Culture Diary w/c 10-12-12
Monday – The Imposter 8.45pm @ FACT
Winner of best documentary at the 2012 British independent film awards, director Bart Layton’s conman exposé, The Imposter, earns another run-out at FACT this evening. A documentary making the case single-handedly for fact being stranger than fiction, The Imposter follows the story of a grieving family hoodwinked by a stranger claiming to be their missing son. As Layton says though, “it’s best if you don’t know anything” beforehand.
Tuesday – Alps 6pm @ FACT
The subject of our film podcast a couple of weeks ago, Alps is Greek director Giorgos Lanthimos’ follow up to his breakthrough feature, Dogtooth. Dysfunctional relationships and uncomfortable sex are to the fore in a story perceived to be a satirical comment on the state of modern Greece, but in reality, this is another skewed and challenging look at social mores from Lanthimos.
Drive 9pm @ the Shipping Forecast FREE
Stuntman, getaway driver and near mute, Ryan Gosling (along with Carey Mulligan’s neighbour in need) is at the centre of Drive, one of last year’s successful breakthrough hits. Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn, it often feels like watching a demo of an as yet unseen version of Grand Theft Auto, and is perhaps a case of style over substance. But hey, people love it anyway, right?
Wednesday – Allah-Las 7.30pm @ Leaf £6.50
Visit the Allah-Las website, and the player is tagged with ‘rock, California, exotica, psychedelic, surf and Stanford’; certainly, one couldn’t claim the band are doing anything new or pretending to be something they’re not. Not that that’s necessarily a bad thing. Informed by a sound so quintessentially of California sometime in decades past, the Allah-Las are nothing if not reverential; and more importantly, a bloody good listen.
Thursday – Winter Sparks 6pm @ FACT
FACT’s remit, that it presents work largely of a new media and digital oeuvre, is front and centre in new exhibition, Winter Sparks (pictured). Featuring ‘large-scale installations exploring the connections between art and science’ , and shifting the emphasis from the traditional ‘white-cube’ gallery space, Winter Sparks is billed as an interactive sound and light show.
Friday – Stealing Sheep Christmas Homecoming Party 7.30pm @ The Kazimier £5/£10
Appearances on national radio, a record deal with respected indie, Heavenly; the (very) well received debut album, Into The Diamond Sun and now a national headline tour. It’s been what you could call a successful year for lo-fi twisted folk trio, Stealing Sheep. Not a band to forget their roots, this Friday sees Becky, Emily and Lucy play a special Christmas homecoming gig at the Kazimier with Ex-Easter Island Head, The Left Hand and Barberos in tow.
Saturday – The Nightmare Before Christmas 9pm @ FACT
Written by Tim Burton, The Nightmare Before Christmas begins with the pumpkin king Jack Skellington’s discovery that Halloweentown isn’t the be all and end all everybody thought. With stunning use of stop-motion animation and a memorable soundtrack, for a certain generation, nothing says Christmas is coming quite like this does.
