all of them, whoever wins. I think THE DOOR will probably scoop it.

On the subject of short films, WALK ON BY (Tim Hannan) which I saw and very much enjoyed at Galway last year is now available on YouTube.

Well done also to Connor Clements who, I've just read in the press, has had his short film JAMES (another one I've mentioned here in the past) selected to screen at Sundance. Apparently it'll be available on iTunes during the festival as well, so watch out for that.

And finally, well done to Colin Farrell for winning an acting award at the Golden Globes for the terrific IN BRUGES. Normally I wouldn't even mention this, but he's the only thing that meant I made a profit when gambling on the awards (didn't think SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE would win quite as many as it did). Result.

Current release: GONZO

GONZO: THE LIFE AND WORK OF DR HUNTER S. THOMPSON is exactly what it says. Being completely unfamiliar with the work of the legendary journalist, who invented the concept of "gonzo" journalism, I found this to be an informative look at the man, what he was and how he came to be.

I seem to have come out with a different impression of the man to the majority of the people speaking about him here though. Granted, there are a few exceptions, but for the most part the participants all seem to be friends or admirers of the man and consequently a lot more time is spent telling us about how great he is than is spent dwelling over his flaws.

That is not to say that the film does not address them. I just feel however, and perhaps it's because I'm a bit "square" or something, that a man who takes huge amounts of drugs and seems to have an obsession with guns (for a start) should perhaps not be idolised in quite such a fashion as this documentary does.

When I started by saying that I was completely unfamiliar with him, it wasn't true. I did see Terry Gilliam's film based on his work, FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS. I didn't really like it. No such problems with this film however, which may be a recommendation in itself. I wouldn't call it balanced but it's engaging, informative and well presented. I just think you need to be a real admirer of the man to perhaps get the maximum level of enjoyment out of it.

Scottish & Irish film update (9 Jan)

I've seen a bunch of new releases that I've yet to write about; it's surely time for a "best of 2008" series of posts; the awards season is upon us, which means me losing lots of money making foolishly optimistic bets; but no, I've not yet got round to writing about any of that, so here's another of my semi-regular updates on developments in Scottish and Irish film.

In Ireland, the IFTAs are almost upon us - as I've mentioned though, I've not done anything about my stupid annual betting frenzy yet so that can wait. Here's hoping there are enough awards to go round HUNGER and IN BRUGES, but it would be nice to see a "smaller" film like KISSES or 32A take something.

Ciarin Scott's biopic of George Morrison, WAITING FOR THE LIGHT, which you've seen reviewed here at two different festivals, is now listed on the IMDB. Hurrah! Unlike MISE EIRE and SAOIRSE?, it didn't take my efforts to do so.

THE FORMORIAN, a splendid little short film which I saw way back at Cork 2007 is now available for viewing on the BBC's Film Network site, which I've mentioned here before. You can find a bunch of films from Scotland and Northern Ireland there.

Because I'm too lazy to have done my "Best of 2008" at the moment (I'll try to do it a bit sooner than October, unlike the best of 2007) I may as well point you in the direction of another blog with an Irish focus, the Cork-based The Stub, to which I'm a regular visitor. Like my own lists, you might agree or disagree but will at least get a list of top films that is probably more interesting than the mainstream ones you'll be seeing in all your popular movie magazines and websites.

As for Scotland...

Well, I mentioned above that you can see a bunch of Scottish short films on the BBC Film Network site.

There's a double bill of films by American-born-but-really-he's-a-Scot Alexander Mackendrick this Sunday afternoon at the Cameo cinema in Edinburgh. On show will be the Scots-focused WHISKY GALORE (based on Compton MacKenzie's novel, which was in turn based on real events that happened on the island of Eriskay), paired with the entirely different but absolutely excellent SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS, in which Tony Curtis and Burt Lancaster play a pair of sleazy gossip columnists. You really need to see this film if you haven't already done so.

THE ST KILDA TAPES will be returning to the GFT on Monday 19th January and will also be popping up at Filmhouse the day before that.

If you've not been watching anything in BBC's season Scotland's History, you should. I am assuming this has been timed to coincide with Scotland's first ever Homecoming Year. Aside from the flagship series (the breath-taking A HISTORY OF SCOTLAND), they've been putting out some brilliant documentaries so far - THATCHER & THE SCOTS, SHETLAND LONE STAR, THE WORLD ACCORDING TO ROBERT BURNS and THE ADVENTURES OF DON ROBERTO.
The brilliant Gaellic feature SEACHD: THE INACCESSIBLE PINNACLE has been showing several times on BBC Alba. If you've missed all the screenings so far, fret not - there's another one on the 11th January at 17:00. Set your recorders now.

In fact, keep an eye on BBC Alba's schedules as it's turning into THE place to find some really fascinating Scottish documentaries.

Talking of Gaellic stuff, there's a three day festival called FILM's CRAIC at the CCA in Glasgow later this month which will be showing lots of it, mainly the sort of stuff on BBC Alba and STV's Gaellic programming, with some special events thrown in. It might be worth a look.

That's all for now.