Uncultured Critic

Glasgow Film Festival Review: Beats, Rhymes & Life

2012-02-24T11:00:00.000Z

Beats Rhymes and Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest brings the story behind the titular hip-hop band - Q-Tip, Phife Dawg, Ali Shaheed Muhammad, and Jarobi White to the big screen this year's Glasgow Music and Film Festival. Taking its title from the band's first album, the film traces the band's meteoric rise to fame within the hip-hop community. The band takes us back to their former hang-outs, illustrating the music scene of the late 80s and early 90s as they go. In its best moments, the film is a Behind the Music style mash-up of interviews and music video footage, but digs deeper into the psyches of its subjects. Quest's chilled out sounds soon clash with strains of disagreement as Phife's diabetes and artistic differences caused a rift between band members. Beats, Rhymes and Life gets caught up in its own life-based dramas but redeems itself with consistently engaging characters and cool jams.

Beats, Rhymes & Life screens at Glasgow Film Festival this Saturday 25 February at 10.45pm. Book tickets here.

Glasgow Film Festival Review: Bonsái

2012-02-23T11:00:00.002Z

Chilean directing talent Cristián Jiménez brings his second feature to Glasgow Film Festival this week. One for the bookish, Bonsái's protagonist is more of a leader-on than a leading man. Julio, using his cultural smarts (namely, the dubious claim of having read Marcel Proust) to woo his student girlfriend Emilia. Years later, under the guise of transcribing his local hero's novel, he uses their relationship as inspiration to write, be it under an elaborate rouse.

Despite channeling a mumblecore vibe, charm-free, statuesque young actors may speak of unmeasured still waters. Not knowing how deep they run will only get you so far, and Julio's mumbling and bumbling is curious but not much more, and quickly wears as the film's non-linear narrative shuffles through time like the worn pages of a well-thumbed paperback. But if you're looking for a touch of solipsism without picking up Proust, Bonsái is a good start.

Bonsái screens again at Glasgow Film Festival today, 23 February at 8.45pm. Book tickets here.

A Few Words In Praise of RPatz

2012-02-22T13:10:00.000Z

Cedric Diggory, Edward Cullen, and now Georges Duroy, 25 year-old heart-throb Robert Pattinson - affectionately known as R-Patz - steps into another role for the ladies in the screen adaptation of Guy de Maupassant's Bel Ami. Stepping out of the sparkling vampiric skin of the chaste Edward Cullen and into the dapper facade of a man a little more attuned to the ladies' needs, Pattinson's already setting hearts alight in Glasgow as frenzied fans of the actor have been demanding news of his arrival since the GFF programme was revealed.

Fans of Pattinson are known for their own particular brand of fervour - one that sees them snooping outside his parents' estate, riled all the more by news he isn't home. Critics have censured Twilight for its celebration of self versus other -- for dedicated fans, no is all the more likely to mean yes. One thing is certain, the audience will sparkle at the film's Glasgow FIlm Festival release tonight.

If the (albeit 2D) presence of Mr Pattinson isn't enough to make you want to lock up your daughters, Bel Ami is set to encourage further arduous swoons at this week's screenings - and not only from the teenagers - as his character Georges Duroy beds Paris' finest, played by the likes of Christina Ricci, Uma Thurman, and Kristin Scott Thomas. Ooo la la!

As Pattinson casts off the burden of sullen Cullen, forging ahead as Twilight fans breathlessly await the final chapter later this year, Bel Ami becomes an interesting next move. Although Water For Elephants put him in a new leading man position, its focus on forbidden love and dark debarring forces failed to preclude a good long mope. Instead, Bel Ami and an upcoming project with David Cronenberg - who has already pronounced Pattinson as the best actor he's ever worked with - seem certain to turn our vampire into a warm-blooded movie star of great repute.

Bel Ami screens at Glasgow Festival tonight, 22 February at 6.15pm and tomorrow 23 February at 5pm. Buy tickets here.

Bel Ami is released in UK cinemas on Friday 9 March.

Glasgow Film Festival Review: Finisterrae

2012-02-20T11:00:00.001Z

Crossing the Line, the new strand at this year's Glasgow Film Festival, brings experimental and avant-garde films to the Glasgow, exploring the crossover between cinema and visual art. Finnisterrae is, in many ways, an excellent introduction to experimental filmmaking, blending stunning vistas with an unusual, almost farcical storyline of two ghosts in limbo. Tired of being spirits, they ask oracles and whimsical beings how to become living creatures, resolving to take a journey to Finistarrae - the end of the world. At once weird and wonderful, gently creepy, but remarkably structured, it's a slow and philosophical pilgrimage that invokes odd recollections of Silent Running and Monty Python. Some segues into visual art – a dream of naked dancing ghosts and a self-conscious insert of 80s Catalan visual art – feel forced, but these are balanced with beautifully wacky run-ins with creatures of the netherworld. Above all, the striking image of white-cloaked beings staring into the camera with their jet-black eyes makes Finisterrae an innately compulsive watch.

Glasgow Film Festival runs until Sunday 26 February.

Glasgow Film Festival Celebrates 100 Years of Gene Kelly

2012-02-16T11:00:00.000Z

As a wise woman named Jeanine Basinger once said, "You give your heart to Fred Astaire but you save your body for Gene Kelly." And save itself Glasgow Film Festival did, right up until this year: the centenary of Mr Kelly's birth. The MGM man with the superstar gene will be honoured as the subject of the festival's 2012 retrospective.

One of the greatest all-round talents of his time, he tap danced his way across tinseltown in roller skates, sang in the rain, and left his American heart in Paris. "Gene Kelly led a one-man revolution in Hollywood that changed the screen musical forever," explains Glasgow Film Festival co-director, Allan Hunter. "He really pushed the boundaries of what was possible and created a uniquely American art form that dazzled the world.

“His work has withstood the toughest test of all – the test of time. The films in the retrospective are as joyous and captivating now as the day they were first shown. Audiences are in for a treat with a rare chance to see them in all their glory on a big screen."

Nominated for the Best Actor gong at the 1945 Academy Awards for Anchors Aweigh (20 Feb), Kelly won a special Oscar in 1951 for An American in Paris (19 Feb) recognising his 'brilliant achievements in the art of choreography on film.' The Glasgow retrospective includes both titles, along with On the Town (23 Feb).

Scots favourite Brigadoon will be screened on 24 Feb, followed on 25 Feb where you can see it again at St Andrews in the Square along with a very special event: the Gene Kelly Ceilidh. Don't miss your chance to celebrate a couple of his worthy co-stars, Debbie Reynolds and Donald O'Connor, in the pièce de résistance of this year's retrospective: a special 60th anniversary screening of Kelly's immortal classic, Singin’ in the Rain (18 Feb, 1.30pm). Come on with the films, I've a smile on my face…

Bombay Beach Review & Exclusive Clip

2012-01-30T17:03:00.000Z

After an outstanding festival journey, a Tribeca World Documentary Award, and praise from Alec Baldwin, music video director Alma Har'el's debut feature Bombay Beach finally reaches cinema screens across the country. The documentary tells the lyrical story of California's forgotten residents, the of low-income citizens of Salton Sea. Music from Beirut's Zach Condon intermingle with ethereal dance sequences and choreographed scenes scattered amongst real-life events. At once carefully composed and fly-on-the-wall, Har'el's distinctive approach is that of a hybrid documentary, as she plays with the desert light to draw us in to the inner-workings of the locals' dark pasts and family lives. The story tells itself, making plenty of room an artistic flair and injection of sound that elevate the film from a simple documentary to an artistic exploration. Given the colourful flourishes and strains of Beirut, it's so engrossing you could watch Har'el film a toilet flush if it looked and sounded this pleasant.

Watch an exclusive clip from the film:

Bombay Beach is released in UK cinemas on 3 February 2012. Find a list of UK screenings on the official website, and more info on Facebook and Twitter.

The film is also available to buy on DVD in the USA, here.

The Oscar Equation & The Descendants

2012-01-26T10:30:00.002Z

They nominated what?!

The Oscar Nominations were announced on Monday, among them Alexander Payne's Golden Globe-winner The Descendants. I'll be reviewing The Descendants on air, followed by a discussion of the Academy Award nominees on the BBC Movie Café alongside Janice Forsyth and - as is now our regular custom - Mr Paul Gallagher.

You can listen live from 1.15pm on BBC Radio Scotland or online. If you miss it, it'll be free to stream later in the day.

BBC Movie Café is now also available to download as a podcast, so no excuses!

BRB, editing.

2012-01-19T22:09:00.000Z

The whole point of editing well is to have the reader exclaim not, "What a wonderfully edited book!" but, rather, "What a wonderful writer!"

— Michael Kandel

Book Review: Anna & the French Kiss

2012-01-11T10:30:00.002Z

For some reason, my first book of the year always ends up being a relatively new Young Adult novel that I've inexplicably overlooked. 2012 is no exception.

As writing a synopsis that doesn't sound trite seems impossible, here's the official one:

Anna was looking forward to her senior year in Atlanta, where she has a great job, a loyal best friend, and a crush on the verge of becoming more. So she's less than thrilled about being shipped off to boarding school in Paris—until she meets Étienne St. Clair. Smart, charming, beautiful, Étienne has it all... including a serious girlfriend.

Oohh, tricky!

Penned by first-time novelist Stephanie Perkins, Anna and the French Kiss is charming enough but fairly standard YA fare. Stock characters, predictably complicated private lives and love triangles are nothing new, but Perkins injects humour and charm into a concept which could've been dangerously close to encroaching upon Maureen Johnson's trademarks.

A fun set of characters and light dialogue keeps things moving at an amicable pace, highlighted by high school hijinks and a little sight-seeing. The relationship between Anna and Etienne is excellently drawn without feeling drawn-out. However, some character traits feel like final draft additions. Anna's allegedly all-consuming love of film is spotty through out, and her and clean freak tendencies often a convenient excuse to end a subplot. Overall, though, there's enough charm and colour to keep this excellent first whack at a first novel above par.

Book #1: ★★★★★

Read More: AVisit From the Goon Squad with Book Talk (Podcast); Link Lust #1

DVD Review: The Guard

2012-01-10T11:30:00.001Z

John Michael McDonagh – forever cursed to be billed as brother to In Bruges' writer-director Michael – tries his hand at directing in this scalding debut. Starring Brendan Gleeson as foul-mouthed, small-town Garda Sergeant Gerry Boyle, Irish humour mixes with dark overtones create this wise-cracking black comedy. Don Cheadle co-stars as uptight FBI agent Wendell Everett sent to get to the bottom of a high profile drug trafficking scheme off the coast of Galway. A trio of mis-matched gangsters, including Londoner Mark Strong, run rings around the Garda in a cat-and-mouse game along winding country roads and a perishing coast.

Like Gleeson, it's a little flabby around the middle but its rough-and-ready approach creates a medley of ridiculousness that somehow hits the right notes. Despite some over-stretching, its dialogue pays off. High-brow references and small-town idiosyncrasies clash in rib-tickling fashion, leaving us to ponder whether The Guard's subjects are really mother-effing dumb, or really mother-effing smart.

The Guard is released on DVD in the UK on Monday 16 January.

Read more: Gary Tank Commander; Silent Running Blu-Ray Review.

Book Talk Podcast: A Visit From the Goon Squad

2012-01-06T10:30:00.003Z

There's a distinct Goon theme going on here this week...

I've teamed up with the Scottish Book Trust to take part in their monthly Book Talk podcast.

Each month host Paul Gallagher invites 2 people along to discuss a new book. I was lucky enough to be invited along to record January's edition, which features myself and the insightful Lee Randall discussing Jennifer Egan's A Visit From the Goon Squad alongside Paul.

You can listen to the podcast here, download it from iTunes here, and keep up with Book Talk at http://scottishbooktrust.com/booktalk.

Book Talk is also running a competition to win the 3 books which feature in the January, February and March podcasts: A Visit From the Goon Squad, The Death of Lomond Friel, and Boxer Beetle. Click over here to enter. Good luck!

A Visit From the Goon Squad is out now. You can buy it over here.

Read more: Goon Review.

Review: Goon

2012-01-05T10:30:00.002Z

Superbad co-writer Evan Goldberg and Jay Baruchel team up for a dumb comedy on ice - and that's exactly what you can expect. Seann William Scott stars as loveable meathead Doug who, with a low-region IQ and fists of fury, is everyone's best friend -- until you cross his friends. After an altercation at a local hockey game, he's picked up by the team manager to be an 'enforcer': not a hockey player, but a fighter.

Jay Baruchel keeps proceedings light and the tone extraordinarily low with his effervescent Irish Yank, whose twin loves of hockey and crude sex jokes come together on his amateur TV show Hot Ice. Why an intelligent comedy actor would write himself such a part is baffling and, as can be expected, his string of effusive expletives fail to garner laughs. Only one character gets a shorter shrift with Alison Pill as Doug's love interest. She's given little to work with, bemoaning her lack of self-respect and slowly falling for Doug's innocent sweetness.

Although Goon clocks in at a lean 90 minutes, it doesn't endear itself til somewhere in the second act, while the third falls apart altogether, shedding sub-plots as it reaches its bloody conclusion. Uncomfortably crass and violent at turns, Goon hits the right notes just frequently enough for a one-time watch.

Goon is released in UK cinemas tomorrow, Friday 6 January.

Read more: Link Lust #1.

Link Lust #1

2012-01-04T10:30:00.007Z

I wondered what Guybrush had been up to since he defeated LeChuck...

The other day my friends and I had a conversation about how people present themselves on the internet. My man observed that, "It's almost like taste is the new talent. People are revered for putting together images or even links in ways we find compelling."

It's true, and it's something I've always been envious about -- more than I've ever actually tried it.

As a junkie of words and images (or, as I'm loathe to call it, but secretly hope to be one day considered by my peers, a "culture vulture"), gathering stories, harvesting links, and secretly hoarding away unread tabs like nuts for the winter is part of my routine. I've decided to share it.

Quotable Queen Miss Piggy and her Guide to Life, and other life lessons via The Paris Review Blog's Emma Straub.
Ellipsis podcast from former Rocketboomer Ella Morton - particularly this episode with Alice for the iPad designer Chris Stevens - is compelling listening for creatives.
Byliner ebooks and Kindle Singles have captured my curiosity. Any recommendations?
I've always battle the New Year blues by reading the archives of those who inspire me. Rachel Hills' Musings of an Inappropriate Woman and Susan Orlean's Free Range are good places to start.
If you're a vlogbrothers fan (which, by the way, you ought to be); Hank has a new channel called SciShow. Perfect for SISNs (secret internet science nerds) and science n00bs.
2011: The Cinescape

Rewind by Levi Beamish -- like Eternal Sunshine in miniature

What are you reading / watching / clicking compulsively this New Year week?

DVD Review: Hearts of Darkness

2012-01-03T10:30:00.000Z

That's right. It's back. Again.

Deriving its name from the book that gave Apocalypse Now its story, Hearts of Darkness is perhaps the world's best-known "The Making of..." documentary. Narrated by Francis Ford Coppola's wife, Eleanor, it's the source for much of the lore about the interminable production of the flamboyant director's Vietnam War Film to end all Vietnam War Films. Hearts of Darkness follows the 238 day, $20 million shoot, faithfully recording its legendary mishaps: from replacing its original lead (Harvey Keitel) two weeks in, through sets destroyed by monsoon rains and helicopters borrowed from the Filipino army recalled to fight rebels in the middle of filming; to the nightly, frenzied script re-writes. All these fed a media storm back home, so that it was probably no wonder Kramer vs Kramer won the Oscar for Best Picture – everyone must have been sick of hearing about the Apocalypse out East. All said, this 90 minutes of self-indulgence makes it a cinephile favourite.

Hearts of Darkness is available to buy on DVD from Monday 9 January. (It's also part of the Apocalypse Now Blu-Ray box set released back in May.)

Read more: Apocalypse Now Blu-Ray Review.

Film 2012

2012-01-02T10:30:00.001Z

Oh, hello. How are you?

I know the walls of Uncultured Critic have been a little bare this festive season. Things got a little crazy between graduating from my MLitt (in Film Journalism, no less); getting married and, well, the holiday movie slow-down.

So here's an update...
My Top 10 of the Year ambivalence shows no signs of stopping, but some of the films I particularly enjoyed this year include Drive, Source Code, Another Earth, and Bridesmaids.

After setting myself the 52 Book Challenge (up from 50 in previous years), I failed spectacularly but managed a respectable 42. Of which my favourites were The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides, The Lover's Dictionary by David Levithan, and The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins. For Christmas I received F. Scott Fitzgerald collection The Crack-Up and Susan Orlean's Rin Tin Tin: The Life and Legend - both of which I'm looking forward to reading and reviewing.

If you're interested in catching up on my work outside of Uncultured Critic...
Three books I contributed to as part of the World Film Locations series are now available to purchase: London, Los Angeles, and Dublin. I'm currently editing the Glasgow volume, which will be in print by the end of the year!

The BBC Movie Café is now available to download as a podcast -- and I urge you to do so. I'll be back on later this month with more reviews.

The Skinny got a lovely redesign this year - most of my reviews are reposted here, but there's loads more from my colleagues over there, too.

The Big Picture Magazine is also on the verge of a rebirth, but until then you can download the latest issue here, which includes an essay I wrote about the cinema of John Hughes.

How about you?
How have you enjoyed your year in film, books, and beyond? Is there anything you'd like to see on Uncultured Critic in the New Year? Give me a shout in the comments, on Twitter, or shoot me an email.

But before you go...
Check out the best of Cinema 2011:

Read more: Rich Hall's Continental Drifters; Inside the New York Times with Andrew Rossi

Review: Puss in Boots 3D

2011-12-01T10:30:00.004Z

Shrek's killer kitty spins off into his own fairytale franchise in Dreamworks' Puss in Boots. Antonio Banderas lends his dulcet tones to the feline hero who is tasked with settling a score by finding a trio of legendary magic beans, currently held hostage by Jack and Jill. Once a certain feminine feline (Kitty Softpaws, voiced by Salma Hayek) leads Puss back to his tricksy schoolyard friend Humpty Dumpty (Zach Galiafianakis), the trio take off to discover what they can find in the castle above the beanstalk.

With an excellent, not-too-starry voice cast and brisk pace, Puss in Boots takes us into an alternate fairytale world with Spanish flavour. Co-opting recognisable characters makes for a simple, somewhat lazy script that's perfect for kids. Paired with ever-useless 3D, a much-needed handful of old movie gags and innuendo are thrown in, serving to plug any gaps in the adult laugh track. Prescriptive holiday animation for hijas, mijos, and little amigos.

Puss in Boots is released in UK cinemas on Friday 9 December.

Rich Hall's Continental Drifters

2011-11-24T11:00:00.003Z

Comedian Rich Hall hits the road as he takes us on his personal journey through the road movie, which, from the earliest days of American cinema has been synonymous with American culture. With his customary wit and intelligence, Rich takes us through films such as Bonnie and Clyde, The Grapes of Wrath, Thelma and Louise, Vanishing Point, Five Easy Pieces and even The Wizard of Oz. He explores what makes a road movie and how the American social, economic and political landscape has defined the genre. -- BBC

Rich Hall returned to the BBC with the latest in his series of films about the movies this week with the eagerly anticipated Continental Drifters. Taking on the American road movie in what my man has dubbed the comedian's, "pre-packaged American culture to be consumed by Brits," Hall's new dissertation follows the same formula as his How The West Was Lost and The Dirty South, albeit with some further refinements.

Beginning with an introduction to the road movie and his somewhat arbitrary definition, Hall argues that a true road movie is not only about a pair of characters going from a to b, but that they are in some way disenfranchised. A selection of key films are up for discussion from Easy Rider to Thelma and Louise and The Grapes of Wrath to Dumb and Dumber. Unlike Hall's earlier forays into film culture, Continental Drifters is less bogged down by constant music video style reel of clips, giving him room to consider and argue the merits of each film and how it fits into the historic and cultural milieu. And, as with all retroactive genres (I'm looking at you, film noir), this link is easy to delineate but endlessly fascinating to watch as it's laid bare. Eisenhower's roads highway project is intrinsically linked with noir films of the road, and the resulting motel culture lent itself to the disenfranchised drifters and grifters that followed.

There's even room for a Gonzo style rant where, in true Hall style, he finds a moment between motels and remakes to insert a rant about Star Wars. I especially enjoyed Hall's inclusion of The Grapes of Wrath - novel and movie versions - and On the Road as major contributors to the Road movie trend.

As we move into another era of shifting cultural values and a new wave of disenfranchised voices, the road movie - which, in Hall's opinion, has been practically dead since the 70s - seems particularly prevalent. Whether the road movie has any place in Occupy culture remains to be seen -- but it seems the road movie has disappeared in its own fashion: it died... or, if Hall's expectant ending suggests, after a sojourn in Australia and Europe, it simply went home.

Rich Hall's Continental Drifters is available to watch on BBC iPlayer until Monday 29 November.

Read more: Rich Hall's How the West Was Lost; Rich Hall's The Dirty South.

Classic Re-Release & Blu-Ray Review: Silent Running

2011-11-14T10:30:00.000Z

The Classic: Silent Running (1971)
Director: Douglas Trumbull
Starring: Bruce Dern

No Excuses:
Douglas Trumbull's hugely influential debut hit Silent Running is a staple sci-fi for those who know their C3POs from their Johnny 5s. Now earning its 40th Anniversary re-release, the film that introduced us to cinema's favourite drones - Huey, Dewey and Louie - is making a triumphant return in Blu-Ray form.

Synopsis:
In the no-longer-distant future, botanist Freeman Lowell orbits the earth on board the Valley Forge - a vast greenhouse dome which cultivates edible crops to be converted into modern space-food. Waiting to be tasked to return home to earth to defoliate the planet, he and his crew are called upon to destroy Valley Forge's greenhouses and return the ships to commercial use.

The Review:
Trumbull's very own space odyssey returns to cinematic form in this Blu-Ray re-release, with lush forests and cure wildlife set against the infinite backdrop of space. Bruce Dern's passionate Lowell seldom raises his voice above a whisper, but becomes the master and commander of his own little corner of the universe and small staff of willing droids. It's a sparse but touching tale that has lent its message to films as recent as Wall-E and Moon.

The Verdict:
On second viewing, Huey and Dewey became by far my favourite characters. The interactions between Lowell and his loyal worker droids is complemented by stunning visual effects, which in this latest Blu-Ray incarnation are crisp and colourful as ever. It's a delightful 3-hander (mostly) with whom you'll be over the moon (a-thank-you) to spend some quality time.

Favourite Quote:
[As Huey and Dewey perform their tree planting actions in the wrong order:]
"Well, that's pitiful. Pitiful! That's exactly the opposite of what it's supposed to be."

Further Reading for Experts:
Almost Human - a discussion of robots on film over at The Big Picture Magazine.
Animation Comes to Life - Huey, Dewey and Louie feature alongside Wall-E and other animated droids in my long essay on anthropomorphised robots on film.

Silent Running will be re-released on Blu-Ray on Monday 19 November. You can preorder or buy it here.

Review: Arthur Christmas

2011-11-10T10:30:00.001Z

Aardman studios lays the first claim to the Christmas cinema season with CG-animated Arthur Christmas. Voiced by James McAvoy, he's the hapless young son of Santa (Jim Broadbent) and brother to the head honcho's militaristic heir, Steve (Hugh Laurie). All seems to have gone well this Christmas Eve - Santa Malcolm's 70th hi-tech mission - but after the festivities of the evening's rush present drop are complete, it transpires that a child has been missed.

Co-opting Grandsanta (Bill Nighy) along with his trusty old-school sleigh and reindeer (Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, umm the one with the white ear, and you, and you), the family eccentrics are joined by an enthusiastic gift-wrapping elf, and so begins the treacherous sleigh-ride as the rag-tag amateurs try to reach poor Gwen with her shiny new bicycle before the Christmas magic is lost.

Beautifully animated with some intricate sequences and a dash of Aardman humour, it's a safe family-pleaser with the requisite all-star voice cast and smattering of interesting accents. While it references Aardman's main man Nick Park, however, it channels close to none of his trademark humour or visual idiosyncrasies. Substituting the studio's famed jocular spirit for something far more vanilla, its international aspirations are at the expense of British charm. A cheerful 3D frolic for the family, but not much more.

Arthur Christmas is released in UK cinemas on Friday 11 November.

Greg McHugh: Tank Commander

2011-11-07T13:51:00.000Z

After winning a Scottish BAFTA for Gary's War, Greg McHugh – the man we all know as Gary: Tank Commander – has gone on to write and star in two series of the titular show. Following in the footsteps of Scottish favourite Rab C. Nesbitt, the show's second series went regional with a run on BBC Three.

The sitcom features Gary, a camp Corporal with a penchant for Cheesey Pasta. Series two is set mostly in Scotland as he and his unit – Charlie (Scott Fletcher), Jacko (Robert Jack) and Adam (Paul-James Corrigan) – get themselves into tangles, from featuring in an army ad to misplacing an army tank, all under the scrutiny of sticky Sergeant Thompson (Stuart Bowman). Interspersed with political pieces to camera from Gary's unique perspective, and a range of YouTube dance parodies, it's an all-round Scots comedy with its own brand of humble humour.

McHugh has also recently appeared as Howard, a creepy second year student sharing a house with a bunch of freshers, in eight-part comedy series Fresh Meat, and is currently working on a third series of Gary's military antics.

As he prepares for series two to hit the shelves in time for Christmas, we caught up with the man behind the permatan and bokes (Baileys and Cokes).

So tell us how Gary was born.

Back in 2005 I was doing a show at the Edinburgh Festival, working with a guy called Will Andrews who was doing a stand-up show in the same venue. He was working with The Comedy Unit who were looking for new characters, so it basically came out of Will and I chatting about rubbish and then filming a little scene in my mum's car. The Comedy Unit saw that and it started about four years of development and various sketch shows and stuff, then – after a lot of work – the BBC offered us a sitcom.

How has the response been for Series Two so far?

It's been great. It's always difficult to know, but it's been well received. I've been asked to start working on the third, so it has done really well so far. It got onto BBC Three and that was an ambition, so I was over the moon about that. If the third series goes well I hope they'll stick it on BBC Three again.

You've also had a great response for Fresh Meat – has that been a different experience for you?

Yes, completely different. There's no pressure on me other than as a performer, as an actor. Because the scripts were so brilliant that was a total joy. Gary's loads of fun but it was great to play someone at the other end of the spectrum, in terms of Gary being quite sociable and Howard being… just a bit weird, really. It was great.

As much as you enjoyed playing Howard, was it refreshing to get back to being Gary?

It's always a challenge, I suppose. I've got to come up with new ideas for the series. I'm tweeting a lot as Gary [@GARYTANK] at the moment and trying to get Gary into my head, so it's a change. I don't know how refreshing it is because I've done so many years as Gary, but I'm really looking forward to doing another series. It is fun at the moment but I've just started the process so if you ask me again in a few months I might be tearing my hair out.

Can you give us any teasers for Series Three?

As I've just started writing it I couldn't really tell you much to be honest. I think we may go for a different setting – the boys might have been in Germany on the previous 6 months, post-Iraq or Afghanistan. That might be a change, but I've still got another 5 or 6 months' worth of writing still to go so who knows where we'll end up at the end of it. But I think there'll be more dances, and there has been a lot going on in the world this year so Gary's got a good platform to talk about things. We'll wait and see what happens.

The monologues are always very relevant to what's going on at the time. How do you make sure that will work a year down the line when the DVD is released?

I suppose you just try to pick events that people will remember. Osama being captured and killed, or Gaddafi and the uprise in the Middle East, The Royal Wedding – you know, these are all things that have happened this year, so even in a year or two's time, people will still remember the landmark events. So you either choose a big thing or, for Gary, you choose to have him talking about everyday things like Gregg's the bakers. That way, hopefully, it doesn't age too much.

But I think the point of what we've always tried to do with Gary is to talk about things that have happened around that time frame. It's about covering world events, really.

What's your favourite episode in Series Two?

Probably the missing tank episode. It's the most sitcom-y episode and it moves quickly – I think that's what people respond to. Gary keeps causing more problems for himself but he thinks he's doing really well.

He always seems to make a friend, as well…

You're right, he's quite a sociable guy. He's a confident soul, really, that's his underlying character trait. I think the more confidence you give Gary in every situation in that sitcom world the worse things are going to get. That's something I've certainly learned over the years – give him so much confidence in whatever it is and see where he ends up. He's a bit childlike too, a bit naive and obsessive, so once he gets one idea in his head he'll run with it no matter how badly things are crumbling around him. That's a good thing to have for writing comedy.

You mentioned enjoying the sitcom feel – is that something you might expand upon in Series Three?

I think we'll keep the characters and the writing in that style. I think we'll keep the balance between the story and the monologues and dances as it is just now for Series Three.

I wanted to mention how great the boys are, too. They're all very good dancers…

Yes, they're all scarily good dancers. I would like to say that I dance as Gary, but actually that's me trying my hardest. They're all really good, and Paul Corrigan who plays Adam is a brilliant dancer and has loads of experience, so he helps choreograph some of the dances as well. He's a shit-hot dancer indeed.

Gary: Tank Commander Series 2 is on sale now.

Review: Ides of March

2011-10-27T14:00:00.001+01:00

George Clooney steps into his 4th feature as director and Democratic Nominee Governor Mike Morris.

It's the 15th of March and, with the Ohio nomination looming, his campaign managers Paul (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and Stephen (Ryan Gosling) are employing their best manoeuvres and sexy interns to edge ahead of rival in the race Senator Pullman. The challenger, campaign leader Tom Duffy (Paul Giamatti), has his own tricks up his sleeve.

In this Hollywood Democrat's wet dream, Stephen and his campaign colleagues must make the unconventional Morris a polling favourite. Wonkish rants on non-religion and women's rights give way to nefarious dealings and the crumbling of Stephen's bright-eyed belief in pure politics. Maris Tomei's reporter Ida adds a healthy dose of reality to proceedings while throw-away missteps being to unravel into catastrophe of the personal and political varieties.

Clooney's mature direction contrasts with Stephen's wavering confidence as he wades out of his depth and into unpredictable territory. Meanwhile, masterful pacing allows the plot to unfurl, punctuated by noirish film moments and some of the most unnerving uses of the word 'fuck' in modern cinema.

The Ides of March's cast of strong characters is subjected to scrutiny, their weaknesses revealed like chinks in their armour. How they fare reflects their final standing; a pristine picture imbued with fresh subtexts. As Sorkin-less political dramas go, it's an arrow straight through the bleeding heart.

Radio Reviews: The Help & The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn

2011-10-27T11:00:00.006+01:00

Today, I'll be appearing on The Movie Café radio programme on BBC Radio Scotland.

Tune in to hear me and the ever-eloquent Paul Gallagher review the new film adaptation of Kathryn Stockett's best-selling The Help, starring Emma Stone and Viola Davis.

We'll also be reviewing Steven Spielberg's The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn.

Tune in live at 1.15pm, or you can stream the programme live or later on the Movie Café homepage.

Read more: The Help Review; Bad Teacher DVD Review.

DVD & Blu-Ray Review: The Outsiders (Re-Release)

2011-10-26T15:05:00.001+01:00

It seems Mr Francis Ford Coppola is on a mission to update and re-release every one of his films. After this year's cinematic and Blu-Ray re-release of war classic Apocalypse Now, The Outsiders returns to DVD and premieres on Blu-Ray this month.

Based on the coming of age novel penned by the then-teen S.E. (Sarah Eloise) Hinton, The Outsiders follows the territorial rift between the downtrodden "greasers" and their South-side preppy counterparts, the "Socs". The project is fabled to have reached Coppola through the letters of excited school kids from the Oklahoma town in which the film is set, spurred on by their teacher. Taking the 1960s bestseller and adapting it to befit an 80s audience, Coppola created an 80s Bratpack.

Filled with more recognisable faces than memorable performances, The Outsiders is Rebel Without a Cause before the appearance of James Dean, or Grease before they replaced their knives with combs and began to sing.

This re-release reintegrates 22 minutes of footage, including a new beginning and ending more true to S.E. Hinton's original story. Era-appropriate music also replaces much of Carmine Coppola's orchestral schore, injecting a little Elvis and Jerry Lee Lewis to proceedings. Indeed, the new music is one of the film's highlights.

If The Outsiders is old hat, you can enjoy a whole host of new extras, including new audio commentaries with the director and stars Matt Dillon, C. Thomas Howell, Diane Lane, Rob Lowe, Ralph Macchio and Patrick Swayze; and a selection of deleted and extended scenes.

The new 2-disc Special Edition of The Outsiders is released on DVD and Blu-Ray on Monday 31 October.

Also released on DVD this month: Chalet Girl & Bad Teacher.

Giveaway: Win Mark Kermode's The Good, The Bad & The Multiplex

2011-10-20T21:00:00.000+01:00

You hear that? That's the sound of tumbleweed blowing by. You know why? It's because you haven't entered to win a free copy of Mark Kermode's latest book!

All you have to do is comment on this blog post and tell me your favourite film of the year so far.

You have until the evening of Friday 21 October. That's tomorrow!

One winner will be chosen at random.

Good luck!

Read more: Bad Teacher DVD review; The Help review.

DVD Review: Bad Teacher

2011-10-17T10:30:00.001+01:00

Cameron Diaz is a Bad Teacher. Elizabeth Halsey's goal in life is to take care of number 1 -- not her number 1 student. The unwinning, wily and highly inappropriate junior high puts the model in role model in this colourful comedy from Orange County director Jake Kasdan. After being dumped by her rich fiancé, she launches a scheme to win over handsome, spiritual substitute teacher Scott Delacourte (as in the fictional watchmaker, Justin Timberlake) - oh, and to save up for a new pair of tits to improve her chances. Shooting for the best teacher bonus, she has competition in the classroom and the dating game from the dedicated but ruthlessly competitive Amy Squirrel (Lucy Punch).

Outlandishly unrealistic characters clash in an ambitious war of wills, with hilarious set pieces from sexy spy subterfuge to field trip dry humps. To our relief, Elizabeth never stops being bad, leaving plenty of room for unfailing opportunism in story and in grabbing laughs. An A for effort.

Bad Teacher (certificate 15) is released on BluRay and DVD on Monday 31 October. Buy it here.

Read More: The Help Review; Footloose Review.