A PROPHET at the GFT

This superb piece of quality dramatic theatre put on celluloid will keep French filmmaking , if not the whole of Europe going for a couple of decades at least.Already it has heightened the reputation of the ability for non-US cinema to produce excellent quality scripts allied with faultless matching behind the camera production and all -round technical expertise.On the back of this one film many European based film makers should have the confidence to see projects they could only dream about come to a miraculous profound fruition.

The film has rightly garnered a host of top awards and the debut performance of lead actor Tahar Raham is , albeit ironic considering the title of the film, a revelation.

You can see a trailer of the film below:



Reviews have followed almost a political line with those finding the theme that Europes 2nd and 3rd generation Muslims can find salvation by going back to their Islamic roots finding much of the film to be unbelievable and unimpressive, and those who see a less dogmatic way of resolving social issues seeing much heartwarming redemption.

You can also see the website for the film , it true French style the headers appear at the bottom of the page.

KIDS OF TODAY

This is a picture of Zainab.
She now speaks excellent English and is also an accomplished French Speaker.
As you can see she has also learned to drive , both vehicles on the road and Adults up the wall.



















Zoha has also started to perfect her assertiveness talents and is on the brink of graduating from teeny weeny Finishing School.

ANGUISH WITH POSIE at the TRON

One of the side-effects of seeing so many International and World Class events is that one forms a very low tolerance to shite.This can come across as arrogance , but is genuinely a capacity to unappreciate works that are not trying hard enough to get their points across.There is nothing more disrespectful to an audience than perceived lack of effort.

Therefore a "blind date" visit to the theatre can turn out a be quite a dicey experience , if the effort is there you can enjoy a work without in any way being taken by the point it makes , but to know you have been respected and invited to take the stimulation challenge by the work is something one is grateful for.At the very least you know the point of "The Other" is a valid one from their perspective and should be a considered input when you are trying to understand a situation as part of a whole and not a partisan angel bordering on dogma.

Before the play i had a meal in Bar Cosshack , a very nice and filling salmon dish of the highest calibre.It will now become my default pre-Tron theatre visit eatery.

The play was a short notice " i have spare ticket" invite which i duly took up.It was a very pleasant and over-neat glorified theatre workshop affair which i enjoyed a great deal.A very nice performance from Nicola Daley and a low key "mind on other things" by Ian Macpherson.

In the event we got what may be euphemistically be describes as a lighthearted in the moment entertainment for an evening.I have to admit i am a man of profoundness and like works that can last in the psyche a little longer than an evening.

Overall a good night out with a plot which could go a lot further in breadth and scope.

MARK THOMAS at the GLASGOW STAND

I only found out about this appearance when i was doodling around and came across the date in his website.The stand website said it was SOLD OUT but trying Telephoning on the off chance.By the off chance i managed to get 2 tickets so so did my friend James.

Mark was on excellent form using a similar , though entirely freshened up , format to his edinburgh festival appearances last year.He said his next tour will be based on his trip to the West Bank which should bring mark back from the current project to the sharp-shooting sabre-rattling very best satire with a deep political cutting edge.


Here are two examples of what he really does better than the rest , and what he will be returning to.



And this extra special performance that puts the Zionists in their colonial place in no uncertain terms.

THE ROAD at the GFT

The Film version of Cormac McCarthys apocalyptic , though hopeful novel was always going to be a difficult and intriguing challenge.The real crux would be if the film is tempted to give a greater role to the woman ( mother) than the barely one sentence in the original novel.When Charlize Theron was slotted for the role things did not look too good at all on that front.But , in the end , the appearances of the woman are very well done in the form of Proust like flashbacks triggered by the odd object bringing back a flood of touching recollections of happier times.If anything the film gives a value added element to one aspect of the Book which appeared to be weak in the novel.namely that the Mother , a little like Ma Joad , would probably take the lead role in bringing the Family out of crisis and into safety physically and emotionally intact.

A very worthy film in which hope triumphs over the complete devastation brought on by artificial social engineering.

It is also a reminder , especially in these economic climate times, that the state and civilisation in general may not be up to the task of giving welfare from cradle to grave , if anything they may destroy more than they create , but the old fashioned values and institutions like the Family will always be there to pick up the pieces from collapsed civilisations.

Star Viggo Mortenson also runs a very progressive publishing and art project that promotes young social justice orientated writers publish relevant far reaching work that would struggle to surface in mainstream corporate publishing circles.

SIMPLE MINDS at the SECC

Veteran Rockers were performing with support from OMD.

My favourite album is Real Life , here are two hits from it:

See the lights:



and Real Life:



Like most bands with vast archives they cannot perform everything , this included the brilliant Mandela Days.

STEVE EARLE at The Glasgow Royal Concert Hall

The last time i saw steve earle was at the celtic connections festival in 2007.He looked lot different from his mid-eighties persona , clean shaven and determined looking.

This time round he is sporting a huge beard ; excess mass , but , and this is very important , he looks more content and at tranquility with his state than he has been at any point in his life.

The songs were mostly from his latest tribute album to his youthful hero and inspiration Townes van Zant.

This wonderful song captures just about everything Townes meant to Steve:




He did perform a very inspirational version of Someday.It is very hard to capture quality acoustic resonance in the audio available of mobile cameras these days and videos posted on youtubeistan either has good visuals and poor sound or nice sound with jumpy visuals , below is about the best i could find on the net.



He had a lot to say about the wave of disappointment about Obama and his foreign policies , the first artist to be forthright about the dissipation of early promises.

On Afghanistan , he said he hoped Obama was only bullshitting when he made campaign allusions to increase troop involvement in the region and would think better of it once in office.

Steve rightly postulated this will have a bad ending for the US , as previous experience shows the British Empire in its zenith failed in afghanistan , the soviet empire collapsed in the region and even Alexander " the fuckin" Great ( his words , not mine) suffered defeats there and had to turn back without establishing permanent long term influential roots.