The Glasgow Film Festival has been going for nearly 10 years now - almost - and it's showing no signs of getting wearisome. This year's festival has a number of delights to tease, torment and tantalise including, for this moviegoer, a retrospective of the movies of James Cagney, the sweetly sado-masochistic showing of Spielberg's 'Jaws' at the Tall Ship and a welcome showing of Mario Bava's marvellous 'Black Sabbath;' newly restored and all the more sexy and scary for it.
The veritable and venerable Monorail film club have chosen 'Big Star: Nothing Can Hurt Me,' as one of their picks of the festival. For those of you unfamiliar with one of Memphis' finest, this is a fabulous introduction - including interviews with both Andy Hummell and Jody Stephens. It promises to be something special.
A highlight for this writer, is the showing of Carl Theodor Dreyer's 'The Passion of Joan of Arc,' at Glasgow Cathedral. Dreyer's film is one of the most evocative ever made, and has stood, more than any of its contemporaries, the screen test of time. With a live musical and vocal accompaniment, it promises to be a crowning highlight of the festival.
So, whether it's David Hayman playing the parts (sic) of Sawney, Jake Schreier's wryly delivered comedy of human and robotic manners, 'Robot & Frank,' or Billy Wilder's supremely gothic melodrama, 'Sunset Boulevard,' there's something for just about everyone in this year's festival.
You really should go.
To finish, two trailers for films I really want to see...
